[1]Fred Wildhaber’s face is among the features on lost family heirloom.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Jeremy Wildhaber wants his totem pole back.
He called police after realizing it was missing but he’s not sure it was even actually stolen, he said.
Among the features on the 15- to 16-foot tall pole are an eagle, a salmon and a couple of faces, including his father’s, Wildhaber said.
“It’s kind of a family heirloom and its been part of the building since we’ve owned it almost,” he said.
It was previously the centerpiece column at his dad’s business Industrial Specialists and for a time was stored in a barn, but Wildhaber was preparing to have the paint touched up so it could be displayed at his new Jeremy’s Marketplace and Restaurant when it opens, he said.
He’s been remodeling the building on the 500 block of West Main Street in Chehalis, and was keeping it in a storage building about a block south, on the Darigold property.
It accidentally got left out by workers on Friday who were moving items around in the building and forgot to put it back inside, he said. He estimates it weighs as much as 400 pounds.
“It would have taken several guys and a trailer to move it,” he said.
He’s thinking, however, that since it was left laying on pallets, near a pile of walls to be discarded, someone may have thought it was bound for the dump and taken it home, he said.
Wildhaber is asking whoever has his totem to please return it. Or call him and he will come pick it up.
“I’m not going to press charges,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to chop it up for firewood because they’re afraid they’re gonna get in trouble.”
It’s not even complete as is, according to Wildhaber. He still has the detachable wings and ears.
Wildhaber can be reached at 360-827-0093.