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

NASTY--All I can say about this weather is "ugh!" Whether it was the freezing temperatures last week or the heavy rains and strong winds on Sunday or the off and on weather of Monday which came with wet snowflakes falling from time to time, it was all not nice. With frigid weather predicted for a week, I hope you're all bundled up and that you take extra care and precautions while traveling. As always, don't forget your four legged friends as they get cold too. This Tuesday morning brings freezing temperatures but the sunshine part of the morning is looking awfully nice. Now if it were only warmer!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Dec. 5-11 are Hank Bassi, Dennis Reid, Carol McClain, Kitty Speranza, Jai Snow, Gary Bergseng, Diane Eaton Frank, Collin Parker, Amy Prestegard, Todd Souvenir, Derek West, Tracie Souvenir, Julie Burdick, Ron Hendrickson, Kathy Hanigan, Ian Anderson, Alfreda Cummings, Tyler Johnson and Gabriel Pedersen.

Celebrating their anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Vik and Nick and Martie Vavoudis. May your celebrations be extra merry this year!

TODAY--If you happen to be up at the Congregational Church between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., you could get your flu shot today, as they are being administered by the Wah. Co. Health Dept. Medicare covers the cost of the shot or they are just $25. A good idea to have with this winter season approaching us!

THIS SATURDAY--The Skamokawa United Methodist Church invites you to enjoy their holiday bazaar with various vendors from 10 to 4 this Saturday, Dec. 7. They will also have fresh baked pie for sale and I'm sure that would go great with the coffee they are serving up as well, so come down and check them out.

REDMEN HALL--Also this Saturday, you'll be entertained by live music at Redmen Hall as they strum their guitars and sing, while you shop amongst the many local items they have for sale. Local musician, Jerry Ledtke will be at the Hall debuting his new CD. Contact the hall at 795-3007 for exact times. They are open for your shopping pleasure from Thursday through Sunday, noon to four.

NICE TIME--I got a call from Jean Heagy and she was telling me that her kids showed up and all she had to do was sit and watch as the family put together a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday. She also enjoyed calls from various friends from all over, so whether it was talking to someone in Alaska or California, she had a great time visiting with each one. When I asked Jean how many were there, she said that after a head count, there were about 30 people there that day. Now, that's quite a group! She said the family was growing as several pregnancies were announced and it seemed she was going to be made a great grandmother for the third time so that family was definitely expanding. Just a little side note, if you happened to have caught the singing of the National Anthem at the Seahawks game this past Sunday, that just so happened to have been the son of a good friend of Jean's so she thought that was pretty neat!

GREAT FEAST--Ralph and Peggy Pedersen's two sons showed up with two dinners, one ham and one turkey, so it was time to dig in at their house. With no one wanting to go through the hassle of cooking, it was "complete dinner take out" from Shari's Restaurant. The highlight of the day was when Rhonda Pedersen, wife of Mark, brought out her laptop and showed the great grandparents their great granddaughter, Bailey, in her new home back East with plenty of pictures that Mom Samantha and Dad Adam, had taken of their precious little girl and posted on their blog.

WHOLE FAMILY--Former classmate of mine, Truchet Madden said she had a great time over Thanksgiving as most of her family got together for the first time in ages and they had a wonderful time telling stories and laughing it up, and enjoying all the delicious food everybody brought. It wasn't so long ago that Truchet lived in California and everybody was all spread out, so she said it was nice to have a big family doings like the old days.

I heard from several other classmates as well, like Sharon S., Dale J., Greg L. , Linda T. and Elaine R., and everyone seemed to have had an enjoyable day.

WEST VALLEY--Bill and I had a turkey at home this year, so we could enjoy some leftovers, which we've missed when going elsewhere for dinner, so with just the two of us here, it only seemed right that our three Good boys, Brian, Austin and Bryce showed up to share it with us.

SECHLER CLAN--Oldest son, Pete Sechler and his family got together for a big, yet relaxed dinner, as it seemed the kids were busy doing a lot of the prepping and cooking so he stayed busy doing other things until dinner time. Later on, Katie's Mom, sister and brother showed up for dessert, so another great Thanksgiving holiday was had by the Sechler/Nollan families.

DOZEN GATHER--Former Skamokawa residents, John and Sharon Buennagel had a nice Thanksgiving at the home of Charlie and Kay Buennagel on Puget Island and Sharon said about a dozen were there. Oldest daughter, Abby, was able to come up from college in Nevada to spend time with the family, so they were all happy to see her as well, even though the time seemed to fly by and she was gone again.

SAD TIMES--While many of us were enjoying Thankgiving this year, the family of Gary Huber was going through some sad times, as Gary had passed away a couple of days prior to that on his way to a hospital in Portland. Gary's services will be this Saturday at the multi-purpose room in the JA Wendt Grade school at 2:30. Our deepest sympathies go out to his wife, Betty and his daughters, Jennifer (Ty) Norris and Debbie (Brandon) Chamberlain and the rest of his family and friends.

