NOBURU FUKUDA
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A human interest sidelight in connection with the rehabilitation project is that the Pasco Chamber of Commerce members recommended that the mini-park be named “Peanuts Park,” in honor of Noburu Fukuda, a Japanese immigrant who came to the United States in 1919, eventually landing in Pasco to be employed by the Northern Pacific Railway as a janitor and gardener at the railroad roundhouse, where he had beautified the grounds with five lily-pond-type fish ponds. The name “Peanuts” had been given to him by his fellow railroaders.
Upon his retirement he became very concerned over the litter on some of Pasco’s downtown streets. He built a cart, using his own money, and equipped it with a garbage can and broom and shovel, and began cleaning up the litter. His cart, with a top, with a fringe on top, became a familiar sight on the downtown streets, as he went about his daily cleanup routine. At Christmas he started the practice of giving out candy and gum to young children who were with their parents on shopping trips, a year-round practice he follows now. The Pasco Lions Club donated $20 to a downtown store so Peanuts could buy extra candy during the Christmas holidays in 1974, partially matching his own personal costs on this project. The Lions also purchased a three-wheeled cycle for him, on which he can better haul his candy baskets.
The dedication of “Peanuts Park” was held on April 9, 1977. The dedication program called for Noburu to wave the “wand“ that would turn on the waterfall, but he was nowhere to be found, and the conjecture among those present was that he wanted to shy away from publicity and hid out somewhere during the ceremony. At the dedication ceremony, Reverend Robert McNaul gave the invocation, followed by brief comments from Don McClure, President of the Pasco Chamber of Commerce, Howard Young, Don Linton, and Mayor Jan Tidrick, after which the latter proceeded to the waterfall, waved the “wand,” and the water began to flow, although Fukuda never did show up. The project did greatly upgrade and rehabilitate downtown Pasco, costly though it was. Its pleasing aspects attract shoppers. The added parking space is a great asset also.
