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

WET AND WILD--Once again, this past week has been a mix of weather, and depending on where you were, you were either mowing the lawn or you were pulling out the umbrellas and putting on your boots! While I was actually enjoying some sunshine after a light morning shower, a friend of mine a little further east said it was pouring down rain for a bit, which was then accompanied by an extremely heavy burst of hail, so I guess if you didn't like the weather, you just needed to drive a few miles in another direction, and you'd find yourself in another micro-climate zone! Here's hoping we see a little more dry weather this coming week, although it says rain for the weekend, so let's hope they're wrong.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from June 11-17 are Mike McLaughlin, Robert Montgomery, Jason Ledtke, Matalyn Longtain, Gina Robbins, John C. Doumit, Peyton Souvenir, Paige Kehrli, Terri Elfers, Kylee Souvenir, Kelsey Briscoe, Shane Kehrli, Lacey Vik, Megan Vincent, Krista Fritzie, Erin Turner, Nikolai Almer, Delores Wages, Brienne Howell, Amy Horman, Mike Paulsen Jr., Mark Howie, Dean Snyder, Alec Christensen, Shirley Good, Karen Chamberlain Blain, Andrea Hess, Sandra Hess, Kristian Pedersen, Bailey Pedersen and 67'er Noni Gilbertsen Meredith. Belated birthday wishes go out to Mike Hicks who celebrated his big day on the first of the month.

Happy Anniversary wishes this week go out to Stewart and Ginger Moonen, Chris and Lacey Johnson and the Justin Watkins. Enjoy those special days! Belated anniversary wishes to Mike and Lori Carroll who celebrated their anniversary yesterday. Sorry I missed it last week.

LOSSES--I was shocked and sorry to hear the news that Mary Louise Toste passed away on May 31. She was a fellow "Islander" as well as classmate from Wahkiakum High School, class of 1967, and we all enjoyed seeing her last year when she came up from her home in California to our class reunion gathering over Bald Eagle Days. We'd all commented on how great she looked so her passing was just extra suprising to us. Sadly Mary had several health issues that led to multiple surgeries and after about a month of being in and out of the hospital, finally succumbed to them. We want to offer our deepest sympathy to her daughters and to her brother, Ray and all the rest of her family members and friends, with a special mention to her "best friend forever," Marnee Davis. No services will be held, but if you knew Mary and would like to send a sympathy card in her memory, you can send it to: Samantha Toste, 2103 NW Woodland Drive, McMinneville, OR 97128. If any classmates or friends would like to make a donation to our local domestic violence shelter in Mary's name, you can mail it to: St. James Family Center/Charlotte House, 1134 Columbia Street, Cathlamet, WA 98612.

Also, the WHS Class of 1969 lost a member of their class recently, as Tony Malakowsky of Kelso, passed away on May 15 after a long illness. He leaves behind his wife, Glenda, a son Darrin, four brothers and three sisters. We send our sincerest sympathies to his entire family.

GET WELL--I'd like to send a big shout out to Keith and Karen Lawrence who have been having some serious health issues lately, so while they are now on the mend, we trust they will be feeling even better real soon. Being down and out with "the crud" is certainly no fun, so here's some get well wishes to them!

OPENING UP--The Columbia River Kayaking group is opening next week, so check out their website and make those reservations now, (http://www.columbiariverkayaking.com/) as with all the spring flowers in bloom, the waterways are super pretty lined with lots of various wild flowers. In case you'd like to stop by, they are located at 957 Steamboat Slough Road, #1 or you can call them at 360-747-1044 or even mail them at P.O. Box 52, Skamokawa, WA 98647.

THIS FRIDAY--We are so excited that the Duck Inn is set to open this Friday evening, but as we all know, there are various restrictions for being able to do that, so be sure to make a reservation by calling ahead, 360-795-6055. Here's hoping this grand opening is the start of some amazing months ahead for Logan Britt and his staff, as they are looking forward to being at your service once again.

WINNERS--Congratulations to Skamokawa resident, Ginger Moonen, as she was the gift certificate winner from "Julie's Java" in Cathlamet this last week. The week before, it was Sheryl Irving McMahon who won, so belated congrats to her!

FLAG DAY--This coming Sunday, June 14, is Flag Day. In case you didn't know or don't remember, while the flag was celebrated much earlier, it was President Truman who passed an Act of Congress to designate June 14 as "National Flag Day," so people can truly get into the spirt and make the red, white and blue colors of our nation's flag fly high and proud throughout the land on that day.

FLOWER RESTRICTIONS--In case you haven't ever noticed the restrictions at Greenwood Cemetery before, the use of artificial flowers is actually not allowed after May and until the fall.This is listed on a small sign as you enter the gate, so you may have gone right by it and not noticed. I'm told this is due to this being the time of year when caretakers/mowers are in use and the artificial flowers get in the way of the folks who are in charge of the upkeep of the cemetery. I have to admit, a good many of us put some of those fake flowers up over Memorial Day, as not everyone's headstone has a spot for real flowers to go, but I'm guessing that if they are only set up for a couple of days, that they won't be removed and tossed. However, just in case you hadn't seen the sign and you went back and found out that your arrangements of artifical flowers were missing, well, that might be the reason.

FARMERS MARKET--Just a reminder that every Tuesday, from 4 to 7, there will be a Farmers' Market at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds in Skamokawa. If you'd like to be a part of this market, just show up early and fill out some paperwork. Or you can contact Lori Cagle at lrcagle@gmail.com.

REUNION CANCELED--The Class of 1967, who usually holds a reunion every year during the Bald Eagle Day festivities, has opted to cancel our usual get together this year due to the COVID-19 virus concerns. When people are coming from all over the place and your house is subjected to multiple people in it during a short period of time, that's a legitimate cause for concern, so as much as it pained us to do so, the decision was made to forego it this year. We hope all of you 67'ers will spread the word about this change of plans. We hope that maybe a fall gathering might happen but for now, everything seems to be in the wait and see mode.

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1960, it was just beautiful weather for the first four days but then it turned misty although still fairly warm. The Rose Festival was just wrapping up and had enjoyed a wonderful week of weather. William A. Wise, who was born in Kentucky in 1865 and moved to Cathlamet in 1892, passed away on June 11, leaving a daugher: Odessa Osborn of Cathlamet and a son, Odel of Portland. Officiating at his service was E.T. Eberhart with Rev. W.W. Head assisting. Mr. Wise had a business in Cathlamet as well as venturing into fishing and logging. President Eisenhower was on his way to Japan to speak to their leader, as the world held their breath as demonstrators there were gathering against him. Elsie Everest made the groom's cake for granddaughter, Donna Healy's wedding and then the family gathered the next day to help wrap it. Gertie Healy and Elsie headed to the Assembly of God church that Wednesday night where a speaker presented a wonderful pictorial of Norway. It was a family affair when some house cleaning needed to be done at the Everest house, so they all came together and made quick work of it and Carol Everst Pedersen even found time to wax the floors while she was waiting to take Sam Olson home from the doctor. That Friday evening, a bridal shower was held for Donna Healy with Peggy Pedersen and Mrs. Vincent hosting the affair in Longview. Elsie rode up to the shower with Barbara Eggman, and then they picked up Kristie E. at her house and then Gertie Healy at the bus depot. All of the ladies had a wonderful time and Donna received many wonderful gifts, without anybody duplicating anything. Elsie made the trip home with daughter, Carol. Everyone was getting quite excited for the upcoming wedding that would take place on July 2. It was a happy ending to the week when Mrs. Orth bought the extra water tank from the Everests. It was a nice little chunk of money to go into the savings account she said. All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diary.