Bazaar season is in full swing

MAYBE THIS WEEK?--Last week the forecasters predicted rain every day. Thankfully, they were wrong, and after a few very cold and foggy days, we actually had some sunny, decent days. This week, I've seen rain forecast for every day, or a big storm coming, but so far, it hasn't been all that bad. Of course, things change quickly around here, so w'll take the sun while we have it. With the unexpected drop in temperatures last week, a few folks found themselves unthawing pipes and pumps, which is never a good sign this early. As most of us were gearing up for a lot of rain and not temperatures in the 20's, this really caught us off guard, but then, it is November, so it's time to get prepared for winter I guess! Do you have your emergency packs ready?

We have had some very foggy mornings and evenings and some gray and misty days, so I am amazed that there are still folks running around with no headlights on. Please do yourself and others a favor and make your car as visible as possible during these adverse conditions. Please drive defensively. Let's keep our holidays as accident-free as we possibly can.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from November 10-16 are Ray Lindsey, Lynda Jensen, Jonnie Knowles, Jeff Hedges, Jeanine Moore, Mark Helms, Julianne Bell, Joyce Hoven, Ty Briscoe, Pat Ohrberg, Hap Anderson, David Kincaid, Roberta Trotter, Zachary Stewart, Deloris Lyon, James Pedersen and LuAnn Davison. Happy Anniversary wishes go out to Charlie and Kay Buennagel and Roy and Cathy LaBerge. Hope all of your special days are super this year!

TOMORROW--It's a special date for some special people, as tomorrow, Friday, is Veteran's Day and the date is 11-11-11. We hope you'll take time to honor our Vets and keep them and their needs in mind, especially with the holidays coming up. Hats off to all of those who have served our country and all those who are currently doing so. It's because of them and their sacrifices that we enjoy the freedom that we so often take for granted today.

THIS SATURDAY--The Wahkiakum Fair Foundation will have a table at the Skamokawa Methodist Church on November 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., where they will take orders for holiday wreaths and swags. All monies raised will go to help our county fair, which is an extremely important part of our community. There will also be several other folks selling their things at this Holiday sale, so check them out and enjoy a treat and a hot cup of coffee for a small donation, which will benefit the ladies of the Methodist Church.

Don't forget the book signing at the Appelo Archives center this Saturday from noon to four, as several local authors have collaborated on a new book all about logging, and you'll be able to purchase that five bucks cheaper if you go down and buy it now, and you can meet the authors and have them sign it too, a great gift idea for Christmas. "When Logging Was Logging" would be a great addtion to your own library as well.

By evening, it should be time to listen to some great country swing music and that will be played for you by Detour, with lead singer Kristi Nebel, this Saturday night at the Skamokawa Grange Hall. Admission is $10, so I hope you'll be able to enjoy all the goings on this Saturday.

FAMOUS PIANIST--After you've been to the church in the morning, maybe you'd like to attend the living room piano concert at the Inn at Lucky Mud with one of the most renowned pianists today, Scott Cossu on November 13, at 3 p.m. If you check him out online, you will see his impressive background, and realize just how fortunate we are that someone with his reputation will be gracing our community! With a potluck to follow and only a $10 fee, this is a real deal, so we hope you will take the time to go and see Mr. Cossu this Sunday. Seating is limited so be sure to call 795-8770 and get your spot reserved today!

NEXT WEEKEND--Next Friday and Saturday, the St. James Family Center will host their annual bazaar, always a big turn out with lots of things going on. Friday they will be open from 1 to 7 p.m. and then on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you missed out on last week's Scandinavian goodies at the Norse Hall, you'll be able to pick some up here, along with chances to win gift baskets that will be raffled off and enjoy some lunch while you're there. It's a great place to do some local shopping.

BINGO TIME--Everybody seems to love Bingo as it's easy to play, fun to compete with your friends and neighbors in a friendly way and you can help a good cause at the same time, so what's not to like? In this case, you can help the Wahkiakum County Fair board raise money for our fair, and help yourself to a turkey for your Thanskgiving dinner. Contact Becky Ledtke ( 795-3480 or 360-560-0371) for all the details on this upcoming event on Nov. 18th and have some fun!

