Columbia River Reader June 2023

Columbia River Reader’s office is a sea of books, as we sign, wrap, box, and add ribbons to the hundreds of copies of our new Empire of Trees. These will be presented June 8-9-10 to all graduates at Longview’s four high school commencement ceremonies... the collective Class of 2023. Our sincere thanks to Friends of Longview and the many financial contributors who are helping us give this Centennial gift as a keepsake for these graduates. We appreciate and thank all the donors!

We were so busy right before going to press that I ran out of time to come up with a suitable topic for my column. I decided to run a “prose poem” which was popular some years ago.

I was in college at the time, and when “Desiderata” came out as a

pop music single (from the album of the same name), everybody thought it was some long-lost, ancient wisdom surfacing. This was when we were making macramé plant hangers and wearing mood rings.

In fact, it was written in 1927 by an Indiana attorney named Max Ehrmann. But I’ve always like the words and offer them here in tribute to all graduates in the Class of 2023. And also to encourage and inspire all of us, whether we’re embarking on a new career, a new stage of life, or simply living day by day. We’re all on the same journey. And life is good!

I hope to see many of you at our gala book launch, “From Page to Stage” on June 30. Please come celebrate with us. We’ll even have a book with your name on it!

Sue Piper

Publisher/Editor: Susan P. Piper

Columnists and contributors:

Tracy Beard

Hal Calbom

Alice Dietz

Joseph Govednik

Jim MacLeod

Neil Martello

Michael Perry

Ned Piper

Robert Michael Pyle

Marc Roland

Alan Rose

Alice Slusher

Greg Smith

Andre Stepankowsky

Debra Tweedy

Judy VanderMaten

Editorial/Proofreading Assistants:

Merrilee Bauman, Michael Perry, Marilyn Perry, Tiffany Dickinson, Debra Tweedy

Advertising Manager: Ned Piper, 360-749-2632

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.

Submission guidelines: page 36.

General Ad info: page 5.

Ad Manager: Ned Piper 360-749-2632.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Visit

Brownsmead Flats members, left to right: Dan Sutherland, Ray Raihala, Ned Heavenrich, John Fenton, Larry Moore.

Photo by Hal Calbom

Columbia River Reader ... Helping you discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River Region, at home and on the road.

Greetings from Gian Paul Morelli

It was so good to be in Longview this past weekend.

I had a wonderful reunion weekend with Columbia Theatre staff and donors and friends of the Columbia Theatre.

Kelly Ragsdale the board, volunteers and staff are doing an amazing job delivering more than 80 performances a year.

While visiting I saw both sides of the performance offerings: the extraordinary work of Jim Messina and company as well as the developing and talented dancers from one of our local recitals. These back-to-back turn around performances exhibit how important having a professionally staffed facility like the Columbia Theatre is to a community like Cowlitz County.

Two and a half years after having retired the directorship, I remain humbled by the sense of community Kelly and crew continue to exhibit living up to the theatre’s mission. I had a chance to glimpse next year’s season and I am truly excited for everyone in the community. I want to urge EVERYONE to support the Columbia through attending performances regularly and donating to this worthy community organization. While other community institutions have gone by the wayside, the Columbia

Theatre remains a strong and vibrant resource, a positive source of community pride. Congratulations to Kelly and crew and to the entire community for recognizing and embracing this Jewel of Southwest Washington.

Gian Paul Morelli

CTPA Executive Director 2007-2021

Retired in Tuscon, Arizona

HaikuFest Corrections

1425 Maple Street Longview, WA 98632 360.425.2950 www.cascade-title.com

Azalea in May

Leaves fading green to silver Tasty lace bug feast

This 3rd Place winner was attributed to Keith Simonds, but actually is the work of Alice Slusher. Our apologies!

Where else would you go To see bushy-tailed rodents With their own bridge?

This Centennial haiku submitted by Karin Kaczmarek was about “bushy-tailed,” not “busy-tailed” rodents. What a difference a word makes. Again, our apologies.

Diane Kenneway Escrow Closer / Assistant

Celinda Northrup Escrow Officer / LPO Alison Peters Escrow Officer / LPO

DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL

EPISODE 25 Death on the Trail

By Michael O. Perry

The day Lewis and Clark had long feared had arrived. One Indian was dead and another either dead or seriously wounded. After 2-1/2 years of traveling through Indian country without any major problems, how could this have happened? President Jefferson had given Lewis written instructions to treat Indians “in the most friendly & conciliatory manner which their own conduct will admit.” While there had been some tense moments as the Corps crossed paths with hostile Indians, they had been able to use diplomacy to resolve conflicts in each case. At least, until July 26, 1806.

Divide and conquer

On July 3, after crossing the Rocky Mountains, the Corps split into several parties to further explore the northern plains. Lewis and nine men went to Great Falls using an overland route the Nez Perce had told him about. He left six men there to construct carts to portage the canoes that Sgt. Ordway would be bringing down the Missouri. Lewis took his three best men and headed north to determine if the

headwaters of the Marias River lay above the 49th parallel; the United States owned all the land drained by the Missouri River.

Lewis was well aware of the danger in this mission, since it would require traveling across Blackfeet land. Lewis’s fear was based on experiences of other Indian tribes that had been victims of the aggressive Blackfeet nation. Lewis wrote they were a “vicious lawless and reather an abandoned set of wretches” and he was determined “to avoid an interview with them if possible.”

After traveling up the Marias River, only to find it did not go as far north as he hoped, Lewis decided to return to the Missouri River and rejoin the Expedition. On the morning of July 26, they left their camp near present-day Cut Bank, Montana, and proceeded down Two Medicine River. That afternoon, Lewis saw the thing he had feared most — a group of Indians coming towards them.

Strength in numbers

It appeared Lewis and his men were heavily outnumbered; the Indians had 30 horses, about half wearing saddles. Lewis wrote, “this was a very unpleasant sight.” He unfurled his flag and rode towards the Indians. After both sides met,

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.

Lewis was relieved to find just eight young Indians herding horses captured in a raid, but he noticed two Indians had muskets obtained from French-Canadian fur traders. After giving his last peace medal to a chief, Lewis wrote, “I was convinced that they would attempt to rob us in which case… I should resist to the last extremity prefering death to that of being deprived of my papers instruments and gun.” Lewis invited the Indians to spend the night together in order to prevent them from returning to their village for reinforcements.

Lewis told his men they needed to watch the Indians all night to prevent them from stealing their guns and horses. After smoking with the Indians until dark, Lewis took the first watch. When he woke Reuben Fields at midnight, the Indians all appeared to be asleep. His brother, Joseph, took the next watch. All went well until daybreak, when the Indians got up and crowded around the fire.

cont page 7

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, page 47.

