Have a safe and happy Halloween

HALF AND HALF--It was a so-so weekend with a soggy Saturday but a suitable Sunday; not exactly a sunny day but at least it wasn't raining, which made some outside work possible. Of course, with this being the last of October, I guess the rain shouldn't be so unexpected. As this work week began the sun was shining but temperatures were dropping, so with temperatures hovering in the 30s, we're definitely feeling that Fall nip in the air!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from October 27-November 2 are Jennifer Hall, Hoby Thacker, Mike Wright, Maury Mooers, Gary Huber, Britt Boldt, Mel Dominique, Christie Davis, Nathaniel Norris, Philip Corbin and Starla Hanson. Happy Birthday to you all!

Happy Anniversary wishes this week go out to Sunrise and Jessica Fletcher, Jack and Gwen Gorley, Ty and Jennifer Norris and Doug and Sunny Manary. Here's to terrific celebrations for all our happily married couples.

EARLY CELEBRATION--Sunrise and Jessica Fletcher arrived home from Seattle on Monday after spending an early anniversary celebration with Adam and Sara Fletcher. It sounded like a great time, with shopping and massages and dinner and family; what's not to like? Their anniversary is actually today, so we wish them the very best on their special day!

CORRECTION--I mistook the information I'd gotten recently regarding the group Detour that is coming to the Skamokawa Grange on November 12. It seems it is not a dance, but a concert instead. There will be some great music by this wonderful western swing group, so we hope you'll come and listen to them and have a good time. Admission is $10.

THIS SATURDAY--For all of you who belong to the Wahkiakum Historical Society, don't forget your annual meeting this Saturday at the Cathlamet Fire Hall. After the group has their meeting at 11 a.m., which includes elections of the executive board and finances, the public is invited to come and hear their speaker, Mike Taylor at 1 p.m. His topic will be Re-connecting with Nichi-wana: Rock Art of the Lower Columbia which includes Kloshe Nanitch, Guardian of Altoona so this will have a special connection to our local history. Mr. Taylor is affliated with Culture Watch Northwest and can be checked out online as well. Go to http://culturewatchnorthwest.blogspot.com/.

THIS WEEKEND--There are several other things to keep you busy this weekend that we have mentioned earlier but here's a brief reminder of each: The Friends of Skamokawa will host a reception for Mike Cullom for his artwork on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Redmen Hall. If you head over the hill (KM Mt. that is) you can get in on the big beef stew luncheon and bazaar at the Grays River Church from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They will have many hand made items, home made items and other goodies for sale besides serving up the tasty lunch. In Cathlamet, the St. James Family Center will hold their annual Halloween Carnival from 3 to 6 p.m. this Saturday, so the kids can win prizes for the best costume or the best carved pumpkin with judging times being at 4:30 and 5 p.m. respectively. Kids will continue the Halloween spirit when Neewollah Daze comes to Cathlamet on October 31 by donning their costumes and trying to win a prize at the Bank of the Pacific, be there at 4 p.m. Remember to watch for all the little goblins on Halloween night, which is Monday!

SAVE POST OFFICE: DIFFERENT ADDRESS--I appreciate every one of you who have taken the time to write a letter to the powers that be regarding our efforts to save our Skamokawa Post Office, but it seems that Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has not gotten many letters. This may be due to the fact that we were sending them to her D.C. office, which I was advised to do, but actually, it would be faster to send them to her Vancouver address, as security measures in D.C. often hold up mail for a long time and we don't have a lot of time to make sure our Representative gets the message that we need our Skamokawa Post Office here in rural Wahkiakum County.

Please write a letter and send it to: Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, O.O. Howard House, 750 Anderson Street, Suite B, Vancouver, WA 98661. You can even call and leave a message at 360-695-6292 or check out her website and send an email. However, real mail is best and the more the better. Even if you've written one letter, please think about writing another letter to this address. It's only a stamp and a few minutes of your time.

You can get a form letter at the Skamokawa store if you just want to sign it and send it or you can use it as a reference for your own, which would be even better.

Remember, anyone and everyone can write a letter of support on behalf of the Skamokawa Post Office here. We need your help; a big thank you to all of you who are writing, calling or emailing people in order to save our post office. We appreciate your support!

FOS--The Friends of Skamokawa are looking for vendors to join them at Redmen Hall for their annual Holiday Bazaar, which will be held from November 25 until December 18. If you are interested in joining in the Christmas spirit, please call the hall at 795-3007. The hall is open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

SALE--Gather your unwanted things and rent a table for just $10 at the Harvest Rummage Sale on November 12 at the Skamokawa United Methodist Church. You can call Carol McClain at 795-3337 or Patty Ohrberg, 849-4323 for more information. This would be a good time to earn a little extra cash for Christmas and clean out your closets at the same time!

GREAT DONATION--The grade school kids really came through for the Wahkiakum Food Bank with their wonderful donations, so kudos to them for all they did, but I hope we won't forget that we've got a couple of big holidays coming up and there is always a great need during these winter months. I'm sure the Helping Hands Food Bank would appreciate a big donation as well, so keep them in mind in the coming days, as if everyone just picks up an extra can of this or an extra package of that, and donate it, they'd have full shelves. You could also send a donation for Helping Hands to Christie Davis who is their bookkeeper, at 10 School House Road, Cathlamet 98612 and leave the shopping to them.

Lions Club members wanted me to remind you once again of their annual Walk 'n' Knock Food Drive on November 19.

REUNION MEETINGS--The third meeting held for the Mule Train All School Reunion last Saturday was scantily attended. However, in spite of the small numbers, this is not to say that things are not moving along and those that are attending are indeed serious about getting this off the ground. With that being said, it would be nice if each class could have at least one representative there, as this is truly a big job and we need help to notify everybody. Susan McClain Kuhn has put together an impressive list already but each class needs to take part in some way, so please spread the word, pick a person and let's get this thing going full Mule Train steam ahead!

The next meeting is November 19, same time, same place, 9:30 a.m., Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, Cathlamet. Hope to see you there.

GRANGE--Skamokawa Grange #425 held their second meeting of October and welcomed new member Vicki Allenback into the group and also held their elections. With only a couple of exceptions, the group opted to have most of their members retain their current positions. The next meeting will be held November 14 at 7 p.m.

Members of the grange would like to remind everyone that their annual community Christmas dinner is not too far off, December 10, and is being co-sponsored by the Skamokawa Fire Department. We hope you'll join us for dinner and music, and enter our drawing for a wonderful gift basket with all the things you need for a Christmas dinner, plus many other goodies! There will be a couple of other drawings as well.

We'll be having a tree trimming gathering December 1, so all grange and fire department members are urged to be there, sharing in some goodies as they decorate! It's hard to believe but Christmas is less than two months away, folks. Like it or not, here come the holidays!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN--Once Halloween hits, the Thanksgiving festivities will soon follow and after that, it's barely a blink it seems, and Christmas will be here. But for now, let's enjoy the trick or treaters and hope they get lots of treats so they don't trick us! Have fun, kids!