Diamond Dinner this Saturday at Grange Hall

WET ENOUGH?--The end of last week was certainly a drenching and as this work week begins, it's pretty doggone wet too, but the break on Sunday at least allowed for some of the "lakes" to recede a bit, thankfully! For us, it's supposed to be all cleared up by the time you read this and they say we'll be in for a week or more of sunshine, with temperatures close to 60 degrees, so that sounds mighty good to me!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Feb. 12-18 are Vickie Reid, Chuck Parker, Derek Phipps, Connie Shrum, Dale Strueby, James Hoven, Brandon Souvenir, Wendy Havens, Austin Havens, Sarah Hoven, Christa Hoven, Sean Brennan, Tony Setera, Roberta Backman, Hilary Brown, Debbie Beebe, Betty Brown, Terry Everman, Cindy Grasseth, Brody Brown, Ellie Carosa, Pam Below Lazor, Angel Thompson, John Thompson, Angela Stensland, Wanda Evenson, Kris Baldwin, Justin McCarthy, Hailey Blain and Blake Hess. Belated birthday wishes to Derrill Corbin, whose birthday was last Monday.

Happy Anniversary wishes go out to Julie and David Black, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry DeBraie, Mr. and Mrs. Stan Thacker, Mr. and Mrs. Troy Gorley and Mr. and Mrs. Dale Strueby. Enjoy your special days everybody!

NEW BIRTHDAY--The Cliff Garrisons have added their seventh great grandchild to the family this past week with the birth of a baby boy last Friday. Now they have two great grandsons and five great granddaughters. Congratulations to the family on this latest addition!

ANOTHER NEW ADDITION--Another proud set of grandparents are our neighbors, Bill and Linda Mahitka, who also welcomed a grandson into the family last week. Their son, Steve and his wife Michelle, introduced their first child, a very big boy into their home when Payton Michael Mahitka arrived weighing nine pounds and one ounce and was 21½ inches long! Congratulations to the new parents who live in Sequim and all of the new baby's relatives!

FRIDAY--A quick reminder of the two events this Friday as the Hotel Cathlamet will be the site of many chocolate goodies as the 16th annual "Royal Chocolate Extravaganza" event takes place there from 4 to 7 p.m., with proceeds to benefit the Charolotte House. Right across the street, during those exact hours, the Tsuga Gallery will be hosting an early Valentine's Day party with entertainment, refreshments and new exhibits, so stop by if you're in Cathlamet during those hours and have a wonderful Friday afternoon and evening.

Don't forget to pick up one of those great desk calendars at the Tsuga Gallery as they have some wonderful photos by local artists, Judy Vandermaten and Mike Rees. They are priced just right and make a great, unique gift.

THIS SATURDAY--It's time for the "sweetheart" deal this Saturday evening at the annual "Valentine Diamond Dinner" that takes place at the Skamokawa Grange Hall. We hope to see you there, as this is a fund raiser for the Wahkiakum Fairgrounds, which does need your support. It's a great time to visit with friends and listen to some wonderful music provided by pianist, Kathleen Petersen, and enjoy a tasty filet mignon dinner. Doors open at 5:30 and dinner is served from 6-7 p.m., while doors stay open longer in order to enjoy your meal, have a glass of wine and wait for the announcement of the big winner of the Diamond Bracelet gift basket Good luck to one and all! Check the Bank of the Pacific to get tickets. Contact Susan Rawls at 795-3304 if they are out.

CHANGE OF DAY AND TIME--The Skamokawa Grange #425 would like to remind everyone of the recent change they have made to their meeting schedule. This is brand new, so the times on the Lion's Club calendar that were printed last year, are now incorrect. Please make a note that starting this coming Tuesday, Feb. 17, they meet on the first and third Tuesdays of the month and not the second and fourth Mondays. Potluck and meeting times are still the same with their 6:30 and 7 p.m. time slots. The grange is seeking new members, so if you're interested, head to the Skamokawa Grange this coming Tuesday evening.

