Mules Homecoming was a special one

WET BEGINNING--As I begin this column, it's a very drippy Sunday morning. However, we all know how quickly these forecasts can change. The "mostly dry" week has now changed and so there's only a couple of dry looking days in the current weather forecast. We'll see how that turns out. With a little luck those wet days will turn into mostly dry days but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

BURN BAN WAS LIFTED--The burn ban in our area has been lifted, so all the tree branch burners were happy to be rid of their piles of brush this past weekend. However, I think it's worth rementioning, that you still need a permit to burn, and a small pile burn permit covers a 4 by 4 by 3 foot fire, and for larger fires, a large burn pile permit is required. Also, you still need to call the non-emergency phone number to the sheriff's office (360-795-3242) prior to burning so they can list you on their active burn list so that you don't wind up being reported as an illegal burn.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Oct. 7-13 are Matt Helms, Jeff Baldwin, Justin McClain, Kalisha Mace, Collin Montgomery, Jessie Havens, Mike Hartley, Cindy Turner, Ryan Nortrup, Carrie Nortrup, Erica Biem, Breanna Lorenzo, Ron Widman, Ron D. Cothren, Paul and Peter LaBerge, Kristina Heiner, Lisa Sauer, Chris Johnson, Josie Parker, Cameron Collins, Doug Manary, Gary Tischer, "little" Hadley Caliman, Lisa Frink and my one and only granddaughter, Tessa J. Sechler. Happy Birthday, everybody!

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Mr. and Mrs. Brent Mahitka, Mr. and Mrs. William Owen, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Wilkins, Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Olsen and Adam and Samantha Pedersen's other wedding anniversary, they had East coast & West coast weddings! Enjoy your special days, everybody!

GREAT JOB--Congratulations to the Mighty Mules football team, as they certainly made this past Friday night under the lights, a very special one. Not only did they have a huge win to celebrate, but that made the fact that it was their Homecoming game all the more special. It was also a dry night, so all those pretty gals in their fancy dresses didn't have to get covered up with rain jackets or umbrellas either! Congrats to the entire Homecoming court as well, which included a West Valley girl, Bailey McKinley as the freshman princess, so kudos to her as she has certainly grown up to be a lovely young lady.

This week, Friday Oct. 8, the Mules will head to Kalama, so here's to another great game!

THIS IS IT--Just a quick reminder for those who love to hunt for treasures, as the Flea Market is open at the Wah, Co. fairgrounds here in Skamokawa from 9 to 3 this Saturday, Oct. 9. There are fairground signs posted along SR 4 as you come into Skamokawa from both directions and another one right where you turn off of SR 4 on East Valley Road as well, so it's definitely well marked. I think we get so used to seeing some of these signs that we just forget that they are even there, but at second glance, well, sure enough, they are indeed there!

REDMEN HALL--Have you been up to Central School/Redmen Hall/River Life Interpretive Center lately? We hope you'll stop by and check out this historic building and learn all about how it started out as a school, turned into a hall and then wound up in the hands of a group of visionaries: the Friends of Skamokawa! It was quite a feat to have a group of folks come together and form this group and purchase this beautiful building, which wasn't so beautiful at the time, but with hard work and dedication, it was saved from certain ruin and is now a wonderful centerpiece in Skamokawa, located at Milepost 29 on SR 4.

To help keep this building up and running, the Friends of Skamokawa hope you'll take this coming week from Oct. 9-16, to take part in their fund raising event, which is an online auction. Go to http://www.32auction.com/fos and check out all the items they have up for bids and not only can you come away with some awesome items but you'll help a worthy cause as well. Have fun and enjoy! Call 360-795-3007 for more info.

LAST GAMING SHOW--Attention horse lovers: on Oct. 16, the Wah. Co. Fairgrounds will be the site of the last show of the Silver Buckle Series, so if you love horses, and like to see riders compete in various games, then head this way! The gates open at 8 a.m., and the games start at 10 a.m. With this being the last show, you will be able to find out who all the winners are in the various competitions, so it will be an exciting ending for these riders. Everyone is invited to show up, so here's to a real good showing at this last competition in the SB series. If you have any questions, call 509-697-6049 and Valerie should be able to help you out.

HALLOWEEN IS COMING--Last week I mentioned the "Trunk or Treat and Parade" at the high school parking lot on Oct. 29, as well as the costumed Doggie Parade (1 p.m.) at Erickson Park the following day, which are both put on by the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce, and are both having a canned food drive.

