This commemorative door is the entrance to a Quonset hut which sits right next to the Espresso Chalet up on U.S. Highway 2 in the Sky Valley here in Washington State USA home of the free land of the brave, etc.
It’s just past the bustling metropolis of Index, WA a ways and not more than a hop and a jump from the Sky Valley Chronicle ranch where this here fine newspaper is served up hot and juicy every day.
The reason this Quonset hut sits there is because a Hollywood film crew built it and left it there as a gift to the owners of the Espresso Chalet. (Find out more about the Espresso Chalet in the Sky Valley Chronicle’s 2011 feature report here .)
THE MOVIE
You see this is the site of one of several scenes from the cult hit 1987 B-Movie about bigfoot called “Harry & The Hendersons” (executive produced by Steven Spielberg) that were shot here in Washington State.
It starred John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon and others and was the story of a Northwest family’s encounter with the legendary Sasquatch, or Bigfoot as he or she or it is called.
Regarding the Quonset hut: it was used for an exterior shot of star John Lithgow (George in the movie) going to visit the “North American Museum of Anthropology” to speak with Dr. Wallace Wrightwood (played by Don Ameche) an expert on Bigfoot.
For many years our state had film crews coming up to shoot movies and TV shows here. It was good, non-polluting, easy money (it brought in millions and they hired locals to boot) and it gave the Seattle area and the state a nice bit of fame.
We came off looking pretty good to the rest of the world in those movies (and it was GREAT and cheap PR for this area). But that was when our state had a state run film board that courted that business.
THE REST OF THE SORDID TALE
Now the rest of this story should cement in your mind just how stupid politicians/elected offcials are.
The film board office cost something like (if memory serves) a bit over $200,000 a year to run and it brought in millions of dollars in Tv and movie productions.
Now, if you had a business that generated THAT kind of profit you’d get down on your knees and thank God everyday for how you lucked out.
So what did the Washington State legislature do one year when money was tight? They cut the film board altogether.
Just shut it down to save a lousy $200,000 or so.
All of that business that USED to come to Washington went to Canada (which welcomed Hollywood with open arms and tax breaks) and it is still going there today.
There’s no telling how many millions of easy dollars this state lost out on thanks to the bobble heads in the Washington State legislature.
Your tax dollars at work.
