Spring has officially arrived

HALF NICE--I hope you all had a nice St. Patrick's Day. At least we saw some sunshine on Sunday after a miserably wet and nasty day on Saturday. Spring officially started Wednesday, but from the forecast, it looks like it's going to be a wet, cold and windy beginning with some very low snow levels. Let's hope it warms up and gets more like the Spring we want.

SPECIAL DAYS-- Those celebrating birthdays this coming week are Makenzie Anderson, Emily Tanksley, Nova McNally, Jeri Webb Foster, Hap Anderson, Jordyn Wirkkala, Mary Dominique, Vance Miller Jr., Jason Wallin Jr., Sandy Quigley, Sig Hjaltalin, Sharyl Ibling and Matthew Kyle. Enjoy your birthday celebrations, everybody!

Belated birthday wishes to Margaret Burt who turned 105 years old recently. She looked like she thoroughly enjoyed her birthday party at the new Diner on Main. What a special event for her and for the Diner!

Happy Anniversary wishes for this week go out to Mr. and Mrs. James McCoy, Mr. and Mrs. Brett Deaton, Mr. and Mrs. Stan Woody, Richard and Roberta Backman and Joel and Pam Moore. May all your anniversary celebrations be memorable ones.

NEW ANNIVERSARY SOON--If you were watching Channel 6 KOIN TV the other night at 11 p.m., you would have seen a twist in an old tradition, as Joan Harvey Chester proposed to Richard Erickson at Maher's Irish Pub in Lake Oswego, Ore., that evening. The two are headed to Ireland in the upcoming months and will be married there, so they'll be on the anniversary list soon. Congratulations to them!

BUSY TIME AHEAD--There are several things going on this weekend, so I hope you've got your running shoes on! In Skamokawa, the Friends of Skamokawa are seeing their Antique Sale come to an end this Sunday, so I hope you'll hurry and check all the items out before they are gone. They'll be open Friday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

This Friday evening you can play Bingo at the Wahkiakum Fair Board’s big Easter Bingo event at Julius A. Wendt Elementary School in Cathlamet, where you can win your Easter dinner, or one of many other gifts and of course, the big raffle prize, which is a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the games begin at six and go until about eight with a break in between so you can enjoy a hot dog or some nachos. Come and help support the fair and enjoy some bingo with your friends.

On Saturday afternoon at the Skamokawa Grange Hall, everyone who is interested in being in the Smoky Water Follies this year is urged to attend the first meeting with the director, Adele Baker-Swift and musical director, Sunrise Fletcher. We will meet from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Follies meeting will finish in time to go see one of our fine local musicians, Andrew Emlen, play that night. He plays the cello in the Columbia River Trio with violinist Jeffrey Reynolds and pianist Ronald Thompson. They will be performing at the Pioneer Church in Cathlamet this Saturday at 7 p.m. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful, talented people in our area, and who share their special talents with us right here so close to home at such a reasonable price. Advance tickets cost $10 and can be purchased at Bank of the Pacific, and tickets will cost $12 at the door.

Also in Skamokawa, the United Methodist Church will host their annual Hosanna Musicale on Sunday, March 24 at 2 p.m. The free-will donation that will be taken will go to benefit the St. James Preschool program.

NEW EVENT--On March 29 and 30, the first ever "Hook the Hawg" contest will be underway for those who love to fish and want to enter this great new contest at the Elochoman Marina in Cathlamet. This is a new fund raiser put on by the Wahkiakum Chamber and it benefits our high school in the way of scholarships, so it's a great deal. Entry fees for those 17 and up are $20 and from 11 to 16, they are just $10, with kids under 10 free. You can get those entry forms at the Bank of the Pacific or the marina. Good luck fishing everybody!

SPRING TIME-- Yes indeed, whenever I see all the little calves dotting the neighboring fields, I know that Spring is on its way and I always think of what former old-timer, Lester Cook, had to say about the calves being born about now. Being new to the "cow business" back then, I hung on Lester's every word, but he assured me that any calf that was born before the end of March was a good one; after that, they were "no good." Well, they weren't really no good, but he meant that as a way to tell me that in order for the farmer to fatten them up and get them sold at the peak of the season, with less cost to the farmer, they needed to be born by March or they'd start costing you money in order to get them fattened up enough to sell later on in the season, and losing money was "no good!" I think that anybody who knew Lester back in the day would agree: Lester was a wise one for sure!

DOING BETTER--It seems there are numerous people who have had some sort of bug lately, and I've been one of them. It sure has kept me close to home, but it's also had me miss out on several things I wanted to attend last weekend, but better to stay put than share the misery with others who certainly would not enjoy my sharing this at all! Some said they had a virus that seemed to attack their muscles and took over a month to feel better, so I do hope that bug gets stopped in its tracks and doesn't spread around too much. We'd like to wish former resident, Laurie Miller some get well wishes as she's been under the weather lately as well. I also got word that my cousin, Karla Kyle, is now home after a trip to the hospital so that was good news. We understand Jessica Fletcher had a wee bit of surgery as well and is now home recuperating so we wish her a speedy recovery too.

SAD NEWS--I heard some sad news from Betty Koziel last Monday, as she told me her older brother, Arnie Almer, had passed away. He had lived a long, happy life in Vancouver Betty said and was not quite 89. Back in the day, Arnie and Willie Johnson's Dad used to pal around together, so he was well known to that family also. Not only had Arnie been in the hospital, but Betty said that her brother Harold, who lives in Woodland, was also hospitalized with pneumonia last week and could use some get well prayers said on his behalf, so we want to keep him in our thoughts right now. Our deepest sympathies are extended to Betty and her entire family at this sad time.

BIG MEETING --The Skamokawa Grange Hall will host the Pomona Grange event Monday, March 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m. with their usual potluck at 6:30 and their regular meeting at 7 p.m., so it will be a full Monday evening for the grangers. The Skamokawa Grange has welcomed four new members recently and we're anxious to get them involved with the upcoming Follies at the end of June and the Vendor's Market on July 27, so we're looking forward to their input.

With the grange having their Spring contests coming up real soon, it's important to remind everyone that you are all invited to take part in them, so whether you sew or make cards or bake, etc., they'd love to have your entry into their contests. Blue ribbon winners will have their items entered in the State Fair exhibits, so you could wind up winning a few bucks if you win a ribbon there as well. It's a great time to warm up for our own fair which is in the middle of August this year, so get those items ready now as time is just flying by! A day and time to bring those items to the Skamokawa Grange Hall will be announced at a later time.

SAVE THE DATE--This event is quite a ways off, but the Friends of Skamokawa would like me to remind all of you about their annual "Cornucopia of Wines - Wine Tasting and Auction," which is always the second Saturday of September. Be sure to mark your calendar now for the date of Sept. 14 so you don't forget, as this is always one fun evening at the Skamokawa Grange Hall. Of course, they are looking for some wonderful items that can be auctioned off in either their live auction or their silent auction, so if you've got something you'd like to donate, contact them at 795-3007 Friday through Sunday. I've already got my gift basket started so by then, it should be filled with wonderful things and I'm liking it so much, that I may just have to bid on it myself! We hope to see you there.