Calendar of Quirk: ‘Anno Lucis’ and other unusual sightings both heavy and light-hearted

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register## The Bigfoot figure painted on a wooden fence in Whiteson just off Highway 99W stands eight feet tall.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register## “The “Anno Lucis” plaque at the correctional facility is tucked into a passageway near the south parking lot.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register## State sign at Third and Baker streets (Highway 99), among the city’s busiest intersections, and signage with a key set of regional directions obscured.

News-Register file photo## Bill Bryan of McMinnville, left, and Jim Jackot of Sheridan install new antlers in 2022 on the elk over entrance of Creekside Church, formerly the Elks Temple.

Quirk ideas and other responses such as indicated in our first entry of this Calendar of Quirk are a big part of CQ; below is week four of our ongoing celebration of oddities around us.

Before we get to them: last week we acknowledged the random nature of the calendar, in answer to readers’ questions about whether or not entries are tied to the dates (almost never) or if CQ is like a scavenger hunt (it can be). Further, to be clear, the dates don’t match the weekly portions – that’s because CQ began on Jan. 3 – so it will always seem to be two days behind. Which makes it a bit of its own quirk. So meta …

Jan. 29 He’s life-sized: the Sasquatch figure painted on the fence is close to eight feet tall. See him along Highway 99W in Whiteson, three miles south of McMinnville. Pretty hard to miss, given his stature and the beaming-white eye holes.

Jan. 30 “1990 A. D. — 5990 A.L.” reads the plaque laid 33 years ago by Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M. (Ancient Free and Accepted Masons) at the Yamhill County Correctional Facility, McMinnville.

What is A.L.? Latin for Anno Lucis – In the Year of Light – as opposed to Anno Domini, In the Year of Our Lord. According to Freemasonry online information, A.L. is the year of Creation (“and let there be light”) 4,000 years before the birth of Christ. The A.L. tradition was adopted in the 18th century, and while you almost never hear of it, the concept is literally etched in stone on one of our public buildings.

Jan. 31 Former Elks Temple on Northeast Evans, now Creekside Church, the fact that the antlers are real and not concrete like the bust of the elk. (Church members replaced the original 1970s-era antlers about 15 months ago with a rack taken from an elk shot in eastern Oregon.)

Feb. 1 The red nose (bright red cloth) placed during Christmas season on the same elk sculpture.

Feb. 2 The 1975 “Elkettes” commemorative flagpole plaque is still in place at Creekside Church.

Feb. 3 We live in an area filled with orchards growing hazelnuts, yet McMinnville has a street with their old name, Filbert.

Feb. 4 Who knew there are dog-eared directional signs? In a case of reverse quirk (something strange that should not be that way) the upper-left corner of the green highway sign at Third and Baker streets is peeling and curled over, obscuring the take-a-left arrow to get to Corvallis and Ocean Beaches.

Have you seen something that’s an example of quirk — an oddity that adds to the joy of life in Yamhill County? Email Kirby Neumann-Rea at kirby@newsregister.com.