Plant/Book/Bake Sale & Soup Lunch approaches

News from Naselle:

Though the school year is nearing its end, there are still some sports on the calendar. This week includes: Thursday- middle school track at North Beach at 3:30 p.m .; Friday, home subdistrict track meet at 4 p.m .; and May 16- District track at Raymond at 3 p.m. Go Comets!

The Comet Booster Club will hold its regular meeting on May 14 at 5:30 p.m.

Students will be released early at 12:30 p.m. on May 15.

The two final performances of “Thoroughly Modern Millie Junior” will be held on May 10 and 11 at 7 p.m. The group has done an outstanding job on this, the final production of the school year. All the reviews have been outstanding, and everyone has certainly enjoyed the efforts of the Drama Club. Way to go, kids. You make the entire community proud.

Visit the Appelo Archives Center in Naselle on May 12 to help celebrate with Carlton Appelo on his 91st birthday. This generous man and his family have contributed to and shared so much with our community. Take a few minutes and let him know how much he is appreciated. Happy Birthday, Carlton.

Another event at the Appelo Archives Center coming up next weekend, is on May 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Get your copy of the new Logging and Maritime Book Series and have the author sign it for you. Peter J. Brix will be on hand for this book signing event with “The Brix Maritime Story: A Century of Tow boating and Barging” and also “The Brix Logging Story: In the Woods of Washington and Oregon.”

Other news from the Westend:

Join the Wahkiakum County Commissioners for a town hall meeting at Johnson Park on May 15 at 6:30 p.m. regarding the possibility of an ordinance requiring the clean up of junk cars and other nuisance issues on private properties. The commissioners will be listening to the public regarding this subject. This subject has been visited in the past, and due to opposition was not adopted.

For more information about the event, contact the Wahkiakum County Commissioners' Office at (360) 795-8048.

The Second Annual Plant, Book and Bake Sale and Soup Luncheon hosted by the Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park will take place on May 18 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you would like to donate plants for the sale, we would appreciate it very much. If you are one of the generous and talented bakers in the area, you are welcome to donate some of your favorite baked goods. For more information, please call Penny Gregory at 465-2775.

The soup luncheon will feature several delicious soups including a vegetarian selection, taco soup, a 15-bean soup and chicken noodle soup. Come join us, pick out some beautiful plants or veggie starts, check out the many books we have on hand at reasonable prices and leave a donation if you choose for a tasty soup lunch. Don’t forget we will also have on hand a display of artwork featuring two local artists, Beverly Wallace and Samuel Zimmerman.

A special meeting will be held on May 22 at 6 p.m. in the Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park to iron out details of the 75th Birthday Celebration of the Rosburg School in conjunction with the second annual community potluck/picnic which will be held on July 21, 2013. Please join the Johnson Park Advisory Board members and bring some ideas and find out what you can do to help. Remember: volunteers are the most essential part of making this center work, and we could really use a few more.

The Johnson Park Advisory Board members will be providing hamburgers and condiments for this event and asks that you bring a potluck dish to share. Let’s make this a fun, informative, relaxing, game-filled day that will be remembered by all who attend. We look forward to making this a successful and family-oriented event. Call us if you can help.

Don’t forget that there have been some changes in the free Friday night movie schedule for May. There will be no movie on May 10 but there will be a special showing of the movie “Bully,” sponsored by Charlotte House, on Saturday, May 11 at 7 p.m. Concessions will be available. No movie will be shown on May 17 as the advisory board and volunteers will be preparing for the Plant/Book/Bake Sale and Soup Luncheon on May 18. We apologize for any inconvenience. The movie slated for May 24 will be an animated Disney creation that is family friendly and the final movie of the month on May 31 is a recently released feature which is rated R. Please call 465-2310 for more details on the movie titles or check out the flyers posted at most bulletin board locations in Wahkiakum County and Naselle.

The 29th annual Great White Tail Run will be held this year on Saturday, May 18 with registration at 8:30 a.m. and start time at 10 a.m. The races (10K, 5K and 2 mile) will be run through the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge in Skamokawa. Registration fees include pre-registration: $10 without t-shirt and $20 with t-shirt; race day: $12 without t-shirt and $25 with t-shirt. Add $1 if you are bringing your canine friend to race with you.

This annual race is sponsored by the Washington State University 4-H Youth Development Program and is a fundraiser for the Wahkiakum County 4-H program. Proceeds will be used to benefit the county program.

For further information call (360) 465-2275 or (360) 795-3278.

The Rosburg Senior Lunch Bunch that meets at the Rosburg Hall on Wednesdays is a great place to meet your friends and neighbors for a good home-cooked meal. The meals are prepared and served by Pat Potter and her volunteer crew.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, senior meals are also served at the above location and are sponsored by CAP. Menus for the coming week include May 9-Kahula pork, potato/ macaroni salad, mango chunks, Caribbean veggies and Haupia; May 14-spaghetti, garlic bread, tossed salad and carrot cake; May 16-Swedish meatballs, egg noodles with kale, orange barley salad and peach cobbler. These two groups make life a little more fun for our seniors and give them a great venue to get out and enjoy a nutritious meal at least three days each week.

Happy Birthday to the following celebrants this week: Nicole Laney, Carol Harley, Holly Rogers, Pat Vernon, Arne Wirkkala, Ike Howerton, Jessica Gregory, Brandon Haataia, Raymond Badger, Missy Harley, Tina Laney, Brad Warra, Isabella Colombo, Paul Bjornsgard, Nikki Engelson, Gloria Tienhaara, Gilbert Haataia, Kaelee Dearmore and Lamar Wirkkala. Wishing each of you a very special day.

Another very special friend will be celebrating her big day this week, and I want to wish an extra-special happy birthday to Sonja Kruse. You are an inspiration to many, including me, with your giving spirit, your love of community and your willingness to give so much of yourself. Here’s hoping your special day is even more special than you are. Have a wonderful celebration.

Happy Anniversary to Randy and Vicki Wirkkala, Bert and Carol Haven, Robert and May Adair and Jody and Shellie Badger. Wishing you many more celebrations together.

This Sunday, we celebrate one of the most important people in our entire lives, Mom. None of us would be where we are today without her, and this is the perfect time to tell her so. In some cases, the person we consider “Mom” isn’t always the biological mother, but someone who has filled those shoes and made life better because she did step up. Lots of step-moms, adoptive mothers, aunts, sisters, neighbors and other acquaintances can be considered in that capacity, and I for one, think they deserve to be included on this day. So no matter who you are or who you want to thank for bringing you to the person you are today, let’s all wish them a Happy Mother’s Day.