Prime rib dinner at Johnson Park Saturday

MID-MONTH--We had some chilly weather at the end of last week but had some sunshine, so that was nice. Saturday was decent until some rain in the evening hours, but that didn't last long, so Sunday may have been cloudy but it was decent. We may be in for a very wet few days this week, along with some gusty winds, so if that happens, I hope you are prepared for the worst, and we'll hope for the best. Here's hoping you were able to get all your outdoor chores done on a couple of those nice, dry days that we had.

THINKING OF THEM--There have been some local folks who have family members in part of the country where there have been some serious weather issues, such as the wildfires in California, or the snowy conditions in some of our neighboring states and the middle states too, as well as some nasty weather on the East coast, so I do hope they all came through the various weather issues in one piece. Having to deal with rolling blackouts, like those in CA, has been tough as well, and once again, a reminder that we all need to be prepared to be self-sufficient for a week or more. When massive emergencies hit, all of our comforts will be disrupted and we must be taking steps now to be prepared to be on our own for awhile and one never knows when that might happen, so prepare yourselves now!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Oct. 17-23 are Heidi Heywood, Keith McNally, Louis Stornetta, Michelle Collupy, Justin Garrison, Brianne Helms, Mike Phelan, Nick Vavoudis, Davey Hoven, Kathy McClain, Maddie McClain, Joel Havens, Piper McClain, Randy Zacher, Mary Heagy, Gary Backman, Victoria Wallin, Kristi Knowles Langston, Kelsey Cothren, Miles Whitaker, Elizabeth Dahlen, Kevin Gilligan, Myrna Fudge Brown, Emily Elliott, Bill Boylan, Craig Nielson, Debbie Chamberlain, Jennifer Kyle, Hunter Baldwin and 67'er Mary Toste.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are R.J. and Angel Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Boldt, Mr. and Mrs. Brian Elliott, Matt and Lori Kyle and 67'er Keith Lawrence and wife, Karen. May all of you have wonderul birthday and anniversary celebrations this coming week! Belated anniversary wishes to Jeff and Shelley Hedges and belated birthday wishes go to Katie Webb.

FRIDAY MOVIE--Those who love a good deal will be happy to hear that the free movie and popcorn deal is back, after a one week break, so it's happening Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Head to the Community Center in Cathlamet and you can check out this latest show, which is a documentary for everyone. You'll need to stop by the center if you want a title. The center is at 101 Main Street.

MULES--Kudos to the Mule football team who was able to make Homecoming a very festive occassion by beating Toutle 7 to 6 this past Friday night! I know how much happier Homecoming is when we are on the winning side of that special night, and so it was nice that the Homecoming court had plenty to smile about!

GOT TICKETS?--If you're one of those prime rib lovers who has purchased a ticket to the "Winterfest Prime Rib Dinner" at Johnson Park, this is the Saturday to head that way! The dinner is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets were $18 and I'm not sure if you can still get them by the time you read this, but you can call 360-465-2722 or 360-465-2393 and see if they've got an extra slice. In case you didn't know, this was a "need a new heater" fund raiser for the center.

LITTLE MIX-UP--I hope you were able to figure out that the "Tidy Up the Town" date in the "header" of a letter in last week's paper was incorrect. In the second paragraph in the body of the letter by Suzanne Holmes, it is listed correctly as Oct. 26, which is next Saturday. Just show up at the Community Center in Cathlamet at 9 a.m., with work clothes and gloves and some hand tools and be ready to go to work!

ANGLERS--The area around Cathlamet has gotten fairly famous as we took top honors in the catching of those invasive fish, the northern pikeminnow (formely called squawfish) for the year, so that's pretty cool. We took top honors for that last year too, but this year we made a repeat performance by surpassing last year's total, so that was even better. Not only that, but we also had the top angler; you know, the guy/gal who caught the very most fish, which fetched them a very nice chunk of change, like 50 grand, wow! The thing is, the winner is not divulged, but hey, good job to whoever it was that wound up in first place. It just goes to show that if you spend enough time trying to accomplish something, you might get a nice chunk of change in your pocket as a reward!

SAD NEWS--I heard some sad news this past Monday from former resident, Abby Buennagel, as she said her Grandpa, Charles "Charlie" Buennagel, had passed away. He and his wife Kay, had raised a large family in the Seattle area before moving to Puget Island, where they lived for quite some time, before moving up North to be closer to family and care facilities. Our condolences to his entire family, which includes his wife, Kay, his son, John (Sharon) now of Hawaii and daughter, Mary Wingate of Longview.

We also heard that prayers were being asked for Dick Quigley, WHS Class of '71, who has been diagnosed with cancer and according to family, does not have too much time left, so we hope you'll keep him and his family in your thoughts, while respecting their privacy.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS--As many of us senior citizens can attest to, we have spent our lives collecting things, only to find out that nobody really wants our stuff and we wind up feeling pretty sad and over-whelmed by it all. So, how can we help? Well, one way would be to rethink some of our Christmas gifts to our senior friends, so that they still get a nice gift, but not one that requires more dusting, or will wind up in the "give away" box later on.

So, for starters, think of gift certificates to our local restaurants/stores, and we all still need groceries, which are pretty spendy, so having some extra bucks for that would be nice.

Then there are those who might like to be remembered in one of our special historical places, so a donation to our FOS Redmen Hall/Central School in their name might be nice. Other groups that have been here for years are our Wahkiakum County Fair and also our Skamokawa Grange #425, which would welcome donations in your loved one's name. One of those super special groups to donate to would be our local Fire Departments, as you never know when we may need their services and these volunteer groups could always use a few extra bucks.

If you'd like your family memorialized for years to come, you can buy a brick at the Museum in Cathlamet, and you'll not only help out our Wahkiakum Historical Society but you'll get your family name etched in stone. The museum is only open for a couple more weekends from 1 to 4, so if you've planned on going there, now's your chance.

At any rate, those are just a few ideas for folks who might fall into the category of "don't need more stuff" but you still want to do something nice for them, and of course, there are many other great organizations and businesses in the area, so we hope you'll support them as the holiday shopping season commences.

GREAT IDEA--A suggestion on Facebook by one of our local guys, Rick Foster, had me thinking that he had a truly wonderful idea, so I opted to share it. His idea was for people to do a kind deed for someone but you had to do it in such a way that your involvement would be totally undetected. He suggested doing something like this by Dec. 20 and sort of challenged folks to take part in this joyful giving early Christmas surprise. Isn't that neat? I hope some folks will take him up on this challenge and I figured his suggestion could be carried a little further, via my column, so there it is. Are you up to the challenge? Can you pull off a surprise for someone without them knowing it was you that did it? It may be harder than you think!

However, I am also thinking of adding on a little twist to his idea/challenge, as the "spirit of giving" should not be done at just one time of the year, but really, all year long, so maybe folks can keep those surprise good deeds going into next year. There's nothing that says it has to be a big thing, as even the smallest, unexpected gift is a real morale booster, so here's hoping some of you will think of some wonderful ways to brighten someone's day, and keep them guessing as to who provided it. From there, we can add the "Pay it Forward" challenge and keep the happy times rolling. So, have fun with this and here's to spreading kindness!