Wet and wild weather leaves mark on Skamokawa

WET AND WILD--I'm pretty sure there's no fire danger around here anymore, as we had inches and inches of rain over the last week and now we just have to worry about mudslides and falling trees. Last weekend saw officials already dealing with power outages and trees and water over the various roadways, while fields turned into lakes. The thunder and lightning storm that descended upon us Sunday morning was enough to shake a person out of bed, so we've had some pretty wild weather, which brought record-breaking rainfall amounts to many local towns. Hopefully it has ended by the time you read this as drier days were being touted by forecasters and we could sure use some! This early "winter" storm is a great wake up call to get ourselves prepared for what could be a very long winter if we have to deal with being isolated due to road closures because of either high water, trees down or being without power, so I hope you've gotten all you need to be self-sustained for at least three days, if not longer.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Oct. 3-9 are Joan Evenson, David Blalock, Debbie Gribskov, Kylee Montgomery, Jessie Havens, Holly Luthi, Collin Montgomery, Matt Helms, Richard Hoven, Cindy Turner, Kim Anderson, Richard Robinson, Lisa Frink, Patti Bergseng, Tony Silva, Rolly Armstrong, Kari Claussen, Lillian Rust, Jesse Ellison and granddaughter Tessa Sechler. Happy Birthday to you all!

Happy Anniversary wishes this week go out to Marty and Sue Kuller, the Dachtlers and Adam and Samantha Pedersen's west coast wedding anniversary! Belated annivesary wishes to Quin and Connie Bassi, as their special day was yesterday.

COMING UP--This Friday and Saturday mark the annual "Columbia River Country Days" events, with multiple doings at the Two Islands Farm Market and an art event at Tsuga Gallery set for Friday between 5-8 p.m. with refreshments. On Saturday there will be an open house event at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds by the 4-H group, and that evening, the annual Covered Bridge dinner will take place.

ACA--The Affordable Care Act for those who have no health insurance is now available for those that would benefit from it. The first of October was the first day you could sign up. If you have a computer, you can go to: http://www.healthcare.gov and check it out, or call: 1-800- 318-2596 for assistance.

MULES HOMECOMING--With the miserable weather descending upon us last Friday, it was with great relief that the Homecoming court caught a dry spell during the half-time presentation, where Maya Stanley was named Homecoming Queen. Congratulations to her! To make the Homecoming evening even more special, the Mule Train gave the Pe Ell Trojans a mighty Mule kick and won their game 36 to 12. Yeah, Mules!

NEXT MULE GAMES--This Friday night, tomorrow, the Mules Varisty football team will travel to Onalaska and we hope they do as well there as they have been in recent weeks. The JV team will host Onalaska on Monday, Oct. 7. Good luck to both teams. The Lady Mules will travel to Mossyrock today, Oct. 3, and to a varsity only tournament at R.A. Long on Saturday, with a home game against Winlock on Tuesday, so they'll be very busy in the coming days.

WARRIORS--The Warriors declared war over Onalaska last Thursday with a 54 to 0 score in the rain, so that was impressive. Congratulations to them on their win, although I have to tell you, this Grandma was not too keen on seeing her grandson laying on the field at the end of the game with about a minute to go....scary times! I'm told he's doing fine but it looks like Bryce has the Pedersen curse when it comes to knee injuries and football. I hope that's the end of that trend! The team will head to Winlock this Thursday, Oct. 3, while they get a "bye" next Thursday. Good luck Warriors!

LAST MONTH--The month of October is also the last month that you have to enjoy the Two Islands Market on West Birnie Slough on Puget Island, and the Wahkiakum Historical Society's Museum in Cathlamet, so we hope you'll be able to stop by both of those places before they close for the winter.

BINGO NEXT WEEK--If you're a lover of Bingo, head to the Norse Hall on Puget Island, as the Sons of Norway hold their Bingo nights on the second Saturday of each month. The games start at 6 p.m. with doors opening at 5:30, with tasty treats available for purchase. If you'd like to join the Sons of Norway, they hold their meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at the Norse Hall at 7 p.m.

CONTRIBUTIONS--It won't be long and there will be food drives going on for those less fortunate than ourselves, so we hope you'll be adding a few items to your grocery list and putting them in a bag to help the various food drives that will be happening around the county. You can always take your items to the food bank of your choice if you're out and about on the days they are open as well.

TIDE GATE--As we've driven along SR 4 and watched the tidegate project, which is west of Skamokawa and across from the rock pit, (behind the fairgrounds), we watched closely as the water continued to rise behind the slough barrier. With heavy rains projected, we worried that the barrier on the upper side would force the water up and over and into our fairgrounds, which of course, would have had devastating results. However, the barrier was topped first and the hole where the gate was going to be placed was filled with water. As small pumps were placed in to try and pump out this massive amount of water, it quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to work, so work was halted. Hopefully during the days ahead, they will be able to get back to this project and get the gate in place without further delays.

PROPERTIES INVOLVED--I've been asked by several people about the properties involved in Fish and Wildlife's plan to take them over and basically swamp them. There are 26 parcels from what I can make out, so that's quite a few. Any flooding will remove grassland that the elk and deer now use, will ruin wells for several home owners, and turn about 800 acres into more unuseable land for our county. If they really want to do something about bringing back the fish, why not address the real problem, like getting rid of the seals and stop building more tern islands, so that they multiply even faster and gobble up even more smolt! We already have the refuge, which certainly didn't turn out to be a refuge for the deer, as anyone who has lived here very long remembers seeing hundreds of deer prior to Fish & Wildlife taking it over. Our commissioners are spot on when they say that Fish & Wildlife has done nothing good for us. As much as I have balked at zoning, maybe it's time to do it, so we can stop these massive land takeovers by government agencies who cannot possibly deliver what they promise, and the side effects of their actions will put us all in peril. Just remember the deer that they were supposed to protect, that they hazed with helicopters and explosives while pregnant, with the excuse they were in imminent danger from the dike breaking. Well, it's still there, but the deer are dead, from either heart failure or being eaten by coyotes in their new, safe home! That is the kind of management and protection we've had from Fish & Wildlife, so I hope nobody falls for this latest saving the fish fairy tale!