Westside Stories

My husband, the generous giver that he is, shared his germs with me and I was laid out with a bad head cold all last week. Since I was sick, I missed out on all the plans I had for the week. I was disappointed to miss the Christmas party at the Grays River Grange, playing Bunco with friends at the Naselle Community Center, and just being able to get out and about.

Thankfully, I was feeling well enough on Sunday to get to some fun events. Mark and I ventured into Naselle to the Finnish American Folk Festival sponsored Tour of Homes. For many years, the Tour of Homes had been planned, organized, and executed by the formidable Darlene Bjornsgard. With her passing in December 2023, the Tour was in jeopardy of going by the wayside. Like so many things, without someone having a passion for it, events that have occurred for years can easily get shelved. Fortunately, Haleigh See has taken up the charge to keep the Tour going. She did a great job putting it all together. I believe Darlene would be proud!

We were greeted in each home with warm smiles by gracious hosts excited to share their spaces. Each of the homes were decked to the nines in unique Christmas décor. The hosts had spreads of cookies and other treats for everyone's enjoyment. We ate our fill as we went from house to house. One of the fun things about the Tour is running into the same group of people at each stop. We met some new people and conversed with friends we don't get to see often enough. Thank you to each of the hosts for the many hours they put into decorating, cleaning, baking, and preparing their homes to share with us. There were five homes on the Tour, but by the fourth house, I was done for and needed a nap. We made our way home for a couple hours before we had to leave again.

We made it back to Naselle just as the sun was setting and the rain started to fall for the 3rd Annual Naselle Lighted Parade. Mark and I were poised in the clinic parking lot at the end of Knappton Road on traffic control duty for the parade turnaround. The final count for parade participants was 27 floats and vehicles. Vehicles were decked out with lights including Naselle fire trucks and a dump truck lit up with American flags, side-by-side ATVs, and dirt bikes. The floats keep getting better every year. You could tell a lot of time, effort, and resources were spent putting them together. Some of the floats included a Christmas tree made from crab pots with Santa and Mrs. Claus waving from a small boat on a flatbed trailer, a fishing boat filled with lit blow-up Santa and other figurines, a classic car with reindeer perched on top pulling a tear drop camper trailer with Santa's sleigh, the Naselle High School band on a flatbed trailer playing Christmas carols, and a Sponge Bob themed truck decked out with blue lights. The American Legion float was driven by a classic truck with a brightly lit Christmas tree in the bed pulling a truck bed trailer with a canopy of lights.

Despite the rain, spectators lined the road in numerous locations. Naselle Assembly of God Church had several pop-up tents set up in their parking lot and provided hot beverages. I heard there was a group throwing hot dogs with buns to those on the floats as they passed by. Neighbors along the parade route opened their driveways and fields for others to enjoy the show. The parade has become a highlight of the year! To see more pictures of the parade, check out the Finnish American Folk Festival Facebook page.

Our last stop of the evening was to Appelo Archives to catch a glimpse of Santa and his elves taking pictures with kids. We chatted with the staff for a few minutes before heading to Hunters Inn for a quick dinner and then headed home. It was a fun filled day.

Westside Happenings

December

22 Grays River Methodist Church Candlelight Christmas Service, 5 p.m.

24 Naselle Lutheran Church Candlelight Christmas Eve Service, 5 p.m.

January 2025

Senior Lunch at Rosburg Hall will be at noon on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays in January

25 – Bingo at Naselle Community Center,

5:30 p.m.

To include an event on the calendar or to give feedback, please contact me at writerlisayeager@outlook.com. You can also follow me on Facebook @ Writer Lisa Yeager.