Cayucas Morro Bay Cemetery

Here are some of the events planned on the Central Coast to pay respect to our fallen service men and women.San Luis ObispoMemorial Day Veterans Remembrance: 11 a.m. San Luis Cemetery, 2890 S. Higuera St.The program will include the raising of the American flag by local Sea Cadets, patriotic music to include an a cappella quartet from the Pacific Horizon Chorus, and a recitation of the Gettysburg Address by local attorney Stew Jenkins who will portray Abraham Lincoln. Local Boy Scouts from Troop 322 will present a historical tribute to the American Flag, and there will be a flyover of a B25 and a T-28 from the Estrella Warbird Museum. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Elks Lodge parking lot.Avila BeachUnfinished Business Memorial Day Jam: 11:30 a.m. Avila Beach Golf Resort, 6464 Ana Bay Rd.Pryor Baird, Dog Party, and Unfinished Business perform at this benefit concert to honor and remember our veterans and those who have been disabled. Click here to purchase tickets.AtascaderoMemorial Day Ceremony and Barbeque: 12 p.m. Faces of Freedom Memorial, 9029 Morro Rd.This annual ceremony also live music and a community barbeque. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Lunches will be sold for $7-$10.Los OsosMemorial Day Program: 10:30 a.m. Los Osos Valley Mortuary & Memorial Park, 2260 Los Osos Valley Rd.This traditional Memorial Day service includes a performance by the SLO County Band. The event is free and open to the public.Santa MariaMemorial Day Ceremony: 11 a.m. Santa Maria Cemetery, 730 E. Stowell Rd.The program will include an opening prayer, performance of the National Anthem, memorial wreath presentations, a speech by guest of honor Col. Kris Barcomb of Vandenberg AFB, a firing squad, and “Taps.” This event is free and open to the public.Pismo BeachMemorial Day Ceremony: 11 a.m. Pismo Beach PierThis annual event is designed as a remembrance for those who have died in our natio...

By DELL FRANKLINI ran into Richard just off the seawall yesterday morning around nine as he was returning from his walk on the pier. Richard is tall, slender, a little stiff in movement, a trifle hunched, wears glasses, sports a 1950s style mop of hair, is in his early 70s, and is highly educated.At one time he was into a jogging regimen (in fluorescent sneakers) that involved at least 5 miles in a gait slower than my walk. Richard became a real estate agent about 25 years ago; and why I don’t know, because he is not particularly ambitious or money-crazed, but reasonably calm and personable almost all the time, a picture of consistency in a nerd’s grown-up suit. Though he doesn’t wear suits, no, just a plain shirt and plain pants and no tie.Richard has a small office on the main drag, and another in Santa Barbara where he says it’s much easier to sell a house. He shuttles back and forth, and I would say, the best quality about Richard besides his honesty and compassion, is his appreciation of irony and sarcasm and especially absurdity; though unlike myself, he is in too serious a business to be an “absurdist” like me.“I hear there’s eleven real estate offices in Cayucos these days,” I said, after initial salutations. I’ve known Richard from back in the days when I was a bartender in Morro Bay and he slummed with his ex wife, a bit of an adolescent hooligan in grown-up skin. Richard, never a boozer, is long-suffering to say the least.“Probably more,” Richard said. “Lots of real estate agents in Cayucos, and not much to sell. What there is, is too expensive.”“Lots of empty castles and ghost streets.”“Oh yes. I’d say at least eighty per cent of the beach front homes along Pacific Avenue are empty almost all the time.”“Not even for the Fourth and holidays.”He shook his head. “You walk on the beach, and maybe a handful of homes have people enjoying them. Mostly they’re rentals.”“And whole blocks where people used to live, where kids and dogs played, empty. Ghost streets, I agreed...