A LAYMAN’S LEWIS & CLARK

Two contemporary Montana road signs. Note that the second of these indicates “Camp” Disappointment, not “Cape” Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia. To most motorists and tourists the most visible and lasting impression of the Expedition today are these ubiquitous road signs and trail indicators. Most of the original routes and trails remain difficult to reach and explore.

Lewis & Clark from page 5

In the blink of an eye

According to Lewis, Joseph Fields “carelessly laid his gun down behind him near where his brother was sleeping.” Before he knew it, the Indian wearing the peace medal took both of the Fields brothers’ rifles. Worse, two other Indians had slipped up to where Lewis and George Drouillard were sleeping and stole their rifles. When Joseph Fields saw what was happening, he yelled out to his brother. Reuben Fields jumped up and chased the Indian with the two rifles for 150 feet when, according to Lewis’s journal, “he seized his gun, stabed the indian to the heart with his knife… the fellow ran about 15 steps and fell dead.”

Lewis awoke to hear Drouillard shouting, “damn you let go my gun.” Drouillard recovered his rifle, but when Lewis realized his rifle was also gone, “drew a pistol from my holster” and ran after the Indian who had taken it. After Lewis warned the Indian he was going to shoot him, the Indian “droped the gun and walked slowly off, I picked her up instantly.” All four rifles were recovered and no shots had been fired. But, one Indian lay dead.

Lewis’s men wanted to kill the Indians, but Lewis refused, saying the Indians had not tried to harm them. But things soon changed when the Indians attempted to steal their horses. Lewis wrote, “I pursued the man who had taken my gun who with another was driving off a part of the horses… being nearly out of breath I could pursue no further, I called to them… that I would shoot them if they did not give me my horse.”

Now what?

Lewis wrote, as he “raised my gun, one of them jumped behind a rock and spoke to the other who turned arround and stoped at the distance of 30 steps from me and I shot him through the belly, he fell to his knees and on his wright elbow from which position he partly raised himself and fired at me, and turning himself about crawled in behind a rock which was a few feet from him. he overshot me, being bearheaded I felt the wind of his bullet very distinctly.” Most historians believe the Indian Lewis shot died, but he possibly survived.

Lewis was concerned that the Indians who escaped would return, so the men rounded up the remaining horses, some of which belonged to the Indians. After throwing the Indians’ bows and arrows

… Lewis was concerned … I drove up that same path on my visit to the area, trying to relive it. And that’s out in the middle of nowhere, desolate, dry land. And I’m thinking, ‘Okay, they’re out there, and they see these Indians coming at them.’ And I’m sure they felt like they were going to die. And there were only three of them, and eight or ten Indians coming. And I think that’s probably the one time that Lewis feared being outnumbered or out-gunned by the Indians on the whole trip. Up ’til then, they’d had the cannon on the boat and other weapons that they could shoot and scare them off.”

… scene of the crime?

The purported site of this incident was discovered in 1964 by two Cut Bank Boy Scout leaders who used the directions and descriptions contained in Lewis’s journal. Two of the ‘three solitary trees’ described by Lewis in his journal still stand, and the site has been marked and fenced by the local Boy Scout District and has been declared a historic site by the National Park Service. As part of the Bicentennial Commemoration in 2006, the Blackfeet Tribe organized a four-day symposium memorializing the fight. “The symposium will advance the Bicentennial’s top priorities of expressing American Indians’ perspectives about Lewis and Clark and examining our shared history from diverse, sometimes divergent, points of view,” said a tribal spokesperson.

onto the campfire, Lewis left the peace “medal about the neck of the dead man that they might be informed who we were.” Then, they mounted their horses and rode 120 miles in 24 hours.

Safe at last

They arrived at the mouth of the Marias River just as Sergeant Gass and his party came floating down the Missouri. Lewis wrote, “I was so soar from my ride yesterday that I could scarcely stand.” Now, if the Blackfeet managed to track them down, there were enough men and guns to repel an attack.

MORE TO THE STORY: A case of murder?

A BlAckfeet triBAl elder, G. G. Kipp, feels Lewis’s story is false. However, no existing written record supports his belief. Indians did not have a written language; they relied on oral histories to pass down events to future generations.

According to Kipp (in a presentation to the Blackfeet Community College’s Native American Scholars program, as reported in a 2003 Great Falls Tribune article), Lewis and his party ran into a group of young boys who were herding horses back to camp from a previous foray. “They stayed with them and gambled with them,” Kipp said in 2003. “In the morning, they went to part company, and the Indians took what they had won. That was it,” said Kipp, “that’s when they were killed.”

…or justifiable homicide?

A newspaper story dating back to 1919 offers another view. In 1895, George Bird Grinnell, one of the fathers of Glacier National Park, interviewed a 102-year old Blackfoot chief named Wolf Calf. He told Grinnell that when he was 13 years old, he and some other Indians met some white men in a friendly fashion. Their chief directed them to try to steal some things, according to Wolf Calf. He said they did so early the next morning, and the white men killed one of them with a big knife. When asked why the Indians didn’t pursue Lewis to retaliate, Wolf Calf said they were frightened and ran away – just like Lewis and his men, but in the opposite direction.

Next episode, we will learn more about that deadly journey.

By Judith Martin, Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a small-animal veterinarian. Often, when people hear of my career, they coo, “Oh, I wanted to be a vet too, but I’m just too tenderhearted.” Sometimes they’ll follow up with a horrified whisper: “All that euthanasia! How can you do it? Don’t you feel horrible?”

Miss M, this makes me feel like a monster. I am proud to be able to offer animals a good death and end their suffering. When people call me to euthanize their pets, they are desperate. They’ve seen their best friend go downhill in a hurry. They are often emotional wrecks, and their gratitude for my service is clear and genuine.

Yes, I am morally comfortable assisting people to say goodbye, and helping their beloved pets over the edge into the great unknown, or rainbow bridge, or chance at reincarnation, or whatever awaits them. But I am wounded by comments like these. Please don’t say I’m too sensitive ... the hypothetical person I’m talking with has just said I succeeded in becoming a vet because I am insensitive.

Can you offer an appropriate response that I can whip out in a hurry? I don’t want to be insulting, but I do want folks to see how their insensitive remarks sting.

GENTLE READER: After thanking them for the insult, Miss Manners presumes.

“I can assure you it is never easy to euthanize. But the alternative is far crueler.”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: At a family gathering, should guests help with cleanup?

GENTLE READER: That depends. Are you a parent whose children are lounging around while you do all the work? Then you should assign them tasks.

Or are you the adult child who doesn’t want parents messing in your kitchen? Then you should assure them that you enjoy pampering them for a change.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have worked and served in a number of high-profile local positions, and have had the good fortune to meet many wonderful people. I am often approached with greetings when I go to stores, restaurants, etc. The problem is that even though these people look familiar, occasionally I cannot remember their names or how we originally came into contact years ago. They know me on sight, by name, but sometimes I haven’t a clue as to who they are.

