CRR February 2020

CRREADER.COM • Vol. XVI, No. 175 • February 15 – March 15, 2020 • COMPLIMENTARY Helping you discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River region at home and on the road

People+Place

Home Plates Grant’s hits it out of the park

page 26

COLUMBIA RIVER

dining guide

HAIKUFEST WINNERS • BRING SPRING INDOORS • LONGVIEW SKI CLUB

e ailabl v a s B o ok o m/ ader.c e r r c il at by ma , s s e r CRRP office R R C or at v th, Lg 4 1 3 133 3 • 11– F W M

CRR COLLECTORS CLUB

EVENTS • BOOKS • SUBSCRIPTIONS We’ve recently added two wonderful new CRR series and reprised our popular historical chronicle, Michael Perry’s “Dispatch from the Discovery Trail.” Adding writer and filmmaker Hal Calbom, creator of “People+Place,” and renowned naturalist Robert Michael Pyle to our stable of monthly contributors prompted many of you to ask:

“Can we subscribe to the Reader and not miss a single issue?”

We’re listening! We’ve responded to your suggestions and are introducing a bonus: a line of CRR-published and distributed books. Welcome to our latest innovation: the CRR Collectors Club.

We’re not just celebrating the Columbia River lifestyle and good reads — we’re collectible!

LEWIS AND CLARK REVOLUTIONIZED

Annual subscription: 11 issues $55.

Order by mail using the form below or via credit card or PayPal on our website www.crreader.com.

Questions? Call 360-749-1021.

What really — truly — happened during those final wind-blown, rain-soaked thirty days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition? Southwest Washington author and explorer Rex Ziak revolutionized historical scholarship by providing the answers: day by day and week by week. We’re delighted to offer In Full View, and Rex’s other two books, one with an extraordinary fold-out map, as our inaugural offerings from CRR Collectors Club.

IN FULL VIEW Rex Ziak

SUBSCRIPTIONS MAKE THOUGHTFUL GIFTS...

FOR YOURSELF OR FOR A FRIEND! We provide a printed notification card for your recipient

$29.95

GIVE BOOKS! COLLECT BOOKS!

A true and accurate account of Lewis and Clark’s arrival at the Pacific Ocean, and their search for a winter camp along the lower Columbia River.

EYEWITNESS TO ASTORIA Gabriel Franchére

$21.95

The newly edited and annotated by Rex Ziak version of Franchére’s 1820 journal, Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813 and 1814, or The First American Settlement on the Pacific.

• History comes to life!

• Happened in our back yard!

• Boosts local pride and sense of place!

Available in CRR’s office • 1333 14th Avenue, Longview

Open M-W-F 11am–3pm ... or by appointment (call 360-749-1021)

CRR Press 1333 14th Ave. Longview, WA 98632

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A unique fold-out guide mapping day-by-day Lewis and Clark’s journey from the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean and back.

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DOWN AND UP Rex Ziak

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O

ver the last 31 years Ned and I have lived in three different homes within two blocks of Longview’s Lake Sacajawea, proximity to the Lake being on our list of the houses’ top attributes.

But other than a few bursts of dedication while I was pregnant with Perry, for example, or to get in shape for a trip, or the occasions when my old friend Delores Roman, now of Scottsdale, Arizona, would meet me on the path for a brisk walk — carrying a stopwatch to ensure we did it in less than 50 minutes, Delores being a taskmaster — I have never managed to sustain walking the Lake as part of my regular routine.

I’ve made “Walk=the=Lake- X timesa-week” New Year’s Resolutions so many times, and failed to keep them, that I no longer even bother. Tracy Beard (see story, page 33), however, makes the distinction between making resolutions and new habits.

So perhaps this is my year!

Our German “son” Daniel Kellner, who is visiting this month, proposed a Sunday morning walk just before this issue went to press. It was fresh and somewhat foggy outside, with hints of spring everywhere. Daniel Publisher/Editor: Susan P. Piper Columnists and contributors: Tracy Beard Hal Calbom Kathy Demarest Alice Dietz Joseph Govednik Ted Gruber Jim LeMonds Gary Meyers Dayle Olson Michael Perry Ned Piper Perry Piper Robert Michael Pyle Marc Roland Alan Rose Alice Slusher Debra Tweedy Production/Graphics Manager: Perry E. Piper Editorial/Proofreading Assistants: Merrilee Bauman Michael & Marilyn Perry Debra Tweedy Advertising Manager: Ned Piper, 360-749-2632 Columbia River Reader, llc 1333 14th Ave Longview, WA 98632 P.O. Box 1643 • Rainier, OR 97048 Office Hours: M-W-F • 11–3* *Other times by chance or appointment Website: www.CRReader.com E-mail: publisher@crreader.com Phone: 360-749-1021

Sue’s Views

Failed Resolutions, New Habits, and Spring on the Cusp enjoys taking pictures and snapped a few along the way (shown here). It’s amazing what you see when you’re looking around. And it’s a lovely time of year to get outside!

Sue Piper

Columbia River Reader . . . helping you discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River region at home and on the road.

In this Issue

ON THE COVER Grant Hadler at his restaurant located in Longview’s historic Monticello Hotel.

Story, page 17.

Photo by Hal Calbom

Cover Design by

Columbia River Reader is published monthly, with 15,000 copies distributed free in the Lower Columbia region.

Entire contents copyrighted

by Columbia River Reader. No reproduction of any kind allowed without express written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed herein, whether in editorial content or paid ad space, belong to the writers and advertisers, and are not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Reader.

2

CRR Collectors Club

4

Letters to the Editor

4

Miss Manners

6

Roland on Wine: Serenading Wine with Beethoven?

7

Dispatch from the Discovery Trail ~

9

HaikuFest 2020: WINNERS!

10

Northwest Gardening: Forcing Spring indoors

11

Fort Clatsop: Discovering York

13

Longview Ski Club celebrates 85 years

15

Volcano Views and Brews: Mr. St. Helens 40th Eruptiversary

16

Quips & Quotes

17-20 People + Place ~ Hospitality First: Grant Hadler 21

People+Place Recommended Books

21

Essay by Robert Michael Pyle: Spark-infested Waters

23

Where Do You Read the Reader?

24

Besides CRR, What Are You Reading?

25

Cover to Cover ~ Bestsellers List / Book Review

26

Lower Columbia Dining Guide

28-29 Outings & Events Calendar

Submission guidelines: page 28.

30 Lower Columbia Informer:

General Ad info: page 8

31

Mt. St. Helens Club Hikes / Angora Hiking Club

31

Astronomy ~ The Sky Report

33

My Slant: The Roadway Back

Ned Piper 360-749-2632.

CRREADER.COM Visit our website for the current issue and archive of past issues from 2013.

34 34

The Spectator: Support Our Local Venues Plugged In to Cowlitz PUD Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 3

Civilized Living

Letters to the Editor Stories and community identity I really admire the work that you are doing with the Columbia River Reader. The (People+Place) stories that you are crafting are important to the identity of the communities they’re about.

Andrew Weiller Northwestern University Chicago, Illinois Editor’s note: Andrew grew up in Cathlamet, Wash., and is a graduate student interested in the future of community newspapers. He is working toward a master’s degree in Media and Entrepreneurship within the Medill School of Journalism.

Husband threatens to leave May have to cancel my subscription to the Reader. Every time Dale reads it, he threatens to move to Longview!

He loves it and reads every word.

Delores Rodman Scottsdale, Arizona Editor’s note: Delores Rodman is a former Longview resident and real estate broker now living in sunny Arizona.

She maintains close ties with family and friends in the Pacific Northwest.

By Judith Martin, Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have always been under some impression or guidance that guests wearing the bride’s chosen color scheme were honoring the bride’s family.

The rationale was that guests would send the message that they were so happy for the couple that they would appear to be part of the wedding party, even if only casually.

Also, the wedding party would appear much larger than it actually is to an outside observer, and in photographs.

However, I have since learned that wearing the bride’s theme color, determined by save the date and invitation colors, was in fact offensive. Some brides have made a point to make their themes a secret, and I have wondered if that was the reason why.

GENTLE READER: Were you really under the impression that a bride’s childish affinity for a bubblegum-pink unicorn wedding had some secret underlying meaning? And are you now worried that if you sussed it out or paid

tribute to it, you would be in danger of exposing the secret or falsely posing as family?

Miss Manners understands that unity in the bridal party is often symbolized through matching clothing. But the idea that a color may only be reserved for a certain category of attendees is just silly. She suggests, instead, that everyone stop thinking so much about this superficial detail ­— and focus instead on the most important element of the wedding: the cake.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: As a longtime single person (divorced), my advice to anyone who receives a wedding invitation that does not include a guest is: Don’t go.

If the bride is trying to save money, this will help her out.

Why would any engaged couple (generally joined at the hip) think sitting around at a party that is 99% couples is a fun time for a single person? Especially when the dancing starts.

It’s not so great to sit at a table by yourself.

It’s actually condescending, and borders on disrespectful. I used to return the RSVP cards with a will-not-attend, but now, I don’t even bother doing that.

Recycling 101 A Guide

for what to put in your recycling bin Acceptable

NOT Acceptable

• Aluminum cans • Bleach jugs • Books (paperback only) • Cardboard • Foil (clean) • Keys (brass or steel) • Magazines • Metal pots and pans • Newspaper

• Over-the-counter medicine bottles (place caps into garbage) • Paper (clean) • Plastic beverage bottles (milk, soda, juice or liquor) • Plastic containers • Soda & beer cartons • Tin cans

• Aerosol cans • Antifreeze bottles (empty) • Batteries (alkaline) • Books (hardcover only) • Bubble wrap • Cellophane • Ceramic items • Clothes & hangers (plastic and metal) • Diapers • Electronics • Fire extinguisher • Glass beer/wine bottles • Glass drinkware and dishes • Juice and milk cartons • Light bulbs • Metal, dishes or bowls • Paper plates and cups • Pet food bags (layer of plastic inside) • Photographs

• Plastic CD, DVD & Jewel cases • Plastic utensils & straws • Styrofoam • Tissue & toilet paper • Waxed paper and boxes

GENTLE READER: How disrespectful! But Miss Manners agrees that you should not attend this wedding.

You have so many good reasons: •You do not like the bride, whom you suspect of parsimony.

•You do not want to socialize with the couple’s relatives and friends.

•You have no interest in witnessing this marriage, only in using the occasion to have “a fun time” with someone the couple doesn’t know and therefore did not invite.

Your Columbia River Reader Read it • Enjoy it Share it • Recycle it

If you would like to continue recycling your glass, please bring them directly to Waste Control Recycling

Reminder

- 1150 3rd Ave, Longview -

Please do not place your recyclables in plastic bags Place directly into your BROWN recycling container In an effort to serve you better, the City has compiled common information that residents often request, plus created an easy way for you to communicate with us.

Most plastic bags are a solid color, preventing sorters from seeing the contents. Used needles or other hazardous materials are sometimes found; for safety reasons, such bags are not opened up.

Recycling Rule of Thumb:

Got a question? Just Ask Longview!

Reuse or donate if possible, but...

When in doubt — throw it out!

- Check out the new and improved -

www.longviewrecycles.com 4 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Columbia River Reader is printed with environmentally-sensitive soybased inks on paper manufactured in the Pacific Northwest utilizing the highest percentage of “post-consumer waste” recycled content available on the market.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a very close friend whose father has abused him, both physically and emotionally, for his entire life.

Their relationship was strained at best, distant at worse, but the friend never cut off contact completely with his father.

I’ve been privy to a fairly detailed description of the abuse and, suffice to say, I am not remotely sorry my friend’s father has passed away, though I am sorry about the complicated feelings my friend must be having. Mostly, I wish he had been born to a man worthy of being his father.

I want to express my condolences to my friend, but the standard tropes seem insufficient, given the situation. How do you acknowledge loss when it’s the loss of a monster? I had planned on sending my friend a gift of some sort in lieu of sending flowers to the funeral, as I truly believe that his father’s departure from this world makes it a better place.

GENTLE READER: Etiquette does not demand that you lie about the merits of the deceased, but nor does it suggest that you celebrate it with presents. That seems a bit indecorous.

Instead, Miss Manners suggests that you express the sentiments to your friend that are simple and true: That you are sorry for his loss and hope to be available to him for any support he requires.

You should, of course, omit the word “monster” or anything equally negative in your correspondence. Death has a way of ingratiating even the most monstrous toward their families ... once the offenders are safely passed on.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What is Miss Manners’ opinion on eye-rolling? Especially when accompanied by an extended sigh or tongue-clicking?

I have a sibling who has been doing this for years, and has even added a shoulder roll with head toss. It’s a mini workout of contempt — and oh, yes, there is that finishing sneer, like a villain from a black-and-white movie.

While I do feel better for having written all this down, I would still be glad to have a professional opinion. cont page 5

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GENTLE READER: Were you expecting Miss Manners to say that this behavior is fine? Obviously it is not. But perhaps you want assistance, along with reassurance.

You might try exclaiming, “Marcy, are you having a seizure? I am worried that your face is making all kinds of rapid expressions.

Perhaps you should see a specialist about that.”

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www. missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

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Roland on Wine

Serenading his wine with Beethoven?

Similar characteristics make moving wine-music pairings

I

I think the first 45 that I ever bought with my own money was Puff The Magic Dragon, by Peter Paul and Mary and, later, I was hooked on a series of hits by The Four Seasons. The stories were compelling and melodramatic — appealing to my teenage emotions.

Longview resident and former Kelso teacher Marc Roland started making wine in 2008 in his garage.

He and his wife, Nancy, now operate Roland Wines at 1106 Florida Street in Longview’s new “barrel district.” For wine tasting hours, call 360-846-7304.

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Music for me is all about emotions and context. In fact, wine has the same effect on me. I can listen to the same music and drink the same wine everyday and I enjoy it, but there are times when both provide an experience that is beyond the normal. For example, maybe you are celebrating a special occasion or drinking wine and listening to a song, and you taste the wine like it was the first time. It blows your mind!

You have a heightened awareness of enjoyment.

When we entertain, I often think about the music I want to play. The choices seem natural and are informed by the nature of the occasion. Maybe it’s a birthday party or a dinner party with friends. When I think of a birthday party, my go-to would be something happy and upbeat, or music that I know would please the birthday girl or boy. It makes sense to me that there may be the same link between wine and music So, it would be logical that a piece of music, like the Goldberg Variations of Bach — which is complex, lively, and nuanced — would pair with a nice, aged riesling with racy acidity, and complex fruit flavors. What about John Coltrane’s Naimia, what we might describe as disruptive and dreamy at the same time? This, may raise an

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ordinary Cabernet Sauvignon to new levels of enjoyment. Can we really be moved by wine and music pairings?

We know that food and wine can enhance the enjoyment of both and there is science to prove how chemical elements interact. Not so with music and wine. But it doesn’t negate the truth that something special happens.

We have all experienced the time when occasion, music, food, and wine come together in a “symphony” in the brain! I don’t think we can control this; like wine, taste and experience are subjective. But with further research, we may learn what we already know: those moments happen — sitting in a restaurant or on a couch — it happens. I believe the catalyst is probably the occasion that precipitates the choice of wine and music, but it doesn’t guarantee. Let me take a shot at this by giving you my best recommendations.

