Postal hours had to be reduced

STILL TOASTY--As we go through this first week in August, it's still pretty toasty! However, we have been quite a bit cooler than other areas where upper 90's and triple digits have been closer to the norm. As Monday evening came to a close and bedtime was upon us, it was a very nice 60 degrees here while Portland was still at 91 degrees and very muggy, so it was a great time to be here in Skamokawa!

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that our fire danger is high and so there is a burn ban in effect.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Aug. 7-13 are Jenny Benfit, Marsha Helms, Treasure Collupy, Brian McClain, Rick Bryan, Eileen Free, Penny Pethoud, Marjorie Williams, Wendy Blix, Bob Hendrickson, Tenneal Harris, Jeremy Bennett, Kassy Burdick, Fred Johnson, Mike Backman, Butch Free, Travis Wegdahl, Jim Almer, Jason Blain, Jeff Nicol and my great niece, Paydn Pedersen.

Happy Anniversary to Gene and Karen Healy, Steve and Janna Doumit, MackKenzie and Kristen Allen, Larry and Deb Holland and Mr. and Mrs. Randy Hoven, the Rick Nelsons, Doug and Sunny Manary and Mike and Mary McLaughlin.May all of your special dreams come true on your special days!

POST OFFICE MTG. RECAP--As you probably know by now, the Skamokawa Post Office will remain open but with its hours reduced from 8 a.m. until noon. When this occurs depends on when our postmaster opts to leave, which could mean a change in hours as early as October, or as late as the beginning of next year. While these hours will not work for everyone, it's better than having it closed altogether and is the most effective choice for postal workers. I appreciate all of you who came to the meeting at the Skamokawa Grange Hall, as Mr. McGuire said that it was one of the biggest groups he'd had show up considering the size of our town. He told me that when he'd seen all the chairs I'd set out at the grange hall, that he just knew we wouldn't need them, so he was quite surprised to see almost all of them filled as it showed people cared about our post office. However, beings the hours of the post offices in question were decided some time ago, this meeting only served to inform us of such and no amount of people would have changed their minds. Also, in spite of my plea to send in the surveys, there were very few returned and even some who said we should close the post office, which I found pretty shocking. The hours were set to cause the least amount of interruption to the current system as all the post offices really have to work together, as one can't have early hours and the next down the chain have evening hours; it's just not possible. We really do need to keep our post office busy though, because if "over the counter transactions" continue to drop, there could certainly be a chance that hours could be cut yet again and we don't want that to happen! So please make sure you are buying your stamps over the counter and mailing items there as well, as we'd hate to have our services cut any further. If these hours don't work for you, see if one of your friends or neighbors could handle your transactions for you so that we can keep our post office transactions from slipping any further.

LONGBOARDERS--This is the big weekend for the longboarders to be in the Cathlamet/ Puget Island area so you're reminded to watch for road closures and detours at different times as you'll need to get around their scheduled events in various parts of town. Here's to lots of thrills and not too many nasty spills!

ALMOST HERE--It's the Wahkiakum Fair time count down and there will be much to do as all those folks with arts and crafts and other things begin their trek to the fairgrounds and begin to enter their items into the fair. Be sure to check out a fair book for the correct day and time, as different categories have different times and often different days that they can be brought in, so don't miss out on getting that blue ribbon. Remember, the fair is what we make it, so I hope you have all your items ready to enter!

PRINCESSES--The young ladies running for Wahkiakum County Fair Queen only have a few more days to be selling admission tickets, raffle tickets and holding their fund raisers so I hope you'll support them in their bid to become queen. It was really great to have so many girls turn out as it looked like we weren't going to find anybody and then we got six, so kudos to all of them for putting themselves out there and being our princesses this year. Good luck to all of them and we'll be anxious to hear who winds up our queen this year!

FAIR DANCE--The annual Teen Fair Dance will take place at the Skamokawa Grange Hall on Friday, August 15 from 9 p.m. to midnight. We hope the kids have a good time and enjoy the opportunity to hear the music which had been silent for many years while the grange was closed.

MEETING--The Skamokawa Grange #425 will hold their first meeting of the month on August 11 at 7 p.m. with a potluck meal at 6:30 p.m. I keep wondering when we'll have the "just desserts" type of dinner, but so far we've lucked out and had pretty balanced meals every time! With the grange having had a community meeting, a wedding, a reunion and soon a dance, and then a wine tasting, I hope folks understand how handy this building is and could certainly use your support. If you don't want to become a grange member but would like to ensure that this historic building is still available for functions such as the ones I just mentioned, your donation could be sent to Skamokawa Grange #425, P. O. Box 123, Skamokawa, WA 98647. We'd sure appreciate it, thanks!

EXCHANGE STUDENTS ANYBODY?--The International Student Exchange program is looking for families willing to host a student from another country for this upcoming school year, so if you're interested, please contact LaRae Heer 509-398-0759 or locally, you can contact Nova Lee Knopp at 795-3335. We live in a beautiful area with many advantages that we take for granted that I'm sure a student from far away would love to enjoy, so check out this program at http://www.waise.org and see if this might be something you'd be willing to give a try.

