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

FIRST COLUMN--Here we are already, writing the first column of a new year! Funny, but it seems like yesterday that I said the same thing, but nope, the year just really flew by and it's already 2019; wow!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Years Eve/Day as well. Beings we had really early deadlines for this week's column, (Dec. 28), I won't know how things truly ended for the next few days, but hopefully, all went well for you and yours! I'll try to catch up with all those happenings next week.

FOGGY--I know one thing, it's felt quite nippy out here so the new slippers and sweaters we got for Christmas are coming in handy right now. Plus, it's been very foggy around here lately, which makes visibility a real nightmare. Here's one thing that people are forgetting to do when it's foggy out though, and that's turn on their headlights! I know they don't help you see, but it sure helps us see you, so the second you turn on your car, flip that light switch and don't be hiding in the fog, where someone might just pull out in front of you because they couldn't see you in your light grey (fog colored) car! I've also seen a lot of "winkers" out there, so it's time to walk around your rig and make sure all those lights are functioning properly, as those are pretty important during the dark days and nasty weather, as well as keeping you from getting pulled over!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthday from January 3-9 are Josh Moonen, Scott McClain, Joe Montgomery, Becky Elliott, Jaxon Hoven, Adele Whittle, Taleah Wallin, Renee Rose, Don P. Wages, Renee Zacher, Stephanie Leitz, Larry Rose, Marlena Silva, Ryan Torppa, Phil Vik, Kristin Robinson, Michael A. Quigley, Susan Schillios, Mike Moore and James M. Blain.

Those celebrating anniversaries are Jon and Millie Elven and Mr. and Mrs. Scott Swarm. Here's hoping all of you have wonderful celebrations on your special days.

MEETING CANCELLED--I just wanted to let you know that the "Save the Center" meeting, regarding saving the Cathlamet Pioneer Center (formerly church), that was scheduled for Jan. 10, is cancelled for now, and will hopefully be rescheduled soon. This was supposed to have been an informational meeting on how to raise funds and keep this historic landmark open. However, in the meantime, if you'd like to help support the center, you can send a donation to: Cathlamet Pioneer Center, P.O. Box 24, Cathlamet, WA 98612. Remember, this building will be 125 years old next year, and a big celebration will only be possible with the help of the community. Hope you'll do your part to help make that milestone birthday a reality by either becoming a member of the PCA or making a donation, or both!

JANUARY CRAB FEED--Just in case you don't have your tickets yet to the annual American Legion Post 111, Crab and Oyster Feed that will take place on January 26, I suggest you get them now! As always, it will take place at the Rosburg Community Hall, which is located just west of the Rosburg Store. The doors open at 6 p.m., and the event, which includes lots of food and dancing, goes until midnight. There are always some great raffle items, so they hope to see you there and they hope you buy lots of tickets, which goes towards helping all their good causes for the community and our veterans. Admission is $28, but you should get your tickets in advance as they only have so many. Contact Ken Elliott at 360-465-2274 or Dale Rose at 360-465-2234.

WELL WISHES/LOSS--I got a message from my fellow classmate and "slough rat," Greg Lloyd recently, and he delivered some news about another classmate that was not so good. It seems Rich West took a very nasty fall around Thanksgiving time and shattered his hip, and if that wasn't bad enough, he also broke his arm and some ribs; ouch! He is currently in a rehab center in Portland, and we certainly wish him the very best while he recovers from these serious injuries.

In even sadder news, the Wahkiakum High School Class of 1967 lost another member recently with the passing of Bob (Robert) Hargand and we want to send his family and friends our sincerest condolences for their loss.

SYMPATHIES--We'd like to send our condolences to Ed Houston, as he just lost his Aunt Mary, who was 100 years old! I'm sure Ed's whole family is sad to lose someone whom they have had the pleasure to have in their family for so many years, but on the flip side, how wonderful for the family to have had her around to enjoy for such a long time and have all those memories of her. Again, our deepest sympathies to Ed and his family.

We also heard that Robert Wegdahl (Sr.) had passed away at the age of 91 just recently. Needless to say, most of us who were raised in this area, have known Bob and his family "forever," and we want to send our sincere sympathies to the entire Wegdahl family.

RECUPERATING--Sending a few folks some "get well/feel better soon/thinking of them" wishes, as Margie Pedersen had some back surgery over Christmas, so we want to give her a shout out and wish her a very speedy recovery, as having to go through that at Christmas time was certainly no fun! Carolyn Pedersen also had some surgery just prior to Christmas, so her hubby Frank was having to pull some extra house and holiday duties, but hopefully she'll get out of her hand/arm cast soon. We also heard that Gail Steigleman had gotten good news after multiple radiation treatments, so we wish her continued good news. Dave and Rhonda Heiner have been dealing with various health issues and we will keep both of them in our thoughts as they cope. We are thinking of all those who are currently dealing with various health issues, so take care and many hugs to all of you!

SURROUNDED--I know one person who got to celebrate Christmas with a lot of family members around, and that was Kerrie McNally, as her three daughters, Brienne, Marie and Lindsey were here, as was her son, Grant and their families, including, new great grandson, Grayson. Besides getting together at home, they all got to gather at the Skamokawa Resort's conference room, where they had a little more elbow room and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner together. We are all thinking of Kerrie as she too is dealing with some serious health issues and we wish her a positive outcome to her battle.

LOTS OF FUN--The Pete Sechler family had a fun Christmas, and they tossed in a new holiday event this year, with a big gingerbread house contest. While they all had the same kit to start with, the surroundings of the gingerbread house was "open," with the only rule being that it all had to be edible. Needless to say, their imaginations ran wild and they came up with things like "the old woman in the shoe" gingerbread house, to a ski resort, complete with ski lift and mountains made of pancakes covered in frosting and ropes of licorice and trees made from pretzels and melted candies, to the grand prize winner of the bunch, which was Luke Sechler's creation of a very wonderful house but the winning feature was that it had a water wheel made of chocolate, from a mold he had made himself; outstanding!

DONATIONS NEEDED--If you happen to find that you've got some extra Christmas decorations that are still in good shape and you've purchased new ones to replace them, the Kiwanis club is looking for some to help with their holiday sale/fund raising event this coming Christmas season. So, if you're tired of those litte figurines or wall hangings or maybe a centerpiece or two, now is the time to donate them, rather than stick them back in the holiday closet or bins! You can drop them off at Linda Barth's insurance building just east of Graggs Grocery store on SR 4 in Cathlamet and you'll have done a good deed and decluttered your closet as well.

SAYING GOOD-BYE--I was sorry to hear that Janet Bryan will be stepping down from her job as the Port District No. 2 Manager, so while you may think that this is just the job of managing Skamokawa Vista Park, there's a lot of things to take care of as well, like the boat launch on Puget Island and the County Line Park. While she's going to be sorely missed, she's been very busy and we can understand the need to cut back some, so we wish her good luck as she enjoys a bit of free time; she deserves it! However, the person who takes her place will have some mighty big shoes to fill but for the right, "gung-ho" multi-talented person, it will be a great job and I wish them the best of luck as they carry on all the good work that has taken place in recent years.