Thanks to the community’s response, Byrd School has been revitalized. Just a few weeks ago, the old school presented visitors with a worn and tired face. Its red surface paint was peeling in several places; its sides bore patch-worked wood siding put in place to stem dry rot, which was plaguing some of the building’s original wood. An appeal was put out to the community to help the old school, which is part of the museum complex administered by the Umatilla County Historical Society.

The community’s response to this appeal was remarkable. Gary Parisien, owner of Chippewa Painting, immediately stepped forward to volunteer his company’s services for the demanding job of reclaiming and revitalizing the building’s exterior. His offer, in turn, generated other contributions which were a necessary part of the school’s revitalization. Sherwin-Williams donated the required paint. Tum-A-Lum Lumber Co. donated wooden siding to replace those pieces displaying dry rot. Leland Wilson donated his carpentry skills, seamlessly replacing the damaged siding with new pieces in the same style as the old.

Having coordinated these initial steps, Gary Parisien and his Chippewa Painting crew moved in and addressed the needs of the old building prior to her transformation. They did a full-scale scrape down of the building, removing the old and blistered red paint, prepped the wood, and the administered the necessary coats of paint that would allow the old school to make a dazzling new debut in white. The white color was chosen so as to restore the Byrd School to the color it originally had during its life as a school house (1879-1940). The decision to restore the school to its original color was reached by vote of the Umatilla County Historical Society’s board of directors.

A bed of dry rocks will now be placed in a two-foot border all around the building. This will maintain a dry zone in the area immediately surrounding the Byrd School, a course of action which has been recommended so as to minimize the potential of developing further dry rot in the siding. The rock for this project is being donated by Jerry Hatley of Hatley Construction Inc. in Pilot Rock. Tim and Rebekah Anderson of a Rock…In Place Inc., also based in Pilot Rock, are donating the labor and equipment necessary to lay the rocks.

Members of the community have contributed generously to the Byrd School project. Any monies left over, when all necessary adjustments have been made to the school, will be set aside in a special fund to assist in the maintenance of the school through the years.