Be responsible pet owners, please

GRAY BEGINNING--It's a gray and drippy Monday morning to start the week and it looks like we will be fairly cloudy with a couple more drizzly days in the week ahead. However, if the forecast proves true, we will see temps in the 70's on Thursday, only to return to rain on Friday and Sunday. If it does turn sunny and nice, be sure to get out there and take advantage of it as it may not last too long. There is always the hope that the forecast changes, as there's nothing more fickle than the weather around our area!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from April 29-May 5 are Shannon McClain, Jenna Engle, Ricky Montgomery, Eva Snow, Conner Emlen-Petterson, Stephanie Moonen, Rosie DeBriae, Patience Nortrup, Darren Olsen, Wolfgang Hoven, David Faubion, Troy Heagy, Scott Holland, Lars Blix, Jeff Ostling, Orville D. Lindsey, Carolyn LaBerge, Nicholas LaBerge, Aaron Bernard, Matthew Freeman, Abby Pedersen and grandson, Austin Good.

Those celebrating their anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Treasure Collupy, Mr. and Mrs. Lamar Blix, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Freeman, Gabe and Annie Pedersen and Mr. and Mrs. Tim Pedersen who will be celebrating in their new home in Oregon this year. Have terrific days, everyone.

THIS SATURDAY--People who would like to pay their last respects to Rich West, WHS Class of 1967, will have the chance to do so this Saturday, May 1 at 1 p.m., at the Fernhill Cemetery in Skamokawa. You are asked to please follow covid guidelines for social distancing and wear a mask. Again, we offer our sincerest condolences to Rich's family, which includes his sister, Mary Baldwin who still lives here in Skamokawa.

FARMERS MARKET--Beginning on May 4, which is a Tuesday, there will be a Farmer's Market at the Wahkiakum Co. Fairgrounds. As a matter of fact, this market will take place every Tuesday from now on from 4-7 p.m., so here's your chance to buy some things or sell some things!

PIE SOCIAL--Just a little reminder that if you like pie, then you'll want to mark Friday, May 7 down on your calendar, as the Cathlamet Woman's Club will hold this annual event at Tsuga Gallery in Cathlamet from 1-4 p.m. They have usually served up either just a piece of pie, or you can buy a whole pie and help keep this group going, and help support the good work that they do for our community. Beings this is taking place just prior to Mother's Day, you could let the ladies do your baking for you and treat your guests while not having to do all the work!

FLEA MARKET--The last I heard, the monthly Flea Market at the fairgrounds is held on the second Saturday of each month, so unless something has changed that I haven't heard about, this will take place on May 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tables can be rented for just $10 each if you'd like to take part, 360-795-3480.

MOTHER'S DAY--Also coming up real soon, is Mother's Day. It's the second Sunday in our new month, May 9. If you'd like to wish your Mom a special Mother's Day, you can contact The Eagle and give your Mom a special shout out for just $10, and that would come out in their May 6 edition, so don't delay and call Kathi Howell at The Eagle number, 360-795-3391 or her cell: 360-849-9041 and she'll get that all set up for you!

Be sure to check with your local businesses for special lunches, dinners, gifts, flower bouquets or potted plants or hanging baskets in order to treat the special lady in your life to a wonderful day.

NICE VISIT--We had a nice surprise this past week when Sharon Buennagel stopped into town, so it was good to chat with her for a bit. She'd come over to visit her Mom and conduct some business and sadly, the time flew by very quickly as she multi-tasked while she was here, so we hope the next trip over isn't quite so busy. But while she was here, she got to enjoy lunch in one of the new, private cabanas at the Duck Inn and check out the new large deck area too.

SYMPATHIES--We want to send our sympathies to the family of Orval Wirkkala, as according to his brother, Allan, he "went to Glory" this past Saturday afternoon. He had not only been a logger, but he had been a Pastor and then retired from that along with his wife, Beth, and moved from Kingston, MN to Castle Rock. Sadly, the plans to build a new home for his retirement near his son Carl's place, did not get to be realized. Again, our condolences to his entire family.

