Not that I am going to suit up in a mortarboard and gown, but I do have something in common with the Methow Valley graduating class of 2023.
They are finishing 12 years of schooling (not counting kindergarten), many them matriculating all the way through the local schools, at about the same time I am concluding my 12th year of owning the Methow Valley News.
It’s been an education for all of us.
I don’t expect a diploma, but maybe some kind of certificate of perseverance would be appropriate. Methow Valley students and adults alike have navigated through a lot of changes and challenges in those 12 years, not the least of which was presented by COVID — which altered the course of education for a couple of years. The Methow Valley School District, its staff and students, adapted about as well as could be hoped for.
The fire seasons have put us all on constant watch for a good part of each year, while at the same time motivating us to learn about preparation and resilience. The community learned those lessons together, young and old.
The kids who have been here from kindergarten through senior year call themselves “the 13s.” I don’t know how many there are this year. I do know that I’ve been watching them grow, mature and amaze us with their intelligence, character and accomplishments for all that time. From their second-grade Christmas cards that we publish in the newspaper every year, through their senior projects that we like to highlight, they have distinguished themselves in many ways. I hope we have documented that in a way that makes the community proud.
I’ve been learning too, and remain open to surprises that the valley and its people have to offer. I continue to discover new places and encounter intriguing personalities, which says a lot about the depth and diversity of this small rural community. All of that matters as part of the children’s broader learning experience.
One of the remarkable things that came out of the COVID experience is the now-institutionalized vehicle parade that the grads take through the valley. The first year, it was a substitute for the traditional community graduation gathering, which the pandemic rendered inadvisable. Now the colorful, quirky procession has become its own tradition. If you can’t get to graduation on Friday, perhaps you can find a spot along the parade route to wave and cheer as the class of 2023 rolls by.
If you can make it to the stadium, enjoy the moment, but also understand that it is part of a continuum. The classes of 2024, 2025 and beyond will be along soon, building on the history and heritage of their predecessors. If you don’t think that’s important, take note of how many recent graduates will be attending Friday to celebrate with their friends and families — or how many Methow kids return as adults to take their place in sustaining the community. That’s how generational commitment is built.
Keeping it going
Speaking of commitment and learning — if you don’t know the full story behind the venerable Pardners Mini Market in Winthrop, check out Ashley Lodato’s article about how a spur-of-the-moment decision led to Bart and Velma Bradshaw’s 40-year stewardship of the all-purpose convenience store. The Bradshaws have literally and figuratively been investing in the community for the past four decades. Now some of their offspring are carrying the torch forward and making their own marks in the valley.
Businesses that can stick around that long under one ownership are increasingly rare these days, and I learned as a long-time business reporter and editor that, statistically, relatively few family businesses make it to second-generation ownership. Succession is never a certainty, and businesses do not have a guaranteed life span.
The Methow Valley News is now in its 120th year, and has had several owners following founder Harry Marble’s epic efforts to keep the presses going for 40 years. I don’t expect to match the tenures of Harry or the Bradshaws, which would require me to last into my 100s and the paper to approach 150. So I admire the efforts of anyone who can sustain a successful operation for that long, and walk away satisfied with the results.
