By Kay Chamberlain
Wah. Co. Eagle 

Improvements to BED suggested

 


WEEKEND WEATHER--As I left my house Saturday morning with a car loaded full of chairs, tents, weights, and raffle items, I was met with a nasty, wet surprise as I traveled down the road, this was not going to be a fun Bald Eagle's Day in the rain and my mood was turning more dour as the miles went by and my wipers had to be turned up a little higher. Needless to say, I was relieved to turn my frown upside down, as when I got to the Elochoman Road turn off, the pavement suddenly turned dry! Sunday arrived with a bit of dampness and much cloudier and I didn't see the sunshine until after dinner time here. With wild fires raging in Washington and Oregon, the projected rain due on Tuesday and Wednesday will actually be a blessing if it shows up, as with dry conditions and gusty winds, these fires have spread rapidly, burning hundreds of homes in Central Washington. We truly hope and pray that firefighters and home owners will get some relief in those areas soon.

URGENT P.O. MTG--On July 29 there will be the very important meeting at the Skamokawa Grange Hall regarding the fate of our Skamokawa Post Office. It is extremely important that everyone using our local post office attends this meeting! I know that Tuesday at 6 p.m. is not an ideal time or day for many of you, but I do hope you'll make every effort to attend. I also hope that you turned in your survey by now as if they don't get a majority response, you can bet that our chances of keeping our post office running as it currently does, will probably no longer continue.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from July 24-30 are Brian O'Connor, Randy Montgomery, Levi Helms, Ebby Blouin, Al McClain, Suzet Parker, Natasha Montgomery, Kyler McKinley, Mike Anderson, Lesley Horman, Jon Hauff, Carol Cooper, Diane Stockhouse, Chris Sauer, Jeff Lundborg, Molly Jorgensen, Art Pedersen, Peggy (Mrs. Ralph) Pedersen, Paula Monroe Olson, Hannah Davison and yours truly, Kay Chamberlain.

Celebrating their anniversaries this week are Andrew Emlen and Audrey Petterson, Becky and Jerry Ledtke, Joel and Jessie Havens, Tim and Sharon Schmitz, Gary and Jody Havens, Lori and Steve Finkas and Bill and Kay Chamberlain. Let's all have wonderful celebrations on our special days!

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY--We've got another name to add to our birthday calendar for next year, as our family grew a little bigger last Thursday, July 17, with the birth of Jensen Theo Finkas. His arrival meant that my brother, Frank and his wife, Carolyn, are now great grandparents and their oldest daughter, Lori is now a first time grandma and hubby, Steve, a grandpa! The little boy was seven pounds and 13 ounces when he was born and was 19 inches long, and his parents, Ty and Kendra Finkas couldn't be happier. Congratulations to all!

GREAT VISIT--There's nothing like a one year old great granddaughter to put a smile on your face and that was the case when Bailey Pedersen came out from Virginia with her folks, Adam and Samantha Pedersen to visit her great grandparents, Ralph and Peggy Pedersen this past week. Of course, a very proud first time grandpa, Mark Pedersen was there as well. They all learned that there would be another addition to the family as Samantha is expecting once again and so Bailey is now sporting a t-shirt with the saying "I'm the big sister now" on it. Cute! Seems the t-shirt was used to tell Adam he was going to be a Dad again as well, so that was a novel idea!

THIS WEEKEND--The Finnish American Folk Festival will take place this weekend, July 25-27 in Naselle, so if you're looking for good food (the salmon dinner is from 11 to 2 in the Commons area on Saturday) and good music, that's the place to go. Don't foget that our very own "Willapa Hills" will be performing Friday evening at 7:15 p.m. There's lots of dancers to go along with much of the music and many exhibits, so if you're east of KM, head west and enjoy the "Nasel Heritage Days" celebration at the Naselle school. You can check out the whole schedule online at: http://www.finnam.naselle.net or look for one of their flyers around the area which includes a map of the school and placement of the events.

MOVED AGAIN--The old, double-ender gillnet boat that was most recently at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds, is now back at the Skamokawa Vista Park. Port District 2 opted to obtain it and display it in its new home at Vista Park. The boat will be in place where people can see it year round, rather than a few days at fair time, and it will have a building erected to cover it and a plaque made to tell of its history.

