The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Most of us could really get used to this beautiful weather, but I for one, miss the rain. I’m sure the farmers making hay don’t though. A few clouds seem to be rolling in this Tuesday morning, but the weather says it will stay dry and muggy.

News from Naselle:

There will be a special budget hearing held by the Naselle-Grays River Valley School Board on Tuesday, July 23 at 5:30 p.m. The community is invited to attend.

I had a note from Becky Erickson, who has been teaching preschool at the Naselle ECEAP Preschool now for five years and she is inviting eligible families to enroll their children. The child needs to be four by August 31, 2013 and the family needs to meet the federal guideline for income eligibility. If anyone has a child that they would like to enroll, please call Becky at 465-2555 for more information. The program is taking enrollments now and will continue to do so until the roster is full.

The Play and Learn group that meets each Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Valley Bible Church is meeting on a continual basis all summer. This program is for parents/guardians and their children who are ages 0-5, and is intended to be a group to encourage good parenting skills and communication with other families. As the children play in the midst of the parents, they talk and discuss different topics and issues that are relevant to the development of the children, then break for a snack and often an activity and end with a rousing round of Ring around the Rosies! This Play and Learn group is free and is sponsored by St. James Family Center. If anyone is interested in joining this group, please call Becky at 465-2555 for more information.

Check out Mochas and More on Facebook and keep up with the Tuesday Trivia game that can win you discounts on Laura’s delicious coffee drinks and good food. The espresso stand is located in Naselle at the corner of SR 4 and 401. She is doing a great job of sharing events going on here in the Westend on her site. Thanks, Laura.

Other news from the Westend:

This is a big weekend in Wahkiakum County, with lots of activities for everyone and it looks like it will be a warm and dry one. Bald Eagle Days takes place on Saturday and will continue throughout the weekend with other activities planned.

The Johnson Park Advisory Board hopes you will take some time on Sunday, July 21 to join us for our second annual Community Picnic and Potluck this year in conjunction with a 75-year birthday celebration for the old Rosburg School, located up the hill from the Rosburg Store. The event is open to everyone, and will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs will be provided. Please bring a salad or a dessert to share, maybe a favorite lawn chair, and some energy to participate in a game or two or a donkey cart ride. Remember, this is your park and community center, and you are always welcome.

Help break in our new baseball diamond, take a walk in the woods on the trail, check out the new picnic tables, throw some horseshoes, take a ride on the donkey cart (thanks once again to Mary Steller and her critters from Donkey Holler), say hello to members of the Sheriff’s department, the fire department, Emergency Medical Services and Search and Rescue, or just sit and visit with your neighbors and friends. If you play a musical instrument or like to sing, feel free to share your talent with the attendees. We look forward to making this a true community, family-friendly, fun event and we welcome everyone to participate in the fun.

This is the perfect opportunity to purchase tickets for our beautiful handmade quilt, which will be raffled off in October at our second annual Octoberfest dinner on the 12th of October. Tickets are $1 each and the proceeds will be used for your park and community center. The quilt will be on display in the cafeteria of the Grays River Valley Center on the day of the picnic. Take a look, buy some tickets and you could be the winner.

If you are a former student, teacher, employee, parent or just someone with knowledge of the old school and its history, please take the time to stop by and tell us your story. In the future, we hope to be able to share some of the historical data we have been collecting in the form of a permanent display for everyone to enjoy. There will be an area set aside in the building for this purpose.

The old building, now known as the Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park, has been a work in progress and many volunteers have worked hard to make it a place for everyone to enjoy and to participate in a variety of activities. We offer many ongoing activities each week and almost all of them are free.

Some of these activities include the Grays River Valley Library and Community Computer Center which is open on Monday from 3 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 to 5 p.m .; play pinochle on Monday afternoons beginning at noon; open sew on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. in our sewing room; TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets on Thursdays at 2 p.m. in the exercise room; yoga and the art group will resume their regular schedules in the fall, and the highlight of the week is our Free Friday night movies which start at 7 p.m. with concessions available. Come to enjoy recently run movies on our big screen in HD with surround sound.

Family sponsorships for the Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park are available for $65 per year and individuals for $45 per year which gives you access to the public facilities in the building whenever you want to come in. That access includes the gym and the exercise room (with a pool table, for a quick game after exercising on the equipment). The monies collected from these sponsorships are used for maintenance and utilities as we receive no funds from the county.

There will be another Free Friday Night movie at the Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park at 7 p.m. on July 19. This week’s movie is a 2008 British/U.S. black comedy/action/adventure film written and directed by Martin McDonagh and is rated R. Next week’s movie is a family friendly animated feature first run in 2013 and is rated PG. For more information on what’s playing, check out posters on bulletin boards around the area, on Facebook or call 465-2310.

During the week of July 22, you should receive a survey prepared by the Wahkiakum County Department of Emergency Management (DEM) in an effort to collect vital information from community members which will be utilized by DEM in the event of an emergency situation. The mailer will also contain information to educate the public on the availability of the Wahkiakum County Information line, and also educate the community on resources available such as the Emergency Community Notification System.

You can complete the survey by filling out and returning the mailed copy, download and print one out or complete it online. The web address is http://www.co.wahkiakum.wa.us/DEM.html. Each returned survey will be entered into a free drawing to receive a free emergency NOAA weather radio.

The Rosburg Wednesday Senior Lunch Bunch meets each week at the Rosburg Hall for a home cooked meal prepared and served by Pat Potter and her volunteer crew. Check them out and enjoy a great lunch and good company. Lunch is served at noon.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays meals are also served at the above location and are sponsored by CAP. Menus for the coming week include: July 18-chicken and dumplings, broccoli spears, spinach salad and apricot bars; July 23-beef stroganoff, egg noodles with kale, cauliflower and peas, peaches and berry crisp; July 25-turkey a la king over a biscuit, spinach salad and raspberry bars.

Happy Birthday to Barbara Donlon, Emily Gudmundsen, Fran Noll, Kendra Leeland, Bailey Olson, Katherine Herrold, Caroline Badger, David Klinger, Edwin Wirkkala, Haley Bryant, Adam Cash, Ken Tetz, Levi Wasmundt, Eric Leaf, Lindsay Cary, Dorothy Smith, Sirkka Wirkkala, Bill D. Didion, Mark Galbraith, Donna Tyyska, Jennifer Salme, Kyle Johnson, Louise Beck, Teresa Wood, Kyler Rogers and Linda Thompson. Here’s wishing you a perfect day.

Happy anniversary wishes go out to Steve and Vanessa Leamy, Joe and Lori Hurst, Glenn and Rhonda Smalley and Melvin and Carol Ross. Here’s wishing you many more celebrations together.

I would like to wish a special happy 75th birthday to my determined, stubborn and hard working husband, Delvin. You are an inspiration, with all the effort you put in to your recovery from your stroke. Happy Birthday, my love. Cheesecake coming up!

We had the pleasure of puppy-sitting with one of our latest litter of puppies. Bella Hachi Ramsay stayed with us last weekend while her human family went out of town and took her two ugly step sisters (Pomeranians Dusty and Zoey) with them. Bella is only 12 weeks old and is already bigger than they are. Her canine family was delighted to have her here, especially her mom, Freyja and her dad, Remus. Also on hand were her Grandfather Grym, Grandmother Lita and Aunt Hera. It’s amazing to watch a dog family interact with each other when they haven’t seen each other for a while. They are almost like human families.