Johnson Park takes on new look

First of all, an apology and a correction. In last week's column I wrote about a July 3 barbecue. The barbecue was held at Bobby Olmstead’s home, and was attended by Eddie Wirkkala, his son Warren, his girlfriend and daughter, Ralph Olmstead of Naselle, his friend Susie from Long Beach, Junior Johnson of Vader and Bob and Geri Lee from Grays River. Thank you for the corrections Geri, and my apologies to those I identified incorrectly.

I had the pleasure of attending a special meeting with Wahkiakum county commissioners and Chuck Beyer on Tuesday afternoon at Johnson Park. This meeting was called with some of the Johnson Park advisory board members for a tour of the building and grounds, and to determine and prioritize what needs to be done to maintain the buildings. It was decided that with the damage that has been done to the bathroom walls, the walls in the hallways and the hall floors that the number one issue was a leaky roof that needs to be dealt with almost immediately. Next would be the issue of the rotting siding on the building's exterior. Number three and four were ADA accessible bathrooms and electrical wiring upgrades to the older part of the school building. With those problems addressed we could then be considered as an emergency shelter and get some help from FEMA and the Red Cross.

The commissioners were then given a tour of the buildings and were able to see what progress has been made so far. They seemed to be quite impressed. A big thank you to them for taking the time to check out our efforts in the Westend.

Johnson Park is taking on a whole new look as of the last few weeks. The grounds will continue to be known as Johnson Park and we even have a bright new sign that points the way to it for those driving by on SR 4. Recently, the name of the old Rosburg school building was changed to reflect its new image. It will now be called the Grays River Valley Center. With the help of several extremely dedicated volunteers the center is nearly ready to fulfill its potential of becoming a full fledged compound which houses many outlets for our community residents and visitors. The Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s Department has a satellite office here on the west end which is housed in the center. The building also includes a free library with more than 10,000 books for all ages, movies, audio books, and reference materials, a community computer center, an exercise room with a pool table, a beautiful gymnasium, a room which has been set up with donated sewing machines for classes in sewing and quilting, a cafeteria and commercial kitchen (in progress), an activities room for meetings, card playing, puzzles, yoga and aerobics, and a hallway full of free paperback books for your perusal. By the end of this week the community computer center will be housed in the same room as the library, thereby extending the hours of the computer center and the library and utilizing our volunteer hours more efficiently. A new calendar of hours will be posted as soon as it is set by the board.

As many of you know, the community computer center was started several years ago through the Washington State Grange with the donation of three computers from Bill and Melinda Gates to several granges in Washington and Oregon. After a year or so, another computer was donated and then one more, for a total of five computers with the understanding that they would be available free of charge to the community. Thanks to a very generous yearly donation from Wahkiakum West which pays for DSL the center has had fast internet service since the beginning for more than 100 users on a regular basis. Users have learned how to use the computers with the help of volunteers, many have e-mail accounts that they set up at the center, some are doing genealogy, research, resumes, job searches, etc. and everyone seems to enjoy the friendly environment.

Recently an old photo of the original volunteer crew was found from when the computer center first opened. That group included Norm Bolton, Judy Durrah, Karl Moody (these three were the trio who actually got us up and running with help from a grange member from Olympia), and Esther Gregg, Colleen Haley, Trudy Fredrickson, Cheryl Dutcher, Nancy George, Carl Fredrickson, Keegan McGuire. Since then we have had many more regular volunteers including Marilyn Gudmundsen, Marie Fauver, Steve and Linda Ramsay, Teri Satterlund, Bob and Thea Pyle, and many more, as well as several high school students doing their community service. These folks deserve our thanks for all the hours they have put into this endeavor and making it a huge success.

I would like to personally thank a few of the volunteers for all their blood, sweat and tears, as well as sore muscles. Cindy Lahti has taken it upon herself to get the bank of sewing machines set up for sewing and quilting classes in one of the old classrooms. It looks wonderful.

Penny Gregory has pushed and prodded several volunteers to get our kitchen ready for a commercial designation. Our electrical wiring upgrade is nearly finished, the dishwasher is here and will be installed once the electrical is done and some minor adjustments to the counter tops. Penny also took delivery of a brand new 40 inch stove with a griddle and two ovens, thanks to a grant from the county and personal donations from the Grays River Grange and some private citizens. She was also instrumental in getting a commercial dishwasher which was donated to us by the Holy Cross Church in Tacoma. Hopefully we will be able to begin using the new kitchen in the very near future.

Our grounds are also being taken care of by volunteers. We have had several people doing that task including Merlin Durrah, Susan Burkhalter, Dale Rose and currently Steve and Linda Ramsay. Thank you so much.

The Johnson Park Advisory Board includes Timo Virkkala, Susan Burkhalter, Norm Bolton, Penny Gregory, Kathy Rostad, Cynthia Lahti and Carol Ervest. These folks have made the important decisions regarding the way this park and center will be used now and in the future. So far the upgrades and labor have been done mostly by volunteers and grants. We hope to keep the center and park a self sustaining entity, without taxing the local residents. Come check out the work that has been done and give us a hand. You will certainly be appreciated, and remember this park is yours.

One more little story from Johnson Park. Many years ago, Ernie Wendelin from Grays River worked at the old Rosburg School and planted lots of plants around the perimeter of the building. Among those plants was a beautiful, bright, almost golden orange rose. Since the building hadn’t been used as a school for many years, the weeds and bushes grew up around the rose bush and it had been mowed down several times.

Then a few years ago, Penny Gregory and her young grandson, Cory discovered the rose bush and had been babying it back to health. Now the bush is taller than Cory and has lots of beautiful roses blooming. This past weekend I took three of the beautiful blooms to Virginia, Ernie’s wife, and she was delighted with them. She said they brought back lots of memories. Enjoy them, Virginia, and the memories too.

Don’t forget the annual pig-roast and campout at Poul and Zenaida Toftemark’s in Rosburg. Once again it will take place at their property on SR4 West on August 5, 6 and 7. Enjoy good food, games, music and great company. For more information call 465-2232.

The Wednesday Senior Lunch Bunch meets at Rosburg Hall every week and enjoys a delicious meal prepared by Pat Potter and her volunteer crew. Please join them and your other friends and neighbors for a wonderful meal.

CAP sponsored senior meals are also served on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Rosburg Hall. This week's menus include: Thursday, the 21st-Lasagna, garlic bread, Caesar salad, sliced oranges and carrot cake; Tuesday, the 26th-turkey a la King with biscuit, spinach salad and pineapple upside down cake; Thursday, the 28th-Chicken Florentine casserole, rice pilaf, broccoli Normandy and pumpkin spice cake.

Birthdays being celebrated this week include Eric Leaf, Lindsay Cary, Dorothy Smith, Sirkka Wirkkala, Bill D. Didion, Mark Galbraith, Donna Tyyska, Jennifer Salme, Louise Beck, Kyler Rogers, Teresa Wood, Kyle Johnson, Linda Thompson, Larry Sherk, Donna Oman, Donna Linstrom, Michael Harley, Gloria Clark, Kayti Nelson, Norma White, Richard Ellis, Danette Rogers and Ken Chapman. Happy Birthday everyone.

Happy Anniversary to the following couples this week: Joe and Lori Hurst, Glen and Rhonda Smalley, Melvin and Carol Ross, Ike and Pat Howerton, Terry and Kim Tarabochia and Ken and Susan Chapman. Wishing you many more.