This Saturday will be a hard day for a lot of people in Woodburn. None harder than the men and women in Blue and their families. It marks the one-year anniversary of the Dec. 12, 2008 bank bombing that took the lives of Capt. Tom Tennant, Senior Trooper William Hakim and seriously injured Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell.
Nobody who lives or works in Woodburn will ever forget that day. Two men gave their lives trying to keep us safe. They, and their families, made the ultimate sacrifice.
This past year the term “Woodburn Proud” has been like a beacon for the townsfolk. It was something we could grasp onto in our city’s darkest hour. And out from that tragedy, a city came alive with volunteerism, community pride and respect for not just those police and firefighters and ambulance drivers, but respect for fellow man. It brought a community together and though nobody would have ever whispered this in the hours and days after, nor would we ever want to see something like this happen again, there have been some positive things that have come from it.
As we head into this holiday season, let’s not forget those we have lost, but at the same time, let’s move forward. This one event, as tragic as it was, cannot define Woodburn. It cannot become this city’s identity. Woodburn has done a fantastic job of allowing the police department to heal, and in turn, the police department has rewarded its citizens with a level of professionalism we would expect from a law enforcement agency. The wounds will never fully be healed for some, but as a city, it is time to move on. Not forget, but continue to work toward making Woodburn a better city to live and raise a family in, work in and shop in. Woodburn should not be remembered just for the bank bombing.
The spirit of volunteerism should not be about the fact that we lost men in the line of duty. It can’t be. If that is the driving force behind community spirit, behind helping clean up city streets or attending different events, it will eventually fade and Woodburn will be no different than it was before the incident last year — and that would be a tragedy.
Pride in our community has to come from within and it has to be a desire to make Woodburn the best it can be. If that isn’t the driving force — the commitment to one’s own community — then Woodburn is the same as any other city that has had something bad happen to it.
We are better than that. We will not let this tragedy define us and it is already showing. People throughout Woodburn help each other out more than they ever did before. People want to spend time together and seek out people on a daily basis. Life is more respected than it once was. There is a genuine sense of camaraderie among citizens now that was never there before.
We must continue to get our hands dirty, because to fix everything, it’s going to take a lot of hard work, but it will not get done if we let the past define our future. We must move on.
As the sun sets Saturday evening, remember the Tennant, Hakim and Russell families. Say a prayer for them, give a toast in their honor or just reflect on the sacrifice they made. Because it’s men like them that allow us all to sleep peacefully at night.
