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

SO-SO--Last weekend promised to bring some sunshine to our area but after a brief amount on Saturday morning, the clouds took over and it was rather gloomy all day. However, it was dry, so that was something. Sunday saw some brief sun breaks but by nightfall and Monday morning, it was nothing but rain, so if things clear up by the end of the week, I'm sure everyone will be happy.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from May 3-9 are Rosie Hicks, Maria Snow, Connor Emlen-Petterson, Tami Bosch, Lori Parke, Stephanie Moonen, Stan Thacker, Orville Lindsey, Jeff Ostling, Josh Phelps, Erval Cooper, Jennifer Hanigan, Matthew Freeman and grandson, Austin Good.

Those celebrating anniversaries are Treasure and Michelle Collupy, Mark Whitaker and Shannon Meeker, John and Sharon Buennagel, Gary and Sandie York, Katrina and Matthew Freeman and the Terry Evermans. Enjoy your special days, everyone!

APPELO 90--Speaking of birthdays, I hope you will head to the Apello Archive Center and share some birthday cake with Carlton Appelo. He will celebrate his 90th birthday on May 12 from noon to four p.m. The center is located to the west of Hunter's Inn, at 1056 SR 4 in Naselle. Everyone is welcome to attend the celebration, but in lieu of gifts, you are asked to make a donation to the Archives Center. Carlton has been a huge factor in our county. His 90 years have been jam-packed with activities that have helped our county and we certainly thank him for that and wish him the very best of birthdays a couple of Saturdays from now!

OPENS NEW SEASON--The Wahkiakum County Historical Society wants to remind you that the museum in Cathlamet is opening this weekend, May 5 and 6. We hope you can help support them by stopping by. It helps if folks will spread the word about it as well, as there's nothing like live testimony to get people in the door. As always, volunteers are being asked to come forward to help man the museum. It's not hard work and you'll be amazed at all the pictures and recorded history that has been assembled in our museum. With Mother's Day and Father's Day coming up, a great gift idea may be to remember them forever with a brick with their names on it that will be set outside the museum. It's a great way to have them remembered and it helps keep the doors to our wonderful museum open.

THIS SUNDAY--Don't forget the Friendship Circle Spring Tea this Sunday with doors opening at noon at the Rosburg Hall. They will have several things for raffles and I heard that Joan Harvey Chester has donated a beautiful, one of a kind sterling silver and semi-precious stone necklace for the event, so here's hoping you are the lucky winner of that unique item! Enjoy your tea, ladies!

TEA TIME--On May 12, the Sons of Norway will hold their Syttende Mai Tea at the Norse Hall. You can call 795-8759 or 849-4476 for more details.

REDMEN HALL--The current exhibit at Redmen Hall, Legacy of the Columbia River Fishery is coming to an end May 6. I was very impressed with these gorgeous panels and was tickled to spot a picture of my brother, David W. Pedersen in one of them, and I just loved the picture of Craig Nettles up in the far right corner in another one. Coming from a fishing family, these pictures brought back a lot of memories for me. Please try and make it to this exhibit before it closes, as you will be amazed at the artistry and history and who knows, you might spot a family member or two in those panels as I did.

A new exhibit will begin over Mother's Day weekend, and that will involve the artwork of the late Martha Boentgen. She spent many of her latter years here in Skamokawa and was known as a major Pacific NW painter. She had her work displayed all over the United States, as well as abroad. Many of her students have planned to attend the opening on May 12. The exhibit will run through June 17.

RUN, RUN--For those enthusiastic folks who enjoy a good view while they exercise, it's almost time for the annual Great White-Tail Fun Run, which takes place May 19 around the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge. Registration begins at Skamokawa Vista Park at 8:30 a.m. with the run beginning at 10 a.m. For more information about all the costs and alternate divisions, call 795-3278 or on the Westend, call 465-2275. This is a fund raiser for the Wahkiakum County based 4-H program.

FOLLIES GROUP MEETS--Last Sunday many members of the Smoky Water Follies cast met at the Pioneer Church in Cathlamet to begin their trek into the showbiz world. Adele Baker Swift and Sunrise Fletcher are in charge of this musical extravaganza, set for the last weekend in June. This year it will include the date of July 1, which will be our Sunday matinee. New this year will be our Family-Friendly Friday ticket, which allows a family to attend for just $20. Children must be accompanied by at least one adult. We've also got several new members of our cast and are happy to have them onboard! Two of our newbies are the wonderful girls I heard at the Hosanna Musicale, Emily and Hannah Saari.

Cast members should go to the Skamokawa Follies Facebook page to keep up with all the latest goings on and if you were unable to make last week's meeting, contact Adele or Sunrise (795-8770) for any information you may need. It's not too late to be involved so contact Sunrise right away if you'd like join the cast. This year's theme of the show is the women's rights movement and their fellow suffragettes.

