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Articles written by karen bertroch


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  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Jun 24, 2021

    It’s hot. That means my grass is “browning” and watering flowers is my focus. My pink rose is wandering all over the place and blooming. So stunning. Anyone who wants to stop by and just check it out is welcome. You do not have to knock on the door. My garden is “Open to the Public.” All the flowers are beautiful, but the pink rose is my favorite. It’s growing like the old roses we see winding over old plants around them. They are tough and great fighters for attention. I have plenty of benches in the yard and garden so you can sit and look ou...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Jun 17, 2021

    Busy Days: It's early on Monday. What a busy weekend! I so enjoyed the Finnish Midsummer Tea at the Appelo Archives Center (AAC) and talking with women face to face again. It was fun for me to sit with ladies from the beach who are active with the Columbia Pacific Museum in Ilwaco. And I was happy to talk with Eagle readers, too. Friday, I interviewed the new CEO at the phone company. Last Thursday I had my first medical appointment with the new nurse practitioner at the Naselle Clinic. So much...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Jun 10, 2021

    Fundraising Report for Doug Sandell: I just had a call from Buddy Strange to let us all know the total raised last weekend to help Doug Sandell's health expenses was over $27,000! He expressed appreciation for the big turnout at the Fire Hall Sale in Naselle and for the donations that have come in from the Peninsula area, as well as Oregon. Doug has been a Naselle firefighter for 35 years. My hope is that all who have not yet given to help Doug with his expenses, will join me to help him in...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Jun 3, 2021

    Memorial Day: Was this not the best Memorial Day we've had in a long time? Gorgeous weather, people coming together after a year of non-contact. So fun and it looked like a family reunion or party was going strong at the Covered Bridge on Sunday afternoon. Cars and people on Sorenson side of the bridge and kids splashing and swimming in the river. Visitors from all over. When heading to the Covered Bridge, check out the new family sign at corner of Loop Road and Covered Bridge Road to see...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|May 27, 2021

    It’s Monday. A good rain is outside, but the dog and I are dry and warm inside. Aren’t houses a blessing when it rains? Since I work part-time at Torppa Construction’s shop, I think of “my” Torppa crew up high in the woods and hope they are all warm and toasty in their trucks and machines that the early logging workers sure would have loved to have. Their logging work was tough and hard. Many of those years were during the Depression years so they were glad to have a job of any kind. Life has changed now and keeps changing, but we can be re...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|May 20, 2021

    The Eagle: This is my 15th column for a paper I'm quite fond of. In the big world "outside" there are few newspapers still alive, certainly not in little counties like ours. We owe Rick Nelson and his father, Bob, and all the owners before them who kept our little paper alive for 131 years. Not only that, the Eagle is not owned by some consortium. It is an American small business, supported by subscribers and advertisers period. There are no "investors" or "donors." Just us in the county and a...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|May 13, 2021

    It's Tuesday and what a glorious day it is! Had coffee on the "west" deck so I could look at the "Naselle" rhododendron that's finally blooming. I see them in Naselle and tried to find one that was the right color to plant in my yard. It's taken that plant several years to bloom, but it's opening now and looks so lovely. Naselle always blooms ahead of us in Grays River. Reminder: Lori Sharrow, family nurse practitioner NP for the Wellness Center, is taking new patients at this time. They take...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|May 6, 2021

    One day Spring was coming and the next it was here. Plants are popping up and growing at a fast clip. Some of mine are already surrounded by grass I have to get after or the plants will never be seen. The rain gets the grass growing quickly so if grass isn't cut regularly, then it's a big challenge to get it under control. On the other hand, it IS spring! I received one of the lovely May flowers hangers on my back doorknob on May 1 and loved it. Thanks to the gremlins who hung it there! Losing...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Apr 29, 2021

    Fun report about my Aunt Hattie in Phoenix. She's in her 90's and still lives alone in her own house. She was happy to hear I'm writing this column, so I gave her a subscription. She called to tell me her first Eagle had arrived. When I asked her if she read my column, she said, "Oh yes." Then she reported that she "really likes the Sheriff's Report." For someone who lives in a huge city, imagine how the Sheriff's Report must impress you. I love her dearly and remember her house in Anderson, Ind...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Apr 22, 2021

    Monday, always a day of promise. What's coming and who's coming and what should I do? For many of us, it seems to be about change, like retirement or moving or building a new house. Saturday I met a movie stunt man who recently moved here from Malibu, Calif. Life here is a new world for him, I'm sure. Change and promise. Our little corner of the world surely is changing. Appelo Archives in Naselle: "Our collection of Scandinavian artifacts on display in the museum has grown exponentially thanks...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Apr 15, 2021

