Pictured is the George and Mary Jane Washington statue form at artist Jim Stafford’s Adna studio.
Adna artist Jim Stafford is seen with the form of George Washington that will soon be sent to a foundry in Tacoma.
The statue will include the likenesses of George and Mary Jane Washington in addition to their dog.
Adna artist Jim Stafford notes details on images of George and Mary Jane Washington that were used in his creation of the form for a statue that will eventually be erected in George Washington Park in Centralia. The statue will include the founders of Centralia as well as their dog.
Orin Smith poses for a portrait that appeared in the University of Washington's Foster Business Magazine in 2016.
Orin Smith listens to Gail Shaw speak while at a Chehalis Foundation luncheon at Mackinaw's in Chehalis in this Chronicle file photo.
The statue will include the likenesses of George and Mary Jane Washington in addition to their dog.
The statue will include the likenesses of George and Mary Jane Washington in addition to their dog.
The statue will include the likenesses of George and Mary Jane Washington in addition to their dog.
The statue will include the likenesses of George and Mary Jane Washington in addition to their dog.
George Washington and his dog are seen in this file photo.
On Monday, the Orin Smith Family Foundation made a donation of $30,000 toward the creation of a statue to recognize the African-American founders of Centralia, George and Mary Jane Washington.
The timing of that donation, which was announced on Martin Luther King Day, only served to amplify the significance of the generous gesture.
In a press release issued Monday afternoon, Brian Mittge, chairman of the George Washington Bicentennial Committee, noted that Washington’s life should serve as an example of how people from different backgrounds can come together during times of great social stratification.
“It’s wonderful to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with this great news in support of our community’s statue to honor and celebrate our African-American founders,” Mittge said in the release. “Centralia and the whole Pacific Northwest should be proud of the pioneer George Washington as one of our Founding Fathers. I’m inspired by his legacy that mixed strong self-sufficiency with generous Christian charity, and I’m excited that we’re about to dedicate a statue to help his life shine forth. Thank you to the Smith family for their many donations to our community over the years, and especially for this $30,000 donations to help preserve the memory of George and Mary Jane Washington.”
That donation brings the total fund for the statue up to $75,000, which represents three-quarters of the way to the total estimated price tag of $100,000. As recently as Friday, members of the George Washington Bicentennial Committee expressed concern that the project was in jeopardy of stalling, and likely missing the target completion date, due to a lack of funds.
Former Centralia Mayor Bonnie Canaday was the first donor to the campaign when she gifted $5,000 dollars for the statue last spring, and she has since donated smaller sums on several occasions.
“This isn’t about us. It’s about Centralia,” said Canaday on Monday as she tended an “Our George Washington” display in Tacoma during the day’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
“When we heard the news, we cried,” she said.
Canaday said her inspiration to join the committee was planted in her youth.
“I was born and raised in Centralia and walked across Washington Park all the years that I was in high school. I knew that he was a black pioneer, and to be able to come back and be the mayor in the same city, it was like a dream… Just like Martin Luther King had a dream, so did I, and now it looks like it is becoming a reality,” said Canaday, who was quick to praise the generosity of the project’s newest donor, Orin Smith. “All I can do is thank him for helping us to make this dream come true.”
Orin Smith is originally from Chehalis. The 1960 W.F. West graduate attended Centralia College, the University of Washington and Harvard Business School before moving on to become CEO and president of Starbucks during the company’s most rapid period of expansion. Smith is a longtime philanthropist who was recently named Person of the Year by The Chronicle after his foundation announced a $10 million endowment to support public education in Chehalis through the Chehalis Foundation’s Student Achievement Initiative. Over the years, Smith has also donated extensively to Centralia College, which is located in the middle of George Washington’s original 1850s homestead, in addition to other projects, including the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library, which is named for his mother.
“Person of the year, indeed!” wrote Mittge in an email to The Chronicle announcing Smith’s donation on Monday.
Aside from Smith and Canaday’s donations, many local citizens have contributed to the statue project with the average donation measuring out to $240. Fundraising efforts are ongoing and any amount raised over the $100,000 needed for the statute will be placed into a George and Mary Jane Washington scholarship fund that will be awarded to a Centralia student who has demonstrated the same pioneering spirit of community service and ability to overcome obstacles as Centerville’s first couple.
Bob Russell, of Chehalis, has been active in organizing and implementing the vast efforts of the committee and he was heartened by the uncommon charity that Smith has displayed. He believes that Smith’s actions fall right in line with the principles exemplified by Washington.
“The creation of a statue remembering his family, made possible by the generous contributions of the community and Orin Smith Family Foundation, would likely have put a tear in the corner of his eye (just as it has mine),” noted Russell in a press release.
With work on the statue’s form recently competed, the clay creation is set to be shipped to Tacoma to Two Ravens Foundry later this week. There it will be transformed from a pliable model into a finished bronze casting. When it is completed, the statue, which will feature George and Mary Jane Washington, along with their faithful dog Rockwood, will be put on permanent display in George Washington Park, outside the Centralia Timberland Regional Library.
The statue will be dedicated during the culmination of a year-long bicentennial celebration of Washington’s life on Aug. 11, 2018. Additional information on Washington's life story is available online at HistoryLink.org as well as in the book, Centralia: The First Fifty years, which is available online at bit.ly/GWchapter. Additional information on the George Washington Bicentennial Committee is available online at ourgeorgewashington.com.
Donations to the Our George Washington fund can be made out to The Centralia Community Foundation and sent to the foundation directly at PO Box 1652, Centralia, WA 98531. Be sure to mention “statue” in the memo line. Donations can also be placed online at centraliacf.org/donate-now or at GoFundMe.com/GW200.
