White-tail run is Saturday at 8:30

GREAT DAYS--We had a great batch of sunny, dry days for Mother's Day weekend and from all the pictures I saw and things I read, it looked like everyone was enjoying them fully. Who would have guessed that we would be sitting in 80 degree weather in early May? This week we're seeing some raindrops but if all goes well, we'll be seeing a decent weekend. Around here, the forecast can change in a heartbeat, so who knows? Considering the tornadoes, snow, flash flooding and earthquakes in other areas, we have no reason to be complaining. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those having to deal with these horrific situations.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from May 14-20 are Kerrie McNally, Betty Koziel, Patty Ingersol, Masen Anderson, Marty Kuller, J.T. Luthi, Tayler Stornetta, Courtney Helms, Kaelee Paulsen, Stephanie Prestegard, Steve Doumit, Stacey Wegdahl, Mark Phillips, Nikki Hoven, Frances Phelan, Kevin Wirkkala, Travis Heagy, Laine Ferguson and Brandon Chamberlain. Hope all your birthday celebrations are fun and memorable.

Belated birthday wishes to David Rust, son of Ron Rust, who was named after my brother David Pedersen and who was also his god parent. His special day was last Tuesday.

Happy Anniversary wishes this week go out to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Stewart, Mr. and Mrs. Shawn Deal, Rusty and Maiya Kiest, the Mike Howells and the David Eatons. Here's to wonderful anniversary celebrations for all of you! Belated anniversary wishes to Chuck and Heidi Beyer who celebrated three great years of marriage last Tuesday!

NEW BIRTHDAY--Former Wahkiakum resident and WA-KI-HI graduate, Ursula Short Jorgensen, became a grandma last Saturday when her daughter Ashley gave birth to her own daughter. The timing was perfect, as Ashley got to be a first time Mom just in time for Mother's Day. Mark, Ashley and baby Parker got to celebrate the special day together. Miss Parker was seven pounds and five ounces and has a nice head of dark hair. Congratulations to the new parents and to the new Grandma!

SYMPATHY--I wrote recently that former resident, Pearl Cortay had been placed in hospice and I just got word from her daughter, Shawn, that she has indeed passed away. She is no longer in pain and suffering and while truly saddened by her loss, we are grateful she is free of all that misery. I know that she and my Mom are both dancing in heaven right now, as the two friends celebrate their reunion. We send our deepest sympathies to Shawn and all of Pearl's friends and relatives.

If you knew Pearl and wanted to do something in her memory, the family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: National Stroke Association 9707 E Easter Lane, Suite B, Centennial, CO 80112 in her name.

ORDER NOW--The Wahkiakum Lions Club wants to remind you to order your strawberries right away as the Ninth Annual Strawberry Sale is underway! They are fresh, cleaned and sliced, so they are ready for you to do whatever you want with them! Order forms are online or in this paper, with the last day to order being June 2. You will have a choice of either the Skamokawa Grange parking lot or the high school parking lot for picking up your order on June 6. If you don't pick them up, they'll be given to charity. This is a great sale for a good cause. For more info call 795-3337 or 849-4003.

TOMORROW--If you're around the Skamokawa Vista Park area tomorrow, we hope you'll check out the newest business in town, and that's the "Ship Channel Coffee" cart, which is just to the left of the old gillnetter, which is a recent display in the park. The operators of this venture are Stacy and Rachel Katyryniuk and we welcome them to the area. Besides getting your favorite expressos or lattes, I understand they'll also serve a couple different flavors of ice cream, so that will be appealing to the whole family! Here's to good times in the park for them!

COMING UP--For those who like to run, this Saturday, May 16, is the big day for the annual 4-H Great White-Tail Run that starts out at Skamokawa Vista Park and goes around part of the refuge. Monies raised benefit the Wahkiakum based 4-H program. You should be at Vista Park by 8:30 a.m. to pick up your packet or get registered if you haven't already. The race begins at 10 a.m., so don't wait until the last minute to sign in! There are winners in several brackets so I hope you happen to be one of those speedy ones. Good luck!

WEST SIDE--If you happen to find yourself on the west side of KM mountain this Saturday, you might want to stop by the Appelo Archive Center and wish Carlton Appelo a very happy 93rd birthday. And here's a "Happy Birthday" from us on the east side! While you're in that area, you might want to stop at the Grays River Center and take in their luncheon and their plant and bake sale too; noon to 3.

