BLYN — Once the hay comes down in July, the yard art goes up at the Bekkevar Family Farm.
For about 25 years, Trish Bekkevar and her family and friends have put up a comic display in the field two miles east of Blyn on U.S. Highway 101. This year, she features a giant fiberglass rooster taking some scarecrows into town.
“It’s a fun thing to do and it brightens people’s day,” Bekkevar said. “I see cars stopping to take pictures and motorcyclists driving by and pointing.”
The art went up about two weeks ago now, and the family had to wait for sunnier weather before cutting the hay, she said.
About a year ago, her brother-in-law Jim Bekkevar saw the rooster in some brush while he was looking to buy a tractor. He inquired about it and ended up with a tractor and a giant rooster, Trish Bekkevar said.
“It feels appropriate to have it here on the farm,” she said. “There used to be 3,000 chickens here during World War II.”
The Bekkevar Family Farm dates back to 1910 and today features 117 acres. The farm sells hay, beef, eggs and pork.
Bekkevar said the yard art “in a way, promotes keeping our agriculture going.”
In her years of making the displays, Bekkevar said some of her most memorable ones included one featuring a bride and groom honoring her son’s wedding. Another was a monster truck that used four large circular hay bails with a cab made of rectangular bails.
“I saw some pictures of it in some used truck magazines; it was pretty popular,” Bekkevar said.
“Although when it rained it became a low rider.”
The rooster wagon took a few hours to set up, she said, and in years past she’s made animal cutouts and other items for displays, which all depend on how much spare time she has.
Typically the displays stay out for awhile, and Bekkevar said she’s considering decorations for the rooster in the future such as a lavender theme and upcoming holidays.
For many years, her boys helped her create the display, but as they’ve grown up, Bekkevar, her husband Dave and friend Patty Dinus make the displays.
The rooster is popular on farm tours, she said, and her grandchildren love photos from atop it.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
