Another legacy of the late community benefactor “Red” McComb is the picnic pavilion adjacent to the Mazama Community Club.
Heading out the other day for a walk from the Winthrop Barn, I was elated to see the play area and pavilion at Mack Lloyd Park filled with parents and children for (by the look of the balloons) a birthday party. The laughter and chatter felt pre-pandemic normal. It was a positive sign to me that there will once again be fun times and gatherings, as even now we are warmed by the spring sunshine. Humans are social creatures.
The Mazama Community Club (MCC), located at 512 Goat Creek Road in quaint “downtown” Mazama, is waking up after a two-year slumber. According to board President Midge Cross, the club building — an historic schoolhouse built in 1921 — is once again available for rental. For a modest fee, the building provides a commercial kitchen, restrooms and room for 50 people. Birthday parties, graduation celebrations, workshops, small weddings, community meetings and receptions are just a few of the types of events that the facility can accommodate. Check the website www.mazamacommunityclub.com for further details on renting the clubhouse or email mazamacommunityclub@gmail.com with any questions.
As the weather continues to improve, the MCC outdoor facilities will add another dimension. A pickleball court and children’s play area will be cleaned up and ready for use as the snow recedes and the pine needles and cones are raked up. (More later on specifics of May 14 cleanup day.) Remember, watching the snow melt in Mazama is like watching paint dry — painfully slow!
This year MCC members are thrilled with an addition made possible by a bequest from the estate of David “Red” McComb, who passed away at his home in Mazama on March 9, 2013, at the age of 91. A sturdy, spacious picnic pavilion now sits behind the little red schoolhouse. It will provide protection from the elements for outdoor events that include food. (More later on the return of the World Famous Pancake Breakfast on May 28.)
For those who are not familiar with Red, let me share a sketch of the man who left tens of thousands of dollars to eight Methow Valley nonprofit organizations, including the Mazama Community Club. Red worked as an entomologist for the U.S. Forest Service for 30 years and for Washington State Department of Natural Resources for 18 years.
According to his close friend Jay Lucas (as reported in the June 25, 2013, Methow Valley News), “He’s the best example in the valley of the value of money over time.” Lucas said that McComb routinely invested very small amounts in stocks that over decades grew exponentially. In addition Lucas added, “He was incredibly frugal. He’d be the first one to buy the day-old maple bar.”
I am positive that Red would be pleased with the project that MCC chose to use his money for. The picnic shelter will be a permanent reminder of the generosity of a man who his friend describes as “a community guy, start to finish.”
