Newest statue in Chehalis dedicated to the W.F. West girls fastpitch team

Former Chehalis Foundation President Mike Austin and his wife, Susan, see their grandkids represented in every corner of Recreation Park in Chehalis.

Three of their granddaughters dance together outside the Chet and Henrietta Rhodes Spray Park. Another granddaughter sits on the counter inside the Gail and Carolyn Shaw Aquatics Center. Their two grandsons play on a tree at Penny Playground.

Their youngest granddaughter, a baseball player currently playing in Michigan, arrived in the park earlier this year and now stands near the entrance to the ballfields.

Of course, the children aren’t actually living in the park. They are represented in the form of bronze statues donated by the Austins through the Chehalis Foundation.

“I always think that they really enhance the city,” Mike Austin said of the statues.

While the statues are meant to honor the Austins’ grandkids, the couple hopes other kids in Chehalis can see themselves represented.

“We have said to other people, ‘If you want to tell your grandkids that’s them, we have no problem with that,’” Susan Austin said.

The statue is dedicated to the W.F. West girls fastpitch team, which Mike Austin lauded as one of the best sports programs in the area.

“The girls have had a winning program for the last 40 years … I think I enjoy the girls fastpitch (games) more than any other sport they’re doing here,” he said.

It's likely the last statue the Austins will donate to Recreation Park for the time being, as her addition means that all their grandkids are now represented in the park.

“This has been something that we've wanted to do, and it took a long time to find the right one,” Mike Austin said of adding the statue of the female baseball player.

The statue was ultimately purchased from an artist in Chicago and shipped to Chehalis.

“You’ve got to find the right one, and I think we did,” Mike Austin said.