LOOKIN' GOOD--The Duck Inn is looking mighty spiffy already with its new main entrance in the middle of the building and its hanging lanterns along the exterior and back decks. With a lot of hard work they hope to have it open on the third weekend in May, so keep watch for that, as it's going to be exciting to see it when they are all done. You are going to be amazed at the transformation of the place! By Memorial Weekend, we hope things will be going full steam ahead. Needless to say, the Duck Inn will undoubtedly be full of car lovers the following weekend when the WDFS Car Show comes to town!

CAR SHOW PRIZES--On June 2 the Wahkiakum Dollars For Scholars Rods and Reels event will take place at the Skamokawa Grange Hall and the Wahkiakum Fairgrounds. This big day includes a car show and a sturgeon derby with music, food, trout pond and tons of raffle tables that you can win. This year in the grange, you will see items like a Kindle Fire with WiFi set up, another wonderful car quilt made by Vickie Reid, a barbecue, a 10' x 10' pop up tent with chair, a 42 inch flat screen TV with Blu-Ray Player, a Garmin GPS unit and more. You'll be supporting the kids in our schools by providing more money for their scholarships, so it's a great cause and everyone involved in this really appreciates your support. Don't forget, it's free to get in and look at the cars and things.

If you come down early, you can have breakfast at the United Methodist Church, which will donate $1 from every breakfast served to the Dollars For Scholars program. After that you can wander around the grounds until lunch is served at the fairgrounds, so you'll not only be supporting a couple of good groups and their causes, but you'll keep your kitchen clean too!

GET WELL--We want to send Becky Ledtke and Adele Swift some feel better soon wishes. Jolene Wright was having a bit of surgery so we hope she's feeling good as new in no time. Erval Cooper is home and feeling better and we hope he continues to stay well. Also, I heard from Kelly (Nettles) Recupero that a cousin of theirs had been burned badly in a house fire in Portland and is asking for prayers on Theresa Goble Bracco's behalf.

S & R GOLF--On June 10 there will be a golf tournament at Skyline Golf Course in Cathlamet. This is a fund raiser for the Wahkiakum Search and Rescue team and a great time for golfers to have a fun time and help a good cause as well. The cost is $35 per person, which includes a meal, but not a golf cart. It sounds like there are a ton of prizes to be had, so if you're interested in playing in these four man scramble teams, contact the shop at 795-8785 and they'll fill you in on all the details.

PUGET ISLAND GARAGE SALE--If you're looking for some deals, keep in mind the annual big sale on Puget Island on June 22-24 with all the various homes taking part. This is called the PIGYS sale, or Puget Island Garage and Yard Sale, and is always a fun time.

The Norse Hall will have their Viking on a Bun special with their yummy tri-tip steak sandwich. All monies raised go to the Sons of Norway to help preserve and maintain their hall as well as continue their good works.

JULY--It will be time to enjoy the Vendor's Market at Vista Park on July 28, which is hosted by the Skamokawa Grange this year. We are still getting applications for the event, and it looks like things are going well and we should have a fun day. There is still time to sign up, so either get a form from the Skamokawa Vista Park office or call me at 795-3425 right away, leave a message if need be, and I'll send you one, the more the merrier, see you in July!

A TIP--It won't be long and we'll be getting berries to make pies and jellies, and one thing that is so annoying is that after you pick some or buy some, many will turn moldy practically overnight and there goes your hard work and money. I heard about a little trick to help save your berries and your wallet, and that's by rinsing them in one part vinegar to ten parts water, which is a very weak solution, but it will kill the mold spores and help keep those berries much longer so you don't wind up wasting them. With that kind of solution, you don't even have to re-rinse them, as you won't be able to taste the vinegar in that watered down solution, but you can choose to re-rinse them if you want. At any rate, I thought that was a great idea as no one likes to lose their berries to mold!

NICE CHANGE--I don't know if you missed me or not, but I managed to escape the valley and head to Seattle, where I house, dog, cat, and fish-sat for a bit while my son, Pete Sechler and his family, headed out on a Hawaiian vacation. It didn't take me long to realize that the dog had a route he liked to take on his daily walks, while I was trying to keep up with him on the surrounding hilly areas. Going down is good, coming back up, well, let's just say I'd be more fit if I had a dog in the city and was compelled to walk it every day, and I lived on a hill! At any rate, the Sechlers had a grand time on their vacation and I enjoyed looking around the city. I had planned on meeting up with Bernice Tover Ellison, but after stopping by several times, we seemed to miss each other coming and going I guess. I did meet up with Mike and Jane Rees and Fred and Sally Nollan and enjoyed visiting and dining with them while I was there. Maybe on the next trip, I'll be able to do some more gadding about!