    Tuesday at 8:15 in the morning: What a gorgeous, full blown, stunning and arguably the most beautiful spring morning yet this year. The almost breathtaking blue sky has no clouds. The air is clear from all the stars last night in a stupendously bright performance. It always strikes me as humbling that the stars are out for all of us or none of us. They don't care if we see them or not. They just are. They exist whether we pay attention or not. Stars out here at night have only a little...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Apr 8, 2021

    Beautiful Easter Day: It is a beautiful morning. My coffee is fresh, my dog and the birds have been fed, and I hope all my readers are also enjoying the early hours of the day. Easter was a family day for sure out this way. I enjoy the children no matter the day. I have no grandchildren so I "borrow" kids from neighbors and friends. Valley pastures look like beautifully groomed lawns in the spring and with all the baby animals in the valleys, it's a joy to live here. Beautiful Growing...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Apr 1, 2021

    So it's Monday again. They just keep coming, don't they? For many of us, they are days to make lists, get started on work for the week and think about the trash pick up on Tuesday. What if we saw Mondays as opportunities to meet new people or to plan a day of service to the community? To make a date with a friend for lunch. I lunched with Trudy Fredrickson last week. She used to write this column, remember? She was such an angel to me when I had my cancer treatments. Trudy had eye surgery last w...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Mar 25, 2021

    Movin' On: Yesterday was Sunday and the traffic changed on Loop Road in front of my house. For the 17 years I've lived here, I've watched weekend visitors drive by to the bridge. First, they go by to get to the bridge, then they go by to get back to SR 4, so I assume they went to the Covered Bridge. I suspect the new longer "detour" will cause drivers from Oregon to choose SR 4 to get back, rather than the longer drive on 101 to get to the Astoria Bridge and Highway 30. So I'm assuming we'll...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Mar 18, 2021

    ACCIDENT: It's a snowy Monday morning in Grays River. Hard to recognize snow in mid-March after a few days of nice weather. Am recovering from an accident in my Kia last Saturday. It was the first time I've been in a serious accident in my 75 years. It was on SR 101 out of Chinook at the Springtown intersection. I expected heavy traffic on a nice Saturday, but I had no idea what that would mean on that road at noon. The intersection would indicate folks will be turning, but there is no slow...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Mar 11, 2021

    It's Sunday morning. I am grateful I get to spend time with you since this is the best time for me to write. It's a time to think about what is happening to us as a community and to us as families. I am happy to bring you words of some good changes coming. One change that happened for me was the arrival of a new computer. It's called an "all in one" and I can't begin to describe for you how it changes my life. It has an updated, but still old-fashioned keyboard for one thing, and a big monitor...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Mar 4, 2021

    Highway 401: I'm writing this on Tuesday. I waited to finalize this column so I could report on the Wahkiakum County Commissioners' meeting in Cathlamet that I attended this morning. I went to speak in person about the highway 401 situation. Since everyone in our area is affected by the closure, I wanted to report to them on the changes we are experiencing since the road has closed, including Dismal Nitch. Visitors should have access to that rest stop, or at least that's my thought. I asked...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Feb 25, 2021

    Today is Monday. Hope you're having a good day when you read this. If you have some news you'd like to share, especially with a photo file attached, do contact me. Contact info is above this article. Rain and wind are the February realities, right? I know I'm supposed to get out and prune trees, shrubs and roses, but pruning in the cold rain has no appeal to me. Brookfield: Last evening I pulled out books to read up on Brookfield, one of my favorite places. Carlton Appelo taught me years ago...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Feb 18, 2021

    THE MORNING AFTER: It's Monday morning after a rough, cold weekend. Ice storms are no fun, and that one was a beauty. I have been through those before in Haines, Alaska, with two small kids, as the branches on the birch trees were breaking and falling. Eventually the wind got stronger, and the trees, roots and all, came down around our house. You never forget those days, and I sure won't forget the last three days. I pray all of you, and your animals, are well and no property was damaged. I...

  • Downriver Dispatches

    Karen Bertroch|Feb 11, 2021

    Introducing Karen Bertroch I am pleased to be the new writer for the column Darrell Alexander has been doing so well. I know many, like me, will miss his pieces. I hope to bring information and news important to all of us in the Grays River through Naselle areas. Organizations I'd like to follow include the Naselle Grays River Valley School District, Grays River Grange, Enhancement (diking) District), churches, Naselle Clinic, Johnson Park, and Rosburg Hall. Also I'd like to provide updates on...

  • Appelo to mark 90th birthday with reception

    submitted by Karen Bertroch|Apr 19, 2012

    On May 12, the Appelo Archives Center will host a reception in honor of Carlton Appelo’s 90th birthday. The reception will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at the Archives Center at 1056 State Route 4 in Naselle. Over his 90 years, Appelo has played an active role in the growth of SW Washington. Born in a boat just outside the town of Deep River in 1922, he grew up in the area working in his parents’ store during the logging era when Deep River was a bustling town. He graduated from Naselle High School, then the University of Washington. He was act...