What really — truly — happened during those final wind-blown, rain-soaked thirty days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s trek to the Pacific? 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.
Rex Ziak $29.95
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.
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.
Rex Ziak $18.95
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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THE TIDEWATER REACH
Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River in Poems and Pictures
By Robert Michael Pyle and Judy VanderMaten. In three editions:
• Boxed Signature Edition
Color and BW $50;
• Collectors Edition,Trade paperback. Color and B/W $35
• Trade paperback B/W $25
DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL
A Layman’s Lewis & Clark
By Michael O. Perry.
• Collectors Edition,Trade paperback. Color and B/W $35
The community is reeling, our hearts aching, since the disturbing and tragic death of everyone’s friend and favorite bartender and host Grant Hadler.
In just four years, including the prolonged pandemic shutdown period, Grant revitalized the defunct former restaurant into a bustling, casual-yet-upscale dining and gathering spot in the center of town: Grant’s at the Monticello Hotel. His wife Sherry said Grant dreamed of being a restaurateur all his life. Congratulations, Grant! And the
community had fun supporting, and witnessing, and honoring the fufillment of this dream.
On behalf of CRR and its staff, advertisers, and readers, I offer our collective and heartfelt condolences to Sherry and the family.
Many are wondering if they will continue operating the restaurant. They can certainly count on the wholehearted support of the community who knew, admired, and loved Grant. We will all miss and remember this dear man.
Vidal Villagram
Publisher/Editor: Susan P. Piper
Columnists and contributors:
Tracy Beard
Hal Calbom
Alice Dietz
Joseph Govednik
Gary Meyers
Michael Perry
David Pettit
Ned Piper
Perry Piper
Robert Michael Pyle
Marc Roland
Alan Rose
Alice Slusher
Greg Smith
Andre Stepankowsky
Debra Stewart
Debra Tweedy
Judy VanderMaten
Editorial/Proofreading Assistants:
Merrilee Bauman, Michael Perry, Marilyn Perry, Tiffany Dickinson, Debra Tweedy
Advertising Manager: Ned Piper, 360-749-2632
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*Other times by chance or appointment
E-mail: publisher@crreader.com
Phone: 360-749-1021
CRR featured Grant Hadler in our “People+Place” series, April 2020.
See photo tribute,this issue (Mar 2023), pg 10 The story gives a warm account of Grant’s background, personality and philosophy.
If you would like to re-read (or read for the first time) this story, visit crreader. com, click “Past Issues,” and then select specific issue from the 2020 Stack
I fear I’m a bit of an after-thought this time. At least it’s haiku.
Side photo,
Columbia River Reader is published monthly, with 14,000 copies distributed in the Lower Columbia region. Entire contents copyrighted; No reproduction of any kind allowed without express written permission of Columbia River Reader, LLC. 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.
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Visit our website for the current issue and archive of past issues from 2013.
“ We try to stir it up a little, I want that positive, fun energy.”
--Grant Hadler to Hal Calbom in CRR, Feb 2020
Appreciates Hal Calbom’s Synthesizing Skills
A note to express my regard for Hal Calbom’s work. He is an important addition to CRR’s monthly efforts, which were already very good — and appreciated.
But in the February installment, Hal has outdone himself! Beyond fine writing, he’s captured disparate pieces of global, national and local history that have helped give me a fuller sense of how what is came to be. So, thank you.
Brian Davern Kelso, Wash.
By Judith Martin, Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I fell on the ice, broke my shoulder and am mostly bedridden. My good friends have really stepped up, bringing me food, flowers and trashy magazines to enjoy. Each of them has said, “Now, don’t send me a thank-you note.” Do I honor their request, even if it feels ill-mannered?
GENTLE READER: No. You send thanks because you feel gratitude, which is not a chore from which your friends can relieve you.
Generosity and gratitude are indissolubly linked. The former will not continue indefinitely without the latter, as Miss Manners keeps hearing from fed-up grandparents whose checks go unacknowledged.
All your friends have done, with their good intentions, is to make your task harder. Now you have to write that you are so gratified by their kindness that you can’t help defying them and telling them.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I had a “friend”/coworker stab me in the back and betray my trust. She has no clue that I know, and she keeps asking/pushing me to go to lunch with her.
How do I politely decline so as not to cause friction? I don’t trust her and prefer not to associate with her, but unfortunately I see her regularly.
GENTLE READER: Probably any other adviser would tell you to have it out with this person, explaining that you were hurt by her betrayal. Not Miss Manners.
At best you would get an apology, which would not necessarily ensure its not happening again. But you might instead get a denial, a justification or a counter-accusation. If she really regretted what she did, she would have found a way to make that clear.
You have to work with this person. You have discovered that she is not a friend. So treat her only as a co-worker. That means that politeness is cont page 9
On Feb. 24, while still at FOrt ClatsOp, the Corps obtained some smelt from Chief Comowool and a dozen members of the Clatsop Indians. In 1806 Lewis wrote that smelt were “a species of small fish which now begin to run, and are taken in great quantities in the Columbia R. about 40 miles above us by means of skiming or scooping nets. On this page I have drawn the likeness of them as large as life… the scales of this little fish are so small and thin that without minute inspection you would suppose they to have none. I find them best when cooked in Indian stile, which is by roasting a number of them together on a wooden spit without any previous preparation whatever.” The greasy little fish were a favorite of the Corps.
While everyone was anxious to leave wet and dreary Fort Clatsop, they knew it would be impossible to cross the Rocky Mountains until the passes were clear of snow. If they started too soon, they would have to survive in a land where elk and deer were non-existent, and firewood was unavailable. Lewis wrote, “two handkercheifs would now contain all the small articles of merchandize which we possess.” Clark wrote, “On this stock we have wholy to depend for the purchase of horses and such portion of our subsistence from the Indians as it will be in our powers to obtain.”
Earlier in 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had decided to wait until April 1 to begin their journey home. The Corps of Discovery hoped a trading ship might arrive before they left the mouth of the Columbia. President Jefferson had recognized it might be “imprudent to hazard a return” by land, so he gave Lewis a letter of credit to purchase passage home on a trading ship, or to purchase supplies for the journey home overland. Unfortunately, no ships visited during the four months the Corps was at the mouth of the Columbia.
If the Corps hadn’t taken so long to get around the Great Falls in Montana or across the Rocky Mountains in 1805, they would almost certainly have found a trading ship waiting for them at the mouth of the Columbia. Captain Samuel Hill and his ship, the Lydia, had departed Boston in August 1804, and were at the mouth of the Columbia in November, 1805. However, the Lydia left shortly before Lewis and Clark arrived in mid-November.
Decisions, Decisions…
On March 14, 1806, the Clatsop Indians told Clark that the Makah Indians, who lived on the Olympic Peninsula, reported
four trading ships were visiting them. Thus, it is strange that Lewis and Clark decided not to wait for a ship to visit the mouth of the Columbia. But low morale among the men and a fear storms might delay their departure worried them. Food was becoming scarce at Fort Clatsop. The Corps had killed most of the elk, and those remaining were moving to higher ground now that winter was over. Many of the men were ill from the constant exposure to the cold rain and poor diet. So they decided to leave a week early, on March 23. But before leaving, they needed to obtain two more canoes.
The End Justifies the Means
Lewis’s dress uniform jacket was traded for one canoe, but when attempts to buy another canoe failed, Lewis and Clark did something they had vowed never to do: They decided to steal a canoe from the Indians. They justified it by the fact some Clatsop Indians stole six elk killed by the Corps earlier that winter. When the owner of the canoe confronted the Corps a day after they left Fort Clatsop, demanding the return of his canoe, the 32 riflemen were able to convince him to accept a dressed elk hide in trade.
Home For Sale – Cheap!
Michael Perry enjoys local history and travel. His popular 33-installment Lewis & Clark series appeared in Columbia River Reader’s early years and helped shape its identity and zeitgeist. After two encores, the series has been expanded and published in a book. Details, pages 2, 43.
Lewis and Clark gave Fort Clatsop and all the contents to Chief Coboway. He would live in the fort for several years, and in 1899 his grandson was able to point out where it had been located. Copies of a letter were given to various Indian chiefs, listing all the men and the purpose of the Expedition along with a map showing their route from St. Louis to the Pacific. The hope was that a visiting trading ship might obtain one of these letters and take it back to President Jefferson. Unfortunately, the ship that had been anchored
at the mouth of the Columbia in November 1805, just before Lewis and Clark arrived, returned soon after they left in 1806. Indians gave the letter to Captain Hill when the Lydia sailed to China, eventually arriving at Philadelphia in January 1807 where the letter was forwarded to President Jefferson. However, Lewis and Clark had safely returned to St. Louis four months before the letter arrived. Still, if they had met some misfortune, Jefferson would have learned they had at least reached the Pacific Ocean.
On March 24th, they purchased wapato and a dog at an Indian village, near present-day Knappa, Oregon, to feed to the sickest men. They camped opposite present-day Skamokawa that night, and opposite present-day Cathlamet on March 25th. On March 26th, they camped on Fisher Island, downstream
cont page
In AprIl 2021 we Introduced A revIsed versIon of Michael Perry’s popular series which was expanded In the new book, Dispatches from the Discovery Trail, edited by Hal Calbom and published by CRRPress. It includes an in-depth author interview and new illustrations and commentary.
cont page 5
from present-day Longview, adjacent to Willow Grove. All winter long, the Expedition had been buying fish and wapato roots at high prices from the Clatsop Indians. As they headed up the Columbia, they soon realized the prices were lower as they went upstream, due to eliminating the middlemen.
On March 27th, the Expedition stopped at a Skillute village downstream from present-day Rainier, where the Indians welcomed the men and gave them all the sturgeon, camas and wappato they could eat. Two miles further, they passed the mouth of the Coweliskee
River (present-day Cowlitz River). Clark wrote, “we Saw Several fishing camps of the Skillutes on both Sides of the Columbia, and also on both Sides of this river. The principal village of the Skil-lutes is Situated on the lower Side of the Cow-e-lis-kee river a fiew miles from it’s enterance into the Columbia. those people are Said to be noumerous, in their dress, habits, manners and Language they differ but little from the Clatsops, Chinooks &c.”
Lewis wrote, “The Coweliskee is 150 yards wide, is deep and from indian Information navigable a very considerable distance for
cont page 7
canoes. it discharges itself into the Columbia about three miles above a remarkable high rocky nole which is situated on the N. side of the river by which it is washed on the South side and is separated from the Northern hills of the river by a wide bottom of several miles to which it is united.” The “rocky nole” Lewis described was Mount Coffin, a 225-foot tall basaltic column that was an Indian burial ground and historic landmark. Sadly, a Portland sand and gravel company leveled the rock in the early 20th century. In 1954, Weyerhaeuser Company purchased the land to build a chlorine plant.
They camped somewhere between present-day Goble and the site of the decommissioned Trojan nuclear plant on March 27th. Then, on March 28th, they camped on Deer Island after spending all day repairing their canoes and hunting deer. On March 29th, they reached Wapato Island (presentday Sauvie Island), across from the Lewis River. In 1806, there were more people living on that island than there are today. This was where much of the
wapato was grown. In fact, you can still see large patches of wapato in lakes and marshes on Sauvie Island.
They then crossed the river to the Cathlapotle village near the mouth of the Lewis River and bought 12 dogs and more wapato. They camped near present-day Ridgefield that night. The next night, they camped downstream of today’s I-5 bridge near Vancouver. Lewis wrote, “I took a walk of a few miles through the prarie… this valley would be copetent to the mantainance of 40 or 50 thousand souls if properly cultivated and is indeed the only desireable situation for a settlement which I have seen on the West side of the Rocky mountains.” The timber growing in the flat bottomland was abundant and impressive; Clark described a fallen fir tree measuring 318 feet long and just three feet in diameter near the Sandy River.
Beacon Rock, on the Washington side of the river, is now a state park and recreation area. On their way downriver, Lewis and Clark had noted tidal action and movement at the rock, indicating they were nearing the ocean, or at least its tidewater reach. The descrip Tion on The posTcard is incorrecT posTcard from The auThor ’ s privaTe collecTion
The Corps spent a week east of the Washougal River (which they named Seal River due to the abundance of seals at its mouth). Many Indians were visiting the area and reported a great scarcity of food upstream since the spring salmon run was not expected for another month. Clark wrote, “this information gives us much uneasiness with respect to our future means of subsistence.” Thus, they decided to stay there until they had obtained enough meat to get to the Nez Perce lands.
Several men were sent to explore the Quicksand River (present-day Sandy River). Based on the lay of the land, Clark knew there had to be another river that emptied into the south side of the Columbia. Since islands hid the mouth of the present-day Willamette River, the Corps had missed it going down and then back up the Columbia. Local Indians told Clark about the river (they called it the Multnomah River), and he hired a guide to show him where it was. Clark explored 10 miles up the river, to present-day northwest Portland.
While in an Indian lodge, Clark offered several things in exchange for some wapato. The Indians refused to trade with him, so Clark resorted to showing off his technology. He threw a piece of fuse-cord in the fire, which sizzled and
burned like gunpowder. At the same time, he used a hidden magnet to make the needle of his compass spin rapidly. As they begged him to put out the bad fire, it quit burning by itself. The Indians gave him a basket of wapato, thinking he was “Big Medicine.” They were terrified of the white explorer. Clark paid for the wapato and left.
