Community Library now open Mon-Sat

It’s certainly hard to figure out what Mother Nature has been trying to tell us for the last week or so. One day we have shirtsleeve weather and the next is snow flurries, lightning, thunder, hail, wind and long underwear. It looks like a not so nice forecast for the next few days.

News from Naselle:

It looks like Barb Swanson’s music class had a rare treat on February 26. Local musician, Wilho Saari brought his 16 string Kantele to introduce to the Elementary Music students. He played familiar melodies for them and allowed the students to ask questions. He talked about the history of the Finnish National instrument and showed the students pictures of his blind ancestor known for playing the Kantele in Finland. He shared his plans to teach several 4th grade students how to play the Kantele. The students will be showcased at the Elementary Spring Concert and the Finnish American Folk festival held the last weekend in July.

The class also enjoyed a visit from Margie Cockrane, who brought her violin and shared with the students her 68 years of playing the violin. The students were impressed! She played violin with the Alaska Symphony and the Peninsula Strings at the beach. She played several familiar tunes for the Elementary students in grades 1-4 and encouraged the students to ask questions about the violin. She helped the students to name all the various parts of the violin and motivated several of the students to want to learn how to play.

Naselle Timberland Library presents Family Story Time, from noon to 12:30 p.m. on March 16 for all ages. Stories, rhymes, songs and movement games focus on children age six and younger but all ages are welcome. For more information call (360) 484-3877.

Other news from the Westend:

Saturday was a very special day for the folks in our area. The Grays River Valley Library held an open house and is now open for business. The library is located in the old Rosburg School at Johnson Park. Hours of operation are as follows: Monday through Wednesday – 11 a.m. to 6 p.m .; Thursday and Friday – 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Come on in and say hello to our volunteer librarian, Jim Monteith and fill out an application for your free library card. We currently have more than 7,000 books, including fiction, non-fiction and large print, as well as movies and audio books. Our children’s section and teen section also include age appropriate fiction and non-fiction.

This project has been a long time coming for our community. Now is the time to take advantage of all the work. Everything in the library has been donated through the generosity of many people and organizations, your library card is free.

To begin with, the Bend, Ore. library donated a trailer full of books and my son and his girlfriend brought them to me. Then, a neighbor, Colleen Haley called to say that the Seaside Library was building a new library and wanted to get rid of their old shelving. I went before the Seaside City Council and they unanimously donated the surplus items to us. Several volunteers rented a u-haul truck on a very rainy day and brought back a full truckload of shelves, tables, chairs, and other library items. That was just the beginning of the work.

Since then, we have received many donations of books, movies and audio books from private collections locally, and I would like to thank each and every one of you for your generosity to our cause. Without you, this library would not be as complete as it is.

Other donations of office furniture have come from the Bank of the Pacific, a library newspaper rack from the St. Helen’s library, a comfy sofa to sit on from a local donor, two computers for checking materials in and out, a label printer, puzzles, and many other office supplies. There are no words to express the gratitude that I have for these donations and donors, except to say thank you!

In addition to the items previously mentioned, there are many folks who have volunteered and donated their time in putting this library together. You know who you are, and I can’t thank you enough. We couldn’t have done it without you.

We still need a few things to make us a more productive library. Here is our list for now: subscriptions to periodicals (Seattle Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Finnish-American Reporter, and local newspapers); an external hard drive back-up device 500 GB+; a laser printer/copier; quality non-fiction hardback books; quality classic fiction; literature; Britannica yearbooks (missing volumes) and donations of time and money are also most welcome.

Visit the website that is being developed for the library at: http://graysriverlibrary.org/

If you would like more information about your library, or if you have questions, please give me a call.

Last Saturday was also the big crab and oyster feed sponsored by the American Legion Deep River Post #111. What a feast! Our daughter and son-in-law came from Redmond, Ore. to attend with us, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The Legion members did an outstanding job on the food, and with coordinating the raffle and the dance afterwards. It was wonderful to see so many folks from Skamokawa and Cathlamet, as well as from out of state.

Congratulations to all the raffle winners and especially to Kay Chamberlain on her beautiful new diamond ring.

The Wednesday Senior Lunch Bunch that meets at Rosburg Hall will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th with the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner, spuds, carrots corn bread and dessert. This is one of the best meals of the entire year, and Pat Potter and her volunteer crew do a great job on this one. Bring a friend and enjoy a fine meal and wonderful company.

The Rosburg Senior Community lunches sponsored by CAP will be serving the following meals this week: Thursday, the 11th – spaghetti bolognese, spinach salad, sliced peaches, garlic bread and berry crisp; Tuesday, the 16th – corned beef and cabbage, potatoes and carrots, lime Jell-O with pears and rice pudding; Thursday, the 18th – ham Colcannon with kale, carrots with onions, apricot halves and Irish soda bread. Another good chance to hang out with your neighbors and friends.

Birthdays being celebrated this coming week include Dee Tetz and Annette Dziados on the 11th; Marvin Giffin, Eric Saari, Marilynn Smalley and Kim Strong on the 12th; Jason Nettles, Trevor Carlson and Spencer Headley on the 13th; Helma Webster, Denise Lewis, Kim Nettles, Toni Giffin and Gene Anderson on the 13th; Rachael Haataja, Anita Woods and Vivian Busse on the 15th; Ryan Johnson, Cecile Smith, Robert Adair, Bob Bryant and Brynn Tarabochia on the 16th; Mijia Alves and Jordan Smith on the 17th. Happy Birthday to everyone.

Happy Anniversary wishes go out to the following couples this week: Joel and Stacey Strange on the 11th; Raymond and Caroline Badger (former Grays River residents) and Bob and Annette Bowker on the 14th; Gene and Peggy Dotson on the 15th.