George Washington and his dog are seen in this file photo.
Dr. Isaac Pope talks about his early life, his decision to move to Lewis County, and his belief that what a person accomplishes in life comes from both hard work and the kindness of others. He spoke on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the Olympic Club Friends and Family Night, which helped raise over $7,000 for the fund to build a statue of George & Mary Jane Washington.
Arborist Ray Gleason discusses his work to preserve the 170-year-old butternut tree planted by the black Northwest pioneer George in Tumwater. Gleason transplanted a sapling from that original tree into Fort Borst Park in Centralia on Oct. 31 as part of the George Washington Bicentennial celebration. Gleason spoke on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the Olympic Club Friends and Family Night.
Dr. Isaac Pope talks about his early life, his decision to move to Lewis County, and his belief that what a person accomplishes in life comes from both hard work and the kindness of others. He spoke on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the Olympic Club Friends and Family Night, which helped raise over $7,000 for the fund to build a statue of George & Mary Jane Washington.
Local historian Heather Beaird discusses the life and legacy of Centralia founders George and Mary Jane Washington during a talk on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the Olympic Club Friends and Family Night, which helped raise over $7,000 for the fund to build a statue of George & Mary Jane Washington.
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The founders of McMenamins and the local management of the Olympic Club came together in an incredible way this week to help Centralia build a statue of its noteworthy founders.
The Oly Club hosted a Friends and Family Night fundraiser, in which they donate half of all the evening’s proceeds to a worthwhile charity.
In this case, that generosity was matched dollar-for-dollar by the McMenamins company, thanks to the support of its founders, Mike & Brian McMenamin, who want to support historical projects like the bronze statue being created for George & Mary Jane Washington.
The Friends and Family Night on Tuesday, Nov. 21, was a blast. We had a packed house. Servers and bartenders said they’d never seen such attendance for one of these charity events. People enjoyed an evening on the town, knowing that all their money went to a good cause.
On Wednesday, Olympic Club Manager Matt Osborne said that McMenamins would be writing a check for $6,769.45 to the George & Mary Jane Washington statue fund at the Centralia Community Foundation.
In addition to that donation, the Oly Club let us use the pub’s Green Room for the evening.
We set up our George Washington Pop-Up Museum, had a silent auction, and held a series of really interesting historical talks.
Arborist Ray Gleason talked about his work to save the 170-year-old butternut tree on the George Bush Homestead in Tumwater, and donated several bowls that he created from the “white walnut” wood he had pruned off the historic tree.
Local historian Heather Beaird talked about the life of George & Mary Jane Washington, reprising a talk she gave at Centralia College on Aug. 15 when it rededicated Washington Hall in the city founder’s honor.
Dr. Isaac Pope, founder of Pope's Kids Place, talked about his life's journey and life philosophy, including gratitude for the many people who helped him along the way, and his conclusion that what a person accomplishes in life comes from hard work and the kindness of helpful people.
We raised more than $1,200 in the Green Room, in addition to the generous donation from McMenamins.
Those donations come on top of funds we had already raised from more than 120 individual donors over the past few months, that brings our fundraising total to more than $35,000!
We still have a ways to go, but the energy and progress is really exciting.
You can donate online at www.OurGeorgeWashington.com/statue or by sending a check to our nonprofit partner:
The Centralia Community Foundation
P.O. Box 1652
Centralia, WA 98531
(Be sure to mark "George Washington statue" in the memo line!)
Once again, thank you to the Olympic Club, McMenamins, everyone who came out Tuesday night, and to the many volunteers who are working together to honor a great man in American history, the Northwest pioneer George Washington.