FIVE WEEKS--The Skamokawa Grange Hall will be bursting with items to bid on as the Friends of Skamokawa hold their annual Wine Tasting and Auction fund raiser. If you'd like to donate something for this event, please contact the folks at Redmen Hall at 795-3007 or stop by with your item Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Your donation will be truly appreciated and is tax deductible. Mark Sept. 13 on your calendar and come have some fun and support a good cause at the same time as all monies go towards the continuing upkeep and maintenance of this wonderful historic building.

GALS GATHER--Elaine Rolf, Pam Lazor, Nancy Brady and Kay Chamberlain gathered at the Duck Inn last Sunday to celebrate Nancy and Kay's birthdays that occurred just recently. A few other classmates had prior engagements with their family members to celebrate their special days so they were unable to attend. However, we four ladies from the class of '67 had plenty to gab about and shared a lot of laughs throughout the afternoon. We also found out how entertwined many of us have come to be over the years with various family members/distant cousins and such all winding up knowing each other, or marrying one another, etc. It was a great source of amusement as we muddled through the "my husband's father's sister was married to your aunt's former husband's cousin" type story; almost a country song for sure, too funny!

FAMILY GET TOGETHER--The Pete Sechler family headed to Sunriver for a few days to enjoy the heat, but there were times when the lightning storms made everyone get out of the pool and into hiding, so that wasn't so much fun. Most of the time was great however, and they rafted, practiced their diving skills and had a great time. Towards the end of the week, they met up with Pete's Uncle John and Aunt Terry (Kullunki) Sechler and their two daughters and new grandbaby and so they had a great visit while catching up on family news.

Back in the day, John was the drummer of the band, The Chessmen, and they played at the Norse Hall on weekends where everyone came to dance and have a great time. John was a fantastic drummer and still performs in bands, while back then he was joined by his brother, Ray, Pete's Dad, who carried around a full sized Hammond organ, while others were using electric keyboards. Ah, those were the days!

ACROSS THE CREEK--Bonnie Bentley and the Phantom Teardrops will be playing at the ASOC Playhouse in Astoria on Sunday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. Also, check out the ASOC website for their full schedule of events which of course includes, "Shanghaied in Astoria" which is in its 30th season! Check them out online or call 503-325-6104 to get your tickets today as I'm sure this season's tickets will be going fast.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week in 1944, the week was nice but had some early morning fog or clouds. That week Betty McGrath had a baby boy and the Albert Wests had a baby girl they named Susan. The Everests were getting ready for Fall already as they had a ton of presto logs delivered, which they could mix with the wood they were having delivered to get through the winter.

In 1949 the week began wet and miserable and had one more misty day in it but the rest were real nice. That week the fishermen's strike was finally ended. The Wests took the Everests to the Longview Silver Jubilee doings and Grandma had a good time she said with a chinese dinner at the Paramount at the end of the day. The only thing she wasn't too thrilled about was the dollar she spent on a chance to win a new 1949 Kaiser Traveler car, as she wrote on the ticket stub, "waste of money!" Visiting at the home of Dale Rose this week was Mrs. Mary Nixon from Seattle, who was Mrs. Rose's mother. Laddie Goodfellow spent a week visiting the Warren Sears and John Sears families in Seattle. Marnee Fritz returned from Spirit Lake Camp for girls that week as did Gail Dickson, Margie Johnson, Barbara Snyder and Mary Hanigan. Mrs. Grace Moore was filling in as the office nurse for Dr. H.D Fritz while Mrs. Emma Berg was on vacation. Gertrude Healy had several family guests stop by as Mr. and Mrs. Roy Healy came from Portland, while the Frank Eggmans, with Kristen, Frankie, and Jesse Eggman came by from Skamokawa and Leon and Marian Healy came by with daughter Donna. The Wahkiakum Jersey Cattle Club held a picnic at the Cathlamet City Park and the Wahkiakum Club members played a game of baseball against the Cowlitz club members, whom they defeated 10 to 9. Weekend guests of Mrs. Lillian Anderson were her daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Eddy Tomal and family of Tacoma. Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Bunn took a weekend and went down to Portland and over to Tillamook where they watched the Cathlamet baseball team play Tillamook. Joyce and Orville Mott had a baby boy they named James that week, and Krist Pedersen flew down from Alaska that week to meet his new daughter that had been born 10 days earlier.

In 1964, it was nice all week except for one morning when it rained prior to getting hot in the afternoon. Frank Pedersen came home from Cordova, Alaska after fishing with his folks for three weeks during his vacation time from the Weyerhauser mill. The fishing season was extended so his folks, the Krist Pedersens, would not be coming home just yet, so his sister continued to stay at his house in the Longview/Kelso area. It was visitation week at the Skamokawa Grange and Grandma Elsie and other members of the Elochoman Grange came down to enjoy a good crowd and fun evening. A couple of days later, it was time to go to the Home Ec. club meeting held at Gertie Irving's where only a small crowd gathered but they had a good time anyway. All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.