VADER - With the vision of a bright future in store for their community, many Vader residents are eagerly working on shaping a piece of donated farmland into McMurphy Park.
There have been attempts in previous years to find a spot and create a public area out of the land, but this is the first Vader city park that's ever been worked on, said Park Chairman Andy Wilson.
The city has no money to put into a park fund, Wilson said.
"A lot of things that we need to do is get more volunteers to help us," Wilson said.
He said he hopes that the first gathering of citizens at the new park can take place around Labor Day.
The park is located in the north section of Vader between Annonen Road - which runs along the railroad tracks - and Olequa Creek. It borders the small rapids that once gave the town the name Little Falls.
The land is owned by the city of Vader, but because not all of the land is within the city limits, there was a discussion about annexing the park, Vader City Clerk Kathy Crawford said.
"But it shouldn't be a problem to make that happen," Crawford added.
Longtime Goal
Six years ago, former Vader resident Dolores McMurphy, who had no family left, decided she would donate the 13-acre property in an effort to better the community and make it safer for children who already play there.
"If children (go) over there by themselves, there would be more people around to see what was going on, and that would cut down (on) people dealing drugs," McMurphy said.
"It (the land) should be something more than 'just there to stand,' " McMurphy added. "I thought it would be best as a park."
Though large, the city's project looks promising, as the citizens of the community continue to work hard.
As envisioned, the grounds will feature a public rest room, septic system, dry camping area, small amphitheater or stage where local acts can perform, running water, working electricity, a ball field that functions for baseball and softball, and be available for picnics, reunions, and other events. There are also plans to have security stay on premises.
Water Woes
The expected date of completion depends on the securing of permits.
"We have to wait for the city's moratorium on water permits to be done before (we) can get approval for the septic tank system," Wilson said.
The city of Vader, in conjunction with the state department of health, is not issuing new water service connections at this time, according to Andy Anderson, regional engineer for the Washington State Department of Health, Office of Drinking Water.
"It looks like the issue could be that they have a lot of lost water. It's the difference between what their production records are and their consumption records," Anderson said.
It could be water leaks coming from the fire hydrants or service meters that aren't calibrated correctly, Anderson added.
"If they (the park) don't have a water service connection, they have to wait for the city to show that they have an adequate water supply for them," Anderson said.
In terms of quality, there's no problem with Vader's water, Anderson said. The wait for a permit has to do with the city's submission of their water system plan.
Every six years, public water systems submit documents to the state Department of Health that evaluate the capacity of the water system to serve existing and predicted customers under worst case scenarios, such as under fire flows - when a fire truck would have to open a fire hydrant and use it to fight a fire - or maximum water demands during the hottest day of the year. They evaluate their ability to grow, Anderson said.
Dennis Montgomery, public works superintendent for the city of Vader, is confident that the source of the water loss has almost been found.
"We're gettin' it fixed," Montgomery said.
Community Efforts
All current workers on the project are volunteers. Whether or not they are a part of the Vader community, anyone is allowed to help, Councilman Charles Beardsley said.
"We've been down here lately, cleaned it up, brushed it, mowed the grass, and picked up a lot of debris in the last few weeks," Wilson said.
Vader School, which shut down this past May, has donated some playground equipment to the park so children will have a recreation area.
The Country Cruisers, a newly formed car club based in Vader, along with other people from the local area, Toledo, and Centralia, are donating time, labor, materials, and equipment - such as lawn mowers, tractors, and dump trucks - to the cause. Their club is a nonprofit organization that donates money to the park and holds fund-raisers for people in need, said Country Cruisers President Jerry McGinnis.
"We got the place looking good right now, pretty much mowed up," McGinnis said.
"I'm glad you're putting (it) in the paper so people in the town will know what we're doing," McGinnis said. "For the kids in town, we wanna fix it up."
"Improving that area and making it into a park would be nothing but a good thing, I would imagine," said Marcus O'Connor, former Vader chief of police.
"That's a popular spot for the Vader residents because Little Falls sits back there and those were the falls the city was originally named after, and so in the summer time, it's very popular with the kids," O'Connor said.
Happy Memories
Before the contract was drawn, and the land given as a gift, McMurphy adamantly made it clear that the large black walnut tree in the middle of the acreage was not to be disturbed.
"When I gave the gift, I said the black walnut tree couldn't be cut down or anything like that. It had to be left," McMurphy said. "I had played there myself as a child."
It was McMurphy's father and mother who, on April 18, 1939, bought the land so the family could grow hay next to their property.
McMurphy, who was born in Vader and now lives in Centralia, graduated from Winlock High School in 1940. Her favorite memory of living in Vader was just growing up in a nice town.
"I was a princess one year in the May Day parade," McMurphy said.
Cheryl Drucker is an intern in The Chronicle's newsroom. She can be reached by e-mail at cdrucker@chronline.com or at 807-8241.
SideBar: Vader Barbecue Fund-Raiser Planned
The city of Vader is having a National Night Out barbecue Aug. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Old City Jail on A Street to raise money for the McMurphy Park project.
Burgers, hot dogs, and corn on the cob will be served.
Safety information will be provided and there will be games and activities for children.
A donation of $3 per person is suggested.
Bring your own chair, soda and desserts, organizers say.
For more information, contact Vader City Hall at 295-3222.
