Mail cards and packages early

CALMER, SORT OF--As this work week begins, it is fairly calm outside; no snow or hail or packed ice or anything really terrible like last week, so I am thankful for that. While it looks like the rains are coming back this Monday afternoon with a vengeance, on Sunday it was nice with quite a bit of sunshine coming through. Nothing like sunshine to perk up one's mood! It looks like even more rain is in the forecast however, so by the time you read this, we'll probably be pretty soggy. I hope we don't wind up with any flooding. Keep a watchful eye out for that. I also hope you enjoyed the brief break we had, as we deserved one after the snowy, icy spell we had prior to Thanksgiving. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the snow and ice stay in the mountains and we get through this next holiday with a little less excitement. It's not the kind I like!

THINKING OF THEM--Speaking of bad weather, road conditions were quite nasty and lots of folks took a spin off the road or in the ditch last week, and we hope all of you who found themselves "dancing" on the ice, are doing all right now. The worst accident I heard of, and saw pictures of, was that of Jeanne and Mickey Paulsen, whose pickup wound up totally upside down in the ditch around milepost 14, near the Gene Strong residence on the west side of KM. Their fifth wheel was just on its side but the truck was totally flipped over and how they survived that terrible accident is just a miracle. Of the two, Mickey had the most serious injuries but was hoping to be out of the hospital at the beginning of this week, while Jeanne was released a few days before him. There will be quite an extended period of recovery time I understand for Mickey so we will keep him in our thoughts and prayers and we wish them both a full and speedy recovery.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from December 2-8 are Menoka Martin, JR DeBriae, Tom Webb, Shawn Hoven, Mackenzie Allen, Hank Bassi, Paul Hoven, Dennis Reid, Diane Eaton Frank, Gary Bergseng, Meg Wright, Collin Parker, Aflreda Cummings, Kitty Speranza, Rachael Cook, Steve Finkas, Mark Pedersen, and Gabe Pedersen. Here's to memorable birthdays for each and every one of you!

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. John Nelson, Mr. and Mrs. Don Wright, and Tim and Susan Pedersen. May you all have wonderful anniversary celebrations!

HOLIDAY CELELBRATIONS--It was good to hear that many of you had wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations with friends and family last week, as the weather broke up just in time for many to still get together. We delayed our big dinner until Saturday and then had Pete and Blake Sechler here from Seattle for leftover Sunday dinner, which nobody seemed to mind! Also at the dinner table that night were David and Connie Shrum. I heard from Linda Holland Toste and she said she had a marvelous Thanksgiving weekend which also included celebrating a couple of family birthdays. The Pete Sechlers had a couple of 20 plus pound turkeys at their house in Seattle for a huge feast with the Nollan family, and as usual, the table looked great, the desserts were phenomenal and everyone was plumb full. Mark Pedersen made it back to Cathlamet to share turkey dinner with his folks, Ralph and Peggy Pedersen. Due to travel changes, health issues and weather problems, other members were unable to attend. Former resident Sunny Manary managed to get to Olympia to spend Thanksgiving, so I was happy to see that she and Doug had an enjoyable day and I'm sure got to share her "sunniness" with those there, although we certainly miss it down here! Dorothia Farmer was happy to have daughter, Judy Smith with her in Portland over the Thanksgiving holiday. The John Gustafsons had a couple of turkey dinners to accommodate their various guests on different days, which also included a birthday for a three year old, so they had a bustling household. The John Buennagels only had nine people for Thanksgiving dinner, so a much quieter dinner compared to other years when numbers were closer to 30! Unfortunately for our neighbors, Chuck and Sheran Parker, they spent Thanksgiving in the hospital with Sheran's mother who took a nasty fall. She is out of the hospital now, and will hopefully recover fully from her injuries. All in all, it sounds like everyone had a very busy Thanksgiving.

BLACK FRIDAY--I made sure I spent my Black Friday shopping experience in Skamokawa and Cathlamet this year, and I hope some of you spent the weekend doing some of your shopping in our local area as well. I was tickled to get some great deals at the grocery store, as well as just about every store in Cathlamet and picked up some things at Redmen Hall too, so let's all try to do some local shopping and keep our stores doors open. They need us and we need them!

Gift certificates from various businesses are a great gift as well and for those that have everything and don't want anything, you might just donate a check in their name to one of our many charitable organizations, or fire/first aid divisions. If you think someone could use some extra help but is too proud to ask, maybe you could put some cash toward their power bill or water bill. Get creative this year; if you can't give material gifts, then give of your time, a day of house cleaning or a promise of lawn mowing in the spring, or flower bed work.

REDMEN HALL--This past weekend saw many authors and entertainers at Redmen Hall and it was great to have them there for their annual Holiday Open House and Bazaar. I hope you got to see/meet/hear one of them while they were there, although we realize it was a busy holiday weekend and it was impossible to be everywhere that we wanted to be. The Hall will be open all this month at their regular hours, Thursday-Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. There are many great items made by local artisans and the book shop is full of wonderful books that make ideal Christmas gifts. Dory Hicks has made her Christmas coloring book available again and that's a real classic, and newly designed T-shirts are available too, with bargains on the older designed ones, so we hope you take advantage of this close-to-home shopping opportunity and come visit the beautifully decorated Redmen Hall.

COMING UP--Don't forget the free Spaghetti dinner December 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. This event is being co-sponsored by the Skamokawa Grange #425 and the Skamokawa Fire Department. Once again, the folks who do a lot of cooking all the time are in charge, as when you own a B&B, you are used to cooking and baking, so we are glad the Fletchers and the Speranzas are in charge of the spaghetti and the bread and we appreciate whatever helpers they may have in dealing with this huge task at hand! Sheran Parker will be tickling the ivories with some holiday music and Andrew Emlen will be entertaining us with some songs as well, and between all of us, we'll have some great sing-alongs I'm sure! We'll pass out some goody bags for the kids and we'll also have a nice gift basket that you will get a chance to win, so come on down to Skamokawa and join in the pre-holiday fun. Your goodwill donation would be appreciated but if you're unable to donate, please attend anyway. We'd love to have you come and share the holiday spirit with us for a little while.

MAIL EARLY--I hope you're working away at your Christmas cards and letters and heeding the advice of the post office, who would love to have you mail things this week and not wait until the last moment, which could mean your cards, packages and such would arrive late, so, mail early if at all possible!

Also, I hope you've been able to make a few cards to give to those who might not otherwise get them. Folks in the nursing home, shut ins at home, etc. They would love to receive a card, so I hope you can get a few out between now and Christmas. Have a little more time? Send a batch to the Veteran's Hospital of your choice; they always welcome them too. You'll be glad you did as it will make you feel really good inside!

OVER THE HILL--This Sunday, the Annual Finn Am Christmas Concert and Tour of Homes will take place. The free concert is held at the old Historic Deep River Lutheran Church from 1 to 2 p.m., with donations gladly accepted. The tour of homes map will be available at the concert as well as several other places of business, including Appello Archives in Naselle. Each spot will be marked clearly, with the tour lasting from 2 to 5 p.m. For more information, contact Darlene at 360-484-3337.