Their greetings are always friendly and I am always polite, responding as though I know them. But is there a polite way to ask their name without offending them?

GENTLE READER: “You are so good to remember me. Please remind me of your name and how we met?

I am afraid that my memory is not as good.”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When my brother, his family and I attended a wedding that was held six hours

from page 8

away, I drove my car and my brother accompanied me. My sister-in-law drove her car, with my 30-year-old nephew and his girlfriend as passengers.

However, I made the return drive home alone, while the four of them rode in their car. Was it impolite of them to not volunteer for someone to ride with me?

Our homes are very close to each other and we left at the same approximate time. At 75 years of age, I would have felt more comfortable with company just in case of an emergency.

GENTLE READER: Their behavior was not impolite. But while Miss Manners is unable to provide you with the basis for a good grievance, she can solve your actual problem: Next time, say, “Would one of you come with me in my car? It’s a long drive and I would love the company.”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: As a university professor in my mid-60s, I feel very comfortable with my job. I find my daily interactions with students refreshing, and enjoy the company of several colleagues in the profession. I have a rich intellectual life.

I love what I do and do what I love. Unless I develop a severe disease, I plan to continue my work until I feel that it is time to stop.

Yet all kinds of people -- not only family and friends, but strangers I occasionally chat with on planes -- keep asking me why I have not retired. I never ask anybody else about their retirement plans, not even my closest friends.

I keep saying that I have a fulfilling and gratifying job, yet people insist. Is there a better answer?

GENTLE READER: “When you retire, you are probably going to want to pass on your wisdom to the next generation. I am lucky enough to do that for a living. Why should I stop?”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I feel like there’s a large generational gap that needs to be addressed. What is considered necessary or obvious to one generation is considered frivolous or foreign to another. Culture changes, and so do expectations regarding behavior.

I’m a younger millennial, turning 28 next month. Millennials and Generation Z have radically different attitudes than previous generations towards things like work culture, dining and even thankyou cards. We discuss our pay openly to promote equity in the workplace. We care more about how a dining partner treats the waitstaff than which fork he or she uses. And while we do

Details, Dining Guide, page 28

Longview Outdoor Gallery

Unique sculptures along the sidewalks of Downtown Longview, both sides of Commerce Ave.

Columbia River Reader

BOOK BOUTIQUE

Gift Books Lewis & Clark, Astoria, Columbia River ... poetry, history, 5 titles, see pg 2 Gift Subscriptions for yourself or a friend!

Mon-Wed-Fri

Other times by chance or 1333 14th Ave, Longview Free local delivery of books 360-749-1021

appreciate everybody who gives us gifts, we simply do not place value on thankyou cards like previous generations. We understand the inherent gratitude one receiving a gift has for the giver. We show our appreciation through helping each other out and supporting one another, because our actions speak more loudly than our words.

It’s not that we don’t appreciate you or that we feel entitled to gifts. It’s that our way of saying “thank you” is different. We don’t expect to receive thank-you cards, so please don’t expect us to send them.

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The Broadway Gallery

Teris Café on Broadway

The Carriage Restaurant & Lounge

NOTES FROM MY LIVES

by Andre Stepankowsky

The joys – and frustrations –of growing roses

There’s an old saying among rosarians that “he who would grow beautiful roses must have beautiful roses in his heart.”

And, I would add, the patience of a saint and the stubbornness of Harry Truman of Spirit Lake.

I care for about 60 of my own roses and another 80 or 90 at St. Rose Catholic Church. I love them all, but my affection for the “Queen of Flowers” has aspects of a love/hate relationship.

Many a spring day I have cursed the rainy skies as I clipped away mushy blossoms

that were rotted by rain. Southwest Washington’s soggy springs often ruin much of the year’s first flush of flowers.

This spring so far has been an exception, with sunny skies and warm temperatures. But the weather is often fickle: One August we had record rain that wiped out the entire late summer bloom.

Too much sun can be equally damaging. When the mercury soars above 90 degrees, rose blossoms wilt and burn.

Then of course there is the battle against bugs and fungal disease, although by smart practices I have dramatically reduced the need for spraying and gone largely organic.

I’ve gotten close to apoplectic over all these “challenges” that nature sends my way. Fanatic rosarians sometimes go to absurd lengths to protect potentially prize-winning show roses, such as tethering individual blossoms with mini umbrellas.

I don’t grow roses for the show table. Yet I’ve considered building a retractable roof over my own garden, which has the footprint of a small basketball court. I’ve abandoned the plans after asking myself whether such extraordinary measures are worth it. Accepting things I cannot change is a lesson in humility, and that’s one way roses give back far more than they demand.

The kaleidoscopic abundance of color, and the old-world, grandmotherly scent of a rose garden in bloom is a sensory experience that should be the exclusive pleasure of the gods.

A rose garden is a walk through history. Roses have been around for 35 million years. No other flower has been so entwined with human history as the rose. The Romans were fanatics about it. Muslims and Christians have adored it (the five petals of a wild rose symbolizing the five wounds of Christ on the cross). Breeders have hybridized thousands of new cultivars and given them names that could be the basis of a class on human civilization.

Entrepreneurs, politicians, generals, performers, wives, lovers, poets, popes and mythological figures have all been immortalized through rose names.

From our garden, there is “Mr. Lincoln,” a velvet red with potent aroma introduced around the centennial of the president’s assassination in 1865. There is “Peace,” introduced at the end of World War II. “Madam d’Arblay,” a profuse white rambler named after the early English novelist Francis Burney, smothers a pergola. “Kazanlik,” an old damask rose grown in Bulgaria to make perfume, was a favorite until it succumbed last year. In Saudi Arabia, “Kazanlik” is fertilized with camel dung: So camel poop is transformed into the world’s finest perfume. As sportscaster Al Michaels exclaimed: “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”  My garden also is a family memorial of sorts. “Garden Party,” a canary yellow, is there in honor of my dear late grandmother. “Madame Isaac-Pereire” — a late 19th century cultivar — honors my father. It’s an intense pink rose with powerful scent. It’s both loved and spurned by rosarians, some of whom object to its awkward growth habit and brazen color. What better way to remember my dad than with a rose as controversial and “out there” as he was?

As I care for my roses, my mind often drifts back to these people and innumerable and forgotten individuals who labored to create beauty. Creating beauty should be one of our purposes in life, should it not, even if it comes at great difficulty?

