Challenge of Champions event Friday, July 20

SURPRISE--As this past weekend began, we had a bit of a surprise, as we woke up to wetness on Saturday morning and had some off and on misty times throughout the morning. While I appreciated the unexpected watering, it was not appreciated by those who had either just baled hay or just taken down a field, thinking they had no rain in the forecast; bummer! However, Sunday morning came around and it was blue skies and temps in the upper 70s, with a good breeze, so it was a great way to end the weekend. Monday started with some great cloud cover, but still dry, which was perfect weather to be out in if you were cutting wood or doing yard work. They say the heat is coming however, so take precautions to protect yourself, your kids and your animals!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from July 12-18 are Jalynn Rainey, Marietta Montgomery, Samantha McClain, Jerry Ledtke, Megan Miller, Sharrel Mooers, Janell Seaberg, Mary Schroder, Randi Curtis, Marsha Cleveland, Mike Clark, Justin Perkins, Cameron Havens, Bryson Coleman, Pam Elliott, Kalei Meyers, Kurtis Bergseng, Keri Johnson, Ron Miller, Lonney Kubacki, Jensen Finkas, 67'ers Doug Wright and Sharon McKie and two of my grandsons, Blake and Kyle Sechler. Happy Birthday, everybody!

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Lance and Shannon Britt, John and Mary Gustafson, Kevin and Stephanie Prestegard, Ken and Bev Peterson and McKenna and Callum Mackintosh. May all of you have wonderful anniversary celebrations this coming week!

NEW ADDITION--Congratulations to Marissa Longtain, as she became a Mommy for the first time this past week when she gave birth to a baby boy! She and Joel Nicolazzi couldn't be happier with their little guy, who wasn't all that little really, as he weighed in at over eight pounds, and was 21.25 inches long! The couple named their new son, who was born on July 3, Jaxton Samuel. I'll take a wild guess and say his middle name is after his grandpa, Sam Longtain. This new baby has lots of family around our area, which includes a couple of my classmates, so congratulations to all of you on this latest family member!

THIS FRIDAY--If you are in need of some legal council and you'd like to get some for free, there will be a legal clinic in Cathlamet and Grays River, but it's all happening this Friday, July 13, and you need to make prior arrangements, so call today! The number for the Charlotte House is 360-795-6401 or toll free at 1-866-795-9381 to find out all the information regarding this clinic but you need to call ASAP. The attorney, Jeffrey Keddie, will be in Cathlamet from 1-2:30 p.m., and in Grays River from 3-4:30 p.m., so time is limited. He specializes in family law questions, which may be quite helpful if you're getting divorced, or dealing with visiting rights with your children and support money, etc. He can also help with some other things, so if you need some kind of legal help, don't delay and call today.

MOVIE--Once again, it's time for the Free Movie/Free Popcorn night at the Community Center in Cathlamet, at 101 Main Street, with the usual time of 7 p.m. This movie is rated for Youth and Adults and is a Fantasy, that I believe was mostly filmed in Astoria. There is a famous house there that many people have gone to and had their pictures taken in front of. I heard they had to put up a fence to keep folks from trampling through the yard but it's still cool to go and see it. At any rate, if your pocketbook is a little empty right now, it's a cheap date night for one and all!

RECUPERATED--We saw where Gretchen Mahitka had to take a trip to the hospital after several days of feeling puny, so we were happy to hear she's feeling better and on the road to recovery. Here's to staying away from the hospital Gretchen; take care!

Also recuperating from her double hand surgery, is Janelle Gilligan, who seems to be getting along okay after she got that done, so that was great news.

My great, great niece, Bailey Pedersen, had to have some surgery recently, as she had to have tubes put in her ears and other things done too, so we hope that once she's all recovered from that, she'll feel much better. Here's hoping Bailey will have a great summer this year and not be so clogged up all the time.

