For up to 70 years, the students of Tukwila have shown their pride on the "Rock."

This local fixture is layered in paint and memories. With class years, student names, proclamations of love, and dedications to those who have been lost, the Rock is a staple of not only the high school, but of the history of Tukwila.

One Foster alumnus, however, is concerned over the lack of knowledge of the true history of the Rock. Alan Gunsul, M.D., believes this truth has been lost beneath rumors and misunderstanding.

Dr. Gunsul was a Foster High School graduate of 1944 and actually witnessed the discovery and unearthing of the Rock, back in the days before the I-5 freeway.

The Rock was discovered after King County decided to level out 51st Avenue South.

Gunsul says road graders were brought in to complete this task, and as they were leveling out one of the small hills, they ran across a large rock too big for the graders. A "powder man" from Maple Valley was called in by King County to blow the rock apart.

Holes were drilled around the rock and dynamite was placed in each hole.

Gunsul says his mother was instructed to open the doors and windows of her home, and take her children and stand back on the opposite side of her home from the blast site.

Gunsul and his brother were curious, however, and peaked around to get a look.

"My brother Brooks and I watched all this with the interest grade school boys have in anything out of the ordinary," Gunsul recalls.

The 'powder man' laid a tarp over the blast site and ignited the dynamite.

"From the north side of our back yard I could see the area when it exploded with a big 'whomp,' a lot of dust flying but no flying debris that I could see," says. Gunsul.

The dynamite was no match for the rock, and failed to blow it apart.

After seeing it had not worked, the powder man, according to Dr. Gunsul, packed his gear up into "a two-horse wagon and left."

Two road graders were then brought in and a large rope cable was hooked around the rock to drag it out.

"Then the two graders dragged the rock to the six-way intersection of South 144th Street., 51st Avenue South. and the Black Top, now called Macadam Road, putting it in front of the Community Hall at the southeast point of the intersection of 144th and the Black Top," says Gunsul.

This location is no longer in existence, as it was mostly eliminated when the I-5 freeway was put through Tukwila.

The rock became the "Rock" and was a major gathering place for kids.

"There was no place for kids to go as it was the Depression, then World War II, so it was a place we just hung out," Gunsul says. "When I returned from military service, getting off the Greyhound bus up at Pacific Highway South, and 144th, to walk home, I knew I was home when from the top of Brummers Hill I could see the Rock standing there below me."

Gunsul's late wife also graduated from Foster in 1944; his current wife, Dr. Kate Ostrom, Ed. E. graduated from Foster in 1946. She then became a teacher in the district.

"I used to walk by it everyday up to Showalter," says Dr. Ostrom.

The Rock sat at this location for over 30 years, serving as a social attraction and hot spot for the local youth.

"The Rock has become community-centered," Ostrom says.

Foster graduate and long-time Foster teacher and coach, Tim Parker, also has fond memories of the Rock.

Parker says he believes the Rock began to be painted sometime in the late thirties.

"The Rock used to be a lot bigger than it is now. Kids would have parties around it, and post-game 'rumbles' when it sat at the bottom of Brummers Hill," he says.

The "rumbles," Parker says, were held against rival schools after big games. The school administration had difficulty controlling the problem with the Rock being off campus, so it was moved up the hill to the school grounds.

"In the sixties, because it became such a nuisance, they brought it up to campus," he says.

On campus, it was placed under a large maple tree, which is no longer there.

In the early nineties, says Parker, when Foster was being rebuilt, the construction workers broke the Rock, making it smaller and creating the smaller chunk that now sits next to the larger piece.

Before retiring, Parker made it a point to tell the students in each of his gym classes about the Rock's history and importance.

With about 70 years of history, there are hundreds of stories and memories coating the Rock- stories told in layers of paint.

Teachers and students alike share these stories and memories.

Aside from being a place to present pride in being a Foster High School Bulldog, the Rock has also become a place to honor those who have been lost.

French teacher Sue Pike notes, "There are many stories and not all happy."

The Rock has been painted with the names of students who have died, such as when students in 2001 painted it in honor of their classmate Shane Draganov, who had been murdered. It has also been painted to bring attention to worldly issues, such as the recent devastation in Haiti.

One Foster alumnus, Adam Shinners of the class of 2002, has fond memories of the Rock.

"Of all the stories and memories I have, painting it, planning secret missions to paint over another class, coming together around it, all of those stories bring back vivid and colorful details, and all the little things are brought back to me about my time at Foster," says Shinners.
"As we grow and experience life, our memories get foggy, but all of us know that someday in our lives, we'll visit that rock and be Bulldogs again."