Foos and friends react to blast

Published 12:08 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

Longtime Enumclaw resident in London during bombing

By Anne Radford

The Courier-Herald

Carolyn Foos, a familiar face in Enumclaw art circles and a member of University Place Presbyterian Church choir, spent about two and a half weeks touring with the group through Scotland and England on a bus, performing in old churches and staying in the homes of town residents, before arriving in London.

About 9:30 the morning of July 7, she headed to the British Museum to see its Egyptian display with several other choir members.

As the group walked the three blocks from their hotel to the large London museum, they noticed barricades had been set up and there was a strong police presence in the area.

"We couldn’t figure out what had happened," Foos, a former Enumclaw resident, said.

The group spent about three hours exploring the museum before leaving to get their e-tickets for their flight home the following day.

The man helping them told them what had happened that morning.

Three bombs had gone off in the London Underground train system at about 8:50 a.m. British Summer Time, and another had gone off on a double-decker bus at about 9:47 a.m.

"It was horrendous," Foos said. "What happened, I couldn't believe it."

Foos said there was confusion, but people remained calm and were not hysterical or screaming. The police directed the crowds with a courteous manner, she said.

"The composure of the British citizens never ceases to amaze me," she said.

After hearing what had happened, Foos and her group returned to their hotel to meet up with the rest of the 50-member choir. One member had even heard two individual blasts on his way to an Underground entrance to buy tickets for the theatre, Foos said.

The choir members checked in with their church, which was able to inform families in the United States that no one from the choir was injured. The choir flew home as scheduled and Foos said security at the airport was not intrusive or overwhelming. Television crews met them when their plane landed at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Foos said she does not have any apprehension about returning to England.

"It was fortunate that we all got back safely," Foos said. "I definitely want to go back to London. There is so much history to see."

Foos has remained updated with the developments of the bombing investigation.

At least 56 people were killed in the bombings.

Foos, 81, currently lives in Puyallup. She lived in Enumclaw for more than 30 years, and remains involved with Arts Alive!, and the Enumclaw Arts Commission as a volunteer.

Anne Radford can be reached at aradford@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.