New exhibit Saturday at Redmen Hall

SUPER NICE--In spite of the foggy mornings that have us socked in solid for several hours each morning, the sunshine that follows has been just great, so I hope you've enjoyed it! The turning of the leaves made for some gorgeous shots of the foliage around the area, and the sunsets have been awesome too, so these dry, Fall days have been very enjoyable after the soaking we got in September.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Oct. 24-30 are Valle Ledtke, Hoby Thacker, Maury Mooers, Nathaniel Norris, Mel Dominique, Don Wages and Mike Wright. Here's to some wonderful birthday celebrations.

Happy Anniversary wishes to Greg and Lori Parke, Sunrise and Jessica Fletcher, the Greg Bains, Mr. and Mrs. Ty Norris, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Gorley, and to Wayne and Karen Bell whose special day is today. Enjoy your celebrations everybody!

CELEBRATING--It's hard to believe, but at the end of this month, I will mark my own anniversary of sorts, as it was 19 years ago when I took over writing the Skamokawa news when MaryAnn Madden passed away on Oct. 30, 1994. I have to wonder where the years have gone as it seems like only yesterday that I sat down to write this column between my shifts at the Duck Inn. Ahh, those were the days!

LAST TIME--Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last Friday that the Two Islands Farmers Market will be happening, so head over to West Birnie Slough on Puget Island and get those fresh items while you can! The market opens at 3 p.m.

MULE TRAIN--We'll be welcoming the Mules back home this Friday night at 7 p.m. as they host the Toutle Lake Ducks. It's also Senior Night and I know there will be a lot of teary eyed Moms and Dads as they see their sons' high school football playing days come to an end; always an emotionally charged night so have the hankies handy! Last week was not a great week for them against Morton/White Pass, but we'll pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and come out in Mule Train style tomorrow night!

As I watched pro football this weekend and saw those well paid, super experienced players come out of the game and take a breather after making a 20 yard run, or they jumped off-side or were called for holding, I'm thinking we're doing just fine for a small town team whose offense and defense are almost one and the same and so they play almost the whole dang game and they practice, sacrifice and play with no pay at all, so I'd say we've got some great boys, and a great team, of which we can be very proud. Go Mules!

The JV team will play on Monday evening at Toutle Lake and here's to a big win for them as well!

LADY MULES--Tonight, Oct. 24, the Lady Mules will be away facing off with MWP, while next Monday they will be home playing Toutle Lake. Good luck to the Lady Mules! District play begins in Raymond and South Bend on November 5 with exact times and places to be determined after the regular season is done.

WARRIORS--The Warriors played against Toutle Lake last Thursday at home and they beat them soundly, 46 to 7. I have to say, I'm not sure if the clock was slow or the chilly night air made the game seem to last forever, but a big thanks to Steve McClain for fueling us up and warming us up with those tasty burgers so we could hold out until the end! The Warriors play their last game tonight in Mossyrock. Go get 'em Warriors.

PARTY TIME--This Saturday, Oct. 26, marks the Halloween party at the Duck Inn, where the two top costume winners will be given the prize of a new Kindle, which for those who like to read, is really a neat device to have. There will also be lots of drink specials and other prizes awarded so come to Skamokawa in your costume and have a great time this Saturday night! Live music will be provided by "Off The Hook" for your listening, dancing and party-time pleasure!

KIDS EARLY HALLOWEEN--For all you with kids, don't forget the St. James Family Center's Halloween Carnival this Saturday, Oct. 26 from 2-5 p.m., where there will be costume contests, games and other activities for kids of all ages. It's great family fun, so they hope you stop by as admission is free and tickets are just 5/$1 or 25¢ each.

REDMEN HALL--It's going to be a busy Saturday, as Redmen Hall is beginning a new exhibit with local artist, Mike Swift. A reception for him will be held from 2 to 4 that day, so head to Redmen Hall to meet him and take the tour of his exhibit which will be the last one of the year for the Friends of Skamokawa. Contact Redmen Hall at 795-3007 for more information.

An error in last week's paper occurred when it said that the FOS Holiday Open House would take place Friday, Oct. 29. That should have been November 29 for their big "Deck the Hall" holiday event, so we've got a month to go before that takes place.

HALLOWEEN--With our foggy evenings, I hope everyone is extra careful next Thursday evening during the trick or treat hours with all the youngsters going from house to house. We hope you've got some goodies for those little ones as you don't want to get tricked by them!

SONS OF NORWAY--As the first weekend in November rolls around, you'll want to head to Puget Island to purchase some lefse and other Norwegian goodies that will be on sale at the Norse Hall. All members are asked to pitch in. Their first lodge meeting will be held on November 6 at 7 p.m. with Bingo taking place on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Come play Bingo for cash prizes!

