Phone photo 2235

Brown's Mule tobacco plug cutter

Supposedly this device was used by my great grandfather, Jim Willis, back in Virginia

Buttons - Places - 1980s?

Commonwealth of Virginia

This button most likely came from my Dad, who spent most of his childhood in Clintwood, Virginia, in Dickenson County, and probably brought this back during one of his visits to the Old Country. I'm puzzled by the "CP" in the middle of the button. Any Virginians out there care to answer what that means?

Phone photo 1740

No, that isn't me. The only elected office I ever sought to gain was for Democratic Precinct Committeeman for Mud Bay Precinct in Thurston County, Washington, in 1974, which has just dawned on me it was ALMOST 40 YEARS AGO! And I beat the incumbent only because I filed first and my name topped the ballot. But before my term was up I moved so I had to resign.

The Willis currently running for re-election as Grays Harbor County Commissioner is no relation to me, so far as I can ascertain from conversations with members of that family. I did vote for her when she first ran. But the brain cell jury is still out on whether or not I'll re-elect. Still gathering data.

There used to be a lot of Dickenson County, Virginia (Clintwood, Va.)-traced members of the Willis family in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties in the last century, but as far as I know, as of 2006 I am the last one of us left out here in this corner of the world between the two jurisdictions.

Moonshine: How It Works

A diagram I drew under my Dad's expert supervision about how to make moonshine. He built an authentic still as a display for the McCleary Museum many years ago. He's gone but his exhibit is still with us to this day. Illegal booze was a very big part of the history of McCleary, Washington.

The Willis family were involved in the trade both in Dickenson County, Virginia and Pacific County, Washington. Dad served as a lookout for his older brothers in Virginia.

Bootleg

A poster I drew for the 1989 production of Bootleg, a play written by my brother.

The content of this dramatic work was partly based on the exploits of the Willis family concerning their activity in distilling illicit booze and then employing a very libertarian philosophy in the free market distribution of said product, both in Dickenson County, Virginia and in Pacific County, Washington.