Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 221
Dear Readers, if ever we should be proud to live in this small community, it was last Saturday at the Naselle GRV Graduation Ceremony. Those seniors are a fine example of why a small school can be an asset to a community. They are exemplary in their work, their friendships and their achievements. One relationship I truly appreciate is working with Principal, Justin Laine. He did all he could to help me meet with seniors for interviews and he also sent me his own thoughts about them. Here is an...
By Karen Bertroch At last Saturday's graduation ceremony, Naselle/GRV seniors celebrated their high school years with information on scholarships given in support of their pursuits in higher education. Principal Justin Laine's scholarship presentation reported as follows: "There is great leadership, strong character, and outstanding citizenship in this class. I am proud of every single one of them. Collectively, they have shown tremendous kindness, grace, humility, and respect. "Local scholarshi...
I want to start by honoring Rick Nelson, a steadfast man of courage and commitment who passed away on Friday, June 2. To spend 22 years fighting cancer was an enormous challenge for both Rick and his wife, with so many years of trips to OHSU, meetings with doctors, nights away from home, staying in the hospital, enduring chemotherapy of all types and its aftermath. I admire him in death as in life and his continally used word, "Onward," will stay with me forever. "Onward, Rick," and may all the...
We are so sad at the news of the fire that destroyed the beautiful home of Dan and Clair Stephan out on Altoona Pillar Rock Road. Such a tragedy, but it's wonderful none of the 10 people in the house were hurt. Their home and yard were so wonderful. We are all praying for the family and thankful for all the firefighters who went out to help in the middle of the night last Saturday. We have so many reasons to be proud of our Naselle GRV high school athletes this spring. Our track/field and...
After interviewing the top seniors, it seemed fair to talk with two top eighth graders, too. With 4.0 grade averages for this year, Madelyn Dielman and Logan Wirkkala Scheller were good picks to chat with. Logan likes the small Naselle GRV school and has done well here after moving over from Warrenton. He plans on studying engineering, then getting a master's in accounting. Logan is the oldest of five children, so he regularly spends time with the younger kids and helps the family. He is a hard...
Correction for last week's Dispatch: Photo of Isabella Colombo was hers and not taken by me. Important message: If you are a blood donor, please note that the Red Cross has changed its location for blood donations in the area. Valley Bible will no longer be the site. They will now be located at Johnson Park. The next time they will be here for their blood drive will be June 9 from 10 to 3 at Johnson Park. You can schedule an appointment with them at RedCrossBlood.org. Donating blood is so...
The Naselle GRV School District Board met on Tuesday, May16 in the school library. At the opening of the meeting, Chair Amy Hunt made the following statement: “It has come to my attention that at the March 2023 meeting, we the Board violated the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) by having a discussion during the Executive Session which was not on the announced subject. I was aware of the discussion and I want to apologize for this violation of the OPMA. An error such as this erodes trust with the Board and the public. I have been in contact w...
Haley Eastham is one of the most impressive students I have talked with. She is the young woman we older women want to see succeed as far as she wants. Even with a challenging health situation, she never backs off. She is not only beautiful, but also poised, thoughtful and very intelligent. She expressed appreciation for her parents, "Without them, I don't know what I'd do." Haley wants to be a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse in Anesthesiology). This fall she will enter Corban University (Warri...
From Marie Green, Athletic Director at Naselle GRV High School: "Congratulations to our baseball boys on their win against Rainier Christian Saturday. With that win they will now move onto the regional round of State Playoffs. Baseball will be playing Crosspoint on Saturday. Place and time to be announced. Last week we concluded our Middle school track kids where we had 24 of our kids qualify for League. Our 7th grade girls were league champs. Congrats. Softball is entering their round of...
Principal Justin Laine praised senior Bella Columbo by saying, "Bella is another one of our exceptionally talented and high achieving student-athletes. Bella's cumulative grade point average places her within hundredths of a grade point average of our valedictorian and salutatorian. She has excelled in the classroom, the athletic arena, and community service. She is an extremely hard worker. She is also an extremely determined and resilient young lady who overcame a disheartening knee injury...
There was a Crime Watch meeting at the Naselle Fire Hall last week. One estimate said there were up to one-hundred in attendance. Here's Samantha Hollo's report on Facebook: "It was a great turn out at the community Crime Watch meeting at the Naselle Fire Hall tonight. I think the biggest take away was "Report, Report, REPORT." Law enforcement cannot do anything unless you call and report it. As little as it may seem, it could help form a pattern or maybe they already have that individual noted...
Brynn Tarabochia, senior and Salutatorian at Naselle GRV's High School is as composed as a much older woman would be. She is clearly thoughtful and intentional in her plans for her future. She is another athlete I have interviewed in the past weeks. Her sport is volleyball, and she pitches softball, so she is receiving a volleyball and softball scholarship at Lower Columbia College. Brynn is focused on becoming a dental hygienist like her mother. She has given her plans for her "next life...
My friends, words help, but don't fully illustrate feelings. Even when looking at someone, it takes the eyes to fully reveal what's going on in a person's head and heart. When I saw Rick's opening words in last week's article about having days to live, I was in the commons room at the Naselle GRV High School. I had picked up the Eagle from my mailbox as I left to drive to Naselle. I didn't look at the front page till I was waiting for Kolten Lindstrom, valedictorian, to join me. I know my face m...
