The Many Murals of Estacada

For some 20,000 years, humankind has been attracted to the bare wall as a canvas for artistic expression. From the caves of Lascaux in southwestern France where primitive men drew the animals of their known world to the satirical stencilings of British graffiti artist, Banksey, murals have been a popular art form and means of communication. They are considered one of the oldest artistic endeavors and even here, in the Pacific Northwest, native tribes along the Columbia River left art work in the form of petroglyphs that are still visible today after hundreds of years.

The outdoor wall mural has been chosen by a number of small Northwest towns as a strategy for economic development and beautification with Chemainus, British Columbia, as the most noted example. A dying logging community on Vancouver Island, it transformed itself into a huge outdoor art gallery drawing tourists from around the world.  Taking a cue from its northern neighbor, the town of Vale in Eastern Oregon painted 30 empty walls with tales from the Oregon Trail as a way to attract travelers along Interstate 84. Toppenish, Wash., Cottage Grove, Silverton, Springfield, and The Dalles have all dressed up their towns with colorful murals.

A good example closer to Portland, is the town of Estacada, about 35 miles southeast along the banks of the Clackamas River, at the edge of Mt. Hood National Forest. Rather young by Oregon standards, the community was founded in 1905 after a rail line was built to support construction of a series of hydroelectric dams upstream along the Clackamas River. The railroad also serviced a thriving logging and milling industry and the owners of the line (Oregon Water Power and Railway Company) built a grand hotel and park to lure Portland tourists. On weekends, city dwellers rode the electric streetcar out to Estacada or further along the route to Cazadero for an enjoyable day of picnics, fishing, and chicken dinners at the Hotel Estacada.

Over time, the dams were completed, the logging industry faded, the hotel burned down, and the town began to fade as the local economy stagnated. In 1992, several local, professional artists joined together to create the Artback Artists’ Cooperative, and painted the first mural in Estacada. It was so well received by the community that a tradition was born of painting a new mural on the fourth weekend in July during the city’s Summer Celebration. This mural-in-a-weekend program has created a total of 18 murals scattered about town. Because sun and exposure to weather elements have faded many of the older murals, the artists have switched to an alternating program of restoring a mural one year and creating a new one the next year.

Most of the murals celebrate some aspect of the area’s history and recreational opportunities including Native American life, logging, the Barlow Road, train travel, fishing, quilting, and mushroom foraging. On the wall of Wong’s King Chinese restaurant is a colorful mural dedicated to a surprising, local crop called ginseng. In the early 1900s, this medicinal herb was an important element in the local economy, and was shipped to China where it is highly revered for its restorative properties. But, global events including the Depression, World War II, and the rise of Communism in China brought an end to the industry.

To visit the murals, pick up a Walking Tour map available at the Chamber of Commerce office in City Hall on Main Street. Most of murals are located in a compact area of about six city blocks and their color and size make them easy to spot. This year’s Summer Celebration falls on the weekend of July 26 and 27 and provides an opportunity to view a mural in the making. The theme of the 2014 mural is the Hamatsa dance of the Kwakwaka’waka people of Vancouver Island, B.C. and will complete a trilogy of native-themed murals designed by John Freese on the walls of the Harvest Market on Broadway.

 

 

In addition to the mural-in-a-weekend project, the festival includes music, arts and crafts, food and entertainment. Unfortunately, the trolley no longer brings city dwellers out to Estacada; you’ll have to drive.

Leavenworth: A Town for All Seasons

What could attract over a million and a half visitors annually to an ersatz Bavarian village in the middle of Washington State's Cascade Mountains? Could it be the Maifest in May, the Accordian Celebration in June, Autumn Leaf Festival in September, Ocktoberfest, Christmas Market, Christmas Lighting Festival?  Everything is celebrated here from salmon to sausages to snow. The Arts and Entertainment Network honored it as The Ultimate Holiday Town, and as the Chamber of Commerce boasts, “There’s always something happening in Leavenworth.”

It wasn’t this way not so many years ago. In the early 1960s, the once-booming lumber town was in serious decline. The Great Depression, the sawmill closing, and departure of the railroad switching yards had left Leavenworth with an ailing economy and lack of jobs. As the town became more and more run-down, local business leaders and residents formed a committee called Project LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement for Everyone) and turned to the University of Washington’s Bureau of Community Development for help in saving the community. A number of ideas were tossed around, but the concept of creating a theme town was the most popular. There were already several successful examples in the country including “Danish” Solvang, California, “Swiss” New Glarus, Wisconsin, and “German” Frankenmuth, Michigan. While Leavenworth had no single ethnic tradition, it did have an attractive alpine setting and the idea of creating a romanticized, Bavarian village seemed to be the best fit.

