Running a rural community such as Bucoda is no easy task for those who volunteer their time and labor as the town’s late Mayor and Assistant Fire Chief Robert “Rob” Gordon once did, even while battling cancer.
Following Rob’s death earlier this summer, Bucoda Town Councilor Kiersten Presley stepped up to be the new mayor, but she soon resigned after announcing her family was moving to Texas. That meant another volunteer had to step up to be mayor.
That volunteer was Councilor Callie Carpenter, who is now in her third month serving as the town’s mayor.
Additionally, the town council also reached out to interested Bucoda community members to fill the council vacancy left by Rob. One of the people who applied was Rob’s wife, Miriam Gordon, who was selected and now holds the position.
The Chronicle visited Bucoda on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to attend the regularly scheduled Bucoda Town Council meeting and talk to both Carpenter and Miriam about why they stepped up to volunteer for their prospective positions along with what they hope to accomplish.
Miriam is a mother of two who has lived in Bucoda for over 15 years since she married Rob. Despite his death, she has no plans to move.
“I have a sister in Tennessee, but that would be too much for the kids. All of Rob’s family is here in town, his brothers are in town, his mom’s just down the highway, and my parents are in Olympia,” Miriam said.
Prior to assuming her position on the council, Miriam was a 911 dispatcher. She did have aspirations to serve on the town council, but with her long work hours and Rob already on the council, she decided to focus on work and raising their kids.
Following Rob’s death, Miriam took some time off from work and ultimately decided to quit her job as a dispatcher and apply for the council vacancy to continue the work Rob was doing.
“Rob put a lot into this town, even before he was on the council. He was with the fire department since before I knew him,” she added. “He started a lot of good things in this town, and I wanted to make sure they didn’t lose momentum.”
One of the projects Rob was working on was getting the Bucoda Fire Department a new fire engine. He had been working with Third U.S. Congressional District Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, throughout most of last year to try to get $1 million in federal grant funding to purchase it.
“Last I heard from Marie, because she keeps in contact with me, it had passed the House but was still in the Senate,” Miriam said. “She was still pushing it and also pushing for them to bring it back up to the $1 million mark, because the House dropped it to $750,000.”
Originally, the Bucoda Fire Department wanted more than $1 million as new fire engines can cost well over $1 million these days with inflation, but settled to make do with $1 million.
Along with trying to secure a new fire engine, Rob had also been working on improvements at Bucoda Volunteer Park, focusing on the baseball field to make it available for Larch Mountain Little League games.
Miriam said the league — which plays in both Lewis and Thurston counties — has been looking for additional fields as other leagues across the region grow and take up field space elsewhere. This isn’t the only reason she wants to continue Rob’s work on the baseball field.
“My son Jakob plays baseball, and that was one of the last things that Rob was really working on before he went into the hospital that last time,” Miriam said. “The funds are there, I just want to make sure what Rob started gets finished.”
Other projects she hopes to tackle while a councilor include installing benches at Bucoda Memorial Park and building a pedestrian bridge over the Skookumchuck River to Volunteer Park, as the vehicle bridge on Tono Road Southeast leading to the park has no sidewalk or shoulder to walk on.
Finding ways to slow traffic going through town heading out on Tono Road is also another priority, especially with the many children that ride their bikes and walk around Bucoda.
She added that like any small town, Bucoda does have its issues, but she feels she and her fellow councilors are up to the task.
“Callie is doing a great job considering how quickly this got dropped on her,” Miriam said.
A mother of two and spouse of a U.S. Army soldier who is about to retire after completing his 20-year career, Carpenter is also the owner of the Pacific Northwest Cookie Company in Adna, where she was originally from.
“I was born and raised in Adna. Well, technically I was born in Olympia, but my mom and dad have a 5-acre farm there,” Carpenter said.
Together with her six siblings, they were homeschooled in Adna and grew up there.
She has lived in Bucoda for almost six years now after her husband found a home there while stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM).
“He is originally from Indiana, and when we were looking for houses he said, ‘I found this place in Bucoda I want.’ I was just like, ‘What? Why,’” Carpenter said.
It reminded him of the small town he grew up in Indiana, and Carpenter said once he had his heart set on it, there was no changing his mind. Though her husband received orders to leave JBLM for Texas, he is back on retirement-leave and will officially retire from the Army in October.
As for what she hopes to do now as Bucoda’s mayor, Carpenter had already been on the council just over two years ago when she, like Miriam, applied for a councilor position that had opened after the previous councilor moved.
She did run in the next election to keep her position in 2022, and after Rob’s death and Presley’s move to Texas, Carpenter decided to take on the mantle of mayor.
As for the projects Rob was working on, Carpenter plans to continue pursuing them and also expand on the ideas.
“One of the projects that resonated the most was the baseball field. Not saying this wasn’t his vision in the first place … but I want to make it multifunctional, where we can not just have baseball but play soccer there as well,” Carpenter said.
She added the town has recently received grants from the Port of Olympia and Timberland Bank to fund improvements at Volunteer Park and is planning on applying for more.
“I really want it to be super nice, not just for other communities to come and use it, but for our kids here too,” Carpenter added.
Pursuing funding for a new fire engine is also something she plans on continuing.
“We’re keeping on top of that and keeping our fingers crossed that it will come through, because it’ll be huge for our fire department to get a brand new one,” Carpenter said. “We couldn’t afford one with the budget we have.”
Having already served on the council for around two years, Carpenter stated a lot of what she’s heard revolves around what Bucoda can’t do. She wants to focus on what can be done instead, and with her background running a small business feels she can help facilitate that.
One of the main things she learned from her time as a small business owner is the value of networking, and she is seeking to start that with Bucoda’s neighboring municipalities, including those across county lines such as Centralia and Chehalis.
“There’s tons of opportunities to make powerful alliances with other towns and really help each other out, especially with our budget being really restrictive,” Carpenter added.
When Carpenter stepped up to serve as Bucoda’s mayor this summer, it created another town council vacancy along with the one left after Rob’s passing. This vacancy was filled on the same day as Miriam was selected to serve on the council.
The other new Bucoda town councilor is Laura Wilson, who also recently was named the president of the Bucoda Improvement Club.
Look for a feature article on both Wilson and the Bucoda Improvement Club in an upcoming edition of The Chronicle.