GREAT TIME--I got to escape to Seattle for several days last week and I really had a great time at the Sechler household. The main reason I was going was to see my only granddaughter's last home game at Ballard High School, as she is a senior, and this would be her last home game and she was one of the three girls who would be honored that evening. The Beavers were ahead by two as the game was winding down, and Tessa Sechler had the ball. Naturally, the other team wanted to foul her so they could get the ball back. One girl smacked her arm; no foul. Another girl came up and body slammed her and smacked her arm. Again, nothing, but after getting slammed again, Tessa fell hard on her back. But instead of the other team being called for the foul, she was given the foul for hitting the girl on the way down. What? The entire crowd was in disbelief! This was her fifth foul and she was out of the game; another huge blow to the team as she is their point guard, third in the league in assists and solid scorer. The opposing team went to the foul line and made both free throws and tied the game with less than 30 seconds to go. Thankfully, when the Beavers got the ball they got down the court and scored with 2.6 seconds left in the game. The other team in-bounded the ball, the clock went to zero and the entire place went crazy with this fantistic win! But wait--in spite of the clock reading zero, the referees blew the whistle and said it was a mistake and put back three seconds on the clock. What? There was video to show there was less time than that. However, the refs rule, and the other team got three "more" seconds to try a "hail mary" and maybe win, but luckily they did not score, so that was a huge sigh of relief, and once again, the gym erupted in joy! The following day, the Lady Beavers were awarded the "Metro Sportsmanship Award," which they truly earned after not reacting badly to some of the worse refereeing I have ever witnessed! Good job ladies!

After the big game, we headed to "Sopranos" for some wonderful pizza, (order the "Mafia" if you go!), along with some ravioli, and a super tasty, Greek Salad. We'd all worked up quite an appetite after all that screaming and yelling at the game! While in the big city, I got to go to the "Crab Pot" for the first time with all four of the grandkids and the two boy's girl friends as well and we dined on a table full of three kinds of crab, shrimp, mussels, potatoes, corn and a full slab of ribs to boot, so we did not go home hungry that's for sure. With Pete and Katie having to go to a company dinner that evening, it was nice of them to treat the rest of us to this fun evening out, where bibs were normal attire and everyone had a wooden board in front of them and a mallet in their hands; fun, fun!

While I was up north for a little longer this trip, I also managed to stop by and visit with my cousin Dave Pedersen, son of Holger (Uncle Putt) Pedersen, and even this ole country gal was able to find his place without too much difficulty. We shared a great lunch he fixed and enjoyed his birthday cake for dessert, so that was pretty good timing on my part I thought! Dave and I yakked a lot about the "old days" and looked at a lot of old family photos as well, so I really enjoyed our afternoon gabfest!

WRITING LETTERS?--I was told that beings we are now hooked up with the Cathlamet post office, we really didn't have to worry about the mail count that is currently going on, but just in case that information is incorrect, I do hope you're sending some Valentines out or reaching out to someone you know, and mailing a few "hello" notes, so that they'll see we really do need to keep our post office open. My fear is that less and less people will use it and we'll lose it all together. Now that may be unfounded but why take chances? Buy stamps, money orders and send mail. You just need to do it between 8-11:45 a.m., daily.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1965, it was wet and gray for several days, then began to dry up with the final day of the week being a beautiful sunny day. Several people were sick this week and Grandma Everest was "feeling bum" herself, while daughter Carol wound up sick as did her daughter, Kay. It was a sad day for music when they learned of the death of Nat King Cole from lung cancer at the age of just 45. Peggy Pedersen sent valentines to the Everests from sons Tim and Mark, which are still taped to her diary.

An article included in this diary tells of the similarities between Pres. Lincoln and Pres. Kennedy. Some were very interesting while others were just so strange and so improbable. Lincoln had been elected in 1860 and Kennedy in 1960. Lincoln's secretary had the last name of Kennedy and she advised him not to go to the theater the fatal night he was killed. Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln and she advised him not to go to Dallas, odd right? Both men were killed on a Friday in front of their wives and both men were shot from behind and in the head. Both of the Presidents' killers did not make it to trial. Booth, who killed Lincoln, was born in 1839 while Oswald was born in 1939. After their deaths, both Lincoln and Kennedy had succesors that were named Johnson and were both southern Democrats and both had served in the senate. Quite a few coincidences I'd say. All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.