The Beatles – Back In The USSR: Fast-moving, energetic, good workingin-the-winery music. Wine: Pinot Noir (King’s Estate).

Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould).

Wine: Napa Chardonnay One last note. There are folks out there who believe that music can be beneficial to healing sick grape vines and can even assist in the aging of wine in the cellar. I don’t see myself serenading my wine with Beethoven anytime soon, but I play a lot of music at the winery and hopefully it helps.

•••

Realize my musical taste will be different than yours. You can do your own exploration.

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By Marc Roland have been a big music fan all of my life. I started out listening to Mom and Dad’s records, mostly big band music and musicals. My favorites were South Pacific and The Music Man. I developed a real penchant for upbeat tunes that go along with happy stories with sweet endings. Later, I began to listen to our teenage neighbor’s collection of 45s, early rock music, which was generally simple love songs, some tragic, like teenage stories of heartbreak and love.

Van Morrison – Into the Mystic: Dreamy, romantic, transcendent, thoughtful. Wine: Port, preferably Christopher Elmgren (Roland).

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Lewis & Clark

Great Treats: Sea Salt and Blubber!

I

n late December of 1805, five men hiked from Fort Clatsop to the ocean, near present-day Seaside, to set up a salt making operation. A week later, Capt. Lewis wrote two men brought back “a specemine of the salt of about a gallon” that was used to make their lean and often spoiled elk meat somewhat palatable. However, the salt makers also brought back a sample of blubber from a beached whale that Indians had found near present-day Cannon Beach. Sgt. Ordway wrote “we mix it with our poor elk meat &

Lewis & Clark Encore We are pleased to present

Installment #21 of Michael Perry’s popular 33-month series which began with CRR’s April 15, 2004 inaugural issue.

“Dispatch from the Discovery Trail” helped define and shape Columbia River Reader in its early years during the Bicentennial Commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Each installment covered their travels during the corresponding month 200 years prior. We are repeating the series for the enjoyment of both longtime and more recent readers.

AGENT SPOTLIGHT ~

C

find it eats very well.” Capt. Clark decided to set out the following day in an attempt to purchase some more blubber.

Sacajawea wanted to go along. When Clark said no, “She observed that She had traveled a long way with us to See the great waters, and that now that monstrous fish was also to be Seen, She thought it verry hard that She Could not be permitted to see either (She had never yet been to the Ocian).” Clark agreed to her request.

On January 6th, Clark and 12 men, plus Sacajawea and her French husband Charbonneau, hiked to the salt maker’s camp where they hired an Indian to guide them to the whale.

They walked along the beach until they reached an “emence mountain the top of which was obscured in the clouds.” They camped high on the bluff, and the next day climbed to the top of Cape Falcon where Clark saw Michael Perry enjoys local history and travel. His popular 33-installment Lewis & Clark series appeared in CRR’s early years and began its second “encore” appearance in April 2018.

Christine Schott!

hristine’s career as a Realtor began more than six years ago after years of working as an interior designer, organizer and home stager and helping people prepare to sell their homes. It showed her she had the ability to help people when they are making difficult decisions and entering a new chapter in life. She enjoys being of service to people and forming relationships as well as making each person a priority. She understands this can be an emotional and overwhelming process; it’s about your comfort level and expectations.

Christine is also a lifelong resident of Longview and Cowlitz County. She loves this community and is proud to live here and happy to help anyone explore all that it offers.

Christine also believes in giving back and being a part of what makes Longview amazing. She was recently elected to the Longview City Council and is the 2019-20 president for the local Salvation Army. She was also a Longview Planning Commissioner for five years.

Kelso/Longview • 360-636-4663 209 W. Main St, Suite 200 • Kelso, WA

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“the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed, in my frount a boundless Ocean.”

Anyone who has ever hiked across Tillamook Head can appreciate what the men saw as they looked south towards Cannon Beach. Clark wrote, “inoumerable rocks of emence Sise out at a distance from the Shore and against which the Seas brak with great force gives this Coast a most romantic appearance.”

When they reached the whale, all that was left was the 105-foot long skeleton.

The local Indians had completely stripped it. Clark was able to purchase only 300 pounds of blubber and a few gallons of whale oil, but he was grateful to get anything to add to the lean elk they ate virtually every meal. Prior to that, an occasional dog purchased from the Clatsop Indians was the only thing that made meals something to look forward to.

The daily journal entries illustrate how boring their days were in January and February. Lewis repeatedly wrote, “Nothing worthy of note today.” The men spent the winter preserving meat by smoking and drying. They also chopped firewood, repaired their weapons, dressed elk and deer skins, made clothes, etc. They made 338 pairs of moccasins. In addition, they traded with the Indians. Typically, the Indians wanted more than the men had to offer, but after a lot of haggling, a trade was often agreed to. Undoubtedly, the silk handkerchiefs the men had received at Christmas were traded to Indian maidens who were more than willing to sell their favors to the men.

Don’t forget your flu shot The weather at Fort Clatsop was miserable. Everything was wet, and it snowed several nights in December, January, and February. On January 26th, they awoke to eight inches of snow on the ground. The men were not eating a balanced diet and were prone to illness.

The men experienced colds, boils, the flu, strained muscles, and venereal disease. Clark wrote, “we have not had as many Sick at any one time Since we left” St. Louis in 1804. Ordway wrote, “Six of the party are now Sick I think that I and three others have the Enfluenzey.”

Everyone in the Corps of Discovery had a job. Lewis was the leader; others were hunters, carpenters, woodsmen and blacksmiths. William Clark was the mapmaker. Captains Lewis and Clark spent much of their time at their writing desks. Lewis described and drew sketches of the dozens of plants and animals they had seen. Ten plants, two fish, eleven birds, and eleven mammals were new to science. He also recorded details about each Indian tribe they had met along the trail, describing their culture, language, and what they ate.

Mapmaker, Mapmaker, make me a map…

Clark spent his spare time drawing charts and maps. Even though the Corps had failed to find a water route across the continent, the maps Clark would create were probably the most important thing that came from the journey. When the Expedition left St. Louis in 1804, Clark took along the best maps available. He had a large comprehensive map, drafted

by Nicholas King in 1803, with a longitude and latitude grid accurately showing the course of the lower Missouri River, as well as the Pacific Coast. Clark’s job was to fill in the blank area in the middle of that map.

President Jefferson had told Captain Lewis he wanted him to accurately record bearings and courses as the Corps of Discovery traveled west to the Pacific Ocean. However, frontier surveying was nowhere near as accurate as regular surveying. Rather than a series of closed loop traverses, Clark would have to make do with a single open-ended traverse that was several thousand miles long.

Ordinary surveying methods, using a transit and chain to create several hundred accurate closed traverses, would be impossible to use on the trip, so shortcuts were developed.

Since most of the journey would be on water, Clark tried using a “log line” to measure distances. A log line (a piece of rope of a known length tied to a piece of wood) was used to measure distance and speed of the river. Unfortunately, it did not work well and errors of 25-40 percent were common. A sighting compass replaced the transit, but errors due to local magnetic anomalies and magnetic declination were common. Lewis and Clark also used an octant and sextant to try to determine latitude and, with the aid of a chronometer (an accurate timepiece), longitude.

Their chronometer stopped several times, and poor weather often made cont page 22

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 7

Broadway Gallery and other galleries and shops and in Downtown Longview stay open late every

FIRST THURSDAY

Refreshments • Surprises • Tastings Join the fun on March 5 UMBRELLA MAN: Dropping in to Downtown Longview to see the sidewalk sculptures

We’re fundraising with

A selection of boxed AUXILIARY chocolates, bars & novelties available now.

See ad, pg 15 See ad, pg 27

EXPLORE

Columbia River Reader office • M-W-F • 11- 3 1333 - 14th Ave., Longview, Wash. info: 360-425-0430

Longview Outdoor Gallery Unique sculptures along the sidewalks of Downtown Longview, both sides of Commerce Ave. Six new Installations .

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AD DEADLINES March 15 issue: Feb. 25 April 15 issue: Mar. 25

8 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Restaurant 360-442-8234 To Book Holiday Events 360-200-9453

Mon-Thurs 11–9 • Fri-Sat 11–10 Closed Sundays

In deference to the custom of Robert A. Long, Longview’s founder and benefactor

Wine, Beer, Specialty Drinks and Cocktails

HaikuFest 2020 TRADITIONAL

CORPS OF DISCOVERY

The wind whispers in the bare arms of the lilac; What is done is done. ~ Carolyn Caines, Longview, Wash.

Bearing her baby With brave, graceful dignity She led them westward.

~ Estrella Brown, Clatskanie, Ore.

Ethereal breath Misty fog rises from earth The planet exhales ~ Margaret Caron, Toutle, Wash.

Sacajewea Strong woman, leading the way Your spirit lives on.

Gray fingers touch down Gently sweeping the landscape It begins to rain.

Plains, mountains, and streams Were traversed to chart the West A brave adventure.

The winning pop haiku, submitted by Sue Palmer from Seattle clearly reflects the weary mood of the American public. How often these days does one hear, “Gosh, I wish there were more partisan political discussions and impeachment talk on TV and radio!”

The conversations lean more toward — paraphrasing Henry II — “Who will rid us of this troublesome subject?”

And so it goes.

~ Valerie Spadt, Silver Lake, Wash.

~ Karin Kaczmarek, location unknown

HONORABLE MENTION

FOREIGN ENTRY

On the serious side, the judges were all moved by the poignant haiku submitted

by Cynthia Smith of Toutle, Wash.

Cynthia recently lost her younger sister to cancer. With Cynthia’s permission, we share one of her emotional poems driven by her beloved sister’s passing:

~ P.J. Peterson, Longview, Wash.

“As you slip away, My tears become sheets of rain.

You take your last breath.”

POP

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

By Gary Meyers, HaikuFest Founder & Chief Judge

O

ur 12th annual HaikuFest concluded with the usual flood of entries arriving just before the closing temple bell. One entry arrived by snail mail on January 26th but the sender had the foresight to have her envelope hand-cancelled to prove that she was in under the January 25th deadline.

Once again, the judges were delighted by the creativity and enthusiasm demonstrated by the entrants and by their ability to vividly describe moments in time in 17 syllables. 155 entries made the cut, some from within walking distance of the CRR office and some from as far away as Rodez, France and Fukuoka, Japan. The results are shown in the summary.

With each HaikuFest, the judges gain new insights and learn new words. This year’s new word was “breviary” used by Tom Frieberg from Vancouver in his “ribbon-markered breviary” haiku. Obviously, there are no Catholics on the judging panel or we would have known that “breviary” is a book containing the service for each day. Thank you, Tom, for expanding our knowledge and vocabularies. Now I have to work the word into a conversation.

The continuing popularity of haiku among local readers begs the question: Who intro duced haiku to the Northwest? We should ask Michael Perry, our CRR resident authority on the Corps of Discovery, if the Lewis and Clark journals mention a haiku poet in their ranks. Have any haiku been discovered in the archives? One haiku surfaced recently at Fort Clatsop scribbled by an obviously disappointed soul on a piece of tattered Naugahyde.

Indications are, however, that it may be fake: I feel sumthin wrong.

Is it an ocien I see?

Frogs and ponds promised!

This year I recognized many familiar names from HaikuFests past, both locally and from afar. The most notable was previous and current winner Keith Simmonds. Keith may be in some sort of poet protection program. His entries are sometimes postmarked from the

Caribbean, sometimes from England, and this time from France. But from wherever Keith dips his ink, we can be assured that his haiku will always project brilliant images.

In closing HaikuFest 2020, we are indebted once again to the selfless contributions of our judging panel: Mary Capabianca, Peter Glick, Creighton Goldsmith, Linda and Mike Ryan. Even with their full schedules, they continue to volunteer as a labor of love for haiku and as a favor to a friend. Their broad knowledge and diverse experiences help immeasurably in understanding, discussing, and evaluating the more esoteric submissions.

To our many readers who joined us in Haikufest 2020: Thank You. This annual fun event is successful only because of your interest and involvement. We look forward to seeing you again for Haikufest 2021 and encourage you to bring along your friends ... Aloha!

••• Gary Meyers is the revered founder and chief judge of CRR’s HaikuFest.We appreciate his efforts, along with those of his panel of judges. They all live in Honolulu.

Consider the pearl.

An oyster’s great discomfort becomes a great prize.

~ Melissa Stivason , Longview

A fisherman’s oars Caress the glittering sea…

Symphony of light.

~ Sharon Ashford – Longview, Wash

~ K. Simmonds, Rodez, France

Stars light up the sky as the moon fades to nothing Shine, Orion, shine.

POLITICAL

Sparkling ice halos Ring a pale sun cloaked by fog January dawn. ~ Tami Tack, Rainier, Ore. Politics be gone!

Twenty-four, seven, non-stop!

Like nails on blackboard! ~ Sue Palmer, Seattle, Wash.

The dog is asleep Only his feet are running Dreaming of the chase. ~ Ray Iwamoto, Honolulu, Hawaii Watching Jeopardy I have all the right answers In your face, Trebeck! ~ Mel Merrell, Castle Rock,Wash.

HONORABLE MENTION Was there an old pond?

Did a frog really jump in?

Basho spread fake news?

~ P. Nolan, Portland, Ore. The first Nobel Prize, A big stick of dynamite signed by “A. Nobel.”

Once upon a time Our Nation had great leaders Where are they today? ~ J. Hanna, Palo Alto, Calif.

BEST ATTEMPT TO UPSET HAIKU UNIVERSE Judges – answer please Ten – fourteen – ten syllables Haiku gigantus. ~ D. Brown, Tacoma, Wash.

PUBLISHER’S CITATIONS

New Year’s intentions Winter brings introspection Opportunity! ~ Jan Zuccarini, St. Helens, Ore. American Dream Social Security Blues Guess I’ll keep working ~ Paul Stierle, Castle Rock, Wash.

Wind whipping past me Tears in the corners of eyes Missing the sunshine ~ Elizabeth Cruz, Kelso, Wash.

First time toes felt sand And salty wind kissed my face My beach soul was hooked ~ Alicia Shepard, Longview, Wash.

~ R. Morse, San Francisco, Calif.

I am pressed for time Haiku are not coming forth Sonnets in my head! ~ P. Williams, Seattle, Wash.

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 9

es

il

st

Northwest Gardening

May the Force be with you

By Alice Slusher

Easy steps to getting clippings to bloom indoors

L

ate winter is always hard for me.

My brain knows it’s winter, but my heart thinks it should be spring. To indulge my fantasy I forced some paperwhite narcissus bulbs, and fragrant white clusters of springtime now grace my kitchen counter. But they’re just about finished, and I need to see something bloom again!

Have you ever tried “forcing” trees or bush branches to bloom indoors?

It’s really easy to do, and kids love to help and are fascinated watching the bumpy sticks change into flowering branches. Give it a try—anything to get spring here a bit early!

Choose your flowering bushes or trees: You get better results from shrubby plants rather than trees. Although it’s been a pretty mild winter, make sure the temp is above freezing to ease your branches’ transition to a much warmer indoor environment.

