The Bear in the Library

Jan. 2, 2018

The bear is wearing some sort of holiday hat at the time this phone photo was taken.

The sign next to the bear, apparently written in 2013, reads thusly:

In 2002, "Blackberry" was taken in a clear cut near the Reed Hill Lookout in the Satsop River drainage in Grays Harbor County by Lanny Duvall of Montesano.

In the past eleven years the Duvall family, Lanny, his wife, Kelli, and their two sons Devyn and Dylann have moved all over the United States. Blackberry has moved with them each time and served as a great conversation piece. For the past five years, the Duvall family has been living overseas in China, leaving Blackberry in storage. Each summer they spend their summer vacations with family in the McCleary area. One of their favorite summer events is the McCleary Bear Festival, which Kelli's sister, Teresa Sanders, acts as a volunteer.

As the Duvall's continue their adventures,  they decided, in 2013, to donate their bear to the McCleary Historical Society. On loan to the McCleary Timberland Library, Blackberry has settled into his new home and can be enjoyed by all of McCleary and Grays Harbor families.

The Duvalls are now residents of Amsterdam.

McCleary Laundromat before the bashing

Dec. 15, 2012. This was shortly before the front of the operation was bashed in by a vehicle. Also note the existence of the veterinary clinic next door, which alas did not last long here. The loading dock of the Post Office is pictured on the far left.

I'm told this area was the site of a garage run by Russ McMillan in the old days and Russ had a stuffed lamb with one head and two bodies in his display window. I was acquainted with Russ but never had a chance to ask him about this oddity or what happened to it.