Top five mural themes announced

On Oct. 5, the National Neon Sign Museum in The Dalles hosted a teaser voting event, where community members were able to come together and vote on which topics they would like to see painted on next year. The event board — which consists of museum executive director and project leader David Benko, City of the Dalles Mayor Rich Mays, Rachel Carter of Columbia River Toyota, Chris Zukin of Meadow Outdoor, Codes Enforcement Officer and Fundraising Chair Nikki Lesich, Philip Masher of Sotheby’s, Tracy Dugick of MCMC, Addie Case of Cousin’s Restaurant, and head Walldog on the project Pete McKearnan — shared the top five results of the event.

According to Benko, the top five voted on topics include that of Chief Tommy Thompson of Celilo Wyam Village, who was acting chief from late 1800s to the 1950s; artist, pilot, Native American preservationist Jeanne Hillis, who spent months creating rubbings of all the petroglyphs in Celilo Falls before they were submerged underwater after the building of The Dalles Dam; and The Dalles Sorosis Club, an all-female organization from the early 1900s, highlighting members Sylvia Thompson, three term Oregon State Representative and advocate for women’s voting rights, and Dr. Belle Cooper Rinehart Ferguson, one of Oregon’s first female doctors and a founder of the first hospital in The Dalles.

The other topics include the “The vibrant Chinese community,” portraying the rich history of the Chinese settlers and merchants that made their home in The Dalles in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the story of “How The Dalles got its name.”

Before the year is over, there will second voting event to determine the other 10 topics to be painted on for next year’s event, said Benko, with the event board collaborating with the local historical society to add more diversity in the topics to choose from. For updates on when and how the next voting event will be taking place, visit northwestmuralfest.com.