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

WARM STREAK--How did you like this past weekend? Pretty nice wasn't it?! Considering several things were going on in the area, it was great to have such nice weather for them, even though the late evening hours were a little nippy, the daylight hours were plenty toasty. By the time you read this, we may have seen some showers but it wasn't clear on how long they would last but I know one thing, a few days of some light, yet soaking rains, would certainly help with our fire danger, as this past week has seen mulitple fires in many areas of WA and OR and they are so devastating that alleviating some of that danger with a few good soakings would be real nice about now.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 18-24 are George Bates, Tracy Carroll, Shona Heywood, Sam Longtain, Jay Mace, Monte Longtain, Ty Norris, Laura Lee Norris, Theresa Jacobson, Bob Ohrberg, Bob Bacon, Kenny Bunn, Dan Turner, George Wilde, Barbara Shaver, Edith Erickson, Lori Kyle, Karla Kyle, Susan Shook, Dawn Pedersen's daughter, Isabella and Adam Pedersen. Happy Birthday to each and every one of you!

Happy Anniversarys wishes are being sent out this week to Mr. and Mrs. Dan Keilwitz, Chuck and Sheran Parker, Phil and Ivy Lou Vik and Mr. and Mrs. John Burdick. Happy celebrations everybody!

SYMPATHIES--I was so sorry to learn of the passing of Jean Heagy just one day after her 94th birthday last week. Jean was a real great lady with many stories to tell, like when she danced on the Lawrence Welk show back in the day. She'd helped our Skamokawa Grange out one year during our holiday dinner and recently took part in Skamokawa Grange contests and liked seeing those blue ribbons on her entries. I was so sorry to have missed her phone call the day of her birthday, as I'm sure she was going to tell me all about her birthday celebration, as her voice was full of happiness when she left me the message to give her a call back. Sadly, I didn't get the chance. Our sympathies to her entire family. She will truly be missed.

MULES--The Mules Varsity team will be here at home this Friday night as they take on Adna. Come and cheer them on. The game starts at 7 p.m. If they have enough players with practice time to do so, the JV team will play them on Monday evening in Adna, with their games starting at 6 p.m. The Mule Volleyball team will be playing one game this Thursday (today) in Ilwaco and then they'll be at home on Tuesday, Oct. 23 and be up against Morton/White Pass. JV team plays at 5:45 with the Varsity team following. On that same day, the Cross Country team will be in Rochester. Go Mules!

FUN TIME--Several members of the class of 1967 gathered at Skamokawa Vista Park for a week and had several other classmates stop by from time to time, as well as other siblings of theirs or other family members. Needless to say, it was always busy around the campsites with either gabbing or eating, so we had a good time for sure. We met up at the Duck Inn on Monday morning to share a breakfast together and so those who had been doing a lot of cooking, got a little break from that. This weather has been quite pleasant compared to last year when we were battling rain and wind at times. As we did last year, several of us met for breakfast at the Duck Inn one morning and then I clued them into one of our usual evenings out at the Duck Inn, so they were joining us for Taco Tuesday as well! Whether it was from the deck of the Duck or the camping spots at Vista Park, the view of the river was spectacular and the sunsets were gorgeous.

FULL HOUSE--The Friends of Skamokawa were very pleased with the attendance at the Wine Tasting and Auction event last Saturday evening, and as usual, their decorations dolled up the place and the items to bid on were very varied. Once again, there were some fun bidding wars and that's what makes it so much fun, as auctioneer, Brian McClain had to start giving the right side of the room a bad time as the left side was really action packed there for awhile. Locals, Ginger Schmitz and Jake of "Jack and Jill Catering" did a great job and the hot Brie cheese was super yummy. Needless to say, I was disappoointed that I had to pass up on the desserts due to allergies, but everybody else dove right in to those chocolate covered strawberries and brownies with peanut butter and sea salt and thought they were delicious. The evening was highlighted when the Friends of Skamokawa honored Jane Rees for her sizeable contribution which got the Redmen Hall its much needed new foundation earlier this year. She given a nice plaque, a gift basket and shown a wonderful hand-made certificate by local artist, Keith Hoofnagle, which will hang in the hall memorializing her contribuiton. A hearty round of applause by the audience conveyed everyone's appreciation of this grand gesture. Jane was accompanied by her son and grand-daughter that evening, so it was very nice that they were able to be there for this wonderful occasion.

