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

GREAT TIME--Another Bald Eagle Days festival is in the books and what a great time it was. Everyone was commenting how many folks were in town, how many vendors there were and how many things there were to do, besides all the music and food that was available, so kudos to the organizers and to all those who took part in the parade, etc .; it was terrific! The fireworks show at the end of the day was the “frosting on the cake” and for those who were experiencing all the fun for the first time, they seemed mighty impressed.

I think most folks also enjoyed the temperatures of the day and the light cloud cover we had for much of it, as it kept “man and beast” a lot more comfortable than having to deal with anything in the 80 or 90 degree range.

As with all big events, there’s always a wrap up by the those in charge and it’s always a good time to note what went perfectly and what might need to be improved upon, so, if you’ve got a suggestion for the chamber, contacting them right away would be a good idea, as planning for next year's BED event starts sooner than you think. Don’t forget, good ideas get done more efficiently with a lot of good volunteers. They hope to see you all next year!

FAIR TIME APPROACHES--Speaking of big events, our Wahkiakum County Fair is less than a month away, wow, seems impossible! For those that don’t know, the fair always takes place on the third full Thursday, Friday and Saturday of August, so this year the fair will take place on August 18 – 20. The fairgrounds are here in Skamokawa just off of East Valley Road, after you turn off of SR 4 near Milepost 29, so it’s just about impossible to miss. There are two entrances and two parking lots, so there’s usually plenty of places to park. This year's fair is titled “Tractor Wheels and Cowboy Heels” so that should lend itself to some photo ops, posters and drawings for all those artists out there, that should be fun. I managed to get one of those new fair T-shirts at the fair's booth on Main Street this weekend and we hope you’ve gotten yours already, too!

For you new folks, there are special days and special prices or free times to get in, so if you’re a Senior Citizen, you may want to come on Thursday as that’s the day you and the Red Hat Ladies, get in free. On Friday, it’s Armed Forces Day, so all military are admitted free with military ID. If you have children, Saturday will be the day to bring the kids that are 12 and under, as they are free all day long; a really great deal! This is also another day that those in the Armed Forces can get in free. Don’t forget, Saturday is always the Salmon Barbecue Day as well; yum!

There are three day passes available with advance tickets costing only seven dollars but if you wait and get them on Thursday (only), they will cost you eight dollars, which is still a great deal as adult tickets are five dollars per day, so it depends if you’re going to go all three days or not.

Check out all the other prices and fair information in the Fair books that are located around town or at The Eagle office for our 114th annual fair. We hope you’ll enter something, volunteer or just show up and enjoy the fair; see you there!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from July 21-27 are Naomi Meyer, Stuart Bosch, Randy Montgomery, Brian O’Connor, Ellyse Brewster, John Buennagel, Frank Webb, McKenna Longtain, Linda Wright, Ruth Doumit, Tanner Bergseng, Ashley Hedges, Steve L. Doumit, Lisa Hannah, Raedyn Grasseth, Skip Nortrup, Theresa Libby, Luna Deaton, Chase Fritzie, Halle Grasseth, Randy Montgomery, Julie Pedersen, Jerry DeBriae Jr., Suzet Parker, Madison LaBerge, Mandi Knowles, Brady LaBerge, Darcy Tischer, Mackenzie Turgeon, Ryder Watkins, Carol Cooper, Ed Stevens, Molly Jorgensen, Lesley Horman and “Big Art” Pedersen. Hope your birthdays are super happy this year!

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Jerry and Becky Ledtke, Mr. and Mrs. Rick Bryan, Mark and Patti Phillips, Joel and Jessie Havens, Jared and Veronica Hill, Mr. and Mrs. Keith Rutledge and Mike and Erla Crouse. Enjoy those anniversary celebrations, everybody!

FRIDAY SALES CONTINUE--The Farmers Market and Trunk Sale continues at the Elochoman Slough Marina on Fridays, so if you’ve missed some of the other Friday sales by all these talented vendors, here’s another chance for you to check them out. Remember, there are often more things added so come and see what’s being offered this week from 3 to 6 p.m.

BURN BAN--In case you missed it, the burn ban for our county is now in place. While you can have a fire if you have a metal, stone or masonry lined fire pit, there are still specific restrictions even for those. They cannot be more than three feet in diameter and they also have to have a 10 foot clearance around them of all materials that could catch fire, so that’s quite a bit of clearance needed around that fire pit. There are also restrictions regarding “overhead fuels,” like hanging trees or any type of covering, and that is extended to 20 feet of clearance, so that’s quite a bit, so be sure to be aware of that and check your surroundings in order to keep in compliance with the current rules. As always, do not leave your fire unattended and make sure it’s totally out, as a “hot spot” can still flare up if any breeze gets to it and just one ember could cause a horrific fire, so let’s all be practicing our best fire safety plan by pouring water on that campfire, or wet soil and making absolutely sure it’s completely out. Better safe than sorry!

GET WELL WISHES--As members of the WHS Class of 1967 gathered this past Saturday, we learned that Kathy Bond Peek took a fall and wound up with a broken arm, so we were certainly sorry to learn of that. It sounded like she wasn’t going to be able to have surgery until the beginning of this week, so we hope that went well and she’ll mend up nicely. Needless to say, when you have a broken “wing,” ones activities are greatly curbed, and beings Kathy is an avid seamstress/quilt maker, we know she’s going to miss being able to do that, along with all the other reasons one needs to have two working arms! Meanwhile, we all wish her the very best as she recovers and hope to hear some good news from her soon.

OUT OF THE PAST--Back in July of 1952, the “Cathlamet Summer Players” presented “That Day Remembered” from Birnie’s Retreat, which was an original sketch of the life and times of James Birnie and his family, situated in the summer of 1846, which was written and directed by Julia Butler Hansen. One of those providing the music and solos for this play was Jessie Sawyer. The duets were sung by Harold and Shirley Olsen. Another song and folk dance was directed by Rosemary Faubion and the pianist was Marnee Fritz. The prologue was done by Judy Wendt, Sandra Eidem, Antoinette Kuljis and Cookie Wright. Others in the play were Nina Witham, Bethina Foster, Robert Kerstetter, Merrie Lou Goodfellow, Ann Robbins, Barbara Hughes, Deanie Wendt, Pamela Faubion, Linda Peterson, Hadley Hall, Laddie Goodfellow, Harold Olsen, August Hanson, Hal Johnson, George Doumit, Alvin Carlstad, George Mylett, Fred Martin, Dolores Cochran, Bernadette McDonnell, Bob Bacon, Dorothy Knight, Bobby Peterson and Clair Westbrook. The square dancers that performed during the three day play were: Sylvia Shuley, Virginia Danielson, Nina Rose Snyder, Beverly Longtain, John Ackerman, Joe Ackerman, Donald Coates and Wallace Vog. Alternates were Barbara Synder, Nadine Gilbertson and George Hanigan with Clint Renney as the caller. The antiques, props and costumes were loaned to the cast through the courtesy of Mrs. Janet Orth, Mrs. Harold Bradley, Mrs. John Doumit, Julia Butler Hansen and the Portland Civic Theater. The Ralph Everests, along with other family members, including several grandchildren attended the show and thoroughly enjoyed it. This information was provided by the program included in the 1952 diary of my grandmother, Elsie Everest.

On July 19, which was a truly beautiful day, the Funtasia Committee put on a Square Dance Jamboree at the Cathlamet High School in the evening from 7:30 to 11 p.m. This event was also a huge success with over 400 people there and everyone had a “grand time.” I’d have to say that Cathlamet was really “swinging” that week, much like it was this week in 2022!