Some Thanksgiving stories are shared

WET BEGINNING--As this week began, it was soggy on Sunday and made for a miserable day if you had to be outside for any reason. However, it was a perfect day for getting Christmas cards made out, as it's important to mail things early. In our area, we need more letters going out so we can keep this post office open. I hope you're getting letters written to the "powers that be" and also get your Christmas cards mailed out as the countdown is really on.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from December 1-7 are Mike Linn, Joan Mathis, Menoka Martin, Mackenzie Allen, Hank Bassi, J.R. DeBriae, Dennis Reid, Tom Webb, Gary Bergseng, Dianne Frank, Shawn Hoven, Paul Hoven, Joyce Ower, Steve Finkas, Mark Pedersen and Gabe Pedersen. Those celebrating anniversaries are Mr. and Mrs. Don Wright, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Vik, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Holland and Mr. and Mrs. Mike Clark. May all your special days be enjoyed with those you love!

NEW ADDITION--Mary Vik says she and Paul recently welcomed a new addition to their family. Judah Dan Michael was born on October 14 to their daughter Melissa and son-in-law, Martin Michael in Espoo, Finland where they reside. Little Judah wasn't so little, as he was a whopping nine pounds. Mary said she was blessed to be present at his birth. She got to spend a total of seven weeks with the family, and just recently came home, so that was a special time for her indeed. Judah's other grandparents are M. Michael and M. Maria Jessammal Tamilnadu of India. Congratulations on the new addition to the family!

SPECIAL SINGERS--At Redmen Hall on Saturday at 1 p.m. the wonderful Harmony Hearts will sing for your listening pleasure during the holiday festivities. You may remember the gals from previous performances, but if you've missed them, then here's your chance to hear them. We hope you do some local shopping while you are there, as they have a wonderful array of things upstairs and downstairs, like organic beans and other dried food items, and homemade jams and jellies or jars of fresh basil, as well as pottery, glass, wood and knit items, so come down and check it out! Don't forget the wonderful books by our local authors; they make a terrific gift!

THANKSGIVING--So, how was your Thanksgiving? I do hope you had a nice time in spite of the rain, as with friends and family around, you can just shut out the nasty weather and enjoy some great company and a wonderful dinner. I was one of those lucky people who got to enjoy a great meal without all the work, which I really enjoyed as it's not been the case too often. Bill and I traveled to Benton City to stay with his dad, Veryl Chamberlain, and enjoyed a huge turkey dinner at the home of Bill's sister Karen Blain and her husband Jim. All four of Karen's kids were there as well as all 12 grandchildren, plus a few others, so the house was brimming with fun and laughter throughout the day. I must thank Karen and her crew for really coming through with the wonderful dinner and clean up as well. Great job! My toughest job was picking up a few pie plates after having dessert, which included homemade ice cream by Jason Blain.

We left here in the pouring rain but by the time we got to The Dalles, the rain had let up and my nerves settled down a little bit, and by the time we arrived at Veryl's place, the sun was shining and it was really nice out. What a difference a few miles and a mountain or two makes! We went to bed with the moon shining and woke up to sunshine every day, and I have to tell you, it sure is a mood adjuster when you can go outside and not have to worry about putting on waders and slickers! On the way home we made stops at Jason's ranch, the Maryhill Winery, the Lyle-Balch Cemetery where many of Bill's family are buried, and lunched in Bingen, so the trip back in the sun was nice and peaceful and much better than the trip over there.

MORE HOLIDAYS DOINGS--I heard from several of my classmates from 1967 and they seemed to have all had some very nice Thanksgiving dinners with family. Enid Martin Fountain had a smoked turkey dinner with a guest list of 14, so they had an enjoyable feast together. One of the more exciting dinner stories came from Sharon McKie, as her water pump quit on her in the midst of things and her dishwasher caught fire, but in spite of the minor setbacks, the cook settled down with a glass of wine and after some changes and repairs, her dinner with family and friends continued and they all ate until they were as stuffed as the bird! Elaine Rolf had been in Italy for nine days, where she traveled to Rome, Florence, Pisa and other places as well, but got back in time to make a trip to California and then onto Arizona to have Thanksgiving there with friends. Whew, she's one busy traveler!

