NICE--We started last weekend with some very chilly temperatures, below freezing on Saturday and Sunday morning, but the sunshine that followed was nice to see in place of the cloudy, often drizzly day we had on Friday, at least out our way! This work week has begun with temperatures in the freezing zone as well, 24 degrees at our house, so I guess that's the trade off we have going in order to get that sunshine! With temps only reaching up into the 40s, I'd say the "heating element" has gone out in the sun!

ROAD WORK--By now you have probably been made aware of the road work on SR 4 by MP 50, or the "Stella slide area." Cement blocks will be put in place and the fence will be put back up after a slide took it out. At any rate, while you may get through that area in no time if you time it right, be aware that it will be down to just one lane, with a 25 mph speed limit and there is the possibility that you could be there for a little bit, like 15 minutes, so give yourself plenty of time to go to Longview so you aren't late for an appointment or work. Better to leave early and arrive early than to wind up late to your destination.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Feb. 15-21 are Vickie Reid, Chuck Parker, Jade Mahitka, Sara Beunnagel, Rebecca Costillo, Allie Helms-Lampitt, Milli Elven, Mac Johnson, Nyomie Kuljis, Alex Vegvary, Derek Phipps, Debbie Beebe, Verna Almer-Tidd, Dale Strueby, Cindy Grasseth, Brody Brown, Melody Brown, Christa Hoven, Terry Neilson, Austin Havens, Gail Munson Steigleman, Logan Blain, Angela Stensland, Angel Thompson, MacKenzie Pedersen, Morgan Spieth, Kris Baldwin, David A. Pedersen Jr. and 67'er Pam Below Lazor. Happy Birthday everybody!

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Brian and Sue O'Connor, Victor and Monica Wiedemann Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Dale Strueby and Steve and Stephanie Leitz. Enjoy those special days!

Belated birthday wishes go out to Carlie Freeman who turned 15 earlier this week. I'm also sending out another belated wish, so "Happy (belated) 50th Anniversary" to Larry and Karen Trimble-Brown as they celebrated their special wedding anniversary last Sunday. Daughters, Kim, Kathleen and Kelliegh were all posting pictures on Facebook, and it looked like they had a wonderful celebration together!

PIE ON FRIDAY!--The GFWC-Cathlamet Woman's Club will hold their annual "pie social" this Friday, Feb.16 from 1 to 4 at the Tsuga Gallery on Main Street. You can get a slice of pie for just a donation and if you want a whole pie, it's $12. No fuss or muss there, as you can treat your family to a yummy pie without all the work!

Did you know that the GF in this name means "General Federation" and that the Cathlamet Woman's Club was organized in 1929 and federated in 1930? This group has been around a long time. Over the years, all the older groups have taken a hit in their membership, so if you'd like to see this group persevere through these changing times, why not join them? I'm sure they would welcome you and they would have some information about their group at this pie social if you'd like to know more about joining them.

FRIDAY MOVIE--On, Feb. 16, there will be a movie shown at the Community Center in Cathlamet at 7 p.m., which is free as usual, and comes with free popcorn as well. This is a PG-13, youth based, fantasy/drama movie and it's one of those that anyone who is captivated by the wizardry of Harry P. will enjoy! As always, all children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult, and if you'd like a pizza, you can arrange that to be delivered at 6:45 at the center by calling ahead to the local pizza place located in the red building along SR 4.

THIS SATURDAY/THIS IS IT--If you've got tickets to go to the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerece Crab and Oyster Feed at the Norse Hall on Puget Island, then this is the big weekend for that! Look closely at those tickets as there were three different seating times, so be sure to show up for the correct one. There will be tons of raffle items and here's hoping you're one of the lucky winners that is drawn. By the way, the big, grand prize this year is a very nice stainless steel BBQ. Good luck everybody!

CORRECTION/LASAGNA DINNER--The Wahkiakum Fair Foundation will hold a Lasagna Dinner this Sunday, Feb. 18 from 1 to 6 p.m., at the Rosburg Hall, which was different than the date in my column last week. This is a dinner for everyone and there are no set prices, but instead, is available with a donation. We hope you can stop by and enjoy a yummy dinner, overseen by Amber Eaton and the WFF.

Thanks to Jean Beerbower for calling me and letting me know that the date was incorrect. She also told me that her hubby wound up sporting a "boot" as he fell and fractured his ankle. We hope he's out and about real soon and free from said boot!

Coming up at the end of March, the WFF will hold a dinner after the Lions Club Easter Egg hunt at Vista Park, so mark down March 31 for a fun day for the kids and for parents too, as they won't have to cook dinner that day. Amber Eaton will be in charge of this dinner as well and is even talking about having a night time Easter Egg Hunt; that would be fun! More on this later on.

SUNDAY OPEN MIC--Also on Sunday, Feb. 18, the Skamokawa Grange Hall will be filled with the sound of music, as once again, there will be an "Open Mic" session held there. You can sign up to play at 2:45, and the music will begin at 3 p.m. A jam session will be held following the list of musicians that signed up. Donations to the grange are always welcomed and don't forget, the coffee is always on! For more information call 360-795-3434.

FIRE--In the wee hours of Sunday morning, sirens rang out and our emergency responders, fire trucks from multiple divisions and our PUD crew, all wound up in East Valley at the home of Kent and Irene Martin. Thankfully the two are okay, but their home has suffered a whole lot of smoke and water damage. Many of you may know Irene as one of our local authors and historian, or maybe as a forerunner in the start of the Friends of Skamokawa, as well as many other things, so we were all thinking of her writings and her work and artifacts, etc., as their loss would be really devastating to her we know.

After a quick run over there, it was discovered that due to the thick smoke, which meant one had to wear masks, that they had hardly begun to take in all the damage. We trust that many of their more valued things, writings, photos, etc., would be salvagable, but time will tell. Needless to say, we wish them the very best as the investigation into the cause of the fire continues, inspectors show up, insurance adjusters check things out and the clean up begins, as all this takes some time. While we are certainly sad for their losses, we are thankful that no one was seriously injured during this ordeal.

Once again, a reminder to all of us to keep those smoke detectors up and running, as they save lives and in this case, probably did!

OLYMPICS--Have you been watching the Olympics? There's been some amazing athletes in the various fields and as always, they are an inspiration to others who work so hard to represent our country, so kudos to all of them who have done so much to get to where they are. Watching USA Olympian, Red Gerard, a 17-year-old young man from Silver Falls win the first Olympic Gold of the games was pretty neat, as after two falls in the slopestyle skateboarding event, he made that terrific come back with his final run. From 11th place to first, just like that! It was pure joy to see him win! He was also the youngest male to ever win a singles event at the Olympics.

Plus, there was another "first" a little later, and it was pretty exciting to watch as Chris Mazdzer won a Silver medal for the USA in the singles luge event, which meant it was the very first time the USA has ever medaled in this event, so that was very exciting as well!

One of my favorite "firsts" came a little later in the evening, when Mirai Nagasu, wound up being the first woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics in the figure skating competition, so that was awesome! Here's to more spectacular "firsts" in the days ahead.