Spring sports to begin this week

WILD BEGINNING--Last Sunday was forecast as a wet and windy one and by golly, early that morning, we started getting some pretty good gusts out here. I had hoped that our first day of losing an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings Time would be relatively calm but no such luck, as my flying garbage can gave me an early wake up call! Rarely do we get wind that impacts our backyard area, so that took me by surprise. Later in the afternoon, we lost power, like most of the valleys in Skamokawa, which was due to a fallen tree out East Valley but after less than a couple of hours, we had it back on, so that worked out great. I hope all of you made it through the stormy weather without sustaining any wind damage to your homes or property.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY--I hope you are wearing some green today, as it's that time of year when shamrocks, pots of gold and leprechauns are center stage as we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, so here's hoping you have a good one! Forecasters are calling for a sunny day so it looks like the "Luck o' the Irish" may be smiling down on us today! Happy Saint Patrick's Day everybody!

CARNIVAL THIS PM--Speaking of the big "green" holiday, the very first "St. Paddy's Carnival" will be held in the Youth Building at the Wahkiakum Fairgrounds this evening from 5 to 8 p.m. Sounds like you'll be looking for "pots of gold" so you can win a prize. That should be fun. Hope you can make it down there!

FREE MOVIE--As usual, there will be a free movie at the Cathlamet Senior/Community Center this Friday evening. This week they will feature an Adult, R rated, political documentary which deals with a 1999 high school massacre. This movie will be shown beginning at 7 p.m. If you'd like to enjoy your dinner while you watch the show, contact Sharon's Pizza at 795-3311 ahead of time and they will deliver it right to the center for you, 15 minutes prior to the movie.

If you'd like to know more about what's going on at the center, contact Cheryl at 795-7870 Ext. 2.

SAFETY FAIR--For all of you with youngsters, you may want to head to the St. James Family Center this Saturday, March 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., where there will be a Health and Safety Jamboree. Besides teaching you all the latest safety issues, there will be lots of activities going on through various agencies and so you could get a bike helmet, tour a fire truck or enter to win a new bicycle plus much more, so head up to the family center on Columbia Street in Cathlamet and check it all out!

AWESOME VIEW--There were many people pulling over along SR 4 to enjoy the view down here in Skamokawa recently, as it was definitely Bald Eagle Days! When the smelt enter Skamokawa Creek, and you see hundreds of sea gulls perched on rooftops and flying low over the creek, well, all you have to do is look up and there they are: The majestic Bald Eagles! I counted over two dozen in a very short space but as I continued home and looked further up the tree lined creek, there were more and more white heads showing, so there were definitely a whole lot of "illegal dippers" that day! Many were hanging around for several days but only on that particular day were they just seemingly everywhere; and there I was with no camera!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from March 17-23 are Connie Bassi, Gaylene Johnson, Mariah Souvenir, Pat Kehrli, Carol Wegdahl, Lance Souvenir, Leroy Wika, Cathy LaBerge, Katie Turgeon, Jimmy Montgomery, Randy Hoven, Danette Bardsley, Taya Deal, Annie Hall, Luke Thomason, Lana Poe, Lanie Hannah, Laurie Miller, Sig Hjaltalin, Sandy Quigley, Larry Firkus and Mathew Kyle. Happy Birthday to all of you!

Last week I missed including the birthday of Izabella Lynnette Holcomb Korbe so my apologies to her and I hope she had a wonderful day!

Those celebrating their anniversaries this week are Layton and Pam Elliott, Janelle and Kevin Gilligan, Don and Jen Cochran, Bill and Shelley Olsen, Tyson and Sarah Clark, Aron and Wendy Havens, Mr. and Mrs. Brett Deaton and Mr. and Mrs. John Hannah. Enjoy your special days everybody!

NICE TIME--I was happy to hear from Truchet Miller about a nice gathering of her family during her recent birthday celebration. Seems she had all four of her children there and for a Mom, that's always one of the best presents you can get, so the rest of the events during the day were frosting on the cake, so to speak!

