DECK THE HALLS WITH DOUG MILLER AND BRIAN EBERSOLE >>>
Digging out the Weekly Volcano World Headquarters Christmas decorations from the basement of Building Three, we happened upon a year 2000 story that ran in our defunct Tacoma City Paper. During December 2000 Alec Clayton asked members of the Tacoma City Council about their holiday plans and what they thought the future held. Tacoma Mayor Brian Ebersole and Councilmember Doug Miller had the most interesting responses.
Spark up the fireplace, pour yourself a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the past:
Newly elected council member Doug Miller enters the new millennium by finishing up a six-year term on the board of the Parks Commission and stepping in as a City Council member representing Position No. 1, a sprawling region that basically starts at the University Place city limit and heads west, following the water around Point Defiance and Ruston Way. Miller says he is staying at home for the holidays and looks forward to celebrating Christmas with his wife and child and extended family. "I'm fortunate to have my immediate family here in Tacoma," Miller says.
The Miller family celebration will be pretty traditional, with everybody divvying up the cooking duties. "We'll probably have turkey or ham, and maybe somebody will throw in a surprise dish," he says.
"Gatherings at Grandma's house have always been among my favorite Christmas memories," he says, "opening presents and enjoying the humor that always bounces around the house. The house was filled with laughter and good food and anticipation for the kids."
He recalls a favorite gift he received as a child. It came during the heyday of the early James Bond craze when Sean Connery was Agent 007. Miller received a secret agent kit. It came in a brief case and had things like hidden cameras and scopes to peek over fences. "My best friend got one too, and we went around the neighborhood playing secret agent and had a ball."
For the coming millennium, Miller predicts "a bright future" for Tacoma. "The rebirth or revitalization of Tacoma will continue, and there will be even more striking changes than have ever been seen before."
He says downtown will see a "remarkable transformation" and that the new art museum and glass museum, coupled with beautification along the waterfront, will be beautiful and exciting. And he predicts: "The perceived Y2K crises will turn out to be nothing."
Christmas this year may not be the happiest of times for Tacoma Mayor Brian Ebersole. He will be going back home to Pennsylvania to visit his ailing parents. Ebersole's father has had Parkinson's disease for the past 17 years, and his mother has Alzheimer's. "But it will be happier if I'm there," the mayor says.
He also hopes to get a short visit with his brother, who will be coming up from Georgia. "I'll probably travel back on Christmas Day," he says. It's a good day to travel, because it is the day most people will be at home. But he may come back early. "If I get back a day early, I'll probably have a quiet Christmas at home with my wife."
Traditionally Ebersole and his wife go back east to visit family for the holidays. But over the past few years they have taken trips out of the country visiting Mexico, Spain and Israel. He says his favorite Christmas memory goes back to when he was about 7 years old. "I got a football uniform. My brother and I both got uniforms with helmets and shoulder pads. We wore the full uniforms for about two weeks."
When asked for a political prediction for the coming year, Ebersole said: "I think Al Gore will get the Democratic nomination, and Bush will be the Republican. Bush will falter by not being able to name the political leaders of England, France and Canada, and the voters will say we don't expect you to know much, but we expect you to know at least as much as we do."