History at a Glance

"He could be blustery. He could be rough and tough. He could be nice and kind and gentle. Whatever his moods - and most people judged him by either his faults or virtues - there was only one Rudy Werberger." This was the opening paragraph of a memorial article about Mason County grape grower, wine maker and Forest Festival promoter Rudy Werberger, written by Dave James in 1985.

Rudy Werberger was born in Austria in 1881. At the age of 20 he emigrated to Roslyn, Washington, got a job in the Ravensdale coal mine, and, in 1904, married a German immigrant named Marie. In 1916, only 20 minutes before Rudy's shift was to start, an explosion at the mine killed 31 men. Rudy decided farming would be a safer occupation, and in 1919 he and Marie bought property on Pickering Passage and planted 1,000 Island Belle grapevines. This vineyard got them started in the grape juice business, and when Prohibition was repealed in 1933 they started the Werberger Winery. Dave James wrote that "among his wines, Rudy featured a loganberry drink he called Loganberger, a fortified liquid that caused many a logger to topple off his springboard on a hungover Monday morning."

While the vineyard grew during the 1920s, Rudy worked in the Mason County woods, where summerlong fires devastated thousands of acres of timber. The Keep Washington Green movement started in Mason County in 1940, and Rudy became actively involved. When state fire warden Harry Clark proposed a Forest Festival dedicated to saving trees, Rudy urged the Shelton Chamber of Commerce to support the idea.

The first Forest Festivals, held in Shelton in 1945 and 1946, were well-attended, but expenses exceeded income both years. According to Dave James, "Had it not been for Rudy's intervention in 1947, the festival might have died right there. Rudy accepted the presidency of the Mason County Forest Festival Association, and no person did more in the 1940s and 1950s to put Shelton on the map and keep it there than Rudy Werberger. He brought Shelton nationwide fame with his direction in the years he served as president.

"Rudy did more than serve as president; he dominated, and this bothered some citizens. But that was the way Rudy got things done. What he believed in he supported to the hilt and those who disagreed were often bulldozed aside. It was commonly said that Rudy never stepped on toes, he stomped on 'em.

"He demanded strict controls on finances and favored widespread publicity. But while being tight with festival money, he was generous with his own. He personally paid for visitations by Forest Festival queens and princesses to publicity appearances in Tacoma, Seattle, Bremerton, Olympia, and towns in Grays Harbor County. He encouraged Jim Stevens, then one of America's leading writers, to author Forest Festival pageant scripts - memorable bits of forest history drama in which hundreds of Shelton children performed - for 10 years, without charging a penny."

Rudy's standards for festival events never wavered. He insisted that every unit in the Paul Bunyan junior and senior parades show support for Keep Washington Green with signs or decorations. He opposed any form of commercialism in the parades, and rejected any side events such as horse shows or auto races. Unauthorized street vendors were another target. "Watching Rudy blister and deep-fry an intruder along the parade route was an unforgettable lesson in Germanic cussing."

Shelton merchants were judged by what they put in their display windows to promote the parade. "Rudy gave cooperators his smiles and handshakes; the do-nothings flinched under his scorn. He contended that young trees and children were the county's future. When Mason County celebrated 100 years of logging in 1953, the big log monument placed at Shelton's south entrance was inspired by Rudy. Two thousand children came to the dedication, and that was Rudy's happiest day."

Rudy Werberger resigned as president of Forest Festival Association at the conclusion of the 1959 celebration. In a brief letter printed in the Journal, after thanking everyone who had made the 15th Forest Festival "possibly the best ever, he concluded, "Now is the time to look ahead to the future. It is time for me to turn the gavel over to younger men. I have worked at this job long enough."

Dave James concluded his Journal article with this memory: "In the makeup of this volatile man was a sense of fun and a flair for the ridiculous. Rudy had contracted some heart problems in his final years. So had his friend, Dr. Joe Shimek, who had practiced dentistry in the Govey Building for many years. Joe was concerned about his heart's behavior. Rudy wasn't. To show his spite for his heart when it bounced around awkwardly, Rudy would have a belt of scotch and a lard sandwich. One morning I was chatting with Rudy in front of the Shelton Hotel when Joe Shimek walked up to inquire about Rudy's heart. Rudy told him 'It goes ker-whoosh, ker-whoosh, ker-whoosh, and then ker-bam!' Joe Shimek stepped back as if evading a blast furnace, and Rudy grinned with the glee of a man who had just sold 50 cases of wine."

Rudy Werberger died in Shelton in 1967 at the age of 86.

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."