Some years back the town of Enumclaw went in search of its identity. It hired a firm to do research and they decided Enumclaw is a horse town. It seemed to make sense, there are a lot of horse owners around this city. It also just felt nostalgic and Bonanza, like there is something about the old westerns, simple and innocent.

History has shown us more often than not, that we find our identity by going through trials, how we handle ourselves in tough times will show us who we really are. I recently met a person who had just moved here from out-of-state; he said he thought Enumclaw was the little Texas of King County. I believe he was referring to how the city was dealing with the mandates that keep coming down from the governor.

After recent Seattle press coming to Enumclaw, it seems the pressure is building. The city council, to their credit, have used common sense and laid low, to let the people use their own judgement. The business community has so far maneuvered the mandates and created a great community feel every weekend on Cole Street.

On the other hand, the school board has chosen to ignore common sense and the will of the people and follow everything they are told from above.

The churches seem to be full (that’s good) but somewhat divided. Some are active in speaking against the mandates, while others stay silent and just try to go along to get along. It seems the pressure is building, as now some have lost their jobs due to refusing the COVID vaccination.

Will the town stand with them? How about the mandate for kids coming down the pike from 5 to 11 to get the shot — how will Enumclaw respond to that? I think the time is here when we really find out who we are, and we don’t even have to pay a fancy firm to figure it out for us.

Kevin McCoy

Enumclaw