DALBY WATERWHEEL MAKING A RETURN
Updated December 2006

   The Hood Canal Improvement Club in Union has been busy working on the relocation of the historic Dalby Waterwheel from its former site on the now abandoned portion of State Route 106 to its new site about 200’ upstream on Dalby Creek, near milepost 7 on S.R. 106. The Club’s Dalby Waterwheel Relocation Committee has been working since May 2004 on this project and is happy to announce that they are nearing completion of the massive effort.  With the work with the Department of Ecology finished to “perfect” the water rights that Ed and Ethel Dalby secured from the State in 1924, and the creation of an “out-lot” with Mason County, the lengthy process of securing appropriate permits will finally be concluded.

   Fund raising for the project has been a huge success, thanks to the generosity of many caring people and businesses in the region and state, even including some out of state donations. Our goal of raising $30,000 for the project has been met, with some left over for a maintenance fund to keep the wheel turning. The Improvement Club wishes to extend a hearty “thank you” to all those who contributed their funds, as well as all those businesses who responded to the call for donated items or services.  Without the generosity of the many donors to the project we wouldn’t be in the final stages today. Thank you!

   The volunteers working on construction have been busy, too. Since September 2005 there have been several work crews tackling different aspects of the move. The first group worked to begin disassembling the cabin at the old site, and was much surprised and happy that the whole front wall came down in a piece! And since the roof has such an abundance of “flora” established on the top that the workers hoped to preserve, the next work party came to shore up the roof from underneath, in the hopes that the entire roof could be moved in one piece. Dick Johnson of Arrow Enterprises came with his crane truck in early October and with Joe Fassio’s excavator and lowboy trailer, the men were successful in removing the roof in one piece. Then, Dick put a chain around the massive old wheel and hauled it to his Union workshop for repairs.  Dick fabricated a new shaft for the wheel and also poured new Babbitt bearings while he was at it. Joyce Johnson was responsible for locating the materials for this part of the project, and finding just the right kind of coal, cotton material and metal for the bearings was a challenge to say the least!  She succeeded, however, and Dick told the group that if the bearings are kept lubricated and the wheel turning, everyone should be able to enjoy the Dalby Waterwheel in its new setting for many years to come.

   Joe Fassio went to work preparing the new site with a reinforced wall of rocks against the embankment, and leveled the ground for the cabin site, all done according to specifications designed for the Fish and Wildlife Hydraulic Permit by Rich Geiger of the Mason Conservation District. 

   The next task was to move the 12 ton concrete pedestal that workers, led by Jeff Araujo, had made in 1999 to the new site. Joe Fassio of Fassio Excavating, put heavy chains around the pedestal in the hopes of hoisting it to his dump truck to move to the new site, but it proved to be too heavy for one excavator. He called Johnny Gilliland of Arrow Land Clearing and Septic Company to come to his aid. Johnny arrived with his heavy duty excavator, and with both machines operating in unison, the pedestal was removed from the old site and placed in the truck. Within a few minutes the two huge machines were operating at the new site to place the pedestal near the streambed. As the pedestal was lowered to its rock platform, Henry Biernacki and Tony Fassio danced around, placing rocks under the pedestal and using a level to be sure it would be properly seated.  All of this critical work was done in the time frame given by the Fish and Wildlife Department, in fact, on the last day of the permit! After that it was easy for Dick Johnson to install the bearings he had made as well as the massive wheel on the concrete pedestal a few days later.

   The next few work days involved constructing a foundation and new frame for the cabin at the new site. Henry Biernacki has been the foreman for the project and called upon several volunteers to help with this work, including Ed Stolesen, Ted Bailey, Jeff Araujo, Richard McArthur, Joe Ullom, Merlyn Flakus, and Charles Johnson. With the cabin frame completed Dick Johnson used his crane once more to raise the roof of the cabin and with Joe Fassio’s lowboy trailer, the entire roof and front wall were transported from the old to the new site. As the roof was lowered onto the cabin framework, Henry and crew were busily working to cut the uprights at strategic locations so that the old roof would rest evenly on the new cabin. All their efforts were a huge success, as the roof looks like it’s always been there! With the roof on, the front wall came up and the old building was starting to look like itself once more.  

   Many months ago the relocation committee decided it wanted to put a low fence in front of the waterwheel to protect visitors from entering the potentially dangerous area near the wheel, and chose split rail cedar for the material. Mark Peake of Bear Creek Auto Body in Belfair, along with his employee Don Dimmen, worked on the fence project over the course of the winter and spring of 2005-6.  All of their labor for this part of the job is being donated to the project, with the many thanks of the Improvement Club.  

