Fall is in the air

WET WEEKEND--Fall officially began last weekend and what a wet one it was. Sunday was especially soggy and blustery and it certainly brought home the realization that our summer is over, but at least it wasn't as bad here as it was other places, which had multiple trees down and major power outages, so I'm sure we were all happy about that. Beings I never seem to get all those sunny day chores done before the rains begin, I'm hoping for a few nice fall days so that I might get caught up. However hard it is to believe, we are going into October next Tuesday, so nice days may be getting pretty rare.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 26-Oct. 2 are Rownen Vegvary, Sue Kuller, Matthew Keilwitz, Ginger Schmitz, Stewart Moonen, Stevan Morgain, Brandon Brown, Marie West, Carl Linquist, Don Witham, Mary Wingate, Linda Wright, Linda Newton, Shannon Lewis, Ron Leingang, Kevin Weaver, Marrisa Apperson, Robert Blain and Karen Healy.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Marsha and Matt Helms, Chip and Kathy Perkins, Tom and Tami Bosch and Mr. and Mrs. Terry Cleveland.

GREAT VISIT--Adam, Samantha and Bailey Pedersen were recent visitors in Cathlamet, where they lunched and gabbed with grandparents, Ralph and Peggy Pedersen. Little Miss Bailey is the great granddaughter of Ralph and Peggy and beings she lives in Maryland, it was her first visit to see the relatives on the west coast. Grandpa Mark Pedersen of Vancouver had been back east to see his one and only grandchild when she was first born, but he was more than happy to have them in Vancouver for awhile so he could enjoy her once again. Of course, beings I'm the great-great aunt, I had to show up to hold her for a bit, but it was pretty obvious that when nap time rolls around, it's her Dad that she's wanting to put her to sleep and not Aunt Kay! Adam and Samantha have just purchased a new home and are busily making plans for the move, but we were glad they could come out west and show off the new baby; she's a real keeper for sure!

CLASSMATES GATHER--Several "67'ers" opted to camp at Skamokawa Vista Park last weekend, which included Shari (Gorman) Parker, Elaine (Munson) Rolf, Kathy (Bond) Peek and Dale Jacobsen and joining them around the campfire from time to time were Linda (Holland) Toste, Truchet (Madden) Miller, Pam (Below) Lazor, David West, Judy (Lindwall) Bergman and Kay (Pedersen) Chamberlain. Many of that same bunch met at the Duck Inn on Sunday morning, along with various spouses, kids and siblings, and had a great time gabbing over a tasty breakfast. The fact that their new senior menu made our bills a whole lot less than usual was an added bonus for many of us! Unfortunately, Linda T. was feeling under the weather that day and couldn't join us. Also joining the group for a potluck dinner on Saturday evening was upper classman Ken Bunn, who had started this camp-out deal to celebrate his birthday at his lot in Long Beach, but Vista Park just worked out better for everyone this year. Rain or no rain, you can't keep us 67'ers from having a good time, and we all shared a lot of laughs as we swapped stories from our school days, having kids days and getting older days, which we can all relate to; it was great!

MUSEUM--The Wahkiakum Historical Society wants to remind folks that the museum is still open through the last Sunday in October, which will be Oct. 27. There are only five more weekends to check out the new museum annex that was built thanks to several generous donations earmarked for this project. The museum is open on Saturday and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. until the 27th, and can be available for special tours and groups during the winter closure by contacting curator, Kari Kandoll at (360) 849-4353 or emailing her at Wahkiakumhistory@gmail.com . The WCHS has scheduled their annual potluck meeting at the Cathlamet Fire Hall for 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 26. The wonderful wooden boat made by Michael Baccellieri of Welcome Slough Boatworks will be raffled off at St. James Holiday Bazaar this year, so we hope you've purchased some tickets for that, or get some at the bazaar which will be held later on this year.

TONIGHT--The Warriors will be playing Onalaska here at home this evening (Thursday) at 6 p.m., so we hope they win again; go team!

MULES FB--What can I say about those Mighty Mules besides the fact that they are playing awesomely?! We hope everyone comes out and supports them this Friday night during the Homecoming game against Pe Ell at 7 p.m. Get out the red and black Mule shirts and sweatshirts and be ready to holler good and loud as we keep that ole Mule train rollin'! Go Mules!

MORE MULES--The Mules cross country team will be at PLU on Saturday and the Lady Mules volleyball team will be at Toutle Lake today (Thursday) so here's hoping that all of the kids on these teams have successful events.

BUY TICKETS--If you're looking to buy some tickets for the huge holiday basket and multiple gift bags that the Skamokawa Grange is giving away, look no further than the Skamokawa Store. Tickets are six for $5 or $1 each. The money raised goes towards the continuing upkeep for the historic grange hall, so we appreciate your support. The main basket will help you feed your guests for a nice Christmas dinner, with two gift cards to buy a turkey or a ham, and there are gifts for the man and woman of the house, as well as things for your kids and your tree and more. It's valued at over $300, so it's a great deal and you don't even have to be there to win. The lucky winner will be drawn on Dec. 14 when we have our free community dinner, and there will be several other prizes drawn as well, so here's hoping we see you at the grange hall that night. It's really hard to believe that Christmas is just three months away!

BIG CONCERN--I've had a lot of people ask me about the proposed Skamokawa Basin property acquistions that was addressed in the Eagle last week. These "targeted" properties are owned by private individuals who we hope will resist the temptation to sell their properties to the WSDFW, as anyone who has lived around here for very long, knows exactly what will happen to them. The map of targeted areas showed all the land to be purchased between the state highway at about MP 28 and up to Ingalls Road, and then follows that road to Middle Valley Road and then East Valley, which encircles about 800 acres. The paperwork that accompanied the map had many errors and falsehoods in it and so in spite of what it said, it could indeed affect many current homeowners, their water sources and livelihoods. As we know from prior experience with Fish & Wildlife, even landowners not within this target area can be limited to what they can and can't do with their property. I was happy to read that the county commissioners are against the Fish and Wildlife idea and we hope we can have the support of everyone in our county to fight this proposal.