Wahkiakum students begin September 1

COOLER--We have started out this week with some morning drizzle, which was nice to settle the dust for a bit and give the leaf feeding plants a little moisture, so that was great.However, it's usually back to dryness by noon and depending on where you were, it was either "mostly cloudy" or "mostly sunny" as we all know that the weather from Skamokawa to Cathlamet can be completely different on any given day!

If weather models hold up, the weekend may actually be sunnier and warmer, so I'm sure that would be great for all of those trying to get in a beach trip on the last weekend in August. Once again, another month is coming to an end; unbelievable!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Aug. 28-Sept. 1 are Nanea Carroll, Lori Carroll, Addy Helms, Mike Vincent, Bob Wegdahl Jr., Linda Ougendal, Meredith Cothren, Judy Danielson, Jamie Quigley, Vance Mosteller, Jim Robinson, Debbie Melton, Marlena Eaton, Ryan Kuhl, Terry Heagy, Joe Turgeon, Linda Cook and Wayne Bell. Belated birthday wishes to Declan Haddix who celebrated his third birthday last week.

Happy Anniversary wishes are being sent to Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Cruickshank, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Doumit, Pete and Patti LaBerge, Mike and Sara Brown, Ryan and Erica Torppa, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Robinson, Mr. and Mrs. Josh Cochran, Mr. and Mrs. John Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Tischer and Larry and Lesley Horman.

NEW ADDITION--We'd like to congratulate Max and Ashli Scudder on the birth of their first baby, which was a darling little girl that they named Ellie Jean. The little miss arrived on August 19 at 7:13 p.m., and weighed six pounds and three ounces. Needless to say, Grandma Rhonda Campbell Pedersen is "busting buttons" as she and the family welcomed this new addition, and that included grandpa, Mark Pedersen. Welcome to the world little one!

NEWLYWEDS--Congratulations to Tiernan and Amber Cochran, who got married this past Sunday, Aug. 22 at the Rustic River Wedding venue in Cusick, WA, which looked wonderfully rustic! Tiernan is the oldest son of Jenny Blain Cochran and the oldest grandson of Jim and Karen Chamberlain Blain and they are all thrilled to add Amber to the family. Here's wishing you both all the best, Teirnan and Amber; we now have another couple to add to our anniversary list!

THIS FRIDAY--The Farmer's Market will still happen this Friday at the Elochoman Slough Marina, Aug. 27, 3 to 6 p.m., and is scheduled to continue on Friday afternoons through Sept. 10. Deb Holland is in charge and you can contact her at 360-849-9401 to verify.

SKAMOKAWA FLEA MARKET--The next big Flea Market at the fairgrounds will be in the Youth Building and should take place on September 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you have questions or want to rent a table, you can contact the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds at 360-795-3480 or email them at: wahkiakumfair@gmail.com.

WCHS--Just a reminder that our county museum in Cathlamet, located at 65 River Street is still open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m., and will be through September, so if you haven't been in there in awhile, stop on by! You're always welcome to become a Wahkiakum County Historical Society member.

GET WELL--We've had a few folks under the weather for various reasons, and while they may be recovering now, we hope that Russ Durrah, Bonnie LaDoe and Darrell Trotter continue to reach their recovery goals after having to have some recent surgeries. We also heard that Linda Toste had made a trip to the hospital for a little testing, so we hope she gets some good news and is feeling better, and finding out a way to feel one hundred percent. Take care everybody. Here's hoping you all get completely healed and totally well real soon. Oh, and to our dear Jeanne Paulsen, we know you're tough, but we hope you don't take anymore tumbles!

MOVED AWAY--We were sorry to say goodbye to one of our 67'er classmates recently, as Pam Lazor moved to be closer to her daughter and grandkids. We will miss having her close by, and of course, she was a great volunteer at the museum (pre-Covid) so that was certainly a loss as well. However, she will now be able to attend those grandkids' sporting events and be closer for all the celebrations with them. I'm sure they will love having grandma closer and Pam will truly enjoy that as well. At any rate, we wish her the very best in her new home down south!

