The Haves and the Have-Nots of our Community

Imagine you are one of the 'fortunate' residents dwelling in our community who was born here, whose grandparents and greats, possibly even your great-greats etc were reared here as well.

Suppose that you eventually inherited a beautiful home on the hill, on the beach or lake, were lucky enough to have all the right GOB or GOG connections to get you into a top employment situation right out of high school or out of college without necessarily being qualified for such a position. Or, perhaps, your family may have passed along a successful business to you, which only added to the mystique of your 'family name'.

Life goes on for you here and after you do your 4 or 5 year stint in Eugene or Corvallis you eventually marry well, spew out a brood of above average looking children, who will continue to want for nothing throughout their whole lives. They will be the next "golden children" of the community. You, yourself, were one of those “fortunate ones” who were never “second string” in sports, got invited to and had the best birthday parties, hooked up with the best dates for prom and were possibly in the homecoming court.

You were given more chances to succeed in school than any of the “outsiders” (defined in this town as someone who was not born here), you were spared discipline at school or enjoyed a “lesser version” than others and you also possibly had a throng of 'hanger-on' friends who only hung out with you because their parents told them it would ‘serve them well’ to cement ties to your family for the future and any opportunities it may bring through this relationship.

However, living in towns and hamlets in our county, in places that are invisible to you, there is another type of resident of our community. These residents may have family ties here or may be new to the area. One thing doesn’t change, though. These same people who are living amongst you, though they may reside out of your view: in apartments, in 'not so desirable' neighborhoods (by your standards), or perhaps living in cars, transitional housing or campers, are equally viable citizens of our community.

Though the "haves" of our community are always receiving the public accolades, the newspaper and magazine feature articles, and the media attention for their so called 'good deeds', those "invisible" residents of our community are really who make up the backbone of our county.

For instance, look at the flourishing businesses in Astoria and in the rest of the county that did not exist just 15 years ago. We do not mean to imply that some of the old family "names" of the towns do not donate their share to worthwhile causes. There are several that have and continue to do so. We are just illustrating that proportionally it may be the 'have not's' who make this community run the way that it does.

Though these "non-chosen" of our county are the least equipped to do so, they give to their community in many ways including donated time and services, some even working in minimum wage jobs (which may as well be looked upon as donating their time). Further, these same people and families who have come from the "outside" or who were not lucky enough to have been born here have brought and shared with us a wealth of talent, love for the area and diversity that we could not now envision our county without.


Our hats are off to you, the little recognized and unsung people and families that make up the backbone of our community. Thank you for caring.