Kites might fly at Vista Park on Saturday

CHANGING--After a warm and sunny weekend, with just a bit of mist Sunday morning, it looks like we may be in for some real weather changes for the weekend. Friday looks to be the start of several days of rain, so while it's not great for those with weekend plans, I know all of us living amongst the dry forests are truly hoping to see some decent rainfall out of this to help negate some of our fire danger. With these systems often falling apart before they reach us, we're keeping our fingers crossed that this time we actually get some of this much needed moisture, as pastures and creeks could really use a good drink about now!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 16-22 are Aiden Fletcher, Tracy Carroll, Frank Bosch, Jay Mace, George Bates, Darlene Dobbins, Linda Elliott, Wade Cothren, Gracy Brown, Penny Paulsen, Jim Spitzer, Emi Marsyla, Gerry Brennan, Paige Nielson, Emmaline Vik, Korina Hoven, Laurie Williams, Linda Roseberry, Jason Montgomery, Mandy Giesler, David Leo Vik, Theresa Jacobson, Sam Longtain, Monte Longtain, Ty Norris, Art Hedman, Marcia Snyder Brighton, Bruce Holland, Adam Pedersen and Susan Peterson Shook.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Dan Keilwitz, Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Sittauer, Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Traver, Sam and Kari England, Gwen and Arve Ronninghaug and Kevin and Jessica Palmer. May your special days turn out exactly how you'd like them to!

CONGRATS!--Thanks to Leah Clark, I got to see some gorgeous pictures of a new bride and groom this past week, so a hearty congratulations go out to newlyweds, Evelyn (Clark) and Jason Lorentz, who tied the knot this past weekend. The former Miss Washington was truly a lovely bride in her flowing white gown and her handsome groom in an off-white suit, made for a very striking couple indeed. Their wedding was at the Larc Hill Vineyard Ranch in Chelan, and the beautiful flowered archway with Lake Chelan in the background, made for a gorgeous backdrop as they exchanged vows. In case you didn't know, Evelyn's folks are Puget Islanders, Mike and Leah (Anderson) Clark, and her Cathlamet grandparents are Hap and Dixie Anderson, and of course, they are all more than happy to have added Jason to their family. Here's to many happy years together for the young couple!

MULES AT HOME--Whether you're a volleyball fan, or a football fan, or both, you're in luck this week as the mighty Mules teams will be here at home for you to enjoy their games and cheer them on. The Lady Mules will play Adna on the 16th, (today-Thursday) both JV and Varsity. The next time they play is Tuesday, Sept. 21, and will be away at Kalama. The Mules football team will host Onalaska under the Friday night lights on Sept. 17, so here's hoping all their fans show up to support them and we wish them both injury free games as well. Let's Go Mighty Mules!

MAYBE?--This is supposed to be the weekend to see some kites flying at Skamokawa Vista Park but with rain due in for the weekend, I won't be surprised if that winds up being canceled. However, just in case it turns out nice, you can always call down and see if a few showed up or, if you're local, just take the short drive down here and check out the park for yourself, 360-795-8605.

ASKING AGAIN--In the Sept. 2 edition of this paper, I asked for a picture of the old Riley barn, prior to the lean-tos being added, and we got a response. However, the number that was left by Mr. Riley to our museum curator, Kari Kandoll's phone, now seems to be disconnected. So, if you know Mr. Riley, and can get ahold of him in another manner, would you please have him call Kari back at 360-849-4353 or email her back at wahkiakumhistory@gmail.com. It is hoped that a smaller, more workable photo can be obtained, as large pictures just aren't going to fit into the current available scanner. If anyone else in the area has happened upon an older picture of the Riley barn out East Valley, Kari would certainly be interested in hearing from you as well.

FOS--Have you been able to get your donation to Redmen Hall for the Friends of Skamokawa's upcoming online auction yet? As always, the more things there are to bid on, the more fun it is to bid and the more money will be raised to keep the doors open at the hall, so we hope you'll dream up something awesome to donate! Questions? You can email the hall at fos1894@gmail.com or call 360-795-3007. Remember, this online auction will take place from Oct. 9 -16. Check it out at http://www.32auction.com/fos.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED--If you find yourself feeling a little bored and you'd like to do something that could make a difference in your community, why not get yourself on a "will volunteer" list? Often times different groups not only need new members, but they also need some of those members to spend a little extra time in that group doing some volunteer projects. Of course, if you don't want to be a "member"of a group, you can probably just volunteer your time helping them now and then. Right now we have a couple of groups that would love to see some more volunteers, and one of them is the Friends of Skamokawa and the other is our Wah. Co. Historical Society.

