Saturday will be a very busy day

HERE WE GO--As one month ends and another begins, we find ourselves enjoying some sunny weather once again! Last Saturday was a pretty damp day for those that were doing any camping, so I'm sure they were happy to see the sunshine come back into the picture for the rest of the holiday weekend. Of course, we had friends who had showers on Sunday morning, while we had sunshine right from the start and it only got cloudy a few times, so I guess it all depended on where you were! However, as we go into "back to school" mode, it looks to be mainly dry with only a slight chance of showers now and then, so we'll just have to wait and see how things go, as our Mighty Mules take to the football field this Friday night here at home against the Toutle Lake Ducks. With much of our regular covered seating gone, it might be wise to pack an umbrella in case we do get any sprinkles. In any case, it's "Go, Mules" time!

MORE SPORTS--While there are both JV and Varsity football games going on, Mondays and Fridays respectively, there are also two other sports to support. One of them is the WHS Cross Country team with all their events taking place elsewhere this year, so Sept. 9 they are at La Center, Sept. 11 they are in Rainier, Sept. 16, they are at Toledo, then on Sept 23, they are in Rochester and rounding out the September meets will be the one at Morton/White Pass on Sept. 25. With a busy schedule like that, we wish them the very best in their fields of expertise.

Also going on this month will be the WHS Mule Volleyball team matches. They play seven games this month on Sept. 11, 13, 18, 23, 25, 27 and 30 with their opener at home on Sept. 11 and then the other two home games are back to back on the 23rd and 25th, so these gals will be super busy as well and we hope for only good things to come their way this year!

Beings we can't be every place at once, we want to wish all our athletes the very best and we hope for an injury free season for all of them!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 4-10 are Tristan Collupy, Fred Bennett, Carla Keilwitz, Amanda Poler, Jean Heagy, Ed Johnson, Jade Havens, Dan Lloyd, Jamie Jacobson, David Hicks, Troy Davis, Chris Mendez, Brett Deaton, Jasmin Lindsey, Orville Lindsey, Shirley Rose, Mike Rose, Kay Buennagel, Sherry McMahon, Paul Toney, Nathan Takko, Rich West, Joann Reed, and Scott Baldwin. Happy birthday to all of you!

Celebrating their anniversaries this week are Jim and Betty Koziel, Brad and Kerrie McNally, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Johnson, Jim and Arlene Almer and Mr. and Mrs. Buzz Moore. Here's to many more years of celebrating together for all of you!

NEW LISTING SOON--Former Islander, Danny Lloyd, recently found out that his oldest daughter and her husband are expecting a baby girl, and that will be his first grandchild, so we want to send him our congratulations on that good news.

THINKING OF THEM--Several folks have had some health issues lately and I'd like to send good thoughts and well wishes "down under" to Kelly Nettles Recupero in Australia and I hope all her friends will say a few prayers on her behalf. Same goes for my sister-in-law, Peggy Pedersen, as she's had quite a spell of problems lately, so we want to have her back to the kitchen and whipping up those yummy cookies of hers real soon! Fellow classmate and "slough rat" Greg Lloyd tells me that another classmate, Rich West, is now home and feeling better, so we were happy to hear that, and we want to give a shout out to another classmate, Dennis Havens, and let him know we are thinking good thoughts and sending get well wishes his way too. We also wish Delany Cothren a speedy recovery, as she was injured when a horse collapsed and fell on her last month. At first it was reported that she was just fine, but upon further evaluation, it was determined that she had received some rather substantial injuries to her pelvis and is on crutches. The horse which was initially said to have been fine as well, later died, so we were very sad to learn of that development.

NEW EXHIBIT--Starting this Saturday, Sept. 6, Redmen Hall will be the site of a brand new exhibit hosted by the Friends of Skamokawa. You are welcome to come and meet the three artists at the opening reception that day from 1 to 3 p.m. Together, these three local artisans, Mitzi Christensen, Nell Coulson and Judy VanderMaten, have put together a variety of work which they have entitled, "All Over the Place." The exhibit will run until Oct. 19 and remember, art makes for a great gift! While you're up at the hall, check out the wonderful array of books that they have in their book store and the other gifts as well, as many of them are very unique and are made by our talented local folks!

PIE ON SUNDAY--If you're out and about after church this Sunday, and would like a tasty treat, why not head over the hill to Rosburg and go up to Johnson Park (old Rosburg School) and check out the pie social at the Grays River Valley Center there. You can buy a single slice of pie or even a whole pie to take home to the family from 2-5 p.m. with all the proceeds being used to keep the center going.

GRANGE MEETING--The next meeting of the Skamokawa Grange #425 will be held Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. Instead of a full potluck at 6:30 this time, the group will just be having their dinner at home and then enjoying a dessert potluck at 6:30 prior to the meeting.

