Jam session at Skamokawa Grange on Sunday afternoon

NICE START--It was a nice sunny day on Monday, so that was great. This followed a decent night in which we were actually able to witness the lunar eclipse, which we had really not expected to see, but were lucky enough to have just enough visibility and the parting of fog and clouds, to wind up witnessing. While other folks got to see the "blood moon" part of it, here at my house we didn't see that aspect of it, but oh well, at least it was neat to see the full moon "disappear" before our eyes!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Jan. 24-30 are Sharon Buennagel, Jody Baccallieri, Lori Wika, Sharon Schmitz, Leslie Sullivan, Gary York, Shirley May Toney, Kaylynn Kaattari, Pearl Blackburn, Annelise Vik, Sherry Ostling, Brandon McClain, Becky Thacker, Emma Rose Lindsey, Troy Gorley, Sam Tarabochia, Mike Nollan, Nicholas Kubacki, Cindi Pedersen and grandson, Luke Sechler. Happy Birthday, everybody!

Anniversary wishes go out to Chuck and Natalia Barton this coming week and belated wishes to Kelly (Nettles) and Louis Recupero who celebrated their anniversary earlier this week; hope it was great!

THIS FRIDAY--The Free Friday Movie on Jan. 25 at the Community Center in Cathlamet, located on Main Street, will serve free popcorn to go along with their Adult rated movie, that is also a comedy/ drama. For the title, stop by the center. As always, movies start at 7 p.m., and no children under 12 are allowed without adult supervision.

THIS SATURDAY--The annual Crab and Oyster feed will take place at the Rosburg Community Hall on Saturday. The feed is being put on by the American Legion, Deep River Post #111 and funds raised go towards their various good works for the veterans and the community. There will be plenty of food, several raffle items and live music for your dancing pleasure. They hope to see you there! Doors open at 6 and food is served about 7 p.m. Still need tickets? Contact Ken Elliott at 360-465-2274 or Dale Rose at 360-465-2234 and see if they have any left that you can pick up at the door.

THIS SUNDAY/SK.GRANGE--It's time for "January Open Mic Music Night," which will actually happen in the afternoon this Sunday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. Doors will open at 3:45 at the Skamokawa Grange Hall at 18 Fairgrounds Road, and everyone who would like to share their music talent is invited, musicians and singers, as well as all of those who would just like to come and listen to them play. As always, there will be a jam session following the main list of entertainers, and don't forget, this is just how the "Giants in The Trees" met and came together and look where they are today! In case you didn't know, the coffee pot is always on, so come on down to the grange hall this Sunday afternoon. For more information, call Jerry at 360-795-3434.

DRESS A GIRL--I was pleased to learn that a dozen ladies showed up for the "Dress A Girl" project that was held at the Cathlamet Community Center recently. Naturally, this group would be more than happy to welcome even more sewers to take on this wonderful project to supply all young ladies in the world with a dress! In Cathlamet, they meet on the first Friday of each month at 1 p.m. There you will get a copy of the pattern and fabric and all the information you need about how to go about making these dresses and about the group's roots and goals, etc. If you are on the west end, you can go to the Grays River Valley Center on the first Monday of the month at 10 a.m., and take part in this, too. If you can't meet with the group but would like to help, Pearl Blackburn can probably help you out and answer all your other questions. She can be reached at 360-465-2347.

GET WELL WISHES--I think just about everybody knows "Miss Go Go Go," as that's Jan Silvestri in a nutshell! Jan is currently the President of the Sons of Norway lodge here in our community and she's always doing something, like gardening or house-sitting, etc. However, I heard that she took a tumble recently and did a little body damage, so we want to send her our sincerest feel better, get well soon wishes, and hope she'll be back to her perky self real soon.

Also, I got to chat with Jonnie Knowles recently and she's still sporting a walking cast, but she's getting around at least. Unfortunately, there is a chance that she may have to go in and have some more surgery, so if she has to do that, we certainly hope that it works out well for her and she's out and about soon!

SAYING GOOD-BYE/SUNDAY--Speaking of health issues, it has come to my attention that Pastor Mark Phillips of the River of Life Assembly of God Church in Cathlamet, will soon say farewell to the community due to health issues and I'm sure his parishioners are saddened by this news. A retirement party will be held this Sunday, Jan. 27 with a good-bye service to be held at 10:45 a.m., for Mark and Patti with special music by Cody Rothwell. A fellowship meal will be held afterwards to celebrate Mark's retirement. After 11 years of calling Cathlamet their home, the couple will soon be calling Midlothian, Texas their new home. They hope you will come to see them this one last time on Sunday, and we wish them all the best.

