Halloween events set for Saturday and Monday

BACK AGAIN--I am back in the present, with both telephone and internet, at least for the moment. It was a quiet couple of weeks, which was fairly nice in one way, as those annoying campaign calls and other robo calls weren’t waking me up, but it sure is hard to gather news and write a column when you’re out in the sticks and have no way to communicate, or send a column in via email!

WE GOT RAIN--As I begin my column, it is actually pretty decent out there. However, last Friday night, our rain gauge showed that we had almost an inch of the wet stuff by bedtime, so that was pretty impressive, and much needed so I wasn’t going to complain about it. I had forgotten how daunting that rain can be however, and how, in spite of all the dry time I had enjoyed prior to it, that I still had not finished all those chores that needed to have been done while it was nice and dry! With a week of rain being forecast, I can only hope we have some of these dry spells too, so that our Halloween doings don’t end up being all washed up!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Oct. 27-Nov. 2 are Maury Mooers, Michelle Nickolaus, Miley Montgomery, Tristan Parke, Calvin Grasseth, Nathaniel Norris, Tim Patching, Ellee Crouse, Mike Wright, Hayden Johnson, Chris Spitzer, John Hannah, Christie L. Davis, Phil Corbin, Starla Hanson, Carol Blalock, Kim Dixon and Jessica Palmer. Happy Birthday, everyone!

Happy Anniversary wishes go out this week to Herb and Anita Mosteller, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Dixon, Mr. and Mrs. David Smith and Mr. and Mrs. Bob Johnson.

Once again, if you have any additions or corrections to this calendar, I hope you have notified the Lions Club so that this coming year's calendar accurately portrays your family members.

THURSDAY AT THE GRANGE--I hope you’ll remember that each Thursday, from 10 until noon, Season Long and her crew happily serve a free breakfast and lots of coffee, so you’re invited to join them. They’d love to have you sit a spell, bring a goodie to share and make a donation towards this weekly event, but that’s not a must, so don’t miss out if you’re a little short on cash. Come to the Skamokawa Grange Hall located at 18 Fairgrounds Road and meet your new neighbors and gab with those you already know!

However, this week, Thursday Oct. 27, they will hold a “Fall Harvest Fest” so the hours are from 10 to 4 p.m. So besides the breakfast, there will be a craft bazaar, kids games and even a mini photo session with Puget Island photographer, Rene Westbrook for a small fee. For more information about all this, contact speakupwahkiakum@gmail.com or call 360-795-5208.

JOIN WAAG ON SATURDAY--In the spirit of Halloween, the members of WAAG (Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group) invite you to dress up “Fido” and enter him into a costume contest that will be held at Erickson Park on Columbia Street Oct. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m. This event is being brought to you by the Wah. Chamber of Commerce and WAAG. They ask that you bring canned food items for dogs and cats and of course, all pet related needs, like cat litter or flea collars, but mostly, a lot of food is needed as the demand for help has been great. There will be other things going on as well, such as raffle prizes and doggie games, so come and check it all out this Saturday afternoon and please help if at all possible with a donation. For more info: 360-504-6336 and if you can’t attend but would like to donate, send a check to WAAG, P.O. Box 231, Cathlamet, WA 98612.

LOCAL HALLOWEEN DOINGS--Some of our local restaurants and bars will have their Halloween doings this Saturday night, so they hope to see you at their place. However, one of our former local boys, John Brockmueller will be playing with his band, “Sucker Punched” here in Skamokawa this Saturday evening, so come on down and say “hello” and take part in the costume party, enjoy a fun evening and maybe even win a great prize!

BIG HALLOWEEN DOINGS--Don’t forget that on Monday, which is really Halloween, the Wah. Chamber of Commerce is bringing back “Neewollah” Days after having to cancel it for a couple of years due to Covid, so this will be super fun for the kids. You can bring the kids to Main Street in Cathlamet and wherever you see a “pumpkin” on a business door, you’ll know they’ll be taking part in the fun, and remember, all kids in costumes will receive a goody bag! This takes place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and if you have any questions, call the chamber at 360-795-9996.

WATCH OUT--Beings it gets dark so early and Monday evening will be seeing a huge influx of kids out and about taking part in the annual “trick or treating” routine here and there, be sure to be extra cautious so no little ones get injured needlessly. Here’s hoping all the ghosts and goblins and princesses and such have a wonderful Halloween this coming week!

THANKSGIVING AT THE GRANGE--This is just an early heads up for the big Thanksgiving Community Potluck Dinner that will take place at the Skamokawa Grange Hall on Thanksgiving, Nov. 24. As I mentioned above, Season Long is instrumental in getting things rolling at the Grange Hall, so with this event being hosted by “Shoeboxes of Joy - Wahkiakum” and “Speak up Wahkiakum” groups, they are asking for your help. More bodies are needed to provide this meal to those who show up, so they hope you’ll give them a call. The email and the phone number is the same as it is listed above in the “Thursday at the Grange” section.

WELL WISHES--I wanted to let a couple of ‘67’ers know that we are thinking of them as they are not in the best of health at the moment, so, we hope Greg Lloyd and his wife, Cindy, feel better soon as it seems a very nasty cold has opted to take up residence at their house. Some folks think a cold is no big deal, but “just a cold” can lead to other problems, so we do hope they recuperate quickly and will be back to their cheery selves real soon! We also want to send our best to Kathy Peek who is still recuperating from a fall she took, so we send her all our best as well! She says she is happy to have healthcare workers in her family, so she is getting good care.

WILD WEATHER--I heard from my cousin, Pamela Everest Priestly recently, and she is telling me that where she lives in Australia NSW (New South Wales) they are having massive flooding. Beings this is their summer time, this is not what they are expecting at all and it’s really quite devastating. Fortunately for her, she lives further up a mountain so while she is experiencing a lot of rain, her home is not being flooded and she is safe, unlike some of her fellow neighbors down the hill. We hope and pray they get a respite from all the rain real soon and I hope my dear cousin stays high and dry!

NEW EXHIBIT--I hope you’ll head up to Redmen Hall sometime before November 12 and check out the “Rivertown, Through A Lens” photography exhibit, as it’s really quite spectacular. Not only do we have some great, ever changing scenery here, but we’ve got some fantastic photographers that are able to capture its extraordinary beauty as well; great job, everybody! So come to Skamokawa and head to the historic hall on the hill, formerly the Central School and check out the exhibit as well as all the goodies in the gift shop and wonderful books by local authors and books about our area. For more info call 360-795-3007.

LAST WEEKEND--This weekend, Oct. 29 and 30 are the last two days of public access to our historic museum in Cathlamet at 65 River Street, so the historical society hopes you’ll stop from 1 to 4 on one of those days and check it out. However, if there is ever a time you have out of town guests or a group that would really enjoy a tour of the museum in the off months, it is possible that arrangements could be made for you to do so. However, this solely depends on the amount of notice and availability of a host/hostess, but the number to call to find out would be to Kari Kandoll at 360-849-4353.

As always, volunteers are always needed for hosting and for things that need to be done during the winter closure, so it sure would be great to see some more bodies and new faces at our local museum!

Happy Halloween next Monday, everybody!