Mother's Day was well celebrated

GOOD DAY--How was your Mother's Day? I hope you had a nice day; I know I did. I always enjoy hearing from the kids and enjoying their surprises, along with a fine dining experience thanks to hubby! We even got surprised by the sun after a few showers.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from May 12-18 are Christeena Bassi, Bryce McClain, Kerrie McNally, Marty Kuller, Vicki Bergseng, Betsy Nelson, Steve Doumit, Patrick Thompson, Masen Anderson, Brian Toste, Ed Smith, Rachael Reynolds, Rian Blain, Leslie Monroe and son Pete Sechler.

Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Stewart, Mr. and Mrs. Ron Leingang and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pedersen.

THIS SATURDAY--The state grange contests will take place at the Skamokawa Grange Hall this Saturday and we hope you will bring down your crafts and they'll find a category for them. Maybe you'll be a purple ribbon winner and have your item sent on to the big state fair! This is open to the public, not just grange members. For all the contest rules, check out the Washington State Grange website. The grange hall will be open by 9:30 a.m. Items should be in before noon so that judging can start then and should end by 4 p.m. Winners will have their items held for the State Convention at the end of June if they choose to have them sent on to be judged there and maybe win another ribbon or even some money!

LION'S CLUB--Once again the Lion's Club will sell fresh, cleaned, ready-to-go strawberries this year. These berries have no added sugar, have never been frozen and come in two different sizes in handy little buckets. One of them is a 14 pound container for $26, and the other is 28 pounds for $46. There will be an ad in this paper early next month so you can find the form and order by mail. Pick up date will be June 25.

FAIRGROUNDS INTEREST--Becky Ledtke is offering the use of some fairground space next month for a small fee if people can be found who want to show off/sell their crafts, have a rummage sale or whatever, so if you're interested in that, give the fairgrounds a call (795-3480) and leave a message. If enough people are interested, maybe the groups involved can put their stuff out a couple of times a month. It depends on the demand, so you might want to give it a try.

EXHIBIT EXTENDED--The new exhibit at Redmen Hall is being extended to May 29, so if you haven't seen Patrick Carrico's works, you still have time. The hall is open from noon until 4 p.m., Thursday-Sunday. For more information on any of their exhibits, give them a call at 795-3007.

NEW 4-H GROUP--Heidi Heywood tells me that there is a new 4-H group being formed for kids who would like to take in activities that will get them built up and fit over the summer months and so if you're interested in hiking or biking or canoeing, etc., give Heidi a call at 795-6041 and see about joining her group. You'll be fit by Fall!

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS--I have somebody who says they have seen a reference to the old "Marsh Ranch" here in Skamokawa in several old clippings and backs of old pictures, but has no clue where that might be; so, can somebody tell me where the "Marsh Ranch" was in this area? I'm clueless! Also, did anybody know a Bergman Grunstad? Many knew Ernie Grunstad or Floyd, but looking for a Bergman. Got any clues to who he is or where he used to live or what his connection was to Skamokawa? Give me a call at home: 795-3425.

TIME RUNNING OUT--If you want to enter a car in this year's Dollars for Scholars car show on June 4, you're running out of time. Check for forms at the Bank of the Pacific in Cathlamet or Cathlamet Chevron or download them from http://www.wahkiakumchamber.com/sturgeonderby%bbq.htm or contact Lee Tischer at 360-430-4377 for more info. And oh yeah, pray for sunshine!

TICKETS AVAILABLE--If you'd like to win a beautiful burl coffee table, 50 inches long and 18 plus inches high, you can buy a raffle ticket at several places around the area such as Bank of the Pacific, Cathlamet Pharmacy, Made in Wahkiakum Store, Sharon's Pizza and More, all in Cathlamet and down here at the Duck Inn, in both the restaurant and lounge. This is a fund raiser for the Skamokawa Grangers and this beautiful table was generously donated by John Gustafson. The winning ticket will be drawn on the last day of the fair, August 20, so be sure your name and phone number is on the ticket so we can contact you. Thanks!

MOTHER'S DAY MEMORIES--I'm hearing happy reports from a lot of moms in regards to the wonderful time they had on Mother's Day. Theresa Carroll-Kuljis was delighted with her family as they fixed her breakfast and dinner and gave her beautiful flowers.

Jennifer Norris and hubby Ty headed down to Newport and enjoyed some rockhounding, where they found a lot of great shell fossils and then had a good time at the Tillamook Cheese Factory on the way back home.

Jeanne Paulsen was enjoying pretty flowers and calls and visits by her family members, and her son came to join her at church, so she was seeming mighty happy.

Lori Parke had a very busy Mother's Day, as she was working the Sunday market in Astoria, and it was also her birthday this year, so I'm thinking she'll be celebrating a little later, as this one involved a lot of work!

Susan Kuhn said she enjoyed the Sunday market in Astoria, as it was a beautiful sunny day for the opening weekend and she got to visit with Lori and also another working mom with her own booth from here, Shannon Meeker.

Cheryl Backman said her mom was feeling pretty good so the family all went to church. After that they visited the cemetery to put flowers on both her mom and dad's mothers' graves. Later on brother Mike came over and they had a nice visit with him and his girlfriend.

Sharon Servis received some flowers and some cards, and those hand-written cards meant the world to her. The one from their special girl in her life, thanking her for being such a wonderful motherly influence on her, was especially wonderful, as there's just nothing like a hand written note with a compliment in it, to make one's heart soar!

Lori Finkas wasn't nearly as happy this Mother's Day as it was the first one she could remember where she was not only away from her mom, but didn't even talk to her, and her son wasn't around either. The son is in college across the state and her mother Carolyn was on a cruise ship. I'm guessing mom won't be allowed to plan a cruise on Mother's Day next year!

Tim Pedersen said he didn't get to spend time with his mom, Peggy Pedersen, on Mother's Day this year for a very good reason: he had to rebuild the hydraulic power pack on the foredeck crane and install a generator exhaust system on a 165 foot yacht in sunny West Palm Beach.

ALL SCHOOL REUNION--Are you ready for an all school reunion? It looks like the first ever all classes Wahkiakum High School reunion, will take place next year on August 4 at WA-KI-HI, so mark that date for next year right now and make your plans. In the meantime, we hope you'll spread the word; tell everyone you know and use all our technology to do so. Put it out there on Twitter and Facebook. There will be more on this event later.