Toppenish, Washington Murals Post #2: "Old Timer's Plaza" Park

Kitty corner from the Toppenish train station ...

there is the neatest park.  Known by the name of "Old Timer's Plaza",  it has a bronze sculptured monument in the middle.  I sure wish that I had taken pictures of all four sides.  I'll add on that information as soon as I find it.  It hasn't been very easy so far.

It showcases two huge murals, a guillotine, and with some benches and flowers.

The first mural is named, "The Crossroads to Market":

"Artist Robert Thomas shows the various methods of moving commodities to market in this collage. Thomas was born and raised in Toppenish and now resides in Kooskia, Idaho. The mural is on the wall of the Pow Wow Emporium adjacent to Old Timers Plaza in downtown Toppenish."  Source:  Toppenish.net Mural Gallery.

The second mural at Old Timer's Plaza is called, "When Crops Were Picked by Hand": 

"This mural by Robert Thomas of Kooskia, Idaho, shows an early hop harvest when the crop was picked by hand. This was usually done by Indians from all over the Northwest, who came to the Toppenish area each year with their families, pets and chickens. They set up small Indian villages of teepees at the hop fields, staying until the harvest was completed.  The mural was funded by the hop industry, which also paid for and developed a park called Old Timers Plaza, adjacent to the mural."  Source: Toppenish.net Mural Gallery.

The next two pictures are close-ups of the rest of this mural:

If you ever get the chance to go to Toppenish, please take a few minutes and take a look at these murals and the many others.  Nobody dares to cover over the paintings with graffiti, thank goodness.

~ Kathy M.

Links:
Toppenish, Washington Murals Post #1

News Source.com

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Though last weekend really wasn't about me at all, I did enjoy watching Cary regroup with his old friends from the Washington State Patrol.  I met some very nice folks, and took a lot of group photos.  Here are a few of them:

Captain John Batiste, Brent and Cary

Nancy, Cary and Frank

Cary,  Ralph and Marv

Tom, Cary and Jim

One of the group of folks that gathered at our home away from home.

Tim, Cary and Larry

Laura, Cary and Ginni

Cary and Jo

Dana was a good girl throughout it all. 

It was a busy, busy weekend.  Did we hit the RV park pool?  No.  Did I discover a fancy Safeway?  Yes.  Did we make it to the casino?  Yes.  Did we get rich.  No.  Am I getting better at Blackjack?  Yes.  Did we have fun?  Well, yes indeed, we certainly did. 

It was a great weekend.

~ Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
 

Grass Valley, Oregon

On our way to Washington last Friday, Cary, Dana and I stopped to stretch our legs in the cute little Central Oregon town of Grass Valley, Oregon.

There were historic buildings ...

Neat old houses ...

And right in the middle of town, a little park with on-road parking.

Grass Valley City Park had a maker that counts it as sesquicentennial.  I looked it up, and that long word means 150 years.  I'm guessing that Grass Valley was 150 years old in 2009.

Here are few more pictures of the park itself:

There was also this Oregon History sign that tells about the Oregon Trail's Cutoff to the Barlow Road.  I enlarged it so that you can read it easier:

Across the street from the park is a pretty house with beautiful flower gardens ...

I always feel grateful and appreciative when a town welcomes travelers and gives it's community a delightful place to hang out.  Thanks, Grass Valley folks!

There is a lot more to see there, but we were only driving through.  There is a vacant school and old church that people are fond of taking pictures of.  Here is the Wikipedia.com link.

~ Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
 

It Was a Smokey Trip:

Last week, there were so many fires, especially in Central Oregon and Central Washington.  We left Friday morning, and drove from Sunriver to Toppenish.  Along the way, I took pictures out the window.  This is what it looked like:

The last time that we took this trip was around seven years ago.  There weren't any wind-farms back then.  These things are mesmerizing.

At Biggs Junction, we crossed the mighty Columbia River.  It separates Oregon and Washington.   I love the rugged beauty of that area.

On Sunday, we took a day trip to Lake Chelan to do some visiting.  That isn't very far from Wenachee, where the huge fire was.

On the way home, the skies were much more clear, thank goodness.

Still, we watched another fire grow before our eyes as we were headed into Madras.  Not sure if it was field burning adventure gone bad or what was going on:

And, that is really about all that I have to say.  We all hope that they will get these fires out soon.   It is hard to see and hard to breathe, with all that smoke.

~ Kathy Matthews

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.