Skamokacentric

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

2012-01-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-09-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-07-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

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.

GREAT WHITE TAIL RUN

2011-04-01T17:16:00.001-07:00

DATE: Saturday, May 21, 2011

TIME: Registration 8:30am, Run 10am

COURSE: 10K, 5K, 2 mile through the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, Skamokawa , WA

AWARDS: Recognition given for overall male and female winners in 10k, 5k, and 2 mile; ribbons for top three finishers in each age division.

REGISTRATION AT SKAMOKAWA VISTA PARK

FEES: $10.00 w/out shirt (pre-run)

$20.00 with shirt (pre-run)

$12.00 w/out shirt (run day)

$25.00 with shirt (run day)

Family or youth group discount, dog division and dog rules, day of run, deadlines and more – 360-795-3278

A benefit for Wahkiakum 4-H programs.

2011-02-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Latest housing price decline figures from WSU

2010-11-17T15:21:00.001-08:00

Accoring to WSU, Wahkiakum County experienced steepest declines

Home sales slower; home prices decline

Friday, Nov. 12, 2010

By Frances Ryan, College of Business

PULLMAN - Home sales July-September 2010 throughout Washington slid to near their lowest level of the current cycle, reflecting expiration of the federal tax credit programs for first time and some repeat homebuyers, according to data released today by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at WSU.

In addition, median home prices continued to decline on a year-to-year basis.

Home sales declined 26.5 percent at seasonally adjusted annual rates from the second quarter of the year to 70,550 units. This is a sales rate 20.2 percent below that of a year ago, when the initial tax credit program was in full swing.

Glenn Crellin, WCRER director, said only two counties saw increased sales rates compared to the second quarter and seven counties had increased sales from a year ago. The areas showing increases were primarily in rural communities.

Six of the 16 counties identified as metropolitan by the federal government had declines of at least 35 percent compared to the second quarter, while four urban counties reported declines of less than 20 percent.

The median sales price during the first quarter was $248,900 - 3.0 percent below the year ago median. Both the direction and magnitude of price changes are consistent with widely reported data from other sources.

Median prices ranged from a high of $402,000 in San Juan County - reclaiming that distinction from second place King County ($390,000) - to a low of $127,500 in Adams County. The largest increase in median compared to a year ago was 29.4 percent in Adams County, while the largest decline was 66.4 percent in Wahkiakum County.

Since small sample sizes in these rural counties magnify the price changes, looking to urban areas presents a clearer picture. The range of price changes in metropolitan counties was from an increase of 10.8 percent in the Tri-Cities to a decline of 13.5 percent in Skamania County (part of the Portland metro area).

Crellin noted that continued problems with mortgage delinquency and foreclosure, coupled with generally sluggish sales activity, accounted for the declines.

Price softness combined with record low mortgage interest rates to make homes quite affordable for households with good credit and reliable jobs. The housing affordability index statewide stood at a record high 140.2, meaning a median income family had 40.2 percent more income than the bare minimum required to qualify to purchase a median price home with a 20 percent down payment and a 30-year mortgage.

Bill Riley of Puyallup, president of the Washington Realtors, noted: “At this level of affordability families should seriously evaluate what potential future price declines and interest rate increases mean to their household budgets. A one percentage point increase in mortgage rates would require a 10 percent additional reduction in prices to keep monthly payments from increasing.”

Households hoping to purchase their first home continue to struggle in terms of affordability, but the First-time Buyer Affordability Index also tied a record high at 79.1. First-time buyer affordability ranged from a low of 45.6 in San Juan County to a high of 112.3 in Benton County. Among urban counties first-time buyer affordability ranged from Benton County’s high to a low of 60.5 in King County.

A first-time buyer index of 80 is generally believed to offer qualified renters a reasonable opportunity to become home buyers.

WCRER has produced these statistics in partnership with the Washington REALTORS® since early 1994. Each quarterly release is timed to coincide with news releases of existing home sales by state and median home prices by metropolitan area from the National Association of REALTORS®. Sales data is available for each county, and median home prices and affordability are reported for 38 of Washington’s 39 counties.

See the Third Quarter 2010 Housing Market Snapshot online here.

Skamokawa house loses piling foundation

2009-10-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

October 17, 2009

Pilings under this house collapsed last night in Skamokawa. The owner was not at home. No one was injured in the collapse. Law enforcement officials were informed of the incident. Skamokawa volunteer firefighters assisted at the scene.

