I remember well the night Deena Cornish spoke before the City Council about downtown Auburn. She has written for the Auburn Reporter (“Recalling a vibrant downtown then, and what it could be now,” June 25) of memories I and many others have of a downtown Auburn may be losing.

My granddaughter is fourth-generation born and raised in Auburn, and now I’m showing her parts of the Auburn my children and many of her ancestors loved. I hope as a community we can all pull together to save what is left of a downtown core so many of us love.

My hat is off to the business owners who have stayed or came into the downtown core. We have a delightful little tea and coffee store, small bakery, clothing store, a real jewelry store, two grocery stores, even a drug store in downtown.

Not many cities in the state have a better history of “sticking together” in good times and bad than Auburn. I guess it’s time for us to stand up to the challenge and start doing a better job of managing “downtown.”

Thanks for the memories, Mrs. Cornish.

– Virginia Haugen,

Auburn City

Councilmember