The Yard Store

Fighting for the Yard Bird

"I worked at Yard Birds in 1976. The place was hopping!! When Old bird burned down, it was like Burning Man in the desert ... Lewis County wept for a decade."

"I miss the smell of the fish depot there. I don't know why, it just had this smell to it."

"The restaurant had the BEST hamburgers! My grandma, mom and I used to go there every Saturday morning."

These are just a few comments from the Yard Birds Facebook page, a place for sharing memories, emotions, pictures and funny stories about the quirky, homey, everything-you-need-under-one-roof store/mall/shopping enigma that hatched in Chehalis in the 1940s. In Yard Birds' prime during the late '60s and early '70s, the brand expanded with stores in Olympia and Shelton, becoming a unique cultural and shopping experience for the surrounding communities and intrigued visitors from all over Western Washington.

More than anything, Yard Birds may be remembered for the larger-than-life Yard Bird mascot statues that flourished at the store's locations, including the massive 60-foot sculpture that sat at the entrance to the Chehalis store - it was so large that visitors could drive their cars between its legs. Though that Yard Bird statue burned to the ground in 1976, the Yard Bird that replaced it - which doubled as a helicopter hangar - still stands in Chehalis to this day, and is at the center of a jam-packed musical benefit and day of family fun Saturday.

The Yard Birds Facebook page - one of several dedicated to the war-surplus-store-turned-305,000-square-foot-shopping- attraction - is now maxed at 5,000 friends.

"It just blew up," says Jason Mattson, who started the Yard Birds page in July 2010 because a buddy urged him to. The Facebook page helped earn the Yard Bird "Best Northwest Roadside Attraction" recognition from Evening Magazine.

At some point the fan base grew so large that Mattson decided to harness the popularity and organize fundraisers to raise money for the repair of the Yard Bird statue that still stands near National Avenue in Chehalis. The structure has suffered through 40 years of exposure to the elements, severe flooding and neglect, and a giant hole has developed on the bird's back, exposing the hollow interior. So far Mattson has held six fundraisers at local businesses and has earned nearly $5,000 - money which will be used to return the bird to its former glory.

"I can't see the Yard Bird fall apart," says Mattson. "It's been here most our lives - it's unique, it's our Paul Bunyan, and it's a symbol. If it went away it would be a big loss.