Final Mules home game set for Friday

PLENTY NASTY--While some folks were complaining about the fact that the "big one" didn't hit us this past Saturday, there were plenty of folks, like me, that felt like our prayers had been answered when another low formed to the west of the "big eye" and drew enough power from it, that those of us in our area and most up north, did not experience too much damage. There were exceptions of course, like down on the Oregon coast where a tornado hit a couple of towns, and were truly devastated, so that was pretty horrific. For all those folks along the coast and even inland, who sustained considerable damage to their homes and vehicles, we certainly feel for you.

Around here, county road crews and our PUD crew were staying plenty busy on Saturday as it was, with mulitple trees coming down and many power outages occuring from the west end to the east end and on Puget Island. A wind gust of 53 mph was recorded at the school. Of course, we live amongst a ton of trees, and with the heavy rains saturating their roots and many still heavy with leaves, it didn't take too strong of winds to bring them down. Out here in West Valley, we were without power two days in a row, but appreciate the quick response by the county road crew and to our PUD crew for getting things repaired amidst the wind and rain, which meant we weren't without power for too long!

Once again, we are reminded that we need to be prepared for the worst, and hope for the best, and maybe we'll get it, but again, maybe we won't, so be prepared! This was a good test of our emergency preparedness, so beings this is just the beginning of our Fall and Winter weather, now is the time to take stock on what additions you may need to make your emergency kit complete. If you are without power for several days, you may need a few extra things, and at the least, you need to have enough of everything to last three days on your own. Remember, some things happen with no warning, so you may not get a chance to run to the store to get supplies, so get all the things you think you might need now and save yourself a lot of anguish later.

DRIVING HAZARD--A couple of years ago, the WSP and ODOT issued a reminder to drivers to avoid using cruise control in your car when traveling during wet and nasty conditions. The reason: When you hit a puddle and begin to hydroplane, your tires will then speed up in rotation in order to try and maintain speed, which means when your vehicle's tires come back into contact with the roadway, they will be going much faster than normal and could cause you to lose control of the vehicle and/or crash. Not only could you wreck your own car, but it could mean going into another lane and hitting someone else, and nobody wants that to happen. A classmate of mine said that she experienced this first hand and also shares this warning to all those who have never heard of it before, it is true, it is dangerous, don't do it!

MULES HOME--It's the last home game for our Wahkiakum Mules football team this Friday, Oct. 21, so I hope you'll come to see them take on Winlock at 7 p.m. If tradition holds, this would be their Homecoming Game, so we'll hope for a good evening with lots of WA-KI-HI supporters there. Go Mules!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Oct. 20-26 are Justin Garrison, Michelle Collupy, Brianne Helms, Louis Stornetta, Valle Ledtke, Maddie McClain, Piper McClain, Joel Havens, Victoria Wallin, Kelsey Cothren, Maddisen Clark, Mary Heagy, Gary Backman, Don Wages and belated birthday wishes go out to Katie Webb, Adele Baker Swift and Lindsey Brown (Kerrie McNally's daughter).

Happy Anniversary wishes this week go out to Greg and Lori Parke, R.J Brown and Angel Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Boldt, Mr. and Mrs. Greg Bain and Wayne and Karen Bell. Belated anniversary wishes go out to Keith and Karen Lawrence, who celebrated 18 years together this past week and also to former residents, Rob and Naomi Meyer who celebrated 40 years together earlier this week. Congrats!

RESCHEDULED--The Skamokawa United Methodist Church wound up canceling their Harvest Bazaar that was to have been held this past Saturday, so instead, it will be held this Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10 a.m., to 3 p.m. We hope the weather isn't quite as blustery this coming weekend and no huge storms are forecast, as there's nothing like the threat of hurricane force winds to keep customers at bay! Actually, the forecast is looking quite nice so we hope it stays that way. Here's hoping that a lot of you will be willing to show up down here in Skamokawa and check out those tables of goodies!

