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

WET AND COLD--As the weekend ended, there was still plenty of rain falling and even some snow. A light layer of snow was visible on the hills towards East Valley. The work week began with a bit of a break and everyone was thoroughly enjoying that sunny, dry, although rather blustery Monday. However, it didn't last as Tuesday morning is nothing but raindrops. The forecasters say we'll have a few wet days and then our Easter weekend should be a nice one and temperatures could even reach the 70s. One can always hope!

EASTER DOINGS--Speaking of Easter, we've got a few activities going on this weekend. The Easter Bingo in the multi-purpose room at Julius Wendt Elmentary School on April 6 is put on by the Wahkiakum County Fair Board. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with Bingo starting at 6 p.m. All winners get their choice of either a ham or two chickens, and their grand prize for this year's raffle is a 42" flat screen TV. Good luck to all those who buy those raffle tickets. One of you will be a winner!

On Saturday, the annual Lions Club Easter Egg hunt will take place at Skamokawa Vista Park. Starting time is 11 a.m. and you can call Carol McClain at 795-3337 for more information. Don't be late as the kids scoop up those eggs in a big hurry, trying to find the prize eggs that are in the designated areas for the different age groups! If you're on the Westend, the Naselle High School will be the site of your Easter Egg Hunt. Call 503-298-2035 for more info.

Needless to say, all of your local churches will be having special services that day so we hope you enjoy your fellowship with your friends and neighbors at your favorite place of worship on Sunday! Happy Easter Everybody!

MUSICALE--Speaking of blessings, it was certainly wonderful to hear the voices of some young, talented folks who were nice enough to donate their time to come and sing at the Skamokawa Methodist Church last Sunday afternoon. Music filled the air, and we all thoroughly enjoyed Bobby, Emily and Hannah Saari as they delighted us with their songs and harmonies, which included some that the young ladies had written themselves. Very impressive indeed. Rose Carosa was once again a treat to listen to with that very high, lovely voice. Sarah Phillips played the flute accompanied by her father, Pastor Mark Phillips. The boss, Rick Nelson, entertained us with a couple of numbers from his guitar and they are always well received. Sunrise Fletcher played his ukelele to an old favorite and then a new song he wrote as well, "Butter, Butter, Butter" which was all about a cow named Kay from Skamokawa. Hmmmm. In case you didn't know, we had a prize award winning creamery in Skamokawa at one time and our butter won first prize in a contest in San Francisco back in the day, so this song of Sunrise's was a tribute to our dairy days of old. Rounding out the day were a couple of choirs and also a couple of tables full of goodies, so if you missed it this year, we hope you'll think about coming next year. This is an annual event to raise money for the St. James Family Center with a special offering that day, so kudos to those who were able to help them out.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from April 5-11 are Janet Bryan, Michaela Phillips, Kylie Thacker, Tim Parker, Patrick Thacker, Trygve Gilbertsen, Kim Lindsey, Wendy Westover, Sara Havens Brown, Marissa Longtain, Paul Toste, Charlie Buennagel, Judy Wilde, Patricia Ballard and Ralph Pedersen. Happy Birthday folks!

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Cliff and Judy Garrison, Mike and Ronda Rose, Ralph and Peggy Pedersen, George and Judy Bates, the Don Wages and the Terry Bonnys. Enjoy those special days everybody!

REUNION MEETING--The next Mule Train All-School Reunion meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on April 14 at the Chamber of Commerce in Cathlamet, which is housed at the Julia Butler Hansen house on Main Street. This is a very important meeting and we really need spokespeople from each class to show up so we can get this event going.

Some have asked what the $20 fee is for and it does include your main food items--hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and pop/water/coffee and there will be beans and potato salad as well and dessert too. Some of the money is going to cover costs, as there is a lot to making this work, like mailing invitations, none of which are free. There will be name tags to buy, food tickets to purchase, signs and posters to make, and utensils and table cloths, etc., involved as well and they all cost money. The overall feeling I'm getting is that everyone wants to keep this low cost and easy.

Some schools have had a strictly potluck gathering. However, with folks traveling so far and health department issues being raised, we opted out of doing that sort of thing, thus the burgers and hot dogs being provided. It's less fuss but it does come at a cost. Not to mention, having a place to set up two or three hundred separate dishes could be a real issue as well, so a catered lunch by the FFA seemed much easier to deal with and it helps them raise a few dollars as well.

Any extra monies are going to be given to the high school as a gift from all the classes. We have been presented with a couple of choices: a new football scoreboard or a new stage curtain. Personally, I like the curtain idea as it is seen and used by the entire school and every class in one way or another. After all these years, the red velvet curtain is getting faded and thin and really does need to be replaced. However, this decision is going to be up to a group, so if you'd like to put your two cents in, come to the meeting or add your thoughts on the MT Facebook page or you can contact Susan McClain sjmcq1@yahoo.com or myself.

NEW EXHIBIT--Redmen Hall will be sporting a new exhibit as the Friends of Skamokawa presents Legacy of the Columbia River Fishery, beginning on April 14 at 1 p.m. in the River Life Interpretive Center on the second floor of the hall. These are gorgeous, professionally done panels with wonderful pictures and a superb way to show the history of the fisheries along the Columbia River. Keith Hoofnagle did a lot of the original art work, and Irene Martin did the text and with photographs that have never been seen before, it will be a must for everyone to see. This exhibit will go to the Maritime Museum in Astoria and also to Olympia. This wonderful piece of history will be happily displayed through May 6. Redmen Hall is open Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.

AWESOME CHICKEN--If you haven't been to the Rosburg Hall for one of their fabulous chicken dinners, we hope you'll mark April 22 on your calendars, as it's one of those must go to dinners with delicious chicken with all the fixings and pie for dessert--yum! Serving begins at 11:30 a.m., so don't be late, as it's only served until early afternoon! Rosburg Hall is one of those community buildings that needs support to keep the doors open, so we hope you'll attend this important fund raiser.

PORT MEETINGS--When it comes to county properties, projects and such, I often hear people say "They should have done this," or "Why didn't they do that," so for all those with wonderful ideas, it's time to share all those ideas with Port District 2 when they hold a Comprehensive meeting at the Skamokawa Grange on April 23, 7 p.m.

On May 2 the Port will hold another important public meeting at the Skamokawa Grange Hall concerning the much needed dredging of our area streams as they enter the Columbia River. They are becoming more and more shallow and not only are we losing access to them, which impact some businesses, but this can cause more and more flooding in low-lying areas and really needs to be addressed right away. This meeting will be held at 6 p.m. and they will provide dinner. It would be great if you would RSVP at 795-8605 so a head count could be established for the food, but it is not necessary. Please come to this all important meeting that is critical to our area.

GET WELL--We want to give a get well shout out to Art Vik who's been feeling sort of bum lately and also to one of our favorite gals, Judy Smith, who has been down with a bug this past week. Also feeling bum this week for various reasons, have been Katie, Kyle and Luke Sechler, and many others as well, so here's hoping you'll all be feeling fine in no time! To all those with that nagging hanging-on-forever cough, they say rest is the answer. Good luck!

GRANGE MEETING--The Skamokawa Grange #425 will hold a potluck meeting next Monday evening at the grange hall at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. We hold our regular meeting after we eat, which usually starts about 7 p.m.