SK. GRANGE--The Women's Activities group will meet at the Skamokawa Grange Hall, located at 18 Fairgrounds Road, on July 18 at 10:30 a.m., if you'd like to join the ladies who are currently working on pockets for the dresses they are making. This is for the "Dress a Girl," around the world project and one of the ladies will be helping you make and place the 6 1/2 inch square pockets that are to be on them. They are hoping you'll make two dresses, and you can give one to the project and enter the other one at the upcoming County Fair. These gals will help you learn new techniques and tricks, so if you've got a little sewing talent in you, feel free to stop by and join them.

The members meet every first and third Monday, so you're welcome to join them. Don't forget that the Skamokawa Grange Hall is a great place for parties, meetings, reunions and more, so give Levi Helms a call at 360-431-9506 and see about renting the grange hall for your next event. Half day rentals are available as well as full days.

REDMEN HALL/CENTRAL SCHOOL--Have you made it up to the River Life Interpretive Center on the second floor of the historic Redmen Hall/Central School yet? I hope you'll take some time to check it out and see these works by our local students, as they are quite good and many show a lot of promise as they grow up and hone in on their artistic skills. There is also a nice Gift and Book shop in the hall and it has many items from local artisans and authors, so it's a great time to buy something unique and local!

The way the time is flying by, it won't be long until the Friends of Skamokawa will hold their annual fund raising event on the second Saturday of September, the Wine and Live & Silent Auction event, which is always a big hit. Donations are already being collected for the auction, so if you'd like to help out, they'd love to hear from you and accept your donated item, that is tax deductible. The more items there are for auction, the better this event is, so here's hoping you can donate something that everybody just has to bid on; those bidding wars are so much fun! The FOS is currently looking for pie makers to add to their Monthly Pie prize that they auction off, so if you're a super duper pie maker, why not donate a pie? The hall needs a paint job and monies raised will go to a good cause. Contact the hall at 360-795-3007 for more information.

BIRD BATH--During these hot days that are coming up, it's great if we humans can set up a bird bath for our little feathered friends, so they can get a drink and cool off a bit too. One of the things I was told was that baby birds can actually drown if they get in the deeper water and get their new fluffy wings too wet. So, it's advisable to place some rocks of various sizes in your bird bath, so they can get up on one and get dried off, so they can eventually fly away. Of course, if you have a cat, you might want to skip the bird bath altogether, as otherwise, it might just wind up being a new snack tray for your feline friend!

NEXT FRIDAY--Time is ticking down to get those pre-sale tickets for the upcoming bull riding event, "Challenge of Champions" with Professional Bull Riders coming to Skamokawa next Friday, July 20 from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds. This is the evening event for the first day of Bald Eagle Days. The Sidwalk Chalk Art Contest starts off the day, then is followed by the Farmer's Market at the Elochoman Slough Marina and then it's time to head down here to see the bull riders.

NEXT SATURDAY--July 21, will be the day we've all been waiting for as it's time to eat breakfast at the marina from 7 to 10 next Saturday morning, check out all the vendors that will be on Main Street from 9 to 5 and the big parade that starts at noon and the annual Water Ball battle that goes on after the parade between our fire departments and you can always have more fun with the Fire Department tours going on all day, complete with popsicles, so that's always great. In between times, there will be fun things for kids to do and live music happening on Main Street, at Maria's and the Brewery, with bingo at the Norse Hall in the evening, so you'll be kept plenty busy and will be ready to enjoy the fireworks once it gets dark. As always, these fireworks get shot off from the Elochoman Slough Marina and have always been a big hit with young and old alike. Here's to some good weather and a real fun time for everybody!

SLOBS/CARELESSNESS--It was not a pretty sight at the high school this week when a bunch of recyclable trash was left outside the containers and was just scattered all over in a big mess. What is wrong with people? This has many very upset and is hard to fathom really. We see trash along our highways and wonder why people can't just keep things in their cars until they get home and dispose of them properly? It's just not that hard!

To top it all off, I found a cigarette butt in some dry grass alongside my home, which could have done some extreme damage if it had taken off. Can we please think before we act? If setting up a dozen cameras will catch just one person, it would be worth it, as one flip could destroy a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice. There are laws against littering and also for tossing cigarettes out, so if you see someone doing either of these, please report them and maybe they'll care about that fine they have to pay!