Get ready for Bald Eagle Days weekend

MIXED BAG--It depended on where you were this weekend as to the weather that you had, as some places were sunny, hot and dry and others were cloudy, misty and overcast all day and some had a little of both. Even as this work week begins, we've had showers in West Valley in the morning hours, which only seemed to let up as long as I didn't try to weed the flower beds, so if you had a sunny day, it was probably because I gave up trying to weed anything and came in the house! If anyone wanted to invent something, it would be the "stay-free-of-weeds lawn and flower bed system." It would make a billion dollars! Of course, I think someone may already have done that. It's called cement or astro turf and both of those are sounding real good to me at the moment!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from July 15-21 are Marietta Montgomery, Mallory McCauley, Randi Curtis, Jerry Ledtke, Mary Ann Nelson, Denise Parker, Samantha Wright, Marsha Cleveland, Cameron Mendez, Kaisha Harris, Zoe Roper, Eric Ferguson, Sandra K. Wirkkala, Mike Brennan, Kim Hedges, Don Twiet, Darlene Hoven, Larry Hendrickson, Bev Moonen, Steve Doumit, Gerald Olson, Rick Benfit and 67'er, Sharon McKie. May all of your birthdays be filled with the three Fs, family, friends and fun!

Happy Anniversary wishes this week to Gary and Betty Huber, Gerald and Clara Olson and Joel and Linda Newton. Enjoy your special days folks!

THE BIG WEEKEND--This is the weekend of the only known celebration of our national symbol, the Bald Eagle, as Cathlamet celebrates "Bald Eagle Days" once again. Things kick off Friday with the Sidewalk Art Contest by the Bank of the Pacific and Building Materials at 2:30 p.m., and what kid wouldn't like to have permission to draw on the sidewalks of town and show off their talent? Then it's over to the Two Islands Farmers Market, which we all know features lots of fresh produce, fresh canned jams, breads, meats. You name it and the goodies are there from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday the street will be closed and vendors will start setting up. At 11 a.m., the big parade will take place through Main Street, and you'll see old cars, new cars, fire trucks, log trucks, floats by various organizations and groups and animals and so on, and of course, there's that candy for the kids to pick up off the street! Be aware that the street will remain closed until the evening hours, between 5 and 6 p.m., so you'll have to use the back street during all the "fun" times that will be taking place on Main Street. There will be plenty to keep everyone entertained and busy as there are arts and crafts, food vendors, craft vendors, music by various people and even train rides and root beer floats down by the museum and much, much more, so don't miss it! By evening, the action all turns to the marina, where music will be playing, the beer garden opens as well as the food vendors and then the big fireworks show at dark to top the night off. It will be great!

By Sunday, it's time to enjoy the Wooden Boat Festival with the FFA BBQ at the marina from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be a fun time for the kids when they get to enjoy games and build their own boat; another fun day. It sounds like we are going to have some sunny weather for the weekend activities, so bring the sun screen with you.

IT'S OPEN--The Paddle Center in Skamokawa is open Tuesday - Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Take advantage of the great weather and our awesome scenery and rent a kayak, canoe or even row boat. There are many tours to up for, which are varying in degree of difficulty, so that even beginners can take part in them. If you're a Wahkiakum County resident, you will also get 15 percent off. Coming up this week is the "Introduction to Moving Water Workshop" on Friday and Saturday, and the cost of that is $250. You can call either 849-4016 or 795-8300 for more info, or check it out online at info@columbiariverkayaking.com. They can set up special appointment times for you as well, so just ask and they'll try to accomodate your wishes.

LAST CHANCE...NEW EXHIBIT--If you haven't been to Redmen Hall to see Rachael Wolford's exhibit in the RiverLife Interpretive Center, you've only got this weekend to take it in. Rachael has done something quite unique in that she has a written narrative along with her experiences as she explored the Columbia River and beyond to the Pacific, so the viewers can really get a feel for what she saw and how she presented that in her work...very interesting.