On Sunday, May 17, you can head back over the hill to the Rosburg Community Hall and take part in their annual Spring Tea and Luncheon, where they'd love to see you in your fancy hats but there's no need to skip the event if you want to enjoy the nice company and luncheon, which also has some raffle items being given away, so either day, you can find something to do "over the hill"!

COUPLE OF WEEKS TO GO--It's hard to be believe but it's almost time for the 10th annual WDFS Rods and Reels Rod Run and it will be roaring into Skamokawa on May 30. The show lasts from 8 a.m., to 3:30 p.m., with free entry for spectators so if you don't have a car to enter, you can come in and look around and when you get hungry, you can buy a meal ticket for $8, (kids 10 and under are $5) and enjoy a salmon and burger BBQ. If you're going to let the kids go "trout fishing," which is free, you may want to bring a small cooler with ice in it to keep those trout nice and cool, so you can enjoy the rest of the car show without worrying about fish cooking in your car!

Remember, it's not too late to donate something for the prize tables or for the drawings; contact either Lee 360-430-4377 or me 795-3425 and we'll get you on our lists! Remember, all monies raised goes towards scholarships for our seniors!

If you come early and get your car all settled in its place, why not walk over to the Skamokawa Methodist church and have a little breakfast; part of the proceeds will go towards the scholarships for the kids as well.

CELEBRATION--While the cars are in town, the Duck Inn will have some live music, as the King Brothers will be back in town; always a big hit with the crowd. This particular weekend is also their big third anniversary party as they head into another year of good times and good food and who are fantastic sponsors for many of our local events, so we hope you'll continue to support them with your presence! There are bound to be some special doings at the Duck that evening in the lounge so watch for their upcoming ad!

GOOD NEWS--The mail contained some good news recently for Mark Whitaker as he got his Emergency Medical Technician certification in the mail, so we're happy to have him as a licensed EMT here in Washington state, and I'm sure our Skamokawa Fire department welcomes his expertise as well. It doesn't hurt to have some medical personnel as a neighbor either! There was more good news at the Whitaker home, as Mark and Shannon are now the proud parents of a college graduate! Last Saturday, daughter Alice was sporting a cap and gown at the commencement ceremonies at the Lewis and Clark College so "Congratulations, Alice." Good job!

NEXT MONTH--The Skamokawa Grange is looking for vendors for their annual Vendor's Market to take place on June 27 at the Skamokawa Grange Hall, 18 Fairgrounds Road, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., so give Carol Blalock a call at 795-8729 for more information and to reserve a table.

Just a reminder that their monthly meetings are now held on the first and third Tuesdays of the month; 6:30 p.m. potluck and 7 p.m. meeting time.

WILDCATS--Once again my cousin, Donna Palmer, had reason to smile, as grand-daughter, McKenna Spieth and her team of Wildcats from Linfield College, wound up winning the NCAA regional playoffs after traveling to Iowa and pulling off back to back wins and making them the champions; yeah! They are now headed to the next level of competition which is called the "super regionals" and we wish them the best of luck as they play some more ball this Friday and Saturday. ( As of this writing, their opponents were unknown.) Good luck ladies!

GREAT DAY--As far as I can tell, every Mom I know had a great Mother's Day. Some got candy, some got flowers and some got both, while some ladies got power tools while others got a dinner out and there were cards, phone calls or text messages from kids far away and then some got a little of everything and got to see their entire families, so it seemed like there were just a lot of smiling faces on Mother's Day this year!

Sharyl Iblings headed north to join her sisters in sprucing up their Mom's patio with some great flower pots, so I'm sure their Mom appreciated that.

Peggy Pedersen had both sons (Tim and Mark) come and visit, although on different days, so it was a full weekend for her and of course, she enjoyed the yummy food that got shared amongst them.

Rhonda Pedersen was in seventh heaven as she is one of those "power tool" gals and she got several of those on her special day, along with chocolates and flowers and dinner out, so she was one happy lady!

Marsha Helms had all her kids and grandkids come by to celebrate Mother's day and so that's always extra special. To top it off, there were flowers, balloons and cards too, so it was a great day for her.

Theresa Kuljis had a great start to the day when her three kids at home made her breakfast and then spent some time getting her car all spiffed up for her. Doing things for Mom sure makes them happy!

At this house, I was treated to some beautiful flowers, dinner out, some great gifts, phone calls and personal hugs and well wishes, and we even shared a BBQ in the sun with friends one day, so it was a pretty great Mother's Day weekend for me as well! Kudos to all those husbands and kids who made Mother's Day so special!