However, I didn't mention the fun activity that will take place down this way; yikes! Be sure to come back here to the fairgrounds on Oct. 30 for the big Halloween Carnival from 4 to 7 p.m., as that's always lots of fun, with games and treats, so mark that on your calendars as the kids always have a good time at that event.

PLEASE DONATE--Besides the canned food drives listed above, there will also be a big one on October 30, which is the annual "Walk n Knock" Food drive put on by the Wahkiakum Lions Club. With the holidays fast approaching, there is always the extra need for holiday dinner menu items, as well as the usual things, so we hope you'll have a bag of non-perishable food items ready to be picked up on that last Saturday in October by 9 a.m. Pickups will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and there will also be a drop off place for non-perishables and protein foods at the Puget Island Fire Hall that day. The contact for this event is Renee Robert, 360-849-4003.

We also have multiple food banks in our area which you can donate to: the Wahkiakum Food Bank at 42 Elochoman Valley Road; St. Catherine's Church at 400 Columbia Street or the Helping Hand food bank in the basement of the Seventh Day Adventist Church at 3 Fern Hill Road, all in Cathlamet. Whether you may need help or just want to help out, don't forget to reach out; help is close by for those that need it, and helpers are always welcomed.

CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE--With Christmas only two and a half months away, it's not too early to start thinking about donating to the STARS program. This is for those kids who may have holiday dreams of gifts under the tree, but may not have a family that is able to make those dreams come true, so our locals do their best to take stars off of Christmas trees that are located in various businesses, and purchase the items listed on them.

There is also a "Shop with a Cop" day, where those who are in need, can fill out a form and submit it to them so that they might find themselves going shopping with our fine law enforcement officers. There will be more about all of this later on, but I hope you'll think about donating to this great cause which can bring so much happiness and so many smiles to those who may not otherwise have a joyous Christmas. When the time comes, I hope you'll be able to drop off either a gift or cash donation or both as your kindness and generosity will be deeply appreciated!

BUILDING COMES DOWN--It was sad to see the recent controlled collapsing of Wright's Hardware Store building, which had stood "forever" in C-town so watching it get torn down was pretty thought provoking. However, with a multitude of problems, I was told it was time for the aging building to come down but it's still never easy to see the things that we've always known to be there our whole lives, come to an end, but we hope something new and beneficial to the community will arise in its place. One era has come to an end but here's to another!

GET WELL--There have been several people who have been under the weather lately, and some are dealing with Covid complications and who do not wish to be named, but we certainly want to wish all of them the speediest of recoveries and want to send some hearty get well wishes. Take care, everybody!

SYMPATHIES--We were certainly shocked to learn about the passing of local west end resident, Darin Dow this past week, Sept. 27, as he was the same age as my kids, so I think it's even harder when they leave this world at a much younger age than we expect. Our sincerest sympathies are exteneded to his wife, Charlene and to all of Darin's family members and dear friends as well.

EXTRA SAD--We were so sorry to hear about the passing of Lois Nelson, mother of this paper's editor and just one of the sweetest people you'd ever want to know. Our deepest sympathies go out to Rick and his family and all of Lois's family members and good friends. Heaven has definitely received another angel this past weekend.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1941, the weather was wetter than wet and poured for four and a half of the next seven days. Navy boy, George Everest, sent his folks a letter saying he'd be leaving San Diego on the 10th but his destination was up in the air still. Nationally, folks were keeping tabs on the parachute jumper, George Hopkins, who was stranded on Devil's Tower, and was rescued on Oct. 7 after being stuck up there for five days. There were horrible storms, hurricanes, a heat wave in the East and also in Kansas and raging fires in California with a worrisome push on Moscow by the Nazis. These were not the best of times. Jonas Pedersen came home from Alaska the day his daughter, Bella, brought home her baby boy from the hospital in Astoria. John West came by to visit the Everests and told them of his brother Albert's passing. He left a wife and eight children. A man who had left "camp" to go hunting who was deemed lost, was found late that evening. Big news for the phone company as the "dial circuit" to Puget Island was in and Grandma Everest spoke to S. Petersen on the Island on Oct. 11 via phone line; big event! Huge surprise in the wee hours of Oct. 12, as George Everest showed up at his folks' house. Everyone was so happy and so suprised to see him, but thrilled he had a 15 day leave at home. The following day George Doumit took him out to the Millers' and the next day, he was working for Crown Zellerbach filling in for Mr. Miller. Leon Healy was called up that day to help his friend "Jigs" who had gotten a deer and needed an extra hand to bring it out of the woods. All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's 1941 diary.