People who visited the Southwest Washington Fair in the 1970s remember the Olde Towne Heritage Street featuring a sheriff’s office and jail, dentist office, Security State Bank branch, school, general store, Evergreen Savings and Assay shop, theater, fire station, saloon stage and a chapel.
“As a child, it felt like an exciting escape into the past,” said Jason Mattson, executive director of the Lewis County Historical Museum. “I enjoyed seeing the old-time store fronts and experiencing the rustic interiors.”
Pioneer Village, a tent filled with old-time artifacts that grew larger than anticipated, began in the late 1950s when the fair celebrated its golden anniversary. By the nation’s bicentennial in 1976, the village had evolved into Olde Towne, thanks to the inspiration of fair manager Tony Wildhaber and the labor of Bob Sobolesky, who, assisted by volunteers, constructed eight old-time store fronts along Heritage Street to re-create a bygone era of the old West. They used materials from old barns and a school from Salkum.
In the early 1980s, the fair erected a church in Olde Town, which fulfilled caretaker Jerry Patrick’s longtime dream of The Salvation Army and established the Old-Time Christmas in Olde Towne.
Then the Chehalis River flooded its banks, time and again, during the next two decades. Floodwater in 1990 swept across the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, inundating buildings and damaging barns and other structures, particularly those in Olde Towne that were built to last only a few years. Six years later, floodwaters reached 14 feet deep at the Saloon Stage and forced fair officials to survey the damage from a rowboat. Ten of the buildings in Olde Towne had to be demolished, providing 300 more seats for the Saloon Stage. Only the fire station and the theater remained. When a dike broke on Dec. 3, 2007, 16 feet of water swept onto the fairgrounds, floated picnic tables over the tops of buildings, forced the helicopter evacuation of employees, and wiped out the last remnants of Olde Towne — the Olde Town Theatre.
Opening day of the 2023 fair, Aug. 15, brought the dedication of the volunteer-built and donated Jubilee Chapel at the north end of the fairgrounds, perhaps the first installment of a new version of Olde Towne.
Hanging flower baskets adorned the exterior of the tiny church with windows with wooden shutters and a peaked roof with a cross. Inside, the walls are stained wood with the lower portion painted blue or aquamarine. Above the back window is a plaque quoting a simple version from Philippians 4: 6-7: “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything.”
Fair manager Pat Slusher explained how construction of the chapel occurred. He met David and Janice Woodrum at a Southwest Washington Fair and, after hearing about the Napavine couple’s worldwide ministry, encouraged them to set up a commercial booth at the fair to share the story of Harvest of Jubilee International.
“I was fascinated by the reach of their good work,” Slusher said.
For three years, the Woodrums staffed a booth at the fair, sharing how their nondenominational Christian missionary ministry started in 1994 in Tacoma. Harvest of Jubilee offers free college education worldwide with graduates earning associate or bachelor’s degrees. Janice obtained double master’s degrees in education and theology and a doctorate to underwrite the curriculum. During the past 35 years, Harvest of Jubilee has established 155 Bible colleges in 33 countries, eight orphanages and several hundred churches.
“We work with anybody who has a heart to do the work,” Dave Woodrum said. “Just any people who have a heart to serve the Lord, see people saved, healed, and set free.”
Janice was from Kansas, but Dave grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He was bi-vocational: he ran a building design and construction company while devoting time to ministry. Janice worked as a nurse.
“I would earn money by work and then I would go give it all away,” he said.
Dave and Janice met while doing prayer mobilization for a revival of spiritual awakening throughout Washington state. Both had been married previously and raised five children altogether. They married in January 1994 and by July began their trek together and never stopped. They owned 80 acres in Kansas but moved to Napavine in 2007 to be closer to their 17 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Then Janice contracted dementia. They had been married 33 years when she died on March 5, 2023, at the age of 74.
“Dave and I were trying to think of a suitable way to pay tribute to this selfless lady,” Slusher said. “Dave administered to the spiritual needs of people in far off locales, while Janet, a nurse, provided hands-on medical care to the sick and needy, even in leper colonies.”
They knew about small “cowboy chapels” in Texas similar to tiny homes.
“We agreed that a small chapel on the fairgrounds would be a fitting tribute to Janet,” Slusher said. “This would also serve a dual purpose — it would be the first new building in bringing back the Olde Towne display at the fair.”
Jason James Inc, a local business that sells custom sheds at the fair each year, heard about the project and contacted Genesis Buildings of Winlock.
“These two businesses shifted into high gear and finished the chapel in time for the 2023 Southwest Washington Fair,” Slusher said. “They delivered a beautiful small building with gorgeous custom doors and shutter at a lot of extra expense to themselves.”
Genesis Buildings donated materials and labor for construction of the tiny chapel, which is about 12 by 16 feet, less than 200 square feet.
“We built the building, ordered the doors and windows, hand-stained the doors and shutters on the building,” a Genesis spokesperson said. “It was a fun project, and we were honored that we could do it!”
The completed building — which was donated — would have cost $13,000.
“Dave Woodrum then came in with his volunteers and cash and finished the interior with a beautiful wood floor and ceiling, wainscoting, and paint,” Slusher said.
Woodrum estimated his monetary investment at $6,500 to $7,000.
“We just tried to make someplace nice for people to just stop and finish their candy or whatever they’re eating,” Woodrum said. “A dozen people could get in there. It’s not committed to any particular denomination. It’s just a prayer chapel.”
Although the chapel was dedicated to Janice Woodrum and it’s called the Jubilee Chapel, the name doesn’t reflect their ministry. Rather, it refers to how long ago Olde Town was built.
“I just mentioned to them that 50 years is the number of Jubilee, so that name kind of stuck, just probably because nobody else had an alternative,” Woodrum said.
After his wife’s death earlier this year, Woodrum sold his home in Napavine to embark on an eight-year legacy journey, visiting the places where the couple planted seeds so he can witness the harvest. He left most recently for three weeks in the Philippines. After returning to Kansas, he’ll visit Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, and Kenya. Altogether, he plans to visit 58 countries within eight years.
“I’m going back to visit all the people,” he said.
He plans to return to Lewis County next summer to complete work on the chapel before the fair opens in August.
“Hopefully, it’ll become a blessing and a benefit to the community and to the fair going forward,” Woodrum said. “I hope they finish the whole Olde Town. I’m glad they’re interested in the past. Our heritage is really important. If we don’t have our heritage, it’s hard to go forward with a legacy.”
And as to why Genesis Buildings decided to donate the materials and labor: “Donating the chapel was something we felt was a way we could contribute to the community, and it’s who we want to be as a company and what we want to be known for,” Joas Plank said. “We are family owned and also faith based, so we were aligned very well with what they were wanting to do with the chapel and it was a practical way for us to help out and also make their dreams and visions for it a reality. It’s a small part of a bigger picture, so it was not about the money for us, but we had around $15,000 invested in the project.”
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
