Keeping Stride

Annabelle Lavier of The Dalles made her mile walk at Thompson Track this morning, Monday, Jan. 11. The 73-year-old has been coming to the track and field for decades. She remembers taking her son, Jack, at 6 months old and her daughter, Kris, when she was three years old to play at the field. They are now in their 40s. Lavier served on the District 12 School Board and remembers the difficulties of when Measure 5 passed in 1990. The statewide Measure capped property taxes dedicated for school funding at $15 per $1,000 of real market value per year and gradually lowered to $5 per $1,000 per year. Operating levies were cut, causing things such as the Ram Center, or media center to close. Even so, she said The Dalles was “an easy place to raise kids.”