Architectural consultants were called in and the transformation took off. Downtown businesses were redesigned with half-timbered facades and embellished with Bavarian elements including window shutters, scalloped designs, flower boxes, and Germanic script. Great efforts were taken to make the town as authentic as possible; even Safeway and McDonalds caught the Bavarian spirit.

Today, tourists roll in by the busloads and the hills are alive with the sounds of oompah-pah, polka music and the ch-ching of cash registers. Leavenworth shines as an amazing success story in community improvement. While some critics consider it a bit too kitschy and way over the top, the concept somehow works. Visitors gladly make the 100-mile trek east from Seattle to experience a little bit of Europe without the ten-hour plane flight, weak dollar, and language problems.

Shopping is a big attraction here with dozens of specialty shops lining Front Street. Many stores stick to the German theme offering cuckoo clocks, music boxes, Hummel figurines, smoked meats and sausages, Christmas ornaments, and nutcrackers. There’s even a museum dedicated to the nutcracker with over 5000 of them, from the traditional, wooden toy soldiers to a silver-plated French courtesan.

Restaurants with names like King Ludwig, Café Mozart, Munchen Haus, and Der Hinterhof offer an opportunity to sample Bavarian cuisine washed down with German beers. If sausage, schnitzel, and sauerkraut are not to your liking, there are dozens of other choices as well.

Likewise, accommodations range from charming, Alpine-inspired bed and breakfasts to rustic cabins on the banks of the Wenatchee River. With so much variety, Leavenworth makes as excellent home base for exploring the Washington Cascades. 

When all the Bavarian gemutlichkeit becomes overwhelming, visitors can escape to the great outdoors. The surrounding Wenatchee-Okanogan National Forests offers over 2600 miles of hiking trails and there are several, easy nature trails in town along the Wenatchee River. Other recreational opportunities nearby include horseback riding, whitewater rafting, and fishing. Winter time brings downhill skiing at Stevens Pass, cross-country skiing, sleigh rides and snowshoeing.

With its many festivals, four season outdoor activities, and scenic mountain setting, Leavenworth has gone from down-in-the-dumps lumber town to one of Washington’s top tourist destinations in only forty years.

Celebrating Spring Flowers

Every flower has its day in the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the blooming season local festivals celebrate lilacs, peonies, dahlias, roses, and most other posies. The 2010 season kicks off this weekend with the Daffodil Festival in Junction City, Oregon. At the Long Tom Grange on daffodil-lined Ferguson Road, there will be homemade cinnamon buns, wagon rides, arts and crafts booths, and lots and lots of bright yellow flowers.

The next celebrated flower is the tulip with its wide array of intense colors. It is the harbinger of spring; a bright burst of color signifying the end of a long grey winter. With our cool, rainy climate, tulip growing has been an important agricultural commodity in the Pacific Northwest for many years, and the area offers a number of tulip festivals during March and April. Bloom time for tulips in this region can run from late February to late May depending on the variety, but most display their showy petals during April, peaking around the second week of the month.

Oregon’s largest display is east of Woodburn at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm where the 25th Annual Woodburn Tulip Festival will be in full swing from March 25 through April 25. With over 40-acres of brilliant blooming flowers, the farm enjoys a splendid setting with Mt. Hood and the foothills of the Cascade Range in view on clear days. Festival visitors can tip toe through the tulip fields, order from a selection of over 150 bulbs, and buy freshly cut tulips and daffodils. A gift shop features unique Dutch items and gardening books and accessories, and there are many kid-friendly activities for tulip lovers of all ages. Weekends offer additional attractions such as wine tastings, live music, local sausages, and arts and crafts tents.

Not to be outdone, Washington State also has its share of tulip festivals with the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, north of Seattle, drawing over one million visitors from all over the world. This event, running the entire month of April, is spread throughout Skagit County with tulip fields and farms covering a 15-mile radius. Festival events are scattered around several towns and offer something for everybody including bike and running events, street fairs, parades, art displays, quilt walks, salmon barbeques, antique markets, and wine tastings.

On a much smaller scale is the Woodland Tulip Festival, about a half hour drive north of Portland on I-5. The event takes place at the Holland America Bulb Farm owned by the Dobbe family. Benno Dobbe, along with his wife and three young children, immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands in 1980 and bought five acres of land along the Lewis River. Despite their modest beginnings, the farm now distributes millions of bulbs and cut flowers all over the world. This year’s tulip festival runs from April 3 through 30 and is similar to the event in Woodburn with tulip fields to walk through, a charming display garden with tulips and other spring-time blooms, and a gift shop offering fresh cut flowers and bulbs. On weekends, there are additional activities including live entertainment, ethnic food, crafts by local artists, and events for children.