Wahkiakum High graduation Friday

PLENTY WARM!--All those heat lovers must have been totally pumped about the heat wave we had last weekend, and even the days prior to and after that, as it was plenty hot, that's for sure! Anytime temps are in the upper 90s at the beginning of June for several days in Skamokawa, with no wind and temperatures still around 70 in the latter part of the evening, well, that's really rare; and uncomfortable! I hear we are supposed to cool down by the time you read this and we should even see some rain, so I know my lawn is going to enjoy that, and me, too!.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from June 9-15 are Brenden McClain, Bob Montgomery, Justin Anderson, Nikolai Almer, Tyson Hjaltalin, Mark Howie, Nick Danker, Sharon LaBerge, Matalyn Longtain, Paige Kehrli, Peyton Souvenir, Jerry Whitaker, John C. Doumit, Sandy Boldt, Veronica Gilbertsen, Kelsey Briscoe, Gina Robbins, Lacey Vik, Sarah Phillips, Shane Kehrli, Chris Songer, Erin Turner, Shirley Good, Amy Horman, Colton Reynolds, Karen Blain, Andrea Hess, Sandra K. Hess, Kristian Pedersen, Bailey Pedersen and 67'er Noni Meridith. Here's to all of you having a totally marvelous birthday!

Celebrating their anniversaries this week are Stewart and Ginger Moonen, David and Connie Shrum, Mr. and Mrs. Wally Wright and Mr. and Mrs. Justin Watkins.

GRADUATION TIME--It's hard to believe but once again, the halls of Wahkiakum High School will grow quiet as the school year comes to an end and another graduating class goes out into the world. We wish the Class of 2016 a wonderful future, and as they head out into the work force or to another level of education, I always say to them, "Remember to always make a good first impression, as you'll never get a second chance to do so." Here's a hearty "Congratulations" to all of you this Friday night (June 10)! Here's to a fun and safe graduation night for everyone!

MOVIE NIGHT--If you don't have plans to go to the graduation ceremonies, maybe you'd like to take in a historical/drama movie that many adults would enjoy about a person's fight for a better life. This free movie is at the Community Center in Cathlamet and all movies begin at 7 p.m.

BERRY PICK UP TIME--For all of you who ordered fresh berries from the Lions Club, this is a reminder that this Saturday, June 11, is the day to pick them up. Pick up time is 10 a.m., don't miss it!

FOS--The Friends of Skamokawa invite you to a weekend of entertainment as on June 11, there will be a newly formed group, "The Cliffs of Cathlamet" Jillian Raye and Erik Friend. Also on hand will be author, Robert M. Pyle who will read from his new book of poems. Bob will also be available to sign copies of his book. This will be an evening performance in the River Life Interpretive Center at Redmen Hall, beginning at 7 p.m.

The following day, Sunday June 12, there will be an afternoon performance from 2 to 4 p.m. It is called the "Hank and Lloyd Concert" with musicians/performers, Beth Semar Sheets and Pete Davis. The two will play a variety of music including their own works. There will be CDs of their music for sale at this concert. Costs for these concerts are just $5 but those under 18 are able to get in free.

Contact the hall at 795-3007 for any further information. It's open Thursday-Sunday, noon to four.

SONS OF NORWAY--June 24 and 25 Members of the Sons of Norway will serve pulled pork sandwiches during the first two days of the Island's big yard and garage sale, PIGYS, so be sure to stop by there and buy your lunch before heading out to all the sales. Linda Wright is in charge of this event, so if any members can give her a hand, that would be great. Members are reminded that they will be getting things ready and set up on June 22 and 23, so it would be great if you've got time to help out.

Need a spot to set up a sale table? Why not rent a table from the Sons of Norway for $10 and just set up right there at the Norse Hall? You'll be in the midst of all the traffic and near the food to boot, so hey, that's a great deal! Call Jan Silvestri if you're interested in renting a table from them 795-8759.

We're sending out a big "Congratulations" to Tyler Gorley, as he has been chosen by the Sons of Norway lodge to receive a scholarship this year, so we're sure he'll be happy with the scholarship committee's decision, as every bit helps these days!

