New farming center will offer interactive exhibits

My grandfather ran away from home when he was 12. He said it was because he wasn’t “getting anywhere.”

I’m not sure what he thought a 12-year-old should have accomplished at that ripe old age. But he was definitely dissatisfied with his progress. So he took a circuitous route through Colorado and eventually stopped back in Kansas long enough to meet and marry my schoolteacher-grandmother.

Soon after, he ditched a five-cent-an-hour salt mine job his family said he was crazy to leave behind. And my grandparents ended up just outside Spokane on Orchard Prairie – with my 4-year-old mother in tow.

Grandpa found work as an elevator man, but his heart was with the farm. And that’s how I remember him. On a tractor.

My brother Brett drove his new bride away from their wedding on an orange Allis-Chalmers. My brother Graham recently had tractor T-shirts made for all of us. We’re sort of attached to farm equipment that way.

So when I got a news release with the headline “Trains, Tractors & Trucks – Oh My!” I took notice.

This is what I learned: The brand-spanking new Western Heritage Center in Monroe, Wash., slated to open at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in April, will offer interactive, “kid-friendly” exhibits on the history of the lower Snohomish, Skykomish and Snoqualmie valleys.

Most importantly, it will feature things like drills, drag saws, potato diggers, gas pumps and – yes, indeedy – vintage John Deere tractors, in an effort to explain the history of and the mechanized growth in the region’s agriculture, mining, logging and transportation industries.

“We’ve been planning this for about 10 years,” says Jerry Senner, the center’s executive director. “I’ve always had an interest in farming and logging. I was born and raised on a dairy farm.”

Senner developed his concept for the center while exhibiting equipment during fairgrounds events. He noticed that people just walked by static displays, “but if you started an engine, all of a sudden you had a hundred people there.”

Armed with that idea, he enlisted some fellow farm-fans and put them to work.

“There have been about 10 or 15 people who have kind of been following my dream in getting it going,” Senner says.

Plans call for computer-based interpretation of the artifacts on display.

“And we’ll be having things like an artificial cow the kids will be able to milk,” Senner continues. “They’ll see that milk doesn’t come from Safeway.”

You’ll find more information about the Western Heritage Center at www.westernheritage center.org. Or call Senner himself at (425) 232-3493.

Sails talk

By the time I knew my grandfather, he’d developed a collection if wise sayings, such as: “There’s nothing to size or a cow could catch a jackrabbit.”

Here’s another one: “When you’re on land, there you is. When you’re on the ocean, where is you?”

That gives you some sense how much he would enjoy Maple Leaf Adventures’ April 12 to 17 outing on board the classic 92-foot schooner Maple Leaf.

That shouldn’t stop you, though. The tour of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, Canada’s newest, promises dolphins, wildflowers and seabirds galore, just the thing for eco-tourists – especially those who like someone else to cook for them.

Your onboard professional chef will tend to your tummy’s needs while a naturalist will be on hand to handle your more academic concerns.

Maple Leaf Adventures is nothing if not accommodating, arranging shore excursions so you can get up close and personal with the reserve’s rainforests and wildlife viewing areas where sea lions, porpoises and other critters will no doubt show up on cue to entertain you with their animal antics.

The five-night, six-day trip comes with all onboard accommodations, meals and shore activities for $1,950 Canadian. Maple Leaf Adventures has joined forces with the Sidney Waterfront Inn and Suites to provide special rates before and after you sail, starting at $94 per night Canadian.

You can learn more at www.mapleleaf adventures.com or (888) 599-5323.

Regional events

•Mannequin Jumping, April 7, Neihart, Mont. When the organizers themselves call it “the strangest ski jumping contest on the planet,” it’s best to step aside. So I’ll just let the Great Falls Ski Club explain this one: “Contestants build their own skiing mannequin jumpers and send them off the giant mannequin jump. The rest of us just watch and laugh.” ( www.visitmt.com/ 406-236-5522)

•Northwest Women’s Show, March 23-25, Qwest Field Event Center, Seattle. If you’re in the market for 600 exhibits, live entertainment, demonstrations, and five stages’ worth of fashion, fitness and food – all for girls – this is the place. ( www.nwwomenshow.com/ 206-381-8000)