Donna (Healy) and Glenn Palmer headed to daughter, Linda's house where they enjoyed a tasty dinner with the Spieth family, and with granddaughter McKenna home from college, it made the family gathering extra nice. Larri Palmer and his wife, Sally, went to her sister's house for the holiday. Lori and Steve Finkas got to spend Thanksgiving with son Ty and his fiance Kendra, over on the East side of the mountains. Mark and Rhonda Pedersen spent Thanksgiving with 25 of Rhonda's family and two of her closest friends, so they had a delightful time. The day after Thanksgiving, they came to Cathlamet to have a belated dinner with folks Ralph and Peggy Pedersen and brother Tim. Marks' son Gabe showed up as well, so his grandparents were pleasantly surprised and a good gab fest ensued. The Pete Sechler family had a real house full in Seattle over the Thanksgiving weekend with all of the Nollan family coming for dinner and many of them spending the next several days there, so it was big kids, little kids and fun galore. Right after that it was time for a basketball jamboree for Tessa and then Pete and Katie jumped on a jet and headed to California for a little business and relaxation, so they've had a pretty hectic schedule lately or should I say as usual as they always seem to have a million things going on at once!

Don and Kitty Speranza had a belated family Thanksgiving this Saturday but with all their great cooking and tasty dishes, I'm sure it was worth the wait. Don posted a picture of a pumpkin bourbon cheesecake and boy, did it look good! Sunrise and Jessica Fletcher had a house full for Thanksgiving weekend and a wonderful time was had by all. Sharon and John Buennagel hosted a dinner for about 20 family and friends on Thanksgiving. I saw pictures that showed the tables covered with bowls and warmers of tasty looking dishes; a typical Sharon spread for sure! From what I heard, Thanksgiving was a big hit this year!

POST OFFICE LETTERS--The clock is winding down and the time to get letters to the P. O. Discontinuance Office and other folks in order to make our plea to keep the Skamokawa Post Office is about to come to an end. I hope you can take a few minutes and send one more letter out in our post office's behalf. It's a busy time of year, but really, it's just a matter of a few minutes and you can address an envelope and jot a quick note saying you want to keep it here. We need our post office here. It's been here since the 1800s and is housed in a historical building; it's just recently been renovated. Just a few more reasons to keep it here! So, please send a quick note to David Boos, P.O. Operations Manager, PO Box 3609, Portland, OR 97208-3609.

FREE DINNER COMING UP--The free spaghetti dinner being put on by the Skamokawa Grange #425 and the Skamokawa Fire Department will be held on December 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. Not only will you be having some spaghetti, you'll be having a green salad, some of Don and Kitty Speranza's wonderful bread and some cake and cookies for dessert. While you're enjoying the food, we've got Andrew Emlen and Sheran Parker on the guitar and piano singing some Christmas carols for you, and of course, we hope all the kids will hop right up there and sing along as well. We put in a plea for Santa to stop by with some treat bags around 7 p.m., so we sure hope he's able to make that early stop for us, but if not, I'm sure one of his elves will be able to be there to pass them out. Don't forget to buy your tickets for the wonderful gift basket worth over $200, which includes gift certificates, items from local artisans, gifts for the family and the kids and just everything you'll be needing for a Christmas dinner, including a free Noble Fir Christmas tree donated by Mary Wise. Stop by the Bank of the Pacific or the Skamokawa Store and buy your ticket today. They will also be on sale at the hall that night and you do not need to be present to win. There will be several other smaller prizes given away as well so we hope you'll be lucky and win one of them!

SKAMOKAWA GRANGE--The Skamokawa Grangers will hold their annual Christmas party on December 12, at 7 p.m., which would have been their first regular meeting date for December; there will be no others this month due to the holidays. All members are encouraged to come and bring some treats and also a gift which would be for either sex, as we'll play the two round, take it from me game, which is always pretty fun!

THE LIGHTS--As you're cruising the area in search of the holiday spirit, come by the Grange and Fairgrounds area and see the light display that has been put up by Ed Stevens and friends. It's truly festive looking!