Wins:

1. Donor of the Barn to the community and next door neighbor Junette Dahmen, recently spearheaded a barn quilt project. Community volunteers selected the quilt block pattern and painted it on plywood in Junette’s favorite colors, crimson and gray, to demonstrate her passion for Washington State University’s Cougar sports teams. Avid supporters of the Cougars over the years, Junette and her late husband Steve followed them not only to out-of-state games, but to international competitions! They traveled with the football team and played Cal. in the Tokyo bowl and joined the basketball team playing a game in Russia.

The quilt block sheets were hung on Junette’s barn a couple of weeks ago. The next step is to become part of the local, state and national Barn Quilt Trail Programs. As you can see from the photo, the quilt will help draw people to the Dahmen Barn from the highway.

2. The new owners of the wholesale bakery in Uniontown are adding two days to their retail schedule so their open days will match those of the Dahmen Barn – Thursday through Sunday. Yay!

3. A revered 94 year old patron of the arts from the area passed away in the past month. He had been instrumental in bringing performing arts to the region by organizing two theatre groups as well as the Washington-Idaho Symphony. He also sang in the Palouse Choral Society until age 90. He played with a bagpipe band and was known for marching around town in his kilt. We received a phone call from a reporter doing an article on him because they figured he had interfaced with the Dahmen Barn in some way.

Status of the expansion of the Dahmen Barn Facility:

We have selected RGU Architecture to design the expansion of the Dahmen Barn. We are very excited about working with them after meeting their team members, one of whom who is a very experienced event planner. They are charged with developing a schematic master site plan which includes the field that is between the Dahmen Barn and the highway as well as the parcel on which the Barn and wheel fence are located. Our first meeting with the design team is August 22. When we are in agreement with the general site plan, they will proceed with designing our addition. We are pleased to have gained another resource person to guide us in planning our teaching kitchen. The schedule is to have the construction drawings complete by the end of the year so bids can be obtained in January and work can begin as early in the spring as the weather permits.

Status of public art:

I put off writing this month’s blog in the hope that the public art for the south entry to Uniontown would be installed, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. The artist has prepped for the slabs at both the north and south locations and is ready to pour the concrete. The tractor and wagon for the southern installation is complete but the artist is still at work on the cow for the north location which is in the field between the Barn and the highway. We are planning a contest to name the cow with Junette Dahmen choosing the winner, and are pressing the artist to have the sculpture in place by September 15, the date of our 7th annual “Old Fashioned Sunday in Autumn” event. The cow will be 6’ tall at the shoulder and is designed so that her head will swivel in the wind. She should grab attention of motorists traveling the highway.