Editor’s Note: The Pioneer Memorial Day services information labeled the Rockaway Beach State Wayside as “Ocean Edge” as that is how the Rockaway Beach Chamber refers to the Wayside. In the past, the Memorial Day services was part of the Kite Festival that is no longer allowed due to the city council’s resolution last year regarding events at the Rockaway Beach State Wayside (Ocean Edge) during the peak season, from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.
This is to clarify the lack of a Memorial Day ceremony at the Rockaway Beach State Wayside. At the last City Council meeting on, May 9, 2018, there was no request or mention of use of any portion of the State Wayside for a Memorial Day ceremony. In the past there have been ceremonies, but there was no discussion of any sort of formal service or observance of the holiday. At the southwest corner of the State Wayside there is a memorial for the Veterans of Foreign Wars all year round and this is generally the area where a ceremony would occur had one been scheduled or planned. The City Council as a whole was never informed of a “formal” service nor was it asked to approve or deny a request to do so. However, they could not have approved a ceremony at the “Ocean’s Edge” wayside since the only wayside in the City that they would have any influence over is the Rockaway Beach State Wayside which is within the City limits.
If a single Council person was the source of the misconstrued statement that the City Council denied the ceremony, then she/he was acting on her/his own behalf and not as a part of the City Council in its entirety, which is not how this particular government is navigated. Furthermore, an observance such as this would have been open to and welcoming of the general public, as always.
Terri Michel, City Manager/CFM
City of Rockaway Beach