Making the cut You will need sharpened pruners to make a clean cut—never tear a branch off the tree. Choose accessible branches, at least one foot long with lots of rounded flower buds, and the Kalama resident Alice Slusher volunteers with WSU Extension Service Plant & Insect Clinic. Drop by 9–12 Mon-WedFri. at 1946 3rd Ave., Longview, with your specimen, call 360-577-3014, ext. 8, or send question via cowlitzmastergardener@gmail.com.

loss of which won’t mar the appearance of the bush. Or play it safe and choose branches from the back of the bush. If the buds look like they’re ready to open, that’s even better—you won’t have to delay gratification as long. The best way to cut off a branch is back to the base of the one you’re removing, just a quarter inch above the “branch collar,” the thickened area where the branch attaches. If you’re only cutting part of a very long branch, cut on the diagonal, just above a bud. This protects the branch from collecting water on the cut, and is healthier for the bush.

Indoor prep Trim off all excess twigs and shoots that would otherwise end up under water, rotting and fouling your water. Next, place some lukewarm water in a pan, and make a fresh sharply diagonal cut at the end of the branch. It’s thought that underwater trimming prevents air bubbles forming on the cut which might obstruct water uptake.

You can also make small vertical slits up through your cut with a sharp knife to increase surface area for absorption. Some people advocate smashing the end

WSU/OSU Extension Workshops Growing Healthy Roses in Cowlitz County: 360-577-3014, Ext. 3 the Pacific Northwest Feb. Spring Grape Care Feb. 15, 10am–12 Noon Growing UP! Vertical Gardening with Veggies Feb. 22, 10–11am Better Gardening from the Ground Up - Soil Feb. 25, 6–7pm

29, 9am–12 Noon Composting Basics Mar. 3, 6–7pm Make and Take Seed Starting Mar. 10, 6–7pm Lower Columbia Contractors’ Assoc. Home & Garden Show Lecture Series Mar.ch 21-22

Columbia County: 503-397-3462 Feb 22 Blueberries Pruning & Care 10am–12 Noon Portland, Ore Feb 29 Drip Irrigation 10am–12 Noon, Portland, Ore.

of the branch with a hammer, but that damages the vascular system and makes it difficult for water to be absorbed.

Simulate spring in your home Place your branches in water and put them in a cool spot— between 60°–65°. They need indirect light, not full sun.

Check the water often and replace it as needed. You may want to lightly mist your buds until the blossom color starts to peek out. Depending on the type of bush or tree and its stage of development when you cut the branches, it may take several weeks for the blossoms to open. In the meantime, it’s fun to watch as the buds develop.

Finally, your reward: spring blossoms!

Move your arrangement to bright indirect sunlight to enjoy the delicate color. To help your arrangements last for several weeks, move to a very cool place like your garage at night-40°-55°, mist frequently, and change the water weekly.

Best choices: Here are some of the easiest branches to force indoors. Keep in mind that some of them, depending on the variety and the stage of development, may take two to five weeks to bloom: Forsythia, witch hazel, Cornelian cherry, fothergillas, Bradford pears, cherries and plums (both fruiting and ornamental), flowering quinces, beeches, willows, birches, and alders for their graceful catkins, lilacs, magnolias, rhododendrons azaleas, and serviceberries. Maples are surprisingly beautiful when they bloom, too — give them a try.

Don’t be afraid to experiment—last year I trimmed my dappled willow bush — the one with the white and pink speckled leaves in early summer. It has stunning bright red new-growth branches. I cut a bunch of thin branches and just brought them in to enjoy the colorful twigs. After about a month, not only did tiny green leaves appear, but the branches had formed roots in the water. I stuck them in the ground, and have new little bushes! Not the best way to propagate a plant, but hey—it’s a willow, and willows don’t need much encouragement.

m

&

The WSU Extension Plant and Insect Clinic is now offering a monthly look at garden tasks and problems you should be scouting for in your yards and gardens. Check out our “Looking Ahead” guides on our website: https:// www.cowlitzcomg.com/lookingahead ••• 10 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

FORT CLATSOP

Discovering York

Feb. 29 program features park video and OPB documentary

T

he Lewis and Clark Expedition blazed a trail west, recording discoveries of plants, animals and people along the way. Although there are more than a million words in the journal entries of the Expedition, many questions linger about details of the expedition including, “What about York?” Today, the man enslaved to William Clark and member of the Expedition is the subject of much fascination and admiration.

In-depth research into York’s life however is recent and limited.

From painting of York and others,

by Charles Russell.

Join us Saturday, February 29, at 1 pm for a closer look at York’s experience, what we know and what we can only speculate from limited information through our current day lens. The agenda for the afternoon will include the screening of “York: One Man’s Story,” an eight-minute video produced by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park staff and “Searching for York,” a 30-minute documentary produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Participants will also hear from filmmaker and historian Ron Craig and join a ranger-facilitated conversation about minority perspectives in history. This free, two-hour event will take place in the Fort Clatsop Visitor Center Netul River Room.

Discovering York is sponsored by the Lewis and Clark National Park Association and the National Park Service. For more information or to request accessible services, call the park at 503-861-4423 or visit www.nps.gov/lewi or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook and Instagram.

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MEDICAL MATTERS

Local Patient Finds Relief at Longview Ortho By Jim LeMonds Shannon Jobe was in so much pain and the swelling in her knees was so severe that she had to rely on a wheelchair or a walker to get around.

And while she disdains pain medications, she had no choice Dr. Tony Lin but to take them on a daily basis.

“It got to the point that when I tried to walk on my own, my legs would shake from the strain,” she said.

Jobe, who lives in Longview, was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a condition that occurs when blood flow to the bone is reduced or stopped, resulting in the death of cells in the bone tissue.

During separate procedures in September 2018 and January 2019, Dr. Tony Lin, of Longview Orthopedic Associates, removed dead bone from her knee joints, then drilled holes in the bone and filled the holes with calcium. For Jobe, the results have been transformative.

“The year before my surgery I participated in the Relay for Life,” Jobe said. “It took me 24 hours to complete 3.5 miles, and that was with the help of the wheelchair and walker. This past year, I did 8.5 miles completely on my own. I was also able to climb the Astor Column in Astoria.”

Future salesman Columbia River Carpet

She has nothing but positive things to say about Dr. Lin. “He’s fantastic.

He listens to what you have to say and explains everything clearly. I’ve recommended him to a number of my friends.” She has tendinitis in her right shoulder and plans to have Dr. Lin handle that, as well.

After completing his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Hawaii, Lin was accepted into the fellowship training program at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles, where he served as assistant team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Sparks, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks.

For additional information, call Longview Orthopedic Associates at 360.501.3400.

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•••

Former R.A. Long High School English teacher Jim LeMonds is a writer, editor, and marketer who rides his mountain bike whenever he gets the chance. He lives in Castle Rock, Wash. His published books are South of Seattle and Deadfall.

12 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

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Winter Recreation

Longview Ski Club celebrates 85 years IT’S A PARTY!

Story by By Kathy Demarest, longtime member • Photos courtesy of Cowlitz County Historical Museum

At 6pm on Friday, March 6, Longview Ski Club invites all past, present and future members to our 85th Anniversary Celebration at St. Stephen’s Parish Hall, 1228 22nd Ave., Longview,Wash. Please enter from the alley. If you are family or a friend of past members, bring your photos, stories, and memories to share.

RSVP: Kathy S. at 360-431-7347 or Jane R. at 360-636-2846.

A

fter 85 years, area skiers are still enjoying the Longview Ski Club.

Back in the 1930s downhill skiing in the Pacific Northwest was a relatively new sport that focused on downhill racing and ski jumping. However, on December 1935, President Don Bascom opened the first meeting of the Longview Ski Club with 37 charter members. The Ski-Larks, as they were first called, focused on encouraging more people to experience the winter sport. Att the club’s exhibition on Mt. Pleasant and Ostrander hill, local “experts” Pierre Landry and Jay Miller demonstrated the basic skills of skiing.

In 1936, more energetic local folks decided to gather for weekend treks to Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, and Mt St Helens. They encouraged many others to come along, offering instructions, a ride to the mountain and good fun. With Landry’s continued focus on instruction, the ski excitement caught on and work began to lobby the forest service for land to build a warming hut at timberline on Mt St Helens. It took some persuading of the Columbia National Forest, along with improved winter road conditions, but on August 9, 1938, an application was filed and the six -man volunteer builders began their work.

By winter 1938, at least several folks recorded using the lodge — affectionately called “Lumbago Lodge” — for weekend treks. After a two- hour drive in snow to timberline, there was a three-mile hike to the lodge, with equipment and provisions on your back. Many times, you had to dig into the lodge through the upstairs window to get inside. Oh, but the skiing on Mt St Helens was

worth it; miles and miles of untouched snow and vistas galore. One look at the old time photos and you know what drew these hardy skiers up there. Members of the Longview Ski Club were charged ten cents a night to stay overnight in their own bedrolls on the bunk or floor. Later in 1948, permission was given to use a portable ski tow to get folks up the mountain. Later, in the 1950s and 60s, Harry Truman ran a snowcat up Mt St Helens. Members could pay $10 for two-year use of that service to Lumbago Lodge. While there was much local lobbying to develop Mt St Helens as a ski resort hill, the Forest Service declined to pursue that interest.

With the advent of downhill and slalom racing in the winter Olympics, club events offered opportunities for downhill racing. Several past articles and club minutes mention ski competitions (downhill, slalom, and cross -country) between area ski cubs from Olympia, Centralia, Castle Rock, Cle Elm, and Mt Rainier.

Through the 1940s and 50s, interest in skiing at destination resorts

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flourished with the opening of Sun Valley in 1936, the first ski resort in the US. Long distance ski club trips were planned, and as interest grew, so did membership. The end of the season annual Snow Dance at the Longview Women’s Club entertained members and encouraged new ones, raised funds to donate to the National Ski Patrol, and set the scene for awarding the year’s trophies.

In 1950-1, an addition was built onto the Longview Ski Club’s “Lumbago Lodge” to hold 16 more members. Downhill skiing was clearly a winter sport for all.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, encouraging young people to take up skiing took on a new focus with the birth of the Ski Jacks, Ski Scots, and the Ski Devils clubs, each affiliated with the Longview Ski Club. Over the years, club members enjoyed trips to western resorts such as Sun Valley, Lake Tahoe area, Snowbird, Canyons, Brighton, Whitefish, Schweitzer, Crystal, Sun Peaks and Whistler in Canada.

Through the 1980s and 90s the Longview Ski Club grew in membership, not only as a ski club, but also a club for many outdoor outings, including boating on Spirit Lake, hiking, backyard barbecues and the stillpopular crab feed.

When rumblings of Mt St Helens began in 1980, members concerned about the future of Lumbago Lodge gathered items including the ladder, the ski tow, and logbooks. Indeed, when Mt St Helens erupted, Lumbago Lodge was put to rest. The Longview Ski Club survived and continued its interest in skiing. Without our “local” ski mountain, the club looked to White Pass, Crystal, Mt Hood, and Mt Bachelor for ski enjoyment.

Today, club members continue to embrace fun on the ski slopes. Several members are affiliated with White Pass and make weekly trips. The club also sponsors an annual ski trip to Mt Bachelor, which has Dave Taylor drawn cross- country skiers, has joined ou r agency! snowshoers and downhill skiers. Some years, the club plans a destination ski trip.

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As the club ages into the 2020s, we encourage postskiing members to continue to have fun in the club with kayaking, hiking, and biking.

And they do. New members are welcome, too.

•••

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 13

Longview Orthopedic Associates Offers Exceptional Care

Dr. Turner, MD

Dr. Kretzler, MD

Dr. Kung, MD

“He did my shoulder surgery, my knee surgery, and my dad’s knee replacement. Excellent job. I wouldn’t go to anyone else.”

- Debbie Gunter-Severson

“He did my second hip replacement just six weeks ago. I am pain-free once again.

Excellent doctor.”

- Debra Shepherd

“I can’t say enough about Dr. Kung. He’s not only a great surgeon but truly cares about his patients.”

- Rob Pierce

Dr. Lauder, MD

Dr. McLeod, DPM

Dr. Lin, MD

“This man is a great doctor.

He did my hand surgery, and I couldn’t have had a better experience.”

- Zemia Barnes

“He has been treating me since September when I broke my leg. You could not ask for a better doctor.”

- Terri Hunt

“Dr. Lin is awesome. He did a great job rebuilding my left shoulder.”

- Gail Gerry

We welcome Kaiser patients with a referral! www.longvieworthopedics.com

360.501.3400

14 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Our Mountain

VOLCANO VIEWS AND BREWS

Mt. St. Helens Institute announces 40th ‘Eruptiversary’ presentations V ancouver , WA – I n its 13 th season, the science lecture series “V o l c a n o V i e w s a n d B r e w s ” returns in commemoration of the

40th eruptiversary Helens.

of

Mount St.

Join the Mount St. Helens Institute on Tuesday, February 18th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm (doors open at 5:30 pm) at the Water Resources Education Center in Vancouver, Wash., for an evening of volcanic discovery. Three US Geological Survey Scientists, who were part of the 1980 response team, will discuss their memories and important lessons learned from the historic 1980 eruption. A suggested

donation of $10 will benefit the Mount St. Helens Institute. Food from Foody Blues BBQ and beverages will be available for purchase.

Marking the 40th anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, each Volcano Views and Brews will explore impacts the catastrophic events of the past had on art, culture, and science.

The Mount St. Helens Institute is proud to partner with the Portland Art Museum to bring you Volcano Views and Brews, and the February event marks the beginning of a series that will run in conjunction with “Volcano! Mount St. Helens in Art” exhibit at the museum. Venues will alternate between the Vancouver Water Resources Education Center and the Portland Art Museum.

Tuesday, March 17th: Dawson Carr, Curator of European Art, will present “Flash Backs: Contemplating Mount St. Helens in Art” at the Portland Art Museum.

Tuesday, April 21st: Author Eric Wagner and Charlie Crisafulli, Research Ecologist with the USDA present “40 Years of Survival and Revival at Mount St. Helens” at the Vancouver Water Resources Center.

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In addition to Volcano Views and Brews, the Mount St. Helens Institute and the Portland Art Museum will be working together on a number of projects and events, including a shared community space at “Volcano! Mount St. Helens in Art,” an exhibit recently opened at the Portland Art Museum.

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Thursday, May 7th: Author Christine Colasurdo, Rick McClure, Forest Service Archeologist, and Tanna Engdahl, Spiritual Leader of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, present “What Does Mount St. Helens Mean to You?” at the Portland Art Museum.

Maryhill Museum

Stevenson Hood River Cascade Locks Bridge of the Gods

The Dalles

To: Walla Walla Kennewick, WA Lewiston, ID

Map suggests only approximate positions and relative distances. Consult a real map for more precise details. We are not cartographers.

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 15

Thank You! P+P Sponsors

Please join us in supporting the important work of the

Leaders in our community supporting excellent journalism and spotlighting worthy organizations and programs.

• Pet Adoptions • Volunteers Needed • Donations • cowlitzhumane.com • 360-577-0151

people+ place Ned Piper, 360-749-2632 or Sue Piper, 360-749-1021.

