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

Less than a week left until the big fellow in the red suit visits all the good girls and boys. Here’s hoping you have all the shopping done.

News from Naselle:

Sports calendar for the Naselle Comet teams this week: Thursday, boys basketball with North Beach in Naselle at 4:45 p.m .; Saturday, JV boys basketball with Northwest Christian at 4 p.m., girls basketball with NW Christian at 6 p.m. and boys basketball with NW Christian at 7 p.m. in Naselle. Go Comets!

Students will be out of school beginning on Monday and will return to classes on January 6, after the Christmas holiday break. Have a safe and fun vacation, kids.

Raffle tickets are still being sold for a brand new bicycle at Okie’s Select Market in Naselle. The winning ticket will be drawn on December 24th (need not be present to win). You can purchase tickets at Okie’s for $.50 each or 3 for $1. The bike is on display at the store. Good luck!

Westend news:

Last Sunday evening, a proclamation was read by Carol Cole of the Cathlamet Woman’s Club, naming “Wahkiakum County’s newest Citizen of the Year.” Nick Nikkila of Deep River was the deserving recipient of this outstanding award. I must say, it is an honor much deserved by this man who grew up in the area and does so much for his community. He seems to be involved in just about everything, he is everywhere that he might be needed, and is a good friend to so many. Thank you Nick, for all you do and congratulations.

I also want to thank Nick’s lovely wife Dee for all she does as well, and for her support of Nick’s endeavors. In my book, you also deserve an award for your own service to the community. The two of you make a great team, and you are appreciated for all you do. Thank you, also, Dee.

The Grays River United Methodist Church and their congregation extend an invitation to the entire community to attend their Christmas pageant and celebration of the Christmas holiday on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. The program will include music, poetry and a candlelight ceremony followed by refreshments.

The Grays River Valley Library will be making an adjustment in its Thursday hours for the rest of the winter. The library and computer center will be open from 1-4 p.m.

The 2nd annual 3 C’s Chowdown***Chili, Chowder and Chicken Noodle Soup event will take place in the Grays River Valley Center at Johnson Park on January 19, 1-5 p.m. The proceeds from the Chowdown will be used to help retrofit the gymnasium lighting with more energy efficient lights. Your donations at this event will go a long way to help us make the Grays River Valley Center a better place for you and your family to enjoy.

Last Friday evening’s free showing of the extended version of “Lord of the Rings-The Fellowship of the Ring” was fantastic on the big screen at the Grays River Valley Center. Great movie, and you can see the second movie of the trilogy this Friday at 7 p.m. This one is “Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers” Concessions are also available, with free popcorn refills.

The Rosburg Wednesday Senior Lunch Bunch that meets at the Rosburg Hall will not be serving lunch on Christmas Day so the volunteers can be with their families.

Menus for the Rosburg Senior Community Lunch program sponsored by CAP is as follows for the holiday week: Thursday, sweet and sour chicken, brown rice, broccoli and mushrooms and berry parfait; no lunch program for Tuesday, and Thursday, pork chops and gravy, mashed potatoes, peas and cauliflower and cubed melon.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Kaycee Headley, Rylee Varila, Amanda Wilson, Marilyn Nikolas, Brandi Van Dusen, Tyler Trimble, Brandi Tarabochia, Marshall Blanchard, Calvin Zimmerman, Richard Kittinger, Michelle Bighill, Steve Olson, Annette Bowker, Holly Engelson, Byron Standerfer, Rick Laney, Roxy Forbes, Emily Bjornsgard, Tracy Bighill, Tristen Lainey, Keegan McGuire, and Lauren Bjornsgard. Here’s to a perfect day for each of you.

Happy Anniversary to Jeff and Corina Lee and to Jack and Renee Smith. Wishing you many more celebrations together.

We enjoyed a delightful visit from a group of Christmas carolers last Sunday evening. Members of the Valley Bible Church and also from the Grays River United Methodist Church showed up in the misty rain and did a splendid job of getting us in the Christmas spirit with their song before heading out to do the same for other families in our area. What a wonderful place to live, where your neighbors are your friends and they are willing to help make your day a little better by giving of themselves. Life isn’t always perfect but with folks like we have here in our little corner of the world, it certainly comes pretty close. And thank you also for the beautiful hand made centerpiece they left for our table. Merry Christmas, one and all.

Our son Carl’s girlfriend, Dionne French, has been visiting for a few days from Seattle and we discovered that she had never had a real Christmas tree before. Her family always had an artificial one. Yesterday, we had Carl take her out to pick out a real tree for us this year. What a fun thing it is to see someone totally enjoy a new experience (like making sure it is standing straight up in the tree stand). She is a real sweetheart. Now we have to decorate it, with her help.

We are looking forward to having our son and daughter-in-law here for Christmas, from Bend, Oregon. We might even have a visit from our daughter and son-in-law from Redmond, Oregon, but not a sure thing as yet. These two couples are our brew pub owners and they don’t get much time off, as the business is doing very well, and as employee/owners, they are pretty busy. It will be great to see them and hopefully they can have a relaxing break.