OKTOBERFEST--We managed to get down to the Drop Anchor Brewery on Saturday prior to the Wine Tasting and take in some lunch as they were serving up brats and 'kraut, so we had to give that a try. Stopping by and joining us was Fred Aegerter and we had a good gab while we ate our lunch. At the time, we were happy to have gotten a place to sit inside, as the sun was just beating down, and it was a bit too warm outside to sit in that. I'm guessing they'll be investing in some big tents for the crowd next year, as that would help out a lot during the sunny or even rainy weather.

SKAMOKAWA GRANGE--For the Skamokawa Grangers, the second meeting of September is on Monday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., so all grangers are urged to attend. We will enjoy our dinner at home but we will have a snack/dessert gathering at 6:30 p.m., so bring your favorite and we'll meet you at the Skamokawa Grange Hall at 18 Fairgrounds Road on Monday evening. Anyone is welcome to stop by.

COMING UP--With September being so nice, we can only hope that we have a few dry days left as October begins because the annual "Columbia River Country Days" (Oct. 3 & 4) is certainly more fun if you're not sloshing through the puddles to attend it! This starts with several things going on over at the Farmers Market on Puget Island, like a pie social to help benefit the 4-Her's on Friday, the third, and then there's a 4-H Open House at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds Saturday during the day, with the Covered Bridge Dinner that evening at the Grays River Covered Bridge. Tickets are $35, but if you're over 72, they are only $25. All proceeds benefit the 4-H program, so we hope you can attend. Contact 795-3278 for more details.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1944, the week began and ended very nice but in between it took turns being nice and being wet. It was a busy week for Grandma Elsie, as she canned prunes, pears, made apple butter and pear conserve. She went to the Pocahontas Lodge where the ladies held a birthday party for two of their members and had a real good time. Grandma sold 11 tickets to the upcoming BPW card party while she was there, so she was happy about that. A couple of days later they held the party and made $63. with a good crowd in attendance. It was a bad day in Castle Rock as "Dewey's Special" and three other trains wrecked up there. The Jonas Pedersen family got a little bigger when daughter Norma gave birth to a baby girl they named Karla Jean. By the end of the week, it was time for a break and the Everests went to the show; "Seabees" was playing. Sadly that week, George Badger passed away.

In 1949, it was nice all week long until the last day and it was still dry but was very cloudy. It was a big day on Friday as the semi annual meeting of Rebekah District No. 19 was held at a special meeting of Riverview Rebekah Lodge No. 293 in Cathlamet. Bertha Ackermann was the Conductor of that chapter, so she was one of the district officers and Rosemary Kinnison was the Inside Guardian so she was another officer from the Cathlamet group. Grandma said they had very good food over at the Sons of Norway Smorgasboard. Sadly Frank Morgan and Richard Dix passed away that week, just one day apart.

In 1964, it was nice all week except for that Saturday, when it was wet and miserable. It was a week of meetings with Grandma attending a Dorcas Club meeting, Home Ec. meeting, Church meeting, Rebekahs' meeting.At the end of each, she said they had a good time but there was a lot of work to do to continue to raise funds for each group. That week, the Everests attended the wedding of their grandson, David Pedersen who married Gayle Wines of Castle Rock at the home of his older brother, Frank Pedersen, with Rev. Kenneth Madsen officiating. The bouquets of pink flowers were in baskets on each side of the fire mantle and went well with the bride's pink lace wedding gown. The town was happy as Cathlamet beat Naselle in the Friday night football game. Along with their friend, Mayme Johnson, the Everests travelled to the Channel House in Stella where they had chicken dinner. Grandma's comment was "not so good," but she did enjoy the drive. Her last comment for that week: "Time moves too fast." All this according to Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.