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

GREAT WEATHER--We certainly can’t complain about the weather this past week as it's been nothing but gorgeous. I did hear that we could have a few sprinkles at the end of the week but hopefully they won't be enough to ruin anybody's graduation parties!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from June 12-18 are Bob Montgomery, Jason Ledtke, Megan Vincent, Erin Turner, Veronica Gilbertsen, Kylee Souvenir, Kelsey Briscoe, Gina Robbins, Shane Kehrli, Delores Wages, Mike Paulsen Jr., Brienne Howell, Tom Parker, Lori Twiet, Nikolai Almer, Noni Meredith, Karen Blain, Kristian Pedersen, Sandra K. Hess and Bailey Pedersen. Here's to all your special birthdays this coming week!

Happy Anniversary wishes go out to Stevan and Kathleen Morgain, Stewart and Ginger Moonen and Mr. and Mrs. Wally Wright. Enjoy those anniversaries!

BUSY TIMES AHEAD--This afternoon, Thursday, the Kindergarten class will be moving up and that evening, the Eighth grade class will be having their ceremony at 7 p.m., at the John Thomas Middle School.

On Friday evening, it's time for the Wahkiakum Senior Class of 2014 to take the stage and get their diplomas. Whether it's heading off to college, a job or maybe the military, it's going to be exciting and new and we hope they all succeed in whatever they opt to do!

Saturday is going to be busy with a lot of the kids' graduation parties, so that will be fun for those that opted to have it a day later, rather than Friday evening, as often times, that's already been a long day, so having it on Saturday is better for them. This is also Flag Day, so we hope you'll display the flag proudly.

Sunday finds us celebrating the Dads so we hope you'll treat your Dad on his special day. Of course, it's time for the wives to treat their hubbys to a special dinner or evening out as well. To all the Dads out there, "Happy Father's Day!"

SEE IT?--Were you able to spot the Space Station as it went overhead? Usually it's cloudy and we can't see it, but by golly, at 10:47 p.m., I spotted it in the western sky and it came up in a hurry and zipped over the top of our house and out of sight in no time at all.

GOAT CHEESE--At 1681 West SR 4, you will see a new sign on the south side of the road with a cute goat on it with a heart in the middle of it, and this marks the spot of the new Skamokawa Farmstead Creamery. When you see the big flags flying saying "open" on them, you'll know it's time to stop by and check this place out, as this is Skamokawa's newest business and it's taking off like gang-busters! If you'd like to be among all the rest of the folks who are giving this cheese rave reviews, just check out those flags that will be flying Friday beginning at 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. as well as weekends. To make sure they have your favorite flavor, you can call ahead and they'll save you some, 795-8700. As an added bonus, you also get to see all the new "kids" making their appearances and the twins, Bob and Joan, are just adorable. In the near future, there's going to be some terrific additions to this business, which I won't mention now, but as a hint, I'll just say it goes well with cheese! Stay tuned for more!

VENDORS/RUMMAGE SALE--We hope you'll come down to the Vendor's Market at the Skamokawa Grange Hall on June 28, and if you'd like to sell your craft, raise awareness for a program of yours or just sell stuff, you've still got time to contact me and we'll put you on the list and get a table set up for you. We do hope you'll come down and buy a pie, some wonderful lavendar products, things from Redmen Hall, jewelry and jams and jellies, plus buy a ticket to win a wonderful basket that the Skamokawa Grange will give away, so we hope to see you in a couple of weeks! On that same day, the Skamokawa Methodist Church is having their big rummage sale so come on down this way and check us out while you're out shopping for bargains that day!

REDMEN HALL--While you're down here checking out the Vendor's Market and the churche's rummage sale, be sure to check out Redmen Hall which will also be reopening on June 28. Their foundation project is done and they are anxious to show off their latest exhibit entitled "Legacy of the Columbia River Fishery."

TALK IT UP--We all have a group of friends and we all seem to belong to numerous groups and organizations, so I do hope you're all talking up all the activities that will be going on in Wahkiakum County in the months to come. Whether it's just around town, or talking to new clients or customers or even someone new in town looking for a reason to hang around our area, we need to "talk it up." Nothing seems to work better for advertising our place than a good ole testimonial from one of the locals. The other day a guy asked me about Puget Island, and I was happy to tell him about it and the rest of the area and he and his wife were truly interested in going around to some of our shops and checking out the various parks and brewery, etc., but they wouldn't know about them unless I said something. I shuddered when I heard one person tell a visitor that "there's nothing to do around here." Eek! That's not how one goes about trying to promote our area! We need to brag up Bald Eagle Day and tell them about our wonderful marina with great little cabins to stay in, with a brand new brewery nearby. If they like to camp, we've got Skamokawa Vista Park which has a gorgeous view, which we locals often take for granted, but people from other places are just stunned at the beauty of the area and how the ships come by so close. For the history buffs, we've got a fantastic museum, Redmen Hall and a couple of special things like the last ferry on the lower Columbia and the Grays River Covered Bridge which is the only one around that you can actually drive through and even dine in once October comes around, so with so many wonderful things here and many terrific events, like crab and oysters feeds and wine tastings and auctions, well, there's definitely something to do here! So, again, spread the word and let some other folks come here and help support our community by renting rooms, dining in our restaurants and such. It's win, win for everybody!

OUT OF THE PAST--Back in June of 1964, the weather wasn't as nice as ours is now, as there had been several wet, rainy and cold days, although by the second week, it began to get much nicer. WA-KI-HI graduation was held on June 1, which was an overcast day, so it wasn't too bad. There was a big crowd there and Elsie Everest attended and saw grand-daughter, Kay Pedersen sing in the choir. Later on, favorite teacher and coach, Ernie McKie and his family announced they would be leaving Cathlamet and that had the whole town sad. The Congregational Church held a farewell coffee hour for them after the morning service. A money tree at the party provided them with a nice gift as they said their good-byes. Ninety year old Alexander Petersen passed away that week and he left behind his two daughters, Mrs. Lillian Havens and Mrs. Violet Stone and four sons, Peter, Stanley, Arne and Gordon. Also, Frank Brooks, who was 80, passed away that week. He had been the Sheriff for eight years and also a Wahkiakum County commissioner for 12 years. He was survived by a daughter, Dorothy Barry, a son, Perry and grandson, Kerry, as well as two brothers, Ben and Floyd. That week, Elsie's brother, Dale Walker, was taken to the VA hospital in Vancouver, and daughter, Carol, drove her down there to see him. Mr. Lewis Dowling from Cathlamet was also taken to the hospital. Krist Pedersen called from Alaska and the fish were coming in strong he said. The Dorcas club held their last meeting prior to summer before meeting again in September. Blanche Bradley gave a nice talk about her trip to the Holy Land, which everyone found very interesting. A large crowd gathered at the Elochoman Grange for a big Father's Day dinner and they all stayed until 9:30 p.m. All had a very good time. All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.