A goodbye to ‘Yesterday’

Championship teams see their winning streaks end.

Even the biggest hits on Broadway eventually go dark.

And every year, it gets harder and harder to find some of our favorite items on the store shelves.

The world around us changes. Things end.

Here at The Herald, we recently discontinued a daily feature, “Seems Like Yesterday.”

Many readers were familiar with it. But, then, many readers were not — judging from the initial reactions to the column’s disappearance.

The feature was a collection of items copied from back issues of our newspaper, usually highlighting the names of individuals and businesses familiar to those who have spent their lives in Everett. (And I call it a feature, not a column, because it concentrated on reprinting Herald items, not commenting on them.)

Local historian Jack O’Donnell submitted these items for many years. His family and friends have been in touch with The Herald to let us know how much his work has been appreciated and how much they will miss it.

That interest in history — remembering the people and events that shaped Snohomish County — will continue to be reflected in the stories our staff writes.

In the past year, our coverage has included remembrances of the Everett Elks Club and the 1910 Wellington train disaster. And our business section recently chronicled the passing of the fishing fleet’s old net sheds at the Everett Marina. A Herald story featured Margaret Riddle of the Everett Public Library and a book about the history of the city’s waterfront. And we interviewed history buffs who are working to create a memorial park at the foot of Hewitt Avenue, the site of the 1916 Everett Massacre.

Clearly, there are plenty of lessons to be learned from history. And one is that things change.

Neal Pattison

Executive Editor