Grangers are selling tickets for their big $300 holiday gift "basket" so don't miss out on the chance of winning this great prize. You don't have to be present to win and the winner will be drawn Dec. 13 at the free community dinner that evening at the grange. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5!

NEXT SATURDAY--The Sons of Norway will be holding their usual Saturday night Bingo games on Sept. 13, so they hope to see you over on Puget Island at the Norse Hall that evening so that you can take home with one of those cash prizes!

COMING RIGHT UP!--On that same Saturday, Sept. 13, there is also the Wine Tasting and Auction event at the Skamokawa Grange Hall put on by the Friends of Skamokawa. Besides wine, there is a variety of beer available as well as several non-alcoholic beverages, and you will be able to sample a variety of meats and cheeses and other finger foods as well. You will be able to take part in the silent auction which means there are a wide array of items set out with bidding sheets in front of them and the last name on the list, which means it has the highest bid, will get that particular item, so there's always a dash to ones' favorite item to make sure your name is at the bottom of the list. It's great fun! Then there are the live auction items and that can bring some spirited action amongst those that really want that particular item, so it's fun to cheer on the bidders and get them warring against each other. All in fun and for a good cause of course! There will be a special paddle raising this year in order to help raise money for the continuing restoration and maintenance that Redmen Hall requires. To get the best deal, buy your tickets in advance here in Skamokawa from either Redmen Hall, the Skamokawa Store, or Skamokawa Vista Park, or in Cathlamet at the Bank of Pacific or the Elochoman Marina. If you get them early, they are $15 for a single, or $25 for two but they will each be $5 more at the door. The hours for the event are 6:30 to 10 p.m. See you there!

INFORMAL GATHERING--Members of the class of 1967 are not calling it a reunion, but as a few members of that class are also die-hard campers and are going to be enjoying the panoramic views of Skamokawa Vista Park next week, they thought they'd put out an invitation to attend a potluck gathering on the evening of the 13th to other 67'ers. This informal gathering of classmates will be great fun I'm sure, as there always seems to be a lot of laughter when the gang gets together! If you can't make it in the evening, stop by in the afternoon and say hello to fellow classmates as I know they'd love to see you there! Looks like Sept. 13 will be a super busy day around our area!

OUT OF THE PAST--This same week back in 1944, it was hot, hot, hot, with temperatures reaching 104 degrees on Sept. 5. In spite of the heat, Grandma Elsie seemed to be staying busy in the kitchen, as she made a apple cake, peach cake and made plans to head down to the berry packing place. Needless to say, they seemed to be spending a lot of evenings eating their dinners in the basement. The town had a bit of excitement that week as a truck came down the hill in town and lost its' brakes, hit and broke off two telephone poles and wound up turning over behind main street. (Today this would be in Wrights' parking lot to the north of their building or west of the CenturyLink building.) Luckily only the $550 of peaches were lost and the driver was not seriously hurt after totally flipping it over, so he was quite lucky.

In 1949, the week was mostly nice with only one really hot day and the last day was a little cool and misty. Nell Ackerson (Ralph Everest's sister) was pictured with her six grandchildren, all under the age of 18 months and there was only one boy out of the bunch. There was much concern that week for Ruby Hanigan as she was taken to the hospital after suffering her second stroke.

In 1954, it was nice all week long until the last day which was "miserable" and the night time was even worse according to Grandma Elsie! At the beginning of the week, the Everests went with the O. E. Johnsons to the Oregon St. Fair by way of Vernonia and they had a nice trip. They also went through the Capitol building while they were down there. Upon returning home, Grandma said she worked at the telphone office for Bethenia Foster and it was very busy on the baord. Then she went to Skamokawa later on that week to fix a "fish pond" booth as a Rebekah' Lodge fund raiser.

In 1964, there were four nice days and then three that were much cooler and wetter. While Karen and Gene Healy were on vacation, Marian and Leon Healy watched the grandchildren. One of the Healy kids, Deanna, went with her Aunt Dixie (Hap) Anderson and spent the rest of the week with her until her folks got home. Grandma Elsie received a card from Helen Robbins who was currently in Utah as she worked her way back home after a trip back to Ohio. Carol Pedersen came by and spent the afternoon with her Mom and the two sewed most of the afternoon until son, Marshall came to Grandma's house after school, and then mother and son headed back home to Puget Island. That week Grandma was once again baking with peaches and canning peaches. Mrs. Tillie Messinger passed away that week at the age of 74. At the time, she was living in Portland, but had lived in Cathlamet and was a member of St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Cathlamet. She was survived by four daughters: Mrs. Helen Gigandet, Mrs. Lucille Hendricksen, Mrs. Louella Christensen and Mrs. Frances Young. She also had two sisters, Mrs. Della Quigley and Mrs. Elanor Bither, along with 14 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.