Tree carving breaks no laws, officials sayLORRINE THOMPSON, THE OLYMPIAN
THURSTON COUNTY -- Beauty is not the only thing that's in the eye of the beholder, Thurston County Sheriff's deputies are discovering.
What's considered funny and in good taste also can vary by individuals, a reality that has landed law officials in the middle of such a disagreement.
Regardless of differing opinions, deputies say there's nothing they can do about a 7-foot penis carved out of a tree stump in the driveway of a house on Union Mills Road.
The fact that two American flags are waving from the top of the sculpture doesn't change that, officials say. Freedom of expression is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
"We've received calls about it over the last couple of months," sheriff's Capt. Dan Kimball said.
"I sent one of the lieutenants out there, but he said he didn't know what we could do about it. And neither do I," Kimball said. "We don't have a county ordinance that I know of that says you can't carve your tree into a penis."
Alexia Sandifer doesn't understand why not, why some controls can't be maintained on something easily visible from a well-traveled road.
"I take my daughter to school every day down that road," said Sandifer, who was among those who called authorities objecting to the carving. "To me, that's just not something a 6-year-old needs to view."
Sandifer said she understands people have different opinions on art. "Go put it in a carving show, not where children can see it."
She also wondered what the owner meant by sticking American flags into the top of the carving, something Sandifer sees as disrespectful.
The flags are meant to be supportive of the United States, said Jean Paul "J.P." Parshall, who carved the tree stump during a week this summer.
"The landlord wanted to take the tree down. I was sitting there one day and thinking, 'I know what I can make out of that.' I told him to leave a 7- or 8-foot section," said Parshall, 25, a builder at J&M Steel.
"No one ever says anything to me," he said. "The kids drive by and honk and whistle."
One morning recently he found an older couple in the yard saluting the statue, he claimed.
"I get all kinds of amusement out of that thing," he said.
Parshall said he thought the carving would be funny, something to laugh at. He also sculpted it "because I can do it and nobody can say anything about it."
He has similarly colorful bumper stickers on his car, he said. Sometimes people honk and wave, other times his car has been egged.
The negative reactions don't bother him.
"People who don't have a sense of humor, I feel sorry for them," he said.
When the rain returns, he plans to put a large condom on the sculpture and promote safe sex, Parshall said.
Later, he plans to move it to his porch and hang Christmas lights on it, he said.
In a similar situation last year, Pierce County officials discovered they could do nothing when a south county resident displayed lighted cutouts of reindeer mating in his front yard.
That display also drew a mixture of laughs and complaints, county officials reported.
The Sheriff's Office might continue to get complaints about Parshall's carving, but can only explain the situation to callers, Kimball said.
"It's not like there's a law against what he's got," he said. "People have the right to have poor taste."
Lorrine Thompson covers Thurston County and health for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5431.
The Olympian Copyright 2001
>> http://news.theolympian.com/stories/20010920/SouthSound/110273.shtml
ISP