COLD AND SOGGY--We ended last weekend with a very frozen Saturday morning in West Valley, and I have to say, I was a little surprised to have to really work at getting my frozen mailbox opened that morning! Now of course, we're into a stretch of very wet weather and I know people who are already tired of the rain and chilly temps, so for them, I'm afraid it's going to be a very long winter, as it hasn't even officially begun! The "chilled to the bone" phrase keeps coming up, and I couldn't agree more!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Dec. 17-23 are Fritz Carmine, Breanna Smith, Tyson (Webb) Foster, Kellie Masters, Kristen Souvenir, Donna Olsen, Riley Brown, Amanda Sorenson, Hilary Price, Kyla Gribskov, Gwen Gorley, Alysha Gibson, Wendy Lechner, Linda Price, Jose Castillo, Lauren Elfers, Kimmie Wright, Barbara Moore Johnson, Sherry Stewart, Emma Pedersen, Ron Clement and 67'er Don Seaberg.

Celebrating their anniversary this coming week are Roger and Jo Reed. Happy celebrating you two!

THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY--There is a "Christmas Light Display" at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds in Skamokawa (16 Fairgrounds Road) and beings it's a "drive thru," you can enjoy it whether it's raining or not! This is the last two days that you can see it, so come down this Friday or Saturday evening from 5 to 8 p.m., and check it out. If you'd like to help the fairgrounds, a $5 donation per vehicle is being suggested. Come on down and enjoy the lights, everybody!

APPRECIATED--The red lights were flashing and the sirens were wailing, but it was all for a good cause as Santa got chauffeured in a fire truck around the Skamokawa, Cathlamet and Puget Island areas this past Saturday while he passed out candy canes, and the fire fighters and other emergency personnel collected toys, food and monetary donations to help kids in our area. It was great! They collected hundreds of pounds of food and a nice bundle of money so that was really terrific, but then again, our small community always comes through in a pinch, so kudos to all of you who donated!

CLOSER--If you're reading this on Thursday the 17th, you are realizing that Christmas Eve is just next Thursday; wow! This means one had better have had their packages mailed by now or risk paying a bundle to send them faster in order to get to where they need to be in time to open for Christmas. Here's to all of us getting our burst of "oomph" that we all need so that we can do our last minute push for getting all our holiday "to do lists" all done! I hate to admit that my list of things to do is still plenty long. However, with no company coming this year to our house, my cleaning list and grocery list are a bit shorter, so there's a small plus side of being alone for the holidays. I hope we won't have to deal with this next Christmas, as it's certainly not as much fun!

SPREAD SOME CHEER--As we all know, these are tough times for many of our local organizations, so if you want to spread a little holiday cheer, why not send them a donation as a Christmas gift this year? It will certainly make them happy and it'll make you feel good about it as well; win, win! So, if you'd like to help out the Skamokawa Grange, their address is: P.O. Box 123, Skamokawa 98647; the Skamokawa Fire Dept. P.O. Box 145; Friends of Skamokawa: P.O. Box 67 and if you'd like to help continue to see the history of our county preserved, please think about donating to the Wahkiakum Historical Society at 65 River Street, Cathlamet, WA 98612.

NEW HOURS--Just in case you hadn't heard yet, "The Spar" in Cathlamet has new operating hours as well as only three days for ordering your food to go. Currently they will only be open Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and you can order by calling: 1-360-849-8168.

THINKING OF THEM--To all of you who would rather remain nameless, but are experiencing health issues, we hope that you will soon be feeling better and will be back to your tip-top selves real soon! For those of you who have suffered losses recently, please know there are folks thinking of you, and please reach out if you are in need of some support right now. There are a lot of good people and programs in this area and they are more than willing to give you a hand. Here's wishing all of you the very best as you deal with conditions that are truly weighing on your body and your mind right now. Take care.

LOTS OF NEW FOLKS--I am seeing more and more new names on Facebook who say they have just moved here; amazing! I'm not sure where they all are, but I do know they are asking a lot of questions and have a lot of suggestions concerning where things are and what's available around here. I hope someone directs them towards the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce office for some of this info as they could be very helpful in their search for different services. Or, if they'd like to form a "Newbies to the Neighborhood" group, they could share the information they are gathering, which includes phone numbers and addresses for these services. Don't forget to suggest to them that they should buy a local Wahkiakum Co. Eagle newspaper as well so they can keep up with all the latest. Welcome to town, people!

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1950, it had been quite foggy with quite a few warmer but yet wet days prior to turning really nice for Dec. 23. The Everests received a nice card from Grandma Everest's immediate supervisor and it depicted an old time train and snowy scene, which Grandpa Everest thought was the best Christmas card they had received. With many family members around for the holidays, they drove around the area to check out all the decorations in the Cathlamet area, and with the town having a house decorating contest at the time, things were looking very merry and bright. The first place winner that year was Mrs. Jacobson's house in Rosedale, with Doctor Fritz's place coming in second. The best gift that week for the Everests was that Ralph Everest actually stood alone for the first time in ages as he'd been bed-ridden since November.

This week back in 1955, the weather started out nice and it was the perfect day for the Everests to get their Christmas tree. It was certainly a good thing they did that as the next day was a horrible day which brought six inches of snow and howling winds to the area! Other than one more brief break, the week consisted of pouring rains and strong winds, which caused a lot of flooding all along the coast lines. The nasty weather outside did not stop all the women from being very busy getting things ready for Christmas, which included lots of baking and card writing. However, there was one lady who was enjoying her early Christmas gift and that was Elva Mast, who got a television! That was really something to enjoy while the weather raged away outside.

All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's diaries.