Have a safe and happy holiday

HERE IT IS--Yes indeed, the holiday that I said was months away just recently is already here--it’s Christmas! Wow, did that time just fly by or what? If you’re reading this and you haven’t gotten your shopping done yet, I feel sorry for you. You’d best hop to it or you may only find a bag of coal in your stocking this year! You may be in luck if you’re celebrating late on Christmas Day, so hurry downtown and pick up some of those last minute, yet unique items that you can find around our area, or gift certificates that are sure to please even the most fickle, and good luck!

We hope to get lucky with the weather as well as this holiday weekend approaches, but with expected evening temperatures dropping below the freezing mark, you may want to watch those pipes closely, as there were a multitude of split and leaking pipes a couple of weeks ago and nobody wants a repeat of that! Many folks are still awaiting pump parts or repairs for split lines and are still without water. Having to carry water for daily chores is just not that much fun, so here’s to some repairs before Christmas for you folks still dealing without.

As of Monday, winter is officially here, but for everyone sitting in airports last weekend as the East coast reeled from a major snow storm, and from our arctic blast a short while ago, I think we were all in agreement: winter arrived early this year! Now we can only hope it will leave early, as I know many who are already tired of the cold and all its problems, and long for the warm days of summer. Well, that’s not going to happen folks, so wake up, get yourself prepared for a long, cold, dark winter and snuggle up ’cause baby, it’s cold outside!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from December 24-30…most of our holiday week, are Garrett McClain, Coral Linquist, Joey Gomes, Michele Smith, Kyla Gribskov, Lorraine McNally, Lee Tischer, Donald Cooper, Nancy McCoy, Terry Cleveland, Steve Smith, Holger Pedersen, Toby Bell and Frank Pedersen.

Happy Anniversary wishes go to: Mr. and Mrs. Danny Eaton, Mr. and Mrs. Pat Thacker, Mr. and Mrs. Orville Lindsey and Mr. and Mrs. Mark Helms. May all of your birthday and anniversary events still be special this coming week as you fit them in between all of your holiday doings!

CHURCH SERVICES--There are many area churches that are having Christmas Eve services, which means tonight. The Skamokawa Methodist Church will have an evening service at 5 p.m., as will the St. James Episcopal church, while the St. Catherine Catholic church will have a Christmas Eve Mass at 4 p.m. The United Church in Christ will hold their Candlelight service at 7 p.m. I can remember when this was called the “Congregational Church” and my grandma Elsie Everest always loved going to this candlelight service. What a great, and longlasting tradition they have maintained.

CHRISTMAS DINNER--Don’t forget the big turkey dinner that area churches are putting on at the St. James Center. Two seatings are available but call to get a spot at 795-8612. It sounds like they could still use volunteers and maybe even some food, so call if you can aid them and spread the Christmas cheer around. You’ll be glad you did!

GREAT IDEA--If you want to save a little money and do a good deed at the same time, you can bring a can of food to Sharon’s Pizza and More and when ordering a pizza, you’ll get a dollar off that order. This offer is only good until the end of the year, so don’t delay.

UNIQUE GIFT--If you’re trying to figure out what to give that person who has everything or doesn’t want anything, why not order a commemorative brick from the Wahkiakum Historical Society with their name on it? This is a great way to help out the museum, who is looking to sell another 150 bricks by the end of January. Contact either Judy Brawn or Kari Kandoll to place your orders. Get a form at the museum or there are a couple of places around town to get a form.

SAFE AND SANE PARTY--If you’re looking for something a little different to do this New Year’s Eve, why not head over to the Astor Street Opry Company’s Playhouse at 129 West Bond Street in Uniontown, Astoria this Thursday night? This is an alcohol free and chaperoned event and it's sponsors invite everyone who is 16 and older to enjoy the refreshments, door prizes, party favors and music by DJ Eric Santos from Seattle. With tickets just $5, this is a great deal. The ASOC is looking for a new theater spot so this is a fund raiser to benefit them and their goal. If you’d like more information, call Michael at 503-325-4968.

TROUBLING--By now you have probably heard of a troubling incident in our area involving a couple of guys which wound up escalating into a fight and a knifing. This comes on the heels of another incident which involved a shooting. This is very unfortunate, but people should know that those involved are not regulars of the establishment. There are always those who have disruptive personalities, and it doesn’t matter where they are or where they go, they just stir up trouble. For those of us who enjoy socializing and like to sing karaoke and can have fun without causing any problems whatsoever, it’s very annoying to have a few individuals ruining it for the majority of us. This is one of those times that we hope a few rotten apples don’t spoil the whole barrel, as the majority of apples really enjoy it where they are!

OUT OF THE PAST--Back in 1964 the week began with fog and rain. Folks all over Oregon were dealing with flooding and damages were in the millions of dollars. A cozy Christmas Eve was spent by the Everests at the home of their daughter, Carol (Krist) Pedersen and they had a very pleasant evening. Christmas Day was wet and the morning temperature was 38 degrees. The Everests' day started out at the home of their other daughter, Marian (Leon) Healy and they had a wonderful turkey dinner there. Grandson Gene Healy was there with his family as well as Leon’s mother, Gertie. Afterwards, they went back to Puget Island to the KP residence. By that evening, 1000 homes in the Portland area had been evacuated due to flooding, not much of a Christmas for those folks. A raft of logs against the Puget Island bridge was causing some concerns as the waters of the Columbia were very high. Puget Island looked like a lake but nothing major was going on there. Mrs. Marion F. Wood, 62, passed away that day. She had planned to retire from the Cathlamet post office that year where she had been a long time employee. By the 27th it was snowing and the Oregon hills looked very pretty. However, more serious things were happening on Puget Island, as the river was to crest today and men were patrolling the dikes and watching the bridges with non-residents not being allowed to cross the bridge, which didn’t make holiday travelers too happy as they could not get over to PI to see loved ones. Art Wright came by the Everests' home as their kitchen heater burned out and he put in a new one and that made Grandma Elsie pretty happy during this cold snap. Snow was falling hard on December 29, making Frank Pedersen’s 26th birthday a very white one. The snow continued the next day as well, as the snow storm and flooding were the big news items as the year 1964 came to an end. All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest’s diary.

ENJOY--I hope all of you will have a delightful Christmas and we send our wish for peace, love and happiness as our gifts to one and all. Merry Christmas everybody!