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The Slice: Time for somebody to face history

Back in ancient times, 1980, Jeff Nadeau worked for the Washington State Department of Transportation.

His job was to test concrete being used on the James Keefe (Hamilton Street) Bridge.

Nadeau and colleague Darrel McCallum always collected more concrete than they needed for testing. “I began pouring the extra concrete onto a sheet of plywood and fashioning it into the shape of a traditional Polynesian tiki god, similar to the faces on Easter Island. It was about three and a half feet tall with bold facial features.”

That statue watched over the bridge project. When the span was about to be opened to traffic, Nadeau and McCallum dropped it to a watery tomb in the Spokane River. They wondered about the possibility that it might one day be discovered and appear to be the religious idol of some long-lost civilization.

Now, 35 years later, a river cleanup is underway. “I can only hope the divers performing the cleanup are shocked and amazed when they find signs of the Incan civilization in Spokane.”

But he’s torn. Much as he would like to see that happen, Nadeau sort of wants the concrete statue to remain on the river bed, “Protecting the Keefe Bridge and all those who cross it.”

People wanting to help: “Regarding your question about strangers and good deeds … last month I was with my family in Cannon Beach and dramatically fell off a curb and sprained my ankle,” wrote Betsy Lawrence. “While my husband ran for the car to pick me up and my sister sat with me on the curb, two young men went in search of ice. I was a shaking mess and didn’t know what I needed, but they insisted, and found a ziplock bag of ice from a restaurant and stayed with me until I assured them they could go on and enjoy the day. I thought of their kindness to a stranger each time I looked at my swollen ankle.”

Please find more stories about people stepping up to help – more than I have room for in print – on The Slice Blog at www.spokesman.com.

Today’s Slice question: When would you have died if not for modern medicine?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. If Susan Johnson had a clone, she would assign it the tasks of dusting and folding laundry, “Things I neglect even when I have the time.”

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