GREAT VISIT--A former resident, and WHS alumni, Julie (Emery) McKagan was in town this past week and it certainly looked like she enjoyed her time here. She was celebrating her birthday here with lots of family members and got to visit with lots of folks while attending our county fair as well, so it was a real win-win for her this past weekend. For some of the family members, it was their first trip here, so they had a good tour guide to show off our beautfiul area. My belated birthday wishes go out to her as well, as I somehow omitted her special day in last week's column.

ALWAYS FLUID--Just when we think we're getting back to some sort of normalcy, we wind up with more Covid cases and restrictions and even some more mask mandates; ugh! While some events are planned and listed on the Chamber of Commerce events calendar, I'm not sure anybody can be absolutely positive that they will happen as in these times, plans are definitely fluid! So, please contact either the chamber, or the head of any event that you'd like to take part in and make sure that it's still going to happen, as about the time I write about it and say it's a go, it winds up being canceled due to unforseen problems.

However, we are supposed to have the Kite Festival on Sept. 18 at Skamokawa Vista Park (360-795-8605) and there is supposed to be Octoberfest doings at the River Mile 38 Brewing Co that same day (360-355-4662) so we'll hope those happen but you might want to call ahead to make sure.

FAIR WRAP-UP--For the first time in forever, I was not able to attend the fair this year, but other family members did, and were kind enough to bring me dinner from there, so I was almost there. As I said last week, the drizzle and dampness that almost always shows up at fair time, did indeed show up. Thankfully it was very short-lived and just in the morning hours, so there was plenty of time to walk around while it was nice and dry; maybe not the warmest of days, but decent. I enjoyed seeing the pictures that folks posted on Facebook and I thoroughly enjoyed the enthusiasm of those who played bingo and won a critter, whether it was a calf or a goat. I'm glad it was them and not me, but more power to 'em!

With so many new folks to the area, I hope you attended and I hope that by seeing what gets submitted to the fair, it will inspire you to enter your own things next year. The fair is as full and active as we make it so if you'd like to see it packed with entries, here's hoping you'll invite all your friends to enter something next year. Have an idea for a booth, or something fun for the kids to do? Again, start planning now as I know they'd welcome new ideas and new games and more fun things to do, so here's to a calm next year (no more Covid) and enjoy a nice, small town/country fair. Here's to next year: August 18 - 20, 2022!

SCHOOL STARTING--To all of you kids starting school real soon, I hope you have a fantastic year and that everything goes smoothly for you. We wish all our Warrior and Mule teams a season of great games, runs, plays, etc., and as long as you try your best, you're a winner and we will back you a hundred percent!

Here's one last "Don't pass a school bus when the stop sign is out" warning, as you will get reported and hopefully, your actions don't result in any fatalities.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1946, the week began with a couple of nice days before turning to rainy ones, but then things cleared up and got decent again, before welcoming in September with a very hot day! Jean (Walker) Shane, and daughters, Pat and Susan, stopped by that afternoon after a trip down from Seattle. Later that evening, they headed up to Marian (Everest) Healy's home for a nice dinner. That week Elsie Everest purchased a "Presto Cooker" and for her first cooked meal in it, she fixed a beef stew, which she said turned out really good, so she was pleased with her purchase. Marian Healy needed to get her daughter, Donna, some shoes, so when the Shanes left town, she got a ride as far as Longview, and then returned to Cathlamet on the afternoon bus. There were many people stopping by that week, like Mary Anne Risk and Glen Patton and Edgar B., to name a few. The Everests went to visit the Dyrlands earlier in the day, then went to the show and then dined on the pork roast that was done to perfection in the new Presto cooker! A fairly calm week after all the hub-bub of the Centennial doings the week before. This according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.