Couple adopts giant tree stump that washed up in Everett

ARLINGTON — They moved to the country for the peace and the quiet.

Jim and Lori Dawson have lived on their five acres in the Bryant area, north of Arlington, for 21 years.

They run a custom cabinet business called The Wood Shop. For fun, he restores hot rods and she gardens. They also collect unique tree stumps to decorate their yard.

Yes, tree stumps.

The Dawsons have a half-dozen or so decorative stumps they can see from the back porch of their 1972 single-wide mobile home. Over the years, Jim Dawson has built a house around the mobile home, using reclaimed wood from a 100-year-old barn for the roof.

The Dawsons recently added to the collection a massive stump that washed up at Dagmars Marina in Everett from the Snohomish River earlier this summer.

For months, marina manager Kernan “Kerney” Manley kept the 9-by-12-foot stump out by southbound I-5, in hopes someone might see it and want to take it home.

The Dawsons borrowed a friend’s one-ton rig with a dump-truck bed. The stump wasn’t unloaded in their yard so much as dumped off the truck bed, Jim Dawson said.

The stump now is in beauty bark in front of his shop, towering over his full-size pickup.

“It fit right in,” he said.

Dawson makes furniture and metal art, too. His pieces dot the yard alongside the stumps.

He started doing cabinetry when he was 16, an after-school job.

“It’s in his blood,” Lori Dawson said. “His great-grandfather built houses in San Francisco, the ones with all the turrets.”

The Dawsons name their stumps. “The Royal Stump” has twists and turns that resemble a king’s crown. It came from a slash pile in Arlington.

“We drove by and went, ‘Hey, look at this cool stump,’” Lori Dawson said.

There’s “The Llama” and “Tractorsaurus,” too. Some of the stumps come from the firs and hemlocks they’ve cleared from the property to create a yard. A creek runs through the back.

They’ve named the massive stump from Dagmars Marina, “Da Stump.”

To her, it looks like a huge flower. From some angles, he sees a monster’s face.

“Da Stump,” must have come from a fir tree that was logged, Jim Dawson said. It had been in the water a long time.

Birds, including downy and pileated woodpeckers, frequent the property.

“The birds, I just love them,” Lori Dawson. “I can watch my birds all day long. They’re hilarious.”

The birds have been checking out the new stump, waiting for the tasty bugs to move in.

Meanwhile, the Dawsons enjoy life, taking old stuff apart and putting it back together.

“It’s fun out here, living large in Bryant …” Jim Dawson said.

His wife finished his sentence: “… just under the radar.”

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood blocks Highway 99 south

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.