DUCK INN CHANGES--Sometime later on this month, you can expect to see some menu changes at the Duck Inn, with the addition of new items, as well as a special day for Senior meals, sounds good to me! There's also going to a "wing" day with special prices on those tasty chicken wings and a variety of other new things, so we hope you'll come down and check those out when they all get put into place.

COMING RIGHT UP--Weather permitting, the Skamokawa Grange Hall will be holding their annual free Christmas dinner next Saturday, Dec. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. We're looking forward to seeing who is the big winner of the gigantic $300 gift basket giveaway. There are many other small prizes too, so come on down, buy some tickets, eat some spaghetti, yak with your friends and neighbors and we hope that you'll find yourself carting some gifts home. I heard from Santa and he says he's still going to be showing up at 6:45 p.m. to hand out some treats, so bring your camera and you can take a picture of your little one with the man in the red suit!

COLLUPY GLASS--One of our local glassblowers, Treasure Collupy, will once again have some of his beautiful glass pieces for sale at his annual "Holiday Art Show" which will be held in the Hotel Cathlamet lobby this year on Dec. 13 and 14 from 10 to 5. There will be ornaments and vases and many other gorgeous creations for you to purchase, so we hope you'll show up to support them as they have generously supported others, like the Skamokawa Grange, as they've donated something every year to their gift basket, not to mention the car show and other benefits. As a matter of fact, a percentage of their sales next weekend will go to St. James, so you'll be supporting one of our local businesses, getting a gorgeous piece of artwork and doing a good deed which will help keep the much needed family center going as well. It's a win, win situation!

GREETINGS--This newspaper is going to be printing "letters to Santa" and if you'd like to find out more about that, you can contact The Eagle, but you do have to have submissions in by Dec. 12 and they will be printed in the Dec. 19 edition of the paper. This is also a good time to say Merry Christmas to friends and neighbors and loved ones, or if you've got a business, put a thank you in there to them, so contact the paper for full costs and details and take advantage of an easy way to spread some holiday cheer!

GREAT TURN OUT--Members of the Sons of Norway lodge were wondering if they were going to get anybody to turn out for the Christmas party at the Norse Hall last Sunday beings it was so miserable out, but they needn't have worried as the place was packed with kids of all ages and Santa was kept busy right up until the end of the event. The kids took part in making ornaments, coloring special pictures, writing letters to Santa and decorating cookies too, so besides eating cookies and getting treats, they were kept very busy and seemed to be having just a wonderful time. Having pictures taken with Santa was a big hit as thanks to lodge members, and Skamokawa photographer Justin Garrison, they could take their pictures home with them. It was a fun afternoon for all!

END OF THE YEAR--Sharon Buennagel, operator of the Diner on Main, told me that this year, they're not only doing the traditional New Year's Eve party, with all the toasting and such at midnight, but they will also have the "East Coast Toast" where midnight happens at 9 p.m. our time, so we can celebrate at an earlier hour if we want to. Sounds like a terrific idea for us oldsters! At any rate, you're invited to come and share New Year's Eve at the Diner; either at 9 or 12; or both!

OUT OF THE PAST--During this week in 1948, it was very miserable out with stormy weather which included lots of wind, rain and hail and some snow in the hills. Grandma attended the last meeting of the Pocahontas group in their old hall, as from now on, they'd be meeting in the city hall building. A couple of days later, it was time for the Rebekah ladies to hold their annual Christmas tree party and after one of the ladies stayed at Grandma's to visit until after one in the morning, well, she was feeling a little done in! In the telephone office, the crew of men were working on new toll circuits. Grace, Deb and Barbara Moore came to visit the Everests with Carol, Krist and David Pedersen and Marian and Donna Healy, so the group had a good visit.

In 1963, the weather was a bit chilly and even had some rain but it wasn't until the last couple of days that it got below freezing so it wasn't too bad. Grandma Elsie even put clothes out on the line and they dried on one such sunny day. Peggy Martin stopped by the Everest home along with Marian Healy and Carol Pedersen to help plan the Ralph Everests' 50th anniversary later on in the month. It was a sad time for local congresswoman, Julia Butler Hansen, as her mother, Mrs. Maude Kimball Butler passed away that week at the age of 83. Besides her daughter, Maude left behind a son, Dr. James Butler of Los Angeles. The Krist Pedersens were undertaking a major change at their home on North Welcome Slough on Puget Island, as instead of the former wooden bridge to their home inside the dike, they were putting in a large culvert and putting in fill and rock for a much nicer driveway. In Los Angeles, their water reservoir broke and there was terrible flooding going on around that area. Mayme Warren and Mrs. Johnson ( Lilly Petersen's mother) were happy to see Elsie Everest stop by the nursing home, as not only did they have a nice visit but she brought a favorite treat to eat for Mrs. Warren. It was a busy week with Christmas parties at the Rebekah's, the grange and then making things for the Kris Kringle doings down town. It was also this week that Emily Worthington made a late night trip to the hospital and had to have surgery and Grandma was busy making out a card and getting a package sent to her. All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.