Covered Bridge Dinner has been canceled

WILD ONE--This past weekend had us listening to rolling thunder, accompanied by some flashy lightning and we saw and heard some very heavy rains, along with howling winds! I was happy that we didn't lose power throughout the nastiest part of this event, but we did lose it for about an hour during a calm period on Sunday evening, which seemed weird. While I certainly wasn't expecting it to happen during the calmest part of the day, at least I was prepared for it. A big thank you to the PUD crew for having our power back on in such a short time!

READY?--As always, it's times like these that make you realize just how prepared you are. Afterall, it's only the beginning of the Fall and Winter seasons and while they may be fairly mild now, it's always way less stressful if one is stocked and ready for whatever Mother Nature doles out!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 23-29 are Shona Heywood, Matthew Keilwitz, Rownen Vegvary, Marie West, Cheryl Backman, Dan Turner, Michael Apperson, Laura Norris, Justin Stewart, Jessica Stewart, Shelby Robinson, Tammy Johnson, Bobby Bergseng, Brett Havens, Leah Clark, Evelyn Clark Lorentz, Michael Danker, Michael Zurick, Shannon Lewis, Linda Newton, Tracy Giesler, Julia Ann Wright, Brenda Rutledge, Cherish Petrenchak, Monica Weirdermann, Lyric Rose, Blake Anderson, Sue Kuller, Becky Keithley, Kevin Weaver, Edith Erickson, Barbara Shaver, Lori Kyle, Karla Hall Kyle, Isabella Macchione and Larri Palmer.

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bosch, Mr. and Mrs. John Burdick, Michael and Kaelee Paulsen, Mr. and Mrs. John Hoven, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Doumit, Jeff and Shelley Hedges, Mr. and Mrs. Ron Pedersen and Larry and Linda Spieth. Here's hoping all of you celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week have a truly wonderful day with many great memories.

LAST WEEKEND--If you're wanting to check out our county museum in Cathlamet, you've just got this coming weekend to do so before the winter break comes along. The museum is located on the street behind Main Street, next to the PUD, at 65 River Street. Their hours are 1 to 4 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday and they hope to see you there!

GO MULES--Our mighty Mules football team will play away this Friday night, so here's to safe travels to Toledo for the team and we hope you come home with a win! Our Mules volleyball team will have an away game at Mark Morris on the 25th, one at home against Napavine on Tuesday, Sept. 28 and away on the 30th at Morton/White Pass, so they'll be on the road quite a bit and we wish you safe trips and good games as well. Go Mules!

CHAMBER CALENDAR--Are you or your group/organization having a big event this coming year? If you are, it's time to give Stacey a call at the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce and get that event listed on the calendar for next year. It should include all the particulars, like the four W's: Who, What, Where and When, along with contact names and numbers. You can contact the chamber office at 360-795-9996 or via email: slane@wahkiakum.us.

DINNER CANCELED--One of our bigger events, the Grays River Covered Bridge Dinner, which was to take place on Oct. 2, has been canceled. This is really a shame, as it's a unique experience and the new folks in the area would really have loved being able to check this out. Let's hope that next year we'll have this health crisis under control enough to be able to have these kinds of things once again. The WSU Extension office in Cathlamet was the one to contact for this event, and if you have any questions or if you might even want to donate to this program, you can call 360-895-3278.

COMING IN OCTOBER--The monthly Flea Market should still happen next month, so jot down Oct. 9 on your calendar and head to the Wah. Co. Fairgrounds at 16 Fairgrounds Road that day. This event takes place in the Youth Building in the fairgrounds and lasts from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Come and find your treasure or, you can rent a table and sell some of your own! Call 360-795-3480 to set that up.

Also on Oct. 9, the start of the online auction for the Friends of Skamokawa's "A Cornucopia of Treasures" will begin. This will last until Oct. 16 and you can join in the fun by going to: http://www.32auctions.com/fos.

At the end of October is "Neewollah Days" and here's hoping the weather is decent as this outdoor event takes place on Oct. 29 at the high school parking lot after school from 3:30 to 4:40 p.m. You'll be able to enjoy the parade that goes around the outside of the parking lot, by being on the inside area, where booths for the trick or treaters will be set up. If you bring a canned food item to donate, you'll also be entered to win a special t-shirt.

The following day, Oct. 30, a new event, called the "Howloween Doggie Parade" will take place at Erickson Park at 1 p.m., so get your pooches dolled up in their costumes and it is hoped that everyone will have a "howling" good time. This is also a fund raiser for WAAG, (Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group) so if you're able, please bring pet food items or treats to donate as well. There will be more about this in the days to come.

