B1
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JuNE 15, 2019
CONTACT US
Jonathan Williams
editor@coastweekend.com
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorian
BRANCHING OUT
Retired landscaper uses branches from a burn pile as focal point for his own yard project
BY LYNDA LAYNE
For The Astorian
O
CEAN PARK — John Fugitt has
moved around a lot in his lifetime.
He was a nomad of sorts, chang-
ing locations and jobs seemingly at the
drop of a hat. But one constant always
held true and that was his love of design-
ing and installing landscapes for other
people.
But now that he has retired and feels
settled on the Washington Peninsula, he
is finally realizing his dream of design-
ing his own yard. From the curved brick-
lined pathways to a creative arbor and
fence made from discarded shore pine
branches, he has put together what his
girlfriend, Carole Barger, calls “John’s
landscape artistry.”
Barger, also an Ocean Park resident, is
a well-known area artist in several medi-
ums from fiber arts to mosaics. Over
several years, she has watched Fugitt
express his creativity in other ways and
those efforts have helped him give back
to the community.
He has been a member of Bayside
Singers, has performed in Peninsula
Players productions and in mystery the-
ater; all volunteer efforts. He has even
been a solo vocalist at the Loyalty Days
Follies. Aside from the singing and act-
ing, Barger said Fugitt has an artistic
side that has helped him bring his cur-
rent project, “to a whole different level.”
Getting down and dirty
As a child, his parents didn’t dress
him up in Little Lord Fauntleroy duds
and threaten him with bodily harm if he
got them filthy. Instead, they told him to
go play in the dirt and be happy. They
believed a child needed to spend a lot
of time outside, playing in soil, to be
healthy and content.
It worked. Fugitt recalled, “Early on,
my folks fortunately had the philosophy
that as a child you need to roll around in
the dirt a little bit to get healthy. I firmly
agree. They got me used to dirt. Even as
a kid, I always enjoyed just sticking my
hands in it and playing in dirt piles. I just
loved it.”
It stuck. When he was in high school,
he said he got a summer job in Longview
with Melody Landscaping. “I really
enjoyed it. It was outside and it was
physical.”
Over his entire adult life, what-
ever job he was sidelined into working,
he always seemed to return to what he
calls, “professional landscaping. It was
always kind of a fallback thing.” He said
that he worked in over a dozen other
career fields, including a short stint as a
teacher after earning an elementary edu-
cation degree from Western Washington
University.
Admitting that he is sometimes held
back by Attention Deficit Disorder
(ADD), which makes it tough to con-
centrate and focus, that wasn’t the only
reason it took him, “seven years and two
quarters to get a four-year degree. That
was back in the ‘70s and I was having a
lot of fun.” Plus, he enjoyed the beauty
of the Bellingham area and was in no
hurry to leave.
Photos by LYNDA LAYNE/Chinook Observer
John Fugitt dragged branches of shore pines one at a time from the beach approach area, past Pacific Pines Park, to his home and
stacked them alongside his house for future use. That future use turned out to be an artistic garden arbor and fence for his front yard.
Working for others
Over the years, the landscaping jobs
he always returned to saw him design-
ing and installing both inside and outside
environments that had aesthetic appeal.
One he particularly remembers is the
Ciri Building, a huge business complex
in Anchorage, Alaska. Inside, he said,
“The first story and a half was an atrium.
We brought in soil and banked it all up.”
They also made a free-flowing water fea-
ture. “People would bring their lunches
to work and sit and listen to the waterfall.
It was so rewarding to see and that’s kind
of why I love doing it.”
He finds the entire creative process
gratifying.
Landscaping, he said, is “like a pic-
ture that’s never done, so there’s always
something for you to do, always some-
thing you can improve upon, change or
alter. Landscapes are always growing,
always changing.”
To keep things as natural as possible, Fugitt often wove branches
together. Here on the railing for the arbor, one branch has two
horns that lopped over the rail and interlocked.
Now his own yard
Looking back, Fugitt said, “With me
moving around a lot, I never did have a
chance to landscape my own place. I’d
been doing other people’s landscapes
my whole life. Now, at this stage of the
See Landscaper, Page B2
A closeup of the mosaic birdbath.
An old boot and colorful potted plants add color and interest on
and around an old tree stump. “I like goofy little yard art things,”
Fugitt said.