Have a safe and Happy New Year

DROUGHT OVER?--Considering the monsoon weather we had at the end of last week, I'm thinking our drought situation should be about over! It not only dumped, and filled creeks and streams and fields to the brim, but it also blew pretty good, so the roadways were full of debris. Mountain ski resorts were happy though as they got lots of snow, and the only folks really unhappy about that were the ones traveling that got caught in the transition from "nothing" to "just wet" and then, "holy cow, snow!", so if they weren't prepared, they were in for a bit of a rough drive over the passes. If you were traveling, I hope you made it safely to your destination. If you were here at home, I hope you didn't get too soggy at your house!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Dec. 26-January 1 are Kyle Gribskov, Grant Turner, Steve Smith, Duncan Cruickshank, Charlene Montgomery, Cayln Fritzie, Lorraine McNally, Kohl Bergseng, Lee Tischer, Terry Cleveland, Tony Danker, Greg Bain, Dan Bardsley, Ron Wika, John Hoven, Arve Ronninghaug, Mary Gustafson, Jim Blain, Nancy Summerill, Toby Bell, Frank Pedersen, Luke Pedersen and Ron Pedersen.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Danny Eaton, Mr. and Mrs. Orville Lindsey, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Jungers, Mr. and Mrs. Mark Helms, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Thacker and Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bigler. May you all have wonderful celebrations this coming week!

NO MOVIE--Reminder: Due to the holidays, there will not be a free movie on Dec. 27 at the Community Center in Cathlamet.

NEED CHEAP ANIMALS?--If you're in the market for ducks, geese, chickens and such, please contact the Cowlitz Humane Society ASAP, as they got pretty overwhelmed with an extremely large amount of these animals just recently after confiscating them from a local farm. So, if you were thinking of getting some of these animals anyway, then now would be the time to get them, and help out the animals and the CHS as well.

GET WELL WISHES--There have been quite a few folks with various ailments who have really felt under the weather lately, and we hope they all get to feeling better real soon. One of those people is Tracy Tomlinson, with more than one problem, so we hope she gets some relief soon and gets to feeling better. Another one that is going to be having surgery right after Christmas is Laurie Miller and we hope and pray that all goes well with that and she recovers nicely. To all the rest of you who are feeling a bit bum right now: "Get well soon"!

MORE SADNESS--We were very saddened to hear of yet another loss of a much beloved community member, as Leota Souvenir Briscoe passed away last week and her services were held this last Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Dowling Funeral Home in Cathlamet. We offer our sincerest condolences to her children, Ty and Kelsey, and her mother, Marie West, as well as her brothers and sisters and many other family members.

GOOD TIME?--With Christmas on a Wednesday, it wasn't possible to get much Christmas news just yet, but hopefully everyone had a good one and I can catch up on all the comings and goings of everybody next week.

However, I did manage to catch up on a bit of Christmas news as for a couple of our new full-time residents, David and Connie Shrum, it was early Christmas at their house last week, when they held a small gathering with friends and family before heading to Seattle to spend Christmas with Connie's family there. The couple have been part time residents for years, but only recently have they both joined the "retired group" and settled in to their home here in Skamokawa. I'm sure it will take a little while before they get totally settled in to this whole new retired kind of life but we send them both congratulations and welcome to the community wishes!

ALSO EARLY--Pete and Katie Sechler made a trip down from Seattle recently so they could treat ole Mom, (me) and brother Brian, out to a special early Christmas lunch, so that was a nice surprise. It was even nicer when we found out where we would be going, as they had never been down to the Michael Jordan Steakhouse in the Ilani Casino in Ridgefield so we had a very tasty lunch and we not only enjoyed the food, but the wonderful holiday decor. Having them come down was nice for me as well, as it was the perfect time to swap Christmas packages and save a few bucks on postage this year!

Pete decided to spread a little more holiday cheer the next week, as he took it upon himself to purchase a new Norwegian flag for an elderly couple who had been flying a rather tattered one, and gave it to them without them knowing that he did it, by just putting the new one in their mailbox, so that was very nice indeed. Being one of Santa's surprise helpers and spreading some Christmas cheer is always such a good feeling!

MORE HAPPINESS--Locally, it seems Rick Foster has had some kind deeds from a Secret Santa as well, and just recently he said he got a nice gift of some hot sauces for an early Christmas gift, so he was pretty happy about that. We've been happy to hear about various folks who are doing kind deeds for others and in these troubled times, it's really heart warming to hear some good news once in awhile, so keep spreading the cheer people; you'll never know how happy you can make someone by just the smallest of kind gestures!

GIVING IN NEW YEAR--If you weren't able to send out a few Christmas donations to various local entities, I'm sure they'd gladly accept them as New Year donations, so here's hoping you can help out some of them, like our local Sk. Fire Dept. at P.O. Box 145 or the Friends of Skamokawa, P.O. Box 67 or Skamokawa Grange #425 at P. O. Box 123, all here in Skamokawa, WA 98647. Also, one of the very important places to our entire county is the museum operated by the Wah. Co. Historical Society at 65 River Street, Cathlamet, WA 98612 and they could truly use your help in keeping the place heated and preserving our county's history. So, here's hoping that if we all give just a little, it would add up to a lot, and truly help out these groups that need it right now.

CELEBRATING--It's hard to believe but this year is coming to an end; where did it go?! At any rate, we hope you'll help support your local businesses that will have New Year's Eve celebrations and beings that's falling on a Tuesday, it makes for an interesting week, as many are enjoying Taco Tuesdays, so this might be a bit of a different New Year's Eve for sure! But whatever you do, and wherever you go, we hope you have a fun time but please remember to be safe and start out the New Year on a positive note. Happy New Year, everybody!