Skamokawa News

FRIGID TEMPS. I cannot tell you how much I detest the bitter cold and with temperatures down in the low twenties this past week, I am definitely not a happy camper! While other areas were bright and sunny, those here in the West Valley also had some very thick fog, which did not leave for most of the day, and the dampness made for an extra layer of frost as well. Leaving from sunny Cathlamet last Friday, I drove into the “wall of fog” that sits right outside of Skamokawa and along the rock wall/rock pit area. My temperature gauge was dropping like a rock and went down eight degrees by the time I got home, just two miles away, brr! Anyway, I do hope you remember to feed those outdoor animals some extra, high-quality feed right now, as they really need it to stay healthy during these miserable, frigid weather events.

SPECIAL DAYS. Those celebrating birthdays from Jan. 23 through the end of the month, Jan. 31, are Shirley Mae Toney, Brandon McClain, Sharon Schmitz, Becky Thacker, Kaylyn Kaattari, Gary York, Wayne Cochran, Kyli Prestegard, Jody Baccellieri. Koda J. Clark, Jaclyn Duscha, Heidi Mallot, Shayna Hendrickson, Grace Carrell, Erick Erickson, Sharon Buennagel, Samantha Dietz, Korben Barth, Kaylin Bingham, LeeAnn Bonds, Cindy Elmore, Pearl Blackburn, Sherry Ostling, Jan Opitz, Annelise Vik, Jessica Dejong, Kristie Andreas-Dorias, Aimee Barth, Troy Gorley, Sean Masters, Angela Metcalf, Lynne Lessmueller, Dale Hughs, Joseph Araya, Seirra Humphery, John Elfers Jr., Mike Nollan, NIcholas Kubacki, Cindi Pedersen, Luke Sechler and Pamela Everest Priestly. Celebrating their anniversary this week are Jai & Martina Snow. Enjoy your special days!

CORRECTION. I got a bit ahead of myself when talking about the openings for one of our favorite places, I had the first couple of letters correct, but the WCHS will not be opening the Museum in Cathlamet until the first full weekend in May, not March. Sorry about that! As is always the case, there are a lot of things going on down at the museum at 65 River Street during the winter closure, and well, they would be totally under the gun to open so early, I’m afraid. Again, sorry for any confusion, but we hope you check out the local history of our wonderful county and all its people and businesses and how it all began, etc., when the museum opens May 3 and 4! If you’d be interested in becoming a volunteer down at the museum or would like to become a member, come on down and check things out. Donations are always welcome at any time, and you can send them to the Wahkiakum Historical Society Museum, 65 River Street in Cathlamet. See you in May!

CRAB FEED THIS SATURDAY. If you are holding crab feed tickets for the big feed down at the Rosburg Community Hall, don’t forget that this will be happening this Saturday night: Jan. 25. The doors open at 6 p.m. as always. Let’s hope it’s warmer by then! If you’re new to the crab feed scene, be sure to bring your own tools for opening the crab and the oysters and while they do you give you some dipping sauce, some folks prefer warm garlic butter, which you’ll have to provide yourself. Lots of folks have those little warmers with candles under them...they work great! Also, if you don’t like dealing with the icky fingers one gets from all that yummy food, bring some of those vinyl gloves, which help a lot, and maybe a few extra paper towels with you, too!

VALENTINES FOR VETS. One of the things that I like to do is to check out the latest places in our area that would accept Valentines and send them an envelope full of Valentines to give out. One can also contact a nearby nursing home or care facility and see if they might like to accept some Valentines that you either made or purchased but would be a bit of happiness to someone who just might not have any family or that don’t receive any cards at all. It would be a pleasant surprise and bring a smile to someone’s face when they were maybe feeling a little blue. I would suggest looking sites up online as some of them have stipulations. I noticed that, due to costs, one of the places I used to donate to now also asks for money to be sent along with the card for distribution. I know that can be expensive so maybe you can find a place that is more suitable for you. As I said, maybe a care center in Longview would gladly take them. Whatever you do, I hope you can spread a little joy to someone this Valentine’s Day. Let’s all spread some love this Valentine’s Day!

MORE GOOD NEWS. Remember when I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that our family was looking forward to having a new addition to it when Blake and Michaela Sechler announced that they were adding a baby girl to their family in late June or early July? Well, guess what? We heard a short time later that we’d add another baby to the family! Yes, it was quite a surprise when Austin and Nicole Good said they are expecting again and that a baby boy would join their almost five-year-old son, Kaiden, in August. What fantastic news. Needless to say, this great-grandma is going to be very busy buying little girl things and little boy things for the two upcoming arrivals, which will probably be only about a month apart. The only bad part is that the Good family is in Utah and not nearly as close by as Seattle! With social media and video chat, I’ll be able to keep up on both new additions much easier than in the old days when we were waiting for film to be developed and a picture to arrive in the mail. So, here’s a hearty Congratulations to Austin and Nicole!