Bucket Chess

The tags for this photo said only 'buckets, alaska, girdwood', plus 'chess', of course. Can we make a story out of that?

Taken on August 15, 2017 © Flickr user Mike Linksvayer under Creative Commons.

First, does 'girdwood' have something to do with the stumps on the ground in front of the White pieces, or is it a place? According to Wikipedia, it's a place: Girdwood, Anchorage.

Girdwood is a resort town within the southern extent of the Municipality of Anchorage in the state of Alaska. Located near the end of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, Girdwood lies in a valley in the southwestern Chugach Mountains, surrounded by seven glaciers feeding into a number of creeks, which either converge within the valley or empty directly into the arm

What about the pieces? In Chess in the Park (April 2016), the Glacier City Gazette informs,

Tommy O'Malley repurposed 5-gallon plastic buckets into chess pieces by removing the handles, cutting a hole in the bottom and painting them. The chess board is at Girdwood Town Square and the buckets were donated by local business owners Michael Flynn, Jud Crosby, and Spike and Suzanne Farley.

As for the stumps on the ground, I can only guess what purpose they serve. They are too short to sit on. Do they hold down the board in case of wind?