Roses prove that some of the hardest things to achieve give the greatest rewards. •••

Award winning journalist Andre Stepankowsky is a former reporter and editor for The Daily News. His CRR columns spring from his many interests, including hiking, rose gardening, music, and woodworking. More of his writing is available through his online newsletter on substack.com by searching for “Lower Columbia Currents.”

Madame Isaac Pereire

The Stepankowsky rose garden

A Different Way of Seeing

THE TIDEWATER REACH

Poem by Robert Michael Pyle •Photograph by Judy VanderMaten

Field Note by Hal Calbom

Bretz’s Flood

It starts in the furnace of the core, rises through the mantle’s crush. Makes the crust, then breaks on through in plutons, vents, volcanoes. Dike swarms leak across the land like Vaseline on hot skin. Congeal in lava flows called Roza, Elephant Gap and Rattlesnake Ridge, Umatilla, Pomona, and Selah. Flow, then freeze in lichen-daubed entablature and colonnade, all the way to the sea.

After Pangaea, continents surfed the crusted waves, broke their backs against far shores, forging the shapes we know. Plates of the shelf shoulder plates of the land, bunch them up in the middle, raise the Rockies from nothing more than force and dust. Where mountains crumple upward, before crumbling down again, a moment comes when, high enough, they tempt the snows that crown the years. Then press, and press, and press some more, till glaciers start to move.

As cold goes south, the ice sheets grow, till half the continent goes under. Polish, scour, lathe, and grind — leave sign of ice on granite domes, the scream of ice on unforgetting stone. Rivers drain the glaciers, but Clark Fork is plugged: two thousand feet of ancient ice, two hundred miles of inland sea. Then warming, and melting, time after time for a thousand years, till the dam breaks through!

Then Glacial Lake Missoula is loosed upon the land. Down pours deluge, downhill, down-grade, down-map — ten times the flow of all the rivers of the world.

Slash Grand Coulee! Swamp Dry Falls! Shoot Wallula Gap, whack Beacon Rock, shatter the very Bridge of the Gods, before they’re even named. Never so much water, sluicing to the sea, with such a force of will — sloshing from wall to black rock wall, from rimrock to rimrock, four hundred feet deep — until, the ice all gone, the river finds its level, never looking back at the havoc it’s left behind — where all that remains is geology.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF FLOW

To motorists, sportsmen and tourists, they are impressive, monolithic structures that add a colossal dimension to the river flowing among them. And to academics, geologists and historians, they are equally impressive: The Columbia River Flood Basalts are one of the youngest and best preserved continental flood basalt provinces on earth. These monumental rock formations are one of at least three flows that have formed the region: extensive eruptions and lava flows; crushing flows of ice and dammed ice water suddenly loose over the land; and, of course, the more benevolent flows of water that still sculpt and shape the land to this day.

For information on ordering, see page 43.

Cut the coulees, channel scablands, carve basalt like old black butter; even gouge that great green slot that we will call the Gorge.

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.

QUIPS & QUOTES

Selected by Debra Tweedy

I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days, and spent them lavishly.

--Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist, essayist, poet, philosopher, 1817-1862

National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.

--Wallace Stegner, American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, 1909-1993

When I was about fifteen, I went to work at Yosemite National Park. It changed me forever. Nature had carved its own sculpture, and I was part of it, not the other way around.

--Robert Redford, American actor and filmmaker, 1936-

Everyone, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.

--Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer, 1850-1894

Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations and resentments flit away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.

--Mark Twain, American writer and humorist, 1835-1910

Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not merely pull it out and strike it; merely to show that you have one.

--Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and writer, 1694-1773

Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.

--Maya Angelou, American poet and civil rights activist, 1928-2014

Home is what you take with you, not what you leave behind.

--N.K. Jemisin, American science fiction and fantasy writer, 1972-

When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.

--Thomas Sowell, American economist and author, 1930-

I’m an idealist. I don’t know where I’m going but I’m on my way.

--Carl Sandburg, American poet, 1878-1967

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.

The Italian view

Mama mia!

By Marc Roland

Wine’s a necessity, not a luxury!

The history of wine in Washington dates back to the the mid-1800s, when the first Italian settlers came out west. The Walla Walla Valley was a perfect spot with its fertile soil and massive aquifers (Walla Walla is a native word for ’many waters’). These conditions appealed to these immigrants, who saw something special in Southeastern Washington. Fast forward to 1970 when, the wine industry would blossom — in earnest — to thousands of wineries and countless acres of planted vines.

Winemaking and drinking is a part of the Italian culture. No Italian immigrant could imagine a life without wine. Sweet onions and fruit trees may have been the cash crop, but grapes would connect them to home in the old country. The first Italian to arrive in Walla Walla was Frank Orselli. According to Rita Cipalla in an article on Italian American winemakers in Walla Walla:

“Orselli was born in Lucca in 1833. He immigrated to America while still a young man, served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army, and arrived at Fort Walla Walla in 1857. After his discharge, Orselli remained in the area, drawn by its cheap land and wide open spaces. With the arrival of gold miners from neighboring Idaho, soon, there were 30 taverns and liquor stores downtown.”

Orselli had an entrepreneurial spirit, which is a hallmark of almost all the people I know in the wine business. He had the first tasting room in the Valley, located in his California Bakery, where he sold wine along with goods grown on his 180-acre farm. Another Italian farmer, Pasquale Saturno, started growing grapes along with fresh

vegetables to sell at nearby Fort Walla Walla. It was an insatiable market that his two acre farm could not supply. This led to him sourcing Zinfandel grapes from California via rail. The Zinfandel grape was familiar to Italians (called “primitivo” in Italy) and they were grown in abundance in California.

This brings me to the the fact that as Italian immigrants spread throughout the state of Washington, their passion for wine went with them. I was talking to Longview businessman Pat Sari the other day and he told me he has an old wine press that was used in his Italian family to produce wine. He hopes to restore it and display it in the future. I have heard stories of Cowlitz County residents who also received grapes from California in boxcars headed for Walla Walla.

I would like to get more information about early winemaking in our area. When I first started making wine it was with home winemakers who pooled their resources to get grapes from Eastern Washington. The early members of the club were not all Italians, but they were following a tradition passed on by generations of immigrants who saw wine as a necessity, not a luxury. How things have changed!

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.

Forge Ahead!

Stella Historical Society gives glimpses of the past

Story

by Joseph Govednik Cowlitz County Historical Museum Director

Exciting times are happening at the Stella Historical Society (SHS). Located just a few miles west of Longview along Ocean Beach Highway, the SHS is the definition of a labor of love through the talents of its volunteer staff.

The SHS operates several buildings easily accessible from the highway, with a new ADA-approved ramp improving access for wheelchair users, funded by the Price Foundation. The buildings include a historic house museum, an active forge building, and a blacksmith shop containing a broad sample of equipment used in Stella’s heyday as a logging export location. Recently, museum volunteers built and donated a new storage facility. Inside the shop building with tool displays is a reproduction of a vintage general store and an original forge believed to be the oldest in Washington State.

