CITIZEN SPOTLIGHT: Clarence Reed

May will be a busy month for everyone in Snowberry Creek! On top of the usual meetings, I know many of you will be looking forward to the Mother’s Day Tea hosted by the Community Church. Also, we will be honoring all of our men and women in uniform on May 26th at the Annual Memorial Day parade and picnic.

And with that in mind, it’s time to shine our spotlight on one of our leading citizens here in Snowberry Creek, former Marine and current hardware store owner, Clarence Reed! Clarence, thank you for joining me in the Spotlight today!

Thanks for having me, Mayor.

I know your family’s roots go deep in the history of our fair town. Can you tell everyone a little about how the Reeds came to be part of Snowberry Creek?

Well, shortly after Mr. Wolfe decided to start a town on the banks of the creek, he built a small sawmill. My own grandfather took a job working for him. He started off driving a wagon and worked his way up to managing the mill as Mr. Wolfe pursued other interests in the area. Once he saved up enough money, Grandpa Bill opened a small trading post right on the same spot that my hardware store stands today.

And tell us about your family today.

My wife Deborah and I both grew up in the area and started dating in high school. I joined the Marine Corps and served one tour before coming back to attend college over in Pullman. Go, Cougs! We married shortly after we graduated and came back here where I took over my father’s store, and she taught school. We have two sons and just recently celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with a road trip to Arizona.

That sounds like a wonder trip! What all did you see along the way?

We went to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, drove through Joshua Tree National Park, went to a couple of Cactus League Spring Training games, and then stopped by the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park on the way back. We sure saw some beautiful places.

One last question for you, Clarence. How do you feel about being this year’s Grand Marshall in the Memorial Day Parade?

I’m not sure I deserve that honor, but I will do my best to represent all the veterans we have in our community. As you know, we have a veteran’s group that meets every Saturday at the Community Church. This year, the bunch of us volunteered to man the barbecue grills at the park after the parade. Any proceeds from the burgers and hotdogs will go to several veterans groups we want to support.

What a wonderful idea and a great way to support such an important cause. I’ll make sure that information gets into the promotional materials for the day’s celebration. Again, thank you for visiting with us today!