Robotics club holding Saturday fundraiser

SOGGY--After one and a half decent days over the weekend, we seem to be back in that wet pattern, which is bringing the chills to me, as the dampness seems to make these old bones ache, so a ton of rain with some breezy conditions is not really making me too happy. I know that sometimes we have our spring “spring a leak” but hey, enough already; bring us some sunshine please, and the sooner the better!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from April 20-26 are Nathan Kincaid, Max Schmitz, Marie Allen, Mike Snow, Susan Kuhn, Kent Martin, Kelly McClain, Debbie McClain, Maci-Helms Masterson, Alyanna Brown, Todd Wilson, Kassidy Holland, Jeri Terpsma, Esther Mendez, Lisa Cothren, Rochelle Wallin, Jason Wallin, Seth Doumit, Delaney Doumit, Mary Vik, Peter Vik, Jared Vik, Eric Bergseng, Steven M. Doumit, Onya Remer, Melissa Garrett, Myrna Apperson, Shawn Woods, Mike Swift, Linda Mahitka, Max Scudder, Joel Peterson, Olive Zickefoose, Sue Edminster, JoAnne Pedersen, Joel Peterson and 67ers Greg Lloyd and Sandra Davis.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Kent Martin, Jared and Brittany Vik, Ed and Nancy Granger, Robert and Melody Blain and Gwen and Arve Ronninghaug. Here’s wishing all of you special celebrations on your birthdays and anniversaries!

THURSDAY--If you’re getting this paper on Thursday morning, don’t forget that you can come to the Skamokawa Grange Hall and enjoy a free community breakfast. You can also just come down and hang out and enjoy a cup of coffee and meet with your neighbors. Season Long is a wonderful hostess and hopes you can come down to visit and help support the Grange with your presence and donation if possible as it’s always good to support the groups who are trying to preserve our past.

CAR WASH--Here’s hoping there’s a bit of a break in our weather so that folks wanting to support the Mecha Mules Robotic Club will feel inclined to get their cars washed at their fundraiser on Saturday at the Bank of the Pacific. Hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Even if you just want to make a donation, I’m sure they’d be pleased that you’d be helping them head back east to Maryland to the international competition. Go Mules!

BUSY WEEKEND--Besides the car wash, don’t forget on Saturday, April 22, there are a couple of other things going on, so if you’ve got reservations for the Spring Tea that the Friends of Skamokawa are having, this is the Saturday to head to Redmen Hall; I hope you have a great time!

Also happening that day is the Grand Opening of the Puget Island Gardens, complete with their ribbon cutting ceremony at noon. Other festivities, including music, a food truck and more, will be happening from 10 to 6 p.m.

Beings Earth Day is also this Saturday, then the above event is happening on the perfect day! Buy a plant, plant some flowers and some trees and be good to the earth and help the bees and our air too!

NEW MONTH/CHICKEN DINNER--All the May festivities will begin soon, starting with the wonderful May Day rituals. You know, putting flowers on your neighbor's doorstep or having some delivered to your special family members! Don’t have wild flowers? You can always call Daisy Chain Floral to help you out, 360-849-4445.

Another way to get a new plant or two is to attend the “Spring Plant Swap” that will take place May 4 and May 11 at the Skamokawa Grange Hall at 18 Fairgrounds Road from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. If you’d like more info on this new event, contact Tabitha Haynes via text 505-918-9008 or check her out on Facebook. Also, if you’d like to be a vendor at this event, let her know and she can fill you in on all the details.

One of the big events coming soon is in Rosburg and that’s the annual Chicken Dinner held at the Rosburg Hall. It’s always a big hit and always very tasty! It comes with a salad bar, the chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, with some veggies and a roll and then dessert; yum! You get all this for just $12.50 and if you’re a child from 4-12, it’s only $7 so bring the family to Rosburg Hall on May 7 from 11:30 to 1:30 and enjoy a wonderful Sunday chicken dinner; and help support the hall!

That next Sunday, May 14 is a real biggie, as that’s Mother’s Day, so I hope you’ll be watching for the local restaurants' dinner specials and again, give Nicole Emery a call if you want some flowers, or head to the new garden spot on the Island and buy a plant, or you can even get some at the Cathlamet Market, so there are several options for you to treat that special Mom in your life!

As always, there’s the monthly Flea Market at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds, which will be on May 13 from 9 to 3 and there will be bingo at the Norse Hall that evening, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and games beginning at 6. Mark those calendars now and don’t miss out on all the good stuff coming up. I’ve just done the first half of May with more things scheduled for the last half!

LOOKING FOR HONEY?--I was asked to mention that if you’re looking for local honey, you can contact Bill Holmes, who has the Wees Honey Bee Farm at 373 East Little Island Road, Puget Island, 360-430-4007.

REALLY?--When you’ve lived here all your life and you get some folks telling you about something that you have in your area and that they even used in your area, it can get pretty interesting, especially when you just know that it’s not true! During the recent Lewis and Clark Bridge closure (between Longview and Rainier), the WA traffic wound up coming down our way to use the ferry to get to the OR side and vice versa. During these times, an emergency is declared and “our” ferry, the Oscar B, winds up running continuously to move traffic back and forth across the river at no charge. So, you can imagine my surprise when a woman claimed there were two ferries operating on the river and she knew this because she said she had actually ridden the “second ferry!” I explained the 24/7 schedule to her which may have made her think there were two ferries working but that really there was just the one. However, she was absolutely adamant that there were two ferries operating.

So, okay, I give. I called officials in town to make sure that I’m giving her the correct information. We all had a good chuckle about the non-existent second ferry and the idea that we probably just “brought in another one when it was needed” and that I just didn’t know about it. This encounter made me realize just how out of touch some people are about our transportation system and how things work in the real world, as I’m pretty sure that having another ferry hanging around in case of emergencies would be a pretty spendy “spare” to have, and that people actually believe we’d have one! Another person even mentioned that we should just “bring in” another one; what? Where do they think these things come from?

Anyway, it was quite the eye-opener and while the woman in question would not believe me, I hope she calls the Wahkiakum Public Works Dept. and verifies what I told her, the number is 360-795-3301. This is the correct number to call, as the one on a website regarding the ferry is incorrect.