On April 6th, the journey resumed up the Columbia. Violent winds blowing through the Columbia Gorge halted progress several times, but by April 9th they reached the Cascades of the Columbia, near present-day Bonneville Dam. They noticed the water level at 700-foot tall Beacon Rock was 12-feet higher than it had been the previous November. This was interpreted to mean the snow on the east side of the Cascades was rapidly melting, and gave the Corps reason to hope they might find the Rocky Mountain passes to be snow-free when they got there. That would prove to be wishful thinking!
... they purchased wapato and a dog ...
Wapato grew abundantly and was eaten by many Native American tribes throughout Washington and Oregon. Often known as the “Indian Potato,” the tubers were widely traded and given to the Expedition during times of food scarcity. Often, along the middle and lower Columbia, families owned patches of wapato, and camped beside these sites during harvesting season. Sauvie Island, in Multnomah County, Oregon, was named “Wappetoe Island” by Lewis and Clark. On March 29, 1806, Clark recorded how the women harvested wapato:
Cape Horn and Cigar Rock. As they headed home, the Expedition members enjoyed re-visiting landmarks noted on their trip downriver. The Corps of Discovery had camped near Cape Horn, east of Camas, on their way to the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 2, 1805.
posTcard from The auThor ’ s privaTe collecTion
“by getting into the water, Sometimes to their necks holding by a Small canoe and with their feet loosen the wappato or bulb of the root from the bottom from the Fibers, and it imedeately rises to the top of the water, they Collect & throw them into the Canoe, those deep roots are the largest and best roots.”
Divas 3
Friday, April 21, 2023 - 7:30 pm
Three powerhouse Las Vegas vocalists perform your favorite chart-topping hits. Single tickets $45 adults. $25 students available at the Columbia Theatre box office or online at www.columbiatheatre.com
Northwest Jazz Orchestra
Sunday, Sept. 24 - 3:00 pm
This 17-piece jazz band comprised of professional musicians, local music teachers, and advanced amateur musicians perform your favorites of the jazz era.
The Rice Brothers
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023 - 3:00 pm
A piano and cello duo who weave classical, gospel, jazz, ragtime and boogie woogie together with anecdotes and humor that bring performances to life.
Vox Fortura
Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 - 7:30 pm
Performing vocals from nearly every era and genre, Vox Fortura adds an exciting twist to classical crossover and pop music.
Ireland’s Greatest Showman
Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 7:30 pm
David Shannon’s powerful vocals are incorporated with violin, Irish bodhran and multi-media in a mix of classic Irish songs and selections from his starring roles on Broadway and London’s West End.
Order by April 21 to receive the Early Bird discount:
Susie Kirkpatrick 360-636-2211
Miss Manners from page 4
required, but not warmth — nor lunch, nor other opportunities to talk it out. “Sorry, I’m busy” is all that is needed.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I want to thank the U.S. Postal Service for delivering a card addressed to me by my mother, who was severely visually impaired. Her handwriting was terrible and this letter was handled with TLC to get it to me!
This was the last piece of mail I received from Mother before she died, and I am very grateful to those who recognized the love and effort that she put into sending it.
GENTLE READER: So do it — thank your local post office, and perhaps write a letter to the Postmaster General. Miss Manners suspects that they do not get a lot of gratitude from the public.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I found out through social media that my ex-father-in-law passed. My ex-mother-in-law posted a photo from a celebration of life that had been held for him.
My ex-husband’s new wife forbade him from having any contact with me, but I am still friends with his mother online (although I am careful not to like or comment on her posts). Would it be all right if I were to send her a condolence card, or should I just ignore it?
There was no post made when he passed, just the one mentioning the celebration of life. Is it too late?
GENTLE READER: The opinions of current spouses regarding with whom you should, or should not, associate should be heard, if not necessarily always followed. Those of former spouses have no such standing.
Miss Manners does not mean to encourage you to do something merely to annoy. But sending a condolence note is a kindness to your former mother-in-law, not an intentional affront to your ex-spouse or his new wife. Explaining any passage of time is as easy as noting that you only recently became aware of her loss.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband and I had houseguests wall-to-wall last summer — some departing and arriving within hours of each other. We were amazed that people who stayed for several days did not offer to take us out to a meal during their visit. We were constantly hustling chow, taking them to see the sites and providing entertainment. From them -- nada.
cont page 41
My reading has tugged me in opposite directions lately.
On the one hand, Atlantic magazine featured an article about how people are surrendering themselves to “immersive”entertainment. The piece, “We’re Already Living in the Metaverse,” asserts that “reality is blurred, boredom is intolerable and everything is entertainment.”
In other words, we can’t live without constant amusement, even if we get our fix through documentaries about airliner crashes and pseudo-historical TV productions such as The Crown.
On the other hand, I’m re-reading William Wordsworth’s epic 19th Century poem, “The Prelude,” which I studied as a college senior in 1976-77. “The Prelude” documents the influences that shaped his growth as a poet.
Wordsworth is Western culture’s greatest nature poet. Nature was his source of spiritual nourishment and moral admonishment, brought to him through episodes of solitude that he calls “spots of time.” Solitude. We have so little of it these days. We get in the car and tune in our favorite music or audio book. We arise in the morning and turn on the TV while we prepare breakfast. Any wait or delay invariably logs us on to news feeds, social media or video games.
We are, indeed, living in the metaverse. The word derives from the Greek word that means “after” or “beyond.” In Hebrew, though,“meta” means “dead.” There’s nothing inherently wrong with electronic amusements, except that we live in them to excess. We don’t like to be alone. We like to be entertained — as if we want to live permanently in
the Holodeck 3-D simulator featured in Star Trek’s New Generation series. Even the Jan. 6 committee, Atlantic notes, was successful in part because it presented its findings through compelling TV.
Amusement should not be the sole purpose of life. Our thirst for entertainment can distort the truth and take the edge off our outrage or sorrow. Disagree? TV News broadcasts that report tragedy blunt our reaction when they immediately switch to more mundane or happier events. This may be unavoidable, but it robs viewers of time to process what they’d just seen. The need to do so is why we observe “moments of silence” — a form of solitude.
I’m as worthy as anyone else of Wordsworth’s admonishment that “the world is too much with us.” But I do make time for solitude.
As much as I love music, I often drive with all audio devices silenced. I don’t listen to the radio news. I don’t own
earbuds to accompany me on walks or gardening tasks. I watch little TV. I hate laptops. On trains or planes, I limit my cell phone time and stare out the window. Moments of solitude give me space to take stock of my life, churn over ideas or take in little epiphanies. One occurred last month, when I snowshoed near Mount St. Helens with two friends. I very much enjoyed their company, but I occasionally broke away to better absorb the snow-imposed silence, which was disturbed only by the stretching and crunching of my snowshoes and the bubble of brooks draining the melting snow. The sky was as deep blue as Sevres porcelain. Tuffs of snow clung to clumps of moss on the tall, platinum-barked alders. Solitude heightened my sensitivity to the scene, bringing me easy breathings and an almost religious bond with nature. These, as Wordsworth would say, were gifts from “the bliss of solitude.”
Remembering Grant Hadler with fondness, appreciation, and our deepest respect.
Photograph by Judy VanderMaten
Or it would be, if you could see it. There’s no river view from the Dirty D, in spite of its famous portholes. There’s also no well Scotch for Happy Hour. Only bourbon, American whiskey. The only Scotch at all is Johnny Black, at six-fifty per. This, in a town founded by Scots! But the shuffleboard in the back is free, Nirvana’s on the air, and I am almost alone on a Monday afternoon in March. One or two at the bar to keep the pink-haired barmaid company, a couple more clinging to the video poker.
But if you could see out, and through the shot-streaming rain, and if you happened to look north, across the river, it would be a very gray day on Gray’s Bay. Put out into that murk, turn left like a bar pilot, and with luck you’ll come to the bridge. Beyond lie the Desdemona Sands where as many ill-starred seamen have come to grief as have belly-up to the bar in the Dirty D, this dive also named for the unlucky chick in Othello, here at the dark end of town.
Just think: had it been a gray day on Gray’s Bay on May 11, 1792, when Robert Gray crossed the Bar in the Columbia Redeviva, there would be no Gray’s Bay. The Columbia might be named Vancouver’s River. And the well whiskey at the Dirty D? It would be Canadian.
Field Note by Hal Calbom
Controversies have consistently marked the historic development of the Columbia River. Often these involve divisions of ownership and responsibility across its vast historical and geographic footprint. From the loss of traditional Indian fishing grounds to federal investment in huge reclamation and power projects; from international treaty relationships with Canada to squabbles among economic, recreational, and conservation interests, the Columbia is host to man-made political, social and economic turbulence every bit as mighty as its natural power.
On this page we excerpt poems, pictures and field notes from our own “Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River in Poems and Pictures,” The Tidewater Reach, by Gray’s River resident and renowned naturalist Robert Michael Pyle, and Cathlamet photographer Judy VanderMaten.
The two dreamed for years of a collaborative project, finally realized when Columbia River Reader Press published color and black and white editions of The Tidewater Reach in 2020, and a third, hybrid edition in 2021, all presenting “a different way of seeing” our beloved Columbia River.
For information on ordering, as well as our partner bookshops and galleries, see pages 2 and 43.
Story and photos by Tracy Beard
It’s never too early to begin planning for spring and summer breaks for the kids. I recently discovered a hidden gem this week after speaking with a local Longview mom, Brittany Thomas. She and her husband actively participate in their children’s lives and continuously search for fabulous “out and about” places. Brittany told me about Penny Playground, Shaw Aquatic Center, The Chet & Henrietta Rhodes Spray Park, and Dairy Dans Drive-In. My husband Steve and I drove up to Chehalis to check it out. Wow, this place was not around when my kids were little, but I can’t wait for grandkids so I can share these unique places with them.
Penny Playground – open all year - Recreation Park, SW William Ave
In the 1950s, Gail Shaw and his wife Carolyn recognized the community’s need to improve Chehalis. Gail determined that an overthe-top park and an outdoor community pool would fill that need. Penny Playground, with its wooden structures and a pea gravel surface, was finally completed in 1993.
Playgrounds have always provided a hub for people to gather and have fun. After more than 25 years, the newly remodeled playground reopened in May 2021. The new design incorporates an ADA-accessible play area with an all-weather play surface. This playground is equipped
NMLS# 186805
with: tall towers, numerous climbing elements, zip lines, swings with molded bucket seats, an array of slides, wheelchair-accessible toys, a unique elevated hillside, a walking path, seating, LED lighting, shaded areas, and good visibility to watch children at play. An attractive but functional fence encloses the park for the safety of the children.
Dairy Dan Drive-In, 1582 S Market Blvd.
Dairy Dan is just two blocks from Penny Playground and the perfect stop for a burger or hot dog, soft serve ice cream cone, or one of their tasty shakes that come in more than 40 different flavors. The current owners believe that Dairy Dan has been around since the 1950s, although it is tough to gather the facts since business licenses back in the day were less strict. The owner’s son said, “Basically, back then, you could just put out a sign for burgers and sell them in the parking lot without a problem.” Today, Dairy Dan is a popular dining spot and fully licensed.
Since 1959, thousands of kids over multiple generations have enjoyed swimming in the Outdoor Community Pool. In 2014, the Chehalis Foundation did a $2.2 million renovation. In August 2014, the new Shaw Aquatics Center opened, featuring slides, water toys, and a beach-entry-style pool. Fencing surrounds the entire pool area, including a grassy space with shaded picnic tables. Swim lessons are available in the morning and evening. Open swim time in the summer costs approximately $5 per person, and Chehalis residents can purchase a season pass.
In 2007, the Chehalis Foundation took on another project and built the Chet & Henrietta Rhodes Spray Park. The spray park is ideal for the little ones, but grownups can also have fun dodging water from the jets. The spray park is free and open from 9 am to 8 pm, weather permitting.
•••
Springtime is still cold in the Pacific Northwest. Make this delicious soup, take the fixings for the sandwich, and enjoy them with the kids at Penny Playground.
Tracy’s Cheese Tortellini Soup with Garden Herbs
3 Tbl. olive oil
2 cloves chopped garlic
3 chopped ripe tomatoes
1 cup tomato sauce
2 Tbl. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbl. chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbl. chopped fresh basil
1Tbl. chopped fresh oregano
¼ tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1/8 tsp. dried sage
2 tsp. sugar
Pinch of salt
6 cups chicken broth
1/2-lb. fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
2 cups fresh spinach
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Heat two tablespoons of oil with the garlic in a soup pot. Do not let the garlic brown. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, herbs, sugar, and broth. In another pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside. Toss tortellini with one tablespoon of olive oil.
After the soup has cooked for 30 minutes, add the tortellini and spinach. Cook for 1 minute and serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
Bring the hot soup to the park in a thermos or in your RoadPro RPSL350 12 V 1.5 Quart Slow Cooker.
Tracy’s Artichoke Sandwich
3 x 4-inch piece of focaccia bread, homemade (see below) or store bought
2 think slices Prosciutto
1 large slice fresh mozzarella cheese
6 quartered, marinated artichoke hearts
Slice the focaccia bread through the middle, leaving you with a top and bottom piece. Place the marinated artichoke hearts on the bottom, top with cheese, and then prosciutto folded to fit. Replace the top slice. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap to flatten the sandwich a bit. Enjoy with the tortellini soup.
