On this BONUS EPISODE of "AS THE CLAQUATO CHURCH TURNS," the rapid-fire developments in Lewis County, WA just keep-a-comin'!!

It turns out that Lewis County was secretly working with the private, non-profit Claquato Cemetery to transfer the Claquato Church to their ownership (the cemetery is just down the road from the church) by way of a public auction. Why, exactly, Lewis County Board of Commissioners had to be so secretive is unclear - but it appears that Lewis County declared Claquato Church surplus and put it on the market in hopes that ONLY Claquato Cemetery will bid on it. They also gave themselves the option of being able to choose the "highest and BEST" bid - probably just in case somebody with financial resources wanted to overbid to secure the property.

When I interviewed Lewis County Commissioner Lindsey Pollock on July 16, 2025, there was no mention of Claquato Cemetery as the likely buyer, and no mention of the behind-the-scenes negotiating that led to all the confusion and which upset community members this past week.

In this episode, we read aloud a Facebook comment also from July 16, 2025 made on a post about the Claquato Church on the Lewis County History Museum's page; the comment is from Brian Mittge of The Chronicle - the newspaper in Centralia/Chehalis - who has an article all about this coming out on Saturday, July 19, 2025.

CASCADE OF HISTORY has reached out to Mr. Mitchell of the Claquato Cemetery Board to ask for his version of how this all unfolded - and we've also reached out to Commissioner Pollock for her comments as well. Backroom, secretive stuff is never a good thing for local governments, but if it results in the preservation of Claquato Church, is that a good thing? That's the big philosophical question!

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

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