Fun and games

The Stella Historical Society will be opening its season on Saturday, July 8th with a special Kids Day event from 11am-4pm. There will be old-time games the children can play to win pennies, then buy “penny” candy at the vintage store. Games will include clothespin drop, hopscotch, jump rope, and corn hole toss. Other activities will be coloring and a scavenger hunt, plus touring the historical buildings. All ages are welcome, and there are many new things to see.

Admission is free although donations are always welcome. After the July 8th season-kickoff, the Stella Historical Society Museum will maintain open hours on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11am4pm until the weekend prior to Labor Day. Please call the museum at 360-423-3860- or visit https://www.facebook.com/stellahistoricalmuseum/ for more information. Forge ahead by looking at the past at the Stella Historical Museum this summer!

•••

The Stella Historical Society, its museum located west of Longview on SR-4, stirs nostalgia and interest with memorabilia from days gone by, and a working blacksmith shop..

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

and photos

Wilbur and Winston pose outside the Columbia Theatre, in hopes that their parents will allow them to crash their concert date night. The historic Columbia Theatre, built in 1925, is our community’s focal point for the performing arts. The Columbia Theatre is supported and enjoyed by the entire community.

Proud Sponsor of

The Lee Family

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Weatherguard supports the FCA vision: To see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.

Vince and Susi; Tom and Joanna

b d. FlEmiNg, owNEr

A year-long feature series written and photographed by Southwest Washington native and Emmy Award-winning journalist

Hal Calbom

epIloGue: then And now

Longview’s Three Cornerstones

SPONSOR PARTNERS

PEOPLE+PLACE PARTNERS

Busack Electric

Cowlitz PUD

Don & Andrea Cullen

Cutright Supply

Evans Kelly Family

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Port of Longview

RiverCities Transit

Weatherguard, Inc

LEGACY PARTNERS

Merrilee Bauman

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Elam’s Furniture

The Gebert Family

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Kirkpatrick Family Care

Edward Jones • Nick Lemiere

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Rodman Realty, Inc.

Holly & GM Roe

Sessions Plumbing

Stirling Honda

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people + place

Red Cedar, they had to reinvent traditional logging and saw-milling even to begin to feed their huge mills.

Americans. It’s a history counted in generations, not centuries, compressed and constantly reshaped, calamitous and fickle.

In the same ambIt Ious spIrIt that R.A. Long brought with him to the Pacific Northwest, this centennial celebration of a city’s founding frames that story in a larger context.

The creation of Longview, Washington, was never merely a local or regional story. This series — an ultimately, the book — considers at least three larger themes set forth in the title: Empire of Trees: America’s Planned City and the Last Frontier.

First, it truly was an Empire of Trees that greeted Long-Bell’s flatland lumbermen, used to mowing down sedate stands of southern pine. Flabbergasted and intimidated by the ridge-fulls of Douglas Fir and Western

Second, Longview truly was America’s Planned City, an experiment with echoes of Washington, D.C. and Kansas City but never before attempted on such a scale, with private money, and from scratch. However isolated Longview was, thanks to its huge ambitions and aggressive promotion, the whole world would watch its birth and development.

And third, the Pacific Northwest truly was, and is, America’s Last Frontier. Its isolated coasts and rivers were the last of the continental U.S. explored and claimed by colonizing Europeans and

In a final testament to the spirit of the founders, we’re still making it up as we go along.

A hundred years...

With a mind to the fickleness of history, and the perils of generalization, I offer you, dear and loyal readers, a couple of final comments, summarizing our reporting and offering reflections on what we’ve learned.

Thank you for your year’s worth of support, comment, and enthusiasm.

THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRULY WAS, AND IS, AMERICA’S LAST FRONTIER

where we’ve Been • where we’re GoInG

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 25), the Reader will present 12 months of “People+Place Then and Now” reportage, then combine and expand these features into a commemorative book. Empire of Trees: America’s Planned City

and the 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.

THEN AND NOW

1. Developing Dreams

2. Empire of Trees

3. Heavy Lifting

4. Work Force

5. Waste Not, Want Not

6. Telling Stories

7. Transport and Trade

8. Darkness and Light

11. Dreams Developing

Then and Now EPILOGUE

I. Tales of Topography

II. Hype and Hope

III. Facts and Folklore

• Long was strong

• Up and down by the River

• Unlikely environmentalists

• Empire of engineers

• Sophistication

Photos,this page, left to right: Loggers fell another Sylvan giant.

NORPAC CEO Craig Anneberg and Recovered Fibre Superintendent Kit Corrigan at the new recycling center in Longview

Log entrance gate to Longview on Vandercook Way at Longview-Kelso border

Danny Olson, Blaine Winter, Peter Brickey, City of Longview Urban Forestry Division

Facing page:

Top: Ted Sprague, Cowlitz EDC CEO, Longview Mayor MaryAlice Wallis, Development Director Ann Rivers

Middle photo, second from left: the Rev. E.H. Gebert , and right, R.A. Long at Longview Community Church

Bottom photo: CORE Health Director Frank Morrison and colleague at Longview’s Ascent Youth Center

people+place then

I. Empire of Trees: Tales of Topography

The trees were stupendous and intimidating — by far the biggest growing things even these seasoned loggers had ever seen. Harvesting their imperial bounty and bringing it to market would require new skill sets, prodigious planning and gobs of money.

They became meticulous assayers and mappers. Long-Bell had ample experience calculating board feet, yields and profit margins. But what they learned quickly in the new Northwest was the critical importance of topography — the lay of the land. Except it didn’t lay. It jumped and plunged and threw up devilish hazards at virtually every step of the logging process.

They took stock, surveyed and planned. Wesley Vandercook famously requested men and mules and two months and lit off into the woods, finally producing a topographic map, a full roomful in size, that remains a wonder of production in its own right. They reinvented their business.

They would use water in every conceivable way, to float, move and store timber. They would create a class of rolleo cowboys who bucked logs downstream and herded them in ponds. They built short railways into precipitous gorges — over 275 separate railroad operations built tracks and trestles and mini-lines of less than ten miles. And they refined the role of the logger, who would become an acrobat, a bull rider, and a pack horse all in one, in perhaps the world’s most dangerous profession.

Providing

Clean Power

Since 1936

Northwest hydropower produces no carbon emissions, thereby significantly reducing the total carbon footprint of the region’s energy production.

