Flea market will be Saturday at Fairgrounds

LAST MONTH--Here we are, the last month of the year, which seems impossible, but yet, here it is! Beings it's only 22 days until Christmas, I bet you're rushing around and getting that shopping done and getting all set for the big day. Of course, you savvy online shoppers just click a few buttons and have things delivered to your door, which certainly beats fighting all that traffic and long lines at the check out stands. But then, maybe you're like me and you like to browze around for that gift that's "just right" for that special person in your life, so with plenty of patience and goodwill in mind, you go out and shop anyway. Of course, we're all urged to "shop small," which means shopping in your local area, in which case, you can get that one of a kind gift and not deal with huge, angry mobs in the store or a massive amount of irritable drivers on the road!

BRR--I don't know about you, but I was mighty cold last week and over the weekend, when temperatures dipped in our area, and it was even down in the teens out here in West Valley. I was perfectly happy to turn on the oven and do some baking and to let it stay on for hours as the turkey, rolls and all that other Thanksgiving stuff got cooked up, as it sure helped to warm up the house, besides making it smell so good!

Here's hoping you didn't experience any difficulties with freezing pipes or pumps or that sort of thing, but if you did, remember that we have a plumber here in Skamokawa, so if you need one, call Brown's Plumbing at 360-807-3867 and hopefully Rob can help you out with whatever problem you may have.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Dec. 3-9 are Tom Webb, Kitty Speranza, Mackenzie Allen, Marie Snow Carpenter, Hank Bassi, Dennis Reid, Amy Prestegard, Derek West, Hollie Longtain, Chase Wallin, Danielle Coleman, Gary Bergseng, Johnny Burdick, Megan Vining, Collin Parker, Meg Wright, Ron Hendrickson, Julie Doumit, Todd Souvenir, James Robinson, Markeese Hoven, Paul Hoven, Kathy Hanigan, Louis Recupero, Diane Frank, Steve Finkas, Mark Pedersen and his son, Gabriel Pedersen.

Happy Anniversary wishes this week go out to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bennett and Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Vik. Enjoy your special days everybody!

WINTER SPORTS--The Mule boys started their basketball game last Tuesday at home against Naselle. That game took place after my deadline, so I can only hope they had a great start to their season. Their next game is tonight in Adna (Dec. 3) while their next home game is next Tuesday, Dec. 8 as they host PeEll.

The Lady Mules will have their first home game tomorrow, Friday Dec. 4 against Adna. Here's wishing all our basketball and wrestling teams a successful season, free of injuries!

THIS IS IT--Saturday is Dec. 5, so that means it's Flea Market time at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds. We hope you'll come down this way and take advantage of the last sale of the year and check out their bargains and the various vendor items as well.

SKAMOKAWA GRANGE--Skamokawa Grange will hold their holiday party for the community on December 12. Details to follow.

SERVICES--This is just a brief reminder that a Celebration of Life service will be held at the J. W. Elementary School this Saturday, in memory of Rodney Prestegard. This will take place at noon in the multi-purpose room of the school. Again, our sympathies to his entire family.

KIDS AT NORSE HALL SUNDAY--I'm just making sure everyone realizes that it's this Sunday, Dec. 6, that kids under 10 are invited to come and take part in the annual Norse Hall's Christmas Party on Puget Island at the hall on SR 409 from 2 to 4 p.m. Bring your camera and take a picture of your child with Santa and enjoy a cookie or two as well. Remember, your child can make his or her wishes known to Santa by writing a letter to him there. This "Letter to Santa" has a dual purpose as it not only gives a heads up to the "guy in red," it is also an event that is sponsored by Macy's and for every letter written, a dollar is donated to the "Make A Wish Foundation," which is a wonderful cause, so it's a win, win there!

If you're looking for some holiday pastries, remember, the members of the Sons of Norway will also be selling some lefse and other goodies that day, so you grown ups will want to check those out while the kids are taking part in other fun activites, like cookie decorating and coloring!

LEFT OUT--In my listing of people who live in Skamokawa but have businesses in Cathlamet, I accidently left out Christeena Bassi, who operates the Barber Shop on Main Street, so my apologies to her. Giving a gift certificate to the man in your house/life from her business would make sure that he's all neat and trimmed up for the New Year, so keep that in mind when you're shopping local!

REDMEN HALL--Between frozen moments, I managed to get up to Redmen Hall and look around, shop and do a little visiting with author, Bob Pyle, formally known as Robert Michael Pyle from Grays River. Bob was at the hall not only to chat with the folks who came in to do some shopping but to do a little selling, signing and reading from his latest updated work, "Wintergreen: Rambles in a Ravaged Land." This book is not exactly new as it had been originally published some 30 years ago and for being the best natural history book of the year, won the 1987 John Burroughs Medal, which was quite a fete. This latest edition now comes with an introduction by David Guterson, who you may remember wrote "Snow Falling on Cedars," and when a movie was made from that book, it was partially filmed right in Cathlamet. He has won several awards and is a noted author, poet, short story writer and journalist. The book now ends with an update by our local author and lover of the Willapa Hills in which he lives and talks about in this book that embraces the community. If you haven't read it before, now's the time to buy a copy.