MESSAGE FROM UNITED WAY BOARD PRESIDENT JOHN PAUL

A

s we journey through the last leg of our 2020 campaign, we call on you, our community members to contribute by March 31st ...Your financial support is crucial to our partner programs’ existence, effectiveness and sustainability... You can help build a brighter future for individuals, families and neighbors across our community...Please consider donating today at www.cowlitzunitedway.org or call 360-423-5320. ~ John Paul, Board President United Way of Cowlitz & Wahkiakum Counties

Q

UIPS & QUOTES

Selected by Debra Tweedy

My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people. ~Orson Welles, American actor and filmmaker, 1915-1985 The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight. ~M. F. K. Fisher, American food writer, 1908-1992 If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience. ~Woodrow Wilson, 28th President, 1856-1924 Dogs are better than humans because they know but do not tell. ~Emily Dickinson, American poet, 1830-1886 We have three cats. It’s like having children, but there is no tuition involved. ~Ron Reagan, American show host, writer, and son of Ronald Reagan, 1958-

Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out, and your dog would go in. ~Mark Twain, American humorist, 1835-1910 No man is so sure of his premises as the man who knows too little. ~Barbara Tuchman, American historian, 1912-1989 Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. ~ Oscar Wilde, Irish poet and playwright, 1854-1900 People who love to eat are always the best people. ~ Julia Child, American food author and television personality, 1912-2004 One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti, Italian operatic tenor, 1935-2007 Longview native Debra Tweedy has lived on four continents. She and her husband decided to return to her hometown and bought a house facing Lake Sacajawea.“We came back because of the Lake and the Longview Public Library,” she says.

16 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Feb. 15th, 11am -2pm Adoption Event at Bud Clary Subaru, at 961 Commerce Ave., Longview. Adoption fees for cats covered by Bud Clary Subaru.

In March: Monthly Vaccine/Microchip Clinic. Check our website or Like/ Follow us on Facebook for

For information about joining the P+P Partners Circle, call

Feline in Love

date and details.

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FCA Vision: To lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church.

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A monthly feature written and photographed

by Southwest Washington native and Emmy Award-winning journalist

Hal Calbom

Production Notes What’s Old is New Again

people+ place

Hospitality First: Grant Hadler Robert Alexander Long was shrewd, ambitious, and visionary.

He was also prim.

Hal Calbom

I can ’ t imagine anything more difficult than owning and running a restaurant.

Yo u a r e e i t h e r o v e r- s t a f f e d o r understaffed, depending entirely on that fickle creature, the customer. Your food must arrive from the sources just in time for freshness and quality. Your competition is relentless. And the pizza guy down the street delivers.

And then, those customers. There are either too few or too many. They can be picky or pickled, cold fish or chatty Cathys. They come in droves after the place has sat empty for 90 minutes. Or they don’t come in at all. It’s February.

Grant’s at the Monticello Hotel is such a welcome addition. Grant Hadler and his team — particularly Grant’s wife Sherry and two sons Nick and Trent — blend commitment to quality and service with the experience needed to roll with the punches. They revel in their food and beverage selections and sport a cook staff committed to perfection.

The night we visited Grant’s, the dining room was full, including two kid-friendly tables. Forty people gathered in the back barroom for Longview Public Works Director Jeff Cameron’s retirement party, while 15 people celebrated a birthday in another private room. Entrees ranged from perfectly cooked steaks to masterful French dips and hand-dipped halibut bites.

A lifelong devotee of the Disciples of Christ Church, he envisioned a Planned City not only bustling and prosperous but also temperate and God-fearing. His workers’ and managers’ quarters were established in pristine neighborhoods of their own, safe from the depredations of the bars and brothels said to flourish across the Cowlitz River.

With his own money Mr. Long financed a public library, a magnificent high school, a train station and a YMCA building. Prior to breaking ground on any of these necessary institutions he first created the centerpiece of the city, the Hotel Monticello, in 1923.

Isolated Longview, set to exploit the quarter million acres of timber Mr. Long had already purchased, certainly needed books, schooling, and transportation. But before that it needed accommodation: an opulent home for weary salesmen, hungry dealmakers, social movers and shakers. It needed entertainment. It needed food and drink.

Today the latest of the Monticello’s many restaurateurs, Grant Hadler, is inheritor to Mr. Long’s hotel and its grand history of hospitality and high living ­— most of it probably more worldly than that envisioned by the puritanical founder, that faithful teetotaler and missionary, but the soul of his city for almost a hundred years. Welcome to Grant’s!

GH: It’s a legacy. We’re part of that legacy, carrying it on. I see and hear it all the time. ‘Oh, we had our wedding reception here.’ I hear that a lot — marriages and parties and reunions.

HC: My R.A. Long High School class holds reunions at the Hotel. People have a lot of their life experiences here.

NICE TO MEET YOU Grant Hadler resides

Longview, Washington occupation

Restaurateur from

Walla Walla, Washington known for

Being fun and lighthearted, a little quirky. Loves beer. for fun

Spending time with family, going to sports events with his sons, eating at other restaurants with his wife Sherry and peoplewatching at casinos. Fond of his Gordon Ramsey T-shirt, his favorite sleepwear. recommends

Old-fashioned face-to-face communication over social media

cont page 18

We know how tough the game is. For every restaurant that opens, two seem to close, even up in trendy Seattle where the revolving door never ceases to spin and spit out a new restaurant “concept” every day. Preserving and amplifying the charm and historical significance of Longview’s first building — the Hotel Monticello — seems a worthwhile ambition, and keeping the quality and service first-rate offers good odds for success.

Welcome to February’s People + Place.

••• Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 17

People

from page17

GH: Everybody in town has a Hotel story. In this area.

HC: Does that make it hard to establish an identity?

Your identity? Do people say they’re going out to eat at Grant’s or just that they’re going to The Hotel?

“ Customer service ... the more you do it the m want to do it, go the extra mile. ”

GH: Probably The Hotel. But more and more people are saying ‘Grant’s,’ which is cool. We haven’t been here that long. And there’s been restaurants in the Hotel…forever.

HC: Running a restaurant is a tough business. What made you take the plunge?

GH: My wife! I was originally just interested

~ Grant Hadler

GH: I don’t think people stick to their guns. They throw the baby out with the bathwater. People give up on their idea, of perfecting their food and the experience. I have a vision for this place. It’s not a stuffy place. It’s a fun place. My wife and me and my boys, who work here part time, want it to be fun. We love a family atmosphere and I think that’s an intangible.

HC: You’re in it for the long haul?

GH: That’s the only way to be in it. We have the power to try to make the name Grant’s a good legacy, just like the Hotel.

Down to my children, down to my children’s children.

At the hotel the atmospherics dominate, inevitably. It would be difficult to sell tacos or veggie wraps in a high-ceilinged, wood-paneled historical treasure house. The chandeliers, the piano in the lobby, the bars and meeting rooms tucked away like ornate jewels — it all smacks of an idea of quality that’s survived, but risks feeling slightly timeworn and down at the heel in places, too.

The challenge of the Hotel is marrying the new with the old as seamlessly as possible.

GH: This was the first building in town. They built the town around it.

HC: But it’s not really a working hotel, is it?

GH: A lot of the rooms are now apartments. So, yes, it’s not a working hotel. It’s a

in the back bar, this ornate room with animal heads and velvet wallpaper. I thought you could do a great little martini bar back there. I was visualizing high-end bourbons and specialty cocktails. Then Craig, who manages the Hotel, threw this idea out at me and, next thing you know, here we are.

HC: You serve really high end food in a great atmosphere.

Why do we have trouble holding on to this kind of restaurant?

People + Place toasts Grant’s at the Monticello.

Think of what you have instead of what you want.

As a youngster I learned to fish and have enjoyed it all my life.*

Thanks to Early Edition Rotary, Longview Parks & Recreation Foundation, WDFW and all the Volunteers who together present the Kids’ Fish-In at Lake Sacajawea.

Join me in sponsoring children in need @ $10 each! Send your check by Mar. 31, payable to Longview Parks & Rec Foundation, Attn: Gerry Bosh, 2920 Douglas St., Lgv WA 98632.

* I’ve cooked a few, too!

Paul W. Thompson CRR’s Man in the Kitchen Emeritus

Proud sponsor of “People+Place” 18 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Proud sponsor of People+Place

Take a kid fishing!

Sign up now for the April 25 event.

More info, page 29.

+ Place

more you bunch of things: event spaces, ballrooms, restaurant spaces.

I don’t pretend it’s easy to stitch it all together. So, we’re just focusing on this brand in this space right now.

HC: What’s going to give you staying power?

GH: It starts with the food, of course. We have an amazing chef, Beau Fennelly, and a busy kitchen. Every day he cooks up the day’s special and all of us and the staff taste it, and talk about wine pairings and recommendations for guests.

HC: Is the menu your creation? Do you fine tune it?

GH: It’s all of our input. I love our Steak Diane but I also think we’ve got an amazing club sandwich. You balance the items as much as you can.

HC: Do restaurants still make most of their profits on the liquor side?

GH: That’s certainly where the margins are. And even beer and wine are not extremely profitable.

We’re now in the era of “craft” beers and whiskeys. So the wine sensibility has now spread to other drinks.

HC: Have people’s drinking habits changed? You were a bartender for a lot of your career?

GH: Yes, they have. People are trying to drink more responsibly, as the ads say. But they’re also interested in higher quality, in tasting and comparing.

HC: So you hope to trade quantity for quality?

GH: Yeah, in a sense. And keep the fun atmosphere.

People are starting to hang out at the bar, even after their meals, which is great. It promotes the kind of atmosphere we want.

HC: Is staffing a problem? Seems like restaurants are always having turnover?

GH: We’ve got a great staff. They flex. Most of them live near here, and I can call somebody up when it

looks like we need more people. But they need to feel part of the culture here, too. Customer service ... the more you do it the more you want to do it, go the extra mile. When somebody asks where the bathroom is, don’t just point, maybe walk them up into the lobby and give them a little individual attention.

HC: What’s the most popular entree here?

GH: Probably our filet. The New York and rib eye are fabulous but they are going to have some fat on them. Sometimes people don’t want the fat cap, cont. page 20

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Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 19

People + Place from page 19

as we call it, so I tell people just get the filet. We trim them all in house, and I’ve never gotten one back. Only raves.

Grant Hadler has been in the business for most of his 52 years, bartending and managing restaurants in Vancouver and Portland, as well as in Longview. His first job in the hospitality industry was waiting tables at the Marcus Whitman Hotel in his home town of Walla Walla — bearing an uncanny similarily to the venerable Monticello — a part time job he came back to between stints in school and playing college baseball.

He describes his family of nine — his parents, six boys and a girl — with good humor and fond recollection.

GH: We had a lot of hijinx, you could call them. I was the youngest of the six boys, so I learned from the masters, you might say.

HC: Were you a “foodie” family? I guess that term wasn’t even invented yet.

GH: Mom was a really good cook, but we didn’t make a fetish out of it.

I was the baby of the family and I just remember the sense of humor was outside the roof. You had to have a sense of humor to survive. Even my mom and dad were fair game. He was the local weatherman and had a gig on the radio.

HC: You sound like Italian Catholics?

GH: Half German, half Mexican. My dad full blood German, my mom full blood Mexican. So Ger-Mex, we called ourselves. It was a great upbringing.

HC: The Marcus Whitman is kind of like the Monticello, isn’t it? Old and historic?

GH: Yeah, very much so. Great old building, continually renovating. I probably got a lot of my ideas about restaurants and hotels and hospitality there. All those summers waiting tables. It was a Black Angus for awhile. I liked fun restaurants. I worked at Who-Song and Larry’s for awhile, in Vancouver.

Loved the singing waiters, the tequila shots, everybody singing.

HC: Grant’s seems a little more sedate than that?

GH: We try to stir it up a little. I want that positive, fun energy. It’s like being a bartender. Really your job is to go out of your way to make things run smoothly and happily. Bond with the customers. And it’s a work ethic.

HC: How so?

Hal Calbom is an independent film producer, educator, and writer. His new book, Resourceful: Leadership and Communications in a Relationship Age, was recently published. A third-generation Longview native, he attended RA Long High School and Harvard College and lives in Seattle.

GH: Keep your eyes and ears open. Have a sense of what’s going on in the whole place.

If you have to go take a drink order, bus a plate, do it. Help the other guy out. Serving tables comes in waves, and one server can be in the weeds, swamped, but you pitch in and help them out and get them back on an even keel and everybody’s happy. You need to have somebody there to plug those holes for you.

GH: Great conversation. And that includes with your server.

Remembering names. Making people more than welcome, making them comfortable. Anticipating their questions. Making recommendations from real experience, with energy and with passion.

HC: What should I have to eat tonight?

GH: Probably the Steak Diane. Beau flames it and it’s the best I’ve ever had.

And maybe a crab or shrimp cocktail to start.

HC: Sounds good to me. Good luck and Bon Apetit!

•••

HC: What’s your idea of a good night out, at Grant’s?

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The Natural World

people + place PRODUCER’S PICKS Recommended Books Longview: The Planned City,

by John McClelland, Jr.

Still a wonderful overview of Longview’s conception, birth and growth, written by the man who owned, ran, and spoke for the Longview Daily News for decades. Also a 75th Anniversary edition available.

Jacques Pepin New Complete Techniques The grand master of cooking technique and method has now entirely revised his landmark book: an encyclopedia of the basics and building blocks of kitchen cookery.

The Art of Eating

by MFK Fisher.

A compendium of her five famous “gastronomical works,” the 50th Anniversary Edition blends recipes, observations, technique, narrative, and a superb sense of scene set and sensual detail.

Kitchen Confidential

by Anthony Bourdain

Arguably the book that bootstrapped the celebrity chef phenomenon.

The secrets of professional cookery, the cutthroat competition, and other tales extracted seemingly at knifepoint helped introduce Bourdain to a wider audience and catapulted him to celebrity status.

Spark-infested Waters

By Dr. Robert Michael Pyle

A

few weeks before my 16th birthday I flew from Denver to New York in an old Constellation airliner with four props and three fins on the tail. I was part of a passel of would-be scientists who would spend their summer at The Jackson Memorial Laboratory on the coast of Maine, courtesy of the National Science Foundation. Our parents arranged for me and Sue, the only other kid from the West, to meet in the New York City; then take a bus together up north. She was a pretty and brainy girl from southern California, and by the time we got to Bar Harbor in a cold rain, we were holding hands, and I was a goner.

On a thoroughly magical night during that summer of 1963, our group gathered beside a seashore campfire in Acadia National Park to roast weenies, sing “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore,” and watch the Perseid meteor showers.

Most of us had long since paired off, and my bus partner and I were in the full throes of young love with the Perseids bursting all around us and the fine calcium-carbonate sand of Shell Beach sticking to our skin.

Then someone yelled “Look!” and pointed out into the bay, and we all gawked. As if the meteors had hit the water and exploded, the Atlantic was alive with green fire. We had no idea what we were seeing until one of our leaders told us the sea really was alive.

“It’s plankton,” he said. “Makes its own light. Shines just like fireflies.”

