Other Features at Wippel Park and the Garden

Other Attractions at Wippel Park

#1 The Poetry Pole of Ellensburg

By Keely Murphy Pickerel

The poetry pole is a cedar post carved with the word POETRY on the east and west sides where people come to pin their poems and read those left by others. Jim Bodeen of Yakima first planted a Poetry Pole in 1996 after visiting the home of Pablo Neruda, where people leave poems on the fence posts. This pole is a sister to that first Poetry Pole, which has collected thousands of poems. After time in the weather, the poems are put in a place of safekeeping. Our Poetry Pole was planted in August 2023. Poetry Poles are for everyone—for children, the old, for students, for every group—they are for you. They receive gifts, and they offer gifts. They are places to share spiritual insights, longings, and truth. Poetry Poles ask, “What is it like to be you? Where is the hurt? What beauty do you know?” If it’s human, it belongs. It’s like Fred Rogers said, “Anything that's human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.” When you come here, you are part of a larger community—part of an unseen dialogue between one another and within ourselves. We are found in stories—brought into belonging by telling our stories and by reading the stories of others. The Poetry Pole is an invitation. Pin your poems. There is room on the Poetry Pole for everybody.

Learn more at wordsonthewind.org

The Wind Phone of Ellensburg

By Keely Murphy Pickerel & Collaborator Chris Shambacher

The wind phone was first imagined in 2010 in Japan by Itaru Sasaki when he placed an old telephone booth in his garden to help him cope with the death of his cousin. Sasaki stated: “Because my thoughts couldn't be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind.” That following year brought the tsunami of 2011, when thousands died and were unaccounted for. Sasaki and his wife have since received over 35,000 bereaved visitors into their garden so they, too, may call their loved ones on the wind phone. Now, hundreds of wind phones have been installed around the world. This wind phone was installed in May 2024, and its keeper has dedicated it to her brother, Brendan Murphy. The wind phone has no religious connotation—it helps us carry our grief as time passes. The wind phone works as a physical metaphor, giving us permission to say what we long to say. When you visit a wind phone, you are connected to all who have loved and lost and all who visit that place. May the wind carry your words. “May the sore well of grief turn into a seamless flow of presence.” - John O’Donohue 

#2 Wippel Community Garden

Wippel Community Garden is located in West Ellensburg, corner of Railroad Ave and W. 4^th Ave.

Plan for your favorite vegetables, fruit, herbs at Ellensburg’s newest community garden. There are 9 foot by 4 foot raised beds for your organic produce to thrive. $20 per year, 3 bed maximum per household, ADA beds available. Constructed by volunteers Reed and Tina Waite.

Learn more on Facebook.

#3 Wind Sculptures

By Artist Lyman Whitaker

“The wind sculptures are kinetic art that respond to the changing currents of the wind - responsive to their surroundings.”

The sculptures were donated by local citizens and resided at Rotary Pavilion from 2014 till 2023. To facilitate the construction of Unity Park, they were moved and reinstalled at Wippel Park in June 2024. 

#4 Free Little Library

Eagle Scout Project by Chase Mayer, Troup 493, August 2024. Chase is on the right in below photo.

#5 Mason and Leafcutter Bee House

Ellensburg High School Environmental Club project
Jeff Hoshimoto, Advisor

#6 Thorp 4H Club Solar Green House