Concert at Redmen Hall this Sunday

A VARIETY--This week began with Easter Sunday and I trust you had a good one. We began the day with temperatures at freezing and a whole lot of fog, but it wound up super nice during the day, which lent itself to sitting on the patio and enjoying the sun. By late afternoon, early evening, the weather took a dramatic shift and it soon began to blow and then the dark clouds moved in and the rains began to pelt down in wild fury, so it was a real mixed bag of weather all in one day! It looks like we'll have some rain and some sun this week as well, but we won't mind too much as long as we get to see some more fantastic sunsets like the one we had last Monday evening; totally spectacular! A huge thank you to Ruth Doumit and Stephanie Prestegard for posting some great pictures on Facebook for us to see.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from April 9-15 are Andrew Emlen, Kael McKinley, Bryan Ledtke, Brent Mahitka, Patrick Thacker, Wendy Westover, Rafael Gilbertson, Janna Doumit, Pat Dennis, Savannah Burdick, Sara Brown, Chris Doumit, DeeDee Crouse, Stephanie Olsen, Phil Doumit, Ray Prestegard, Margaret Strueby, Sean Miller, Janine Helms, Sylvia Blix Link and Carolyn Pedersen. Enjoy those birthdays everybody! Belated birthday wishes to Samantha Ahrndt.

Celebrating their anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Mike Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Greg Parker, Mr. and Mrs. Tim Parker, Cliff and Judy Garrison, Mike and Ronda Rose #44, and last but not least, my brother and his wife, Ralph and Peggy Pedersen, who are celebrating their 60th anniversary today! Enjoy all your special days everybody!

67'ERS ON FRIDAY--I hope to see several of my former classmates this Friday at the Urban Saloon and Grill on Commerce Ave in Longview at 1 p.m. The plan is to meet for lunch and have a good gab, as well as remember those with April birthdays. This month the birthday "kids" are Keith Lawrence, Sandra Davis, Greg Lloyd and Dennis Havens. If there are more, please let me know!

SUNDAY--Redmen Hall will be the site to be this Sunday, April 12, as the Friends of Skamokawa host another one of their concerts in their "Second Sunday Concert" venue, so they hope you'll come and enjoy David Densmore and Alexa Wiley as they perform for you. The performance will be from 2-4 p.m., and the cost is $10 for adults and just $5 for children under 12. CD's will be available of this duo, and there will be refreshments served by members of the "Riverkeepers." Contact the hall, 795-3007, for further information, Thursday through Sunday, noon to four or contact Jill Hatier at 795-8675.

THIS MONTH--We all enjoy the Bald Eagle Parade and festivities but as always, they could use a few extra hands and would love to hear your ideas on what you think about the event, how to improve on things and well, just everything in general. So, if you'd like to get involved in this event put on by the Wahkiakum Chamber, head to the meeting being held on April 15 at 5 p.m., at the new Community Center in Cathlamet, as this is their first planning meeting and so it's a good time to jump on in there and see what's being planned for that big event in mid-July.

The Chamber is also having a work shop on Economic Development 101 down here at the Skamokawa Resort Conference Center, on April 22 at 5:30 p.m., so you might want to check that out as well. There are many events going on in this area and every group/organization, etc. could use extra hands, so if you're bored, with nothing to do and want to be truly appreciated, then stop by and offer to lend a hand. There are plenty of opportunities to serve your community.

MOTHER'S DAY--You don't want to be in trouble by forgetting Mother's Day this year, which is just a month away, May 10, so keep an eye out for special dinners that will be taking place, like at the Duck Inn. You could treat Mom out to dinner and then pay her way in to the Second Sunday Concert at Redmen Hall, which features the wonderful voice of our own Kerrie McNally, so that would be a nice treat for Mom, or that special lady in your life. You can even take home a memory of this concert with a CD that will be available of Kerrie's musical talents.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE--My cousin, Elinor Ellison Bridenhagen, formerly of Puget Island, passed away earlier this year and her daughters, Leslie and Paula, have contacted me and have asked that I pass along an invitation to all of you who knew her, to gather together next month and share your memories of her with others. The girls have fittingly rented the Norse Hall on Puget Island as the place to gather and the date will be May 30 from noon to four. Please mark your calendars and we hope to see you there. Ellie was the only daughter of Bella (Pedersen) and Erling Ellison, both deceased, as is her brother, Norman Sr. and his son, Norman Jr. as well.

HEALING UP--I see where former resident, Janelle Gilligan is recovering nicely after her double knee surgery last month, so that's real good news, and we hope she continues to recover nicely. You may remember that Janelle recently got married, so new hubby Kevin was certainly put to the "newlywed test" as he was instrumental in taking care of his new bride, so kudos to him!

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS--There are many folks who prefer to go unnamed but could surely use your positive thoughts and loving prayers right now, so if you know of someone, please keep them in your thoughts. I have two cousins who are dealing with some serious health concerns and could definitely use some positive energy going their way and they are Sandy McDonald and Pamela Priestly, so if you could take a second out of your busy day to think of them, I'd appreciate it. We'd like to wish Kelly Nettles Recupero some pain relief soon, as she's had some serious back issues and we know how painful that can be, so here's hoping she gets some relief real soon, as she's been battling with this a long time.

EASTER--I trust you had a wonderful Easter holiday with friends and family around you. I heard many comments from folks who all seemed to have had one thing in common: good food and lots of it! One former Skamokawa gal, Kathy P. said she had a "food hangover,"and I don't think she was alone! Several members of my family met at the home of youngest son, Brian and we feasted on a very tasty ham with all the fixings, which included trays of "everything" and three desserts as well; it was great! The Sechler family in Seattle feasted on a variety of steak recipes cooked by Blake and some new fangled potatoes that Pete found a recipe for, so the group of eight had a great dinner as well. Sally Nollan got to come down to Cathlamet from Seattle with her eldest son, Fred Jr. and shared Easter with her daughter, Susan and other members of the family so they had a wonderful time together.

TIME IS FLYING--As you can see, the days and hours of this new year have already flown by and it will soon be time for proms and graduations and all that fun stuff, but prior to that, don't forget the 4-H Great White Tail Run around the refuge area, May 16, as well as the Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars Car show on May 30 down here at the Wahkiakum Fairgrounds. For those of you who have always donated something to the car show, "my people" will soon be seeing me knocking on your door or you'll be receiving a call from me, as I do hope you will continue to support our kids, as monies earned will go towards scholarships for them. It's a fun day for you, great time for car lovers and it all comes with a huge benefit for kids! Lee Tischer and his wife and family are huge factors in making this event work, and so all of his contacts should be seeing Lee soon as well, if not already. If you're new to the area and you'd like to be a sponsor or help out that day, please contact Lee for all the details: 360-430-4377. Remember, a $200 donation gets you on the t-shirt but hurry and call today if you want to be included!