CHIMACUM –A Chimacum High School junior has created a way for his favorite park to get a little notice.
Kobi Albright, 15, created a six-foot welcome sign for Gibbs Lake County Park.
The sign, erected earlier this week, was dedicated Wednesday at a ceremony that included Jefferson County commissioners David Sullivan and John Austin, Jefferson County Parks and Recreation Manager Matt Tyler, Albright’s shop teacher, Chuck Wheeler and members of the Albright family
The teen grew up in and around Gibbs Lake County Park, where his parents have served as volunteer caretakers since before he was born.
The 325-acre park — 65 acres of which is a freshwater lake that is one of the area’s few public swimming areas — has at various times been a private resort, a Boy Scout camp and a potential timber source.
Today, it has become one of East Jefferson County’s best-kept outdoor recreation secrets, the Albrights said.
The teen’s father, Donn Albright, said the park, which is designated for day use only, has no gates or marked boundaries.
His son conceived of the idea for the sign at the end of the school year, after the elder Albright father acquired two metal wheel rims that were once used on a hand-driven fire pump.
He removed the spokes and designed the sign, using the wheel rim as a border.
In his welding class at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, he designed the letters and stamped them out of a 4-foot-by-8-foot steel sheet.
He attached the letters to a crosspiece, and finished them with a fine black powder coating before adhering them to the wheel rim.
As a result, the sign isn’t always easy to see and is often camouflaged by the forest.
But when the light hits the sign in a certain way, it comes to life.
The cash-strapped Jefferson County Parks Department began encouraging people to “adopt” parks and take over their maintenance because of a budget crunch.
But the idea of contributing to parks is not new to the senior Albright, who is not reimbursed for the time he spends maintaining the park.
His appreciation for nature has rubbed off onto his son who spends a lot of time in the woods.
“A lot of kids just sit inside, watching TV or checking their e-mail,” he said.
“I really like being outside.”
Albright learned welding from Wheeler, who said the teen “has a good eye and a better sense of what you can create from a piece of metal than a lot of the adults I know.”
Albright hasn’t picked a career path. He plans to attend college.
He said creating the sign took about 15 hours over a two-month period.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
