It’s hard to decide if you need shorts and sunscreen or your heavy coat and raingear with this unpredictable weather. We actually had snowflakes this morning.  I’m sure the gardener’s are scratching their heads and wondering when to plant.
News from Naselle:
This year Naselle Elementary School celebrated Earth Day on April 22. Grades K-5 students were engaged in several activities, which focused on protecting our earth throughout the day.  The key objectives taught were reuse, recycle and reduce.  All the children participated in the Earth Day Groceries Project that brought our school and community together.  Okies Select Market in Naselle donated grocery bags to the school for the children to decorate with an Earth Day theme.  The school returned the bags to the store and they were displayed and used for their customers.  Naselle Elementary had an excellent Earth Day!
It was “up, up, and away” with Mrs. Smith’s 1st grade class, in  Naselle. Students were outside learning the effects of air. It was breezy, and the moving air, “wind,” gave way to joyful boys and girls chasing bubbles and homemade parachutes across the playground. One parachute took off into the sky and sailed off down the street. Students have been studying compressed air, capturing air, and how air can push against objects.
There will be a Booster Club meeting on May 11  at 6:30 p.m. in Naselle.
If you missed the first showing of  "The Pirates of Penzance Jr."  last weekend, you still have two more opportunities to check it out.  7 p.m. tomorrow (Friday) and at 7 p.m.  on Saturday.  I hear it is outstanding. 
Other news from the Westend:
Department of Ecology held a public hearing last Monday evening in Rosburg and it turned out to be a very interesting and informative meeting. The subject was whether or not an application to dump septage on a farm near the Grays River Covered Bridge, would be approved by DOE. With a headcount of more than 140 people in attendance, there were lots of well-informed folks who had done their homework, and  gave testimony on the subject. For the most part, it seems, people are against the issuance of a permit to spread treated human waste in a flood plain, near a river with endangered species in residence, and also close to the Covered Bridge with the prospect of noxious odors driving tourists away.  Besides those issues, the questions also arise regarding pathogens, virus, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, etc. which may leach into our ground waters, the river and our water system during a flood event.
It was a proud moment to see people who ordinarily don’t see eye to eye, standing together to protect themselves and each other from the unknown or at least unproven safety of the use of “biosolids."  My personal thanks to everyone who attended the meeting.  It was a real eye-opener.
Join in “Fashion and Fun” this year’s theme for the  Grays River Friendship Circle’s annual Spring Tea and Luncheon to be held on May 16 at the Rosburg Community Hall.  Here is your chance to dress up, don a favorite hat, or just come in comfortable duds and enjoy all the festivities.  The fashion show will feature a variety of styles, some from out of the past, as well as a fashion display.
Also for your enjoyment, The Maddox School Dancers from Warrenton, Ore., will perform a dance from a popular Broadway play under the direction of Jeannie Peterson.
Doors open at noon. Lunch will consist of tea sandwiches, savories and desserts, and will be served at 12:30 p.m., followed by the program. A suggested donation of $8 will entitle you to a wonderful lunch and entertainment, while providing the proceeds to develop a prayer and healing garden the  Grays River United  Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome.
For more information call (360) 465-2740 or (360) 484-7749.
Remember the 26th Annual White Tail Run to be held on May 15. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the race starts at 10 a.m. This event features a 10K, 5K and a 2-mile run through the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge in Skamokawa. For more information on the race please call 360 465-2275 or 360 795-3278.
The White Tail Run is a fundraiser for our Wahkiakum based 4-H programs and the proceeds will be used locally.
Do you play piano? If you do, the “Follies”  is looking for  your talent. A piano player is needed to perform with the group in this year’s production  that will take place on June 25, 26 and 27, at the Skamokawa Grange Hall in Skamokawa. Please call Sunrise Fletcher at 795-8770 or Kay Chamberlain at 795-3425 for more information. Now is your chance to be a real star!
The Wednesday Senior Lunch Bunch that meets at Rosburg Hall will enjoy piping hot bowls of navy bean and ham soup with corn bread and dessert. With all this cool weather we’ve been having, soup just seems to hit the spot.
Birthdays coming up this week include Julie Hampson on the 6th; Kenzi Wirkkala, Jon Stanley, Carol Haven, Marilee Wirkkala and Debee Bauer on the 7th; Jon Wirkkala, Angie Calvert, Allyn Bauer and Parker Kilponen on the 8th; Nicole Laney, Arne Wirkkala, Carol Harley, Pat Vernon and Holly Rogers on the 9th; Ike Howerton, and Jessica Gregory on the 10th; Raymond Badger and Missy Harley on the 11th; Tina Laney on the 11th.  I would also like to wish an extra special Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend, Sonja Kruse on her special day, May  10.
Happy Anniversary wishes go out to the following couples this week: Cary and Melany Bloom on the 6th; Mike and Diane Matthews, Larry and Yvonne Howell and George and Pat Vernon on the 7th; Bert and Carol Haven and Randi and Vicki Wirkkala on the 9th; Robert and May Adair on the 10th; and a very Happy Day to Norman and Myrtle Anderson on the 12th. 
I’m looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend with our kids in Oregon, and with our daughter-in -law and grandson from Warrenton. It had been a busy month and getting out of town to visit family will be delightful. The fact that it is Mother’s Day is a nice touch as well.
Wishing all you moms. grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and anyone else who mentors  kids, a wonderful day. Happy Mother’s Day, Virginia! You are very special.