Shelton, Washington: Muffler Man - Bunyan

I am the proud owner of Paul Bunyan. A couple of us people rescued Paul from the local high school after he was trashed. We put about $25,000 into restoring Paul and now he rides proudly on top of a trailer which we take Paul to many functions in Western Washington.

It has been a lot of enjoyment to have Paul do the local fair, Shelton/Mason County Forest Festival, car shows and any other show that he is asked to attend. We do the Matlock Old Timers Days in the early part of May, which is a real hoot.

I finally got a picture of our local Paul Bunyan. Others have submitted reports on our version of the Muffler Man, detailing its history, but no photos have been sent in.

This was taken in June, during the annual Mason County Forest Festival parade, in Shelton, Washington. You can see in the photo a cradle at the back of Paul's trailer. The platforms under his feet tilt back, and he rests on the cradle. This allows him to pass under overhead wires, and decreases the likelihood of a Fabio-esque collision with a goose or other flying birds!

There is a Muffler Man/Paul Bunyan here in Shelton. It's been here since at least the late '60s, stood for years at a local gas station. In recent years, it was moved to the high school, but was vandalized, repaired, and is now in possession of a private citizen, Lloyd Prouty. It appears now at special events, particularly the Forest Festival Parade, about the end of May.

We've had a "Paul Bunyan" muffler-man here in Shelton for over 30 years. He first "lived" at the downtown Gull-gas station for about 25 years surviving a lot of vandalism, including being knocked down. His next home was Shelton High School where his ax was stolen and held for ransom by our rival school, the Olympia Bears. A few years ago, volunteers including many businessmen chipped in, rebuilt and painted him. Now he's mounted on a trailer and has moved around to different locations throughout the county where everyone can enjoy him. Being on the constant move protects him from vandals and kidnappers.