Friday, May 23, 2014
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at the plaza in front of the Kitsap County Administrative Building in Port Orchard. The run only occurs when the county coroner has the remains of at least one unclaimed, deceased veteran in his care. This year, that veteran is Walter L. Brown, who served briefly in the U.S. Army during the mid
Navy Band Northwest will perform at this weekend’s Kitsap Harbor Festival which runs Saturday and Sunday.
1950s. He will be joined by five other veterans submitted by family members or friends: Michael F. Shaughnessy, Norman N. Holgate, Robert J. Brown, Frederick L. Hughes and Kenneth D. Hughes. All five are Navy veterans. Three served in Vietnam, one in Korea. Walter and Robert Brown are not related, however Robert is well known locally for his role playing of Abraham Lincoln. Frederick and Kenneth Hughes are brothers. Kenneth was also a retired assistant chief of the Bremerton Fire Department. Veterans with be honored with words, songs and a U.S. Coast Guard fly-by of a MH65 Dolphin helicopter. Following the ceremony, there will be a short break prior to departure to Tahoma National Cemetery. The departed will be carried in a vehicle donated by West Sound Auto Plex. The service is outdoors and those who attend may want to dress appropriately for the weather and bring their own chairs. Coffee and donuts will be served by the USO Mobile Canteen. To honor the military’s fallen, Memorial Day services have been set throughout the county. The following are Memorial Day weekend
ies) however we can and have gone and done trainings to try and set the stage to say, ‘Here’s the requirements. We wanna help you get there,’’’ she said. “But, we also know this is something a lot of people with disabilities are saying, ‘This has been a requirement since 1973, how come we’re not there yet?’” So, when the DOJ comes they’re not very sympathetic to, ‘We just haven’t been able to do or haven’t had the time.’ If you have a plan in place, they tend to be a little bit more sympathetic because you can show you are making some progress in this area.” Back in 1973, certain requirements were put in place to improve access to facilities built with federal dollars. Eventually, in 1990, the ADA that most recognize today was passed and expanded those earlier accommodations into the private sector. Fridrikkson said folks are often surprised that
ADA access goes far beyond people in wheelchairs. “It might be kind of surprising for most, but in the 2000 census, for people over the age of 15, they estimated 20 percent, or 54 million Americans are disabled,” he said. “You have 17 million hearing disabled and 10 to 12 million with vision. That’s almost three times as many who use wheelchairs. The statistic that I read from the National Council on Disabilities says 70 percent of citizens will have some sort of temporary or permanent disability that will not allow them to use a staircase. Those are some pretty high percentages.” Fridrikkson said some longtime city employees remember a report from some 30 years or so ago having to do with citywide ADA access. “The problem with that, though, is the self evaluation and transition plan are also supposed to be adaptable,” he said. “As we grow, it
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of events in both Bremerton and Port Orchard, go to www. kitsapharborfesttival.org. On Saturday, “The Unforgotten, Run to Tahoma,” ceremony will begin at 10:45 a.m.
Courtesy photo
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may likely take those to start with,” he said. Jodi Petersen, a Civil Rights Program Manager with the Federal Highway Administration, also emphasized the importance of cities doing ADA self evaluations sooner rather than later. “The priority is to at least make some progress, show that the city is making some effort toward completing the self evaluation,” Petersen said. “That’s the first step and that’s actually the most comprehensive step of the whole thing. Once you have that done, putting it into the place, as far as the transition plan goes, it gives you a schedule.” Petersen noted that her agency is one of the federal executive agencies that the DOJ has delegated authority to monitor and enforce ADA compliance. “We want to assist (cit-
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Kevan Moore/staff photo
This year’s “The Unforgotten, Run to Tahoma,” ceremony will begin at 10:45 a.m. Saturday at the plaza in front of the Kitsap County Administrative Building in Port Orchard. events the community is invited to attend. Sunday, May 25: • Miller Woodlawn Cemetery will host a flag ceremony at 8 p.m., at 5505 Kitsap Way in Bremerton. The service will be followed by fireworks. Monday May 26: • A wreath laying service will be at the USS Turner Joy DD-951, at 10 a.m. sponsored by the Navy League. •Sunset Lane Cemetery will host a memorial service by the Port Orchard VFW at 11 a.m. • Forest Lawn Cemetery has a service at 11 a.m. sponsored by
the Fleet Reserve • A flag raising will take place at noon at 28 parks, monuments, memorials and city halls in Kitsap County to honor veterans. • There will be a wreath laying 1 p.m., sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars and America Legion at Ivy Green Cemetery, 15th Street and Naval Avenue in Bremerton, at the “Tomb of the Unknowns.” • A flag retirement ceremony is set for 3 p.m. at NAD Park in Bremerton, followed by a National Moment of Silence. • Veterans Memorial
Park in Old Town Silverdale, will be the location for a flag ceremony at 5 p.m. The Silverdale Rotary Club will sponsor a musical observance from 5 to 6 p.m. Bring lawn chairs or blankets. Due to the delicate nature of the instruments, the event will be cancelled if it is raining. The Duncan Creek String Quartet will present about 45 minutes of music, followed by a wreath presentation by a group of veterans and the rendering of Taps by Navy Veteran Kent Larraby.
Kevan Moore/staff photo
The City of Bremerton is set to fix this ramp at Kiwanis Park so that it complies with state standards for those with disabilities, but an inventory of ADA issues across the rest of the city could cost as much as $200,000. grows, too. If we annex, we do an evaluation, take a look at it and make sure we’re adjusting so that we
can accommodate that new area in our plan. It’s something we made a stagnant record of, but
now it’s disappeared and we don’t know where it is.”