SPECIAL BASKETBALL GAME--Donkey basketball is back in the spotlight for Nov. 19, at 6 p.m., at WHS. This is great fun to watch and it's a good time to enjoy a great barbecue dinner as well, as you can get a burger or a hot dog with chips and water for just $5. If you buy your tickets for in advance, you can save $1, and they are available at the high school, the Chevron station or Bank of the Pacific.

REUNION MEETING--The All School Reunion meeting will be at the Chamber office in Cathlamet on Nov. 19 at 9:30 a.m. and it would be great to have a representative of all the classes there to help with the lists of names and addresses of all your classmates.

FOOD DONATIONS--Whether you're taking part in the Lions Club and Boy Scouts Walk-n-Knock food drive on November 19 or one of the other food drives around town, which includes dropping food off at the Skamokawa Resort store, we hope you'll give generously this year. This is a good way to show some Christmas spirit a little early so we can give folks a great Thanksgiving as well as a great Christmas!

REDMEN HALL--There's a new artist at Redmen Hall and the Friends of Skamokawa hope you come up and check out his work; it's called, "Re-Vision" and will run through December 18. Also, the FOS is looking for more artisans and crafts people to take part in their upcoming holiday bazaar slated to open November 25 and will run through December 18. We're very fortunate to have so many talented folks in our area. I hope they'll all take their wares to sell at the hall, which will give all of us an opportunity to buy some truly special gift items this Christmas.

SYMPATHY--We offer our sincerest sympathies to the family of Helen P. Bigler, who I think many of us knew as Pat and not Helen. She was a sweet lady and we were sad to learn of her passing on October 31. A Celebration of Life service will be held at the Assembly of God church on November 19 at 1 p.m, and donations can be made in her name to the church at P.O. Box 9, 45 Main Street, Cathlamet, WA 98612.

GRANGE MEETINGS--The Skamokawa Grange #425 will meet November 14 for their first meeting of the month. We meet every second and fourth Mondays and everyone is always welcome. Meetings begin at 7 p.m. The next meeting after that will be on November 28. On the agenda for these next couple of meetings will be the current situation with our diking district and our upcoming holiday dinner, which should be a lot of fun.

CHRISTMAS BASKET--If you'd like to win a wonderful Christmas basket, you can purchase tickets here at our general store at the Skamokawa Resort, or at the Bank of the Pacific in Cathlamet.For just $1 you could come away with a huge amount of goodies when the drawing takes place at the Skamokawa Grange Hall on December 10. That will be the night when the Skamokawa Grangers and the Skamokawa Fire Dept. put on a free holiday spaghetti dinner for the community between 6 and 8 p.m. so we hope that you'll plan on attending this event.

This basket includes everything you're going to need for a great holiday dinner, complete with pie for dessert, which will be made upon request for you by Kathleen Morgain of Twin Gables B&B. What isn't there fresh, you can buy with the two gift certificates from the IGA store in Cathlamet and the store in Skamokawa. Sassy Chocolates is donating a gift certificate as well, so you can pick up some candies or pastries to sweeten up your day. Longbottom Coffee CEO Michael Baccellieri wanted to make sure there was a nice gift of coffee to perk a person up, so he's donating some of that.Skamokawa Creek Enterprises donated one of their homemade wooden spoons to help you stir up your dinner and many grangers donated other items as well, like holiday dish towels, storage containers, candles and more. There will be a gift for mom, one for dad and a couple for the kids in this basket, and with Becky Ledtke donating some of her jewelry for the ladies gift, that will be a super special gift indeed. Now to hang on the family tree, Treasure and Michelle Collupy of Collupy Glass are going to donate a hand blown glass ornament, so this makes the basket worth over $200, so that's not too bad of a prize for just a buck a ticket! There will be other gift items given away that evening as well, so if you don't get the big basket, you could win something else. You don't have to be there to win any of the prizes but we do need to be able to read your name and phone number on the ticket so please write clearly!

Please help support the Skamokawa Grange and the Skamokawa Fire Department and buy a few tickets today, and be sure to come to the dinner as well, as we'll be eating, singing along with Andrew Emlen on his guitar and Sheran Parker on the piano, and I even heard that Santa might pop in and give away a few early holiday treats. See you December 10!