Hook the Hawg this weekend at the marina

STILL DRY--It looks like our dry streak is continuing but the temperatures have at least gone down to a more bearable range, as those 100 plus degree days we had were just brutal. I hate to wish for rain, as there are several upcoming events that would not enjoy it, but maybe we could get a bit prior to those as we are definitely tinder dry, which considering the fires everywhere right now, is quite concerning. I hope you’ll all heed the burn ban in the county right now.

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays this coming week, from August 24 thru 30, which is the last full week of the month, are Kathy Durrah, Darrell Trotter, Anita Blix Kangas, Lori Martin, Ashley Silva, LouAnn Hedges, Rene Westbrook, Devon Mueller, Audrey Hedman, Mike Vincent, Carter Helms-Carvalho, Addy Helms, Meredith Cothren, Judy Danielson, Vance Mosteller, Debbie Melton, Joe Turgeon, Jim Robinson, Katie Phillips, Declan Haddix, Brandon Kincaid, Dolly Hartley, Sean Pedersen and Wayne Bell.

Those celebrating anniversaries this week are John and Nicole McKinley, Lesley and Larry Horman, Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Cruickshank, Pete and Patti LaBerge, Mike and Sara Brown, Ryan and Erica Torppa, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Robinson, Bryan Bach and Libby Davison and Kelly and Tyna Zink celebrate their 25th anniversary this week! Belated anniversary wishes to Don and Linda Cothren who celebrated their special day this past Monday.

IN THE BOOK--Another Wahkiakum County Fair is in the books, and what a fair it was. The weather was dry for a change! I think it was a bit warm that one day but for the most part, the cooler mornings really helped us get through the warmer temps later. Although if one was working in the sun or over a hot grill, I’m sure you felt it was way too hot! At any rate, there seemed to be plenty to eat, plenty to see and lots of music playing throughout the three day event, so I’d say it was a huge success. As I said last week, the fair is the time for me to abandon my kitchen and enjoy all the fair food for those three days. I did just that and enjoyed every bite! Thank you food vendors! I did my very best to support all of you hence, I will be going on a diet this week! For all of you who entered things into the fair and won ribbons, be sure to watch for the announcements of your upcoming checks. A special congratulations to all who received a ribbon and an extra great job to those who got special Judge's ribbons, there were some awesome entries for sure! A big thank you to all who worked so hard to put this together, that entered your animals, that worked in a booth, who were part of the setting up and cleaning up crews; it is a huge undertaking and the fair is only as good as the people who take the time and energy to take part in it, so great job everybody; the fair was a hit! Extra kudos go out to Fair Manager, Patty Dursteler and her team. Without them, we’d have no fair!

SALMON TOURNAMENT--It’s time to “Hook the Hawg” so I hope you’ll try to catch that big fish and enter it into the big salmon tournament at the Elochoman Slough Marina in Cathlamet this weekend. We see the photos of all the winners next week I’m sure.

SCHOOL STARTS--It’s hard to believe but school will start next week so please be mindful of all the kids and those big yellow buses that will travel our roadways to pick up children. Under no circumstances do you pass a bus that has the stop sign out and the red lights flashing. In case you forgot, that goes for both directions of traffic! Also, there seems to be a need for classroom items, so if you can help out, please donate some school supplies, or snacks or ask the school teachers what they really need. We have a very giving community and I’m sure they’d help if they knew you were in need of something.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND--Here’s to a successful year for all our students and our sport teams; go Warriors and Mules. Not only is it Labor Day weekend, it’s also the smoke on the water music festival. There will be three days of fantastic music with current recording stars, and some who have their roots in the PNW, like Cort Carpenter. I believe that today, Thursday, Aug. 24, is the last day to get discounted three day passes so jump on that if you can. If you can’t come to all three days, I’m told there will be day passes at the gate.

KITE FESTIVAL--Be sure to head over to Vista Park for their Kite Festival; it’s fun to watch them at such a great, open area at the park. Vista Park is one of our “jewels of Skamokawa” and people come from all over to stay there, to enjoy the beach, hike the trails and are in awe of the ships passing by, which seem close enough to reach out and touch sometimes! If you haven’t been here yet, come on down!

FOS IS GATHERING DONATIONS--With time flying by, it won’t be long and it will be time for the Friends of Skamokawa annual fundraiser, A Cornucopia of Treasures online auction. The auction will take place from October 7-21, so if you’d like to donate something to help raise money for the historic Redmen Hall/Central School, please contact the hall as soon as possible at 360-795-3007. The more items they have to auction off, the more fun it is to have those online bidding wars and the more money that could be raised to keep the hall up and running. The link to the auction is https://www.32auctions.com/2023FOS1894 and it begins at 10 a.m. on Oct. 7 and ends at 5 p.m. on Oct.21. If you’re not a big fan of online things, but would like to help the hall with a cash donation, feel free to mail your check to the Friends of Skamokawa, P.O. Box 67, Skamokawa, WA 98647. As always, they would love to see you at the hall to check out their gift and book shop that is always adding things and improving your reading experiences, so keep them in mind for the upcoming holiday season.

SHOP LOCAL--Speaking of the holidays, if you’re like me, you’ve only got four more paydays until Christmas, yikes! I’m so glad that we have had many opportunities to buy local items over the past few months. It's been great to pick up a few things now and then so I don’t get too freaked out when December rolls around! Our local shops have many homemade, hand crafted items as well, so whether it’s soaps, sewn items or artwork we hope you’ve gotten a few items to give away this holiday season.

FIRES--It seems there are fires everywhere right now and we are thinking of all of those who are being directly impacted. We are hearing of horrendous losses and our hearts go out to them.

FLOODING--With tropical storm Hilary currently impacting California it’s a horrendous event with a massive amount of damage. We feel for those that are impacted by that storm. I heard there was five feet of mud over parts of the highway near Palm Springs, CA, as well as some being totally destroyed and so there will be some major work to be done to restore things back to normal in those areas. I hope that we only hear about damages and not deaths, as one can be replaced but the other cannot. I sincerely hope that none of you reading this are experiencing any losses. Let’s hope we catch a break here soon as we don’t need anymore fires, earthquakes, slides or flooding; enough already!