Temporary burn ban has been lifted

GRAY SKIES--As this work week began, our morning skies were a bit on the gloomy and gray side but at least it was just a little damp, that is until later on in the day and then it rained pretty good. It's one of those things we hate to see, but right now we really need it so I won't complain. As I'm writing this, forecasters are saying we're in for a bit of rain off and on, and given the amount of fires taking off in our county and neighboring counties recently, having some rainfall right now wouldn't hurt anybody's feelings I don't think. It's still hard to believe that we went from freezing cold and snow to "fire season" so quickly!

BURN BAN--In case you hadn't heard, there was a burn ban in place for our county for several days last week, but as of Monday, it was lifted. The burn ban was in place for several surrounding counties as well, and I have not heard whether or not they are lifted yet. So, just to be sure about whether or not you can burn, contact authorities and spread the word to all your friends and neighbors. When the vegetation around our homes is dry and the wind is blowing, we shouldn't even have to be told not to start a fire, as common sense should prevail, but when in doubt, contact authorities first.

BTW: You are supposed to have a Burn Permit before you burn, and you are supposed to call the non-emergency phone number (360-795-3242) for the Sheriff's office prior to begining your burn, so if a burn ban was inacted between one day and the next, you'd know about it before you struck that first match. Some fires seemingly just "took off" without any people involved, and it can happen, but more often than not, a cigarette butt or other accelerant have been to blame. Here's to keeping our area fire free from this point forward. A huge thank you to all of our fire fighters and other responders during this past week of many fire calls; good job!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from March 28-April 3 are Aaliyah Montgomery, Linda McClain, Leif Carroll, Mike Carroll, Vaal Gribskov, Dana McClain, Pam Emery, Bob Brons, Buzz Moore, Gordon Souvenir, Hank Hanigan, Crystal Davis, George Trott, Spring Doiron, Robbie Fritzie, John Ackerman, Erin Parker, Ron Rust, Alecia Cooper, Sandi Cik, Judy Bates, Phil Rolf, Thomas Ronninghaug, Dawn Pedersen Macchione, Karen Bell, Mikayla Bell, Nathan Pedersen and Jeremy Pedersen.

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Mr. and Mrs. Brian McClain, Scott and Deanna Ahrndt and the Mike Phelans. May you all have wonderful celebrations on your special days!

NEW ADDITION--It looks like we have another baby to add to our birthday list, as Matt and Sasha Helms welcomed a baby girl into their home at 11 a.m., on Monday, March 25. The adorable baby girl was named Peyton Marsha Rose Helms and she weighed in at seven pounds, 14 ounces. Congratulations to the parents as well as to her local grandparents, Matt and Marsha Helms! They are truly proud of this latest addition.

FRIDAY MOVIE--The free movie at the Community Center in Cathlamet this Friday, March 29, is going to make everybody happy I think, as it's a comedy listed for everyone; yay! When money is tight, these free movies make for a cheap night out for the whole family. Don't forget, the movie begins at 7 p.m., and comes with free popcorn, so keep "Friday Night, Movie Night" on your list of things to do that won't cost you a dime. However, adults need to remember that they are required to accompany their children under the age of 12.

THIS SATURDAY EVENING--You are invited to come to the Skamokawa United Methodist Church for a fund raising dinner this Saturday evening, March 30 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. This is a ham dinner, complete with scalloped potatoes, veggies, roll, dessert and beverage for just $8 for those that are ages 13 and up. Now, that's a very good deal! Those that are are 6-12 only pay $6, and if you're a under six, you get to eat for free! A portion of the proceeds are going to benefit the GAP Meal program, so this is a great time to help both that program and the church.

NOT GOOD--There have been several folks around the area who are saying they are victims of various kinds of theft lately. Seems that everything from gasoline to thousands of dollars worth of tools and even a vehicle, have been reported stolen, so if you know anything about these incidents, please contact the Sheriff's office ASAP! It might be time to treat yourself to an early BD or Easter gift as well, as security cameras might be helpful in solving these issues.

COMING IN APRIL--The monthly Flea Market in April will be held April 13, at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds in the Youth Building. If you'd like to rent a table, contact the fairgrounds manager, Patty Dursteler, and for just $10, you can rent a table and be able to sell things, new and used, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 360-795-3480.

BINGO--The evening hours of the same day, April 13, can be used for winning some cash prizes at the Sons of Norway's Norse Hall on Puget Island when it's bingo time. If you're looking for a fun time, the doors open at 5:30 and games begin at 6 p.m. Contact Jan Silvestri at 360-431-1705.

