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

Visitors and local residents enjoyed a hearty breakfast Saturday to start their day of celebrating Cathlamet’s annual Bald Eagle Days festival.

The Kiwanis Club of Cathlamet and the Wahkiakum High School Key Club teamed up to present a delicious vegetable-and-egg scramble, sausages, piping-hot pancakes, orange juice, and coffee at the Elochoman Slough Marina’s barbecue pavilion.

Boaters from four guest yacht clubs visiting the marina were lured by the fragrance of cooking morning food. The club reported that over 200 tickets were sold, about the same number of breakfast guests this year as came in 2011.

“Given the economy and the cloudy weather, we are pleased that we were able to serve this number of people,” Kiwanis President Trinidad Medina said.

“This project is a fun way for students to serve the community and have fun,” commented Key Club President Selena Ramirez.

“This breakfast is a service project, not a fundraiser,” commented Kiwanis President-Elect Dick Swart. “It is our way of saluting the community and helping people celebrate Bald Eagle Days. Every dime we net after we pay our bills goes directly into our service account for student scholarships and other efforts serving children and youth. We are indebted to Port District One for allowing us to have the breakfast at the marina. We also owe our thanks to the Wahkiakum County Chamber of Commerce for having us play our part in the Bald Eagle event,” Swart said.

Cathlamet Mayor George Wehrfritz reported for a two-hour stint at food prep and pancake cooking before moving on to his other civic obligations.

Kiwanians working at the event included Joel David, Don Conway, Elizabeth Gray, Maureen Zacher-Bockius, Trinidad Medina, Dick Swart, and Dennis Gordon. Key Club Members included Selena Ramirez, Marissa Washington, Haylee Budd, Seth Doumit, Stephanie Moonen, Lars Blix, Steven Doumit, Jessica Thomas and Mitchell Dault. Community Volunteers included Nick Barth, George Wehrfritz, Kristen David, Marilyn Conway, and Jean Gale.

Kiwanis and Key Club are international service organizations providing service to children and youth worldwide, one community at a time, starting with ours. Information about Kiwanis projects and membership may be obtained from Trinidad Medina at (509) 668-1981, or Dick Swart at (360) 795-8444).