Proud Sponsor of People+Place

Then and Now

Michael & Marilyn Perry

Proud Sponsor

Aerial view of Longview, 1924

IT JUMPED AND PLUNGED AND THREW UP DEVILISH HAZARDS AT EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS

from page 18

II. America’s Planned City: Hype and Hope

People+Place Then and Now

The only problem about a planned city is following a plan. In public and in private. Western cities had traditionally sprung up, expanded, flailed and failed entirely on their own and with a haphazard illogic. R.A. Long was determined that his vision of orderliness — and the moral and social ramifications accompanying it — would break this cycle of boom and bust.

The Plan Problem created three tensions which haunted Longview. First, the relentless selling required to populate the new burg conflicted with the painstaking work of building it. The agents and the engineers were constantly out of synch. What was promised and what was deliverable rarely jibed. Both the builders and the hucksters felt poorly served by the other. And pressured.

The second planning problem was the matter of scale. How big is big? How do you construct something to serve a populace that has yet to exist? And is estimated at various times at between 25,000 and 200,000?

Longview has never completely reconciled the structural and infrastructural conflict between what was planned and what was actually produced. The city has never reached the agreedupon “conservative” estimate that it would host at least 50,000 souls.

Finally, plans draw a mark in the sand. They set measurable goals and publicize them. Unlike a city that simply materializes by its own osmosis, the planned city holds itself up for scrutiny and judgment at virtually every turn. How are we doing? Are we on plan? To this day, there is an admittedly simplistic but spirited debate: because it set forward its goals and ideals so assertively how do we measure whether Mr. Long’s grand experiment succeeded or failed?

Bitcoin was first invented around 2009 and has been chugging along steadily for these past 14 years, hack-free. Which is hard to say for many consumer brands, leaking account passwords seemingly every year.

I’m sure many readers still don’t understand the point of the technology, but it’s censor-proof for people living under authoritarian governments, letting users send any amount of money to anyone, anywhere, within about 15 minutes for almost zero fee.

While it’s hard for Americans to see reason for this with FedNow — the updated instant US wiring service — the other benefit is that Bitcoin is hard money, so there is a limit of 21 million coins.

I think, according to the Bitcoin four-year cycle and halving, which is built into the code, late 2025 will see record highs. It could be a good time to create a Coinbase account, buy a mix of your favorites, send them to the vault, activate high security and check back in for a likely profit.

(Note: Perry is not a licensed investment advisor; do your own research and/or consult your own advisors.

the Lower CoLumbia

Proud Sponsor of People+Place

Then and Now

III. The Last Frontier: Facts and Folklore

It’s not history. Not yet. Longview still echoes with the spoken word. At age 100 its recollections are mostly that — stories, anecdotes, newspaper clippings, high school annuals. This is still history as journalism and reminiscence, not academic or scholarly validation. It’s experience that’s slippery and intentionally elusive. It’s often simply folklore and showboating, tale telling. Bigfoot and Ape Canyon come to mind.

Ours is still a very fresh experience. Our native forebears remain with us, not always in perfect harmony, but integral to our culture. We may battle over salmon and hydro-power and water but at least we still have resources to treasure and defend. A contemporary culture like this one trades a tired reliance on a long gone past for an edgy day-to-day precipitousness. We’re truly a work in progress. Every day. And we seem to like it that way.

Historians have recognized this permanent impermanence and the effect of being “last” in the American “civilizing” movement west. Stewart

HOW DO YOU CONSTRUCT SOMETHING TO SERVE A POPULACE THAT HAS YET TO EXIST?

Holbrook, perhaps the wisest of our regional pundits — and a journalist who never pretended to be an historian — sees this effect as accelerating our history, quickening our pulse, producing an experience characterized not by long and slow accumulation of experience but by leaps of faith and psychic quantum jumps:

The history that elsewhere required from two hundred to three hundred years for its unfolding was in the Northwest compressed into much less than a century.

Stewart Holbrook

The Far Corner

Thanks to a cantankerous temperament, a rebellious streak, and even a deeply rooted belief in magic — ghosts and legends and spirits — this Pacific Northwest hopes to remain the Last Frontier.

REFLECTIONS

Longview seems to resist categorization. Maybe because its brief history — both compressed and accelerated — leaves little inclination to generalize or the temptation to draw grand conclusions. Still, at the end of this chronicle, really a series of snapshots, a few reflections.

Long Was Strong

The character, charity and courage of Robert A. Long are impossible to over-estimate. We do him a disservice if we type him only as a frail octogenarian and patriarch. Instead: He was a risk-taker and gambler, a visionary who saw farther down the road and drove down it with conviction.

Up and Down by the River

Siting Longview on the two rivers, at the confluence of Cowlitz and Columbia, saved the town from hard times and the stranglehold of its extraction economy. Hydro-power brought public utilities and industrial growth; its deep water port opened up Longview to the world; trade and transportation are its lifeblood.

Unlikely Environmentalists

Longview has outgrown its reputation as a smelly wood and paper town. Even those who’ve rued clear cutting and early forest practices see a remarkably green new economy emerging. The forest products industry pioneered re-purposed waste; its mills

now rely on recycled feedstocks; and paper products are making a comeback as environmentalists shun plastics.

Empire of Engineers

Longview might have been more aptly named The Engineered City. Today’s industrialist is no longer the burly lumberjack: he (or she) is the buttoned down engineer with a laptop and pocket protector: Papermaking is chemical engineering writ large; packaging and cardboard are routed through highly engineered, sophisticated systems; computerization and software, including AI, are revolutionizing production.

Sophistication

Longview, that child of brawn, has a “sensitive side,” too. With its educated populace, good wages, and cosmopolitanism, Longview has plenty of culture and a taste for the exquisite: musical, dramatic and dance performances abound; Longview Outdoor Gallery festoons the city with sculpture; walkers, joggers and modern-day Thoreaus worship at the shrine of Lake Sacajawea; Quality of Life draws retirees, young professionals, and families.

The Planned City hasn’t always proceeded according to plan. It’s overarching goal, however, has been met. Longview has simply succeeded.

The ’23 Club honors the memory of those who planned and built the City of Longview as a social, spiritual, cultural, and economic center for local residents. Originally a social organization for lineal descendants of the founders, the Club is now open to all who share a love for the City, its beauty and its history. Annual Dues are $6 per person or $8 family.

Info: www.longview23club.org

PO Box 934, Longview, WA 98632

HE WAS A RISK-TAKER AND GAMBLER, A VISIONARY

1922: We’re here to

Visionaries, gamblers, and evangelists — they would build the world’s largest sawmill, a planned city, and a new American path to the Pacific.

Hal Calbom Empire of Trees

A DIFFERENT WAY OF SEEING

Empire of Trees

However isolated Longview was, thanks to its huge ambitions and aggressive promotion, the whole world would watch its birth and development.

people + place then and now

A refreshing take on the story of Longview, then and now.”