MORE BINGO--The following week, you can enjoy more bingo when the annual Easter Bingo games take place at the Wah. Co. Fairgrounds. This will be held on April 19, which is a Friday, and as always, they will have their hams all ready to give away to the lucky bingo winners as well as tickets for sale for various raffle items. They had a great crowd last year and if you'd like to donate a prize or a ham to it, they'd love to hear from you. Again, call the fairgrounds and leave a message.

NEW EXHIBIT--The Friends of Skamokawa will host a new exhibit in April in the River Life Interpretive Center at the historic Redmen Hall/Central School located in Skamokawa, Milepost 29 (for those that are new to the area). Not only will there be this new exhibit, "Farm & Flowers" with photography by Desiree East Craven and Brian Winter, opening April 20, 3 to 5 p.m., but later that evening, at 7 p.m., there will be a fund raising event with music by the "Skamokawa Swamp Opera." This group consists of several multi-talented musicians: Andrew Emlen, Kyleen Austin, Jillian Raye and Eric Friend. Tickets will be on sale for $15 each or two for $25 and you'll be able to get them here at the hall, or at the Skamokawa Store or you can get them in Cathlamet at the Bank of the Pacific or Daisy Chain Floral. Please spread the word and let all your friends know about this wonderful evening!

WATER EXPANSION PLAN--The front page article in last week's Eagle concerning the PUD's plan to extend the water lines in Skamokawa certainly took some people by surprise! Beings the home owners that I talked to had not been approached about this idea, and had never even heard about it until that article, they were caught totally off guard. Our local nursery owner, Danny Silverman, who was mentioned in the article, was certainly taken aback, and expressed no desire what-so-ever to be included in any extension of the water line. Danny has operated his nursery for 29 years and has been able to scientifically balance his plants' needs with just the proper water and fertilizer requirements for our area, and has even had the praise of a well known distrubutor for having ideal conditions for his plants. Getting put on a commercial water line would certainly put an end to all that, not only due to the costs he would have to endure but for the well-being of his nursery growing operation as a whole. When an unnecessary plan would most certainly bankrupt one of our businesses, and a third generation citizen of our community, then it is hoped that common sense would prevail and that this plan would be abandoned.

With utilities on both sides of Steamboat Slough Road already, this could be an extremely daunting and costly task as well, and besides being unwanted, it might prove to be terribly expensive. With locals already complaining of the extra costs they are enduring, the idea that an unwanted and costly expansion would wind up being reflected in future bills, well, that wasn't going over very well.

A meeting by the Wahkiakum PUD to discuss this plan, is tentatively scheduled for April 25 at the Skamokawa Grange Hall and Mr. Tramblie expressed the fact that "you should all be there." So, if you are already in the current billing area, you should be at this meeting and if you're in the two areas that were mentioned in the paper that they want to include in their expansion, you should definitely be there! Whether you are for or against this plan, you need to be present. Mark April 25 on your calendars now with the time to be determined, and if the date gets changed, I'll be sure to let you know.

GREAT ARTICLE--Our family had a nice surprise recently when one of our relatives, Ron Pedersen of Vancouver, was featured in an article in the "Columbian" newspaper. This is a story of Ron and how he came to own one of the oldest book stores in that area, and how adding a vintage coin shop to it, has kept the doors open. The person who started the shop called it something else, but Ron changed the name to the Hazel Dell Book Exchange and has operated it for 44 years now. Ron's father was Arthur and mine was Kristian, but both were the older sons of Jonas and Nelsine Pedersen of Puget Island. At 86 years old, Ron is still going strong and planning on working and keeping the book store/coin shop open as long as he's able. With no book costing over $4, it's a great place to shop and if you head his way, tell him his cousin Kay sent you!

GOOD JOB--Another person in the family got their name in print recently, when my granddaughter, Tessa Sechler, had an article she wrote printed in Special Olympics Southern California edition/We are SOSC. The article covers a man who has worked for many years for the Special Olympics and is titled: "Bill Fields; What the World Games Means to me." This man has worked with Speical Olympics for almost 50 years and has worked his way up in the organization to his most recent post as the Assistant Vice President of Sports Partnerships. Tessa did a great job of writing this article explaining how he came to join the SOSC and his travels and experiences throughout his years. Tessa's folks, Pete and Katie Nollan Sechler are certainly proud of her and how she dove into this new job in California head first, and it goes without saying, that I'm pretty proud of her too!