Covered Bridge dinner to be held October 1

NICE START--After a bit of wetness to end last week, I was nicely surprised to see mostly sunny skies on Sunday to begin this week on a drier note. Some of the guys may not have been too happy about it, as it might have meant they had to give up some TV football time to go and mow that lawn one more time, but hopefully there was plenty of time left to watch their favorite teams or take in a little NASCAR! Of course, that was daytime hours, as Sunday evening wound up good and wet around West Valley, and depending on where you were, so was part of Monday!

The drippy weather seemed to match some of our moods after watching our Seahawks fall to the Rams. Oh well, the season has just begun!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 22-28 are Sam Longtain, Monte Longtain, Ty Norris, Shona Heywood, Matthew Keilwitz, Rownen Vegvary, Sue Kuller, Marie West, Bob Ohrberg, Brett Havens, Leah Clark, Dan Turner, George Wilde, Linda Newton, Ron Leingang, Ken Bunn, Barbara Shaver, Laura Norris, Lori Kyle, Karla Hall, Kyle and Dawn (Pedersen) and Steve Macchione's daughter Isabella. Hope your special days are fabulous!

Belated birthday wishes to Suzy Ekstrom and Linda Elliott, who I inadvertently left out in last week's column.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Parker, Mr. and Mrs. Matt Helms, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bosch, Mr. and Mrs. John Burdick, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Doumit, Mr. and Mrs. Erik Grasseth, Mr. and Mrs. Josh Grasseth and Larry and Linda Spieth. Here's to wonderful anniversary celebrations for one and all!

MULES RULE AGAIN--It was a nice, dry evening for the home game last Friday night for the WA-KI-HI Mules football team, made even better as they beat South Bend, 34 to 14, for their third straight win, so that was really terrific. As a grandma, I was naturally pumped to see grandson, Bryce Good, jump up and catch a great pass for the first touchdown of the game, so congratulations to him for this "first." Cousin Hank Ferguson had his name mentioned multiple times, so his Mom, Brenda, and Dad Eric and all his relatives were pretty doggone happy. It goes without saying, that all the players put out a great effort and are doing great, so a hearty congratulations to all the players and their families; a real team effort indeed!

The Mules head to Raymond this Friday night, Sept. 23, so we hope they continue to fight on, play well and chalk up another win. Go Mules!

VOLLEYBALL/CROSS COUNTRY--The Lady Mules will be at Morton/White Pass today, so we wish them a great game and they will be at home next Tuesday and hosting Onalaska. Go Lady Mules! The Cross Country team will be at Kalama next Tuesday and we hope all those athletes have a good meet!

THIS SATURDAY--We were sorry to learn of the passing of WA-KI-HI alumni, Butch (Robert) Rodal from the Class of 1958, on Sept. 3. While there will be no formal services, all friends and family are reminded that there will be a gathering of rememberance for Butch this Saturday, from 1 to 3, at the Shamrock Tavern in Longview. I remember Butch as an out-going, fun loving guy and I certainly want to extend my sympathies to his family for their loss.

BEFORE YOU KNOW IT--After this weekend, the first big Fall doings will be upon us, as "Columbia River Country Days" will be celebrated Sept. 30-Oct. 1, so be sure to get those tickets for dinner on the historic Grays River Covered Bridge that Saturday. All veterans and Seniors over 72 are given a reduced ticket price of just $25 instead of the regular price of $35. You can get your tickets at the Bank of the Pacific in both Cathlamet and Naselle, or at the WSU Extension Office in Cathlamet. Call 795-3278 for more information. Remember, all proceeds help support the Wahkiakum County Extension and 4-H programs.

LAST EXHIBIT--The Friends of Skamokawa are announcing their last exhibit of the year, which will begin Oct. 8. This exhibit, in the River Life Interpretive Center, is entitled, "Tsuga Gallery presents a Tsunami of Art," as it reflects a wide variety of local artists with their varying talents, from photographers, to ceramists, wood artists, jewelers and more, so there should be something for everybody to enjoy, and of course, to purchase. You can meet the artists on opening day from 1 to 3 p.m., and it runs until Nov. 20.

This last exhibit is prior to the big, three week "Holiday Open House" at Redmen Hall. This is an annual event, in which there will be a huge variety of things made locally that will be ideal for anyone on your Christmas list who loves "local"! This HOH begins on Nov. 28, and there will be more on all those activities as the weeks go by. Contact the hall at 795-3007 for more info: Thurs. - Sunday, noon to four.

