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

WEATHER--It was pretty nice at the beginning of last week, and then we cooled down a bit, with even a few showers falling here and there, but I was still able to get some flower bed work done, so I hope you got to enjoy the sunny times. This past weekend, we had a warmish Saturday but high clouds and sprinkles started in West Valley by late afternoon, so it wasn't as sunny and nice as some folks were experiencing. Sunday saw us taking turns between sunshine and clouds and quite a cool breeze, while just a few miles down the road, it was sunny all day; go figure!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from May 10-16 are Rosalie Webb, Evan Quigley, Christeena Bassi, Bryce McClain, Kerrie McNally, Kay Cochran, Kooper Fritzie, Angela Dickson, Lenore Sorenson, Vicki Bergseng, Erica Nepsund, Bobbi Peek, Stacey Wegdahl, Steve Doumit, Patty Ingersol, Stephanie Cochran Prestegard, Kaelee Paulsen, Hannah Helms, Molly Hanigan, Sage Miller, Bonnie Bigler, Jayden LaRouche, Mike Iverson, Mercedes Pedersen, Ashley Jorgensen Rusk, David Rust, Rachael Blain Reynolds, Leslie Monroe and my oldest son, Pete Sechler, who hits the big Five-O this year!

Celebrating their anniversaries this week are Jon and Brenda Peterson and Frank and Carolyn Pedersen, as well as Mary Boelstes' anniversary. Here's to all of your special days!

REMINDER--Friends and family of Lenore Sorenson are being reminded that the "birthday girl" will be celebrating her 100th birthday this Saturday, May 12, from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Canterbury Inn's social room in Longview. You are all welcome to come and enjoy this special day with her!

CORRECTION--In an earlier column about the "Rods and Reels Rod Run," which will be on June 2, I mentioned that there would be the usual things going on there, including the trout pond for the kids. However, I misspoke, as there will not be a trout pond this year; sorry about that. I'm told that there will be other things in place for the kids.

SATURDAY--The monthly Flea Market will be held this Saturday, May 12, in the Youth Building at the Wahkiakum Co. Fairgrounds beginning at 9 a.m., so come and check out all the vendors and see what kind of treasures you can find! You are always welcome to rent a table for just $10 so contact the fairgrounds if you want to get on their list.

SKAMOKAWA GRANGE--While you're in Skamokawa checking out the Flea Market at the fairgrounds this Saturday, you might as well double your shopping pleasure and stop in at the Skamokawa Grange Hall from 9 to 3. It seems they have received a ton of nice things and are using this as a fund raiser for this non-profit, fraternal organization, with proceeds to keep the hall open.

WEST END--If you're wanting to celebrate a local Westend icon, then head to Appelo's Archive Center in Naselle this Saturday (May 12) and celebrate Carlton Appello's 96th birthday with him. We hope you have a great day, Carlton. Happy 96th! For more details, call 360-484-7103 and talk to Falon Hoven.

BINGO TIME--The monthly bingo games at the Norse Hall on Puget Island will take place this Saturday evening, May 12, so the Sons of Norway lodge members are hoping to see you there. Doors open at 5:30 and games begin at 6 p.m. Here's hoping you win one of those cash prizes!

THIS IS IT--It's "Happy Mother's Day" this Sunday! I hope all of you have a wonderful day, with lots of special memories. Personally, I can remember one Mother's Day 50 years ago quite plainly, as my first son was born that day. So I got a nice present and I gave my Mother another grandson to boot; it was quite the day!

NEXT WEEKEND--It's hard to believe but the annual "Great White-Tail Run" is taking place next Saturday, May 20, so we hope you've gotten all registered, have your running shoes all ready to go and will be having lots of fun as you run around the refuge area. Everyone meets at Sk. Vista Park first, so don't forget to get signed in and registered.

BERRY SALES--The Wahkiakum Lions Club is offering their fresh sliced strawberries for sale once again, so look for an order form around various businesses in Cathlamet and even Naselle and get yours ordered right away. The deadline is June 2, and berries will be available to pick up on June 9. All orders must be paid in advance and there will be two places to pick them up: either the Wahkiakum High School parking lot, or the Skamokawa Grange parking lot. If you have any questions, call Carol at 360-795-3337 or Renee at 360-849-4003. If you fail to pick up your berries on June 9, they will not be held for you, but instead, they will be donated to a charity..