FLAG DAY--This coming Tuesday, June 14, is Flag Day. This day was believed to have originated with school teacher, BJ Cigrand, back in 1885, when he arranged for his students to observe the 108th anniversary of the offical adoption of The Stars and Stripes. It was called "Flag Birthday or "Flag Day." Throughout the years, various teachers and historians celebrated the day in various states and passed resolutions recognizing the day. However it wasn't until three decades later that the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 was officially established by President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1916. While many people celebrated the June 14 date as Flag Day after Wilson's proclamation, it wasn't until August 3, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as our "National Flag Day." Let's see the flags fly this coming Tuesday!

GOOD THOUGHTS--We want to keep Pam Elliott and Sherry Stewart in our thoughts and prayers as they are dealing with some serious health concerns right now, so they'd surely appreciate some prayers on their behalf.

All of your good thoughts and prayers seemed to have helped our wonderful "flower gal," Betty Koziel, as she got some good health related news lately, and that's always nice to hear. Let's hope she continues this "good news" streak!

SYMPATHIES--The family of John Weist gathered at Skamokawa Vista Park last weekend to remember him, as he passed away June first. Our sympathies to his friends and family members.

I also heard that 1962 WA-KI-HI graduate, Mike Clutter passed away on May 31 back in Illinois. We want to send our condolences to his entire family, which I'm told includes his wife, two sons and two daughters and their families.

CONGRATS--I heard some good news from several of my family members, which was a nice change indeed, so I just had to share it! First of all, Lainie Ferguson announced that she has received her Bachelors Degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. She's excited that she will be working the next six months as a field organizer for the WA Democrats out of the Vancouver area, so congratulations to her! Lainie is the daughter of my cousin, Brenda Baldwin Ferguson, and her dad is Eric Ferguson.

Graduating from Union High School, home of the Titans, in Camas, is another cousin's daughter, Morgan Spieth. Morgan's folks are Linda and Larry Spieth, with Linda being the daughter of Glenn and Donna Healy Palmer. Morgan has been a huge part of the atheletic world there, especially in baseball, and was given the Scholar Athlete Award. The well rounded miss was also given the Female Student of the Year award, so needless to say, her parents, grandparents and the rest of the family are quite proud of her!

Another cousin, Dawn Pedersen Macchione, has just announced that her husband, Steve, will soon be a full fledged doctor of psychology, so she is pretty proud of her hubby of course. Dawn is the daughter of my first cousin, Dave Pedersen of Seattle, the only son of my uncle, Holger Pedersen.

If you watched "American Idol" on TV this year, you might have seen another younger cousin of mine, as Larri and Sally Palmer's daughter, Sarah was sitting in the audience, right behind Harry Connick Jr. That was pretty neat to be that close to the whole production! I guess you just never know when or where one of the relatives is going to pop up these days!

CAR SHOW RECAP--Once again, this year's eleventh annual Rods and Reels Car Show for the Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars group, got their wish; dry weather. However, after looking around at some of the kitchen crew, parking staff and all the other volunteers and car entrants, I'm guessing that a little less heat with that dry weather, would have been a little more to their liking as it was 96 degrees when I was down there! The metal bleachers looked like scalding rods to me and the super red faces of those who didn't wear a hat or have a chair with a top on it, looked like they were going to be feeling pretty miserable by bedtime! At any rate, once again, the awesome cars showed up; about 300 of them I'm told, and the crowds came out and the show was deemed a success. Good job everybody! Lee Tischer and his family and all the others involved, deserve a big "thank-you" for all their hard work! All those that donated prizes for the event are to be commended as well; super job by everyone involved in this fantastic fund raiser which raises money for scholarships for our WA-KI-HI seniors!

I didn't catch the names of all the winners, but I did see where our Skamokawa Resort operator, Lance Britt took home a nice trophy for his entry and it will be one of those vehicles that is featured on next year's T-shirt! Looks like it will be a bright T-shirt with a couple of orangish rigs and a reddish one. Congrats to all!

AUGUST REUNION--The latest news I got about the 100 year Commerative celebration of Wahkiakum High School, planned for Aug. 13, was that a scaled down version was still in the works. In other words, it sounds like people still want to come to the high school on that date to celebrate this 100th year event. As of now, and beings we still have the school secured for that day, it sounds like it will be a very simple, casual, bring your own chair and potluck kind of affair. So, nothing fancy, but just getting classmates together to celebrate this 100 year anniversary of our school, so let's hope it works out. Contact Susan McClain Kuhn with questions or ideas or volunteering at:sjmqc1@yahoo.com or check out the Facebook page under "100th Commemorative Years of Wa-Ki-HI" for all the latest.