Mule teams have been doing well

ANOTHER WET ONE--As I begin my column, we are once again looking at the possibilty for some local flooding, so I hope everyone gathered what they needed just in case we have our "usual" underwater spots which prevent us from getting to the store. As we all know by now, along with the water covered roads, we can also get mud, rock and tree slides so if you're traveling, you'll need to keep a watchful eye out for those possible hazards.

On Monday morning, boulders were spotted east of Stella about milepost 51, so with another major slide happening earlier at milepost 53, this should definitely be a stretch of road to watch carefully. Here's to "not needing a boat" to stay afloat!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Feb. 25-March 3, are Taylee Britt, Mary McLaughlin, Deb Moonen Holland, Wyatt J. Parker, Emery Tomlinson, Shelley Olsen, Tina Robinson, Dagmar Adams, Elliott Johnson, Ava Johnson, River Wallin, Tammy Nielson, Scott Hendrickson, Jessica Thomas, Tony Parker, Cindy Elmore, Felicitie Knight, Ursula Jorgensen, Judith Pedersen, Krystal Ellison Zickefoose, Jona Owen and 67'ers Truchet Madden Miller and Kathy Bond Peek. Belated birthday wishes to Nyomie Kuljis and Vera Oman. Sorry I missed getting them in last week!

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Adam and Sara Fletcher, J.D. and Michelle Sailing, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Hanson, Mr. and Mrs. Doug Peek, Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Nielson and Mr. and Mrs. Brian Doiron. Here's wishing all of you with special days this upcoming week, have a fabulous time as restaurants are able to open and serve you a wonderful dinner for your special occasion.

GOOD JOB!--The mighty Mules are doing great, as both our football and volleyball teams have had some great wins, so here's to more Mighty Mules wins! With this column being turned in early, I have no idea what just happened during the week but I hope they did well, and continue to do well at their upcoming games this week. Wins would be great, but I always hope the "doing well" part includes staying injury free and representing our school with honor and class. Go, Mules!

CONGRATS--We are all so proud of another former Mule basketball player, as Peyton Souvenir has done an outstanding job playing basketball for Lewis-Clark Warriors for the past several years. She even had a record high scoring game! Great news came to us on Sunday when the L-C state Warriors were named the Champions of the Women's Basketball Cascade Conference. Great job, ladies and a hearty congratulations to all, but hey, just a little bit extra has to go to our home-town girl, Peyton and to her proud parents, Todd and Kristen!

THINKING OF THEM--We were happy to hear that Marty Farnsworth has been improving a lot since his open heart surgery and may soon get to leave the hospital if he continues his healing process, so we hope that happens real soon. Also, 67'er Sharon Servis has been under the weather recently and we wish her the best as she deals with her recent health concerns. Dale Jacobosen is another 67'er who has been dealing with health issues since an accident last year and we hope he can get back on his two feet real soon.

Another former Mule, Linda Ferguson Stiltz, has sadly announced that she and her husband, Tom, have Covid-19. What was even more distressing was that Linda said she had to experience a couple of "firsts" that most of us would rather not take, and that was an ambulance ride to the local hospital and then a helicopter ride to SW Medical Center due to some complications from Covid. Needless to say, we certainly hope she gets the care she needs and is back home soon, but in the meantime, we'll definitely be thinking of her and her hubby.

There are many others who have been dealing with various health problems and we hope all of you are on the mend and feeling better as well, as it's certainly no fun feeling sick and dealing with a multitude of nagging symptoms over an extended amount of time.

MEALS ON WEST END--I'm sure Karen Bertroch will be covering this as well, but this is just a little reminder to you Westenders that there are "to go" CAP meals available for you, so if you'd like to find out what and where and when, give Diane Hollenbeck a call and she can fill you in. Call her at 360-465-2991.

BIG OPENING--Hooray, this Friday is the reopening of the only Skamokawa restaurant in town, so we hope you made a reservation at the Duck Inn, and you are able to be part of this joyous reopening, starting this Friday, Feb. 26. Call 360-795-6055 to get a table.

ON THE MOVE--We got word recently that Adam Pedersen and his family will be moving to Texas, where he will end his military career, out of the Air Force Security Forces Center, a Joint Base SanAntonio - Lackland, Texas. This will be a big move for Adam, who has not only spent over a decade in the D.C. area but has seen his family grow by two, plus made a lot of friends there over the years, so it's a pretty big deal. Thankfully the family didn't have to move right away, so they missed the huge weather event in Texas that occurred recently and we hope their Spring move will have them arriving in Texas during a much more hospitable time!

DEEPEST SYMPATHIES--My sincerest condolences to the family of Mike Rees, who passed away suddenly in mid-December. I was shocked to hear of his passing and we send his wife, Jane, all our love and support as we know that Mike was indeed her strength and the two were really a fantastic couple. They were also wonderful members of the Skamokawa Grange, and were the ones who not only got the movie screen for the hall but also most of the chairs. Mike was the one who got the movies up and running at the community center in Cathlamet and kept me up to date by sending me the monthly movie listings. It was a tremendous thing to do for the community. So, besides being a gifted artist, he was a wonderful, kind and generous human being, and an asset to this community. He will be truly missed.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1946, the month of Febuary ended with rain, while March started out nice, although there was a little bit of light rain in the evening that first night, but for the next three days, it was very nice and a great break from the pouring rain and windy conditions. Mr. Ralph Schafer had an unfortunate accident that week at the mill, as a load of lumber fell on his leg and broke it, but was lucky that the outcome of the accident wasn't worse. That same day wasn't too fortunate for Krist Pedersen either, as he was in an accident on the way to Longview but at least the car took the brunt of it. With the cooler days, the Ralph Everests opted to buy an electric heater from Sverre P. Jim and Florence West stopped in that same day and stayed for a nice long visit. In the first game of the BB tournament, Valley beat Cathlamet, 46 to 22. A letter received by the Ralph Everests, from Mrs. Hannah (Dudley) Everest, told of R. Marshall Everest Jr's stay at the Oakland Navy Hospital. The month ended with some nice treats. A big "getting day" Grandma Elsie said, as she was able to get two pounds of butter, some bacon, some bananas and finally nylons. It was a "grand day!"

As the first part of March arrived, it was time to vote on the school election and afterwards, it was off to the movies where "Their Hearts Were Young & Gay" was playing. Beings it was still so nice out, Elsie Everest opted to take a walk out to daughter Marian's house the following day and after a nice visit, started the return trip home with a stop at the Wests' home, where she was invited in for lunch. Afterwards, David West was kind enough to drive her the rest of the way home. Looking through the mail after she got home, it was nice to see letters from her twp sons, George and R. Marshall Jr., which included birthday wishes for her upcoming birthday, as well as an early birthday card from Ethel McCoy.

All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.