DAMP--As this week begins, it's just a tadbit cloudy and it's looking like rain will be arriving before long. It looks to be quite wet in the coming days, so I hope you've got your boots and umbrellas by the door as I think you're going to need them. The forecast says I won't be watering any plants for the next couple of days but we should have a decent weekend, so we'll hope that holds true. Hello, Fall!

This means many holidays are coming up: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and usually there is an extra need for food items for those holiday dinners, as well as gifts to put under the tree so when the time comes I hope you've been able to tuck a few extras away and will donate generously to others this holiday season.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 30-Oct. 6 are Stewart Moonen, Deb Gribskov, Ava Zurick-Doran, Pete Ringen, Mary Wingate, Kennedi LaBerge, Miles Nielson, Sara Jester, Mathew Elfers, Becky Larsen, Arlene Sauer, Tony Silva, Patti Bergseng, Richard Robinson, Allen LaBerge, Kylee Montgomery, Zoe Doiron, Kevin Vik, Caitlin Heiner, Sandra Gibson, David Blalock, Alan Munson, Cheryl Nelson, Marissa Apperson, Kari Good Martin, Jan-Erik Ronninghaug, Robert Blain, Jesse Ellison and Karen Healy.

Also sending birthday wishes, and an apology to Ronald Britt, who I tried to make older by wishing him a Happy Birthday a month early; oops!

Belated birthday wishes go out to Shawn Jacob who celebrated his birthday this past Sunday. Hope it was great!

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are Mr. and Mrs. Terry Cleveland, Mr. and Mrs. McClain, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Schubert, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry DeBriae Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Dan Bardsley, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Dachtler, Mr. and Mrs. Eric Schillios and Max and Ashli Scudder. Here's to wonderful celebrations with your special someone this coming week!

SWEET ADDITION--Congratulations this week go to Kevin and Jessica Palmer who became the proud parents of their first child, a baby boy they named Atlas Glendon on Sept. 25. He weighed in at 8.92 pounds and was 21.5 inches long so he was living up to his name right off the bat! Not only did this baby make the first time parents super happy, but he also made his first time Grandpa Larri Palmer a little extra happy, as he arrived on Larri's birthday! So, grandpa and grandson have an extra bond indeed, which we think is pretty neat. First time grandma, Sally is awfully happy as well, as are Grandpa Dan and Grandma Traci. There's nothing like a new baby in the family to bring a smile to our faces! My cousin, Donna Healy Palmer, is this baby's great grandma and well, any of us who are sporting that title are busting buttons! Congrats to all and we wish the young couple many happy days ahead of them at their home in California.

CONGRATS--We have to give a shout out to former local gal, Janelle Gilligan and hubby, Kevin, as they just got moved into their first home this past week, and after living in a tiny apartment, they are very excited! I'm pretty sure Janelle's Mom, Gaylene Johnson, is happy as well as it sounds like they might even have some spare room for company now and with a nice yard and neighborhood, I'm sure they'll be very happy. To top it all off, some "new-used" wheels were Janelle's birthday gift, so she's starting off Fall in great fashion! Congrats you two. Here's to many happy memories and "firsts" in your new home.

BURN BAN LIFTING--The news has come down that the long burn ban that we've had here, will be lifted tomorrow, October 1. With three days of rain forecast for this week, I think we can be pretty sure that this is likely to happen, barring any unforseen changes. Still, anyone wanting to burn things must get a burn permit at the courthouse and then before you burn, you call the non-emergency number to the Sheriff's office to let them know you'll be burning 360-795-3242.

UPCOMING GAMES--This Friday night, Oct. 1, the Mules football team will host Toutle Lake at 7 p.m. The volleyball team will have two games away, as Saturday, Oct. 2 they will be at R. A. Long and on Tuesday, Oct. 5, they will play in Winlock. Good luck! Go Mules!

WINTER HOURS--It's that time of year where many businesses are changing from Summer to Winter hours, so before you head to your local restaurant or store that is usually open, be sure to check with them and see if they have opted for shorter weeks and shorter hours.

FLEA MARKET--The monthly Flea Market will take place in the Youth Building at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds on Oct. 9, from 9 to 3 so head this way and find yourself a bargain and maybe even that one thing you've been looking for but couldn't find.

AUCTION BEGINS--On that same day, Oct. 9, the online auction being put on by the Friends of Skamokawa will begin. I'm told there will be trips, artwork, gift certificates and even furniture, plus much more for you to bid on, so for all you online shoppers, here's your chance to win a great gift and support a good cause at the same time. The online auction goes from Oct. 9-16 and you can take part by going to: http://www.32auction.com/fos. If you have any questions, contact someone by either calling 360-795-3007 or email them at: fos1894@gmail.com.

This will be year 31 that the FOS has held an auction, and while we all enjoyed the live auctions that have been held over the years, it's just safer to hold one this way for now.

BY SPECIAL REQUEST--As I mentioned before, last weekend would be the Wah. Co. museum's final weekend prior to the winter shut down. The time has come for the WCHS to close its doors for the winter, but if you had guests come from out of town or a group that was really interested in seeing the museum, arrangements might be able to be made to allow that to take place. One can call and ask Kari at: 360-849-4353 or email her at: wahkiakumhistory@gmail.com.

CHECK WITH THE CHAMBER--We do have a Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce here and you can either check them out online or on Facebook or just give Stacey Lane a call at 360-795-9996 to get information on all those public events that will be taking place in our area. I mentioned the Halloween things last week and for further information, contact her on how to take part in that "Trunk or Treat & Parade" event at the high school on the 29th and the dog parade at the city park the following day. They should be fun!

OUT OF THE PAST--This week back in 1951, the month of September ended in rain and October began in rain and continued for several days. The last two days were very nice and Oct. 6 was hot, which wasn't how hunters wanted the deer season to begin.

That week the big news once again was all about those boys from Wahkiakum County, coached by John Hindrum, who played an awesome football game that week. Not only did Al Gisselberg top off a long 60 yard drive with a touchdown, but then Don Vog slipped over the goal line after a 78 yard push. They were still behind when Maury Mooers pounced on a fumble at the 40 yard line and once again, as the gun sounded, Don Vog went in for the winning touchdown! So, those "country boys" poured it on in the last two minutes and 25 seconds of the football game and came from behind to beat Evergreen, much to the delight of all the Cathlamet football fans! Sadly, the news that week for the team was not good, as their coach, John Hindrum was summoned by the Marines and he would leave his job here and the town and move his family to Seattle, where he would train for a couple months before heading out on his assignment. He wrote a wonderful good-bye letter in the local paper and was so pleased with the support from the community in all aspects. In his opinion, sports helped to teach cooperation, comradeship, sportsmanship and competitiveness and that was more important than all the winning or the fame. He thought the spirit and co-operation of the student body was just wonderful and the friendliness of the townspeople was impressive, and had he not been called into service, they definitely would have stayed here.

A picture of the team was featured in the paper and while many names were easily recognizable, their faces weren't, like: Herb Kehrli, LaDean Peek, Paul Deaton, Darrell Sellards, Dan Jones and a host of others, but then there were some others that I could still pick out, like the Prestegard boys, Skip Wika and my brother, Ralph Pedersen, whose name was always spelled wrong!

All this according to my Grandma Elsie Everest's 1951 diary.