Learn to make lefse at Norse Hall Thu-Sat

NOT TOO BAD--I am so glad we were able to have a really nice couple of days at the end of last week, as Friday was gorgeous and a good deal of Saturday was nice as well. This gave a nice break from the rain, that we needed, and which had our lawns perking right up, so I wasn't surprised when I heard several lawn mowers running as everybody was trying to get a handle on those uneven lawns and get them looking nice and neat before it was time to put away that lawn mower for the winter. With rain returning by Sunday morning, it was almost a good thing, as it was perfect for those who like to switch on the television and watch their favorite teams play football and/or their favorite race car driver during NASCAR! I could have done without the downpours and breezy conditions that evening and Monday morning, but hey, it is that time of year!

CHANGE YOUR CLOCK--We've been talking about this for awhile now, and the time has finally come to "Fall Back," so before you go to bed Saturday night, be sure to set those clocks back an hour. If you're one of those folks who has to work Sunday morning, you will be happy to enjoy an extra hour of sleep, as you sure don't want to be there an hour earlier if you don't have to be! Same goes for getting to church on time, or really, really early!

SONS OF NORWAY--The Norse Hall will be smelling mighty good Thursday through Saturday as once again, it's Lefse making time! If you would like to come and help out, the Sons of Norway members would love to have you, and if you don't know what to do, they will teach you, so stop by the hall on Puget Island 10 a.m., these next few days and learn the art of lefse making! They will be selling these rounds so you can put them together yourself, or they'll have some pre-done as well, plus other Norwegian pastries for sale. They will also be taking orders for these goodies, and to do that, you can contact President Jan Silvestri at 795-8759, and she'll take your order or give you more information.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from November 3-9 are Brad McNally, Ginger Moonen, Nicole Kaattari McKinley, Tristan Parke, Greg Parke, Ryan Vincent, Anna Kuhn, James Turner, Carol Carver, Diane Tischer, Charlie McClain, Tiffany Tischer, Lindsey Anderson, Marsha Souvenir, Jessie Hoven, Lisa Robinson, Mary Simpson-Moonen, Skip Irving, Patty Hosley Shanahan, Mike Parker, Elizabeth Davison, Linda Palmer Spieth and Chris Bernard.

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Wika, Mr. and Mrs. Tim Dickson, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Wegdahl, Mr. and Mrs. Garland Budd and Ed and Sue Edminster. Here's wishing all those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this coming week, a really wonderful time!

NICE CELEBRATIONS--Diane and Rob Stockhouse recently celebrated their 45th anniversary, and with a trip to Cape Disappointment, they had an enjoyable time. They got to enjoy one of the nice days there with blue skies and sunshine, along with a day that included some cooler, wetter weather, but oh well, they still had a wonderful time. Congrats to them on their 45 years together!

ADDING TO THE LIST--After some lost luggage finally got rounded up, former resident, Brittney Robbins made it back to town this past weekend. Brittney, who had moved from Skamokawa to Hawaii and then back east with her fiance, Jesse Haddix, was more than a little distressed over the lost luggage, as they had returned to this area to get married, so the "we lost your luggage" message is not something you want to hear from the airlines! Luckily, all was located and they made their way back here to finalize their wedding plans and do all that last minute stuff! Needless to say, we wish the soon to be married couple, the heartiest of congratulations on their upcoming nuptials and to a happy life back in New York. So, once they're hitched, it looks like I've got one more couple to add to my anniversary list!

MOVIE TIME--On this Friday, there will be a movie shown at the Cathlamet Community Center at 7 p.m. From the title of it, this would be more of an adult topic which deals with political matters currently underway and it involves the person who is putting emails out there that some wish weren't being released right now.

Next week, Nov. 11, there will be a great kids' movie, which is the third in a series of movies involving Buzz Lightyear and his friends; fun, fun! As always, you can get a pizza delivered to the center by calling Sharon's Pizza Mill ahead of time: 795-3311. These movies are free, so it's a great way to spend time with your kids without spending a fortune. Remember, all kids under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

FAMILY GATHERS--The Gene Healys traveled to Spokane this past week and spent several days visiting and having a very special time with family members. Karen told me that all seven great grandchildren and their parents were there, so I'm sure the three days they spent with all of them was extra special indeed. I'm obviously way behind on the cousin count as it seems like only yesterday that Gene and Karen had little girls at their house, and now those kids have kids with kids of their own, so one of these days, I'll have to do some catching up on all these young relatives of mine!

SURPRISE--I was quite impressed to hear that my great nephew, Adam Pedersen, wound up in Lexington, Kentucky this past week, where he had the honor of singing the National Anthem at the retirement ceremony for CMSgt. Stephen White. The officer was retiring after 30 years of service to our country in the Air Force, and who Adam had served under at one time. Adam posted a picture of himself and some other fellows in uniform, and they all looked extremely handsome in those dress blues! While I knew that Adam seemed to be able to do just about everything, from being an awesome husband, father, fence builder and more, as well as a brave and outstanding member of the Air Force, and I knew that he loved singing karaoke with his Dad, I just didn't know how highly talented he was, so kudos to Adam for being given the honor of singing the National Anthem at this special ceremony!