2 cups warm (100°) water
1 heaping tsp active dry yeast
4 to 4-1/2 cups bread flour
2-1/2 tsp. kosher salt or 1-1/2 tsp. table salt
½ Tbl. chopped fresh rosemary
Extra virgin olive oil
Put warm water in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top. After 3 to 5 minutes, stir in 2 cups of flour. Stir approximately 100 times until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 hour (this is the sponge).
Sprinkle salt over the sponge and stir in 1/4 cup olive oil. Add 1- 1 / 2 cups more flour. Stir. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Add flour until you have a smooth, cohesive, and slightly sticky ball. Rub a large bowl with oil and place the dough ball inside. Turn the ball over to coat it with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour.
Punch down dough. Press down into a 12 x 17 rectangular cookie sheet making the thickness as even as possible. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 2 hours. Preheat oven to 400°. Dimple all over the top of the bread with your fingertip making indentations. Brush or drizzle the surface with 3 tablespoons olive oil and top with rosemary, thendust with a light sprinkling of coarse kosher salt. Bake on the upper rack for 20 minutes rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool, and then cut into strips.
You cannot take it to the park, but after a long day outdoors with the kids come home and make yourself one of my favorite classic cocktails, Tracy’s Sidecar.
Tracy’s Sidecar
2 coupe glasses
Lemon wedge
Sugar
3 ounces Cognac
3 ounces Cointreau
1-1/2 ounces sweet and sour
1- 1/2 ounces fresh lemon juice
Run the lemon wedge around the coupe glass rims. Dip both into sugar. Add all liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker and fill it with ice. Shake for 20-30 seconds and strain into glasses.
We are pleased to announce the return of the Columbian Artists Association Spring Art Show at the Cowlitz County Historical Museum! This year marks the 45th year of the Show and will highlight CAA Board President Eileen Thompson as featured artist.
The opening reception to kick off the show, along with artists’ awards, is from 2-4pm on Saturday, March 25th. Light refreshments and snacks will be served. The Spring Art Show may be viewed at the museum through Friday, April 14th. All the art is created by local artists and is available for purchase, with works starting at $35.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Museum as well as the Artist Association. The Spring Art Show is the perfect opportunity to see and support local artistic talent from our community. We look forward to welcoming this family-friendly exhibition and building on the great success of last year’s partnership.
For more information about the art show, please visit the museum website at www. cowlitzcountyhistory.org or www. columbianartist.org. You may also contact Eileen Thompson at 206-949-9811 to inquire about art submissions. Intake day for art submissions is at the museum March 21 from 10am-2pm. Also coming this spring is a new exhibit, “1923: The Year That Changed Cowlitz County” which will cover all the remarkable events of 1923 to include the founding of Longview, relocation of the county seat to Kelso from Kalama, the Allen Street Bridge collapse, and the Pacific Highway, among other topics. The Cowlitz County Historical Museum is located at 405 Allen Street in Kelso, Wash. Admission is always free! Hours are Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm.
April 15, 2023
Rainier will be celebrating the installation of 23 historical banners along “A” and “B” Streets. Opening ceremonies start at 11am at the west end of Rainier City Park, near Veterans Way and the parking lot. There will be booths, a treasure hunt for commemorative wooden tokens for children, the passing out of commemorative coins by the city and other fun activities.
101/Hwy 103) Long Beach, WA. 360-642-2400 • 800-451-2542
• South Columbia County Chamber Columbia Blvd/Hwy 30, St. Helens, OR • 503-397-0685
• Seaside, OR 989 Broadway, 503-738-3097; 888-306-2326
• Astoria-Warrenton Chamber/Ore Welcome Ctr 111 W. Marine Dr., Astoria 503-325-6311 or 800-875-6807
For information about sponsorship opportunities: publisher@crreader.com or Ned Piper, 360-740-2632.
Selected by Debra Tweedy
As long as you have a window, life is exciting. --Gladys Taber, American author and columnist, 1899-1980
Walking is the perfect way of moving if you want to see into the life of things. It is the one way of freedom. If you go to a place on anything but your own feet, you are taken there too fast, and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside. --Elizabeth von Arnim, English novelist, 1866-1941
Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves. --Horace Mann, American education reformer, abolitionist, and politician, 1796-1859
All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star-stuff. --Carl Sagan, American astronomer and author, 1934-1996
The longer I live, the more convinced I am that this planet is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum. --George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, 1856-1950
Behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins. --Mitch Albom, American author and journalist, 1958-
Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health. You need to enjoy the good things in life, but you need not overindulge. --Julia Child, American cooking teacher, author, and television personality, 1912-2004
When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out. --Erma Bombeck, American humorist and writer, 1927-1996
Because grandparents are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young and without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations. --Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the US, 1924-
Sleep is the Swiss Army knife of health. When sleep is deficient, there is sickness and disease. And when sleep is abundant, there is vitality and health. --Matthew Walker, English scientist and professor at UC Berkeley, 1972-
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.
Paige Kessler Volleyball and Track Castle Rock High School
One way I glorify God as an athlete is by treating my opponents with love no matter how they treat me... I find it important to be joyful whether I am winning or not on the court, as a win on the court will not last, but the win of God’s love and grace will be with me forever.”
Weatherguard supports the FCA vision: To see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.
painting
PEOPLE+PLACE PARTNERS
Busack Electric
Cowlitz PUD
Don & Andrea Cullen
Cutright Supply
Evans Kelly Family
Joe M. Fischer
Richelle Gall Insurance
The Lee Family NORPAC
Michael & Marilyn Perry
Perry E. Piper
Port of Longview
RiverCities Transit
Weatherguard, Inc
LEGACY PARTNERS
Merrilee Bauman
Linda Calbom
Elam’s Furniture
The Gebert Family
Robert & Pauline Kirchner
Kirkpatrick Family Care
Edward Jones • Nick Lemiere
The Minthorn Family
Rodman Realty, Inc.
Holly & GM Roe
Sessions Plumbing
Stirling Honda
Teague’s Interiors
A year-long feature series written and photographed by Southwest Washington native and Emmy Award-winning journalist
Hal Calbom Merle
Apologies in AdvAnce for introducing a difficult word. But sometimes that word nails it.
The story of the American frontier can sometimes be viewed as the contention of two forces. One is the force for change, for movement, to leave the old and embrace the new. Horace Greeley bidding us, perpetually, “Go west, young man.”
We see this force shaping our history: the adventurousness of the frontiersman, the restlessness of the pioneer, the rugged individualism of the emigrant.
“The
The great Merle Haggard, a displaced Okie baking in Bakersfield, got it down in a song (lyrics above). Then there is a countervailing force, the urge to settle down, to coalesce, to concentrate, to band together. Build a home, put down roots, know a neighbor. Form a community of commonality, a place to stay. A place to remain. Call it, if you will, the nesting instinct.
In physics these two forces have technical names. The spinning out, the leaving force, is centrifugal force. The homing in, concentrating force, is centripetal force. And the early story of Longview, and in fact the entire Pacific Northwest, can often be viewed as the interplay of these two forces.
Centrifugal forces brought people to Longview. Centripetal forces keep them there.
The Long View project pairs history with modern context. To celebrate Longview’s 100th
birthday, Columbia River Reader is expanding its monthly “People+Place” feature to contrast the historical “Then” with the contemporary “Now.”
“It’s important to look back and celebrate the past,” said publisher Susan Piper, “but equally important to track the changes that make us what we are today. How close are we to the founders’ vision? What remains? What’s entirely new?”
Thanks to tremendous community support (see Partner Spotlights, page 26), the Reader will present 12 months of “People+Place Then and Now” reportage, then combine and expand these features into a commemorative book. The Long View: A Planned City and
America’s Last Frontier written by Hal Calbom, with a foreword by John M. McClelland, III.
The Reader is coordinating with the Longview Centennial Committee, led by Reed Hadley, to publicize civic activities and celebrations (see Centennial Countdown, page 27) and will host a Book Launch Gala June 30, 2023.
11.
I was born the runnin’ kind With leavin’ always on my mind Home was never home to me at any time Every front door found me hopin’ I would find the back door open There just had to be an exit for the runnin’ kind
Merle Haggard
Running Kind”
The Planned City spent a large part of its first two decades filling in the gaps between its grand schemes and its real people. It struggled to populate the blocks between the oversized boulevards, settle diverse folks into the blueprinted neighborhoods, and meet people’s needs beyond basic food and shelter — education, socialization, governance.
The “planned” part of Longview had been fast-paced and straightforward, once three times the original land estimate was surveyed and set up. It was the “city” part that perpetually lagged behind — settling this imagined urban landscape with real people and viable businesses. It was often too little and usually too late.
Then, catastrophe. The worldwide depression turned a slowdown into a crashing stop, devastating the business, social and personal lives of the pioneer Northwesterners. Always, it seemed, Longview had catching up to do. Now the Planned City that began its life as a well-intentioned afterthought faced day-to-day crisis conditions — in real time.
The timber and lumber businesses, and the job market, had begun their slide within months of Longview’s big mills outputting their first products.
The founders were relying on post-World War I momentum and the intoxicating spirit of the 1920s to build their city: a rip-roaring economy and worldwide
markets hungry for its products. Their grand Planned City, created as if by magic on its desolate delta, would magically beget its own robust social structure on top of it.
That critical mass simply failed to materialize. Instead, the mid- to late20s revealed the thinness of Long-Bell’s community organization and socialization schemes. Already staggered by slowing sales, the company now compounded its business burdens with people burdens, too.
cont page 19
Despite the Great Depression, quality of life and access to opportunity motivate the Planned City. NOW
Lifelong learners continue to transform themselves and their city in a time of rapid change and a challenging future.
The timing of the Pacific Northwest venture was jinxed. Planned at the crest of the post-World War I lumber boom, the mill at Longview and the city itself were built on the downslope of a national economy that lay on the edge of the Great Depression. It was a venture entirely unlike the main chance on the prairie during the company’s and founder’s youth. Entirely unlike the years of easy profits from the piney woods in the South during the company’s prime.
Lenore Bradley
Robert Alexander Long
Talented Tramps
If Longview had any advantages surviving the Depression it was its very newness, its lack of established neighborhoods and customs, its frontiersman’s spirit of versatility and innovation. The new settlers by nature were conditioned to impermanence, used to day-to-day challenges, and toughened by the very effort of getting out to this far corner in the first place.
For many of them, being jobless and homeless, though not pleasant, wasn’t new either. By definition most settlers were already survivors, refugees, emigres. R.A. Long himself had famously said he never dreamed of a particular profession or career, he simply wished to get ahead.
The resourcefulness and diversity of the turn of the century workforce defies the stereotype of the “millworker” as some faceless drone limited in skills and ambition. In the town of Everett, for instance, in many ways Longview’s predecessor and precursor, an early edition of Polk’s City Directory listed the following encyclopedia of active trades unions:
MILL TOWN TRADES UNIONS: 1905 Barbers; Bartenders, Blacksmiths and Horseshoers; Brewery Workers; Bricklayers; Carpenters and Joiners; Cigarmakers; Cooks, Waiters, and Waitresses; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); Building Laborers; Longshoremen; Machinists; Meatcutters; Musicians; Painters; Plasterers; Plumbers; Pressmen; Sheet Metal Workers; Shingle Weavers; Shirtwaist and Laundry Workers; Stage Employees; Steam Engineers; Switchmen; Tailors; Teamsters; Tinners and Wood Workers; Typographers; and Woodsmen and Sawmill Workers.
Source: historylink.org
Hobo Hospitality
One of the grave injustices of the Great Depression was its “top down” collapse. Although many speculators and manipulators suffered their just desserts, it especially victimized the innocents at the bottom of
the food chain — the highly skilled and unskilled alike — who’d known nothing but the scraps and leavings of the banks, stock markets, crooks and swindlers who’d created the house of cards in the first place. Yet they paid an especially heavy price.
Ironically, because their plight was so universal — and most of them were essentially blameless — the hobo and the tramp were often sympathetic figures:
Being a tramp was an occupation that citizens understood and respected. Housewives were not frightened when one knocked on the back door asking for work and food. Husbands instructed their wives not to let them into the house but to feed them even if there was no work to be done.
Virginia Urrutia
They Came to Six Rivers
It’s clear from first-hand accounts that the majority of these proud men — they were almost all men — were neither derelicts nor bums. They were experienced tradesmen, craftsmen, laborers who dearly wanted the privilege of work and of supporting their families.
Northwest hydropower produces no carbon emissions, thereby significantly reducing the total carbon footprint of the region’s energy production.
THE MAJORITY OF THESE PROUD MEN WERE NEITHER DERELICTS NOR BUMS
In one poignant reminiscence, a daughter recalls hearing her father getting up every day before dawn in their South Kelso rental and walking all the way to Weyerhaeuser to stand in line hoping for a day job. She and her mother could not resist constant glances out the window hoping he would not come home before dark, meaning he’d garnered a day’s work and its meager pay.
With Long-Bell struggling, Longview was thrown back on its own devices. The company could no longer afford both to keep the mills running — on drastically reduced shifts — and to support infrastructure and community development, too. The Company Town was fraying, its hopes and plans stalled. The fickle rivers didn’t help. The worst floods ever (one old timer had a mark on his door frame indicating the height of the 1867 flood and this exceeded it
In this decade, the Port welcomed new tenants, Skyline Steel and International Raw Materials, and expanded its cargo handling capacity with the addition of a second mobile harbor crane. In 2014, the Port demonstrated its commitment to improving waterfront access by purchasing Willow Grove Park and Boat Launch from the County.
by a foot) inundated the river valleys in December 1933. Highways went under water. Kalama’s business district was a lake. Only one city in the county had dikes that held — Longview’s Wesley Vandercook had directed their building and predicted they would hold. They did.