Michael O. Perry, author Dispatches from the Discovery Trail

Brett renvIlle photo

Judy VanderMaten

photo

Empire of Trees

Centennial edition $50

• 244 pages

• Signed and gift-boxed

• Author interview

• More than 225 photos

www.crreader.com/crrpress

Hal Calbom is a five-time Emmy Award winning photojournalist. He writes the monthly “People+Place” feature for Columbia River Reader. A graduate of R.A. Long High School in Longview, Washington, and Harvard College, he lives in Seattle.

Then and Now ...

Empire of Trees tells the tale of two cities – a grand utopia built on a harvest of trees and transformed by events and ingenuity.

... a different way of seeing.

Columbia RiveR ReadeR PRess

the lonG vIew pArtner spotlIGhts

The Long View Project would have been impossible without the financial and creative support of our sponsor partners. Over these 12 months, The Reader has featured brief profiles of these partners — highlighting their relationship to Longview and interest in its history. We thank them all for their support and confidence.

the Long View partner SpotLightS

With their sponsorship, the Cowlitz PUD celebrates its role in the history and development of Longview, and its vital part in the region’s economic health and quality of life today.

Providing Clean Power Since 1936.

People+Place Then and Now Sponsor Cowlitz PUD

the Long View partner SpotLightS

People+Place Sponsor Evans Kelly Family

Don & Andrea Cullen

People+Place Then and Now Sponsor Don and Andrea Cullen

the Long View partner SpotLightS

Community Connections: Kelly family among city’s great success stories

One name that’s stayed prominent throughout Longview’s hundred years is that of J.H. Kelly.

“My grandfather got itchy feet,” said Jackie Evans from her home overlooking Lake Sacajawea, “and being a plumber by trade, he came west looking for business.” In 1923 the Scotsman saw a road sign for the Planned City and figured it just might be that business opportunity.

The Kellys had migrated to Canada from Scotland and like many emigrants followed the timberline west, ending up in Prince Rupert, B.C. and then drifting south. “They were just building the St. Helens addition, and everybody needed plumbing,’ Evans said. Among the founder’s five kids was another John Henry Kelly, Jackie’s dad. “He was a scholar in overalls,” Evans recalled, “ and continued to build the business.”

Jackie was born in Kelso, and lived her first ten years there, moved to Longview and graduated from MArk Morris High School, later entering a nursing program at the University of Washington in the early 1960s, where she met her future husband, Dan. “The school was bigger than Longview, and the nursing program was tough. 800 people entered it and only 80 graduated.”

Dan and Jackie lived in California for a time, then returned to Longview where Dan bought into the Kelly business in the 1970s. “I was a young mother with a couple of kids and the people were incredibly friendly here,” she said. ‘I think this town is a well-kept secret. It’s a great size, with great community spirit.”

J.H. Kelly and his family have left a powerful legacy in Longview, (and a love of soccer brought with the family from Scotland and introduced here in the twenties). The Scotsman with itchy feet would be proud to know his company has grown beyond the region and is nationally known in industrial construction, mechanical engineering and services.

“I like Longview,” said Evans, “and this is our opportunity to celebrate it.” •••

CORRECTION

With apologies to Jackie Evans and the Kelly family, we’re re-running this profile which contained a substantial error last month. Wars have been fought for less.

People+Place Then and Now Sponsor NORPAC

I mistakenly located their roots in Ireland, not Scotland! I can hear the swords rattling and the gravestones shaking in the peat. Perhaps influenced by the name Kelly, the Kelly green logo, and the annual St. Patrick’s Day shebang, I nonetheless regret and acknowledge the error.

I blame it on my own roots — being “Scotch Irish” hardly helps me recollect clearly. Perhaps when the smoke clears we can adjourn peaceably for Irish haggis and a dram or two of Jameson Scotch whiskey. – Hal

Calbom

Longview Centennial Countdown of Events

2023

Monthly The Long View* CRR’s “People+Place Then and Now”

Special Centennial Feature Series (thru June)

June 24 Centennial Car Show • 9–3 • ENTRIES INVITED!

Vintage 1920s-30s-40-50s

Reg. fee $25 sign up at longview100.org

June 25 Trinity Lutheran Church Open House 1–4pm

10:30am Worship Service, followed by 1920s-themed Picnic RSVP

June 30 CRR’s “From Page to Stage”

Book Launch & Gala Variety Show

Order Gala tickets now (see page 2), receive your book at the event: 7pm, Rose Center, Lower Columbia College

Books available for purchase at “Let’s Do Launch” events listed below, and at crreader.com/crrpress after July 15.

LET’S DO LAUNCH! Empire of Trees: America’s Planned City and the Last Frontier by Hal Calbom

Readings/Book Signings/Meet the Author

Friday, June 30 • “From Page to Stage” Variety Show & Centennial Celebration

(details, pg. 2)

Tues July 11 • 6–8pm WordFest

St. Stephen’s Church

22nd and Louisiana (enter thru alley door)

Wed, July 12 • 11am–1pm

Broadway Gallery, 1418 Commerce

Thurs, July 13 5:30-7:30pm

Cowlitz County Historical Museum, 403 Allen St., Kelso

July 12, 6pm at the Gazebo, Longview’s Historic Civic Circle 100th Anniversary Commemoration ceremony

Sept 8-9 Centennial Celebration: Parade, Gala Banquet at Monticello Hotel, Rolleo at Lake Sacajawea, Drone Light Shows, Street Dances & MORE

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

Contact: Reed Hadley, longviewcentury@gmail.com or Arleen Hubble, ahubble61@gmail.com

• CENTENNIAL CAR SHOW

JUNE 24. INFO/REGISTRATION ON WEBSITE

• INFO & EVENTS

Merchandise

Souvenir Centennial Calendars, artist illustrations, $5

Official Centennial Coins $10, lapel pins

$3 (2 for $5); T-shirts $15-18, Pens $1, Stainless steel drink tumblers, etc.

Now available at Kelso Longview Chamber Visitor Center next to I-5 in Kelso, and Longview YMCA.

July 3 • 10–4, July 4•12–6

NEW EXHIBIT OPENS JUNE 17

“1923: The Year that Changed Cowlitz County”

VISIT WWW.COWLITZCOUNTYHISTORY.ORG

405 Allen St., Kelso Museum Hours Tues-Sat, 10–4

The Longview Public Library’s Podcast Your Shelf or Mine is celebrating Longview’s Centennial with historical episodes, including

• Longview’s ‘23 Club, with Cal Fowler and Abe Ott

• Empire of Trees: America’s Planned City and the Last Frontier, with Hal Calbom and Sue Piper

• Joseph Govednik, Cowlitz County Historical Museum, World War II

To listen, visit longview100. org, click on “Events” and then the Your Shelf or Mine button

Historic Walking Tour

Pick up your FREE Passport at the Longview Library and enjoy exploring nearby places, with information about each inside the Passport. Great family activity, fun for all ages. Limited supplies.