In any school in America, the Valedictorian is the top member of the graduating class. They are first in their class with the highest grade average and most likely a good citizen who was student body or class president, or vice-president in Kolten's case. These graduates usually have shown leadership, citizenship, concern for others and is respected by teachers as well as students. I could write all this about Kolten Lindstrom, Naselle GRV High School's Valedictorian, but I would be falling...
Maury Mooers called last week from Skamokawa. It was wonderful hearing his stories and his memories of the Maki family who lived there. Mrs. Maki from Fairview Road also called to say she doesn't believe they are relatives of the old Herman Maki family. What an honor to talk to them about their lives and history. Soon I hope to talk with the Naselle/GRV Valedictorian and Salutatorian as I did last year about their futures. Meeting the seniors and hearing their dreams and plans gives me energy....
On April 18, the Naselle/GRV School Board met at the Grays River Fire Hall with good attendance and students representing several school programs. One board member, Tyson Vogeler, attended by Zoom reporting he could hear everything well. The beginning of the agenda was focused on personnel with the following items receiving the board’s approval: 1) to hire Blake Updike as JV coach; 2) laying off Michael Johnson, digital technology assistant as of June 30; and 3) laying off Marie Green as covid tester. Both layoffs are a result of eliminating t...
Eight seniors and two teachers, Rob Dalton and Haleigh See, recently visited Olympia, so I thought it would be fun to talk with one of the seniors to learn what it meant to them. Delaney Kragerud was happy to meet with me at the school. Of Norwegian ancestry, she has the beautiful Scandinavian skin, so after complimenting her for a minute or two, we got down to talking about the field trip. The group was there for a day and spent time admiring the beautiful building where the legislature meets...
I've had questions from folks about miscellaneous things, so with the help of both Irene Martin's book, "Beach of Heaven," and Ruth Busse Allingham's book on Naselle, "Glimpses of the Past," here are some answers. Early settler, Andrew Rosburg, was the first postmaster of the original Rosburg post office established in 1893. Rosburg school at Johnson Park was opened in 1938. Rosburg bridge was built in 1948. Rosburg Hall was built in 1957. New Methodist Church built in Grays River in 1962. Crown...
My friends, it was bound to happen. I got Lois Burkhalter's dates mixed up, so I'll try again. She was born in 1940, not married in 1940. Yes, I'm embarrassed, but there's more. They came to Naselle in 1964, not 1966, and she had their four children in the years 1960-1970, not 1950-1960. May I simply say it was an "Off Day" when I wrote that? Lois, I am very sorry. I really should have caught at least one of those. I sincerely hope all the information this week is correct, lots of dates and...
Jackson Blalock with "Sea Change" came to visit me to ask about my thoughts on the Grays River, what I know about the river's history and my thoughts on what can be done to help the river. As we visited, I realized he's coming at his thinking in a good way because he wants to learn what "we the people" think and want before he starts making any plans. He has read past reports and studies and he understands a great deal of the information others have offered. He made me quite happy when he...
While going through old files in my computer, I found a folder named “Maki files.” I opened it and found a treasure. One short piece shows an old photo of a wide open valley in the upper Grays. It took me a minute, but when I saw the old house in the middle, I knew it was the Gorley property up Fossil Creek Road at the bottom of KM Hill. Underneath, in the first paragraph, a new world opened for me. It says, “Herman Katajamaki came from Nurmo, Finland to America in 1892. Here he met and married Amanda Harfu in 1894. Amanda had a sister, Sophia...
On Tuesday, March 21, the Naselle Grays River Valley School Board met, moving through a full agenda. One board member was absent, Tyson Vogeler. Several community members were present giving the board added input. The board approved the hiring of Cody Olsen for JV softball coach. For unfinished business, Policy 4210, Regulations of Dangerous Weapons on School Premises, Superintendent Lisa Nelson reported that she had consulted with a legal advisor who read through the various options developed by not only the staff and board, but also with citi...
Photo of the week: Theo Burkhalter spent time with me last Saturday so I could interview him in depth about his life, his adoption process, and the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver where he lives five days a week. He comes home by bus to Kelso, then is picked up and brought home to be with his family over the weekend, then he catches the bus back to Vancouver on Sunday afternoons. Theo was born in China, then adopted from an orphanage by the Burkhalters. A friend of Susan's tol...
In their weekly meeting held on March 7, the Wahkiakum County Commissioners considered many items. First was approval for the renewal of the liquor license for Duck Inn in Skamokawa, then accepting the resignation of Robert Ward from the county planning commission then, approving the new Town of Cathlamet representative for the planning commission, Jeanne Hendrickson. They also approved letters requesting support for two CDF (Congressionally Directed Funding) projects to be sponsored by Congressional Representative Marie Glusenkamp Perez. The...
March is raining by. It's sure strange to have snow and hail and rain and wind, oh but wait...it's still winter, isn't it? Did lots of reading in past couple weeks. First a fairly new biography of Julia Butler Hansen that's top notch by John Hughes. Mayor David Olson showed it to me, so I borrowed it and got my own copy. I cannot understand why someone in Cathlamet isn't selling it. Since the Mayor is working hard on recognizing the importance of her life and her house, it would be nice to have...