The next exhibit at the hall will take place July 24 and runs through September 5. On that first day, there will be an artists' reception. We hope you'll come and meet some of the members of the Columiban Artists' Association, which includes over 30 artists. Local artist Mitzi Christensen is one of the members whose works will be shown and each member will have one or two pieces of their various talents featured in this exhibit entitled, "Summer Focus." Here's hoping you will take a trip by the Hall and visit the Book and Gift Shop on your way up to see the exhibits on the second floor, as there are some unique items from many local art and craft persons in the area to choose from.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER--I have heard of many people who watch the "Deadliest Catch" on television, but for those of you who haven't, it's a series about crab fishing in Alaska and this particular show pits captains of crab boats against one another for the biggest hauls of the year. It also shows all the hard work, frustrations and the dangers of being out in terrible seas and terrible weather with little sleep and tensions running high. Having had a son that went up there and was a part of that world, we know first hand how rough it can be; a sliding crab pot broke our son's leg on one trip--not good! Not long ago, fellow classmate and "slough rat" Greg Lloyd and his wife Cindy, got to meet Capt. Phil Harris of the "Cornelia Maria" at a burger joint up above Seattle when he rode up on his Harley, featuring a King Crab on the tank. Greg said that while he was usually not too fond of getting his picture taken, and at first refused a request to have his picture taken, he then gladly posed for a picture along with Cindy and his chopper and was very gracious. Unfortunately, they were sad to learn of Capt. Harris' death recently after suffering a massive stroke and were glad to have been able to have this great interaction with him. A two hour tribute to him was aired this past Tuesday night on the "Deadlist Catch."

MONTH AWAY--Blue Jeans and Country Dreams is the theme for this year's 102nd Wahkiakum County Fair, which will take place August 19, 20 and 21. We hope you're sewing, canning, taking photos, making crafts, etc., all to enter in to the fair this year! Remember kids, you get money for those ribbons, so earn a little summer cash and get busy thinking of something to enter; adults too.

This year our fair is dedicated to Nancy Corbin for all her years of service to the fair. Nancy had a birthday not long ago and enjoyed a wonderful time with most of her family members at a party in Vancouver. We hope to see her at the fair and we hope her story in this year's premium book will inspire other people to dig in and help out and make friendships while working at the fairgrounds that will last a life time, like they did for Nancy. Hats off to Nancy for being the "chosen one" this year and we wish her the very best as she and husband Phil continue spreading their goodwill and community spirit wherever they go.

WONDERFUL SERVICE--There were many friends and family members at the recent Celebration of Life services for my Aunt Marian (Everest, Healy) Vik last Thursday. It is always heartwarming to have so many people come out on a beautiful day to bid their farewell to someone whom we have all known for so long, and who will be missed by those members of her family who loved her so dearly. Pastors Les Foss and Kurt Gieschen were wonderful speakers and the singers were excellent, as Lizabeth Whitney and Danette Traver sang solos and the Our Saviour's Lutheran Church Quartet sang "No Tears in Heaven," which was just exquisite. Friends and family members will soon be seeing more of Art Vik, as he will be moving back to Puget Island in the coming weeks and I'm sure he'll be happy to get "home" where he had lived for so many years prior to going to Longview.

DONATIONS APPRECIATED--Several folks said that they were very sorry to have missed the recent fund raiser for the Skamokawa Grange Hall as the "Smoky Water Follies" and the cast of talented locals really looked to have had a good time and we did! They said they still wanted to help us out, so I said they could send their donation to the Skamokawa Grange #425 at P.O. Box 123, Skamokawa, WA 98647 if they felt so inclined and we certainly appreciate their support, as well as all of those who came to support us during the three days the show was running. We hope those that missed it this year, will be sure to catch it next June, last weekend of the month. See you then!

OUT OF THE PAST--In 1945, the weather was hot all week long and had been before that too and everyone was wanting to see rain come as power failures began and fires broke out, which caused the whole area to be dark, even during the day, the worst in years. In all this chaos, robbers were out and about as first off, the Sheriff's office got robbed of three guns. Then Harry Hendrickson, oil company manager on Puget Island, reported that two locks on his gas pumps had been broken but the persons responsible did not get any gas. However, Bill Canham, who owned another service station on Puget Island, said that his place was broken into but they didn't take any gas, only candy, cigars and nuts. Gas and garage owner Frank Miller of Cathlamet said someone stole a hunk of water hose from his station, about four feet, right out of the middle of it. Frank Brooks, who was the Sheriff at the time, said that they had no clues as to who was responsible for the string of thefts. The Everests walked across the Puget Island bridge and picked some blackberrries. Grandma Elsie canned nine pints of the berries later that day. Ralph Pedersen was staying with his grandparents while his folks were in Alaska, but he headed to the Doumits to spend a couple nights that week, while brother, Frank went to his Aunt Bella (Pedersen) Ellison's and two year old David was up at his Aunt Grace (Pedersen) Moore's in Bremerton. By the week's end, it rained, but only for a brief time and then the heat wave began again. All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.