Many visitors enjoyed the county fair

GOOD AND BAD--There is an old saying around here, that if you want to plan something outdoors, don't do it at fair time, as the odds are, it will rain! Sure enough, after about a month of dry weather, it rained pretty good last Thursday on the opening day of the fair, which was really too bad. While we needed the rain, the timing couldn't have been worse, but thankfully, the hearty still came to check out the fair and we certainly thank all those who did. As this week begins, we are sunny but extemely muggy. I'm sure those camping or traveling are just happy that it is dry! It looks to be dry until the latter part of the weekend. Let's hope they're right!

ANOTHER YEAR DONE--For having a very short time to get this fair in order, Patty Dursteler did a great job. She had a good group of people who helped her out and their hustle and bustle was appreciated. I always have things in the T-building, so those are the folks I see the most. I have to applaud the work of two mainstays, Sandy Hart and Barbara Rose, as they seem to "always" be there. Once again, the building looked great with gorgeous flowers, beautiful quilts, a lot of great craft items, some wonderful photography and more. The theme this year, "Treasures Shown - Made at Home," was submitted by Becky Ledtke and was really easy to work with and made for some terrific displays. The Youth Building looked great and all those involved in getting that ready are to be applauded as well. The kids seemed to enjoy all those bouncy, play houses, as well as the pony rides, train rides and other things there. I saw every table and chair filled during the "win a calf" Bingo game, so that was a big hit once again. The small animal building is getting well used and was filled to the brim, so we are happy to see all those 4-H kids and all the other folks bring in their animals.

Every year someone has some "better ideas" for the fair and what they should do, and I always urge folks to write things down that you'd like to see improved and how to go about implementing any of your ideas. One way to help out is to volunteer your time as there is always a need for folks to lend a hand. Do you know that we are lucky enough to have a couple who have no ties to this area, yet they come every year to help put up paper, or cut out letters, or whatever else is needed to be done in the various buildings and they come all the way from Colorado! They stay at Vista Park and spend the week prior to opening day, working at one thing or another, so a big hats off to Jane and Bob Hayes; really super people! I just love pro-active people, who don't just talk and complain, but pitch in and do something to make things better; so refreshing! All those folks who pitched in and spruced up the grounds and volunteered hours as superintendents in the various buildings, or made some other contribution to the fair, are all to be given a great big round of applause as they really helped pull this fair together! Again, if you have an idea for something fun, why not think about sponsoring the event; you'll have all year to come up with a plan and raise the funds for it!

In 2014, the fair is held on the third week which contains a Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and next year that is happening on the third week in August, which will make the date of the fair Aug. 21-23; a little later in the month than usual, so plan accordingly. It's never too early to come up with new, workable, and affordable ideas, so share them with your fair board or fair manager and let's keep this county fair alive!

CONGRATS--Speaking of the fair, it was with much delight that our Skamokawa princess, Miss Aaliyah Montgomery, was crowned the Queen of the Wahkiakum County Fair this year. She really worked hard and put on many fundraisers and sold a lot of tickets, so we were thrilled that she won the crown this year. Congratulations to Aaliyah for a job well done; she made a beautiful queen!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays this coming week are Becky Ledtke, Riley Emlen-Petterson, Kay Walters, Mike Vincent, Kathy Perkins, Kathy Durrah, Greg Parker, LouAnn Hedges, Larry Havens, Cindy Faubion, Linda DeBriae, Bob Wegdahl Jr., Linda Ougendahl, Meredith Cothren, Kelly Nettles Recupero, Darrell Trotter, Dolly Hartley, Nicholas Keithley, Cathy Stuart, Bobbie Leingang, Sean Pedersen and Wayne Bell. Enjoy your birthdays everybody!

Belated wishes to Nance Collupy who had a birthday last week. She had a huge celebration earlier this month at the Skamokawa Grange, so I slipped up on her actual date, as it should have been listed last week.Sorry about that Nance! Also, belated birthday wishes to Shannon Britt, who is the new bride of local store operator, Lance Britt....here's hoping she had a great day!

Celebrating their anniversaries this coming week are Lesley and Larry Horman, Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Doumit, Mr. and Mrs. Beryl Curtis, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Brown, and Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Cruickshank. Here's to wonderful celebrations for all of you!

WEDDING BELLS--We'll soon be adding one more couple to our anniversary list, as John McKinley and Nicole Kaattari will be saying their wedding vows down at the gazebo at the Skamokawa Resort this Saturday, Aug. 24. After the 1:30 p.m. private ceremony, they are inviting all their friends to join them at their "potluck ~ bring your own chair" reception at the fairgrounds park, which is adjacent to the Skamokawa Grange. Let's hope the happy couple has the weather gods shining down on them that day so they don't have to add "umbrellas" to the list of things to bring! Congratulations to Nicole and John on their upcoming nuptials!

