Loggers come from far and wide for reunion

Well over 150 people filled the Appelo Archives Center in Naselle on Saturday afternoon at the Old Time Loggers Reunion. Loggers came from as far away as south Portland, Raymond, Longview and Seaside to be together, see old friends and honor Howard "HR" Nelson on his 80th birthday. The event was developed to help gather information for a book on historic logging the Center will publish later this year focusing on over 100 years of logging from Nemah through the Elochoman Valley.

Each logger was asked to list every logging company they worked for. Many loggers in their 80s came and one man well over 100 years old was there to see old friends. Relatives and young people came as well to honor their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

One new feature at the Center was the newly donated "speeder" or velocipede from the Deep River area. It was donated by Mary Hill Cornell of Seaside. Stanley Rangila and Richard Nikkila restored it and set it up for folks to enjoy. Burton and Carlton Appelo both remember childhood times riding on the speeder downhill, then struggling to get it back uphill.

"What a joyful day! Seeing folks come from far and wide just to be together with friends they haven't seen for so many years made me and our Board so happy," said Karen Bertroch, Center Director. "These men are so important not only to our history, but to our communities. Their values and work ethics helped build our community identities here in SW Washington. We were honored to honor them. We hope to do this again next year, too."

Many who attended brought photos and memorabilia for the center to use in the book project. Some told stories and many signed up to be interviewed later. The staff are especially interested in connecting with those who grew up in logging camps and would welcome the opportunity to interview those who have logging camp stories. Contact Bertroch at (360) 465-2414 or (360) 484-7103 at the Center to set up an interview time.