RECYCLING BIN REMINDER--I hate to say it, but the letter by David Johnson in last week's Eagle was right on, as I'm pretty doggone sure that a good chunk of us have been guilty of putting something in one of the recycling bins that shouldn't have been in there. Sadly, only one wrong thing apparently makes the entire bin trash; wow! I know I have seen actual trash at the recycling bins, and I have been very upset by that, but some have innocently put a plastic bag or dirty paper in a bin and inadvertently caused it to be trash; a real shame. So folks, be sure to follow the rules to the letter in order to make sure our recycling bins are not just garbage bins, as I know we have our hearts in the right place, but if we goof up, we've done all this for nothing, so please be careful when you recycle!

CLASS GATHERING--Last Saturday afternoon, several members of the Class of '67 met for lunch at Izzy's in Kelso, so it was great to see them. The last time we held the luncheon deal was during Bald Eagle Days, so it was good to yak at them again. A few of us made it to the All School Reunion in August but most of the gang had prior plans. Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay too long as I had a family gathering to go to, but I did get to say howdy to Pam Lazor, Mary Toste, Judy Bergman, Dale Jacobson, Elaine and Phil Rolf, David and Kathi West and Keith and Karen Lawrence.

It seems we are all a bit busy still and so it's tough to fit time into our schedules to meet up. However, we were happy that Keith and Karen took time out from their house projects to come for lunch, and especially since Karen has had to take it easy and is sporting crutches, so that just goes to show you can't keep a determined woman down! Elaine and Phil had returned recently from a week in Mexico, where the winter season has begun, which just means it rains at night and is gorgeous during the day, so that's not too tough to take! David and Kathi have been busy with family and are doing a bit of traveling here and there, while others battle some health issues and just keep busy with family obligations and other time consuming things.

According to Elaine, the classmates hope to meet again on Nov. 19. It is hoped that they can gather at the Elks in Kelso, close by Izzy's, but that is not certain yet, but at least all '67'ers can jot down the date and we'll be posting the lunch spot a little later on.

FAMILY GATHERING--It was quite the family gathering for Mark Pedersen's boys last weekend, as it was the first time the boys had all been together since Adam Pedersen's wedding a few years back. The crew came to visit their grandma, Peggy Pedersen, and so she was sure tickled to have them all together with their Dad. Eldest grandson, Gabriel was there with his wife, Annie, and the couple are expecting their first baby, a boy, in December, so that's pretty exciting. The couple has had to make a couple of moves recently, so with all that, it will be nice to settle in their new home in eastern WA prior to the baby's arrival. Number two son, Adam, flew out just for the weekend, and with his week consisting of his wife's birthday, her new job, their anniversary and his leaving on his birthday, besides seeing his grandma Peggy, he really had a whirlwind trip! Number three grandson, Jonas, came from his most latest workplace, Spokane, where he works as a doctor in orthopedics and has just recently become engaged, so a hearty congratulations to him! He will be heading back to Michigan before long he said. At any rate, with their Grandpa Ralph in attendance, along with their (great) Aunt Kay, well, the room was packed to the hilt and a good gabfest was had by all!

OUT OF THE PAST--This week in 1961, the week began nice, and then the evenings got chilly while the day time hours were still dry but by the end of the week, it was wet and windy. There was a lot of fruit coming in and Grandma Elsie was busy canning this week. There was plenty to be done for the various groups that week, as the Rebekahs met and there were church functions, grange functions and more, along with bread making, prune canning and applesauce making. Ellen Foster even stopped by with a big box of pears from Elizabeth Doumit's place. One of the bigger events was held at the Everest home as the Elochoman Grange Home Economics Club met there that week. Reports were made from the fair food concession booth, the bloodmobile and Booster Night tallies. Chaplain Leila Bunn opened the meeting and Chairman Kathryn Johnson presided over the meeting. Two members, Bethenia Foster and Delores Cochran had gone on a vacation to Alabama where they met with relatives, while the other members decided on holding a banquet for the Masons and the Rainbow Girls would serve. Once all the business was taken care of, they adjourned and enjoyed refreshments, which included three wonderful lemon pies made by Elva Mast. Daughter, Carol Pedersen stopped by with son, David, as he was home for five days before heading to submarine school in the Navy. This according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.