There were many vendors with their wares on the second floor, and you could buy anything from a jar of jelly, to an apron, to Seahawk items, to luscious scarves by Jenny Kizziar, to fabulous paintings by Mitzi Christiansen, to hand made wooden spoons and cutting boards made by Tim Schmitz of Skamokawa Creek, along with multiple jewelry items from locals like Becky Ledtke, Pam Elliott, Joan Wren and JoAnn Mott. I took advantage of finding the wonderful desk calendars made up of photographs taken by Mike Rees and Judy Vandermaten, as these photos really take in the entire county, from the Grays River Covered Bridge, to the Deep River Church, to the gorgeous sunset shot taken from Skamokawa Vista Park, to the snow covered boats in the Elochoman Marina, and more. There is bound to be one that hits the spot with you and your area, so they are a real bargain at $9! Here's hoping you get to Redmen Hall to check out the many other vendors that I didn't name, as there's music, books, other wood working items, tree decorations and more. The hall is open noon to four, Thursday-Sunday.

EARLY THIS NEXT TIME--Sometimes we get so used to things being at a certain time that we might overlook a big change in the date, and we wind up missing a big event. I hope you've read the Down River Dispatches section of this paper, written by Trudy Fredrickson, which told about the upcoming Crab and Oyster feed put on by the American Legion, Deep River Post #111. It is usually held the first Saturday in March, and people near and far plan around that date, but that's not the case this coming year! This time, the big feed, held at the Rosburg Community Center, will be held on the fourth Saturday of January; that's January 23! So, it's quite early and we'll hope the snow isn't flying so we can get over KM! With only 200 tickets available, be sure to get yours soon, as this is a popular event. So, if you know someone who loves crab and oysters, buying them a couple of tickets would make for a great Christmas gift! There are several folks to contact about the tickets, their names and phone numbers are: Ken Elliott: 360-465-2271; Nick Nikkila: 360-465-2595 or Dale Rose: 360-465-2234. As always, there are a limited number of seats, so don't miss out on the fun. There's great food, great prizes and always a lot of fun!

THANKSGIVING RECAP--The Ralph Pedersens had a house full of people to celebrate Thanksgiving, as sons, Tim (Margie) and Mark (Rhonda) and a couple of other guests, enjoyed a wondeful turkey dinner provided by the boys and Shari's restaurant! There's always a lot of fun and laughter when the crew all gets together, so it was a very happy Thanksgiving at their house.

At our house the family guest list changed from seven to three due to other plans coming up, but that was okay, as we still enjoyed a tasty turkey dinner and I figured out that I probably wouldn't have to cook for the next week; a win, win for me!

The Pete Sechler family wound up with 26 family members at their house in Seattle for dinner, so there was quite a bit of rearranging to make it so that they all got to sit at the table, but they did it! The trick to that I heard was that you just have to swap out the living for the dining room and vice versa, and "ta-da," end to end tables were able to seat the whole bunch. There were Nollan family members from all over the country, which included Florida and Montana, so as you can imagine, there was a lot of catching up to do! To top off the weekend, several of the family members were taking part in the annual Seattle marathon that happens this time every year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so everyone was cheering them on, with a couple of them, like Pete and Ryan, joining in part way to help encourage the others towards the finish line!

Ever the optimist, my niece Cindi (Jeff) Pedersen opted to head to Europe over the holiday, in spite of the recent attacks there and spent a wonderful, yet chilly, Thanksgiving Day in Paris. They enjoyed going to the Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle and were off to the Louvre the last I heard. She said there were lots of folks out and about, in spite of the cold and the tragic events that took place there, so that was good to hear. The last time I got an email from her, the traveling duo were having a marvelous time exploring everything the city had to offer.

Elaine and Phil Rolf headed to LaGrande, Ore., to enjoy Thanksgiving with family members and those all important grandkids, and while it was just 17 degrees and quite nippy, and they wound up with some snow, they had a wonderful time.

Keith and Karen Lawrence were thankful they didn't have to travel too far on icy roads to attend a great dinner on turkey day. The couple just had to head out from their home in Kelso, to Keith's brother's place in Rose Valley to enjoy a Thanksgiving gathering there with his brother, Jim and part of his family which included a son with his two sons, a nephew, Chris and his wife and daughters as well. Also there were Keith's brother Mike, along with two daughters and their significant others. Some of the family members couldn't be there, so that was too bad, but those that made it had a wonderful time.