Cinnabar moth caterpillar

July 27, 2016, Hemlock St. and Evergreen Pl.

The cinnabar moth is a natural enemy of tansy ragwort. The noxious weed is an invasive plant from Europe, and the moth, also from Europe, was introduced here on purpose a few decades ago as a way of biological control.  In the 1960s tansy seemed more out of control than it is today.

Big Morning Mist

July 27, 2016

Can't even see the smokestack.

Phone pole, Simpson Ave.

July 27, 2016

Mountain ash berries

July 27, 2015

Sixth and Simpson

The northwest corner, July 26, 2016

McCleary actually experiences a bit of gridlock at this intersection when the Simpson Co. workers change from day to swing shifts.

An unhappy citizen

July 25, 2012. A message left on the McCleary Post Office bulletin board:

"Take McClearys money Then Leave Town? WTF. GooD RiDdance."

Political or opinion messages left on the PO bulletin board seldom stay up for long, but I always find them to be thought provoking and wish we had a public board devoted to just sounding off. Now that Internet is a household item, such hardcopy messages are becoming more scarce.

A New Trend in Landscaping

Stencil bushes. July 24, 2016

Dusk at 5th and Maple

July 23, 2016, facing east.

Back alley dusk

July 23, 2016. The setting sun lights up the tops of trees and hills. View from the alley behind the Post Office.

Northeast view

July 22, 2016. View of McCleary from Sixth St. looking northeast.

McCleary Jct

July 21, 2016

Buck Street

July 21, 2016.

McCleary's northernmost street within city limits currently hosts a portable toilet, but there will probably be real people in real houses on this street in the near future.

Where the sidewalk ends

July 21, 2016

Where Summit Road crosses the railroad tracks was once a thriving little community called "Summit" because it was on the highest elevation on the railroad between Puget Sound and Grays Harbor. The Summit Post Office was established in the 1870s. The community had their own school and the building later became the Grange Hall demolished in the 1990s, I think, to make room for the new residential development.

Pony circle

July 21, 2016. The circle left by pony ride for the kids from the McCleary Bear Festival.

In the background, where Simpson's fence now exists, there was a two story structure a century ago known as "The Old Oaken Bucket." In the first floor were business enterprises, such as the newspaper The McCleary Stimulator, founded by the Craft twins, Ray and Roy, with their friend Bob Cooper.  On the 2nd floor was another sort of business enterprise employing some of the "soiled doves" of the town. Another such place was on the now vacant SW corner of Main and Maple, once home to The Pines.

Some kind of green fruit

Rainbow Park, July 21, 2013

McCleary morning misty clouds

July 17, 2016

The Union Hall

July 17, 2011

This was the site of the Pastime Pool Hall where Al McKean was killed.

If I am not mistaken, I believe Henry McCleary's desk now resides in this building, a fact that no doubt would've really bugged that old union buster.

Somewhere around this spot was also the gate to the Jake Anderson place before Henry McCleary arrived. Jake, a cranky Norwegian bachelor, lived at what is now the top of the "T" at 5th and Oak.

Tony and ZZ

July 17, 2011

The crypt of Anthony (1908-1960) and Azizeh (1915-2001) Souda in Fern Hill Cemetery, Aberdeen.

The Soudas operated the Golden Rule Store, which was located in what is now a vacant lot just north of the second hand store on Maple and Main. They were a vital part of McCleary community life. The actual building was still standing as late as the 1960s. 

Al McKean, 1879-1926

July 17, 2011

The crypt of Al McKean, Fern Hill Cemetery, Aberdeen.

McKean was a popular figure in McCleary. He ran the Pastime Pool Hall, where the present Union Hall sits. The original Pastime building was torn down in the summer of 1986.

McKean was shot and killed when he surprised a burglar while returning to the Pool Hall after hours. Henry McCleary spared no expense in helping law enforcement track down the killer.  When they finally arrested the likely killer and threw him in the Grays Harbor County jail, he refused to talk.

The story goes that McKean's twin brother was made up to look like a ghost and would silently stare at the superstitious prisoner through the bars at night. This method extracted the needed confession.

The entire episode earned an article in a sensationalist crime story tabloid, Real Detective in Jan. 1937 entitled "The Jungle Buzzard and the Ghost of Al McKean."

Wildcat Creek

Behind the cemetery, July 14, 2016

Frank Lloyd Wrong

July 13, 2016

Cedar St., one realtor actually marketed this place as "Frank Lloyd Wrong." It had a flat roof. Why anyone would build a structure with a flat roof in western Washington is beyond me, especially in Grays Harbor County.

Sunset at 5th and Oak

July 13, 2014

Traffic Cones

Bear Fest traffic cones being gathered up, July 13, 2012

Baseball dugout

McCleary Bear Festival, July 13, 2012. I think this was the year the law enforcement guys were playing the firefighters, and a rare thunderstorm came, and they kept on playing anyway.

Baseball

July 13, 2012, McCleary Bear Festival.

Although McCleary definitely is a town filled with Seahawks fans, baseball is the sport that has been played by the citizens, children and adult, ever since the town was created. Baseball is a big part of the Bear Festival every year. 

That being said, there are only two times I have seen fireworks set off in McCleary outside of New Years or Independence Day. First was when Osama bin Laden was killed by special forces sent in by President Obama, and second was when the Seahawks won the Superbowl. 

Lost Boys Pirates group shot

Plus Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily, McCleary Bear Festival, July 13, 2012

Lost Boys Pirates

McCleary Bear Festival float at rest, July 13, 2012. Simpson Co. dry kilns in the background.

Preparing the bear stew

Preparing bear stew, July 13, 2012

In 1959 the town celebrated the first annual Second Growth Festival, an event that stemmed from the University of Washington sponsored Operation Second Growth, 1955-1956, a program designed to help small communities help themselves.

The local editor of the McCleary Stimulator, Norman Porter, got into an editorial war with Roy Craft, the editor of the Skamania County Pioneer over which county had the better tasting bears. I suspect alcohol was involved in this debate.

Craft, who had actually started the Stimulator back in the 1920s with his twin brother Ray, and was a childhood pal of Porter's had briefly been Marilyn Monroe's publicist. He was the guy who convinced her to stand over a grate in downtown NYC in order to promote the Seven Year Itch motion picture. Leave it to a McCleary guy to think of that. 

Anyway, in the first year the bear was served in steak form, but in short order the Festival planners figured out it was easier to make stew so more people could enjoy it.

The Festival soon became known as the McCleary Second Growth and Bear Festival, but now the "Second Growth" portion of the name has been discarded. 

McCleary Bear Festival breezeway

July 13, 2012

Greek section

McCleary Cemetery, July 12, 2016

George Itsos (1886-1940), Christ Pappas (1882-1956), Savvas Karaynnis (1873-1923), George Iliades (d. 1919), Peter Cholos (1873-1917), Demetrios Stamatoy "Yakima" Eanis (1881-1963), Anton Stergon (1882-1915) and three unmarked.