1989 and Other Stuff
Jenni Carlson has a great story today about how the 1989 Olympics Festival marked a change for this city. I can’t agree more with her. The years of 1989 through 1991 were pivotal for this city. It marked a low point where city fathers realized they could no longer dictate the future. We began to see the emergence of more openess to new ideas, to diversity, to more voices shaping the future.
The Olympics Festival was, as Ray Ackerman once told me, a band aid for what was ailing this town. It wasn’t the solution, it didn’t end the blues. But it reminded us that we didn’t have to be trapped in a collective lack of self esteem and malaize. We could be better. We could be great.
It was from 1989 to 1991 we saw Opening Night attract thousands back to downtown. We saw the Festival of the Arts bloom at the newly opened Myriad Gardens. We saw the rise of the Cavalry basketball team, followed by the Blazers ice hockey team. Downtown was coming alive, new voice were being heard, and suddenly it seemed as if anything were possible.
That, my friends, was the start of what we see today.
Now, onto a different topic. The blog gods here at NewsOK have been tinkering with these sites and in the process they removed the requirements to enter a code to register a comment.
This might be good news to you, but it means I’m back to spending my already scarce time having to sort through the stupid spam filter to ensure your legitimate comments don’t get killed when I hit the delete button.
Would you be OK if we bring back the code requirement?
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Comments
Wow – that takes me way back. Yes, I agree – it did so much to boost morale. In fact, looking back, I guess it did build a sense of pride and hope. I remember water towers painted with the logo. It was EVERYWHERE!
Yeah, bring back the code. It could be entertaining as well as useful at keeping out spam. How often do I get the chance to type in the words “fascist boogie” in any context?
20 years later and I still have that “Winning a place in the world” song stuck in my head. That, and “Make it shine for 89.”
I say bring it back if it means you can spend more time reporting on the city center!