FINAL GOOD-BYE--This past Saturday was a tough day for many, as we gathered to say our good-byes to a truly wonderful lady, Betty Koziel. After the services at the Skamokawa United Methodist Church, everyone went over to the Roadkill Saloon to visit and enjoy a luncheon put on by Ric and April Murdock, and share their stories about Betty. This was a fitting place to be as the Saloon had formerly been "The Oasis" for many, many years and Jim and Betty had operated it for decades. Oh, the stories those walls could tell! While we were all very sad to have Betty leave this world, we know that she has joined the love of her life, Jim, and those two lovebirds are together again.

The family had made a request that if you'd like to make a memorial donation in Betty's name, that you send one to the Skamokawa Fire Department. Their address is WCFD #2 (SFD), P.O. Box 145, Skamokawa, WA 98647. This is a gift that keeps on giving as we never know when we're going to need them ourselves and they could certainly use our support!

MORE SAD NEWS--As most of you know, Johnny Peterson (son of the late Duck Inn owner, Skamokawa Pete Peterson) had been dealing with some severe health issues for quite some time, since having a heart attack last year. Sadly however, he suddenly collapsed last week and within a very brief time span, passed away. Johnny was a WA-KI-HI Class of 1966 graduate, and had worked, lived and married in Alaska for many years before moving back here after the death of his wife and father, and was known to the people closest to him, as a friendly and generous person. He was the only son of Pete and Lois Peterson, and had just one sibling, a sister, Sandra and had but one son, John who is still living in Alaska. As of this writing, I have yet to be notified of any services. Our sincere condolences to his family and dearest friends.

CLASS OF 1967--If you've ever looked up on the walls of Wahkiakum High School, you will see many class pictures hanging there. I always enjoyed looking at them and was a bit surprised when I first noticed that some classes were missing. Years ago, it was brought up that the Class of '67 was one of those who were not represented on the hallowed halls of WA-KI-HI, and nobody seemed to know why, and still don't. However, recently classmates have come together to right a wrong. So, very soon, there will indeed be an addition to the high school walls. I am asking all graduating members of this class to contact me if you'd like to make a donation towards this project to help cover the costs of having this done. Please call me at 360-795-3425 and if you miss me, please leave a message with your phone number so that I can contact you! Remember, the more classmates pitch in, the lower the cost will be to everybody.

VALENTINE'S DAY DINNER--The upcoming Valentine Diamond Dinner at the Wahkiakum Co. Fairgrounds will be on Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. The Fair Board hopes you'll head this way and enjoy the evening out in support of our county fair next month. Maybe you will be the winner of the diamond prize!

SEND WISHES--Valentine's Day will be here before you know it, so just in case you'd like to make it really easy on yourself this year, and support a local business to boot, why not contact The Eagle and let them know you'd like to get in on their valentine message special? For just $10, you can send a message to a special person, or to all your friends or family or businesses or all of the above, so why not contact Kathi Howell today at The Eagle office, which is at 77 Main Street in Cathlamet or call 360-795-3391.

If grade school teachers or Sunday School teachers would like to help out in a big way this Valentine's Day, how about having all your students make a bunch of Valentines and send them off to one of the Veterans hospitals? The "Valentines for Vets" program has been going on for years, and all you need to do is check out the web for a hospital in our area to send them to. Nursing homes are great places to deliver a nice batch of surprise cards as well, so if you're looking to bring a little joy into someone's life who may not have much and isn't expecting much, there are lots of ways to do so. Here's to spreading some love this Valentine's Day!

FOS/LOOKING FOR SELLERS--It may seem like March is a long ways off, but January is coming into its last week, and the need to start advertizing for future events is imperative. As always, the Redmen Hall will reopen at the beginning of March with their annual "Antique and Vintage Fair," March 1-3. This is where you come in! They would love to have you participate in bringing your collectibles/antiques to the hall to sell. This year is going to be a bit different as you can be a "consignors/participant" and you bring in one item, or a few items or a whole collection. Plus, you won't even need to be there during this 3-day event in order to sell your things, as someone else will take care of that for you. Also, if you want to sell things but you don't have any transportation or can't manage the stairs, you can contact the hall and they can set up a time and arrange for them to be picked up. Contact the Friends of Skamokawa via email at fos1894@gmail.com or call 360-795-3007 and leave a message, or if you happen to see Pam Emery, you can ask her all about it. This sale helps put cash in your pocket, without doing a whole lot of work, as well as raising some money for the continuing maintenance and restoration of the historic Redmen Hall/Central School.