Many events ahead for your enjoyment

NICE HOLIDAY--I hope you had a nice Fourth of July holiday as we certainly had some good weather for it. As I begin this week's column, it sounds like we'll have been in a bit of a "heat wave" this week, so I hope you've been using sunscreen and limiting your time in the sun so you don't start out your summer with a nasty burn. It goes without saying that you need to stay hydrated and if you're one of those people with a four legged friend with you, do be careful about keeping them out in the sun too long and making sure they get cooled down and well hydrated as they are wearing fur coats already!

Sadly, there were several drownings over the weekend from the beaches on the coast to the nearby rivers, so once again,

people are ignoring the one thing that could have saved their lives, and that's the suggestion to wear life vests. During this upcoming stretch of nice weather I hope we can keep it safe around here and not have anyone fall victim to an accident

that could have been avoided.

GREAT TIME--How was your fourth? I know there were a lot of folks planning BBQ's and with all the fireworks going off

around our area, they surely had a great time with friends and family that evening. I saw that a lot of folks came to our area to enjoy the holiday weekend as Skamokawa Vista Park was packed and our Skamokawa General Store was really hopping, so that was good. With the nice weather, the deck off the back of the Duck Inn was being enjoyed and there were folks kayaking and biking and fishing and really enjoying our area and that's just what we want to see!

David and Connie Shrum entertained friends on their patio this weekend after a shopping trip to the Farmer's Market on Puget Island. The bread and veggies they got there were a very tasty addition to the main course. The Sechler/Nollan families headed to the ocean with a huge group of family members and friends and the John Gustafsons made a trip up

north to visit with their family and friends for a couple of days, so they all had enjoyable weekends. Ocean Beach Highway was absolutely wall to wall traffic on Sunday afternoon and those I talked to were happy that the weekend

gatherings turned out so good, but all were very happy to get back home. I heard from many of my classmates from the

Class of '67 and they all seemed to be having a wonderful time, whether they were here in Skamokawa like Truchet Miller, or up north of Seattle like Greg Lloyd, or in Idaho like Enid Martin Fountain, or clear in Florida like Sharon McKie, with many in between. I always enjoy my chats with former classmates and look forward to getting together with some

of them this Fall.

SPECIAL DAYS-- Those celebrating birthdays from July 10-16 are Mallory Bosch, David Shrum, Jalynn Rainy, Marietta

Montgomery, Jerry Ledtke, Justin Perkins, Sharrel Mooers, Jamie Hjaltalin Kincaid, Steve Hart, David West, Martha

Backman, Denise Parker, Randi Curtis, Megan Miller, David Carosa, Janell Seaberg, Mary Schroder, Mary Ann Nelson, Sunny

Manary, Sharon McKie, Doug Wright, Samantha Rather, Don Wright, Dan Cochran, Lonney Kubacki and three of my grandsons: Bryce Good, Blake Sechler and Kyle Secher. Hope you all have very special birthdays!

We'll be sending our Happy Anniversary wishes to John and Mary Gustafson this week. Enjoy your special day you two!

THIS WEEKEND-- We've got a couple of things going on this weekend around the area, one of which is outside and one

is inside. If you're a golfer, you'll be wanting to check out the annual Kiwanis Golf Tournament at Skyline Golf Course in Cathlamet. If you want more information on this event, call Carol Danker at 795-8052. Beings that takes place during the day, you may want to head over to the Norse Hall in the evening, as they should be holding their usual Saturday evening

Bingo games for cash prizes. They also have goodies for sale. The doors open at 5:30 and the games begin at 6 p.m.

However, if you've received an invitation from Ken Peterson and Bev Elliott, you may be attending their wedding nuptials that evening at the Skamokawa Grange, so, this is a reminder that Saturday evening is their special day, so don't miss out on celebrating with the happy couple.

NEXT WEEKEND--The time is fast approaching for all the great things that go on during Bald Eagle Day which takes place

next Saturday. Some of the BED fun starts on Friday actually, with a chalk art drawing contest in front of the Bank of the Pacific at 2:30 p.m. Then it's time to head to the Farmer's Market over on West Birnie Slough where there will be live music along with a host of their usual vendors, which now includes Skamokawa's latest business, Farmstead Creamery, featuring tasty goat cheese varieties and yummy caramel too. I found out that not only is it great for dipping those tasty apples in

and topping your ice cream or yogurt but folks are stirring it in their coffee, and beings it's made from goat milk, it's actually not as bad for you as other caramel products. That evening, the Tsuga Art Gallery will be open to show their latest

works and will be having live music too, so there's plenty to do on Friday prior to the Bald Eagle Day runs in the morning, the parade at noon, the vendors all day, the waterball battle between fire departments at 4 and of course all the action down at the marina with fireworks at dark.

Just a little hint to help out the vendors: It's really helpful if everyone heads to the bank earlier in the week and gets some

smaller denominations of bills, as those who hand a vendor a 50 or a 20 for a $2 item, can really drain their change drawer quickly. Your thoughtfulness would be appreciated by all the vendors I'm sure.

