NICE STREAK--It seems summer finally arrived, just in time for the kids to go back to school. Football and Fall are heading our way, as the sun has been shining and the temperatures rising. We should be nice all week but computer models are showing us several degrees below the temperatures Portland is expecting and that's fine with me! It looks to be dry and nice for upcoming events, including the "End of the World Rod Run" Saturday in Long Beach.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from September 8-14 are Carla Keilwitz, Amanda Poler, Eddie Johnson, Art Vik, Charity Kerstetter, Kay Buennagel, Jo Reed, Jean Heagy, Richard Bigler, Rex Gilbertsen, Miya Kerstetter, Hayden Kincaid, Jacob Hoven, Cayden Mendez, Conner Parker and Naomi Pedersen. May all of you enjoy your birthdays.

Happy Anniversary wishes to Jim and Betty Koziel, Quin and Christeena Bassi, Fred and Sally Nollan, Gene and Karen Healy, Scott and Jen Pedersen, Jim and Adelaine Durrah, Floyd and Trude McClane, Eric and Sandy Bergseng, the Karl Johnsons and John Jr. and Jesse Hoven.

NEW ANNIVERSARY--When Carrie Shofner married Mike Backman last Saturday, they added to our list of anniversaries. Loved seeing the pictures of them at their wedding at Skamokawa Vista Park; such great pictures of the happy couple! Congratulations to Mike and Carrie; you make a cute couple!

LIONS CLUB CALENDAR--According to Carol McClain, now is the time to make note of any additions or corrections to the Lions Club calendar as they want to get your order and have them out in time for Christmas this year, so if you have any changes, it's time to call Carol and get that added to the calendar. If you already have a calendar and see a misspelling or a name in the wrong spot, etc., please make note of that and let Carol know about that as well. New this year, is the way the Lions Club members will handle their calendar sales, as you will need to pay up front and then they will be mailed to you. This will alleviate ordering too many, as this is not cost effective for the Lions Club, so hopefully this new way of doing things will work out better for everyone involved. Call Carol at 795-3337 to order or make changes.

THIS IS IT--This is the weekend for the Friends of Skamokawa's annual Wine Tasting and Auction event, Saturday at the Skamokawa Grange Hall from 7 to 10 p.m. You don't have to like wine to come to this fund raiser; there are other things to drink, but you do have to like to have fun, as it's just a real enjoyable time and all the money raised goes to a good cause. Serene Snow will cook up her tasty appetizers, with a variety of goodies to please your palate, so that's another reason to come on down! It's the 25th anniversary for the FOS; they'll have special wine goblets for sale, and who knows, you might find a new wine, so that new goblet would go good with that! These etched commemorative goblets are made by Ken Tatyrek Sculpturing of Hood River and are limited.

I heard that one of the prizes in the live bidding will be for a week long stay in Hawaii! Of course there will be many more things to bid on, including some artwork by Ellen Anderson (Skamokawa Landing) so come prepared to bid! The Cornucopia of Wines poster drawn by Keith Hoofnagle is a work of art in itself. Good job Keith! There was also one made by David Goodroe and a limited amount of Mr. Goodroe's wine motif prints will be available for sale as well. Remember, adults only, $20 a ticket or two for $35, either at The Bank of the Pacific or at the door.

GREAT TIME--The Eighth annual Labor Day Buzzards Breath Chili Cook-Off was a big success. A half dozen of our friends came together and went around to all the contestants/entries which had such great variety! Some tables were pretty basic with a few crackers or a bit of cheese, while others were a bit more elaborate, very nice! It was a fun event to go to and be a part of for sure! If you think you could do better with your chili, then keep Labor Day weekend in mind for next year, as I'm sure they'd love to have you sign up! I have to admit, it got a bit warm there in the afternoon and more shaded seating would have been nice to have. We old folks don't do well standing and eating, nor sitting in the sun, so that might be a consideration to think about for next year.

IN A COUPLE WEEKS--Those who want to get involved with next year's All School Mule Train reunion on August 4, 2012, should try to make it to the next meeting which is September 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Julia Butler Hansen Heritage Center/Wahkiakum Chamber on Main Street in Cathlamet. We'd like to make up a logo to put on some sweatshirts for a keepsake, so you might want to think about that and let us know your ideas. Those classes celebrating anniversary reunions next year might want to have their own special reunion later on that evening someplace or go together on some music, etc., so let's start talking and see what we can come up with as this should be one fun reunion! Remember, this is for all graduating classes, so that's a lot of people and there's a lot of planning to be done, so the more alumni we can get together to work on this thing, the better it will be; no complaining how it was done if you weren't there to pitch in with ideas! Susan McClain Kuhn is spearheading this event, so contact her via email at: sjmcq1@yahoo.com or check out things on Facebook at the Mule Train All School reunion for more info. Please help spread the word and make your plans now for attending next year. It will be a blast!

CELTIC BOOM--It seems the folks who held their first Celtic Boom gathering and dance on August 27 here in Skamokawa, have already called and want to come back next year. It sounded like the Celtic group enjoyed staying at Skamokawa Vista Park over the weekend and playing music at the grange on Saturday, so that's good; a real fun time for them, which they plan on repeating.

POST OFFICE--As those of you in the Skamokawa area have heard by now, we are on the chopping block for one of those small towns who may lose their post office. As one who uses the post office a lot, I do not want to see this happen. If you want to check out the latest in regard to what the post office is doing and other info, check out http://savethepostoffice.com or check out http://NAPUS.org and hit the tab that says "Retired Postmaster" and then under that, hit the tab to "Post Office Preservation."

I'll be writing up a petition and will need signatures and addresses of those who are in our zip code, as well as people who use our post office. I plan on having this petition at the Skamokawa Resort by this Thursday so you can sign it. I will probably have one with me at all times, so you'll be able sign it on the spot. Also, I want to get a group together to get a letter writing campaign going. I'm looking for a good date to hold this meeting; with so many people involved in so many things, it's tough, but it will probably be in the next couple of weeks. I will keep you posted however, and if you'd like to help out, give me a call. For now, spread the word, sign the petition and let's keep our newly revamped post office right where it is!

REMEMBERING--In memory of those lost in the attacks of September 11, we are being asked to honor them by flying our flag this weekend. We hope you will do so at your home and place of business. While we may differ in a lot of ways and we aren't always in agreement to how things are run and who should be running them, we are still a great nation and those who died at the hands of terrorists and those who died defending our country, need to be honored and respected. We hope you'll do your part and fly the Stars and Stripes this weekend.