‘Dump this proposal in the trash’

I am deeply distressed over the proposed development for 665 Main St. Ferndale, what Willis Hadley referred to as Shaw Park. I know this because I worked for Willis Dean Hadley, as his driver. I was made well aware of his conservation philosophy and what he ‘Believed’ he had put in place (legally) upon his death with his properties and his intentions for them. I drove him to his lawyers. Willis liked to be driven slowly — and he loved to talk. We talked a lot.

Every single thing about this development: fences, gates, architectural planned landscaping, he deplored and is antithetical to Willis Hadley’s wishes and intentions. Anyone who knew Willis — knows this. Shaw Park has been for years an open “green space” — the hallmark of his philosophy. A place where locals and tourists and the Francis Creek wildlife could have some respite. No planted anything other than what already grows there naturally. No manicuring, merely tidiness because Shaw Park is in city proper. On his other properties, the edict is that not one fallen tree be cut into firewood or even moved and that no natural habitat be disturbed but left for nature.

The very idea of having the PlayHouse on Shaw Park grounds seems ludicrous. Not only would it be subject to vandalism — but yet another fence would have to surround it because it opens the city of Ferndale to untold liability if any kid(s) were to climb on it and get hurt.

Fences within fences, borders and to mention: There are no coastal dunes here in the city of Ferndale. Many of the plants mentioned in this beauty-show proposal are not growing on this property, nor in Ferndale. Willis had no plans for sponsoring a botanical garden on this or any of his properties. He thought “Humboldt Botanical Gardens does a splendid job.”

The residents of Ferndale have benefited for over 50 years from Willis’s care and quiet generosity of his chosen home town. Ferndale in integrity and good conscience, along with Willis Dean Hadley’s lawyers, MUST uphold Willis Dean Hadley’s wishes and final requests. Dump this proposal in the trash where it belongs. And shame on all who ignore a good citizen like Willis Hadley’s final wishes. Despicable and unconscionable.

Susan McShayne, who resides in Ferndale, defending Willis Dean Hadley’s intentions when creating the WDH Foundation, who wished to honor his mother’s example of conservation — as she had done with their property in St. Louis, Missouri.