ALSO AT FOS--The Friends of Skamokawa want to remind you that they have a new exhibit up in the River Life Interpretive Center, so once you've done a little shopping over at the church, why not head up to Redmen Hall and check that out! Tsuga Gallery artists have a variety of their works there, and they would make for some great Christmas gifts. There is also a great book selection to choose from, some of which are written by local authors, so that's another great gift idea for the avid reader in your life. The hall is open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4. Call 795-3007 for more info.

MADE IT SAFE--Frank and Beth Corbin went to the Philippines recently to see Beth's Mom, who was not well and sadly, passed away while they were there. Frank spoke at her services that were held a few days later. Coming home, it got a little dicey as a mighty typhoon/hurricane was in the area, but luckily they got out of there just in time and were safe and sound and arrived back in the US earlier this week. We are sorry for their loss but glad they were able to be with the family at this time, take part in the burial rituals and get home in one piece.

ORDEAL--This is a little later than I had planned, but I had one of those bad internet days last week and so I didn't get to add this to my column after Jonnie Knowles called me to inform me what recently happened to her. It was scary and not something you want to have happen to you! You may recall that Jonnie had foot surgery awhile back, and then she wound up with an infection and had to have more surgery. Unfortunately, things went sideways for her during this latest surgery, as she had a bad reaction to the anesthetic and did not want to wake up at first and when she finally did, she could not remember anybody: not her kids or grandkids or anyone; very, very scary! Thankfully, over time, she did regain her memory and other functions so we are certainly thankful that she came back to her family. The doctor treating Jonnie said that in her 30 years of practice, this was one of only three times that she's ever seen this happen. I've never heard of it happening at all and I hope none of the rest of us have to experience it or hear about it again with one of our own loved ones!

BIG CELEBRATION--No bad weather threats stopped the family members of Ralph and Jean (Wika) Kenner from having a grand 70th anniversary gathering at the Norse Hall this past Saturday, so I'm happy that all turned out so well for them. With trees coming down around here and power outages too, I wasn't comfortable going out in the rainy, windy conditions, so I missed it, but I sure wish them the very best! From the pictures I saw on Facebook, they had a good amount of family there and had a great time, so I'm glad it all worked out for them so they could celebrate their memorable day!

My first memories of the Kenners was when they had the old piledriver sitting there in Welcome Slough over on Puget Island, and all the kids were daring one another to jump off of it; only at high tide of course! Back in the day, I had the somewhat unique ability of being able to jump off of high places and not go under water. Now this seemed impossible to many, so a family member felt inclined to make some side bets on this oddity, which meant I jumped off the top of the pile driver many a time, and not once did I ever go under the water, so brother dear's bets were happily secured! Ah, those were the good ole days!

DRESS UP!--Big Halloween doings will be taking place around here, so you adults can check out the action at the Duck Inn on Saturday, Oct. 29, when there will be music by "Sucker Punched" and lots of fun and great prizes for the best costumes as usual.

You can always stop by the Roadkill Saloon and check things out there as well, and they will be having two parties, with one on the 29th from 7 p.m., to 1 a.m., and then one on Halloween night, Monday, Oct. 31. Check out their "meatloaf that crossed road" or "Mexican roadkill" items that are on the menu, along with other fun things!

Don't forget to check out the Haunted House at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds as well, as it should be a "spooktacular" time there...(not positive on days and hours at this point however) and there's also a Halloween Carnival on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1961, the week was mostly wet but still had a few dry times, but on the last day, there was a really bad electric storm, which reminded the Everests of the ones back in Minnesota! On Oct. 21, Ervin Tonkin married Menona Jameson at the Assembly of God Church in Cathlamet, with a reception at the downstairs in the PUD building. Pocahontas group was holding a sale that week and Grandma Everest was busy baking bread for that. She wound up buying a Dutch Apple pie there that Alice Ott had made, along with some pillow slips that were very nicely embroidered. The sudden death of Ed Wendt had the town shocked and saddened. His services were held later in the week. It was this week that Jack Gorley and Gwen Jacobson got their marriage license. One evening, it was time to head out to the Rebekah's meeting and the next it was to the Dorcas meeting with 19 members there at Lilia Bunn's place, while another was spent at the Home Ec. meeting out at Gertie Irving's place. It was no surprise that Grandma Everest wrote that she was feeling a little tired! All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.