Community pride goes both ways

Kayrene Gilbertsen couldn't be more proud of her community. As it turns out, plenty of people in her community are just as proud of her and proved it when they voted to name her the 2015 Bald Eagle Day Parade Grand Marshal.

Kayrene was raised here, but spent three years in New Zealand teaching elementary education when her family relocated there for a time. Eventually she returned to the area, married Gary Gilbertsen and had two kids, Karlin and Gabrielle.

"My father was a real viking, so my parents would go someplace for half the year," Gilbertsen said. "Gary and I would share their house in as much as the day we would move out to go to Alaska to fish for the summer, they would move in."

It was a perfect arrangement.

She began working at the Community Action Program in Longview during the winters. She was the Ombudsman Coordinator for Seniors, the coordinator for the legal aid program and the coordinator for the children at risk program.

"They were all part time jobs," Gilbertsen said. "But Gary got sick and eventually I was needed at home, so I retired."

Always active, it was hard to slow down.

"Volunteering," Gilbertsen said. "If you get on the list, it's like putting the toothpaste back in the tube. You get known and someone calls and says 'Would you like to do this?' and you think, 'Oh, that sounds like fun!' All the sudden you are up to your ears in work. I'm not a talented person. I say there are two things that people never ask me to do twice. Singing and baking. But I can be the worker bee. I can come along and say, that's a great idea. I can help you."

Part of the pleasure is in being asked to help, but she credits her mother for her love of volunteering.

"It's something my mother did," Gilbertsen said. "I think you step into your mother's shoes in some ways."

When her daughter went off to college, Gilbertsen suggested volunteering.

"'Mother,' she told me, 'volunteering is your thing, not mine.'"

Gilbertsen laughed and then pointed out that it wasn't long before her daughter found an appealing volunteer opportunity.

And then she laughed about another aspect of volunteering.

"You promise yourself you will never ask your husband for help," she said, "but it never fails. Tables won't fold up properly or they are too heavy to move."

Gilbertsen has been involved with Altrusa, the Woman's Club, the Marine Resources Committee, the museum, Appelo Archives and more. She worked with the Wahkiakum County Community Foundation to preserve the Julia Butler Hansen home.

Thirty years ago, she was the first female Wahkiakum County Commissioner and more recently she has been a commissioner for Wahkiakum County Port 2.

"It was exciting for me to open the door for more women to be elected to terrific positions," she said. "It makes me so proud. Since I was commissioner, two more women have followed and done incredible things."

But the thing that makes her heart beat is the community's history.

"I grew up in the Pioneer Church when it was the Congregational Church," Gilbertsen said. "It was wonderful that we could save the Julia Butler Hansen house. Now it has a good foundation, new flooring and a heat pump, so many things that kept it from imploding. The house is Julia from top to bottom. What a treasure."

She pondered her home and all the happiness she found here and tried to share with others.

"I can remember hearing people say, 'We came here thinking we would get our start and when we had enough money we could leave and buy someplace else. We never got enough money.'

"I always thought, isn't that sad that people got stuck here," Gilbertsen said. "Now people get it. They see this community and see how peaceful and friendly and beautiful it is. They see people working together to make things happen.

"The artists in the Tsuga Gallery!" she exclaimed. "What a bonus. The musicians! And the groups who have the courage to start something new, like the brewpub."

Gilbertsen admits that her selection to be the grand marshal came as a surprise.

"I'm honored," she said. "I've been so lucky to be part of the community and to be part of saving its history."

The parade begins at noon on Saturday. There will be vendors selling food and arts and crafts on Main Street all day.

At 6 p.m., the beer garden will open at River Mile 38 Brewery. From 7-10 p.m., the brewery is sponsoring a concert and CD release for Purefusion, which is billing itself as a rock and soul extravaganza featuring Joshua Wright and locals Donna and Jade Lewis.

Fireworks will begin at 10 p.m.