‘A piece of the puzzle of healing’

Three years ago, Mea Moore and her husband, Cliff, started a project to install a bench at Sunnyside Park in Pullman as a memorial to their son, Cliffy.

The project was started right before the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a delay in installation. Then the weather got in the way. But as the Moore family packed up their car on Tuesday and made the day-long drive from Port Townsend, Washington, to Pullman, they knew a long journey was nearing an end.

“It’s really been through the kindness of Pullman that we were able to do this,” Mea Moore said. 

Cliffy Moore’s first claim to fame was in 1998, when at 8 years old he made it onto the Nickelodeon television network to be “slimed.” It was the second season of the show “Figure It Out,” a “What’s My Line?” type show according to a May 29, 1998, Moscow-Pullman Daily News article about Cliffy’s appearance.

Cliffy would go on to become a production assistant for Warner Brothers and also work in the music industry before his death in 2018 from an accidental overdose at age 28 in Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the obituary in the Daily News. Cliffy was a Pullman resident until age 14, when his family moved to Olympia. 

Mea and Cliff Moore had planned celebrations of life in the other places Cliffy had called home, but wanted to do something special for Pullman. Mea was inspired by a bench project she had seen in Olympia in which interchangeable slats of wood which would be covered in local artwork. 

Mea Moore thought, could that be done in Pullman? 

She brought the idea, with success, to the Pullman Parks and Recreation Department, and after pandemic and other delays, the project slowly moved toward this week.

The artwork on the bench was done by a family friend, Ann Saberi, who had known Cliffy since he was 3. Mea Moore said the two met on his first day of Montessori School of Pullman. The vinyl-wrapped bench is the same one Cliffy and Mea had gone to often when Cliffy was a child.

“We want to invite those who knew and loved Cliffy to spend time on his bench at Sunnyside Park, a place he knew and loved growing up,” Mea Moore said. 

Saberi was inspired by the view from the bench and a piece of music, Handel’s “Messiah.” There is a QR code at the bench for people to scan and hear the song. The music played on a loop, Sabreri said, while she was working on the piece. 

Mea and Cliff Moore said they were grateful to the community of Pullman, for the condolences they had received and the support they got during the project. 

“It was really emotional,” Mea Moore said of seeing the finished bench. “A piece of the puzzle of healing.” 

Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.

ON THE WEB

Daily News article, “Cliffy Moore of Pullman, prepare to be slimed”:bit.ly/3HoeMLv

Obituary: Clifford Alexander Moore, 28, formerly of Pullman: bit.ly/3ztqdzd