(photos, above left: house as it was last summer, below: at high tide after the collapse)

Update: Lower right: November 22nd, 2009. Strong winds took most of what was leftof the house.

Town Center has new owners.

2009-07-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

The Skamokawa Town Center property could again be a place for locals to buy groceries. Since the purchase of the property, repairs have been underway and in the near future we'll have a place to pick up some milk with the mail.

The Skamokawa Kayak Center should be staying put. Yippee!

Westport ferry leads to a great Saturday excursion

2009-06-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Steve Forrester, publisher of the Daily Astorian, drove our way recently, and wrote a bit about it for his readers....the following is an excerpt from his column: Of Cabbages and Kings

For Saturday meandering, it's hard to beat Puget Island, Cathlamet and Skamakowa.

We were drawn in that direction by a golf driving range in Cathlamet and a photo exhibit in Redmen Hall. It was the first time we had been inside Redmen Hall, which is beautifully restored and interpreted.

Climbing to Redmen Hall's tower affords a view downriver that includes Tongue Point and the Astoria Bridge. The visitor is encouraged to ring the tower bell.

To our great surprise, one of the photographers whose Vietnam pictures were on display was Paul Fardig of Portland. Fardig's wife Judy was my wife's nursing student decades ago.

The photos were part of Project Uplift, whose main objective was building a school in Vietnam. Having been there myself, courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps, I found the photos most evocative. Paul said his group encountered no resentment among Vietnamese. Their experience jibed with what I've read - namely that the American military presence in then-South Vietnam was relatively brief when compared with the prior military incursions of France and China.

The Westport ferry is a brief but always scenic excursion.

The traveler is bound to see waterfowl.............
...............State Highway 4 from Cathlamet to Longview is refreshing. It offers views of the Columbia that are quite different from the perspective of Oregon Highway 30.

Redmen Hall's Newest Docents

2009-05-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

Pam Emery, (pictured), Nancy Granger, Sue Griffin, Keith Hoofnagle and Cathy LaBerge have joined the staff of Redmen Hall as volunteer docents. You can visit them, say "hello", and tour the hall on weekends from noon to 4pm.

Redmen Hall is home to the RiverLife Interpretive Center, which houses a permanent exhibition of the history of Skamokawa from its earliest days as a native camping ground to its heyday before the decline of the logging and fishing industries.

There is a gift shop selling area art and handcrafts, as well as Wahkiakum County’s only bookstore, with a fine selection of northwest history and fiction, featuring works by local authors. Redmen Hall is open Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4pm.

Anyone wishing to become a docent with the Friends of Skamokawa is invited to call or stop by Redmen Hall, 1394 State Route 4 in Skamokawa, any Thursday or Friday afternoon between noon and 4pm.

You can listen to a brief history of Skamokawa and Redmen hall here.

For more information, call 360-957-3884.

Flooding in Skamokawa

2009-01-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

Flood waters rose in the valleys and in Skamokawa Creek, January 7, 2009. Parts of State Route 4 were passable only by larger vehicles. Roads in East Valley, Middle Valley and West Valley were impassible during the high water. Creeks overflowed banks and dikes, spreading throughout the valley floors. Water entered area homes, buildings and barns. Several home owners voluntarily evacuated.

Photos - top: Skamokawa Grange Hall, second from top: Inundated Wildlife Refuge, Skamokawa, third from top: Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds, fourth from top: Flooded State Route 4 between Cathlamet and Skamokawa, January 8th. fifth from top: WSDOT truck monitoring traffic along State Route 4 in Skamokawa. Only larger vehicles were allowed through on the flooded highway. Bottom: Landslide on State Route 4 near Skamokawa.

Flooding and 'freshets' are a regular part of life on the lower river. Click here for a related post on the 1948 flood event.

Snow damage at the Fairgrounds

2008-12-27T15:02:00.001-08:00

The weight of all that snow on Christmas Day proved too much for the arena at the Fairgrounds. The steel truss roof could not take the unusual strain of our heavy snowfall this season. The building looks like a total loss. No one was hurt in the collapse.

On Now At Redmen Hall

2008-11-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

Are you known to curl up with a cookbook on a winter's evening? Do you have kids (or grandkids), who are looking forward to "helping" with the big Holiday dinner? Curl up with this book first.... Skamokawa author Beth Sheresh's:

Picture Yourself Cooking with Your Kids.