ADVERTISING--When holding an event, it can't be stressed enough that one must plan these things way ahead of time and make sure you not only advertise really early, but also in multiple ways and repeatedly, or you'll be left very disappointed. Having a "flyer" put up a couple weekends ahead of time on a restaurant door is not going to cut it anymore as there's so many of those that nobody pays attention to them half the time. Putting it up once on your Facebook page isn't going to cut it either, nor is putting it on a website with no other back up news article. I can't tell you how often I find out about things after they are over, as these special events were just so poorly advertised, so, whatever you are planning, I do hope you'll have a great team of promoters so that you can have a well attended event. Of course, one of your best bets, is buying an ad in this paper. Remember, Support Local!

GREAT TIME--This last weekend, there were two Wahkiakum High School class reunions, and it looked like they both had a great time getting together. The WHS Class of 1961 met in Longview for their 60th reunion and those class members attending were Ron Shuley, Wally Cochran, Joanne Cook Brockway, Margie Bunn Dunne, Keith Olsen, Bob Quigley, Penny Madden Weathers, Else Marsyla Dodge, Sandy Sandstrom Lakomecki, Carol Baker Fisk and Gaylene Witham Johnson. Hosts were Ron and Susie Shuley with Else Dodge pitching in a lot of help to make it such a wonderful event.

Then the WHS Class of 1966 met for their 55th class reunion at the Duck Inn and those pictured were: John Doumit, Vicki Anderson Reid, Pat Conrad, Gretchen Ronning, Danny Eaton, Jonnie Lawson Knowles, Skip Irving, Sheryl Irving McMahon, David Nelson, Dylene Jamison Oberg, Vicki Jacobsen Gregory, Ron Free, Vicki Neely Bergseng, Gary Bergseng and Craig Sears. I think they were very fortunate to have a break in the weather and were still able to be out on the new deck at the Duck for pictures; nice!

Earlier this month, the WHS Class of 1971 met at Skamokawa Vista Park for their 50 year reunion, and those in attendance that day were: Alan Neely, Ron Ackermann, Tom Hall, Mike Coon, Mike Grasseth, Dave Mueller, Terry Cleveland, Jean Pederson Hardesty, Peggy Wells Pedersen, Kathay Ames King, Cheryl Moor Gaze Stamper and Cynthia Seaberg Faubion.

It's always great when we can get together with our former classmates and mull over all that has been going on since last meeting. Here's to more of these reunions, whether they are "special" ones or not, as we're not getting any younger and so each time we can gather together is indeed special!

BURN BAN CHANGES--It looks like the Burn Ban around here has had their dates changed but before you burn, just make sure you have a permit to do so and call into the Sheriff's non-emergency number before you strike the match! 360-795-3242. It wouldn't hurt to call ahead to make sure that things haven't changed again anyway, as this week appears to be fairly dry, so even if it is legal to have a fire, please be very careful.

CONDOLENCES--We'd like to send our sincerest sympathies to local resident, Terri Elfers as she recently lost her niece in a horrific tragedy and we can only imagine the shock and pain that she and her family are going through right now. We offer our condolences to her entire family and hope that justice will soon be served.

HOLIDAYS COMING--We hope you'll keep in mind a need for shopping local as much as possible for your holiday gifts this year; there will be special sales and holiday events coming up later and with so many artisans and craftsmen around our area, I hope you'll buy something from one of them for a unique gift that helps support one of our own.

If you're looking for a good book, why not head to Redmen Hall and check out one of our local authors in their book/gift shop? You can buy local jewelry, soaps and other things there too, so check them out. The Skamokawa General Store has some great clothing items for sale, and so does the Duck Inn, so with winter coming on, maybe somebody on your list would like to find one of their sweatshirts under the Christmas tree!

ATTITUDE--While out and about, I hope we can embrace the BE KIND motto. There are lots of people who are under a lot of stress right now, and business owners have to do things that they may not agree with but must do to keep their doors open, so let's all just be civil to one another, as that's about the best way for us all to come through these trying times without going bonkers! Remember, smiles are free and contagious too, so if we're going to spread something around, let's spread some good stuff!

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1951, (Sept. 23 - 29) it was still smoky in the area and everyone was looking forward to the rain that was predicted, as fires had been really bad and it was declared the worst dry summer since 1929! However after one beautiful day on Sept. 26, it got cold and the first frost arrived. Then the rain fell on Sept. 27, and it was wet all week and everyone was very happy! During the first football game of the year, which was on a Thursday night, there was constant rain falling. In what was said to be one of the best games they'd ever seen, Cathlamet and the Kelso Jr. Varsity teams were so evenly matched, from first downs to yardage made, that it was no surprise when they called the game a 0 to 0 tie! The whole Everest/Pedersen family went to the game and got to see grandson/son, Ralph Pedersen play multiple times during the stand-off. Coach John Hindrum said his half-back, Al Gisselberg did an awesome job and was said to be one of the finest backs in the region. It looked like Fall was in the air and after not having to order in oil for the stove since April, the Everests finally had to order some! All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary!