Willapa Hills gives great performance

DECENT BEGINNING--As this week began Sunday was mostly dry after some night rain and then again late at night, so by Monday, the warmer temperatures and sunshine were especially nice. While the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in, it was still dry and yes, still light at 7 p.m. Some showers are supposed to descend upon us between my writing this and you getting it, but then we are supposed to get drier again, with temperatures up near 70.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from March 18-24 are Connie Bassi, Sig Hjaltalin, Sharyl Hjaltalin, Carol Wegdahl, Wade Parker, Pat Kehrli, Randy Hoven, Nova McNally, Lance Souvenir, LeRoy Wika, Cathy LaBerge, Katie Turgeon, Jordan Wirkkala, 67'er Sandy Quigley and Mathew Kyle. Happy Anniversary wishes go to Jenny and Dan Cochran, the Jim McCoys and the Stan Woodys. Here's to great days for one and all!

THIS IS IT--The first thing on the activity list in Skamokawa is the Contra Dance at the Skamokawa Grange Hall tomorrow night, Friday. It should be a lot of fun. This is a co-sponsored event between the Grays River and Skamokawa granges. Basic steps will be taught at 7:30 p.m., with dancing at 8 p.m. Come and hear caller, Rich Goss and have some fun.

NEXT ON THE LIST--The next big doing is the Fair Foundation's fund raiser on Sunday; you won't want to miss that! Sundays are a good day for mom to get a break and let someone else do the cooking, so head to the JA Wendt multi-purpose room for chicken and dumplings or noodles. All monies raised go towards the fair. You can head up there right after church as they'll be serving from 12:30-3 p.m. according to Martha Backman. We hope to see you there. For $8, it's a steal!

AND THEN--It will soon be March 28 and time to head to the Skamokawa Methodist Church where the Hosanna Musicale will take place. We hope you will come and support this annual event, always the week before Easter. There will be special Easter services and of course, the Lions Club will be holding their annual Easter Egg hunt, so keep these next few weeks of happenings in mind.

GREAT PERFORMANCE--Recently, Andrew Emlen wrote a song, "Between Cathlamet and Skamokawa," and he sang it along with Jennifer Hanigan last weekend. I'm telling you, it was a riot; funny and fun to hear as well! That has got to go on a CD! With the last line saying, "we'll call Kay and she'll announce it in The Eagle," how could I not mention it? I'm not announcing any engagements at the moment, as in the song, but I am telling everyone about the great show that "Willapa Hills" put on at Redmen Hall last Friday night. Not only did we get to hear some great music, but Andrew gave a bit of a history lesson prior to some of the songs. They were quite relevant to our area and told a good story about days gone by and things that more than likely, you did not know about. For example, if the ladies were gathering oysters on the muddy flats and there was a mandatory black out during war time, how would they know where to go? Not a good deal to be in the pitch black with the tides coming in and water all around, so the neighbors would honk their horns which gave them the direction to head to; not something any of us have ever thought about I don't imagine. Then there was the song that Kerrie McNally wrote after talking with Roger Davis about "The Imperial," the main mode of transportation when you wanted to go shopping or go to the dentist in Astoria or get your mail, as that's how it came to these small water towns along the mighty Columbia back then. I have the newspaper clipping from my grandma's diaries which features the last trip "The Imperial" took. All of this history, along with the great blending of voices and instruments, lead to a very fine show. The group consists of Andrew Emlen, Sunrise and Jessica Fletcher, Kerrie McNally, Fern Fey and Jennifer Hanigan.

MONTH AWAY--The 4-H kids have made some more short movies and along with the WSU Extension office and the Skamokawa Grangers, have opted to hold another movie night with the kids choosing to see "King Corn" on April 17 at 7 p.m., at the Skamokawa Grange Hall. Thanks to some very generous Grangers, this movie is being shown for free and thanks to a popcorn lover, a new and improved, "movie style popcorn" will also be served free. Of course, donations are always welcome.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week in 1945, it was mostly cold with a lot of rain but did have a couple of days where it wasn't too bad during the daylight hours, but nasty at night. One of those nights produced enough snow to turn all the hills around the area white. Jim and Florence West came to pick up the Everests for a trip to Astoria, Seaside and Wheeler. It was the first time they had traveled on the "Roosevelt Highway." Leon and Marian (Everest) Healy had gone to Long Beach to dig clams, while Krist and Carol (Everest) Pedersen went to the show, "National Velvet." That same day, George Boylan passed away at the Veterans Hospital in Portland. On the evening of March 19, it was especially nasty and all the telephone lines were out clear from Astoria and power was off also. That week the Everests saw the movie "Gaslight" with Ingrid Bergman. Grandma thought there was good acting but the plot was "gruesome." I wonder what she'd think about today's shows! This was not a good week for the Krist Pedersens as by March 20, he learned that his boat burned in Alaska and he lost all his skiffs, nets and other gear. With that news, a trip to Seattle was made. Fishing had started in the area and the Everests bought a 23 pounder from Peder Pedersen. The next day, Grandma was canning fish. On March 23, Selma Doumit Bloomquist had a baby girl. The show "Purple Heart" was playing that same day. The Everests and Pedersens went; it was youngest son David Pedersen's first show. He was two.

In 1960, the week began very nice and continued with just one overcast day in the middle and one hot day at the end. The Dorcas Club met at Dowlings and Mrs. Johnson, Jaspers, Nilsen, White, Howell, Bradley, Tholo, Shelton, Payne, Linsdale, Benson, Dowling, Worthington and Everest were all there along with Rev. Everhardt. On March 20, Wanda Quigley gave birth to a three and a half pound baby they named Ronald Scott.

In 1965 the weather began nice and clear and freezing. As the week went on, it warmed up and was beautiful. It was anything but nice in the Midwest where they were experiencing some terrible storms. Congresswoman Julia Butler Hansen asked the Dept. of Agriculture to obtain funds for research of the tansy ragwort problem in the '66 budget. WSU was being asked to do research in how to eliminate this terrible threat to agricultural land. Headlines that week read, "Soviet Team Writes New Space History." Grandma lamented "Oh me, they are first again!" The two man rocket was in its highest orbit ever and a cosmonaut walked outside the ship for 10 minutes. He was doing somersaults while he was out there at a speed of 17,000 miles an hour--a first in history.

All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.