SYMPATHIES--I was so sorry to hear about the recent passing of Skamokawa resident, Carmoreau Hatier. We want to send our sincerest sympathies to his wife, Jill, and to their daughter, Kezha who lives in New Mexico. While you may not have known who Jill was, you may have seen her at Redmen Hall, as she was often manning the hall and was also a long time event planner and spokesperson for the special events for the Friends of Skamokawa. Again, our condolences to her and all of their family members.

NICE LUNCH--Frank and Carolyn Pedersen stopped in at the Duck Inn this past Sunday where he met up with his sister, Kay (me) and my hubby, Bill. The couple will be enjoying an anniversary soon and I gave them an early anniversary cake to celebrate the occasion. The couple is hoping to enjoy a trip to see Niagara Falls with their son, Scott and his family, so with a little luck, nice weather will eventually show up back that way so they won't have to wear parkas and snow shoes!

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1948, the week began with a couple of real nice days and then it began to rain, with only one decent day the rest of the week. On that first day of the week, the Ralph Everests were treated with a chicken dinner cooked by daughter, Carol, and after dinner, Ralph headed to the Scouts meeting. It was Mary Lang's last day of work at the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, as she was heading out on a trip to Switzerland, so while she worked the morning shift, Grandma Elsie worked the midday shift and Mrs. Walter (Nina) Witham worked the 5 to 10 evening shift. It would be Nina that would take Mary's place, as she would be absent for about six months. Big news was happening as the Government took over the railroads, but it seems the crews were "strike bound," but so far that week, things were running smoothly. There were four telephone trucks in Cathlamet, as they were lining out all the cable to change all lines from Main Street, to the back Street (River St.) so there was a lot of "hub-bub" going on around town over all this new installation. There was a tragic airplane accident on Puget Island this week, as two young men from Oregon, Frederick Pfeifle, 22, of Clatskanie and LeRoy Howe, 20, of Kerry, died when the light airplane crashed into a Puget Island field owned by Gus Jaspers. Elmer Danielsen, who operated the ferry at the time, and Roy Jaspers saw the plane fly over the Island at about three thousand feet, do a couple barrel rolls, but then the right wing came off and the plane crashed. R. L. Goodfellow was acting coroner at the time, and he was in charge of the young mens' bodies. The plane had crashed with such force, that the entire nose was buried deep in the ground and even the instrument panel was well below the level of the ground. It was a very somber and sad occasion for those that were present at the time.

In 1958, the week began cool, windy and with some showers in the evening. However, the rest of the week was really great and even got up to 83 degrees one day, which Grandma Elsie thought was a bit too hot! Mother's Day started out at the Assembly of God church with daughter, Carol, for Elsie Everest, where all the ladies were given beautiful corsages. The evening hours were spent at the Pedersen home for dinner. Dr. and Mrs. Harold Fritz headed to the Presbyterian Church in Tacoma that week, to attend the wedding of their son, William Harold Fritz, as he married Judith Hansen. It was baby time that week as the Eli Doumits welcomed another baby boy into the family, which brought their family up to six boys and two girls; and then two days later, Dr. and Mrs. Christianson welcomed twin boys into their home and the day after that, Al and Shirley welcomed their fourth child, a boy, into their family. Carol Pedersen headed to Seattle with son, David, as he was catching a plane for Alaska, where he would fish with his father, Krist. It was Wahkiakum County Homemaker's Council Achievement Day that week with over 100 people attending this program, with various club leaders of many clubs, such as: Skamokawa Ladies Aid (Mrs. Clarence Martin), Mentor Club & Seniorettes (Mrs. Harmison), West Valley Sewing Club and Skamokawa Women's Club (Mrs. Sam Sheahon), all of Skamokawa; Puget Island Community Sewing Club (Mrs. Halvor Rodal) and Last Tuesday Club (Mrs. Robert Seaberg) and Puget Island Grange Home Ec. Club, all from Puget Island; The Elochoman Grange Home Ec. Club (Mrs. Henry Johnson) and the Chatter Club of Cathlamet (Mrs. Robert Hendrickson) and the West End Homemakers' club (Mrs. Walter Kandoll) from the Deep River/Rosburg area. It was quite a gathering! All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.