The FOS is one of our "grassroots" groups that came together to buy and restore the historic Central School/Redmen Hall in Skamokawa in the mid-80s and they have been busy ever since. Every now and then, those folks who are usually manning the desk and the gift/book shop, have other duties or family obligations and can't always be there, so it sure would be nice if there were some extra volunteers on their list that would be willing to come up for a few hours now and then and help out. If you're interested, either stop by or give them a call and let them know you'd be willing to lend them a hand, 360-795-3007.

The other group operates the Museum in Cathlamet (65 River Street) and with its abundance of artifacts and local history, it is truly a jewel to have in our county. It's also a great way to learn about your own community, as many of us just live here, but haven't really dug into how it all came to be, so this gives a volunteer a great opportunity to do this when no guests are coming through the doors. It also gives those who spend a lot of time there a little break, as they certainly have it coming. So, if you'd like to help out, give Kari Kandoll a call or email her at the number or email address listed above in a prior section.

GREAT JOB AGAIN!--Once again, our former local gal, Laurie Miller did a fantastic job singing the National Anthem at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup this past week. She has performed there many times before many acts, but she was especially humbled by the fact that this time, Mike Love, of the Beach Boys, let her know that she did an awesome job prior to them coming out on stage. Nice compliment indeed! To top it off, Laurie had tickets to the concert but beings she'd seen them before and someone else hadn't, she unselfishly gave up her tickets so they could enjoy this fantastic opportunity. So kudos to Laurie for not only sharing her beautiful voice with the crowd but also for her kind and generous act that truly made someone else's day!

SYMPATHIES--We'd like to extend our sincere sympathies to Ida Budd, who just recently lost her husband Garland. We had just spoken to the two of them at the Duck Inn recently, so this was certainly shocking news, and we want to send our condolences to their entire family.

We were also very saddened and shocked to hear of the passing of former Skamokawa girl, Tara Roseberry, daughter of Bob and Linda Roseberry now of Cathlamet. We certainly send them and all members of Tara's family our deepest sympathies. Those who knew her would say she was known for greeting everyone with her big smile and cheery hello and she will be missed by all who knew and loved her.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1941, it rained for the first four days before turning "lovely." It was a busy time at the Everests as they were finishing up canning peaches and also the salmon that they'd gotten. The huge run of fish was still going strong up the Columbia, which was the heaviest in years. That week Neely Groesbeck passed away as did Mr. Mathers, father of Abras Mathers. The first football game of the season was played on September 19 but unfortunately for the Cathlamet team, they got beat by Toledo that night. The news from Europe was not good as the Russian city of Kiev fell into German hands.

This week in 1946, it was nice all week long with only one evening of showers. Ruby Hannigan hosted a group of ladies after their Pocahontas meeting, where she set things up to celebrate the birthdays of members O'Dessa O. and also Nevada Shamley. It was deemed the best time they'd all had in ages, which was topped off by Mrs. Bremen telling their fortunes! A couple of days later, the Rebekahs met for an evening practice and then N. Shamley and Alva Olmstead and Elsie Everest headed to Bozeman's afterwards for some time together, which was "fun!" After Mrs. Risk and Elsie met at Mathilda Hansen's for lunch one day, Ralph Everest was happy to receive a nice homemade treat from Mathilda in the way of some fresh, tasty doughnuts. The week didn't start out too good for Donna Healy, as she had to make a trip to the doctor for an infected knee, which was certainly worrisome for her Mother, Marian. The Cathlamet football team not only lost their game to Battle Ground that Friday night, but they also lost Bob Olsen as he broke his arm during the game. That week, Helen Danielsen married George Rust on Sept. 22.

F. F. Clark, manager of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company in our area, spoke of the new method of installing telephone service to people using a "power line carrier" method. It will serve rural areas by using high frequency currents which hitchhike a ride along an already existing electric power line, and explained in detail just how all of that would work.

In a political post in a widely circulated newspaper, local State Rep. Julia Butler Hansen was received back into the Democratic party, after having been represented as an "Independent" Democrat. An appropriate ceremony welcoming her back "into the fold" took place that week when the governor visited Cathlamet.

This week in 1951, it was extremely hot and dry and the area was suffering from the smokey conditions from fires in the region. It was on Sept. 20 when Sankey Blix brought the new boat he was building for Krist and Carol Pedersen, up to Welcome Slough where Ralph and Elsie Everest, Barbara Moore, two year old Kay Pedersen and two other unidentified children, took a little cruise on her. It was still a work in progress but the boat, called the "Carol Irene" was deemed a real beauty!

All this according to my grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.