But Longview was cut off. The Pioneer Bridge was washed out. And the railroad tracks that R.A. Long had persuaded the railroad companies to build on the west side of the Cowlitz washed out and were not replaced. The stately train station at the foot of Hudson Street would never again host rail traffic, and became Cowlitz General Hospital in 1935, marble floors and all.
Left on its own, Longview showed wherewithal and initiative. Volunteer organizations provided food and shelter.
The city took over maintenance of parks and public spaces from Long-Bell. And in an ambitious and forward-looking collaboration, Longview applied to the Roosevelt Administration for Homestead housing, another flirtation with “socialism” that nevertheless marked a pioneer partnership between local and national interests.
Throughout the 30s Longview’s people rose to the challenge: creating both immediate relief from joblessness, homelessness and undernourishment, while staying mindful of their grand designs for the Planned City. They took incremental steps with long-term consequences — from founding the PUD to exploiting the resources of Community House, donated in the 20s by Long-Bell and later given to the YMCA, which survives today. The city’s rawness and flexibility — and Long-Bell’s tenacity — gave it a certain resiliency, too. Its formative institutions could make adjustments and course corrections.
Longview weathered the Depression reasonably well. They were bad years, but not disastrous as they would have been if Long-Bell had not found a way out of its financial difficulties and managed to keep the mills running part time and to provide some assistance to the struggling city.
John M. McClelland, Jr.
R.A. Long’s Planned City
The most far-reaching of these 30s-era fixes — assisting people immediately while building Longview’s foundation — was a re-commitment to one of Mr. Long’s founding values, education.
Unshakeable Man, Unshakeable Dream
“Look about you, count your blessings. Take full advantage of your opportunities. This is the day of educated men and women.”
Robert A. Long, speech
During the run up to these sobering times, with momentum stalled, the extraordinary character of R.A. Long had again revealed itself. In modern parlance, he “doubled down” on Longview, even toward the end, refusing the cold-blooded mill closings, budget cuts, and canceled public works that usually accompany a recession. He was entirely unshaken in the will, courage, and idealism that had guided him his entire life, and would inspire him to his dying day.
cont page 21
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Proud Sponsor of People+Place Then and Now
Mr. Long had put education — the intellectual and moral development of the individual — at the center of his plans for creating a city of families, not just millhands. Kessler School stood proudly among the first landmarks in the city, built in 1924. R.A. Long High School, built with borrowed money and donated to the School District toward the end of the decade, enshrined education in a magnificent building and campus still the pride of Longview today. Erected in the years between them was a public library worthy of the Greeks themselves, all for the edification and improvement of the public.
I believe we ought to live with an incentive. with the idea of making ourselves felt in the community in which we live. I believe that God gave us talents in order that we might use those talents.
R. A. Long, speechNow, as Mr. Long lay dying in March 1934, his empire falling apart, his dream of education and advancement for all was stalled like everything else. But others would follow his inspiration and seize the opportunity at hand.
In the words of Virginia Urrutia, who lived through it:
Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring about a desperately needed betterment in the community. The Depression was such a crisis. One of the problems of the Depression was the plight of young people stranded after high school graduation, unemployed, unprepared for employment, and unwanted.
Mr. Long had, in fact, extended his dream to include post-secondary education. Early architectural drawings of the R.A. Long High School campus showed two additional buildings flanking the central structure: a vocational educational building to the south, and a junior college on its north side.
On May 5, 1934 a meeting convened by Kiwanis queried citizens about the need for a junior college and, if they determined there was one, how to bring it about. 150 people from around the county showed up, unanimously agreed there was a crying need, organized committees and laid plans to elect a board of regents. They agreed to raise $5,000, chiefly to pay faculty, and planned to raise it all in one week, July 9th to 14th, 1934.
As Urrutia put it, they didn’t just get rolling, “they steamrolled.” Groups plastered the town with publicity. The Business and Professional Club women grabbed their ukuleles and invaded about thirty club meetings in the area, singing and strumming rousing songs about “Yes, we’ll have a college.”
The week climaxed with a parade and pep rally “that would have dwarfed a modern Super Bowl extravaganza,” enthused Urrutia, with a huge bonfire, street dancing, hundreds of students in a serpentine and carried away in “a frenzy of enthusiasm.”
Getting prospective students was a more sober and difficult task. By October about fifty had registered but only about $3,000 had been raised. The college was set to rent rooms at R.A. Long High School for $600 dollars and had contracted with a president and three instructors. Warlike sounds from Europe, worsening economic news, fear of communists running amok in Cowlitz County, all contributed to uncertainty and reticence for prospective students.
Still, only a remarkable five months since the May meeting, the first 53 students of Lower Columbia Junior College gathered for its opening assembly at the high school, October 2, 1934.
The Great Transformation Longview did more than survive the Great Depression. It transformed itself, by necessity, from the dreamy Planned City and privileged Company Town to something more mature. The 30s may not have weaned the town entirely from its
cont page 22
from page 21
grand visions and paternal oversight. But they toughened and empowered and humanized the fledgling citizens, and ceded them more control over their own destiny.
This transformation is a significant step in establishing a true community, not just filling in slots on a master plan. Even amidst the gloom and doom of the 1930s, people in Longview were strumming ukuleles and stringing out
conga lines simply to campaign for a better way of life, for progress and empowerment. Swimming upstream.
Not everyone, not even a majority, of Longview kids would bypass high paying jobs at the mill, especially after the war and depression were over, and sign up at the fledgling junior college. But most everyone felt something good, and wholesome, and idealistic, about the effort.
And they knew R.A. Long would be pleased.
The emphasis placed in Longview on worthy endeavors — good schools, the YMCA, the hospital, the library, the high school, the college — had a cumulative good effect on the moral climate of the city.
John M. McClelland, Jr.
However a good place to saw timber or smelt metal or ship cargo or go to college, Longview might become at the very least, in its own right, simply a good place to be. Perhaps, even, a good place to settle down and to grow up.
Refueling your tank for free while parked on the street sounds like a dream!
With vehicles like the Tesla Cybertruck finally coming this year, electric cars with a 500+ mile range, 1 MW fast charging, and optional solar roof, can effortlessly replace a family’s gas car rather than just be a ‘neighborhood car’ augmenting a traditional gas car for long road trips.
Tesla recently announced imminent reduction on prices by half, roughly over the next 3 years, for their new model, making a brand new Tesla as affordable as $20-25,000! Alongside the acceleration of production numbers and falling EV costs, the coming electric car revolution will save every family money and grant energy independence while helping climate problems.
9.
Despite the Great Depression, quality of life and access to opportunity motivate the Planned City.
Lifelong learners continue to transform themselves and their city in a time of rapid change and a challenging future.
The boosters who built Lower Columbia Junior College knew their community could not survive if people went someplace else to educate themselves.
This is doubly true today. Change accelerates. The assault of new information, media and economic uncertainty threatens to fray and unknit the fabric of lives and work. And it’s happening with startling speed. For years the saying in Longview was, “It’s not your daddy’s job anymore.” Now, for many downsized, globalized and traumatized workers, “It’s not even your job anymore.”
OJL On-the-job Learning, not just Training. Employers and unions are re-emphasizing mentoring and hands-on, experiential instruction in the workplace itself. And they’re offering subsidized courseware options for employees to continue their schooling, too.
HYBRIDIZING The evolved LCJC, now Lower Columbia College, offers a varied curriculum for all ages. The college has formed ambitious partnerships with four-year colleges to offer Bachelors as well as its two-year Associates Degrees.
OUTREACH Information institutions, like libraries and museums, are reaching out more and offering hands-on learning to their constituencies, “taking it to the street,” especially with younger learners.
DIVERSIFICATION Public schools are meeting the challenge of changing demographics and higher job expectations. They’re diversifying their curricula, improving graduation rates, and setting up pathways to the workplace available to every learner.
The result is more than saving jobs and creating workplace readiness. It’s a commitment to quality of life and to building and maintaining a sense of community.
Vidal Villagram owes a lot of his success to getting his hands dirty.
“I was worried that my English wasn’t good enough,” he told us, with the assistance of an interpreter, “When I started out in the classroom I didn’t know what they were talking about. But I started to review all the auto components here in the shop and then when I got to the lab I understood.”
Vidal’s two-year Associate’s Degree in Automotive Technology will culminate a long and challenging journey for him and his family. That journey also highlights the capability and adaptability of the modern community college, its ability to personalize learning and skill building.
“I was injured in a roofing accident, fell off a building,” said Vidal, “in 2018. My arm was very badly injured.” The Washington Department of Labor and Industries gave Vidal a financial settlement which included a provision for rehab and re-training.
“I could only do lighter work, no heavy lifting, so I decided to learn about electrical systems in vehicles,” he said. The college would help facilitate ESL learning, too, and connect Vidal with an interpreter when needed. LCC even directed Vidal into its I-BEST program (Integrated Basic Education & Skills Training) which offers faster-track classes and additional learning resources.
“I have a wife and three children. This will make a huge difference in our lives,” said Vidal.
Nicole Page showed us some of her cutting and welding chops.
“I was completely oblivious when I was in high school. I knew that I liked shop classes, which was wood shop, but not a lot of other stuff,” she said, holding up a cautionary hand. “Better stand well back from here. You can’t predict exactly where the sparks are going to fly.”
Today’s powerhouse community colleges like LCC provide a world of educational options beyond “taking a class in my spare time.” The resources brought to bear are impressive — assessment, career planning, financial assistance, mentoring — with results tailored to personalized success.
Nicole eagerly explained the benefits of thinking outside the box and not limiting your dreams. “I didn’t realize I had the wherewithal to work in an industrial setting. I mean a big industrial setting.” Nicole, who now works as a fitter for Longview’s J.H. Kelly, is on track to join the ranks of journeyman welders. She credits a lot of her success, and adaptation to the workplace, to her training at LCC and also to her union, Local 26. “A lot of people don’t realize how much your union takes care of you,” she said. “We have about 3,000 people in our union, and part of the job description is training the other guy.”
In this case “guy” is appropriate, since in her entire tenure Nicole has worked with only two other women. “That’s what I mean about not limiting yourself.”
Asked what’s the most important quality in her trade, she was quick to answer: communication. “You need to be able to work with, and talk with, everybody in that work environment. For safety’s sake, and to do the job right.”
Nicole admits she could have enrolled as an apprentice without the Associate’s Degree in Applied Science from LCC, but would not have had the background knowledge — in everything from the chemistry of metals and reading plans to business math, computer skills, and on-the-job safety — that underpins her success and came with her degree.
“I really like to fix things,” she said. “It’s very satisfying.”
LCC’s contemporary campus is a beehive of activity and aesthetically a delight. If you haven’t visited lately, it’s a far cry from the square box on Maple Street that personified Longview’s college for much of its early history.
In February the College announced plans for a $42 million, multi-story vocational skill center “built for the long haul,” according to LCC President Chris Bailey. The 18-month construction process is expected to begin in February 2024. Bailey told Longview’s The Daily News, “We’re trying to appeal to students who maybe don’t want to go to college…to have younger students who are maybe more vocationally minded.”
Since the pandemic, community college enrollments are down all over the state, and of particular concern is the slump in admissions and attendance for young men. Only 28 percent, less than one-third, of LCC students are male.
An innovative approach to this challenge is opening up the new voc center — which also includes the phrase “transitional studies” in its title — to high school students looking to map career paths. Ironically Longview, a town where the trades have always flourished, faces a dire shortage of these well-paying, secure jobs it’s relied upon for decades.
Every week or so Danielle Robbins loads up her car and takes her show on the road.
“We call them traveling trunks,” she said. “My job is to make history come to life for these kids. And if they can handle stuff, and see stuff, they become much better learners.”
Robbins is Education and Public Programs Coordinator for the Cowlitz County Historical Museum. “That just means I get to play with kids. Teachers have enough to do. I can supplement what’s coming out of the textbook and try to make it come alive.”
Robbins’s curriculum is objects she gathers from the museum and a PowerPoint program weaving it all together. She tells stories and encourages discovery. “Kids are more and more visual learners,” she said, and although she presents to a variety of ages, says the 3rd grade to 5th grade zone is “prime” for curiosity and appreciation.
“Kids aren’t afraid to apply themselves, and look things up they’re interested in,” she added. “I don’t think books will ever go out of style.”
Danielle works with teachers to dovetail her special presentations with ongoing curriculum.
LCC’s campus is dramatically built up and modernized. Students enjoy a state-of-the-art fitness center with climbing wall, and public spaces for formal and informal gatherings.
“My goal is for the teachers to tick off as many boxes as they can. I try to pick stuff kids can handle and play with. There’s a magnetic attraction when you add touch and feel.”
“I don’t want to hear about history being boring! I’m trying to break that habit of thinking when they’re young.”
Robbins is happy to report the Museum is open and invites everyone — including parents and grandparents, as well — to make museum visits a lifelong learning habit.
Meanwhile, she’ll be in the back room loading up the next trunk.
