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

NEW BEGINNING--Fall is right around the corner! But until then, let's enjoy the nice weather that the first week in September brings us and hopefully it won't get too hot, as starting school when it's real hot outside isn't something most kids look forward to, nor football players! Luckily, we had perfect weather for the Labor Day weekend, which just had to include a BBQ with friends, so I hope you had a good time, too!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 5-11 are Tristan Collupy, Carla Keilwitz, Glenn Wiest, Ed Johnson, Brittanie Helms-Lampitt, Jade Havens, R.J. Brown, Cora Irving, Dan Lloyd, Janet Seaberg, Paul Toney, Nathan Takko, Brett Deaton, Jamie Jacobson, Zarina Hoven, Orville Lindsey, Shirley Rose, Frank Schubert, Tina Schubert, Amanda Poler, Shayne Hoven, Dallas Gott-Burdick, Jo Reed, Scott Baldwin and 67'er Rich West.

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Mr. and Mrs. Brad McNally, Mr. and Mrs. Buzz Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Johnson, John Jr and Jessie Hoven, Sean and Kellie Masters and Scott and Jen Pedersen. May all of your special days be amazing this coming week!

Belated anniversary wishes to Bob and Ellen Cothren who celebrated 47 years of marriage this past Monday; congrats to them, a little late!

FRIDAY MOVIE--This Friday, Sept. 6, the free movie and popcorn special is still going on, and it's a PG-13, for everyone, comedy and drama movie, which will begin at 7 p.m.

FLEA MARKET--If you're looking for a treasure, then look no further than the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds in Skamokawa, as they will hold their monthly flea market from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at their usual time of the second Saturday of the month, which is on the 14th this time.

SERVICES AND MORE--For all of you who knew Robert Fritzie and would like to pay your last respects to him, you're invited to attend services for him on the afternoon of Sept. 14 at 1 p.m., at the Bridge Church, located between the Puget Island Fire Hall and Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family members and dear friends. This 1964 WHS alumni was one of a kind; he will be missed. For more details, a full obituary should be elsewhere in this paper.

NINE DAYS--Also in just nine days, the Skamokawa Grange Hall will be full of grown ups enjoying a wonderful evening of silent and live auctions and the samplings of many wines and a food buffet. Yes indeed, Sept. 14 is coming up fast for the Friends of Skamokawa's major fund raiser of the year so buy those tickets early and save a few bucks by doing so! We hope you have opted to donate something for the auction, and yes, it is tax deductible. The event lasts from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

The hall, which started out as the Central School, was built in 1894 and served as a school for 32 years, before being taken over by the Order of Redmen and becoming Redmen Hall. After several transitions since those days, the need for maintenance and repair is always on the forefront, thus these fund raisers are very important for the current FOS owners. The recent paint job this year has it looking really great at the moment but one must always look ahead and plan for the future, so your continued support is truly appreciated.

If you have any questions about the upcoming Wine Tasting/Auction, please don't hesitate to call the hall at 360-795-3007. You can leave a message if you call when it's not open, but it is manned Thursday-Sunday from noon to four if you want to speak to someone right away.

NEW AT HALL--Don't forget, on Sept. 21, a new exhibit, "Falling Leaves," will be at the River Life Interpretive Center. For those of you who are new to the area, the RLIC is located on the second floor of Redmen Hall/Central School, which is located at MP 29 on SR 4.

The book and gift store has an array of unique items and it's a great place to do a little early Christmas shopping. Of course, their big holiday open house will happen at the end of November and the beginning of December so there will be even more things available to you then. Here's hoping you "shop small" by shopping local for many of your holiday gifts.

CLASS GATHERING--The WHS Class of 1970 is reminding all their class members that they will meet at the Heron Point community center (trailer park as you enter Longview) at noon on Sept. 21 for a class get-together. This is a potluck gathering with plates and utensils provided, along with some beverages. The hope is that each person will put on their thinking caps and show up with some ideas for their big 50th Class Reunion next year. You can contact Judy Marsyla with any questions you may have. My own two cents: Remember, if you don't make any suggestions now, there's no complaining later!

SAD TIMES--It's another sad week as we've lost a couple more folks with family ties here. For as long as I can remember, I knew of Don Wright and his family, and it was so sad to hear of his passing last Friday. We send our deepest sympathies to his wife Sue and the other members of their family.

Patricia Rabelos told me of the passing of her husband, Steven Rabelos on Saturday evening, Aug. 31 and we send our deepest sympathies to her. He'd had some serious health issues for some time but sadly lost his battle with cancer. Our condolences also go out to all his local relatives which include his niece and nephew, Theresa Kuljis and Tracy Carroll and their numerous family members.

HAPPY AND SAD--Cindy Seaberg Faubion celebrated two big events recently, as she retired from a 46 year career in nursing and she also celebrated her "double six" birthday, so she certainly has had reason to celebrate. If you were able to share her celebration with her at the brewery on Aug. 24, you would have seen two yummy cakes, and the multi-tiered one for her retirement was all decked out in red crosses and a stethoscope down the side, so that was very neat!

Sadly, after such a joyous occasion, Cindy flew back to Arkansas, where she was with a cousin, Ashley Conner, in her last days, so we offer our deepest sympathies to all those affected by the loss of this young family member who was just 39 years old.

GREAT JOB--Laurie Miller, one of our former residents and WHS graduates, has done herself proud once again, as she sang the National Anthem last week at the WA State Fair. She has done this many times and she always does a great job. Her performance before Keith Urban went on was no exception. She performed again prior to the Beach Boys performance this holiday weekend, and has more performances scheduled, so if you happen to be up that way, stop by and listen in. Good job Laurie; keep up the good work!

STILL FUNCTIONING--The Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars organization is still up and running. While they gave up having the big car show every year, they still want to give the upcoming classes a boost from their scholarship fund, so if you could help out, that would be great. If you haven't already been contacted about a donation, you can always send one. They can be sent to Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars, P.O. Box 498, Cathlamet, WA 98612 and as always, your donations are tax deductible. Please send in your donation by Sept. 30 and if you have any questions, contact either Lee or Diane Tischer, 360-430-4377 and 360-562-6467 respectively.

BACK TO SCHOOL!--Speaking of Lee Tischer, the kids around here have gone back to school, so as a school bus driver, he is naturally hoping that everyone follows all the rules about stopping for the school bus when its lights are flashing. Let's all try to slow down, follow the rules and keep everyone safe.

DID YOU KNOW?--Speaking of schools, did you know that the very first school in Skamokawa was actually located in West Valley? The first school was opened in the 1870's but after about 10 years, each valley had its own school, so the number of students in each school was quite small. Depending on the weather, school could last as long as nine months, but occasionally it only lasted three months; every kid's dream! Of course, many times, the reason for the shortness of the school year was because the kids were needed to work on the farms and bring in the crops or the fish and sometimes, there was no teacher available so, school years in those days were very flexible, to say the least. Here's hoping we don't have any of those major weather issues this coming year and our kids and teachers get to stay on a normal scedule in 2019-2020.