There are hundreds of color photos in this guide, illustrating recipe steps, finished dishes and plenty of cute kid pictures, with a good dose of common sense advice that will help everyone to have fun, while guiding young hands through the basics (and some more advanced steps) of a fundamental skill they can use and enjoy throughout their lives.

Signed editions are available at Redmen Hall.

Up from the Mud......

2007-12-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

Now after an intense three months of recording in the studio of Lucky Mud Music.

Sunrise Unplugged:

"This is my first "mainstream" album (seventh overall), taking me back to the songs I grew up with from the 20s, 30s and 40s. If you've been a guest here, this is the music I play for you at breakfast or in the evening, including four original songs. I couldn't resist adding Dave Speranza on upright bass (son of Don and Kitty Speranza of the Inn at Crippen Creek, Skamokawa). This album really swings. Downloads should be available online in a couple of months when I figure it out. " Otherwise: we can mail you one for $15 including tax and shipping: 44 Old Chestnut Drive, Skamokawa, WA 98647. Email: theinn@luckymud.com

1. Blue Moon (Rogers and Hart, 1934)

2. Route 66 (Bobby Troup, 1946)

3. Carolina (Sunrise Fletcher, 2005)

4. Chattanooga Choo Choo ( Harry Warren and Mack Gordon, 1941)

5. Brother Can You Spare a Dime (E.Y.”Yip” Harburg and Jay Gorney, 1931)

6. Caravan (Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington, 1937)

7. Bye Bye Blackbird (Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon, 1926)

8. Everytime (Sunrise Fletcher, 2000)

9. When You’re Smiling (Shay, Fisher and Goodwin, 1929)

10. Out of the Blue (Sunrise Fletcher, 2005)

11. Java Jive (Milton Drake and Ben Oakland, 1940)

12. Welcome to Lucky Mud (Sunrise Fletcher, 2005)

Slow Ride....Take it Easy......

2007-10-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

One of the most scenic ways to get to Skamokawa is to take the slow boat...if you're coming from the Oregon side of the Columbia, get off highway 30 at Westport, and take the ferry across to Puget Island (nope, nowhere near Puget Sound: Captain Puget's friends were a well traveled bunch) Its a relaxing ride, will save you some dollars in gas, and the pace will introduce you to "Wahkiakum time"...... you'll then drive across the very flat and bicycle-friendly island , cross the remaining bit of Columbia River and enter the small and scenic town of Cathlamet. When you reach the highway, take a left on State Route 4. In another 5 miles, you're in Skamokawa. click here for more about the ferry ride from the blog of atul666.

Shorty has moved on...

2006-12-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

June 2nd, 2009 update:

This is a photo of Shorty, our former Guardian of the Skamokawa Post Office. She was ailing for some time, and has not been seen at the Post Office for some days.

She will be missed by many.

Depopulation

2006-10-14T03:17:00.000-07:00

There are miles of pilings in the Lower Columbia area, that like the miles of stone walls in the west of Ireland, are mute reminders of the people who were here, not so long ago, and of the fish traps and canneries, log rafts and sawmills, and of the canoes, sailcraft and launches that were the automobiles of their time. Like the west of Ireland, the region's dominant economic forces originate elsewhere. Local hatcheries cannot replace the diminished fish runs of the dam-building era, the majority of Wahkiakum County's land remains in the hands of non-local timber interests, and the next major impact may be the industrialization of the Lower Columbia, beginning with the planned construction of several LNG terminals on the Oregon side of the river.

Photos: Above: Skamokawa Slough Pilings, Right: Inish Meain Stone Wall (photo by Fergal at World66)

One result of the resource extraction based economy has been the cycle of boom and bust that first swelled the population of the area, then diminished it. But this is a historically rich area. Though salmon runs are greatly reduced, the year-round availability of green grass and browse makes possible an abundance of game that draws hunters from miles around. The plants that sustained the native peoples are still nourishing those who care to seek them out. The gentle climate is encouraging a new wave of smallholders who are producing with sustainability and local marketing as goals.

Left: Skamokawa Harbor in the 1940s.

Skamokawa...

2006-08-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

can be described as a very small, blink-and-you'll-miss-it village on the lower Columbia river. Most people drive through on their way to somewhere else, but some stop for awhile, and some choose to stay. After a several decade population dwindle, the numbers are just starting to climb the other way. You'll find some of the reasons for that here.

Photo: the mouth of Skamokawa Creek where it joins the Columbia River.