Fireflies! They did shine with much the same cool green glimmer. There are no fireflies in the West, and my girlfriend and I were rapt with them—just as we were with the smell of the tidal wrack on the seaside rocks, one another, the shooting stars, and now another thrill, the shimmering plankton. One is easily rapt at 16.

We wanted to run out into the neon sea in the worst way, to be among the green galaxy in the ocean while the meteors arced down overhead. But the Atlantic at Bar Harbor turns your toes blue—especially at night. It would have taken more than a campfire and a beach blanket to warm us up afterward.

Robert Michael Pyle is a naturalist and writer residing along Gray’s River in Wahkiakum County for many years. His twenty-two books include the Northwest classics Wintergreen, Sky Time in Gray’s River, and Where Bigfoot Walks, as well as The Thunder Tree, Chasing Monarchs, and Mariposa Road, a flight of butterfly books, and two collections of poems. His newest titles are Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest and Magdalena Mountain: a Novel.

Photo by David Lee Myers Such saltwater fireworks are the bioluminescence of certain dinoflagellates, unicellular marine protists that make up nine-tenths of the rich soup of pelagic life known as plankton. They possess scintillons—packets of luciferin and luciferase, the same substrateand-enzyme matchbox that oxidizes to produce bioluminescence in fireflies, glowworms, and certain fungi. The best known genus, Noctiluca (“night light”), spirals through the water powered by twin flagellae, and may be as big as two millimeters across. They can make the sea reddish or yellowish by day (hence, “red tide”), but by night, their cold power illuminates the waters blue-green, wherever they bloom in the world’s seas.

Over the decades, I have seen the green blaze on the waves here and there around the world, from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific, the China Sea to the Bay of Biscay.

And I have met the phenomenon in literature from Moby Dick and KonTiki to The Voyage of the Beagle. But it wasn’t until last fall, when Orion’s Forgotten Language Tour visited southwest Florida, that I finally had a chance to swim with the sparks.

After giving evening readings, we writers made for the beach behind our hotel. Walking over the famously shelly sand of Sanibel Island and into the bathwater Gulf, we all exclaimed “Wow” in various writerly

This is the 20th in a series of selected essays to appear in Columbia River Reader.

These were originally published in Orion Afield or Orion Magazine in the author’s column, “The Tangled Bank” and, subsequently, in the book of the same name published by Oregon State University Press in 2012.

inflections to see the chartreuse brilliants rise from our steps and circle our legs as if we were human sparklers. I stood still, transfixed, my legs illuminated by key-lime footlights. And when I swam, the amniotic ocean parted in curtains of watery gauze bejeweled with electric emeralds. Diving, there was plenty of light for plucking slippers, whelks, and calico scallops from the seafloor. We ended up splashing one another wildly, giggling as skeins of greeny sequins glittered in our hair and dripped down our limbs, lighting up and flicking out almost faster than we could register their half-lives.

I swam with the night lights every night on Sanibel, barely able to tear myself away for bed. Usually a sinker in water, I drifted easily in the buoyant brine of the Gulf, suspended by water and light—or as one Caribbean captain put it, “floating in stardust.” And when I clapped my hands overhead, showers of shooting stars fell all around, transporting me back to 1963, another bay, and a night alight with fascination, infatuation, and a summer storm of living sparks.

•••

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 21

Lewis & Clark

Would the Corpsmen recognize

By Michael Perry today’s Fort Clatsop?

M

a r t i n P l a m o n d o n ’s t h i r d volume of his Trail Maps, published in 2004, challenges several assumptions about the expedition in the Pacific Northwest. One example is his drawing of Fort Clatsop that is significantly different from the 1955 reconstruction that burned down in October 2005, and was rebuilt a year later using the same 1955 layout.

Rather than two rows of rooms (three rooms in one row and four rooms in the other), separated by a 20-foot wide

parade ground with a gate at each end, Plamondon thought the fort was actually U-shaped and consisted of three rows of connected rooms, with a walled stockade that extended out from the open end.

In 2005, before Fort Clatsop burned down, Scott Stonum, chief of resource management at Fort Clatsop, agreed the 50-year old layout might have been inaccurate. He said, “We do not claim that the fort replica is an exact replica.” The 1955 fort reconstruction

was built based on a preliminary design Captain Clark drew, whereas Plamondon’s drawing was based on the journal entries by three of the men who built the original fort. The best description was recorded by Pvt. Joseph Whitehouse, but the 1955 replica builders did not have access to Whitehouse’s writings since his journal was not discovered until 1966.

On December 11, 1805, Whitehouse wrote “We raised one line of our huts today.” This line probably formed the bottom end of the “U” and contained three rooms, one of which was the smokehouse. On December 13th, Sgt.

Dispatch from the Trail

it difficult to make the necessary sightings on stars. Virtually none of those readings were accurate enough to be of any use. In the end, Clark resorted to dead reckoning for much of the journey.

Clark made many map sketches as they traveled across the continent.

Those charts laid out the course of the Missouri River and showed many details of the land along the route. Unfortunately, Clark’s original maps between St. Louis and Fort Mandan have been lost. After the Expedition was completed, Clark allowed Prince Maximilian, a German anthropologist, to copy some maps he had made of the lower Missouri River.

Those maps, used during Maximilian’s trip up the Missouri in 1833, include 17 sheets (numbered 13 through 29) illustrating the river from Omaha to the Mandan villages in North Dakota.

In July 1805, Jefferson wrote that he had received “29 half sheets” from Lewis and Clark at Fort Mandan showing the course of the river to that point, so it is evident the missing 12 maps existed at one time.

In any case, during the winter months of 1804-05, Clark created a single map

Call before you go !

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Vincent L. (Vince) Penta, P.S. 1561 11th Ave. Longview

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22 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

John Ordway wrote “we raised another line of our huts and began the last line of our huts forming three sides of a square and 7 rooms 16 by 18 feet large. the other square we intend to picket and have gates at the two corners, so as to have a defensive fort.” The next day, Whitehouse wrote “We finished raising the line of huts, & began to cover one of them, which Our officers intend for a Meat house &ca.” Whitehouse also wrote that “Fort Clatsop lay a small distance back, from the West bank of [the Netul] River. The fort was built in the form of an oblong Square, & the front of it facing the River, was picketed in, & had a Gate on the North & one on the South side of it.” from page 7

that incorporated everything he knew or believed to be true about the land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. His map was based on maps made by other explorers, information supplied by various Indians and fur trappers, and information Clark recorded on their journey up the Missouri in 1804. That map was aboard the keelboat when it returned to St. Louis in 1805. The original “Fort Mandan” map has been lost, but two of four copies made by Nicholas King in1805 still exist. While much of the information obtained from Indians on the 1805 map was speculative, it proved to be remarkably accurate once the journey was over and the final maps drawn.

During the winter of 1805 at Fort Clatsop, Clark consolidated his field notes covering their journey west from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean. He made a series of small maps that were used to create a large detailed map after the journey was over. Clark kept detailed field notes in his journal showing courses and distances traveled each day. If Clark assumed cartographers would use his painstakingly recorded traverse to create accurate maps after the journey was completed, he was wrong.

Amazingly, nobody had ever used Clark’s field notes to create a set of maps. For almost 200 years, those field notes were ignored until a resident of Vancouver, Washington, published a three-volume set of Lewis and Clark Trail Maps. Martin Plamondon II, a descendent of Southwest Washington pioneer Simon Plamondon, had worked for 30 years to create a set of more than 500 maps covering the entire 7,400-mile route Lewis and Clark took.

Sadly, Plamondon died just before his third and final volume was published in 2004.

Plamondon’s maps make the Expedition journals come to life in a way previously impossible. Captain Clark would have loved these maps!

•••

Where do you read

THE READER?

Don’t drop the Reader – keep it dry for wrapping souvenirs Gavin Mills, of Castle Rock,Wash. and Longview resident Chris Roalsvig reading the Reader while floating in the Dead Sea in Israel.

They biked, barged, and read the Reader throughout Holland.

Tom and Margaret Hickey, Sue Lawton and Bruce Holway, Steve and Jane Ditewig; Margaret Engstrom, Christina Henderson (in front), all of Longview, and former Longview residents Dennis and Jolee Ford, now of Gig Harbor, Wash. (center, back).

They’ve “bean” around

Dino Doozer Foundation founder Karinsa Holmes and current chairman Lonnie Knowles at “The Bean” while in Chicago to learn the latest things about Neurofibromatosis (NF).

Learning to read...the Reader Seattle residents Cassidy Hanson and her mother, Christina Hanson, at Freddy’s for the Halibut in Longview.

Looking for Sargeant Preston Ellie Lathrop and Al Deichsel at Grey Mountain, near Whitehorse in the Canadian Territory of Yukon.

WHERE DO YOU READ THE READER?

Send your photo reading the Reader (high-resolution JPEG) to Publisher@CRReader.com.

Include names and cities of residence. We make it a practice to acknowledge photos received; if you don’t receive an acknowledgment within 5 days, please re-send. If sending a cell phone photo, choose the largest file size up to 2 MB. Thank you for your participation and patience; we usually have a small backlog. Keep those photos coming!

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 23

BESIDES COLUMBIA RIVER READER...

ATTENTION, READERS

What are you reading?

Read a good book lately? To be mini-interviewed

by CRR Book Reviewer Alan Rose for a future “What Are You Reading?” spotlight, please contact him at alan@alan-rose.com or the publisher/editor at publisher@crreader.com.

Monthly feature coordinated

by Alan Rose

By Dayle Olson Martin Marten

by Brian Doyle

B

rian Doyle, one of the most poetic and evocative voices of Northwest literature, left behind a bounteous feast to savor after his untimely death two years ago, not the least of which is this 2015 novel set in the foothills of Mt. Hood. The story follows the growing pains of two parallel lives, a teenage boy named Dave and a pine marten named Martin. Both creatures revel in the forest and river wonderland they inhabit, both are keen observers of other beings who coexist in their world. Dave makes mental notes during daily trail runs as he readies himself for the track team, while Martin’s observational prowess is motivated by the necessity to become a skilled hunter.

The other character in the story is the mountain itself, called Wy’east by the first peoples. If you read Mink

R i v e r, y o u know how powerful an influence a geographic feature can be in Doyle’s stories. Wy’east looms large over all the lives in its shadow, two- and four-legged, winged and finned, rooted and rocked, insect and reptile.

One of Doyle’s great gifts is his ability to convey the thoughts and feelings of these varied sentient beings, revealing the spiritual presence in all things.

His lyric voice puts the reader on the woodland path, running next to Dave and scampering through the evergreen branches with Martin, reminding you to pause, look around, and contemplate the natural world. It’s a place you won’t want to leave.

•••

March Featured artist Peipei Hsu Wallace “Learning my Art is a Lifelong Journey” Gallery Member & Lower Columbia College Ceramic Instructor

the-broadway-gallery.com In Historic Downtown Longview

Your Local SW Washington Artist Co-op since 1982

Every First Thursday New Art, Music and Nibbles 360-577-0544 1418 Commerce Longview, WA Mon - Fri 10 - 5:30, Sat 10-4

Dayle Olson’s 2019 Columbia River poem, “Water Highway/SR 4 at Stella,” was selected for inclusion in Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna’s, Washington Poetic Routes, sponsored by Humanities Washington. Her short story, “What Sets Us Free,” was chosen in 2019 by Seaside Libraries for publication in their annual anthology. Dayle lives with husband David and two opinionated cats in Cathlamet,Wash.

Saturday Writing Seminars with Alan Rose CRR book reviewer and author Alan Rose will conduct a series of monthly seminars on writing, beginning Saturday, March 7, 10am-12pm.

The series is designed for people who are working on fiction and nonfiction writing projects. Rose will provide a diagnostic tool for participants to evaluate and discuss their projects at the first session. Future seminars will focus on the participants’ projects.

After the first seminar, there will be a $10 fee for each 2-hour session to help defray costs of handouts and materials.

(Fee will be waived if a hardship for anyone.)

Interested writers should register by March 1 for the first session by emailing Rose at alan@alan-rose.com.

24 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

What: Series of monthly seminars for people working on writing projects.

When: First Saturdays, 10am-12 noon, beginning March 7 Where: Cassava Coffeehouse, 1333 Broadway Ave., Longview Cost: $10 per 2-hour session after March 7. (Fee waived if a hardship.)

Rose hosts KLTV’s “Book Chat” program and coordinates the monthly WordFest events. His next book, As If Death Summons, a novel about the AIDS epidemic, will be released in December by Amble Press, an imprint of Bywater Books.

Cover to Cover

Top 10 Bestsellers PAPERBACK FICTION 1. The Overstory Richard Powers, Norton, $18.95 2. There There Tommy Orange, Vintage, $16 3. Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng, Penguin, $17 4. The Great Alone Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s Griffin, $17.99 5. A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles, Penguin, $17 6. The Tattooist of Auschwitz Heather Morris, Harper, $16.99 7. Unsheltered Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Perennial, $17.99 8. Pachinko Min Jin Lee, Grand Central, $16.99 9. Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo, Grove Press/Black Cat, $17 10. The Alice Network Kate Quinn, Morrow, $16.99

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION 1. Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $18 2. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference Greta Thunberg, Penguin, $10 3. The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, Penguin 4. Classic Krakauer Jon Krakauer, Anchor, $15 5. Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson, Spiegel & Grau, $17 6. The Library Book Susan Orlean, S&S, $16.99 7. Born a Crime Trevor Noah, Spiegel & Grau, $18 8. The Soul of an Octopus Sy Montgomery, Atria, $16.99 9. Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari, Harper Perennial, $24.99 10. Upstream: Selected Essays Mary Oliver, Penguin, $17

HARDCOVER FICTION 1. American Dirt Jeanine Cummins, Flatiron Books, $27.99 2. A Long Petal of the Sea Isabel Allende, Ballantine, $28 3. Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens, Putnam, $26 4. Such a Fun Age Kiley Reid, Putnam, $26 5. The Dutch House Ann Patchett, Harper, $27.99 6. The Starless Sea Erin Morgenstern, Doubleday, $28.95 7. Deep River Karl Marlantes, Atlantic Monthly Press, $30 8. Agency William Gibson, Berkley, $28 9. The Testaments Margaret Atwood, Nan A. Talese, $28.95 10. Turn Around Time David Guterson, Justin Gibbens (Illus.), Mountaineers Books, $21.95

HARDCOVER NON-FICTION 1. A Very Stable Genius Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig, Penguin Press, $30 2. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, $22.99 3. A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith Timothy Egan, Viking, $28 4. The Body Bill Bryson, Doubleday, $30 5. Educated Tara Westover, Random House, $28 6. One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder Brian Doyle, Little Brown, $27 7. The Blue Zones Kitchen Dan Buettner, National Geographic, $30 8. Talking to Strangers Malcolm Gladwell, Little Brown, $30 9. Tightrope Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, Knopf, $27.95 10. Why We’re Polarized Ezra Klein, Avid Reader Press/S&S, $28

Brought to you by Book Sense and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Assn, for week ending Feb. 2, 2020, based on reporting from the independent bookstores of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. For the Book Sense store nearest you, visit www.booksense.com MASS MARKET 1. Dune Frank Herbert, Ace, $10.99 2. The Wise Man’s Fear Patrick Rothfuss, DAW, $9.99 3. 1984 George Orwell, Signet, $9.99 4. The Name of the Wind Patrick Rothfuss, DAW, $9.99 5. Outlander Diana Gabaldon, Dell, $9.99 6. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams, Del Rey, $7.99 7. The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger, Little Brown, $8.99 8. Little Women Louisa May Alcott, Signet, $6.99 9. Still Life Louise Penny, St. Martin’s, $7.99 10. The Shining Stephen King, Anchor, $8.99

EARLY & MIDDLE GRADE READERS 1. New Kid Jerry Craft, Harper, $12.99 2. A Wolf Called Wander Rosanne Parry, Monica Armino (Illus.), Greenwillow Books, $16.99 3. Guts Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $12.99 4. Dog Man Guide to Creating Comics in 3-D Kate Howard, Dav Pilkey (Illus.), Scholastic, $10.99 5. Stargazing Jen Wang, First Second, $12.99 6. Drama Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $10.99 7. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Graphic Novel: A Modern Retelling of Little Women Rey Terciero, Bre Indigo (Illus.), Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $12.99 8. Smile Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $10.99 9. Little Women Louisa May Alcott, Puffin, $8.99 10. Epoca: The Tree of Ecrof Ivy Claire, Kobe Bryant, Granity Studios, $16.99

BOOK REVIEW An immigrant story with heart, soul, and lots of sisu

By Alan Rose Deep River

By Karl Marlantes Atlantic Monthly Press $30 Hard cover

W

e are a nation of immigrants, and of immigrants’ stories.

Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn, his bestselling novel on the Vietnam war, has written a sprawling family epic of the immigrant experience based loosely on his own family’s stories.

Like most such family sagas, it begins in the old country—in this case, Finland in 1893, then under the oppressive rule of czarist Russia. Ilmari Alan Rose organizes the monthly WordFest gatherings. His next novel, about the AIDS epidemic, As If Death Summoned, will be published in 2020 by Amble Press/ Bywater Books. More book reviews, author interviews, and news updates can be found at www.alan-rose.com.

Koski, the oldest brother and first to immigrate to America, establishes a small farm and blacksmith business in the Willapa Hills at the mouth of the Columbia River. Later, he is joined by his teenage brother, Matti, fleeing Finland when he runs afoul of the Russian authorities. Their fiery sister Aino must also leave the family home because of her involvement in revolutionary activities (Talk about chain migration!). They are eventually joined by Matti’s friend, 14- year-old Aksel — Disclosure: My paternal grandfather was 15 when he came alone to America from Portugal. I continue to be amazed at the courage, daring and desperation that brings young people to a strange land where they know no one, nor even the language.

Matti and Aksel work in the Naselle area as loggers, while Aino cooks in the logging camps. The life was hard, the work never ending, not even on Sundays (“Only God could get His work done in six days.”) The men are strong, the women stronger, all fortified by sisu—a Finnish word for pluck, courage, inner strength — along with a stolid, stoic nondemonstrative demeanor (“The look of gratitude and pride on Jouka’s face would have brought tears if everyone at the table weren’t a Finn.”)

Louhi hesitated. “You must know my business by now.”

“A boarding house.”

Louhi laughed. Ilmari looked at her quizzically.

“I finance whorehouses and saloons.”

He blinked.

Louhi could have been reading his mind. “(My daughter) has nothing to be ashamed of. I own the whorehouse. If you have trouble with it, now is the time to know.”

“I am a strong Evangelical Lutheran.”

“So are most of my customers.”

~ from Deep River

Aino becomes active with the Wobblies (the International Workers of the World), organizing for better wages and working conditions for the loggers. She meets the charismatic labor organizer Joe Hill, aka Joel Hillstrom, a Swedish immigrant, and witnesses the Centralia Massacre in 1919. Amid her experiences unique to immigrants are also universal moments: “She never imagined getting married would make her lonesome.”

Deep River invites us to remember our own families’ immigrant beginnings.

Each new group of immigrants — whether Irish or Germans, Jews or Japanese, Greeks or Hmong — has faced its particular challenges; then as now, few were welcomed.

Let’s hope we make it through this current period of anti-immigrant hysteria and that America continues to be a nation of immigrants. We need the stories.

••• NOTE: Alan launches his “Saturday Writing Seminars” beginning March 7. See announcement, page 24.

Mar 10 • Cassava 1333 Broadway Longview

SECOND TUESDAY

www.alan-rose.com Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 25

Clatskanie, Ore. Fultano’s Pizza 770 E. Columbia River Hwy Family style with unique pizza offerings, hot grill items & more!

Sun-Thurs 11am–9pm. Fri-Sat 11am–10pm. 503-728-2922

COLUMBIA RIVER

dining guide

Kelso, Wash.

El Ranchero Kelso Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant 640 E. Columbia River Hwy Fine Mexican cuisine. Daily specials.

The best margarita in town. Daily drink specials. Sports bar.

M-Th 11am–9:30pm; Fri & Sat 11am–11:30pm; Sun 11am–9pm. 503-728-3344

Rainier. Ore. Alston Pub & Grub 25196 Alston Rd., Rainier 503-556-4213 11 beers on tap, cocktails.

Open daily 11am.

503-556-9753 See ad, page 6.

1626 West Side Hwy amily Mexican restaurant. Full Mexican menu. Daily specials. Liquor, beer & wine.

Mention this listing for $5 off purchase of $30 or more. Open Mon–Sat 11am–9pm.

360-423-3704.

Longview, Wash.

716 Triangle Shopping Center.

18 rotating craft brews, pub fare.

M-W 12 Noon–9pm, Th–Sat 12 Noon– 11pm. Sun 12 Noon–8pm. Local music.

Follow us on Untappd.

See ad, page 34.

The Carriage Restaurant & Lounge

Conestoga Pub Cornerstone Café 102 East “A” Street Microbrews, wines & spirits Prime rib Friday & Sat. Open M-F 6am–8pm; Sat-Sun 7am–8pm.

503-556-8772.

The Carriage Restaurant & Lounge 1334 12th Ave. Open from 6am to close. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Full bar, banquet room available for groups, parties, family reunions, etc. in lounge, open 6am. Three happy hours daily (8–10am, 12–2pm, 5–7pm). Group meeting room, free use with $150 food/drink purchases.

360-425-8545.

The Original Pietrio’s Pizzeria

614 Commerce Ave., Longview. 18 varieties of pizza. Salad bar, Lunch buffet all-you-can-eat. Beer & wine. Mon-Fri open 11am, Sat-Sun 12 Noon.

360-353-3512.

Porky’s Public House 561 Industrial Way, Longview Slow-roasted prime rib Fri & Sat, flat iron steaks, 1/3-lb burgers, fish & chips.

33 draft beers. Full bar. Family-friendly, weekly jazz and acoustic dinner hour sets on Weds. 360-636-1616. See ad, page 11.

Red Kitchen, 848 15th Ave., Longview.

Cocktails, taps, vino. Traditional diner fare, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Sandwiches, burgers, funky comfort food, incl.

Bacon Gouda Mac n Cheese, shepherd’s pie, healthy options. Full service bar, incl 12 taps. 7am–10pm, M-F, 8am–10pm Sat-Sun.

Regent & Woodshed

3353 Washington Way Chinese & American food. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Full bar.

Food to go during open hours. Families welcome. Deliveries available after 5pm.

Call for Live Music on Saturdays.

Open Tues-Sun, 8am–9pm.

Kalama

215 N. Hendrickson Dr., Port of Kalama.

A Northwest pub and unique bars serving breakfast, lunch & dinner daily.

Handcrafted beer, wine & cocktails, burgers, specialties, incl Kamikaze Seared Ahi & more. Live music, art, history & riverfront hotel rooms. Info & reservations at mcmenamins.com. Bars hours vary; see website for details. Pub open M-Th 7am – midnight; Fri-Sun 7am– 1am. 360- 673-9210.

St. Helens, Oregon

Sunshine Pizza & Catering 2124 Columbia Blvd.

Hot pizza, cool salad bar. Beer & wine.

503-397-3211 See ad, page 31.

Scappoose, Oregon Fultano’s Pizza 51511 SE 2nd.

Family style with unique pizza offerings, hot grill items & more! “Best pizza around!”

Sun–Th 11am–9pm; Fri-Sat 11am– 10pm. Full bar service ‘til 10pm Fri & Sat. Deliveries in Scappoose. 503-5435100.

Phone: 360-423-8680 Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant

Evergreen Pub & Café

115-117 East 1st Street Burgers, halibut, prime rib, full bar.

503-556-9935. See ad, page 6.

Goble Tavern

70255 Columbia River Hwy. (Milepost 31, Hwy. 30) Food, beer & wine + full bar, Live entertainment. 503-556-4090.

See ad page 6.

Freddy’s Just for the Halibut.

Cod, halibut & tuna fish and chips, oysters & clams, award-winning clam chowder.

Prime rib every Thurs. Sunday Brunch 9am–1pm. Beer and wine. M-W 10–8, ThSat 10–9, Sun 9am-8pm.

1110 Commerce 360-414-3288.

See ad, page 11.

Hop N Grape

Luigi’s Pizza

117 East 1st Street, Rainier 503-556-4213 Pizza, spaghetti, burgers, beer & wine.

See ad, page 6.

924 15th Ave., Longview M–Th 11am–8pm; Fri & Sat 11am– 9pm; Sun 11am–7pm. BBQ meat slowcooked on site. Pulled pork, chicken brisket, ribs, turkey, salmon. Worldfamous mac & cheese. 360-577-1541

Grant’s at the Monticello

Hotel on Longview’s historic Civic Circle. Casual upscale dining. Seafood, steaks, pasta, burgers. Happy Hour specials 3pm. M-Th 11-9, Fri-Sat 11-10.

360-442-8234. See ad, page 8.

26 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Roland Wines

1106 Florida St., Longview. Authentic Italian wood-fired pizza, wine, and beer.

Casual ambience. 5–9pm Wed-Fri, Sat. 11–3. See ad, page 11.

Castle Rock

Parker’s Restaurant & Brewery 1300 Mt. St. Helens Way. I-5 Exit 49.

Lunch, Dinner. Burgers, hand-cut steak; seafood and pasta. Restaurant opens 11am, Lounge 12 Noon. Closed Monday.

360-967-2333.

Restaurant operators: To advertise in CRR’s Dining Guide, call 360-749-2632

33452 Havlik Rd. Fine Mexican cuisine.

Daily specials. The best margarita in town. Daily drink specials. M-Th 11am–9:30pm; Fri & Sat 11am–11:30pm; Sun 11am–9pm. 503-543-3017

Mark’s on the Channel

34326 Johnson Landing, Scappoose, Ore. Floating restaurant. Fish & Chips, Oysters, Steaks, Daily Specials. Happy Hours 3–6pm daily. Free Live Music Fri-Sat. Open year-round, Sun-Mon 11:30–8; W-Th 11:30–8:30; F-Sat 11`:30–9. 503-543-8765.

Warren Warren Country Inn 56575 Columbia River Hwy. Fine family dining. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Fri Prime Rib special, Taco Tuesday. Full bar. M-Th 8am–9:30pm, Fri-Sat 8am–10:30pm, Sun 9am–9pm. Karaoke Fri & Sat.503-410-5479.

Private tasting parties by appointment. Use website form or call 503-201-4545

Where to find the new Reader

It’s delivered all around the River by the 15th of each month. Here’s the list of handy, regularlyrefilled sidewalk box and rack locations where you can pick up a copy any time of day and even in your bathrobe ...

RAINIER LONGVIEW Post Office Post Office Cornerstone Bob’s (rack, main check-out) In front of 1232 Commerce Ave Rainier In front of 1323 Commerce Ave Hardware (rack, entry) YMCA Fred Meyer (rack, service desk area) Earth ‘n’ Sun (on Hwy 30) Fibre Fed’l CU - Commerce Ave Monticello Hotel (front entrance) El Tapatio (entry rack) Kaiser Permanente St. John Medical Center DEER ISLAND (rack, Park Lake Café) Deer Island Store Cowlitz Black Bears box office COLUMBIA CITY - Post Office LCC Student Center Mini-Mart next to Regents WARREN Indie Way Diner Warren Country Inn Columbia River Reader ST HELENS 1333 14th Ave. Chamber of Commerce KELSO Sunshine Pizza Heritage Bank Post Office Visitors’ Center/ Kelso-Longview Olde Town (Wild Currant) Chamber of Commerce Safeway KALAMA SCAPPOOSE Fibre Fed’l CU Post Office Kalama Shopping Center Road Runner

corner of First & Fir Fred Meyer For more McMenamin’s Harbor Lodge (east entrance) locations or the pick-up point Fultano’s WOODLAND nearest you, Ace Hardware Visitors’ Center visit crreader.

WARRENTON, OR CASTLE ROCK com and click “Find the Lacie Rha’s Cafe (32 Cowlitz W.) FredMeyer Magazine” Parker’s Restaurant (box, entry) CATHLAMET under Visitors’ Center Cathlamet Pharmacy “Features.”

890 Huntington Ave. N. Tsuga Gallery Exit 49, west side of I-5 Puget Island Ferry Landing RYDERWOOD Café porch SKAMOKAWA Skamokawa General Store CLATSKANIE Redmen Hall Post Office Chevron / Mini-Mart NASELLE Wauna mill (parking area) Appelo Archives & Café Johnson’s One-Stop

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 27

Outings & Events FIRST THURSDAY March 5

Submission Guidelines Letters to the Editor (up to 200 words) relevant to the publication’s purpose — helping readers discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River region, at home and on the road — are welcome. Longer pieces, or excerpts thereof, in response to previously-published articles, may be printed at the discretion of the publisher and subject to editing and space limitations.

Items sent to CRR will be considered for publication unless the writer specifies otherwise. Writer’s name and phone number must be included; anonymous submissions will not be considered.

Political Endorsements CRR is a monthly publication serving readers in several towns, three counties, two states and beyond and does not publish Letters to the Editor that are endorsements or criticisms of political candidates or controversial issues. (Paid ad space is available.)

Unsolicited submissions may be considered, provided they are consistent with the publication’s purpose. Advance contact with the editor is recommended.

Information of general interest submitted by readers may be used as background or incorporated in future articles.

Outings & Events calendar (free listing): Events must be open to the public. Non-profit organizations and the arts, entertainment, educational and recreational opportunities and community cultural events will receive listing priority. Fundraisers must be sanctioned/sponsored by the benefiting non-profit organization. Businesses and organizations wishing to promote their particular products or services are invited to purchase advertising (contact info, page 17).

Broadway Gallery Featured artist Peipei Hsu Wallaceh (mixed media drawings & ceramics). Reception with live music by Derek Reynolds.

5:30-7:30pm.

1418 Commerce Ave., Longview, Wash.

Cowlitz County Museum Program: Retired Kelso school teacher John Simpson returns to talk about his upcoming book based on 180 letters found in a Kelso attic, penned by soldiers who served in the Civil War. Simpson has gone beyond the war, delving into the lives of the letter writers.

