Calendar of Quirk: Dropping in again with a peck of prints, panels, pavers and plums

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##Library walkway-ography includes “Huckleberry Finn,” “Grapes of Wrath” and “Fahrenheit 451” to name a few.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##This panel remains vacant on a Third Street commercial building, one of at least four such downtown signs.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##Footprints at the downtown transit center suggest a calm stride from the street toward an awaiting bus.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##Is there some southern influence behind the familiar sign on the deli counter at Roth’s grocery?

Friendly signs and vacant ones, ‘Grapes’ and abandoned apples blend for a Quirk compote:

Oct. 30 At McMinnville Library, donors’ favorite books are commemorated in concrete in the breezeway, (which was cleaned and re-sealed last summer).

Oct. 31 Downtown trick-or-treat event has grown to major proportions, becoming one of the year’s five biggest downtown events.

Nov. 1 “HEY Y’ALL” is a message at Roth’s grocery deli, the friendliest sign in town.

Nov. 2 Harvest Fresh has a price list for apples by the peck: “1/2-peck, 1/8 peck”. You don’t hear much about pecks (as units, not kisses or poultry actions) outside of nursery rhymes. A peck, also a measure of pickled peppers, is equal to a quarter-bushel. Or so we’ve read.

Nov. 3 The barefoot-prints painted in yellow on the sidewalk make their way from First Street toward the bus lanes at McMinnville Transit Center. (Shoes required aboard the bus, however.)

Nov. 4 Up and down Third Street, a series of empty signs adorn ground floor entrances to historic buildings. There are at least four of these wooden panels, each about two-by-three feet and designed to list upper-floor tenants. In some cases, there are none. The signs are mostly disused, either long-vacant or ignored, but the prevalence of these panels sort of suggests it is some type of unusual tradition. (The photo shown was taken three years ago and the sign currently looks the same.)

Nov. 5 The growing season about done, it is time to pay note of the large number of neglected fruit trees that drop numerous apples, cherries, pears, and plums and more onto local roads and streets. (This normally includes the persimmon tree – not many persimmon trees around — next to Taylor Hall on Linfield campus, though the beautiful tree did not bear fruit in 2023.)

With October complete, Calendar of Quirk thus concludes its first 10 months — meaning there are exactly 57 entries left for 2024. In the past 10 months, we’ve seen Quirk examples come and go, with new ones drawn to our attention and older ones removed (for now at least) and added to the Gone list. We’re keeping our eyes open to include those Quirk that seemed to go away but will perhaps make their return as winter approaches. That makes CQ a changeable feast with eight weeks to go.