Community Events - November 24, 2011

Holiday begins this weekend in Cathlamet

The annual Festival of Trees, Lights, Santa and more will take place this Saturday.

From 3-7 p.m. the Festival of Trees will be on display to begin voting and bidding at the Bank of the Pacific. Shoppers can also pick up a “Christmas Lane Card” to be stamped by participating businesses.

The Walk Down Christmas Lane with shopping at local merchants, begins at 3 p.m.

The Christmas Tree lighting and arrival of Santa will take place at Courthouse Square with music and caroling at 5 p.m.

Howie’s Coffeehouse will offer free coffee samples, and Santa will stop by there as well.

There will also be a showing of the Christmas movie Polar Express for youth at Pioneer Church.

Tsuga Gallery

reopens its doors

The Tsuga Gallery in Cathlamet is reopening on November 26 after extensive remodeling. Hours on Saturday will be 4 to 7 p.m. Regular hours will be Thursday to Saturday noon to 6 p.m.

There will be a new exhibit of arts and crafts from area artists featuring an array of one of a kind gifts. Gift certificates are also available.

The gallery will be open after the tree lighting ceremony which takes place at 5 p.m., for an open house with the local artists and see the new remodel, which includes a refinish of the original flooring and a new room to hold art classes and workshops. The gallery also plans to add framing facilities.

Audubon Society plan annual bird count

The Willapa Hills Audubon Society will once again conduct their annual Christmas bird count throughout Columbia, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties and Willapa Bay. They are seeking volunteers who are interested in birds, outdoor activities or conservation to help their expert birders. Audubon membership is not required. For more information contact the following: Robert Sudar for Leadbetter Point/Willapa Bay on December 17, 360-423-1780; Andrew Emlen for Wahkiakum County on December 30, 360-795-8009 or Bob Reistoffer for Cowlitz and Columbia counties on December 17, 360-636-5125.

Tribal council to meet

The Chinook Tribal Council will be meeting on December 3 at 11 a.m. at the Methodist Church in Bay Center. Tribal members are encouraged to attend. Potluck luncheon, bring a holiday dish to share. For more information, call 360-875-6670.

St. James' United Way

campaign underway

The United Way of Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties is conducting its annual campaign through the first week of December.

St James is a partner with United Way and is encouraging local residents and businesses to donate to the campaign. Volunteers have distributed materials to local businesses and will be collecting them in the next few weeks. Donators may designate St. James Family Center to be the recipient of the donation, to help support programs such as child care, preschool, adult to youth mentoring and the youth adventure program. In addition, United Way supports Reading is Fundamental which benefits preschool and elementary students in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties. For more information, contact the United Way office at 423-5320 or the family center at 795-8612.

Musicians usher in the holidays at Redmen Hall

Local musicians Sunrise Fletcher and Jerry Ledtke will perform seasonal music to kick off Redmen Hall's Holiday Open House this Friday.

Andrew Emlen will also perform during the signing of local author Irene Martin's new book Flight of the Bumble Bee from 1-3 p.m.

With the theme of Come Home for the Holidays, the hall will have a wide choice of locally made gifts and will be open November 25 and 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and November 27 from noon to 4 p.m.

Santa heads to Naselle for photo opportunities

submitted by

Karen Bertroch

The second annual Santa Photo Event will be held at the Appelo Archives Center on Saturday from 10 am to 4 p.m. at 1056 SR 4 in Naselle. Photos of Santa with children, or with full families, will be taken by a professional photographer with prints available before Christmas to give as gifts. This event was a big hit in 2010 so it is hoped families will continue to use this opportunity for gathering as many generations as possible for photos during the Thanksgiving weekend while families are together for that holiday.

For many years in the past, Santa was upstairs at the old Appelo Store so this event carries on that community tradition. Many remember following the pink shoe prints up the stairs to see Santa. Those pink shoe prints are still on the stairs and give many folks a smile as they remember their own trips to see Santa when they were small. This year Santa will be seated on the historic Deep River speeder with a Christmas tree in the background, so it will be a unique and rare setting for Santa photos.

A Holiday Bazaar with Christmas decorations will be held during the photo event as well. If you would like to donate items to the Bazaar, please drop by the Center or bring to the Event on Saturday. All proceeds will support the Archives Center.

For more information, contact the Center at (360) 484-7103. The new book, When Logging Was Logging, will also be available for sale, some wrapped as Christmas gifts.