   During the fall of 2005 the Committee had second thoughts about using old-style Babbitt bearings in the wheel and decided to do more research on modern bearings.  We were concerned that there would be too much labor involved with maintaining old-style bearings, and could possibly put volunteers in danger while performing needed work.  Merlyn Flakus worked with Dick Johnson to find roller bearings in pillow blocks that would require little or no maintenance, and would provide many years of trouble-free service. 

   On Saturday November 12^th, 2005 Henry Biernacki and Ted Bailey continued working on the cabin walls and door. On December 6^th Henry Biernacki, Ted Bailey and Ed Noll finished the cabin work. Merlyn Flakus, along with helper Valerie Johnson, used hand-made cedar shakes donated by Bill Cady to complete the south wall of the cabin.   

   On February 7, 2006 Merlyn Flakus and his two brothers, Richard and Rodney, began work constructing the new trestle that was needed to support the water pipe as it crossed Dalby Creek. The fir poles, used for the cabin walls as well as for the new trestle, were donated by Bill Hunter of Hunter Farms and involved a couple of trips into his woods to cut and bring them to the site. Henry Biernacki led a crew of volunteers including Ted Bailey, Joe Ullom, Bill Timm, and Merlyn Flakus for this work. Once at the new site, the poles had to be peeled, and this work was done by various helpers, including Henry, Ron Russell, Bill Timm, Ted Bailey, and Sue Russell. While constructing the trestle, it was determined that a better support would be required for the span across the stream, and a dead cedar was located nearby. Bill Timm felled the tree and Dick Johnson moved it into place across Dalby Creek for this purpose. Work on the trestle continued on February 11^th with Henry, Ted and Ron Russell providing the labor. Henry and Ted completed the trestle in March, 2006. 

   Most of the pipe for the old water system was still in place but in some sections, badly in need of repair, so we determined that it made more sense to replace it.  Merlyn Flakus purchased new ABS pipe and fittings and delivered it to the site in late February. On March 25^th Henry, Ted, Merlyn and Charles Johnson began putting the pipe together for the new run. On March 28th they completed the work and installed the water diversion head box that had been designed by stream engineer Rich Geiger of Mason Conservation District and fabricated by Ed Stolesen, with the help of Eric Birk the previous fall.  Charles and Valerie Johnson worked to re-cover the head box with smaller mesh wire to meet the Fish and Wildlife specifications.  Merlyn Flakus installed a valve for test purposes as well as fabricating and installing a wooden security box to enclose and disguise the valve.

   The Dalby Waterwheel Relocation Committee hopes that visitors notice the new buckets on the old wheel. The group found one remaining bucket from the metal dredge buckets that Ed Dalby originally bolted on the wheel that was in good enough shape to be used as a pattern for manufacturing new stainless steel buckets. Merlyn Flakus took responsibility for having the new buckets fabricated, and so they wouldn’t be too “new” looking, had them powder-coated in an antique color.  The committee and everyone who has seen the new buckets all agree that they look fabulous, and they have the added advantage of being made from a metal that should last for many decades.  

   The committee also worked to have an interpretive sign for the observation area created that includes some of the history of the waterwheel and information on how a waterwheel creates electricity (sketches courtesy of Tacoma Power and Light), as this one did for many years. Included on the sign are historical photos of Ed and Ethel Dalby, as well as a photo of the waterwheel taken during the 1940s, both donated for use by Ken Dalby, grandson of Ed and Ethel.  We had another outdoor sign made in honor of all those who contributed significant funds to the project, our “Bucket Brigade” members, and used the beautiful pen and ink sketch of the waterwheel done by Paul Steensen as the background artwork, with his permission. 

   After the construction was completed, Ken Dalby of Dalby Landscaping landscaped the new site with native materials. His employee Julio installed native ferns, wood sorrel, Nootka Rose bushes and a mature Vine Leaf Maple that creates a beautiful new setting for the cabin and wheel. Sue Texeira of the Hood Canal Coordinating Council volunteered to donate plants and restore the old site with native materials at the end of March 2006. Sue and the Mason Conservation District enlisted help from a group of Americorps volunteers from all over the country and spent one entire day learning about the value of maintaining stream buffers in their natural manner, while they replanted the former site of the waterwheel. They installed ferns, snow drop bushes, a big leaf maple tree and other natives with the intention of restoring the area to its natural state. The goal of the club and committee all along has been to attempt to relocate the historic old waterwheel in such a fashion that the people who come to enjoy it in its new setting aren’t aware that it hasn’t been sitting there for decades, and this plan always included restoring the former site once the wheel and cabin were moved. 

