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

COOLER--As Labor Day begins, it’s cloudy and cool and according to the forecast, looks to last all week so those toasty, hot days that we had last week aren’t likely to reappear. As we all know, we can get a change in our forecast in a hot second. We weren’t supposed to have any rain on Sunday, but we did. We really needed the rain, so when we got some, many of us weren’t too upset, but others, with big plans and outdoor venues were a lot less thrilled to see it arrive. That’s Washington weather for you!

SPECIAL DAYS--Those celebrating birthdays from Sept. 7-13 are Carla Keilwitz, Ed Johnson, Amanda Poler, R.J. Brown, Brittanie Helms-Lampitt, Rex Gilbertsen, Tina Schubert, Richard Bigler, Troy Davis, Carey Johnson, Jamie Nielsen, Shayne Hoven, Jacob Hoven, Steven R. Johnson, Ed Houston, JoAnn Reed, Samantha Pedersen and Naomi Pedersen. Belated birthday wishes go out to Gary Cooper who I accidently left out off of my birthday list last month. He celebrated his big day on August 15; sorry about that! Happy Anniversary wishes go out to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Vik, Sean and Kellie Masters and Scott and Jen Pedersen. We hope you all have very enjoyable celebrations this week.

BIG 2 DAY SALE AT GRANGE--Sept. 9 and 10, there will be a huge sale at the Skamokawa Grange Hall at 18 Fairgrounds Road. Doors will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., so come on down and check out all the new things they have had donated to them. The whole idea of this sale is to raise money so the hall can get some insulation and window work done. We hope you’ll come and help keep this Grange hall, which is listed in the historic buildings of Wahkiakum County records, in shape for many more years to come.

FLEA MARKET--On that same Saturday, the fairgrounds will hold their monthly flea market so you can just zip right next door to check their sale out during those same hours and see what treasures you can come home with that day.

STOP BY THE “O”--Another historic building close by is The “O”, which is another historic building. It was purchased by Rich Rowley and has reopened for special occasions. As luck would have it, Sept. 9 is one of them! They will be open from 4-10 p.m. They will have music from 5-8 p.m. If you want to check out the new “O”, now’s your chance to have a cold beer, listen to some cool music by “Johnny Wheels and the Swamp Donkeys” and enjoy a bite to eat from the food truck out front. This is a 21 and older event.

KITES TOO--Not only can you shop at two places on Sept. 9 and enjoy a beer, you can also fill in the gap between the two by heading to Skamokawa Vista Park and enjoy the annual Kite Festival. We will hope and pray for a nice day and gentle breezes to make this event a success.

NORSE HALL BINGO--After all that excitement in Skamokawa, you might enjoy bingo at the Norse Hall located at 444 SR 409 on Puget Island. The doors open at 5:30 and games begin at 6 p.m. Funds raised during these games go to the continuing upkeep and improvements of the historic Norse Hall, which was built in 1937 by the Norwegians who were the early settlers of Puget Island. They formed the “Sons of Norway Helgeland Lodge” and the rest is history. In case you didn’t know, this building has a wonderful upstairs stage and dance floor. You can hold family gatherings, class reunions, weddings, etc., with a nice kitchen and dining area downstairs, it works out great for those special occasions. Our family has had Christmas gatherings, family reunions and memorial gatherings, and I’ve even held a class reunion there, so it’s the perfect spot to gather. If you haven’t checked it out yet, we hope you’ll do so soon! The Sons of Norway president is Jan Silvestri, and you can contact her at 360-431-1705. You’re also invited to become a member of this lodge, and you don’t even have to be Norwegian!

WHS CLASS OF 73 REUNION--There will be two chances to get to see your classmates if you went to WHS in 1973. First of all, there will be an informal gathering at the Mile 38 Brewery at the Marina in Cathlamet on Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. This will be a fun time to chat and check out the new brewery and enjoy the gorgeous view of our mighty Columbia River. The actual class reunion, which includes a dinner celebrating 50 years since your graduation, will be held Saturday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m., at the Skamokawa Resort's Conference Room. We hope all of you will have a wonderful time catching up with all your classmates this weekend!

COMING UP--The Friends of Skamokawa invite you to the book signing of Erick Elbe’s new book which will take place on Sept. 30. More on that later on, but we hope you’ll mark the date and visit another historic building in Skamokawa and check out their gift shop. Currently, the members of FOS are searching for donations for their upcoming “Cornucopia of Treasures” online auction which will be held Oct. 7-21. If you could find it in your heart to donate a gift certificate, a nice basket, a painting or any other item that you feel people might want to bid on, give the hall a call and let them know, 360-795-3007. Your help in keeping this historic building up and running is truly appreciated.

MUSIC FEST ROUND UP--It was great fun being able to see so many country music artists performing here in our little town and they managed to deal with the warmth the first two days and the drizzle on the last one just fine. After all, this is the Pacific Northwest and in Skamokawa, it can be 90 one day and 60 the next! One singer, Cort Carpenter, was raised in Kelso, so he’s local as far as most are concerned. His being accepted in Nashville is a pretty big deal. When he performed in Kelso in June, his concert was packed as he sang “Raise One Up,” a tribute to the working man and another hit, “Holy Ground.” They were met with cheers from a huge crowd at Schroeder Field. I wish our crowd would have been that big, but those attended enjoyed listening to him; I know I did. Another almost local gal, Jessie Leigh, was raised in Estacada, Ore. A cousin of mine who lives there said that I just had to go see her. Not only did she sing great, but she was just the sweetest thing. When I got to do the meet and greet with her, I came to the same conclusion; she's a real sweetie with a great voice. The biggest draw on Sunday evening was Rodney Atkins and boy, did he pack them in. If you listen to country music on the radio at all, I’m sure you have heard the song, “If you’re Going Through Hell” or “These are my People” or the “Farmer’s Daughter,” which are all songs that he has made famous and why he had six nominations from the Academy of Country Music and a couple more from the Country Music Association. Needless to say, the folks around here absolutely loved him and he and his musicians were fantastic. I loved that fiddle player! Anyway, if you missed seeing this and being a part of it, I’m sorry that you missed out on this fabulous opportunity to attend a local event at such a reasonable price. You’ll never get to attend a three day event and see 13 acts for $150 anywhere else. We are thankful to Ryan Helms and his team and all the sponsors who put this on and we hope they can bring this back next year. Fingers crossed. I’m saving my $12 a month starting right now so I’ll have that three day pass money all saved up for next year. Here’s hoping that happens!

BE READY FOR ANYTHING--Let’s hope the winter forecast I heard is wrong and that we folks in this area won’t be in for a soggy and possibly very snowy winter; ugh! I’m not a fan of snow anyway, so an “unusually heavy snowfall” prediction is not to my liking. Guess we’ll wait and see, but as usual, be prepared and don’t get caught scrambling for things you need at the last moment. Emergency preparedness is key to keeping safe. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best!