Also during those two days, the new Wahkiakum Community Center will hold their grand opening (old firehouse on Main

Street) so be sure to check that out on either Friday or Saturday as well. They will be giving away some door prizes and there is a grand prize of a nice bicycle to be given away on Friday at 2:30, but you must be there to win, so if you need a new bike, you might want to get your name in the hat and be there for that drawing! Needless to say, it's going to be a jam-packed couple of days. Hope to see you there!

REDMEN HALL--The Friends of Skamokawa invite you to come up to Redmen Hall and check out the new foundation they got done in time for their 120th birthday and also the exhibit entitled "The Legacy of the Columbia River Fisheries" which was made by two locals, Irene Martin and Keith Hoofnagle. If you haven't yet seen it, now's your chance. As usual, the

gift shop has a lot of local things from various artisans for sale and the book shop has some great books, with many from our area's talented authors.

DAD BRAG--Son Pete Sechler called to let me know that his only daughter, and my only granddaughter, Tessa, had a

very good day last week. It seems she went to a basketball camp in Oregon with about 600 other girls and at the three point shooting challenge, she took second place, missing out on first place by just one basket. However, it was one of her

team mates from Ballard High School that took first place, so they were pretty pumped that out of all those girls, the two Ballard players took top honors. Of course, her Dad was quite proud of her and it goes without saying that her Grandma Kay was proud of her as well!

MONTH AWAY--Believe it or not, in just a little over a month, Aug. 14 to be exact, our Wahkiakum County Fair will take place. Again, the time is flying by and it will be here before we know it, so I do hope you've been taking pictures, making

jams and jellies, sewing up a storm or doing something so that you can enter it into the fair. The kids can earn some cash by making or growing things and entering them into the fair, so parents, if your kids want a special something for the

school year, this is a good way for them to learn to work towards that goal as well as taking part in their community. If you're willing to work at a gate, or do something else to help at the fair, please contact Patty by leaving a message on

the fair phone, 795-3480.

FUNDRAISER TODAY--Abby Eaton, who is running for the Westend as one of this year's fair princesses, will be having

a fundraiser Thursday, today, from 3-6 p.m., at the fairgrounds. She's having a pie social and BBQ and is inviting you to come and help support her.

WELL WISHES--I heard that a fellow classmate was not feeling well so we want to send our thoughts and prayers to

Rich West in hopes that he is feeling better soon. The same goes for Judy Smith, who has been dealing with some health issues lately but at least she did not have a heart attack as we had first heard, so that was good news indeed. I definitely

want to wish my sister- in-law, Peggy Pedersen (Mrs. Ralph) some get well wishes too, as she's one gal who doesn't deserve to feel so lousy, so we hope she feels better real soon. Take care everybody!

S K A M O K A W A GRANGE--A reminder to all Skamokawa grangers, that this coming Monday, July 14, is the first meeting

of the month, with a potluck dinner at 6:30 and our meeting at 7 p.m. We are still adding things to the Holiday Gift Basket that is to be given away in December, and as usual, the $300 basket is more like a trunkload full of things, which

this year includes a triple crock pot server, which is extremely handy when hosting holiday meals.

There's a drill for Dad and games for kids and things for the tree, the house and gift cards for a fresh ham or turkey too, so we hope you'll buy some tickets when you see us on Bald Eagle Day!

POST OFFICE--A big thank-you to all of you who have signed the "Save Our Post Office" petition at the Skamokawa Store, and I hope you've turned in your survey as well. Hopefully you've turned down their options and have gone for the "keep our hours as they currently exist" write-in suggestion. Don't forget the meeting to be held at the Skamokawa Grange on July 29 at 6 p.m., which means I'll be giving up my birthday and anniversary dinner and headed to the meeting instead!

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1944, it was very nice with one very hot day on July 14. The Primary Elections took place that week and Grandma Elsie and Ruby Hanigan were tabulating votes until 2:30 in the morning. Bella (Pedersen) Ellison brought nephews Ralph and Frank Pedersen over to their Grandma Elsie's house, along with some fresh bread and blackberries. On July 13, Mrs. Henry Lindwall fell 22 feet down from the hay mow and broke her back, and then there was

a bad accident on KM so it wasn't a real good day in the county. In 1949, it was a very "nice, beautiful, warm" week with July 14 once again being a very hot day. Grandma Elsie attended the movie, "How Dear to my Heart." Carol Everest

Pedersen received a belated birthday gift from her husband, which was a really nice new Bible. Besides Grandma, there were three other ladies at the R. Bunn's home, and Mary Ann Risk, Lilly Warrell and Mrs. Klingberg had a very nice visit. A flower was pressed in Grandma's diary, which was a purple pansy given to her by Alva Mast, and she said that along with that one, there came a big bunch of others and Grandma sure thought they were pretty. On July 14, the Grays River telephone circuits were all put in place. Gertie Healy, the Wests and Grandma Elsie all went to the show, "The Sun Goes Down" which they all liked, and afterwards, they all had lunch at the Everest house.