Redmen Hall to reopen Friday with vintage fair

COLD--As this work week began, it was definitely on the nippy side with temperatures below the freezing mark this past Monday morning, but I was happy not to see any snow, as the forecast was up in the air about how far up and over this latest storm was going to hit. As of this writing anyway, we're snow free, while Portland and below were really getting hammered with the snow, which caused multiple accidents and road closures. Here's to a calm week ahead.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Feb. 28-March 6 are Taylee Britt, Audrey Petterson, Deb Holland, Sara Fletcher, Jessica Hoven, Becky Hoven, Felicitie Knight, Joanne Brockway, Tony Parker, River Wallin, Rena Havens Brookshier, Mason Reed, KaraLin Reynolds, Judy Pedersen, Krystal Ellison Fickefoose, Jonas Owen and 67'er Kathy Bond Peek.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Adam and Sara Fletcher, Nicholas and Becky Keithley, Brian and Spring Doiron, Ron and Annette Miller and Brandon and Debbie Chamberlain. Here's hoping all of your special days are extra special this year!

OPENING THIS FRIDAY--The Friends of Skamokawa are reopening Redmen Hall/Central School this Friday, March 1, with their annual "Antique and Vintage Fair" so it's hoped that you'll head down this way and check out all the neat items that will be displayed in the River Life Interpretive Center, located on the second floor. There are special hours for this opening day, as well as Saturday, as usually the hall opens at noon, but on these two days, it will be open at 10 a.m., until 4 p.m. Hours for Sunday are noon to four and refreshments will be served during this three day event. There are multiple vendors selling their collectibles, so come on down and find your next treasure to add to your own collection! For more information, call the hall at 360-795-3007. Don't forget to check out the wonderful array of books and gift items in the Gift Shop as you come in, as many books are written by area authors and crafts, etc., are made by local artisans.

Also happening at the hall later on this month, you are invited to the FOS Members Meeting and Pie Social. It will take place on Sunday, March 24 at 2 p.m. All members are urged to attend and those who would like to join are invited as well.

DRESS A GIRL--Also on Friday, March 1, those interested in helping with the "Dress A Girl" project are invited to come to the Cathlamet Community Center that day at 1 p.m. After the last time they got together, they were able to make and send 19 dresses to Honduras with a medical mission team, so kudos to them for their hard work and effort in getting these dresses made. So for those of you who like to sew and would like to help out, you should know that the simple pattern and the fabric are available at this meeting. For more information, you can contact Pearl Blackburn at her home: 360-465-2347.

SEED EXCHANGE--The following week, you can head back to the Community Center, as on March 9 at 10 a.m., there will be the annual Seed Exchange. According to Pearl Blackburn, this event is being sponsored by the WSU Master Gardeners and Cathlamet Community Garden. There is no charge to take part in this exchange program and seed envelopes are provided. You can bring your own seeds or commercial seeds and they should not be over two years old. Your own seeds should be marked as to what they are and maybe some planting tips on them, like when to plant or watering needs, etc. Master Garderners from WSU will be on hand to help with all your planting questions, so for those of you who want to start a garden, and you're just not sure what is the best thing to grow, well, this will be a great opportunity to have all your planting and growing questions answered.

BUSY SATURDAY--Besides the Seed Exchange, there will be two other things going on that day, as the monthly Flea Market will take place at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (and every second Saturday of the month.) So if you'd like to sell your crafts or sell your extra items that you no longer need, then here's a good time to do that. You can rent a table for $10. Leave a message at 360-795-3480 and Patty will get back to you.

BINGO--Once you've finished getting some new seeds for your garden, and checked out the flea market, then you might want to head over to Puget Island, where the Sons of Norway will host their monthly bingo games. They too hold their bingo games on the second Saturday of the month with doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the games beginning at 6 p.m. Cash prizes are awarded so now's the time to have a little fun and maybe win a little money!

COMING UP--In between the above mentioned events, the Duck Inn will host another "Paint and Sip" event on March 7, so if you'd like to get out and mingle with your friends and enjoy a craft project at the same time, then this might be just perfect for you. If you're interested, contact them at 360-795-6055. Beings it's March, it's only fitting that this will be a St. Paddy's Day project; looks to be fun!

THINKING OF THEM--We want to send our heartiest get well wishes to Gaylene Johnson and Verle West who both underwent some surgeries recently, and while I'm told they are recuperating nicely, I do hope these ladies behave themselves and continue their healing process without any problems. Several others are going through some real tough times lately, and many don't want to be named, but we want to let them all know that this is a small town, so most probably know who you are, and we just want them to know that we're thinking of them through these tough times.

MEETING WRAP-UP--On Feb. 19, a meeting was held with the Port District 2 commissioners and some of the public at the Sk. Methodist Church. This was a chance to hear and chime in on the idea of a possible merger between Port District 1 and Port District 2. It was a fairly decent turn out for a Tuesday evening although I feel that beings everyone in the entire county is in either one district or another, one might expect more. At any rate, those that attended got to meet the new Manager for Skamokawa Vista Park, Jeff Smith, as well as inquire about the pros and cons of a possible merger between the two districts. Several people had voiced their concerns and many wanted more detailed information about certain aspects of the ports and such, but at this point, this concept was so new that no steps had yet to be taken to address them. For one thing, committees would have to be formed and plans for redistricting would have to be addressed, etc., so this idea was just being mulled over and no Pros and Cons list had yet to be written out. One pro would be the shared audit costs, but that alone was not enough reason for those that were there, to think that this was a good idea. A show of hands was taken as to whether there was interest in this merger or not and the no's definitely out-weighed the couple that thought we should continue to look into it. There appeared to be a consensus that a defined inter-local agreement between the two might work for certain projects, but its scope would be limited to specific things and not be an open agreement. The Port Commissioners assured the attendees that absolutely nothing had been decided on and they were simply wanting to get a feel from the public as to what they thought about this idea, and I think they definitely got it from this group!

GREAT TURN OUT--The friends and family of Bob and Sabrina McNally sure did a great job of putting on a fund raiser on their behalf this past Saturday and not only was it highly organized, it was well attended and a great success to boot. Many people donated items for drawings and everybody was eager to try and win one of the great baskets, gift certificates and more, and of course, the pork sliders, meatballs and all the salads and desserts were just fantastic. Kudos to those in charge of cooking and setting up, etc. You should start a business to show others how it's done, and done right! Needless to say, Bob and Sabrina were very grateful and Lorraine McNally, Bob's Mom, was totally thrilled with the turn out and all the support the kids have received. Once again, we have seen the great support from the community for one of their own in their time of need; good job everybody! If you're one of those people who just couldn't get over to help because of all the other things going on in the community, but would like to send them a donation, you can mail it to them in care of Lorraine at: 86 East Sunny Sands Road, Cathlamet 98612.

ALSO WORKED OUT--According to Terri Elfers, the dinner and auction that went on at the Youth Building in the Fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon turned out good as well. They were raising money for the upcoming Bull Riding event that will take place on July 19. It was a huge hit last year. Brian McClain was the auctioneer there at 4 p.m., and then when he got done there, he headed over to the Skamokawa Grange Hall where the Republicans were holding their annual Lincoln Day Dinner, catered by the Duck Inn, and Brian was their auctioneer as well, so he had a busy day. Happy to hear all of these events worked out, as with so many things going on at the same time, it was a bit of a worry.