7pm. 404 Allen St., Kelso, Wash.

CALL TO ARTISTS The Columbian Artists Association presents the 44nd Annual Spring Art Show April 4 through April 13 at the Red Lion Inn, Kelso, Wash.

Open to artists in 2-D and 3-D media. All work will be judged/juried at entry. Prospectus available at: columbianartists.org.

For questions contact: Eileen Thompson @206-949-9811 or webster9821@comcast.net

Performing & Fine Arts, Music Art, Theatre, Literary Broadway Gallery Artists co-op. Classes for all ages, workshops, paint parties.

Featured artists, Feb: guest artist Jeremy Furnish (mixed media/sculpture); March: Gallery member and LCC ceramics instructor Peipei Wallace (mixed media drawing & ceramics). Gallery hours: M-F 10-5:30, Sat 10–4. 1418 Commerce, Longview, Wash. 360-577-0544. www. the-broadway-gallery.com.

In the Cloud Exhibit by Joe Batt, Feb. 24–Mar. 12 exploring through clay figures and charcoal drawings ways technology has changed the human experience.

Reception Feb. 20, 4:30–6:30pm.

Forsberg Art Gallery, Lower Columbia College Rose Center for the Arts. Gallery open Mon/Wed 12–6, Tues/Wed 10–4.

Free. 1600 Maple St., Longview, Wash. lowercolumbia.edu/gallery

Tsuga Gallery Fine arts and crafts by area artists. Thurs-Sat 11–5. 70 Main Street, Cathlamet, Wash. 360-795-0725.

2020 Student Showcase at Koth Gallery Through Feb 28 featuring drawing, ceramics, graphic design, painting, and photography by Lower Columbia College Art & Design students. Reception Feb. 25, 3–5pm. Longview Public Library,

Clatskanie Bloom Gallery Artwork from the lower Columbia River region.

Wed-Sat, 11-4. 289 N. Nehalem St. Clatskanie, Oregon. Info: 503-3089143. Clatskaniebloom@gmail.com. clatskaniebloom.com Cowlitz Valley Old Time Music Association Music jam night with open mic, 6–8pm, 1st, 3rd and 5th Fridays, Catlin Grange, 205 Shawnee, Kelso, Wash. Guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, piano, accordion. Traditional country and/or bluegrass. Dance floor open. Info: Archie Beyl, 360-636-3835.

Community Arts Workshop/Alcove Gallery Free instruction and materials, 1–3pm, Mon–Thurs. Located in the CAP building,1526 Commerce, Longview, Wash. Open Mon–Thurs 12–3:30pm.

Info: 360-425-3430 x 306, or email capartsworkshop@gmail.com.

1600 Louisiana Street, Longview, Wash.

Mon-Wed 10am-8pm, Thurs-Sat 10am5pm. Info: Daniel, 360-442-5307.

Workshop: “Art Speaks Volumes” Creative people are asked to make works of art out of used books for May 2 silent auction to benefit Library’s special programs. Workshops led by local artists Susan Supola, Mar. 4 or Mar. 11, 6–8pm. Longview Library Auditorium, 1600 Louisiana St.. Register at Main Desk. Info 360-442-5300 or email artspeaksvolumesLPL@gmail.com.

Lower Columbia College Rose Center for the Arts Center Stage Theatre: “Number the Stars,” based on Lois Lowry’s Newberry Medal winning young adult novel, adapted by Dr. Douglas W. Larche. Center Stage Theatre. Feb. 28 and Mar 6 at 11am; Mar 1 at 2pm; Feb 28, 29, Mar 6, 7 at 7:30pm.

LCC Symphonic Band: Women of Note.

Mar 6, 7:30pm.Wollenburg Auditorium.

LCC Jazz Ensemble Concert, Mar 10, 7:30pm, Wollenburg Auditorium.

HOW TO PUBLICIZE YOUR NON-PROFIT EVENT IN CRR Send your noncommercial community event basic info (name of event, beneficiary, sponsor, date & time, location, brief description and contact info) to publisher@crreader.com Or mail or hand-deliver (in person or via mail slot) to: Columbia River Reader 1333-14th Ave Longview, WA 98632

Submission Deadlines Events occurring: Mar 15 – April 20:

by Feb. 25 for Mar 15 issue.

April 15 – May 20:

by Mar. 25 for April 15 15 issue Calendar submissions are considered for inclusion, subject to lead time, general relevance to readers, and space limitations. See Submission Guidelines, above.

28 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

LCC Choir: Mozart’s Requiem, Mar 13, 7:30pm.Wollemburg Auditorium.

LCC Quarterly Student Recitals, Mar 17, Instrumental 5:30pm, Vocal 7pm.

Wollenburg Auditorium.

She would have read the Reader.

Mt. St. Helens Club

HIKES

Schedule, page 31

Outings & Events

Recreation, Outdoors Gardening, History, Pets, Self-Help Cowlitz County Museum; First Thurs March 5 see details, page 28. Museum Open Tues-Sat 10am–4pm. 405 Allen St, Kelso, Wash. www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/ museum. Info: 360-577-3119.

Appelo Archives Center Historic exhibits, Naselle-Grays River area.

1056 State Route 4, Naselle. T-Fri 9–2, Sat 10–2, or by appt. 360-484-7103. appeloarchives.org.

Reach for the Stars! CASA Gala and Auction, an evening of food, fundraising and community. Sat, Feb. 22, Cowlitz Expo Center. Doors open 5:30pm.

Cocktail attire. $75 per person. Tickets online (www.cowlitzcountycasa.org/)

In Their Footsteps Free lecture series. Sun, Feb. 16: “Common Birds at Fort Clatsop, Then and Now,” with Barbara Linnett. 1pm, Netul Room, Lewis and Clark Nat’l Historical Park, 92343 Fort Clatsop Road, Astoria, Ore. Free. Info: 503861-2471. Presentation is part of the Feb. 14-17 worldwide Great Backyard Bird County activities in the park. In Their Footsteps sponsored by the Lewis & Clark National Park Assn and the park.

Another program: “Discovering York,” see page 11.

Kids’ Fish-In Martin’s Dock, Lake Sacajawea, Longview, Wash. Saturday, April 25, 8am–2pm, various time slots. Registration open for up to 434 participants, ages 5–14, mylongview.com. $10 fee includes fishing pole and gear kids may keep. Info: 360-442-5400. Sponsored by Early Edition Rotary and Longview Parks and Recreation Foundation.

‘Bridging the Generational Gap’ WSU program open to public Business people are invited to hear a WSU MAP Alliance talk by Lisa Keohokalole Schauer Wed. Feb. 19, 8:30–11:30am, in the Columbia Bank Community Room, 101 E. 6th St., Vancouver, Wash. $10 fee with online registration (formtool.wsu.edu), or $15 at the door.

Today’s five-generation workforce includes employees ranging from teenagers to those in their twilight years. How we communicate, motivate and reward employees matters.

Breaking down communication barriers to achieve results may make the difference in keeping a company’s most important asset: its people.

NATURE MATTERS

Following the Talk: The Institute of Management Consultants, Oregon&SW Wash. Chapter Discussion brunch, Grays at the Park in Vancouver Hilton, a 2-block, 3-minute walk away. Parking available at both locations. No charge for discussion participation beyond food, beverages and gratuity. Advance brunch registration is requested. To reserve a seat email Jerry @ qmpassociates.com.

WSU Business Growth MAP Alliance brings together small businesses and entrepreneurs, industry experts and WSU Vancouver faculty to learn from each other.

More info: John E. Anderson, 360-200-5840 or 503-381-9122, or Jerry Vieira, 503-318-2696.

Mar. 12 speaker spouts off about Oregon Coast orcas The March 12 “Nature Matters” presentation, by Colleen Weiler, will deal with the Southern Resident orca community. The program takes place at 7pm at the Fort George Lovell Showroom, 1483 Duane Street, Astoria, Ore.. This free event is open to the public. Doors open at 6pm to purchase dinner or beverages at the Fort George Brewery before the event.

Southern Resident orcas are one of the most endangered populations of whales in the world. Whale and Dolphin Conservation is dedicated to their protection and ensuring they share our coast for generations to come. In her presentation, Weiler will discuss how these orcas are connected to Oregon and explain how Oregonians can help.

Weiler completed a master’s of science degree in marine resource management from Oregon State University and is a Jessica Rekos Fellow for WDC. She focuses her work on identifying effective conservation strategies

and protective measures for orca populations off the west coast of the U.S. and Canada, especially the endangered Southern Resident orca community. The organization works globally through campaigns, lobbying, advising governments, conservation and field projects, educational outreach, legal advocacy, and more to develop science-based, ecosystemwide solutions for protection and recovery of orcas.

Nature Matters, a lively conversation about the intersection of nature and culture, takes place on the second Thursday of each month, October through May. It is hosted by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in partnership with the North Coast Watershed Association, the Lewis & Clark National Park Association, and the Fort George Brewery + Public House.

For more information, call the park at 503- 861-2471, visitt www.nps.gov/lewi or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook.

Fern Hill approaches its bluegrass music in the style of the classic bands of the 1950s.

This special attention to detail results in an instantly identifiable rhythmic sound that both devotees and newcomers of the group will love. Fern Hill has a lot of fun playing this music and we know you’ll have fun listening too!

Fern Hill Bluegrass Band with the Bloomer Family Band

Saturday • March 15 • 3:00pm

$10 General • $8 Students/Seniors • $6 Children

Birkenfeld Theatre Clatskanie Cultural Center, Clatskanie, OR Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 29

the Lower Columbia

Informer

by Perry Piper Wilkommen home!

Like a bad penny, German exchange student, now 21, keeps coming back

D

aniel Kellner is the grandson of Longview’s first foreign exchange student, Gottfried Eichler, R.A.Long High School Class of 1954, who stayed with my dad Ned Piper’s family when he was in high school there.

Daniel followed in his grandfather’s footsteps some 60 years later as an exchange student at R.A.Long and stayed with us (Ned Piper and my mother, Sue Piper and me) for six months in 2015-16. This and this is his fifth time visiting us overall.

When he originally came over, he couldn’t speak a word of English and carried a thick paper dictionary with him. We picked him up from the airport and immediately went to Red Robin for Daniel’s first exposure to root beer and what he later nicknamed “USA Burgers,” two of his most favorite things in the world. Daniel reminisces about those times as being amazing, experiencing a new culture, and loving so many things about our country.

These days, Daniel relishes visiting us, his American family, and we’ve established a routine involving movie nights, artichoke dinners — something Daniel enjoys more than lobster— helping deliver the Reader, and a weekend trip to the Oregon coast.

Daniel has taken a great interest in one of my hobbies, strategy board games, our latest being Scythe, an economic and light military game that includes a story mode we play with old friends, including the assistant principal of Mark Morris High School, Brian Mitchell.

Daniel reveres our US National Parks, natural landscapes and wild beauty of the vast landmass we’ve seen on our road trips. He and I are in the early stages of planning a grand US train tour of the remaining national parks we haven’t visited, although it’ll probably need to wait until after Daniel finishes his college degree in Germany. He’s studying sustainable energy systems, which will relate to the growing industry of electric cars, batteries, solar and wind power, as well as emerging related fields.

Some time ago, Daniel introduced us to “The IT Crowd,” a much better and funnier version of “The Big Bang Theory,” and now one of our favorite comedy shows on Netflix. IT Crowd stars Roy and Moss, sociallyinept computer experts and their manager Jen, who knows nothing about computers, but becomes the human relationship advisor for the two men. Similar to my job helping clients with their own computers, Roy often answers the phone with “Have you tried

turning it off and on again?” Followed with “Are you sure it’s plugged in?” The show has strong British humor and can sometimes seem strange for Americans, but I highly recommend it.

A custom in our family has developed since every time Daniel visits, he brings a huge shipment of European chocolate, including Ritter Sport, Zotter and Kinder, which my family and friends and I enjoy greatly. In return, I colletc for Daniel a few of the artisan American bars, mostly discovered at the Portland Chocolate Fest I’ve attended a few times over the years. One of the best is the soft, handmade bars of Portland’s Honey Mama’s in our favorite flavor, Coco NoNut. It’s among the most delicious I’ve ever come across in the world!

Although Daniel also devours the newest addition I brought back from Canada, Whittaker’s peanut butter chocolate from New Zealand, with this new Canadian variant being even more scrumptious than the original kind!

to what CRR calls the St. Helens Loop Route. He’s a big fan of St. Helen’s Old Town Riverfront district there, and I can’t wait to see what he thinks of the Dockside’s new peanut butter pickle burger.

••• Following his travels, Perry Piper is once again available to help clients with computer needs. Reach Perry via email (perrypiper@hotmail.com) or text message 360-270-0608.

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It’s amazing to think that Daniel is only just now turning 21! We can finally legally taste all the spirits on the Portland Distillery Row tour, as well as the SakeOne drinks. Tasters get a little faux passport for taking notes about the various concoctions.

Since Germans are allowed to start drinking beer at age 16 and hard liquor at 18, Daniel already has some favorites and clinks his glass with a good Merlot and, occasionally, Glenfiddich. His beer of choice is American North Coast, known as Old Rasputin, a member of the strongest family of beers, the Russian imperial stout. Daniel says it’s the one beer he can’t find back home, making his visits here all the sweeter, since we stock our fridge with the craft bottles.

By the time you read this, Daniel will have helped me deliver the new issue

Time to review your insurance costs and coverages?

Call me for your No-Obligation quote or visit me at our NEW LOCATION

near Red Leaf Coffee on Ocean Beach Hwy

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3202 Ocean Beach Hwy • Suite 150 Longview, WA 98632

30 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Member SIPC

Hiking

Astronomy

Astoria-based hiking club invites you!

SKY REPORT

Angora Hiking Club has planned more than 40 outings for 2020, including hikes at Soapstone Lake, Angora Peak, Bay Ocean and several bike hikes. The big event is the Centennial Celebration in July. Some hikes will include experts who will tell the group about such things as about how fish are brought to Warrenton docks, and how cranberry harvesting is accomplished.

Get up early to see moons of Jupiter and Saturn in mid-March

The first hike is a commemorative hike in Cannon Beach. It is Saturday, February 22 at 9:00am. (Rain date 2/29). Participants meet in Astoria on Marine Drive between 2nd & 3rd Street, just west of Burger King, to car pool to Cannon Beach. At approximately 9:45am the hike will

TAKE A

HIKE

begin at the City bus parking lot off South Hemlock in the 1100 block.

There are restrooms and free parking there. The walkers will head behind the town to pocket parks, a spruce reserve, ponds ideal for bird watching and (depending on visibility) a secret viewpoint of Haystack Rock. This is an easy hike of 3-4 miles.

You do not need to be a member to participate. All are welcome.

However, dogs are not allowed.

Membership is $10 a year. If you plan to join the walk, call June Baumler at 503 368-4323 by Friday, February Feb. 21. Learn more about the club at angorahikingclub.org.

This friendly club welcomes newcomers.

For more info please call the hike leader or visit mtsthelensclub.org.

RT(round trip) distances are from Longview.E=easy, M=moderate, S=strenuous, e.g.=elevation gain.

with Mt. St. Helens Club Wed, Feb 19 Lake Sacajawea (E) Walk around the whole lake (3+ mi) or half the lake (1+ mi). Leaders: Trudy & Ed 360-414-1160.

