Tenino's response to the pandemic - widely-publicized wooden scrip similar to money that was distributed to residents - may soon be enshrined in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Earlier this month, a curator of the museum reached out to the small town asking to display some of the wooden currency, which was aimed at helping keep the local economy afloat during a global emergency.

"It's still kind of surreal," Mayor Wayne Fournier said Friday, noting that other museums have also been reaching out regarding the unique scrip program. "But nothing to the level of the Smithsonian, you know? The Smithsonian, that's America's museum."

The Smithsonian has already chronicled Tenino's wooden scrip program from nine decades ago. As far as Fournier knows, 2020 was the first time a local government had spearheaded a scrip program. But during the Great Depression, Tenino's chamber of commerce ignited a similar program. So when the pandemic hit, Fournier said, Tenino simply had to "dust that idea off."

Hearing from the Smithsonian is exuberating, but Tenino has been getting love from more than one prestigious institution during the course of the pandemic.

The town has already given some wooden tokens to two other museums - one in New York and the other in Canada. And Fournier was invited to partake in Temple University's "The Critical Dialogue" lecture series to discuss monetary theory. He's also been talking to grad students in California who are studying micro-currency concepts.

"And the nation of Japan contacted us to get permission to put our story in their civics textbook," Fournier added. "It's outrageous."

When asked if monetary theory is something he's interested in pursuing, Fournier said he's unsure. He would love to do a Ted Talk, although he acknowledged that the Smithsonian is perhaps a more prestigious honor.

"The Smithsonian. I don't know how it can get any better than that," Fournier said, laughing. "It's all downhill from here for me."

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Smithsonian Looks to Enshrine Tenino's Wooden Money(http://www.chronline.com/news/smithsonian-looks-to-enshrine-tenino-s-wooden-money/article_e2d96fe8-6ff2-11eb-a31e-2f2605763319.html)