At right: Hal Calbom at R.A.Long High School photographing the bust of the school’s benefactor, is a third generation Longview native and R.A.Long High School graduate. He works in public affairs television and educational publishing. Next month he begins his sixth year photographing and writing Columbia River Reader’s People+Place feature. He is co-founder of Columbia River Reader Press. Reach him at hal@ halcalbom.com.
I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT HISTORY BEING BORING!Danielle Robbins in front of a communications exhibit at Cowlitz County Historical Museum.
With their sponsorship, the Kirchners express their appreciation of Longview, where they’ve lived more than 50 years and raised three children.
BoB Kirchner, then A top executive for Dow Chemical managing its plant in Kalama, Washington, got the bad news only a few months after moving to the Pacific Northwest.
“They were determined to shut the plant down, he said. “This was the early 1970s. And a couple of us in senior management put our heads
together and said, ‘Instead of shutting it down, why not sell to us?’”
This bold stroke reinvigorated the plant, soon to become Kalama Chemical, and established the Kirchners as fixtures of Longview social life, community and church volunteering and, eventually, philanthropy.
“I just loved the friendliness of it,” said Pauline, who’d met Bob in her native Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I had 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds and Bob was traveling so much, I got to know wonderful people, and almost immediately.”
The Kirchner’s previous home, earlier in his career with Dow Chemical, was in San Francisco’s East Bay. Their move to Kalama / Longview began with house hunting. “We ended up in the Cedar Gates area, high up on Columbia Heights, where we made a ton of friends,” recalled Pauline. “And we could afford it!” added Bob. “As you went higher up the hill, the price would drop by a thousand dollars at a time.”
Today the Kirchners enjoy one of the best views in Longview, and are often seen walking Lake Sacajawea in the center of town.
“I can’t think of a better place to live than here,” Bob said.
The Long View Project would be impossible without the financial and creative support of our sponsor partners. During the coming year the Reader will feature brief profiles of these partners — highlighting their relationship to Longview and interest in its history.
With her sponsorship, Richelle Gall celebrates the closeness of this community, and congratulates the City of Longview on its 100th birthday.
here’s A fun fAct most people are surprised to learn: I was born in Japan. Both of my parents proudly served in the United States Air Force, and my dad later switched to U.S. Army. They were stationed in Japan when I entered the family. I was the last of four children, but I was unexpected, as my mother found out late in her pregnancy she was expecting twins!
My twin sister followed in my parents’ footsteps and decided to serve our country in the United States Air Force, as well. Yes, I am proud to say I was a military brat. One of my dad’s final stops was near Fort Lewis, where he decided to set down roots in the small town of Tenino, Washington. I finished my last two years of high school there. Sadly, duty called and Dad was relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, shortly after I graduated and later retired after 32 years of serving our great country. Richie, my husband of nine years, grew up in White Pass, Washington. Together, we have three wonderful children, ages 17, 6 and 7. Richie is employed by a water filtration company where he serves as an outside salesman. We both enjoy working in exciting careers revolving around sales and people. In 2015 I went to work for a State Farm agent, where I was introduced to the insurance business and fell in love with helping people understand insurance. Deciding that I wanted to have my own agency, I contracted with COUNTRY Financial in 2017. I love being my own boss and I am very happy to represent COUNTRY, a company with excellent products and competitive rates. The company has a strong financial statement, and is ranked A+ for superior financial strength. They are a company that cares about their agents and their customers, and I feel blessed to be a part of it.
I decided to focus on the life insurance side of my business because life insurance, I’ve learned, helps families through their greatest time of grief, and it is a goal to insure as many people as I can in this amazing community. Our family now lives in Onalaska, Washington. My insurance customers reside in both Lewis County and in the Longview area, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of two amazing communities. After joining a small networking breakfast group five years ago, I grew to love Longview because of the closeness of this community. The way people look after each other really impresses me. That’s exactly why I moved my primary office to Longview. Thankfully, my business is successful and growing. I like to tell my potential customers, “I am willing to help, no matter what your circumstances might be.”
So, sincere CONGRATULATIONS Longview on turning 100 years old. Here’s to the next 100!
“
I can’t think of a better place to live than here.”
-- BoB KirchnerRichelle Gall The Gall Family.
2023
Monthly The Long View* CRR’s “People+Place Then and Now”
Special Centennial Feature Series (thru June)
Mar 24-25 A Night to Remember
Cabaret Follies of Lower Columbia, details below
June 24 Centennial Car Show - Vintage 1920s-30s-40-50s Reg. fee $25
June 25 Trinity Lutheran Church Open House 1–4pm 10:30am Joint Worship Service followed by 1920s-themed Picnic RSVP
June 30 CRR’s “From Page to Stage”
Book Launch & Gala Variety Show Rose Center, Lower Columbia College
Sept 8-9 Centennial Celebration: Banquet, Drone Shows, Parade, Street Dances & MORE
* The Long View is an independent Columbia River Reader project. CRR also collaborates with and supports the goals and events organized by the Longview Centennial Committee, headed by Reed Hadley.
The Longview Public Library’s Podcast Your Shelf or Mine is celebrating Longview’s Centennial with historical episodes. To listen, visit longvew100.org, click on “Events” and then the image shown here.
To volunteer:
Please contact: Reed Hadley longviewcentury@gmail. com
or Arleen Hubble ahubble61@gmail.com
Students: For ways to earn volunteer hours for school, contact Danielle Robbins.
Email: RobbinsD@co.cowlitz.wa.us
U.S. MAIL: P.O. Box 1035, Longview, WA 98632
Historic Calendars $5, Official Centennial Coins $10, lapel pins $3 (2 for $5); T-shirts $1518, Pens $1, Stainless steel drink tumblers, etc
APRIL 15
Centennial Pub Crawl in Longview. Time, locations, and other details available soon, check longview100.org
Now available at Kelso Longview Chamber Visitor Center next to I-5 in Kelso, and Longview YMCA.
Calendars also available at Paperbacks Galore and Cowlitz County Historical Museum
300 drones with multi-colored lights will launch into the September night sky and from high overhead, form images and animations highlighting Longview’s creation and accomplishments, while inspiring future progress.
Use your imagination to develop a storyboard, images, and sounds to create an inspiring, emotional, memorable tribute to the founders and builders who made Longview a super home for all of us. Check for details coming soon, including specifications, entry forms, links to other drone presentations, and information about the celebration at longview100.org
Fri-Sat-Sun
July 28th-30th
Loggers Breakfast, Quilt Show, Sculptor Wade Lapp, Parade, Boat Races, Live Music by Bruce Maier Band. Details, www.ryderwood.org
Fultano’s Pizza
770 E. Columbia River Hwy
Family style with unique pizza offerings, hot grill items & more!
Dine-in,Take-out and Home Delivery. Visit Fultanos.com for streamlined menu. 503-728-2922
The Corner Cafe
796 Commerce Ave.
Breakfast & Lunch. Daily Soup & Sandwich, breakfast specials. Tues-Sat 7am-3pm. Closed Sun-Mon. 360-353-5420.
Email: sndcoffeeshop@comcast.net
Eclipse Coffee & Tea
Fultano’s Pizza
Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant
640 E. Columbia River Hwy
Fine Mexican cuisine. Daily specials.
The best margarita in town. Daily drink specials. Dine-in, curbside pickup. M-Th 11am–9:30pm; Fri & Sat 11am–11:30pm; Sun 11am–9pm. 503-728-3344
102 East “A” Street
Microbrews, wines & spirits 7am–8pm Daily. Inside dining.
Interstate Tavern
119 E. “B” St., (Hwy 30)
Crab Louie/Crab cocktails, crab-stuffed avocados. 17 hot and cold sandwiches. Amazing crab sandwiches. Full bar service. Catering for groups.
503-556-5023. interstatetavern@yahoo.com
503-556-5023
El Tapatio
117 W. ‘A’ Street Mexican Family Restaurant. Open Fri-Sat 11am-11pm, rest of week 11am-10pm. Full bar. Karaoke Fri-Sat 8-11pm. Patio seating. 503556-8323.
1335 14th Avenue
18 rotating craft brews, pub fare.
M-Th 11am–8pm. Fri-Sat 11am–10pm; Sunday 11am–6pm. Local music coming soon. 360-232-8283. Inside dining
See ad, page 41. Follow us on Untappd.
1133 Broadway
Family friendly tap house and eatery. 18 taps local craft beverages, hand-crafted soups, sandwiches, flatbread and desserts.
Live music on Thursdays. Hours: Tues-Sat 11am–10pm. 360-353-4295. Sun & Mon available for special events.
Bruno’s Pizza 1108 Washington Way. Pizza, breadsticks, wings, salads, fish & chips. WE
DELIVER. Four beers on tap. 360-636-4970 or 360-425-5220,
Restaurant & Lounge
The Carriage Restaurant & Lounge
1334 12th Ave. Open 8am–9pm (sometimes later, call to check). Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Full bar, banquet room available for groups, special events. Happy hours daily 9–11am, 5–7pm. 360-425-8545.
In the Merk (1339 Commerce Ave., #113) 360-998-2139. Mon-Fri 8am–4pm. Specialty coffees, teas, bubble teas and pastries....drinks with a smile. Takeout and on-site.
Freddy’s Just for the Halibut
1110 Commerce Ave. Cod, Alaskan halibut fish and chips, award-winning clam chowder. Burgers, steaks, pasta. Beer and wine. M-Sat 10am–8pm, Sunday 11am–8pm. Inside dining, Drive-thru, outdoor seating. 360-414-3288. See ad, page 32.
The Gifted Kitchen
711 Vandercook Way, Longview
“Celebrate, create, inspire.” Soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, entrees, sides, pot pies, quiche, grazing boxes & more. M-F 11–6; Sat special events only; Sun closed. 360-261-7697.
Hop N Grape
924 15th Ave., Longview
Tues–Thurs 11am–7pm; Fri & Sat 11am–8pm. BBQ meat slow-cooked on site. Pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, turkey, salmon. Worldfamous mac & cheese. 360-577-1541.
Kyoto Sushi Steakhouse
760 Ocean Beach Hwy, Suite J 360-425-9696.
Japanese food, i.e. hibachi, Bento boxes, Teppanyaki; Sushi (half-price Wednesdays); Kids Meal 50% Off Sundays. Mon-Th 11-2:30, 4:30-9:30. Fri-Sat 11am10pm. Sun 11am-9pm.
Lynn’s Deli & Catering
1133 14th Ave.
Soups & sandwiches, specializing in paninis, box lunches, deli sandwiches and party platters. Mon-Fri 8-3, Saturday 10-2. 360-577-5656
Roland Wines 1106 Florida St., Longview. Authentic Italian wood-fired pizza, wine, and beer. Casual ambience. 5–9pm Wed-Fri, Sat. 1–9. 360-8467304. See ad, page 10.
Scythe Brewing Company 1217 3rd Avenue #150
360-353-3851
Sun, Tue,Wed, Th 12noon -8pm; Fri-Sat 12noon -10pm Closed Mondays
Family-friendly brewery/restaurant with upscale, casual dining, lunch and dinner.
Stuffy’s 804 Ocean Beach Hwy
360-423-6356
8am–8pm. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. American style food. Free giant cinnamon roll with meal purchase on your birthday with proof of ID.
Facebook: Stuffy’s II Restaurant, or Instagram @ stuffys2.
Teri’s, 3225 Ocean Beach Hwy, Longview. Lunch and dinner. Burgers, steak, seafood, pasta, specials, fresh NW cuisine. Full bar. Tues–Fri, 12Noon–8pm. Sat 5:30–8:30pm.. Curbside pickup. Inside dining. 360-577-0717.
Luckman’s Coffee Company
239 Huntington Ave. North, Drive-thru. Pastries, sandwiches, salads, quiche. See ad, page 30.
Parker’s Steak House & Brewery
1300 Mt. St. Helens Way. I-5 Exit 49. Lunch, Dinner. Burgers, hand-cut steak; seafood and pasta. Restaurant open 1-8pm Tue-Th, 1-9pm, F-Sat. Lounge Happy Hours 4pm. 360-967-2333. Call for status/options.
Vault Books & Brew 20 Cowlitz Street West, Castle Rock. Coffee and specialty drinks, quick eats & sweet treats. See ad, page 34
215 N. Hendrickson Dr., Port of Kalama. A Northwest pub and unique bars serving breakfast, lunch & dinner daily. Info & reservations, bar hours at mcmenamins.com. 8am–midnight daily. 360- 673-9210. Indoor dining, covered outdoor seating, curbside take-out.
Sunshine Pizza & Catering
2124 Columbia Blvd. Hot pizza, cool salad bar. Beer & wine. Limited inside seating, curbside pickup and delivery. 503-397-3211 See ad, page 14.
Big River Tap Room
313 Strand Street on the Riverfront. Lunch/Dinner Tue-Thurs 12–8pm; Fri-Sat 12–9pm. Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, pastrami. Weekend Burrito Breakfast, Sat 8-11, Sun 8am3pm.
Plymouth Pub 298 S. 1st Street, St. Helens, Ore. Family friendly, food, 14 tap handles. Open daily 11am-10pm.
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. 503-543-5100. Inside Dining.
Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant
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
Warren Country Inn
56575 Columbia River Hwy. Fine family dining. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Full bar. Call for hours.503-410-5479. Check Facebook for updates. Dine-in.