FAIR PRINCESSES--We have six girls running for Fair Queen over our Wahkiakum County fair this year, so we hope you are watching for the many fund raisers that they will be having and support them in their efforts to become queen. Our Skamokawa princess is Kyrah Scuito and we wish her luck and thank her for stepping up and representing us. So, if you are a Skamokawa resident, and see a fund raiser by Kyrah, we do hope you will take part in it and help our Skamokawa princess become a queen!

B.E.D. WRAP UP--There seemed to be a lot of people in town for the big Bald Eagle Day event and I thought the parade was real nice with a good representation of our area's businesses and organizations. Often we want more participation but one has to remember that many folks are in mulitple clubs or groups or are already in a booth, so it's just not possible to be in two places at once!

Okay, so I'm going to be the one to play "devil's advocate" and say what many of the other vendors were saying, and that it is that we hope something can be done with the music situation next year and that it will be turned down to a more reasonable level so that we aren't having to wear earplugs or going to battle over the position of the speakers! At times, no one could hear us when we tried to talk to potential customers, so we were yelling most of the time, and those who were trying to visit with their classmates or family members, were doing the same. We were very hoarse by the end of the day! Being able to hear announcements is one thing, but background music should be at a much less deafening and much more comfortable level when you want people to browse and shop. If you were having a street dance, then having it be louder would be expected but for many of the people strolling along, and for the vendors who pay to set up there, it was just excruciating. With speakers aimed right at certain vendors, it was truly miserable and wound up being a real bone of contention between them. Between our ear drums pounding and our headaches from the loudness of it all, we are truly hoping for a different kind of set up or some other workable solution next year. The only live music that was not loud was Jerry Ledtke and his group and they actually needed to be turned up, so we know the sound can be adjusted. We loved the performers and their music but we did not love the volume, so here's hoping that a happy medium is reached next year so that we are all comfortable while supporting this event.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1944, it began muggy and stayed warm and dry and got quite hot during the week. Those with high grades at Washington State were recognized that week as Glenn Patton of Cathlamet was in second place scholastically for the second semester with 17 hours of A's and four of B's. Others on the honor roll from Cathlamet were Marie Marinkovich and Shirley Olsen. There were a couple of deaths in the area as Henry Vincent and Mr. Richardson both passed on and Mr. Flanders was very ill, as was Grace Pedersen Moore. It was not a good week for Gayle Valentine of Rosedale as a huge bald eagle attacked her dog and tried to carry it out of her yard, but then turned it's attack on Mrs. Valentine when she intervened. She in turn called out to her neighbor, Margaret Hollar for help. Fortunately, it was a ladder that saved them all, as Mrs. Valentine grabbed it and knocked the huge six foot wing spanned bird to the ground, where the Game Protector, Paul Zollner found it and dispatched the bird. Peggy Martin stopped in to the telephone office and visited with Elsie Everest while her husband Jack was out fishing for shark and tuna with Harvey Seaberg. Grandma Elsie went to the show, "Thousands Cheer" which was playing at the Cathlamet theater that week, which she thought was good. Ted Maughan stopped by and brought the Everests a cat that week.

In 1949 this week, it wasn't too nice the first three days but then it turned hot for the remainder of the month. This was the week that Mr. and Mrs. C.H. Mooers of Skamokawa saw their daughter, Joyce, betrothed to Jerrod Knisely in what was called the "oustanding wedding of the summer" at the St. Stephen's church in Longview. The maid of honor was Joyce's sister, Janice and her bridesmaids were Beverly Ann Fritz and Mrs. George Watkins, who had been the bride's former Stephens College schoolmates. Her wedding dress sounded like something out of a fairy tale with "ivory slipper satin, edged with a ruffle of imported rose point lace, with a bouffant skirt and full train which was finished with a scalloped edging of roses fashioned in satin." The wedding reception was held at the Monticello Hotel where large bouquets of gadioli abounded. The bride's aunt, Mrs. C. H. Warren cut the cake and two other aunts, Mrs. Ray Mooers and Mrs. Allen Mooers poured cofffee and punch. On Friday, July 29, Krist and Carol (Everest) Pedersen welcomed a baby girl into their family at 8:05 p.m. She was named Kay Louise and joined three brothers: Ralph, Frank and David.

 

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