NIPPY--I’m not sure everyone has had the cool temperatures at their house, but mine have been below freezing for several evenings, so I hope you’re staying warm with this chill in the air! The sunny days are nice however, so I think it beats the wet, nasty days that we had and while they may not be quite as cold, they certainly are more miserable when they hang around very long. Beings we’ve had some very nasty weather around Thanksgiving time, which included some major flooding, I’m crossing my fingers that this year we will have none of that and everyone is able to get together with no weather issues at all; fingers crossed!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Nov. 17-23 are Rory Heywood, Tanner Collupy, Kinsley Helms, Heidi Souvenir, Samantha Havens, Larry Holland, Deborah Ringen, Susan Prestegard, Gunner Blix, Kyle Parker Jr., Cheryl Parker, Kayli Quigley, Layton Elliott, Beth Corbin, Katie Watson, Toni Below, Michelle Rose, Kylian Cochran, RJ Miller, Erik Pedersen, Annie Pedersen and Bennett Bach turns one. Happy Birthday, everybody!

Those celebrating anniversaries this coming week are Mr. and Mrs. Scott Tomlinson, Mr. and Mrs. Danny Ashe, Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Cothren, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Sorenson, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Widman, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Garrett, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Stone and Carl and Ruth Linquist. May you all enjoy your special days.

HURRY--If you have some warm clothes to donate, please hurry and donate them by dropping them off at either the Puget Island Fire Department barrel or at the River Mile 38 Brewery, as the group will start distributions of said items this Friday and Saturday, November 18 and 19; your generous donations are deeply appreciated.

PET FOOD DRIVE--Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., members of WAAG will collect pet food and supplies of all kinds at the Elochoman Slough Marina, so if you’re able to donate some extra food, treats, kitty litter, etc., your donation would be most welcome. Calls for help to the Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group have soared and with winter approaching, more calls will likely come in, so once again, your help is needed to take care of those innocent critters who need it.

BINGO THIS WEEKEND--Don’t forget to come to the fairgrounds in Skamokawa for their annual Turkey Bingo on Saturday, where you can win a prize or big part of your Thanksgiving dinner! There will be a grand prize given away, so you might want to buy a few special tickets for that. They will sell bingo cards beginning at 5:30, which are 3 for $10, with games beginning at 6 p.m. There will also be snacks available for purchase.

TIME’S FLYING BY--It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just next Thursday, so as we can all imagine, those in charge of charitable events for Christmas are feeling the pressure of getting all the things they need to make the holidays bright for those in the area that might not have a good one unless they get a little boost, so we’re hoping everyone that can help, will do so. One of those events that I truly enjoy seeing happen is the “Shop with a Cop” event, as there’s nothing like seeing big smiles on children’s faces when they get to head into Walmart and pick out a gift that they always wanted, but would otherwise be unable to have. With this special event coming up on Dec. 10, if you’d like to help out, please donate right away. You can mail a check (made out to Wah. Co. Sheriff, Shop with a Cop) to the Wahkiakum Sheriff's Office in care of Raedyn Grasseth, P.O. Box 65, Cathlamet, WA 98612 and if the days start winding down, I’m pretty sure they’d accept a check if you stop by the Sheriff’s Office located in the lower level of the courthouse. I can’t wait to see all the pictures of those happy kids!

CORRECTION--It seems the telephone number that I had published for Gary Emery, which was in my contact list, was an old one, so if you’d like to contact Gary about attending the Skamokawa School reunion set for August 18 at Skamokawa Vista Park next year, here’s the correct one: Gary Emery 360-849-9067.

CALL ASAP--If you plan on coming to the Community Thanksgiving Dinner potluck at the Skamokawa Grange Hall next week, be sure to give Season Long a call at 360-795-5208 so she’s got a rough estimate of how many folks to expect. At that time you might even let her know what you plan on bringing to share with others. You certainly don’t have to call ahead to attend but it would just be nice to give her a heads up if possible!

VOLUNTEERS--Every organization and every group and every person who takes on a community event, can use more help; that I can guarantee! So, if you have no money to give to any of these current organizations, could you spare some time instead? Many hands make for light work, so we hope you can lend a hand as it’s pretty rare (if ever) that we hear someone say they had too many volunteers! Special blessings to you if you can pitch in.

REDMEN HALL--Here’s a reminder to watch out for the holiday festivities right after Thanksgiving at our historic Redmen Hall here in Skamokawa, situated on SR 4, milepost 29. They always have lots of goodies for sale; we can’t wait to check it out!

By the way, kudos to all those who took part in the recent photography showing at the hall as there were some absolutely gorgeous shots and they certainly caught the beauty of our area; fantastic job, everybody! Kudos to Rene Westbrook for getting this all put together; awesome idea!

SPREAD THE WORD--November 26 is the time to hit Main Street in Cathlamet as the big tree will be lit and Santa will make an early visit to all the girls and boys, so don’t forget; see you there at 4:30!

EARLY DEADLINES NEXT WEEK--Those of us who contribute to the paper must have our news/columns in by noon next Monday, so if you’d like something special included in it, be sure to let The Eagle staff and writers know as soon as you can, as people like me will probably have it ready to send Sunday evening; thanks!