What a generous gift Bill and Pat Caldwell have offered to the city of Toledo — a building for a library branch.
After a devastating fire destroyed two downtown businesses in December 2010 and the Toledo Pharmacy shut down a month or so later, the outlook for the town’s future looked gloomy.
Shrinking reimbursements from insurance companies left the Caldwells struggling to earn a living so, after 23 years, they closed the pharmacy reluctantly. At the time, Bill Caldwell said, “You’ve got to make money to keep the doors open.”
Now the couple who moved their family to Toledo a quarter century ago want the empty pharmacy building at 241 Cowlitz St. turned into a Timberland Regional Library branch. They’ve agreed to donate their 1,890-square-foot building, which was constructed in 1940 and is assessed at more than $60,000, for the library.
Not only that, but Pat Caldwell is doing all the footwork and paperwork to see that this dream becomes reality. And she said the Ramsey family offered to help remodel the building.
Earlier this month, the Toledo City Council voted unanimously to look into turning the building into a library during a meeting attended by more than 50 people. But I’m sure it’ll be up to the town’s voters to decide whether they want to join the five-county library system.
I’d vote yes, but then I live outside the city limits so I’m already a member of the library system. It’s so nice to select books from the computer, put them on hold, and pick them up via the convenient drive-through at the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library.
At the last Vision Toledo meeting, I felt convicted when someone said people in our own community drive north to the Twin Cities or south to Longview and Kelso rather than shopping in town. I’m always on the run, so combining chores makes sense. I pick up library books and shop at the same time.
If Toledo has a library branch, it’ll probably draw more people downtown. A library would also prove beneficial when trying to persuade business owners, families, and retirees that this is a community where they’d want to live.
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Thomas Edison would be proud of the bright bulbs in the Centralia school bearing his name.
I toured the school last week with Neal Kirby, who will be retiring as principal after this year, and Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund.
I wondered why Edison has been ranked as exemplary or good for the past six years based on the State Board of Education’s Achievement Index, which considers test scores, student achievement, graduation rates, and other factors.
Kirby, Edison’s principal for 14 years, credits mutually supportive staff members who work together to help students achieve success.
“All I do is create the scenario where they can get together and work together,” Kirby said.
Much of it boils down to trust.
“I think they work really well together — teachers, classified, principal — the whole package,” said Kathryn Horwath, secretary, who has worked at Edison six years.
“We’re also friends and there’s a trust between us,” said Candy Aumiller, who has worked at the school for 20 years. “Once you come to Edison, you would like to stay at Edison. Edison’s always been a kind of close-knit family.”
Teachers focus on the tenets of the Tribes collaborative program, which calls for mutual respect, attentive listening, the right to pass (remain silent if they don’t want to share) and appreciation. Parent volunteers also provide crucial support, raising money for playground equipment, field trips, and even document scanners on teachers’ desks.
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