DOING BETTER--I was happy to hear that classmate, Linda Holland Toste, is now doing much better after a stint in the Virginia Mason hospital, and she even admitted, she's minding the doctors' orders, probably for the first time, ha! However, beings she was allowed to come home, it sounds like she's made some good decisions and we truly hope she continues to be on the mend more and more each day! Linda still appreciates everyone thinking of her, sending her well wishes via text or Facebook and of course, she thinks all those prayers really helped, so here's to more of all of the forementioned; she really appreciates it.

DID YOU KNOW?--If you're new here, you'll be happy to know that the Wahkiakum Co. Eagle will soon be printing their annual "Focus on Wahkiakum" section, which highlights different places in our county, as well as letting you know all that will be happening here. This is a free publication to you and will be available in many stores around our area, so keep the date, May 27 in mind, and grab a copy and you may find out many things about your new home that you had been totally unaware of before! If you're an online person, you can also check that out there.

The much awaited "Wahkiakum Co. Fair Book" will be out in June and this will be crucial to those who want to enter items into our fair. There are different age brackets for some things, and multiple categories when it comes to food things, artwork, etc., and of course, there's a very wide array of rules for each and different times and days in which items can be entered into the fair, so be sure to check those things out thoroughly. This is a great money maker for your kids, as they can submit paintings and drawings, and many other crafts and plants, and animals too, so be sure to look over your fair book carefully when it becomes available.

SPRING TIME--Along with spring time, also comes more kittens and puppies and I hope people will be responsible pet owners and not start dumping them all over the place, which has been routinely done in certain areas around here. If you think your little critters will find a safe home at one of the farmers' houses, you are just kidding yourself. I mean, it might happen, but most likely, your little fuzz balls will get eaten by a coyote or a bobcat or plucked off the ground by a hawk or an eagle and well, that's a horrid thought. We do have a group that deals with the welfare of animals here, and it's called the Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group (WAAG) so if you have an issue, give them a call: 360-504-6336 and see if they are able to help you.

JUST A THOUGHT--There's some debate going about whether there should be a crosswalk put in where SR 4 meets the school access road, so that the kids can go from the school, across the highway and to the school's property, which is used for certain outdoor classes. Considering we raised five kids at that school and some grandkids too, and the speed limit was even higher than it is right now, I'm going to say, "No, we don't really need one." Kids today can set up computers faster than we old folks can figure out how to turn them on, so the idea that they can't use their brains to "look both ways before crossing" is ridiculous. On rare occasions, they may have to wait a minute to cross, but really, we've had kids crossing there for decades, so let's not insult this new generation by implying that they can't even figure out how to safely cross a road.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1946, the first day was a very cold day which was mixed with some sunshine and rain in the lowlands, but it actually snowed around the hills of Cathlamet and the Oregon side too. But lo and behold, the next day was like somebody had flipped a switch and it was actually hot outside! The nice weather continued all week long and everyone was out and about and working in their yards as the first part of May was turning out very nice. The big event that week was the Rebekah Lodge members having an informal and early observation of Mother's Day, with not only themselves but with friends of theirs. Everyone chimed in with the singing part that afternoon and then they played some bingo where many nice prizes were awarded. It wouldn't be a party if there wasn't some food involved, and the potluck lunch was served to quite a group. Many local names were there, like Irvings, Wrights, Olsens, Ackermans, Olmsteads, Jacobsons, Wests, Snyders, Fosters and others too. Plus, coming from afar were Carrie Below of Santa Monica, CA, Lillian Latimer of Dryad, WA and Mrs. B. Stone of Modesta, CA. The sad news that week was that Mrs. Arnold passed away. The good news for Wahkiakum was that we won the ball game against Ryderwood and it was a real good game! All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.