I was watching the national news March 30. There was a story about a mystery elf door that appeared in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The tiny door appeared at the base of an elm tree. The San Francisco’s Richmond District had photos on their neighborhood site. Many had been searching the web and posting photos of what has been referred to as an elf door or gnome door. Park visitors had been leaving notes, candy, flowers and acorns next to the door. Where the door came from was unknown. Some thought it was fairies. When asked by NBC Bay Area what San Francisco Parks Department plans on doing with the door, Andy Stone stated, “We don’t have any plans to do anything but just leave the elf door and continue to take care of Golden Gate Park.”It was that news story that planted the seed.

On Easter, I sent an email with a link to the NBC story and the subject line, “Can you make these? How much?”

It said:

His response:

By April 2, the first door was created and installed (and destroyed) at Cedarview Park.

Tom made a tongue-in-cheek presentation at the Bonney Lake City Council workshop that evening.

It went something like this:

Council member Tom Watson started off the open discussion with the following announcement, “I had something brought to my attention which really surprised me.

I found this door this afternoon by driving through our city. It is a gnome house. I did not realize we had a gnome houses in Bonney Lake. I think they are coming through our parks and trails right now. I did some research this afternoon in preparation for this meeting.

“For centuries they have been living side by side with humans. They have been protecting and tending to the gardens. They ask for little in return.They may sneak under your picnic table for a bread crumb and a morsel of cheese.

But for the most part they are quiet and docile. After centuries of peace and quiet they are craving excitement. They have arrived in our parks.

“I am concerned we do not have enough parks and trails in Bonney Lake for gnomes. They have traveled a long way to get to Bonney Lake; they are anxious to meet new people and experience our city first hand.

“They are jovial and fun loving. They like to sing and dance in the parks. So Neil, I want to know how can we welcome these gnomes into our parks and show them a great time.

“After I saw this one, I saw two more in our parks. It is surprising. How can we welcome these gnomes in our parks?”Mayor Johnson said, “We need to do something about this. I think we should get the kids involved; send the kids out to search for them. We need the kids to welcome them. Let’s make something happen.”

Council member Watson continued, “I opened the door and they have a way to communicate with us. There is a little clip there. We can leave a note that we found their spot. Leave a note for some who might go there and visit.”

Mayor Johnson added, “I think that’s great. I think we should put it on the city website.” Council member Mark Hamilton pointed out “These people really are interested in parks. Are they registered to vote?”

Council member Donn Lewis asked Community Development Director John Vodopich, “Did they have a permit to put in that door?”

Council member Jim Rackley wondered aloud, “Do they get discounts to hook up to sewer?”

Hamilton thanked Watson for his good investigative reporting.

The doors multiplied and appeared in all the parks and a few other public areas. They are now in residential areas. The phenomenon has been tracked on the Bonney Lake Gnomes Facebook page, created by Scott Anderson on April 6 and managed by myself, Scott and Tom. There is information on the city website, including GPS coordinates for geocaching. Visitors are encouraged to go out in the parks, find the doors, take pictures and post them to the Facebook page. There have been posts of local businesses and their sales of gnomes. One home improvement store’s race car is parked in front of a gnome door, challenging the other home improvement store for a pic of their car and other local stores to post pictures of their race cars. Pictures of famous gnomes are on the page. And there are Oregon Duck gnomes.

I am writing this on May Day. There are 241 likes on the Facebook page, and it is growing. The page has been viewed by people in 20 countries from Australia to the United Kingdom. The majority of the visitors are from Bonney Lake, but twenty other cities, mostly in the northwest, have 6 to 91 visitors to the Facebook page. Viewers of the page speak primarily English, German, Italian and Spanish.

Women liked the page 2:1 compared to men, with the majority in the 25-44 age group. One week in mid-April there were 3,642 visits to the Facebook page.

What do I get from this? People like whimsy and escapism. To go back to a simpler time. To get out on a nice spring day with their family and go to the park for some fun, have lunch together or stop for a miniature gnome ice cream cone. They may shop Bonney Lake first and buy a gnome. Local businesses may embrace this. Who knows? Maybe we will get a miniature golf course. Or the Whitehouse may start serving cheesy corn chowder with bread crumbs on top to welcome the gnomes!