By Arwyn Rice
Peninsula Daily News
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Twenty banners expressing condolences to the people of Chattanooga deeply moved those who saw them when they were presented Thursday.
“It was profound. All of the people there were so incredibly moved and touched,” Leslie Kidwell Robertson of Revitalize Port Angeles said of the gathering at Chattanooga City Hall, where the banners were spread out on tables and city officials read the hundreds of messages of condolence written on them.
Robertson presented the banners signed by Port Angeles-area residents to Chattanooga officials at 3 p.m. EDT (noon PDT) Thursday.
After the shooting deaths of five servicemen in Chattanooga on July 16, the Revitalize group began the effort to demonstrate Port Angeles’ friendship with the Tennessee city with a single sympathy banner at Port Angeles City Hall.
That grew to 20 banners full of signatures.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, Deputy Fire Chief Chris Adams, many city representatives and employees, and residents were at the event, along with several members of the media.
“It’s clear to me people are affected way beyond Chattanooga because of this tragedy,” Berke was quoted as saying in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
“Not only that, but the act of signing these banners is part of the healing process for them, and for us,” Berke said.
What struck Berke was how the people in Port Angeles really cared about a city 2,600 miles away, Evan Hoopfer of the Times Free Press reported.
As Berke walked around the room reading the messages, he turned to Adams.
“Isn’t this cool, chief?” he said.
Robertson said there were tears in the eyes of some. Others pressed their hands to their hearts.
“It really brought home the scope of the project,” she said.
Frame banners for display
City officials said they plan to frame the banners and display them for the public at the Chattanooga City Library next week.
Response from Chattanooga has shown that the residents there appreciate the gesture, Robertson said, adding that she has been showered with offers of tours of the city.
After the ceremony, she was taken to the Hunter Museum, which currently is showing a collection of paintings by impressionist master Claude Monet.
“It is a good decompression after the emotion of walking among the tables [of banners] with the Chattanooga people,” Robertson said.
She left Port Angeles late Tuesday to take the city’s message to Chattanooga in person.
An anonymous donor provided frequent flier miles for the trip, but there were no seats available, so Robertson paid for the flight herself.
She also has borne other expenses, such as lodging.
Five killed
Four U.S. Marines and a sailor were murdered July 16 in Chattanooga by a gunman who later died in a shootout with police.
Marine Staff Sgt. David Wyatt was buried last Friday in Chattanooga.
On Saturday, services for Marine Sgt. Carson Holmquist were held in Wisconsin and for Lance Cpl. Squire Wells in Georgia.
A funeral for Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan took place Sunday in Massachusetts.
Services for Navy Petty Officer Randall Smith were held Wednesday in Chattanooga.
‘Best Town Ever’
Chattanooga and Port Angeles were finalists for Outside magazine’s “Best Town Ever” online contest.
Chattanooga won in the final showdown, but not before Port Angeles beat out other cities that included Santa Barbara, Calif.; Bainbridge Island; Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; and Bar Harbor, Maine.
Revitalize Port Angeles members led the “get out the vote” effort, which led to votes from Port Angeles’ 19,000 residents, plus supporters, coming close to beating Chattanooga, which has a population of 170,000.
In the final vote, Chattanooga gathered 67,432 votes to Port Angeles’ 62,130 (52 percent to 48 percent), but the weeklong final runoff forged a connection between the competing communities.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