DREW’S GROCERY & SERVICE
5304 Spirit Lake Hwy (10 mi. fr Exit 49) 24-hour fueling (gas & diesel, card at pump, cash at Jule’s Snack Shack (when open). Red Leaf Organic Coffee. See ad, page 14.
1350 Atlantic Ave. Rotating craft brews, pub fare. Open M-Th 11am–6pm; Fri–Sat 11am–10pm; Sunday 11am–6pm. 360-841-8941. See ad, page 41.
Luckman Coffee Company
1230 Lewis River Rd. Small batch on-site roasted coffee, breakfast, lunch. Inside seating. M-F 5:30am–6pm, Sat 6am–5pm, Sun 7am–3pm. See ad, page 30.
THE OAK TREE
1020 Atlantic Ave. Breakfast served all day. Famous Bankruptcy Stew, Oak Tree Salad, desserts baked in-house. Full bar. Happy Hours 1-3, 7-9pm. Live music. 360--841-5292. See ad, page 30.
Send your photo reading the Reader to Publisher@CRReader.com. Include names and cities of residence. We strive to promptly acknowledge photos received; if you don’t hear from us within 5 days, please re-send. For cell phone photo, choose the largest file size up to 2 MB. Please pose people near the camera; the background scene will still show in the frame behind.
Commentary by Andre Stepankowsky
Former
“I waited for this opportunity for four years!” explained Castle Rock resident Wayne Lunday. In 2019 he and his wife Jana booked a 7-day “live aboard” SCUBA trip on the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef for Nov 2020. Due to COVID- travel protocols, the trip was rescheduled for Nov 2021. For the same reasons, it was rescheduled (again) for Nov 2022, but by then the two were busy with the sale of their insurance agency so the trip was postponed again! This photo was taken aboard the “SpoilSport” dive yacht, 40 miles out from Cairns, Queensland, Australia. January 21st, 2023. “I left the paper with the crew. They enjoyed learning about our area.”
The Evening Sky
By Greg SmithThe planets Mars, Venus, and Jupiter are visible in the western sky as sunset approaches on March 22nd, Mars is high in the sky in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Back on March 1st Venus and Jupiter were less than 1° apart, and since then Venus has risen in the evening sky letting Jupiter get closer to the horizon. Venus and Jupiter are about 20º apart now and will be spreading slightly further, but still will not be far above the western horizon. March 22nd Jupiter will be setting just a bit after 7:00pm. A very slim crescent 1 day old Moon will be right above the setting Jupiter. This is the start of the return of the moon to the evening sky. This is a binocular viewing event, as it is very difficult to see this slim sliver of a 1-day-old moon. The horizon is still light, and it will be hard to find the moon in the last remains of the day. Give it a try, just for the fun of it and bragging rights.
The Morning Sky
A cloudless eastern horizon sky required
By March 22nd, Saturn and Mercury rise just as the sun is rising too. The morning glare of the sun will wipe out any view of them. By March 31st, Saturn may be visible southeast about 6:15am just before sunrise. The sky will still be very bright. It is now after the spring equinox (March 20th).
Longview resident Greg Smith is past president of Friends of Galileo. Meet him and other club members at monthly meetings in Longview. For more info about FOG, visit friendsofgalileo.com.
Moon Phases:
3rd Quarter: Mar. 14th
New: Mar. 21st
1st Quarter: Mar. 28th
Full: April 5th
3rd Quarter: April 13th
End of twilight - when the stars start to come out:
Wed., Mar. 15th, 7:46pm
Fri., Mar. 24, 7:59pm
Fri., Mar. 31st, 8:08pm
Sat., April 8th., 8:20pm
Night Sky Spectacle M44
A cloud-free evening is a must.
A fun place to look at is M44 (the Beehive Cluster) in the constellation Cancer located between Gemini and Leo. This is a faint constellation with no bright stars, the brightest being only 3.5 Apparent Magnitude. M44 is an open cluster. This is not a tight ball of stars but rather a lightly dispersed group of stars. Your binoculars are needed to see the group. They can be faintly seen with the naked eye in a dark location. M44 is located in the middle of this dim constellation. This group of stars covers an area twice the size of the moon. If you live with a non-light polluted dark sky, try to find M44 without your binoculars. •••
The revived Raymond Carver Writing Festival (RCWF) is back for its second year with an emphasis on poetry.
Located in Clatskanie, Oregon where the world-famous poet and short story writer Raymond Carver (1938-1988) was born, the two-day festival, May 19-20, will be preceded by a poetry contest in April, “Poetry Month,” with the theme from Carver’s poem “Happiness”: Happiness. It comes on unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really, any early morning talk about it.
The contest will kickoff with Poetry and Pie (Carver’s favorite dessert) from 5 to 7pm on Tuesday, April 4, at the Clatskanie Library, 11 Lillich Street.
Poetry from youth living within the Clatskanie School District boundaries and adults from throughout the Lower Columbia region will be judged in the following categories: Youth (ages 8-10, 11-12, 13-15, 16-18); Adults: Published and Non-Published, and Haiku: Open to both youth and adults. Entries are limited to two poems per poet. Cash prizes will be awarded.
More information will be available at www.rayondcarverwritingfestival.org or www.clatskanielibrary.org prior to April 1st, start of the poetry contest. Participation in both the poetry contest and the May 19-20 festival events is free.
Iknow its not spring yet, but it feels like it. I know its still cold, but I feel it coming on. I can’t explain it. Maybe you have to be a Pacific Northwesterner to read the seasons. For me they define my life like nothing else. The present is always a tension between two transitioning seasons. The seasons of nature reflect the seasons of life. As King Solomon said, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn.”
So what is this season for you? If it is not happy, just wait. It will get better. In our household we are reading a book called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margaretta Magnusson. The title is a little misleading, because it really is a positive book about cleaning out your house of unwanted and unneeded items that are no longer useful to you, at any stage of life. But for me, more importantly, at my age, it’s being thoughtful of those who may be given the task after you are gone. Like spring, when the fog of winter lifts, there breaks forth a clarity of view and mind. So when you drop the weight of relics that once were important, but not so useful anymore, you feel good. You feel free.
This is a wine column. But it is hard to talk about wine without talking about what wine represents in the way of a metaphor for life. So like life, wine needs a succession plan. I was talking to my friend, Nick Seaver, and he told
me that he is going through his wine and reorganizing the bottles. Making sure the older bottles weren’t getting buried under newer bottles. This makes sense even in a modest cellar. What are you saving those bottles for? My succession plan is to drink my wine so its gone relatively close to when I am! Not easy to do, but doable, and you should start now. How about attaching an occasion to some of your older wines. For example, write on the bottle DRINK ON OUR ANNIVERSARY 2023. Get it on the calendar! If you don’t do this you may never get to taste it. Life is short. I assume that the reason you are cellaring wine is to give it a little more time in the bottle to age, thus adding the value of time to a great bottle. Great. I also assume you will drink it some day, most likely for a special occasion with friends or family. Let’s say, generously, there are 12 events each year like birthday, Christmas, New Years, etc. You get the picture. So further assuming that you are adding to your collection each year, the cellar is growing. But let’s say you have a 100-bottle cellar, and you are drinking only 12 bottles a year; it will take you 8 years to drink it all.
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.
My succession plan to consider:
• Have a special section in your cellar where you can display your prize wines. These wines are wines that you may not ever drink because they could last for decades and they serve the purpose of wowing your wine friends and telling stories. This is legit! Drink on a once-in-a-decade special event.
• Go through your cellar, be judicious about which wines have reached their full potential. If you need help, get the free app Vivino. Take a picture of the bottle, and you should get an honest evaluation with aging recommendations. Either write on the bottle or place a tag on them that says, DRINK NOW, or HOLD.
• Unless you drink expensive and ageworthy wines everyday, keep your cellar at about 80 wines. Enough to have wines age and improve, but not more than you can drink in five years.
Of course, this gives you permission to replace the wines you drink without getting too large.
• Remove wines that may be past their prime from your cellar, and put them in with your everyday drinking wine. Some of them may be gems. If there is any doubt, drink, but don’t let them go to vinegar in your cellar.
• Buy a wine rack for your kitchen that holds 12 bottles. Fill it with your go-to everyday wine and put some of your cellar wines in it, too. Don’t feel guilty about drinking some good bottles on a Monday night!
Remember, just because you spent a lot of money for a wine, doesn’t mean it will last forever. Wine is to drink and enjoy; the spirit of wine is to share. Do your wine “death cleaning’”now and have the best wine drinking year ever.
Monthly feature coordinated by Alan
By Debra Stewart
This is the perfect book to read at the airport. Recently I was stuck between TSA and boarding, so I chose a new book to immerse myself in on the flight.
Libby and her sister Nora, a book agent, are trying to rekindle their relationship by taking a month-long break from their busy lives in New York City, spending it together in Sunshine Falls, a small town featured in a popular book that was made into a movie. Sunshine Falls has received a small tourist boom as a result of the movie.
Rose
The story revolves around a list of activities Libby compiled for them to do during their stay, like “do makeovers for each other,” “sleeping under the stars.” Number five on the list is “have two dates with a local.” This item proves to be more complicated when a handsome but troublesome colleague of Nora’s also arrives from New York City. Nora and Charlie, a book editor, have had some unpleasant dealings in the past, along with a sarcastic and grudging appreciation for each other’s talents.
Inexplicably, Charlie turns up in the same small town, in the same lines for coffee, and hanging out at the same bookstore. As the plot unfolds, the complications thicken when Nora and Charlie find themselves aroused by each other in a bookstore closet. Full of spicy twists and turns as the real reason for Libby’s list is revealed, Nora and Charlie discover what they have in common. Near the end, I experienced genuine heartache for the previously antagonistic pair but never fear, the actual ending ties things up nicely. What a wild ride!
•••
Debra Stewart is a reader and a writer who raised her eight children on a farm on the banks of the Upper Naselle River, a spawning tributary to Willapa Bay. She received her MFA in Creative Writing in 2018. Her love of reading is the main driving force behind her writing. (“They are like favorite twins.”)
HaikuFest 2023 organizers will accept five original (never published) haiku entries per entrant in traditional format: Three lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables each. Themes can be nature-based, “pop,” humorous. Other than the precise syllable count, there are no restrictions. Good taste is assumed and judges’ decisions are final. There are no fees. Once submitted, all haiku become the property of CRR. Deadline for submission is 7pm PDT time on April 15. Email submissions are preferred and should be sent to haikucenter@aol.com. Snail mail submissions will also be accepted and can be sent to G. Meyers, 3045 Ala Napuaa Place #1406, Honolulu, HI 96818. Judges’ selections will be announced in the May 15 issue. Announcement of winners in the Centennial category may be postponed to our June 30 “From Page to Stage” Centennial book launch and Variety /show celebrating Longview’s 100th and CRR’s 20th anniversaries.
CRR’s HaikuFest Founder and chief judge, Hawaii resident Gary Meyers, grew up in Longview, Wash., retired from careers with the U.S. Marines, then Northwest Airlines. He enjoys traveling, especially to Japan; He frequently visits CRR territory.
Brought to you by Book Sense and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, for week ending Feb. 26, 2023, 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
PAPERBACK FICTION HARDCOVER FICTION HARDCOVER NON-FICTION CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATED EARLY & MIDDLE GRADE READERS
1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17
2. The Maid Nita Prose, Ballantine, $18
3. It Ends with Us Colleen Hoover, Atria, $16.99
4. A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19
5. Under the Whispering Door
TJ Klune, Tor, $18.99
6. The Thursday Murder Club Richard Osman, Penguin, $18
7. Project Hail Mary Andy Weir, Ballantine, $20
8. Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine, $17
9. Legends & Lattes Travis Baldree, Tor, $17.99
10. The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller, Ecco, $17.99
1. Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20
2. The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Penguin, $19
3. Caste Isabel Wilkerson, Random House, $20
4. All About Love bell hooks, Morrow, $16.99
5. These Precious Days Ann Patchett, Harper Perennial, $18
6. The Book of Delights Ross Gay, Algonquin Books, $17.99
7. Dopamine Nation Dr. Anna Lembke, Dutton, $18
8. Come As You Are Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., Simon & Schuster, $18.99
9. The Nineties Chuck Klosterman, Penguin, $18
10. Otherlands Thomas Halliday, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20
1. Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29
2. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28
3. Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50
4. I Have Some Questions for You Rebecca Makkai, Viking, $28
5. Stone Blind Natalie Haynes, Harper, $30
6. Victory City Salman Rushdie, Random House, $30
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $27.99
8. Horse Geraldine Brooks, Viking, $28
9. A Psalm for the WildBuilt Becky Chambers, Tordotcom, $20.99
10. Before the Coffee Gets Cold Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Hanover Square Press, $19.99
1. I’m Glad My Mom Died Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99
2. Spare Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Random House, $36
3. Atomic Habits James Clear, Avery, $27
4. It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism Bernie Sanders, John Nichols, Crown, $28
5. The Creative Act Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32
6. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, $22.99
7. An Immense World Ed Yong, Random House, $30
8. Crying in H Mart Michelle Zauner, Knopf, $26.95
9. Atlas of the Heart Brené Brown, Random House, $30
10. Inciting Joy Ross Gay, Algonquin Books, $27
Books have the ability to take us to strange new places: into the realms of science fiction, or into past ages, or cultures very different from our own. Sometimes books challenge us, stretch us, taking us beyond our comfort zones. Such books seem to take us “where no one has gone before”—only to find that we are latecomers to the party, and we’re playing catch up to the spirit of the times. Reading about transgender or nonbinary people was a new experience for me. (Gender Queer is one of the books selected by the Longview Library’s “Book Club for Our Times.” See end note, page 38.)
1. Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99
2. Bluey: The Pool Penguin Young Readers, $4.99
3. Jamberry Bruce Degen, HarperFestival, $8.99
4. Knight Owl Christopher Denise, Christy Ottaviano Books, $17.99
5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Bill Martin, Jr., Eric Carle (Illus.), Henry Holt and Co. BYR, $8.99
6. Little Blue Truck Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry (Illus.), Clarion Books, $8.99
7. Bluey: Camping Penguin Young Readers, $5.99
8. Good Night, Gorilla Peggy Rathmann, Putnam, $8.99
9. Bluey: Good Night, Fruit Bat Penguin Young Readers, $4.99
10. Bluey: The Creek Penguin Young Readers, $4.99
By Alan RoseWhen the doctors confirmed that I was intersex, I thought, Wow, I’m that whole other gender! It proved what I had been feeling all along. I was not only emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually both sexes; I was physically both sexes too. This is who I am. My mom was still in denial. She kept asking why I didn’t have a boyfriend.
-- from Beyond Magenta
produces both relief and a new selfacceptance in Kobabe: I was born this way!
1. Working Boats Tom Crestodina, Little Bigfoot, $19.99
2. When You Trap a Tiger Tae Keller, Yearling, $8.99
3. On Air with Zoe Washington Janae Marks, Katherine Tegen Books, $19.99,
4. The Tryout: A Graphic Novel Christina Soontornvat, Joanna Cacao (Illus.), Graphix, $12.99
5. Odder Katherine Applegate, Charles Santoso (Illus.), Feiwel & Friends, $16.99
6. Minecraft: Guide to Combat Mojang AB, The Official Minecraft Team, Random House Worlds, $12.99
7. Allergic Megan Wagner Lloyd, Michelle Mee Nutter (Illus.), Graphix, $12.99
8. A Wolf Called Wander Rosanne Parry, Greenwillow Books, $7.99
9. The Awakening Storm Jaimal Yogis, Vivian Truong (Illus.), Graphix, $12.99
10. The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels Beth Lincoln, Claire Powell (Illus.), Dutton Books for Young Readers, $17.99
early, often tentative explorations in search of one’s true self (“Everyone knows what gay is. Nobody knew what trans is.”) and then their individual decisions on how to integrate their physical body with that true self. (“I could be so much more if I could just be myself.”)
Some of the teens are making a healthy, smooth transition to their new integrated identities; some are having a difficult time. Not surprising, a lot depends on the understanding and support they receive, or don’t receive, from their families and friends.
Alan’s haunting novel of the AIDS epidemic, As If Death Summoned, won the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award (LGBT category.) He can be reached at www.alan-rose.com.
Like a graphic novel, it’s a memoir told in illustrations and text. Born with female genitalia, artist/writer Maia Kobabe describes growing up with the inner sense of really being a boy. As a young adult, Kobabe discovers the work of Patricia Churchland, Ph.B. Her book, Touching a Nerve: Self as Brain, explains the influence of hormones on the development of a fetus, including instances where the “masculinizing of the brain does not follow the typical path … you could have male genitalia and a female brain.” This information
Beyond Magenta has the advantage of telling the stories of six trans teens, reflecting the diversity within the trans community. Through interviews, we hear their different voices:
“Transsexual. Even the name sounded weird to me. It was like I’m not born who I am; I have to transition to be who I am.”
The young people have very different stories, capturing the confusion (called gender dysphoria) they have lived with (“This has always been my worry: Am I going to look real?”) , the
They tell of their various therapies, of hormonal blockers; some discuss their decisions for surgery. Because counseling is a necessary component of any gender therapy, they share the insights and new perspectives they’ve come to.
(“When I first started my transition, I wanted to be complete, from one side to the other. But now I’m embracing my in-between-ness. I’m embracing this whole mix that I have inside myself. And I’m happy. So forget the category. Just talk to me. Get to know me.”)
They discuss trying to adapt to our culture’s gender expectations: “I like to think that I can fend off society’s male expectations pretty well. Society wants all kinds of things from the boys. They want
cont page 38
Send your non-commercial community event 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:
April 15–May 20 by Mar 25 for April 15 issue.
May 15–June 20 by April 25 for May 15 issue
Calendar submissions are considered for inclusion, subject to lead time, relevance to readers, and space limitations.
See Submission Guidelines below.
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.
What’s the Buzz? Catherine Givings, played by Olivia Chaney, wonders what’s buzzing “In the Next Room,” which opens March 17 at Stageworks Northwest Theatre in Longview. The 2009 play was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play and was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. Others in the cast and crew include Larry Fox, Naziah Hendrix, Cassandra Charles, Patrick Hale and Ethan Feide, Peter Curtis, and Mark Counts. Leslie Slape is director. Photo by Leslie Slape, who said despite the subject matter, the play is not risque. However, it is not recommended for young children. Details, Events listing column (at right).
Mount St. Helens Hiking Club
Schedule page 41
Fundraising Breakfast Hosted by Cowlitz Valley VFW Auxiliary #1045. 9–10:30am. April 8, and the second Saturday every month at the VFW Hall, 4311 Ocean Beach Hwy, Longview Eggs cooked to order, sausage, biscuits and gravy, French toast, toast, coffee, orange juice and water. Cost is $7 per person. Proceeds support Veterans programs. Open to the public.
In the Next Room by Sarah Ruhl. March 17-18-19, Mar 31, April 1-2. 7:30pm Fri-Sat, 2pm Sundays. .Stageworks Northwest. 1433 Commerce, Longview, Wash. Tickets $20 general, $18 seniors/ students/veterans; group rates available. Tickets online at Stageworksnorthwest.co or box office. 360-636-4488.
Spellebration Mar. 23, 6pm, 21+, Grant’s at the Monticello, Longview. Spelling Bee with teams of 5, $25 per person, could win up to $500. Teams of 5 max, if you don’t have 5 come anyway. Up to $500 cash prize to winning team. Rules and info: Kelsorotary.org.
A Night to Remember Cabaret Follies. March 24-25; 7pm both nights, 2pm Saturday. Tickets $50, $35, $25. Buy online at columbiatheatre.com or call 360-575-8499. Benefits Youth & Family Link programs and services.
Quincy Grange 47th Annual Chicken
Dinner April 2nd 12-3pm at the grange. 78314 Rutters Rd. Clatskanie, Ore. Follow signs from Clatskanie 3.5 mi. Adults $15, 6-12 $6, under 6 free. Homemade fried chicken with all the fixins’ plus dessert. Eat at the grange or take dinner to-go. Proceeds benefit scholarships, youth groups, and community services. Questions: Ellen @ 503-7282886 or Barb @ 503-728-4143
Annual Kids’ Fish-In April 29, starting at 8:00am. Nine sessions of 45 kids with the last one ending at 4:45pm. Sponsored by Longview Early Edition Rotary. Register at Longview Parks & Recreation asap; the event typically fills up. Registration fee $10 per child. Limited to 1 adult per child inside the fishing area. Visit mylongview. com. or call 360- 442-5400 or stop by the office at 2920 Douglas Street, Longview.
Kelso Garden Club Spring Plant Sale
May 6, 9am–4pm. 2715 Northlake Ave., Longview. Variety of houseplants, annuals, perrenials, herbs, fruit and vegetables, trees and shrubs, yard art, gift items and planters. All sales CASH. Come early for best selection. Proceeds support Lower Columbia School Gardens, Arbor Day tree planting, Cowlitz County Fair exhibits and special gardening projects in the community. Contact club president Sarah Koss, sarahkoss@comcast.net for more info..
Call to Artists Annual Show St Helens, Ore Call to Artists Sat, May 20, 5–8pm. St. Helens Community Center, 2625 Gable Road, St Helens. Look for signs. Sponsor: Columbia Arts Guild, St. Helens. Open to artists showing original art, limit 10 original pieces. Entry fee per piece by CAG members is $3, non-members $5. Entries accepted on May 20, 9-11am at the community center. Info; Joan Youngberg, text/phone 503-369-1081. columbiaartsguild.com
Lower Columbia Genealogical Society Public Zoom meetings 2nd Thurs, 6pm. Visitors welcome, instructions, announcements. Program with guest speaker 7pm. For a Zoom link: lcgsgen@ yahoo.com.
Longview-Kelso Bridge Club Plays weekly, Monday 10:30am, Thurs 6:30pm. Kelso Senior Center, 106 NW 89th Ave., Kelso, near Rotary Spray Park. Free, open to everyone, adults of all ages welcome. Come play, or come watch and see if it looks like fun. Info: Jan, 360-425-0713.
Stella Historical Society Museum is officially CLOSED for the season, to reopen the weekend after July 4, 2023, 11–4. Watch for news about annual “Kid’s Day” celebration. Located at 8530 Ocean Beach Highway (10 miles west of Longview), Free admission; donations always welcome. For museum tours in the off season, call 360-423-3860 or 360-423-8663. Also available for Scouting tours, Eagle Scout projects and high school “community service” hours. For more info check Facebook.
Longview-Kelso
Community Concert Association
2023-24 Season, see page 8
The Columbian Artists Association’s 45th Annual Spring Art Show (ad, facing page) is open to all artists in 2-D and 3-D media. All work will be judged/juried at entry. Intake day is March 21, 10am to 2pm. Prospectus available at: columbianartists. org. For questions contact: Eileen Thompson @206-949-9811 or webster9821@comcast.net
The Longview-Kelso Duplicate Bridge Club meets Monday at 10:30am and Thursday at 6:30pm at the Kelso Senior Center, 106 NW 8th St., Kelso, Wash. (next to the Twin City Mall behind Jo-Ann’s store).
Do not let the term “Duplicate” scare you or stop you from coming to play with us! We welcome all bridge players whether new or experienced. There is a playing fee of $4. You do not have to belong to our club to play bridge and are welcome to come and watch us. We are a friendly group who enjoy the challenges of bridge. If you want to play but lack a bridge partner call us and we will see if we can find you a partner. Hope to see you soon. More info: Rich Carle 360)-425-0981; Jan Trussell 360-425-0713.
Thursday, March 23rd
1418 Commerce Avenue, Longview
Tues thru Sat, 11–4. Visit the Gallery to see new work. For event updates check our website: the-broadwaygallery.com, at Broadway Gallery on Facebook, and broadway gallery longview on Instagram.
Featured Artists:
March: Gallery artists
John S.Crocker (photography & drawings); Trudy Woods (pottery).
April: Guest Artists
Leon Lowman (acrylic painting); Richard Britschgi (lapidary sculptures)
Join Us for First Thursday
April 6• 5:30–7:00pm
Join us for Nibbles & Bites!
Music by Brad Dutz
HOURS Tues - Sat 11–4
Classes and Workshops are back! Check our website or come into the Gallery.
We are a great place to buy gifts!
Voted one of top 3 Galleries in SW Washington. Free Gift wrapping plus Layaway!
Find a unique gift! We have beautiful artisan cards, jewelry, books by local authors, wearable art, original paintings, pottery, sculpture, photographs and so much more
A gift from Dr. and Mrs. H. Minthorn to the community via Lower Columbia College Foundation, The Minthorn Collection of Chinese Art encompasses a wide range of styles and is displayed in the upper level of the art gallery in LCC’s Rose Center, open Tues-Thurs, 10–3. Free.
from page 35
us to be masculine and to wrestle, to swear, and to be aggressive and assertive. To some degree, society wants us to be misogynistic.”
They discuss their attempts to change people’s ways of seeing them (and the dreaded pronouns): “I want people to use the pronouns them and they when referring to me because I consider myself both male and female. Since most people don’t understand that, I just tell them to use he. For years I was she, so it’s time to switch. I don’t like being a girl. I gave it a run. It didn’t work.”
Reading their stories, one can’t help but admire the courage of these young people fighting to discover, and then to live who they are. (“I enjoy life from a different perspective. I can see the world simultaneously from a male and a female perspective.”)
Part of their ongoing challenge will be a society that doesn’t understand, many who won’t even try to understand — If you think three genders is overwhelming, check out the 72 gender classifications at MedicineNet.
Both books testify to the mystery and complexity of what it means to be human, how varied we are, what wonders we are. It is something to celebrate. •••
Book Club for Our Times: Discuss books that are shaping today’s world
Daytime Group—Kelso Public Library, 2nd Wed, 11:30am. Evening Group—Longview Public Library, 1st Mon, 6:00pm. Check library websites for upcoming titles.
Kelso Garden Club Monthly meetings 3rd Friday of the month February to December, in the basement of Central Christian Church, 401 Crawford Street, Kelso beginning at 10am. Programs are provided for club members and members of the public are welcome to attend. The club works on various projects such as Arbor Day, Blue and Gold Star Markers in Tam O’Shanter park and Cowlitz County Fair. The public is also invited to the Spring Plant Sale on May 6.
- Friday
Early spring is finally here, and I’m guessing you’re eagerly anticipating the start of your summer garden. Even though it’s currently too chilly to start planting, it’s an ideal time to strategize. What insights did you acquire from the previous year’s “blunders?” Or, to put it more positively, “educational experiences.” I’ll be revealing some typical errors that many people, myself included, tend to make.