   Over the course of the winter of 2005-6, committee members Valerie and Charles Johnson prepared a booklet to commemorate this great project, so that people will remember it for years to come. Valerie chronicled the project with digital photography and wrote descriptive text that describes the huge effort that went into this work, and Charles used his editing expertise to format the document. Tricia Jensen contributed the photos of the Midsummer Celebration BBQ fundraiser. Also included in the booklet are historical photos donated for our use by Ed Binder and Ken Dalby. After Charles and Valerie had taken the booklet as far as their skill level could go, they turned over the work to Pam Merrill of OUTLOOK Writing and Design to complete the layout process. The booklet was completed by the end of April 2006, just in time for the dedication ceremony that took place on April 29th to commemorate the conclusion of the project. Charles Johnson served as our Master of Ceremonies and we began the dedication of the Dalby Waterwheel at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 29th at Alderbrook Resort and Spa with a huge thank you to all of the people who have helped on or with this project. Speakers at the event included former Mason County Commissioner Wes Johnson, County Commissioners Tim Sheldon, Lynda Ring-Erickson, and Jayni Kamin all who gave high praise for the project. Representing the David H. Dalby family, David Thornton of Boise, Idaho (great grandson of Ed and Ethel Dalby) gave a special thank you to the Hood Canal Improvement Club for taking on and completing the project in such a fine fashion. We had several members of the Dalby family on hand to celebrate the day, and they came from many places – Washington DC, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington but as Charles stated, only “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” would travel half-way around the globe to see a waterwheel. James Dalby Hogg, great great great grandson of Robert and Mary Dalby (also Ed Dalby’s great grandparents) traveled all the way from Cambridgeshire, England and shared a few thoughts which delighted the crowd. Merlyn Flakus gave a special “thank you” to the “Bucket Brigade” donors, several who were in attendance as well as over 200 people from the community. Although it was a chilly day, the sun managed to come out as the large group moved from Alderbrook to the site of the relocated waterwheel. Speaking to the group, Charles Johnson gave special thanks to the volunteers of the community who worked so tirelessly on the project, but especially to Henry Biernacki, who oversaw all of the construction work. Merlyn Flakus and Ted Bailey were given special acknowledgment for their tireless work on the project as well. Charles invited Marilyn Dalby to cut the ribbon to officially open the site, and asked special guests Eddie Green and John Smith, of the Skokomish Tribe, grandson and great-grandson of Henry Allen, old “tillicum” (friend) of Ed and Ethel Dalby, to sing their great grandfather’s song. While John beat the hand drum, he and Eddie sang in their native language, thrilling the audience with the beauty of their ancestor’s song. With the conclusion of the song and the setting perfect, Charles asked Henry Biernacki to turn on the water. The crowd waited breathlessly for the water to appear, and after a minute or two, it began first to spill over, then fill the buckets, and finally to turn the wheel. The crowd gave a huge cheer and applause, concluding the ceremony at the waterwheel, and signaling the virtual completion of a very successful community project.

The festivities continued a few days later when a group of Hood Canal Improvement Club members, including Henry and Cathleen Biernacki, Sue Lukenbill, Charles and Valerie Johnson along with Dalby kin James Dalby Hogg (from England) attended the award ceremony for the State Historic Preservation Officers at the Washington State Capitol building in Olympia. The Hood Canal Improvement Club received a 2006 Stewardship Award from the State Historic Preservation Officers, and the above mentioned group was there to receive it on behalf of the Club. A “power point” series of photos of the project was shown and narrated by Dr. Allyson Brooks for the audience to enjoy, after which Charles, Valerie and James spoke to the group. Sue Lukenbill took photos of the event and the group happily came back to Union bearing Mason County’s first-ever SHPO Award! At the October 2006 meeting of the Hood Canal Improvement Club, Dalby Waterwheel Relocation Committee Chairman Charles Johnson presented the award to the new club president, Mike Jensen, and the committee was given a rousing round of applause from the membership.

Work still to be completed on the project is the finalizing and recording of the deed for the new “out lot” that is being donated by Marilyn Dalby to the Hood Canal Improvement Club. The Dalby Waterwheel Relocation Committee will also pursue the registration of the site on the historical register of Washington. In addition, the committee is preparing a maintenance manual as well as setting up a separate maintenance fund, to insure that the Dalby Waterwheel will be maintained for decades to come. There has also been interest in having the little powerhouse produce electricity once more, so efforts are in the planning stage to investigate that possibility, either using the original DC generator or other equipment. After all of the work, the Hood Canal Improvement Club wants to ensure that all who pass by this corner of the world will have the opportunity to stop and enjoy a piece of Mason County history, slowing turning and delivering its quiet delight to all comers.

By Valerie Johnson
Granddaughter of Ed and Ethel Dalby
Dalby Waterwheel Relocation Committee Volunteer

For more information or to purchase a copy of the commemorative booklet, “The Dalby Waterwheel”, please send $9.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling to the Hood Canal Improvement Club, P.O. Box 312, Union, WA 98592.

The Dalby Waterwheel Relocation Committee and the Hood Canal Improvement Club are very grateful to Hood Canal Communications for hosting this website.