LONGBOARDERS--Don't forget that some of the streets in Cathlamet will be closed this Friday through Sunday as the fifth annual "Downhill Corral" longboarders invade the town with various race activities. The Friday action will be held on 3rd street, and then on Saturday there will be a Push race on Puget Island and then it's back to Cathlamet where Spring and Columbia Streets will be occupied with ramps and jump action and then the wrap up action on Sunday with Broadway Street showing some "big air" and "slopestyle" contests. They are fun to watch and with the large group in town, it will be lively to say the least.

GRANGE MEETING--Next Monday, Aug. 26, the Skamokawa Grange will hold their second meeting of the month. Potluck begins at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 7 p.m. The grange has been busy selling tickets at various events for their big, $300 gift basket that will be given away at their free spaghetti, holiday dinner on Dec. 14. The basket will contain all those items you need for a Christmas dinner, like yams and marshmallows, stuffing and gravy mixes, olives and pickles, etc. plus two gift certificates to buy a fresh ham or turkey or both, and there's a two compartment buffet server, a blender, a bag of snowflake items, like a blanket, oven mitts, etc. and a box of snowman things which will contain candies and other goodies, plus games for the kids, stuffed animals and there's going to be a men's and lady's gift added as well. To top things off, Treasure Collupy always donates a wonderful piece of his handblown glass and Twin Gables B & B owner, Kathleen Morgain will be adding a homemade pie gift certificate, and you can kick back at the end of the day with a bottle of wine and new goblets from the Inn at Lucky Mud owners, Sunrise and Jessica Fletcher, so this is one big prize! Tickets are just $1 each or you can get six for $5. Watch for places to buy your tickets!

CHILI TIME--As this month is coming to an end, don't forget to head to the Elochoman Marina and take part in the annual Buzzards Breath Chili Cook-off Aug. 31. It's a real fun time, with a beer garden, music, games and good times tasting all that homemade chili. It's always interesting to see how the different groups set up their tables and how each one has their own way of tempting you to try their "special" recipe, as some have chips, some corn bread and others have even more goodies, so if you haven't been there before, grab your friends and head to the marina next Saturday!

LITTLE TIME LEFT--There's only a couple of weeks left to take advantage of the exhibit at Redmen Hall, as the Clatsop Weavers and Spinners display and sale will be ending September 1. We hope you'll find some time to look at his exhibit before it leaves; Thursday through Sunday from noon to four.

HEADED OUT--It was great to see Abby Buennagel while she was home from college, but after yakking with her at the fair, she says it's back to Las Vegas where she'll be attending her second year at UNLV, so we wish her well as this new school/college year begins. Also headed back to college would be our oldest grandson, Kyle Sechler, as he heads back to Pullman for his second year at his Dad's old alma mater, WSU. New for him this year will be that he's out of the frat house and into an apartment, so maybe there'll be a little more quiet time for him this year as he'll only have one room-mate and not a whole house full!

It's hard to believe that school is just around the corner for the kids here as well, and if you'd like to help them out, but missed the school supply drive that the clinic held recently, I'm sure the school would welcome any and all donations directly. Supporting our kids is a win, win for our community, as with better tools, they can become better students, which leads to becoming a better, more educated, adult.

SAD TIMES--It has been just a devastating time in our area lately as we've had several folks pass away recently. We want to send our deepest sympathies to the entire family of Kim Hedges, who had just turned 40 years old in July. She leaves behind her immediate family, which consists of twin daughters, Ashley and Kelsey, her mother, LouAnn Hedges, a brother, Jeff and Uncle Fred (Tammy) Johnson. Recently she became engaged to the love of her life, Jason Wallin and had been looking forward to a wonderful new life together. Her services will be today, Thursday, August 22, at 2 p.m. at Greenwood Cemetery.

Also leaving us all too soon was David L. Vik, who was also just 40 years old. His parents were Phil and IvyLou Vik and our sincerest condolences go out to the entire Vik family. David's services were held earlier this week.

Pam Elliott called to tell me of the death of her uncle, Danny Carroll who grew up here in Skamokawa, attended school here and had planned on attending the big Skamokawa School Reunion, but he just didn't make it. Danny was born in 1945, was the brother of the late Evelyn Carroll and had been battling cancer for quite awhile at his home in Hazel Dell. His services were held last Monday. Our sincerest condolences to all of his family.

We also send our sympathies to the family of Ken Mackey, who passed away recently and to the family of Ryna Stornetta, who passed away last Saturday and whose son, Ed lives here in Skamokawa. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.