Calendar of Quirk: Ragged, rusted, muted and modest Quirks found all around town

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##Rusted frame of a hot rod, pipes still in place, greets motorists at Three Mile Lane and Highway 18.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##Washington Street, looking west between Davis and Evans, where one street lane abuts a residential garage.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##The short, narrow stairway on First Presbyterian Church is unlike any other in town.

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##By unofficial count, in four locations there are two-inch ceramic tiles like these embedded in Third Street sidewalks.

This week, Calendar of Quirk revisits neighborhoods in a decidedly random look around McMinnville.

Oct. 23 Along Three Mile Lane, the rusted rod is hard to miss at the south exit from town, at the base of the west onramp to Highway 18. Crumbling planters fill the trunk and hood spaces, faded plastic flowers cap each of the engine pipes, and sometimes a seasonally-decorated “head” peers up over the steering wheel. On the side facing the road, the door is painted with the number 5 and “McMinnville Home of Drag Yer Nutz,” the last two words painted over what presumably once read “the gut.”

Oct. 24 On Northeast Baker, sandwich board sign at Roller’s Barber Shop reads “I’m Here.”

Oct. 25 On Lafayette Avenue, Fifth and Seventh streets converge nearly parallel across from the old Cook School; no sign of Sixth Street.

Oct. 26 Over on Southeast Baker Street, in a house that otherwise appears abandoned, battery-operated candles regularly glow in upper windows and seasonal and sports team flags are always seen on the porch and lawn.

Oct. 27 Just east of Southeast Davis, on Washington Street the two lanes narrow to one. The south lane runs directly into a detached garage.

Oct. 28 On Third Street, two-inch ceramic tiles are imbedded in sidewalks in front of select downtown businesses, including what is now Taste of India.

Oct. 29 Along Southeast Davis is the narrow outside stairway on the east side of the McMinnville Presbyterian Church.

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.