1 Planting too much
It begins with starting plants indoors. Each packet has 10 seeds. That’s 10 tiny plants that grow into 10 huge plants. Do you really need that many tomatoes or peppers? Do you actually have enough room for them in your garden? Do you have the time and energy to go out daily and monitor their health? What will you do with them at harvest? We start the growing season with unbounded enthusiasm and find that we have saddled ourselves with more work than we imagined.
2 Planting too soon
I’ve seen this happen so many times! In their eagerness to get a jump on the summer season, gardeners plant their tender summer vegetables outdoors while the soil is too
Story by Alice Slushercold and the temps can quickly plunge a few degrees below freezing at night. The rule of thumb in our neck of the woods is to wait until the first week of June to plant unless you are taking steps to protect your transplants.
3 Crowding your plants
You know how it goes: You start off with some cute little tomato plants, and before you know it, you’re squeezing in a few more because, hey, why not? But let me tell you, that’s a recipe for disaster. When you crowd your plants, diseases and insects can more easily harm your plants, and the roots end up in a brutal competition for resources. Taller plants shade the smaller ones. So, please, read the instructions on the packet and follow the spacing guidelines. - let’s give those plants some breathing room.
4 Not prepping your soil before planting
If you didn’t mix in shredded leaves during autumn, you can still add some good compost now. Just spread it out and use a fork to mix it in - no need for tilling. If you’re using organic granular fertilizer, apply it now, as it needs some time to do its magic. And if you want to bring your soil up to the perfect temperature, simply cover your beds with plastic for 3-4 weeks before transplanting.
5 Not mulching
Don’t underestimate the power of mulching; it’s like a superhero cape for your garden beds. Just sprinkle some grass clippings about 2-3 inches deep, and voila! You’ll keep the weeds at bay, regulate soil temperatures, and maintain moisture levels like a pro. Don’t use this technique if you’re using Weed and Feed on your lawn!
6 Not planning to plant flowers to attract pollinators and beneficial insects
OSU Extension Columbia County 503-397-3462
Online Workshops: Registration is required. extension.oregonstate.edu/county/columbia/ events
Gardening Spot on KOHI (1600am radio) Every Saturday, 8:05 to 8:15am.
Mar. 21 (6:30–8pm) Chat with Chip online interactive Q&A program with Chip Bubl. Reserve a place: http://beav.es/STR
WSU Extension Cowlitz County 360-577-3014
304 Cowlitz Way, Kelso, Wash. For connection info or registration for in-person classes: cowlitzcomg.com/public-events)
Online Workshops. Tues., noon:
Mar. 14 Growing Blueberries
Mar. 21 Making Gardening Easier
Mar 28 Controlling Spring Weeds
April 4 Growing Raspberries
April 11 Building & Managing a Raised Bed
The insect community has some busy bees... and other helpful bugs too! Some are on pollination duty for our precious fruits, flowers, and veggies, while others take care of pest control. Attract them—and beautify your garden— by planting flat-topped flowers like dill, daisy-like flowers like sunflower and cosmos, and mint family like catnip and Agastache in and around your garden. Remember that pesticide use will kill good insects, too! I’ve learned from these mistakes and so many others, and I’ll bet you can add to my list. We’ll be more successful gardeners if we cooperate with the laws of nature, or at the very least, make a valiant effort not to oppose them!
He’s awesome. My new hip thanks him.”
~ Vicki Wynn“I have two new knees from Dr. Kretzler. He is a wonderful surgeon!”
~ Peggy Graham“He did my rotator cuff and biceps surgeries. No nonsense, and he gets the job done.”
~Karyn Kafferlin“He has fixed both my trigger finger and my husband’s Dupuytren’s. He is amazing”
~Vicki Johnson“He treated my husband’s injury. Would highly recommend him. We’re lucky to have him in our community.”
Linda Tedder-Abbott“Dr. Lin fixed my painful shoulder. I am very happy with the results.”
~ Carla Rapp Pedersen
goal
Call leader to join outing or for more info. Non-members welcome.
(E) - Easier: Usually on relatively flat ground (up to 5 miles and/or less than 500 ft. e.g.)
(M) - Moderate: Longer and more elevation gain (over 5 miles and/or over 500 ft. e.g.)
(S) - Strenuous: Long hikes and/or elevation gain (over 8 miles and/or over 1200 ft. e.g.)
March 15 - Wednesday Willapa Hills Trail (E) Drive 92 miles RT to Adna Trailhead. Hike 4-5 miles. Leader: Leslie P. (360) 520-4592
March 22 - Wednesday Burnt Bridge Creek Trail (E) Drive 92 miles RT. Hike 4.5 miles with 200’ e.g. on mostly flat and paved trails passing through open grasslands and heavily wooded areas. Leader: John R. (360) 431-1122
March 29 - Wednesday Rock Creek Bike Path (E) Drive 90 miles RT. Walk 4.8 miles RT with 200’ e.g. past Bethany Lake to turn around point at Waterhouse Trail. A nice walk through rural Hillsboro.Leaders: Bruce: (360) 425-0256, Art: (360) 270-9991
April 1 - Saturday Coyote Wall / Labyrinth
(M) Drive 220 miles RT. Hike 7 miles RT with 1,200’ e.g. on a trail overlooking the Columbia River through Old Oaks and Grassy Knolls, along Catherine Creek. Leader: Pat Rychel (360) 225-7232
April 5 - Wednesday Lake Sacajawea (E) Walk 4 miles around the whole lake or walk half the lake 1+ miles. Leader: Cheré (360) 200-3715
April 8 - Saturday Lake Sacajawea
(E) Walk 4 miles on flat ground around the whole lake or any loop/portion for a shorter walk. The total hike length will be decided by the group at the time. The group will hike all together.
Note: This walk is designed for Super Seniors and/or people with physical limitations at a slow pace. Leaders: Susan S. (360) 430-9914.
April 12 - Wednesday Mima Falls Loop Capital State Forest (E/M) Drive 126 miles RT to trailhead near Little Rock. Hike 5.5 to 6.5 miles with 500’ e.g. on loop trail, then to the falls. Leader: Barbara R. (360) 431-1131
April 15 - Saturday Angels Rest / Devils Rest (S) Drive 130 miles RT to Bridle Veil in the Columbia Gorge. Hike 4.4 miles RT with 1500’ e.g. to Angel’s Rest viewpoint. Continue up a remote trail 3 extra miles RT with 800’ e.g. to Devil’s Rest. Return through a “ghost” forest to Angel’s Rest, then back down to the trailhead. Leader: Bruce (360) 425-0256
Above: watercolorized sketch by the late Deena Martinson
GENTLE READERS: The clash between people who don’t want to return to the office (employees) and those who want them to do so (employers) is no surprise to Miss Manners. The pandemic might have brought this out, but the work/ private life problem has existed throughout history.
from page 9
Is thanking your hosts with a meal an old-fashioned idea?
GENTLE READER: Apparently, from what Miss Manners hears. But it is still on the books, regardless of the numbers of scofflaws.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it appropriate to wear a black dress to a wedding?
GENTLE READER: Not unless you are protesting it. •••
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.
Society needs to provide both. Obviously, it needs workers. But it also needs people to attend to family life, community welfare and functions of leisure, recreation and entertainment, as these promote general satisfaction.
Therefore, society has, in different eras, come up with different solutions to staff both realms. And all of them have been terrible.
For centuries, the division was the one that seemed most reasonable to those with the power to enforce it: The poor would work, with only enough of a private life necessary to produce another generation of workers. This freed the rich to pursue such leisure activities as socializing, sports and, when things got really dull, warfare.
But in the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution produced a class of people who were neither rich enough not to work, nor poor enough to put up with forgoing pleasure. So the division changed: All the poor would still work and the rich play, but among the reasonably solvent, males would earn money working, and females would perform the functions that did not pay.
This was adjusted in the mid-20th century to admit females to certain paid jobs (notably, those lacking in prestige), even if for less pay and fewer opportunities to advance. Ever since then, efforts have been made to give females the work advantages that males enjoyed -— including the same work schedule.
But just as the school schedule remains as designed under the presumption that children needed to be free in the summer to help with the crops, the work schedule remains as it was under the presumption that the worker had a partner taking care of the private realm.
The underlying problem was hardly addressed: Who would staff that private realm? For the essential parts, household and child care, it has been either the better-paid female worker or one in a poor-paying job. And the merely enjoyable parts, chiefly family and social life, suffered from neglect.
So that solution didn’t work, either — and people are finally noticing. Whatever compromise might be worked out eventually will take a great deal of negotiating. Employers, as well as employees, have legitimate concerns about work time and place that must be addressed.
Attention all trivia buffs! Join us Mondays at Antidote Tap House in #downtownlongivewwa and every Tuesday at Antidote Tap House in #woodlandwa at 6pm for an exciting night of trivia hosted by #fivestartrivia. Compete against your friends and other trivia enthusiasts for the chance to win!
We can't wait to see you there!
#TriviaNight #5StarTrivia #triviafun !
Miss Manners’s contribution is to point out that the easiest part to cut is the pseudosocial life that has become a feature of business models: what is now referred to as “mandatory fun.” Surely workers no longer believe that after-hours drinks, office birthday celebrations and team-building exercises are adequate substitutes for time spent with people of their own choosing.
And bosses will find that encouraging a cordial, cooperative, cheerful level of professional behavior will be easier and more productive than trying to make employees love one another.
Washington State University‘s women’s basketball team made history on March 5 by beating UCLA for the Pac12 conference championship, the first basketball title of any kind for a WSU team since 1940. By the way of trivia, my Uncle Kirk Gebert played on that championship WSU basketball team 82 years ago.
Their win by a score of 56-51 over a highly-ranked UCLA team gives the WSU women’s team an automatic berth in this year’s NCAA March Madness tournament.
This gives me two Washington teams to be excited about in the 2023 tourney: the exciting Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s team and, now, the WSU women’s team.
When I mentioned to a friend about how pumped I am about seeing how far the WSU women can go in the tourney, he said, “Wait a minute, I thought you were a Husky fan,” meaning the University of Washington Huskies.
“I am,” I said, “but I can root for any Northwest team, unless they’re playing against the Huskies.” I know Oregon Duck fans who wouldn’t root for the UW even if they were matched against a team from North Korea.
My heart warms when I read in The Daily News about the success of sports teams from around the region — Rainier, St. Helens, Kalama, Castle Rock, Toutle, Woodland, Kelso, and in Longview, Mark Morris and R.A. Long High Schools.
We are favored with a ton of athletic talent in the Columbia River region, young men and young women alike. I find it fun to follow them all. •••
Longview resident Ned Piper coordinates advertising and distribution of CRR, and enjoys the opportunities to meet and greet friends, both old and new.
The Clean Buildings Act was signed into law by the Washington State Legislature, May 2019. The law requires buildings larger than 50,000 sq.ft. to comply with standards to reduce energy consumption. In addition, buildings 20,000-50,000 sq.ft. will be required to comply in the future. Compliance dates range from June 1, 2026 to June 1, 2028. Understanding your building’s path to compliance is important, as baselining energy consumption and following the investment criteria (if necessary) can take several years.
Approximately 160 buildings in Cowlitz County are expected to comply with the Clean Buildings Act. Penalties for non-compliance can be as high as $1 per square foot, per year. At a high level, the following are the steps to compliance:
1. Benchmark and have a qualified person calculate the building’s Energy Use Intensity Target (EUIt).
2. Designate an individual as energy manager for the building.
3. Develop and adopt an energy management plan.
4. Develop and implement an operation and maintenance (O&M) program.
5. Meet EUIt (if not already meeting or cannot calculate EUIt) by following the Investment Criteria process outlined in WAC 194-50 to identify and implement cost-effective energy efficiency measures. Early adopter incentives are available through the Department of Commerce for Tier 1 buildings at $0.85 per sq.ft. and Tier 2 buildings at $0.30 per sq.ft. It’s important to act early, as funds are limited to $75 million and $150 million for Tier 1 and Tier 2 buildings, respectively. Cowlitz PUD can assist in understanding how your building may be eligible for these incentives.
Cowlitz PUD is available as a resource for customers facing compliance with the Clean Buildings Act. In addition to the early adopter incentives offered by the Department of Commerce, Cowlitz PUD offers rebate programs that may be used in conjunction with the early adopter incentives. These include commercial lighting, HVAC, insulation, window and door, and water heating rebates. Contact Cowlitz PUD to determine if your building is
Please Contact Cowlitz PUD Energy Efficiency Services with any questions you might have: eeservices@ cowlitzpud.org or
Also available at:
• Columbia Gorge Interpretive Museum Stevenson
• Vintage Books 6613 E. Mill Plain, Vancouver
• Broadway Gallery Longview
• Cowlitz County Historical Museum Shop Kelso
• Vault Books & Brew Castle Rock
• Morgan Arts Center
• Mount St. Helens Gift Shop Castle Rock, I-5 Exit 49
• Tsuga Gallery
• Wahkiakum Eagle
• Redmen Hall
• Skamokawa Store
• Appelo Archives
• Time Enough Books
• Beach Books
• Fort Clatsop
• Godfathers Books Astoria, Ore.
• RiverSea Gallery Astoria,Ore.
• Columbia River Maritime Museum Store Astoria,
• Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum The Dalles, Ore.
By Robert Michael Pyle and Judy VanderMaten