Sat,Feb 22 Pacific Way Dike (E) Walk 3.2 – 5.2 miles RT on level gravel path.

Leader: Jenny 586-872-8126.

Sat, Feb 29 Greenleaf Overlook (M/S) Drive 180 miles RT. Hike 7.6 miles RT with 600 ft. e.g. on Tinamous Trail and Pacific Crest Trail past Gillette Lake to Greenleaf viewpoint. Great view of the Columbia River Gorge. Leader: Bruce 360-425-0256.

Wed, Mar 4 Seminary Hills Nature Trail (E/M) Drive 90 miles RT Hike 3 milesRT with 500 ft. e.g. Large urban natural area overlooking Centralia and the Chehalis-Skookumchuck River Valleys. Leader: Art 360-270-9991.

Sat, Mar 7 Herman’s Humps (M) Drive 160 miles RT. Hike 10 miles RT with 900 ft.e.g. Hike starts at the Bridge of the Gods on the PCT. Follow the lush forest trail to Dry Creek Falls, then on to the peculiar basalt pinnacles, Herman’s Humps. Leaders: Becky 360-560-4170, Karen 360-442-3884.

Wed, Mar 11 Crown Zellerbach Trail Scappoose (E) Drive 100 miles RT. Hike 4 – 5 miles on a former logging trail that travels from Hwy 30 at Scappoose to Vernonia on an easy trail with minimal e.g. Leader: Bonny 503-556-2332.

Sat, Mar 14 Salmon River (E/M) Drive 180 miles RT. Hike 6 – 12 miles RT with 500–1000 ft. e.g. Choose your level of exertion on this pleasant river walk.

Leader: Susan M. 360-751-1255.

Wed, Mar 18 Lake Sacajawea (E) Walk around the whole lake (3+ mi) or walk half the lake (1+ mi). Leaders: Trudy & Ed 360-414-1160.

Sat, Mar 21 Siouxon Creek (E/M) Drive 110 miles RT. Hike 4 – 8 miles with 800 ft. e.g. along a beautiful stream (it should be really full this time of year) with many waterfalls. Leader: David 360-7038738.

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Feb. 15 – Mar. 18

By Ted Gruber Evening Sky Venus continues to dominate the west-southwest evening sky. The planet appears 15 times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Venus becomes visible in the evening twilight and remains visible until setting a little past 9pm in mid-February, and about an hour later by mid-March.

If you have binoculars or a telescope, the evenings of March 7 and 8 offer good chances to see the distant planet Uranus, when Venus and Uranus appear about 2° apart. On the 7th, look southeast (to the lower left) of Venus for a faint star, and then continue scanning in the same direction about twice the distance between the star and Venus to see Uranus. On the 8th, first locate two faint stars southeast of Venus, and then continue about the same distance in the same direction to find Uranus.

Although not as impressive as it was in early February, the innermost planet Mercury is still visible low on the western horizon about 30 minutes after sunset through about February 20. Mercury quickly dims each passing evening before returning to the morning sky in mid-March.

Morning Sky Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn remain visible in the south-southeast morning sky all month. In mid-February, the red planet Mars rises in the southeast a bit after 4am, followed by bright Jupiter about an hour later and the ringed planet Saturn about 30 minutes after that. In mid-March, Mars rises a little before 4am, Jupiter a few minutes later, and Saturn about 30 minutes later. Under good seeing conditions, binoculars will reveal up to four of Jupiter’s moons and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

The morning hours of February 18 present a special treat when the moon occults (passes in front of) Mars. In our area, the occultation will already by underway when the moon rises just after 4am, but we’ll get to see Mars reappear from behind the moon’s dark limb at 4:45am. While you can view the occultation with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope will provide a more impressive sight.

The next two mornings provide some near misses between the moon and the other two morning planets. On February 19, the moon passes just south of Jupiter, and on February 20, just south of Saturn. Then on March 18, all three planets appear clustered together, with a crescent moon just below them. More near misses involving the moon occur later in March, and we’ll talk about those in next month’s sky report.

•••

Kelso resident Ted Gruber is president of Friends of Galileo.

He makes a regular report to fellow members of the familyfriendly astronomy club which meets monthly in Longview.

For info about FOG, visit friendsofgalileo.com.

THE BEST AROUND! IN ST HELENS 2124 Columbia Blvd.

503-397-3211

Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 31

REAL ESTATE TIPS

by Mike Wallin

THE 2020 HOUSING MARKET:

I

What you need to know

t’s the time of year when we get more questions such as “How can I understand what the market is doing and what steps I should take to get my home ready to sell this year?”

There’s no simple answer to the first part of the question. To understand what the housing market is doing and where it might be headed requires an understanding of the local economy, for it’s one of the major forces at work on the housing market.

For a basic understanding of the real estate market, however, look at three indicators: Employment When an area’s labor market is weak, people typically don’t buy homes. This includes not only those who are unemployed, but those who feel their jobs may be in jeopardy. Weak employment numbers equal soft housing demand. But ­— right now at least — the country’s unemployment rate is 3.5 percent, a 50-year low, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Home affordability While unemployment is closely aligned with affordability, it isn’t the only factor that determines whether or not people can afford homes in the local real estate market.

Home prices are largely a result of supply and demand, something that is easy to determine either by asking your real estate agent or reading the local news.

Getting ready to sell Nobody has a crystal ball in forecasting the future of the housing market. But being ready for anything will put you in the best position.

Ready the home for the market by making basic repairs, painting and cleaning. We’re happy to walk through the home and help you decide which tasks to tackle based on a likely return on your repair dollars..

To read the full article visit www.mikewallin.com https://mikewallin.com/real-estate-blog/what-you-need-to-knowabout-the-2020-housing-market/

Feel free to reach out to us if with questions on this or any aspect of the home purchase process.

Mike Wallin

Five Star Broker, REALTOR

Highest Rated Locally 360-560-3636 CELL

michaelkwallin@gmail.com 1140-11th Ave., Longview, WA By appointment only

32 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

223 NE 1st Street, Kalama 9–8 M-Sat, 10–7 Sun • 360-673-2200

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The Roadway Back

My Slant

Realistic expectations and intentional new habits help recover after a physical setback By Tracy Beard

E

veryone considers a day of activity a little differently. For me, a 12-mile hike three or four times per week was typical. When it’s not raining, one friend puts in a few 60-mile bike rides each week.

My son trains several days a week in preparation for each spartan race he enters. For others, it might be a 3-mile walk around the lake on the weekend, a few laps in the local swimming pool, or a yoga class twice a week.

Whatever it is, if you suddenly find yourself unable to enjoy your healthy exercise routine due to an injury or illness, you might feel discouraged, less healthy, and even depressed. So how do you get back to where you were? New Year’s resolutions are heroic, but often they last only a few weeks or even a few days. Let’s begin our journey by forming new habits in February. The first thing is to start from where we are, not where we thought we would be, should be, or where we want to be.

MY STORY In November 2018, I was in Barcelona to go on a cruise. I spent my pre-cruise day walking up and down the hills of this stunning city. That afternoon, my feet began to ache. By the next day, I was in great pain. I made it through my trip and came home assuming I had another case of plantar fasciitis. The misery went on for months, continuing to get worse. I was used to hiking 5-12 miles several days a week and after a year of this agony, I found myself hobbling from the living room to the bathroom in my home.

Eventually, I made my way to the podiatrist. I learned I had severely pulled several tendons in my feet and because they had hurt so much, I had been “clenching” my feet while I walked. The clenching caused my leg muscles to tighten, which precipitated excruciating discomfort in my lower back. My exercise routine was destroyed. A couple of months ago, the podiatrist outfitted me with several apparatuses to begin alleviating my agony, but it was not an overnight fix. I am on the mend, as they say, but where do I go from here? How do I get back to where I was without re-injuring myself?

Step 4: Learn Something New Mental Recovery It is imperative to keep the mind stimulated as we grow older. What do you want to learn — a new language, a new skill? Pick something and begin.

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY THE ROAD TO RECOVERY Step 1: Realize good health requires a balanced mind, body and soul After an injury or setback, not only is your physical self injured, but often your mind and soul also suffer. If you have not experienced an injury or illness, maybe you are ready to push yourself to a new level of health and vitality.

Step 2: Take stock Evaluate each part of your being: mind, body and soul. Each aspect interacts with the others. Remember this is your life and it is not a trial run. A friend recently told me a little story she heard.

One of her friends suggested that she get a 100-foot tape measure and lay it out on the floor. Then she told her to stand on the number that represented her age. If a person lives an average of 90 years, look at the amount of your life that is already gone. Without regret, look at what is left. What do you want it to look like, and how do you want to be in it?

Step 3: Be Mindful - Soul Recovery Mindfulness means being fully attentive at each moment. It is about being the best of who we are in each moment.

One of my favorite sayings is, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths that we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” Don’t miss out on the moments.

Vancouver, Wash. resident Tracy Beard writes about luxury and adventure travel, traditional and trendy fine dining and libations for regional, national and international magazines and is a regular “Out & About” contributor to Columbia River Reader.

Step 5: Set Goals - Physical Recovery My word for the year is “intentional.”

This word applies to all aspects of my life, work, relationships, health and more. My feet have healed enough to begin rebuilding my physical routine. In January, I started riding my lifecycle on the lower levels for 20 minutes several days a week. From there, I progressed to walking in my neighborhood for 30 minutes three times a week, and recently I walked a country road with rolling hills for an hour. Where are you starting from, and where do you want to end up? Plot a course and set some goals, but make them realistic so you do not re-injure yourself or have a setback.

Check out some of the paths near you, or venture out for a walk in a nearby neighborhood to get yourself out and moving. And remember, regret and guilt do not serve any worthwhile purpose, so leave those behind. Be sure to check with your physician before beginning any new exercise or eating plan.

•••

Make this light and delicious soup to celebrate the commencement of your journey of forming new healthy habits.

Citrus White Bean and Kale Soup 1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed 5 Cups water 2 Cups vegetable stock 1 large yellow onion, diced 2 Tbl. olive oil 8 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tsp. dried thyme 2 bay leaves 2 small red potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 Cup) 1-½ Cups kale, stalks removed, washed, chopped and tightly packed for measuring Juice and zest of one lemon Grated Parmesan cheese Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and add onions. Cook on medium heat until onions are transparent. Add water, stock, beans, potatoes, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.

Cook 20-30 minutes on medium heat or until potatoes are soft. Add kale and cook 5 more minutes. Add lemon juice and zest. Serve with grated Parmesan.

Need help with those Christmas gift gizmos?

I can help!

Hands-on lessons with your devices at your home or CRR’s Longview office.

Call or text 360-270-0608.

PERRY PIPER PRODUCTIONS Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 33

the spectator by ned piper Support our local venues

R

ecently, Sue and I had the pleasure of attending the Choir of Man concert at Longview’s Columbia Theatre. The energetic, incredibly talented performers put on a show of music that entertained the nearly full house of appreciative concertgoers. If you attended, you know what I’m talking about. If you missed it, I’m sorry.

The Choir of Man may or may not return to our town, but there will be many memorable shows to attend at the Columbia (see ad, page 29).

The Columbia Theatre is one of the true gems in the region. If we residents on both sides of the river hope to enjoy this treasure for years to come, we must support it by attending the shows they offer. Executive Director Gian Paul Morelli, his accomplished staff and the Theatre board work hard to bring fantastic acts and performers to the theatre for our entertainment. But if the shows don’t fill the seats, the theatre may not survive.

When you buy tickets, you not only help secure the Columbia Theatre’s future, but you will be entertained in the process. It’s a Win-Win.

Another regional gem, along with Lake Sacajawea, Lower Columbia College and of course the Columbia River Reader, is the historic Monticello Hotel. There’s a new restaurant there: Grant’s at the Monticello. Grant Hadler was a longtime popular bartender at the Monticello. When the hotel sold and the lounge and restaurant closed, Grant went to work at The Office842 in Longview. Later, excitement grew in the community when it was rumored that Grant and his wife, Sherry, secured a five-year lease on the restaurant space at the Monticello. I’m sure everyone is rooting for the Hadlers to succeed. The area needed another good restaurant.

Grant’s at the Monticello seems to be doing very well, but if they are to remain a viable business, we must support them by showing up. Another Win-Win, as you will be enjoying excellent food served by a friendly and expert staff in an elegant setting with lively ambience.

What’s not to like?

The Columbia Theatre and Grant’s at the Monticello are just two of many benefits of living in the Columbia River region. Let’s help make sure they stick around for a long, long time. See you there!

•••

Ned Piper coordinates ads in CRR, oversees its distribution, and brings the publisher breakfast in bed.

Antidote’s Music Box

This box represents our commitment to local musicians expressing their craft in their own way TAP TAKEOVERS • OPEN MIC NIGHT • RHYTHM & WINE • JAM SESSIONS

When you see our Music Box join us for live, local music. Help us support the Arts!

Follow us on Facebook for current events and daily specials.

Get live tap updates and rate our brews with the Untappd App.

Longview, WA 98632

34 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020

Antidote’s Music Box

S u p p o r t t h e A r t s # AT H Welcome to Our Music Box

PLUGGED IN TO

COWLITZ PUD Cowlitz PUD exceeds I-937 target!

By Alice Dietz

Utilities serving at least 25,000 retail customers in Washington State are required to supply 15 percent of their electricity through renewable resources or renewable energy credits, and achieve all cost effective conservation.

Every two years, Cowlitz PUD sets a new conservation target of cost effective measures in order to comply with Initiative 937 (I-937). For the 2018/2019 I-937 period, the target was 61 million kWh. This target was to be met by implementing energy efficiency measures throughout the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.

In the two-year period 2018-2019, the PUD saved more than 80 million kWh. This savings is equivalent to powering 7,320 Northwest homes for one year.

Energy savings were accomplished by completing a total of 2,802 projects. While 75 percent of the I-937 target energy savings was met through projects completed in industrial facilities, the largest volume of energy projects was completed within the residential sector.

Much of the success in exceeding the I-937 target is due to the willingness of customers participating in the energy conservation program.

Achieving the I-937 goal requires a coordinated and collaborative effort between the PUD’s Energy Efficiency Team and the community. Community events scheduled throughout the county, aimed at education (Home & Garden Show, Earth Day, Community BBQ, and Senior Fair, just to name a few), offering incentives for energy conservation projects, and the overall reduction in customer electric bills all contribute to this successful collaboration.

As we look forward to a new I-937 period for the years 20202021 with new targets, it’s important to take a step back to celebrate the achievements made by the PUD and community.

The 2018–2019 success will undoubtedly contribute to future achievements and collaboration.

If you are interested in completing a residential, commercial, or industrial energy efficiency project, visit us at our energy efficiency webpage (www. cowlitzpud.org/efficiency) or call us directly at (360) 423-2210.

••• Alice Dietz is Communications/Public Relations Manager at Cowlitz PUD. Reach her at adietz@cowlitzpud.org, or 360-501-9146.

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Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020 / 35

36 / Columbia River Reader / February 15 – March 15, 2020