Blood drive to take place in Cathlamet on Friday

NEW YEAR--This is my first column in another new year; I can hardly believe it! I hope you ended the last one with a lot of fun and merriment and begin this one on a high note, as last year seemed like it was a pretty rough one for many. One thing that was truly high in the sky, was the huge Supermoon--Wow--what a way to bring in 2018!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Jan. 4-10 are Jim Koziel, Scott McClain, Josh Moonen, Michael A. Quigley, Joe Montgomery, Don P. Wages, Renee Zacher, Marlena Silva, Phillip Vik, Lisa Hoven, Ryan Burdick, Becky Elliott, Susan Schillios, Matt Blain, cousin Mike Moore and 67'er Ed Bussone. Belated birthday wishes to my cousin, Nancy Summerill, who recently celebrated her 75th year!

Those celebrating their anniversary this week are Jon and Milli Elven and Mr. and Mrs. Scott Swarm. Enjoy your special days everybody!

THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON--Please don't forget that tomorrow, Friday - Jan. 5, from 1 to 6 p.m., the American Red Cross Blood Drive will take place in the Fellowship Hall at the River of Life Assembly of God Church in Cathlamet, on Main Street as you come into town. This is a life saving event, so we hope you are able to donate to it.

BASKETBALL--Don't forget, the Mules boy's basketball team will play at Morton/White Pass tonight, Jan. 4 and away again, next Wednesday, Jan. 10 in Onalaska, so good luck boys! The Lady Mules will play Morton/White Pass at home on Friday evening and home again on Tuesday, Jan. 9 against Onalaska, so here's wishing them a great game and win also! The John Thomas Middle School basketball team will play Winlock at home on Monday, Jan. 8, and they'll be away on Jan. 10 when they travel to Napavine. Go Warriors!

If you've got somebody on the Mules Wrestling team, you'll be away for every match, starting with Castle Rock at 10 a.m., on Jan. 5 and then Kalama on Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m. Good luck team!

FREE MOVIE--This Friday evening the Community Center in Cathlamet will host another free movie and popcorn night, and the movie begins at 7 p.m., as always. This week it is an adult drama, rated PG. Contact the center if you'd like more information. You've also got the option of bringing your own snacks or ordering pizza from Sharon's Pizza Mill to be delivered to the center about 6:45 p.m. Call 795-3311 to set that up.

CONGRATS--The Skamokawa Grange #425 was happy to receive the "First Prize" check for their Christmas tree that was entered into the Festival of Trees competition last month. They had decorated it with over 100 handmade ornaments and received the highest bid of all entries, so congratulations to all those in the Women's Activity Group that worked on putting that all together. Nice job!

Their meetings are on the first and third Tuesdays of the month beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the Skamokawa Grange Hall, 18 Fairgrounds Road. All are welcome.

FLAG--Thanks to a donation from the Richard Wirkkala family, the Skamokawa Fire Department now has a flagpole and flag outside of its building. Their daughter, Connie Fauver contacted our fire department and told them that her Dad wished to donate the money to have this done for them, and would like to see this materialize as soon as possible as he had just turned 91. At one time he and his wife, Putt, were volunteers in the Skamokawa Fire Dept for 25-30 years, and her Dad was even the Chief at one time and her Mom was a commissioner. So they did a lot for our community back then and it was super great of them to now see to it that we have a nice new pole and flag in front of our station. Of course, there was some elbow grease involved in getting a hole dug and the pole set, so a big thank you goes out to Brian O'Connor for seeing to it that this work got done.

NEW JOB--Many of us around here have become used to seeing Gretchen Mahitka at the Duck Inn for quite some time, but she said her last day was this past Sunday, as she begins her new job at the school. Congratulations to her on the new career path and I hope she enjoys her job working with the special needs kids. With her and her hubby planning on building a new home as well, there are big changes coming their way this year. Sure sounds like a good beginning of a new year to me!

RECUPERATING--It seems Bill Boylan took a tumble recently and wound up breaking a rib, but he seems to be getting around okay now he said, so that was good to hear. Nephew, Tim Pedersen is recuperating from a trip to the hospital and we hope he's back to 100 percent real soon, as often times these minor surgeries wind up being a lot more complicated. The no big deal for doctors can wind up a very big deal for us patients!

Lots of folks are saying they've been sick, and I hope you will all feel better soon. Remember, this bug is one thing that we'd just as soon you keep to yourself!

ANOTHER LOSS--We certainly were sad to hear of yet another loss of a former Wahkiakum County resident, as Eileen Free passed away at the end of last week. She was always such a bubbly person and everyone who knew her will miss her great personality and ready smile. We send our sincerest condolences to her family.

NICE GET-TOGETHER--Sometimes the evenings that are the most simple ones, are truly the most fun, and that was true this past weekend when David and Connie Shrum hosted a dinner at their place, along with Connie's Mom, and invited John and Mary Gustafson and Bill and Kay Chamberlain to share it with them. After getting stuffed from the platters and bowls of food, we then played a few rounds of bingo. It's times like this that make an evening out more memorable than spending a fortune going out on the town. A couple days later, the same group got together at the Gustafson household for a football party and chili/chili dog feed, so it was all great fun, in spite of the outcome of the game!

NICE TIME--I heard from Kerrie McNally recently and she told me that a couple of her kids were here over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, so that's always nice. It seems Mackenzie had come from Boston over the Thanksgiving holiday and Marie had been here during Christmas. She is studying to be a veterinarian in Australia and just completed her first year, so she'll be coming back this way again fairly soon. Always nice that the kids are able to show up for some of the holidays so that more wonderful memories could be made.

LOCALS ARE A HIT--There were a lot of folks who went to the Liberty Theater in Astoria this past weekend and saw "Giants in the Trees" perform, and by all accounts, they were just fabulous! Always neat to have some of our own locals doing so well. You can check them out on-line, at http://www.Giantsinthetrees.com for special merchandise offers and info about all their upcoming gigs. This month, you can see them perform in Olympia at the Rhythm and Rye on Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. There is a cover charge. Anyway, kudos to Jillian Raye, Krist Novoselic, Ray Prestegard and Eric Friend for making such a splash and really putting our little county on the map!