Adam is the son of Wahkiakum High School graduate, Mark Pedersen, now of Vancouver, and is the grandson of Ralph and Peggy Pedersen of Cathlamet.

GET WELL--Here's hoping that Brian O'Connor is feeling better by now as he has been feeling under the weather for several days, so we'll send some get well wishes his way. Carolyn Pedersen made a hospital trip this past week, and while she's out of there now, we hope she continues to feel better and stays out of that place!

SYMPATHIES--We were sorry to hear of the recent passing of several people that we have known, and certainly offer our deepest sympathies to all their surviving family members and close friends. We attended the services of Edna Blain, who was Jim Blain's Mother, (Jim is married to Bill's sister, Karen (Chamberlain) making him our brother-in-law) so all of the Blains came from east of the mountains to join family members here for her services at the Dowling Funeral Home, with a gathering of friends and family at the Rosburg Hall afterwards. Edna was also survived by her son, Robert S. (Laura) of Rosburg, and two daughters, Lorraine McNally of Puget Island and Trudy Blain of Rainier.

We also saw where Joy (Trotter) Peterson passed away, and many of us here remember her as the fiery, funny redhead that used to work at the Duck Inn many years ago. Of her four remaing siblings, only Darrel (Roberta) Trotter lives in Wahkiakum County, while Donald lives in Prosser, Hulen lives in Kelso and Shearan lives in Benton City. Some may not realize this, but Joy was married to Lyle Peterson, brother of Dixie (Hap) Anderson of Cathlamet, so there were a lot of local family connections.

Rosie Jameson was a long time Cathlamet resident, and someone I had known as a member of the Assembly of God Church and good friend to my Mother, Carol for many years. We were sorry to hear of her passing, but she had a nice long life, as she left this earth at the age of 95, so her family got to spend many wonderful years with her. She is survived by daughters, Thelma Fudge, Menona Huntley and Dylene Oberg, as well as many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our sympathies to them all.

Just this past weekend, we were saddened to hear about the passing of Don Twiet and we send our sympathies to his wife Lore and his family members, as well as all of his extended family members. A celebration of life gathering is planned in the near future, with a notice to be posted at a later date.

MEMORIAL GATHERING--Not long ago, in early September, Robin Robbins, known by most of his friends and truck driver buddies, as "Pee-Wee," passed away due to cancer. I've just been informed by one of Robin's good friends, Mike Phelps, that there will be a celebration of life gathering to honor his memory at The Fraternal Order of Aux. Eagles in Longview on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. It will be a potluck gathering, so please bring your favorite dish, and join Robin's friends and family in remembering this great guy who left this world all too early. The Eagles building is located at 1526 12th Avenue.

KIDS GATHER--It's not often that my three kids get together, as everyone seems to be here or there, but the trio, Pete, Lisa and Brian, got together at Shari's Restaurant in Kelso this past Friday, where eldest son, Pete Sechler, treated the lot of us to a nice lunch. Pete was bringing his sister a few extra pieces of furniture as he opted to do a little garage cleaning, and so while the weather was decent and we all had the day open, he zipped on down the freeway from Seattle for a quick delivery and nice visit with the rest of us. With winter coming on and a ton of holidays to start planning for and many places to go and holiday parties to attend, you just never know when we'll be able to meet up again, so we're always happy to get a chance to catch up on all the family news!

One piece of news from the Sechler household was that Pete's wife, Katie (Nollan) was having some knee surgery earlier in the week, so we hope she's up and going again without any problems.

WINNERS--The first two big winners of the Duck Inn costume party last Saturday night were Eric Schillios and in second place, were the Three Blind Mice, which consisted of Marissa Washington, Shelby Deaton and Sami McKinley. Good job!

I have to admit, I didn't even recognize Eric at first, so that was kind of funny, as it wasn't until he came up to talk to me, that I realized who he was! He is my daughter-in-law's (Katie Sechler) nephew, son of Susan Schillios, who is Katie's sister. Anyway, congratulations on the win Eric!

It was a fun evening, albeit a bit loud, as my ears were ringing for hours after leaving the party, but it was still great fun. Where else could an old lady like me, get chosen to come up and sing with a rock band, like "Sucker Punched" in a chorus of a Journey song?! What a hoot!

HOLIDAYS APPROACHING--Can you believe it's November? Yikes! We hope you'll all try to do some of your shopping locally this year. From gift certificates, to art work, to soaps and jewelry and hand blown glass items to clothing items, you can find them in our area, so here's to shopping small, which helps all our local businesses! Check out the Redmen Hall for a wide variety of gifts which includes a lot of local items and authors with great books for sale. We've got a lot of musical talent, so check out the various places where their CD's are available. For a super yummy treat, don't forget to buy some smoked fish from C&H Classic Smoked Fish, as that's another wonderful item that all fish lovers would love to receive and it would be great to serve up at one of your holiday gatherings as well! We just have lots of great items for sale around here. The Skamokawa Farmstead Creamery has terrific goat cheese and their products, as well as the fish, are available at the local Cathlamet Market. There will be open houses and bazaars and lots of special events coming up right after Thanksgivng, so watch for their upcoming ads.