Land of berries, legends and friendly folks

Story by Michael Wagar (Kitsap Sun)

Inside the Olalla Feed Store, one of three stores in town, a man wearing a baseball hat and a long white beard rocks in an aging recliner behind the counter. He's not too receptive. "I don't like reporters — don't talk to 'em," he says.

Unfriendly to outsiders, he's probably as cuddly as a teddy bear to those inside the community of Olalla. Opal Abundis, 47, a self-described hippie from the 1960s, said she understands that attitude, claiming his behavior might even be typical. Abundis owns the site of the "Starvation Sanitarium," a controversial holistic healing center from the 1920s. She said the people of Olalla sometimes seem ornery, but deep down they are caring.

"The old-timers, we're close," she said. "When you need it, people will give you the shirt off their back. But many stay to themselves." Located a few miles north of the Kitsap-Pierce county line on Colvos Passage, Olalla is small, isolated and picturesque. Old-timers, a mix of farmers and graying hippies, fear Olalla is becoming yuppified. A tour of Olalla reveals lavish homes with electronic gates being built in large numbers, most with panoramic views of the blue waters of Colvos Passage. Near many of the expensive homes sit ramshackle houses and worn trailers.

A bay cuts deep into the valley. Steep ravines dotted with towering evergreens slope down to the saltwater. Olalla historians claim it is the bay that prompted the town's development in the late 1800s. Boats found a sheltered harbor. When the crews came ashore, they found a land filled with wild berries. In 1881, the first permanent settler in Olalla, L.P. Larson, came to cut trees along the shore. He happened upon a Native American. The Native American asked him "Mamoch Olallie?" which meant "Have you picked any berries?"