EASTER BINGO--Coming right on the heels of St. Patrick's Day is all the Easter festivities, with Easter Bingo being a favorite, fun event where you can win your dinner or some great prizes while you have fun with all your friends and neighbors playing bingo! This is a fund raiser for the fair and it takes place in the multi-purpose room at the Julius Wendt Elementary school in Cathlamet on Friday, March 25. Doors open at 5:30 with the games starting at 6 p.m., and bingo cards are 3/$10.

ROBOTS BATTLE--You won't want to miss the epic "Battle of the Robots" in Skamokawa at Redmen Hall on March 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. This event is presented by Jeff Pillar's 8th grade robotic class, Jeff Rooklidge's high school robotics class and Ron Wright's 4-H Robotics Club, so this should be pretty neat. All of the robots are made by and programmed by the students and some of these groups have made it to state competitions or district competitions, so they are pretty skilled at making these robots and it should be a fun afternoon of watching the dueling robots! Come to the hall and see for yourself what talented students we have here in Wahkiakum County!

DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS--On March 26, which is next Saturday, (as opposed to this Saturday) the Democrats will hold their caucus on the East end of KM mountain, in the multi-purpose room at the JA Wendt Elementary School in Cathlamet at 10 a.m. If you live on the Westend, you'll be meeting at the Rosburg Hall on the same date and time.

SUPER SALE--The big indoor Super Sale on the Westend will take place on March 26 as well, at the Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park, formerly the Rosburg School. Besides the sale going on, you'll be able to purchase food and beverages there and the Grays River Methodist Church will be selling baked goods as well. If you'd like to donate to the food bank that is located within the center, you can also bring some non-perishable goods to donate, so it will be a busy time over the hill that day with the caucus and the sale going on in the area.

BIG REUNION-- Please help spread the word about the all school 100th commerative year celebration/reunion which will be held on Aug. 13 of this year at the Wahkiakum High School. Susan McClain Kuhn is in charge so please contact her at sjmcq1@yahoo.com and be sure to mention the reunion or your class so she'll know where to file you as gathering all this information is a big job. There is also a Facebook page regarding this event. She'd love your input and some help, so let her know what you're willing to do! If you don't have the internet or email, drop her a note at P.O. Box 440, Cathlamet, WA 98612.

SYMPATHIES--Our sympathies go out to the family of long time Skamokawa resident, LaRita Bennett, who passed away on March 1 and whose services were held on March 5. She is survived by her husband, Fred and seven children. Our sympathies to her surviving family members of which there were many, including 33 great grandchildren. She will be sorely missed by them all.

Services were held for Jerry "Bear" McNally last Saturday at the Longview Eagles. He was only 53 and passed away on March 2, so his early death seemed even more tragic. While I didn't know him, I knew his grandparents, Glen and Freida McNally quite well and also knew his father, Gene. We send all of this young man's family members our sincerest sympathies for their loss.

BIG SCAM--We get annoying phone calls all the time as there's always somebody trying to sell us things we don't want but the other day, we finally got the big scam phone call that is going around now. It's that call that says: "This is the IRS and you are being sued for your unpaid back taxes" and of course, you're totally shocked! Now, if you have gotten this call, don't panic, as this is just a total scam, so don't go and send "somebody" any money or give them access to your bank accounts, as the police and news reports have been warning people that the IRS will never, ever call you by phone over a matter like this, so just hang up and ignore these rotten scammers!

GO TEAMS--Our Mules will be swinging bats and golf clubs this week as the golf team begins their schedule today, March 17, at the Life Christian Academy and then they'll be back here in Cathlamet at the Skyline Golf Course on March 21, as they play Adna. The Mule baseball team will begin their season by heading to Mossyrock on March 19, where they will begin a double-header at noon.

For the runners on the Mule track team, they'll be headed to Adna on March 24, while the Middle School Warriors' track team starts the day before in Adna. Good luck to all our teams as they start this spring sports season.