GRANGE--The Skamokawa Grange Hall will be the place to meet for those in the Pomona Grange this coming Monday, Oct. 28, where they will hold their meeting at 5 p.m. with a potluck to follow. Then at 7 p.m., the Skamokawa Grangers will hold their usual meeting. Time is ticking away and there's only about seven weeks until we hold our big, free holiday dinner for the community so there is a lot to do prior to that. We hope you've bought some tickets for the big $300 basket give-away which includes gifts for everybody in the family besides all you need to make a holiday dinner, including two gift cards to buy those fresh items you need. Tickets are $1/ea. or 6/$5 and you can get them at the Skamokawa General Store.

LOSSES--This has been another sad week in our community, as we've lost another couple of folks all too soon. Judy Ostling passed away at the age of just 61 after having health issues for awhile. The news of Bobby Olsen's death shocked everyone when we heard he collapsed and was gone in the blink of an eye while he was away on a hunting trip, and is no longer with us at the age of just 57. We send our deepest sympathies to both of these families and we'll keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they deal with the loss of their loved ones.

OUT OF THE PAST--Several people have said that they miss my bits of news from my Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries, so here's a few things from 50 years ago in 1963 that you might remember or you may have forgotten: On a chilly 13 degree Thursday morning on Jan 12, 1963, the Riverview Apartments caught fire and were almost totally destroyed, but at least no one was hurt. On a cloudy but warm day on Monday, Feb. 18, the move began from the old high school to the new high school which Grandma and Grandpa Everest watched with much interest as they lived just a short distance from the school at that time. On Feb. 24, a very nice Sunday afternoon, the brand new high school, (the one currently in use) was full of townsfolk at the formal dedication held that day. Invocation was given by Reverend Edwin Peterson, with Introductions and Acknowledgements given by Superintendent, Julius A Wendt with the Presentation of the School speech given by Stewart Tuft, the architect and the Acceptance of the School speech given by Chairman of the Board, Jack Lindquist. The Dedication Address was given by Louis Bruno, who was State Superintendent of Public Instruction from Olympia. Then James Spooner gave out directions to the various parts of the school with the Benediction given by Reverend John Freeman. The general contractor for the building was J. J. Flaskerud of Longview, the electrical contractor was Ace Electric out of Portland and the mechanical things were handled by the Abrahamsen Co. out of Astoria. The architect for this job was Hayslip and Tuft out of Portland with the landscaping done by Wallace Huff of Eugene, Ore. The WHS Class of 1963 graduated on May 28, which was a hot Tuesday. A few of those kids whose last names you might recognize today would be Blix, Bussone, Danielson, Engelson, Hosley, Jacobson, Nutter, Neely, Prestegard, Quigley, Tover, Wages, Bergseng, Brockway, Davis, Emery, Fudge, Gorley, Lloyd, Lyda, Settle, Tate, Tover, Vik, Wages, Witham and Wright. In the Fall of 1963, it was the class of 1967 that entered the halls of WHS to become the first class to attend all four years in the newly built school on the hill!

There were many deaths in the area that year, as Grandma mentioned the loss of Mrs. Ida Mae Vollner 87, (Mrs. Fritz's mother); Mrs. McNally Reynolds; Mr. Ed Jones who was the brother of Mrs. Maude Irving; Elmer Danielsen's mother passed away at 81; Joe Souvenir 79; Mrs. Marie Larsen 91; Mrs. Katherine Johnson 70; Agnes Joyce 74; Marshall Morgan 78, father of Melba Bain: Mrs. Lillian Anderson 77; Mrs. Mary Irving 72; James Graham West 77; Arthur Oakes 69; Maude Kimball Butler 83, Walter Irving 51; and on a personal note, Grandma Elsie lost her sister, Jean Walker Shane in September and then five days before his daughter's sixth birthday, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Nov. It had been a sad year for the community, our family and our nation.

On a happier note, on June 4, a huge reception was held for Mr. and Mrs. George Canham to celebrate their 65th anniversary. They had seven children, 16 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren, with one great, great granddaughter. Frank Pedersen was pretty happy, as he was discharged from the Navy that year and celebrated his first anniversary, while all five children of Krist and Carol Pedersen got together for the first time in eight years, so they were all happy with the reunion after so many years apart. One son or the other was always in the Navy somewhere it seemed. The Wahkiakum County Fair was held at the very end of August and the Everests were helping Bethenia Foster with the Elochoman Grange booth and Pearl Burns did up the Home Ec booth, all of which were looking very nice Grandma thought. All this and more from Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries 50 years ago!