County Commissioners Seeking Interested Persons to Serve as a Commissioner for the Wahkiakum County Diking District No. 5 (Skamokawa Creek area)

The Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners is seeking individuals who wish to be appointed as a Commissioner on the Wahkiakum County Diking District No. 5 board. Two positions are vacant: Position No. 1’s term ends February 2014; and Position #3’s term ends February 2016. Applicants must own property and be a qualified voter within the diking district.

The Diking District Board of Commissioners shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to manage and conduct the business and affairs of the district; make and execute all necessary contracts, employ and appoint such agents, officers and employees as may be required, and prescribe their duties, and perform such other acts as hereinafter provided by law. (RCW 85.05.010)

The Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners is taking applications from persons who are interested in serving on the Diking District Board. Interested persons are encouraged to contact the Wahkiakum County Commissioners Office at (360) 795-8048 for an application.

Keep our Post Office?

A USPS rep. will meet with Skamokawa residents interested in saving our local post office.

TUESDAY - OCT 11th..

6:30 to 8 PM at

the Skamokawa Grange Hall

Skamokawa Panorama 1914

Panoramic view from mountaintop above Vista Park, looking down to Brooks Slough. Written on back: "Leslie McEvoy". A young Roy McEvoy climbed Moe Hill to take this photo. The Cornell house, is at upper left (Red Almer's), as well as the Bailey home. Mastens home is at far left center. Crystals, Henry Bensons, Alex Campbells, a horse barn, S. Engelson and the Silverman home stand back of the business building along the river. Looking to the lower left we see the S.W. Williams roof, the Ocean Beach highway and bridge. The Lowell home and an old house are along the left bank, the Central Telephone office, Timothe Richards Store built in 1911, then the Elkhorn Saloon, a confectionery that later became Straits Butcher Shop, Mastens Boat Shop, the Barber Shop, Straus Hotel and Saloon and the C.L. Silverman Store and Warehouse. Clarence Winters owned the float house in front of Silverman's store. To the lower right Alexander Moe's house and woodshed stand back of the rock crusher and woodpiles. The Q. T. Olsons lived in the remodeled P. O. Petersons house (now Stanley Thackers). Roofs of houses seen belonged to Charles Meehan, Matt Fredrickson, Andrew Peterson, Charles Wilson and Charlie Carlson, Skamokawa Pete's father; the Abrams house was moved to make way for the new highway bridge. Iver Veda and Engwal Bjornsgaard. Starting from the upper right, across the water, one can see the Jessee Eggman and Ferguson Kennedy home; smoke from the mills can be seen above the Skamokawa School District No. 6, the Midway store, Bert Lotts home and the creamery are in the Thacker Store vicinity. The Pat Neville home, Bill Lloyds (H. Madden), the parsonage and Methodist church, the mess hall, The Skamokawa Eagle office and the hotel are near Steamboat Slough. (From the Wahkiakum County Eagle, Cathlamet, Washington - 4th Annual Historical Edition - Thursday, April 29, 1976).

This and other early photos can be seen in the Wahkiakum County Heritage Collection, on the Washington State Library blog.

Get back a general store then lose a post office?

The Longview Daily News says "a study will be conducted" to determine whether several thousand post offices will be shut down, including our own. The property's owner, Don Jester recently spent thousands moving and upgrading the post office from the store building to the former office building. Postmaster LouAnn Hedges says "Buy all your stamps here". No details yet of 'what will be studied'.

LAST LOCO-ROUNDUP COMING UP

The Lower Columbia Kayak Roundup is not just a gathering for kayakers of all stripes. “LoCo” is a unique cultural phenomenon. Held annually for the last 4 years on Puget Island in Wahkiakum County, WA, LoCo is preparing for its fifth and final event in September.

Participants need not know anything about kayaking, just have an interest. Classes range from beginner to leader and coach. Additional activities include morning yoga, kayak games, evening shows, campfires, rolling demo, and Two Island Farm Market.

Most participants camp at Slow Boat Farm on Puget Island in the Lower Columbia, where the event is based. Sharon’s Pizza and More of Cathlamet teams up with the Wahkiakum Food and Farm Network to provide fresh local farm food.

Wahkiakum County (pronounced we-kayak-um) boasts a great variety of waterways. Protected sloughs bend through Puget Island and behind nearby Hunting and Price Islands. A half-mile wide channel flanks 60’ cliffs and waterfalls near Cathlamet, and the main channel of the Columbia provides current and wind-waves for the intermediate paddler. About an hour away, the mouth of the Columbia and the Oregon coast satisfy experienced paddlers seeking challenge.

Paddling on the Lower Columbia is following in the wake of history. Natives canoed these waters as their main highway for perhaps 10,000 years. Just 200 years ago, Lewis and Clark journeyed through. More recently, the river carried giant bundles of logs, dairy products, and processed salmon to distant markets. It is still a major commercial thoroughfare as well as a recreational destination. Columbia River Kayaking, who organizes LoCo, has offered kayaking tours in the area for 14 years.

Two National Wildlife Refuges share the lower river, the 30,000-acre Lewis & Clark NWR, comprised of a chain of islands, and the smaller Julia Butler Hansen NWR near Cathlamet, WA. Bald eagles, osprey, and great blue heron all nest along the river. Beaver, nutria, and river otter can all be spotted from a kayak.

Slow Boat Farm offers private water access to a remote, wild section of the lower Columbia, and peaceful camping. It is open to camping by appointment and during the event. LoCo is an excellent place to enjoy a unique getaway as well as meet other kayakers, and improve kayaking skills with the top local and foreign coaches.

Classes include: Immersion, Essential Steering Strokes, Paddle Making, Rolling, Wind and Waves, Kayak Foundations, Sea Paddler Training, Gnarly Water Training, Surf, Coaching, Leadership, Kayak Sailing, and more. Pre-registration is required, deadline Sept 1.

September 16-18: full day and half day classes.

September 14-16: 3-day programs.

September 3-13: British Canoe Union courses.

More info on LoCo Roundup www.locoroundup.com

Contact Ginni Callahan info@locoroundup.com

Annual Dollars for Scholars Car Show and Sturgeon Derby was fun for all

The first beautiful weekend of year made the perfect backdrop for the annual Dollars for Scholars Car Show and Sturgeon Derby. The Skamokawa Grange Hall was the home to raffle and door prizes for the Car Show. The County Fairgrounds Youth Building did the same for the Sturgeon Derby. The Naselle Marimba Band kept up the happy beat on the Fairgrounds midway.

Traffic delays between Skamokawa and Longview start Monday

Drivers will encounter multiple delays on Washington State Route 4 east of Cathlamet beginning on Monday.

The closures will be for 45-minute durations between 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Crews will open the highway for 15 minutes at the top of every hour to allow drivers safe passage through the work zone. The closures are expected to continue through early June.

Crews will remove loose rock, unstable soil, trees and other debris from the slope above the highway. After scaling work is complete, crews will work during intermittent lane closures to finish activities in the project area.

"Rockfall projects are a reality of maintaining a scenic route like SR 4," said WSDOT Project Engineer Denys Tak. "We can't guarantee that every slope on this section of highway will be slide-free, but we are continuing to proactively address the slopes we have identified as priorities"

With the propensity for rockslides in the area, this 21-mile stretch of SR 4 between Longview and Cathlamet consistently ranks high on WSDOT's priority list for stabilization projects.