RAIN--We ended last week with some rain and began the week with showers, plain ole rain and some good, gusty winds, which brought down a lot of leaves along the roadways; definitely seemed more like Fall! I'd just about forgotten how miserable it can be tromping around in a parking lot in the rain! The good news out of the rainy stretch was that it sure helped calm down those fire fears, as things were tinder dry out there. From now on, we'll be thoroughly enjoying those upcoming dry days, even though they may be shorter and the evening hours a little cooler. As you can see, we are heading into another month this Saturday. I just don't know where the time is going!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from September 29 to October 5 are Blake Anderson, Valerie Bennett, Brandon Brown, Stewart Moonen, Ginger Schmitz, Debbie Gribskov, Kylee Montgomery, Linda Wright, Cheryl Backman, Mary Wingate, Brian Elliott, Sara Jester, Becky Keithley, Kevin Weaver, Kari Claussen, Marissa Apperson, Robert Blain, Jesse Ellison and Karen Healy.

Happy Anniversary wishes go out to Chip and Kathy Perkins, Quin and Connie Bassi, the Scott McClains and the Terry Clevelands.

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS--Currently the Lion's Club is making corrections to their calendar and also adding people to it. If you see mistakes: wrong dates, wrong names, misspelled names, people who are no longer with us, please contact Carol McClain at 795-3337, so it can get corrected. For each name on the calendar, there is a charge to the Lions Club, so it is very important that those who wish to have their names remain on the calendar, to order one, or at least have several family members who are ordering them. This year, calendar orders are being taken a bit differently and so they will need to be pre-paid. They are $7 each. Contact a LC member and either get them your money, or send your check for the appropriate amount to the Lions Club, P.O. Box 214, Skamokawa, WA.

HOUSEWARMING--Layton and Pamela Elliott have moved back to our area and are now living here in Skamokawa in the Calvin and Evelyn Carroll home, which belonged to Pam's folks, so we want to welcome them home! They would like to invite everyone to come to their place this Sunday, where they will have an open house from 1 to 8 p.m., so come by and say hello and welcome them to the neighborhood. Layton says they've invited some musicians to come and provide some entertainment, so whether it be fiddle players or guitar players, it will be a musical day at the East end of Skamokawa this Sunday.

SAVE OUR POST OFFICE--By the time you read this, we will be in the midst of a letter writing campaign to help save our Skamokawa Post Office. We already have a petition going, but we thought letters to the powers that be might be in order. I'm hoping to have some form letters for people to sign and mail right away, which will be down at the Skamokawa Resort general store but it would really be great if you could write your own heartfelt, compelling letter to them yourself, but either way, we want some letters going to: USPS Western Area District Manager - 1745 Stout ST Suite 1000 - Denver, CO 80299-5000 and to USPS District Manager - 415 1st Ave N - Seattle, WA 98109-9998. Include your name and address on the letter and think of all the reasons we need to keep this post office, from the fact that it's just been moved here, to the huge expense it would be to all the businesses here to change all their mailing addresses (Skamokawa Vista Park, Skamokawa Methodist Church, Lion's Club, the 3 B & B's, Skamokawa Enterprises, Skamokawa Gardens' Nursery, Gribskov Glassblowing, the Friends of Skamokawa, just to name a few) and the personal expense of just home owners if they want to keep a post office box and have to travel to Cathlamet, etc. Plus, we are a growing community. We need this post office!! Please help by sending a letter or two today and if so inclined, send some to our senators and state representatives. Community support is vital in the pursuit of keeping our post office. Please help!

ALL SCHOOL REUNION MEETING--A small group of folks met at the Chamber of Commerce in Cathlamet recently and more plans were talked over for the big all school reunion next year on August 4. We are looking into pre-selling sweatshirts and we're thinking of having two different logos. As always, there's a lot of things to work out when you're planning something this big, but at least the date is set, and the high school is the place to meet with the hours being from noon until 5 p.m. That's for certain.

If you have a great, workable, idea for this event, you need to come to the next meeting or start sharing them with Susan Kuhn, either by mail, email (sjmcq1@yahoo.com) or on the Mule Train Facebook site. The next meeting is Oct. 22, at 9:30 a.m. at the Chamber again.

CLASSMATES GATHERED--A bunch of 67'ers, as well as some others, gathered last weekend to celebrate Ken Bunn's birthday in Long Beach and they had a great time together. The 67'ers in the group even started thinking about their big 45th reunion coming up next year, so they're sharing information and ideas right now and working their special day into the big All School reunion as well.

Besides the birthday boy, those attending the gathering were Elaine and Phil Rolf, Linda Toste, Kathy Peek, Keith and Karen Lawrence, Susan Brown, Sandi Quigley, Doug Wright, Pam Below, Toni Below, John and Novalee Knopp and exchange students, Gong Yang Piao Piao from China, Leonardo Onodera from Brazil and Songe Yao from China. What a group!

67'ER MEETING--Speaking of meetings, right after the All School reunion meeting on October 22, the class of '67 will meet to do some planning for their special 45th reunion. All of you in the Class of 67, we hope you can come for that! We will be getting together at the Riverview Restaurant at 11:45 a.m.

LOTS OF FOOTBALL--The Mules varsity football team will be traveling to Mossyrock this Friday for a big game there, so we want to say Go Mules! The JV team will be playing at home on Monday against Mossyrock. The Warriors will be playing in Winlock tonight (Thursday) while the Youth Football team plays Saturday, at 2 p.m. in Castle Rock. Good luck everybody!

FAIR CHECKS--If you entered something in this year's Wahkiakum County Fair, you should have gotten your check by now. If not, you need to call the fairgrounds and fair manager Becky Ledtke will get that squared away for you. Remember to cash your check as soon as you can so the bookwork can be completed. Of course, if you'd like to help the fair out, you can always donate your check back to the fair. If that's not possible right now, maybe you'd like to be a sponsor to the fair later on, you can always send a donation at a more convenient time to: Wahkiakum County Fair, P.O. Box 1 in Skamokawa, 98647. Maybe a loved one that has passed on was an avid fair goer, and you could donate something in their name, a truly lasting gift! Once again, if you want to give that person who has everything a gift, why not make a donation to the fair in their name this Christmas? We need to keep this tradition alive and with your help, we can. Country Pride, County Wide was a great theme this year. Let's keep that pride going!