Lewis County’s history is rich with variety, ranging from Centralia’s founding father, George Washington, settling in the area in the early 1850s, to Kenneth Arnold’s famous 1947 “flying saucer” sighting near Mount Rainier after departing from Chehalis.
Residents and visitors can find out about this history and more at the Lewis County Historical Museum, located at 599 NW Front St. in downtown Chehalis. The museum does more than just retain Lewis County’s history. It also celebrates it with events throughout the year.
Lewis County Historical Museum Executive Director Jason Mattson announced upcoming museum events during a Lewis County Historical Society dinner last month.
Flying Saucer Party
First and foremost is the museum’s most popular event, the Chehalis Flying Saucer Party, an annual celebration of Arnold’s famous 1947 sighting. It will be held on Sept. 13 and 14 in downtown Chehalis.
Last year, the party added the inaugural Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest, which is returning for this year’s Flying Saucer Party after last year’s success.
“We had over five hours of contributions, and we had to widdle it down to three hours,” Mattson said.
Nearly 200 attendees filled McFiler’s Chehalis Theater to watch the film festival.
The deadline to submit a film for this year’s Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest is Aug. 18. For more information, including rules, prizes and how to submit a film for entry, visit https://filmfreeway.com/NWFlyingSaucerFilmFest.
For updates on the Flying Saucer Party, follow its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/flyingsaucerparty. Vendor registration for this event is also now open and can be found online at https://bit.ly/3VL89Mc.
Mattson added there are also plans to add a parade, or short procession, to the next Flying Saucer Party.
Model Railroad Train Show and Swap Meet
This weekend, the museum is hosting the Lewis County Model Railroad Train Show and Swap Meet at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds’ Blue Pavilion, located at 2555 N. National Ave. in Chehalis.
Admission is $5 per person and children 10 and younger get in free. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 7.
Along with the giant model train display at the Lewis County Historical Museum, Mattson added children now have a train they can play with there as well.
“We got a wooden train set donated and I turned one of the old display cases into basically a play area. It's got some major Lewis County landmarks to show kids things like the Winlock gate, Claquato Church, the Yard Bird, that kind of stuff,” Mattson said.
Evening with the Authors, Tree Lighting, Pancakes, RichArt
With the growing success of the past two years of Christmas Tree lightings at the museum, Mattson has decided to combine the event with the museum’s Evening with the Authors event, which also typically takes place toward the end of the year.
“Thanks to Kate McDougall for helping with that … It keeps growing and growing,” Mattson said.
An exact date for the Christmas tree lighting and Evening with the Authors will be announced later this year.
The Lewis County Historical Museum will also take part in Chehalis Fest again this year with its annual blueberry pancake breakfast, which has also been seeing attendees return after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year (2023). we served 366 breakfasts, the year before it was like 250, so we’re planning on more fun for this year,” Mattson said.
Blueberries for this event are donated by the Pan-American Berry Growers in Mossyrock.
Chehalis Fest is held on the last Saturday of July, which is July 27 this year.
The blueberry pancake breakfast will kick off at the Lewis County Historical Museum from 8 to 11 a.m. and costs $7 per person, with children seven and under eating free.
For more information, visit https://experiencechehalis.com/chehalisfest/.
Along with the new wooden toy train, Mattson said the museum now also features a new Richard Tracy exhibit with some pieces of Tracy’s art now open at the museum.
Tracy, also known as RichArt, was an eccentric and regionally known artist who passed away in December of 2022.
He famously turned his own house into a giant art studio, with large and intricate art pieces displayed in his yard on the corner of Harrison Avenue and M Street in Centralia.
He was also known for his obsession with the number five, and would charge visitors $5 for a 55-minute tour of his personal art studio and home in Centralia.
On multiple occasions, he held fundraisers for the Twin Cities Senior Center in which he would sell his work for $5 a piece. Tracy was also a volunteer at the senior center.
According to previous reporting by The Chronicle, Tracy believed five was a democratic number, meaning three decide while two have to follow. He estimated that he had more than 1,000 paintings in his home during the 2016 interview.