YMCA OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON 100th Birthday 2023 Centennial Events

Sept 30 YMCA Ice Cream Social and

Ol’ Time Music, 2–5 pm Ice cream treats, music, dancing. $5 Adults, $3 kids. Nov 11 First Ever YMCA Military Ball, Saturday 6–10pm

Black tie or dress uniform event with dinner and dancing for all active military personnel, veterans and their spouses or dates. AWPPW Hall adjacent to the YMCA. Child care, silent auction, other activities at the YMCA. Info 360-423-4770 • longviewymca.org

Clatskanie, Ore.

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

COLUMBIA RIVER dining guide

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

Scappoose, Ore.

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

Rainier. Ore.

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.

Longview, Wash.

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 42. Follow us on Untappd.

Teri’s Café on Broadway

1133 Broadway. New lunch spot. Open Mon-Sat, 11–4.

360-998-2936 See ad, page 9

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,

The Carriage

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 6.

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 slowcooked on site. Pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, turkey, salmon. World-famous 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. 360-846-7304.

See ad, page 30.

Teri’s, 3225 Ocean Beach Hwy, Longview. Lunch and dinner. Burgers, steak, seafood, pasta, specials, fresh NW cuisine. Full bar. Tues–Fri, 1–8pm. Sat 3–8pm.. Closed Sun-Mon. Curbside pickup. Inside dining. 360-577-0717. See ad, page p. 9.

Castle Rock, Wash

Luckman’s Coffee Company

239 Huntington Ave. North, Drive-thru. Pastries, sandwiches, salads, quiche. See ad, page 27.

Parker’s Steak House & Brewery

1300 Mt. St. Helens Way. I-5

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, Ore.

Warren Country Inn

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

Kalama, Wash.

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.

St. Helens, Ore.

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.

56575 Columbia River Hwy. Fine family dining. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Full bar. Call for hours.503-410-5479. Check Facebook for updates. Dine-in.

Toutle, Wash.

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.

Fire Mountain Grill

9440 Spirit Lake Hwy 360-957-0813. Call for days and hours.

See ad, page 42.

Woodland, Wash.

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 42.

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 27.

THE OAK TREE

Scythe Brewing Company

1217 3rd Avenue #150

360-353-3851

Sun-Thurs 12noon -8pm; Fri-Sat 12noon -10pm.

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.

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.

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 14.

Where do you read THE READER?

HEVIN thanks its major sponsors

WHERE DO YOU READ THE READER?

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. Photo tip: Please pose people near the camera; the background scene will still show in the frame behind.

Pickleball players at Longview’s Vandercook Park, from left: John Bard, of Kelso. Wash., and Longview residents Gabrielle Austin, Mary Sundberg, and Dyann Crayne.

Jan Everman and Mary Mitchell both of Rainier, Oregon, at Chalon-surSaône, France. This was one stop on their trip to France and Switzerland.

Looking UP

By Greg Smith

The Evening Sky (a clear, open, low western horizon is needed) Mars and Venus are still with us in the evening sky on June 21st (the summer solstice). Venus and Mars are hanging very close to the crescent Moon. In the western sky around 9pm, Venus will still be very bright (-4.4) just below the moon and Mars a bit dimmer (1.6) just to the left of the moon.

The Morning Sky (cloudless eastern horizon sky required)

Jupiter is the bright star low in the eastern morning sky at 4am. Saturn is also up very early in the predawn (2:30am) sky about five degrees high in the east-southeast. Night Sky Spectacle

(A cloud- free evening is a must)

The Spectacle is the region of the sky that sits within the summer triangle. This is the area bounded by the bright stars of Vega in Lyra (0), Deneb (1.25) the tail of the swan Cygnus as it flies through the Milky Way, and Altair (.75) in Aquila the Eagle. There are globular star clusters (M71), Nebula (M27 & M57) and the Coat Hanger asterism (Cr339) best seen in binoculars. This is not a complete list. Just wander around in this area with your binoculars and find as many things as possible. Check your phone’s astronomy app to identify what you find or use the app to point out the things in this area to look for.

•••

360-423-7252

thejewelersbenchinc377@gmail.com

Moon Phases:

New: Sat., June 17th

1st Quarter: Mon, June 26th

Full: Mon., July 3rd

Last Quarter: Sun., July 9th

End of twilight - when the stars start to come out:

Sun., June 19th, 9:44pm

Wed., June 21st, 9:45pm

Wed., July 5th, 9:43pm

Mon., July 17th,. 9:35pm

All times are Daylight Savings Time

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.

Low-impact

Exercise Classes

July/Aug

Tai Chi for Beginners

Tues and Thurs – 10 AM

Tai Chi/Qigong Flow

Mon – 6:15 PM Beginner

Register through

NASM Certified Senior Fitness

Longview Parks & Rec

360 442-5400

Instructor LaNay Eastman

Tai Chi for Health and Senior Fitness Instructor

TCHI Certified Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention (Standing/Seated) Tai Chi & Qigong for Health and Wellness (Standing/Seated)

The Administration on Aging (AoA) has rated the TCHI Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevent (TCA) program as the highest evidence-based program for older adults and wellness. More information at www. taichiforhealthinstitute.org.

Wedding Sets • Swarovski Optiks

Where to find the new Reader

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

LONGVIEW

U.S. Bank

Post Office

Bob’s (rack, main check-out)

In front of 1232 Commerce Ave

In front of 1323 Commerce Ave

YMCA

Fred Meyer (rack, service desk)

Teri’s (Ocean Beach Hwy)

Grocery Outlet

The Gifted Kitchen (711 Vandercook Way)

Fibre Fed’l CU - Commerce Ave

Monticello Hotel (front entrance)

Kaiser Permanente

St. John Medical Center (rack, Park Lake Café)

LCC Student Center

Indy Way Diner

Columbia River Reader Office 1333 14th Ave. (box at door)

Omelettes & More (entry rack)

Stuffy’s II (entry rack)

KELSO

Visitors’ Center / Kelso-Longview Chamber of Commerce

KALAMA

Fibre Fed’l CU

Kalama Shopping Center corner of First & Fir

McMenamin’s Harbor Lodge (rack)

WOODLAND

The Oak Tree

Visitors’ Center

Grocery Outlet

Luckman Coffee

Antidote (rack)

CASTLE ROCK

Lacie Rha’s Cafe (32 Cowlitz W.)

Parker’s Restaurant (box, entry)

Visitors’ Center 890 Huntington Ave.

N., Exit 49, west side of I-5

Cascade Select Market

VADER

Little Crane Café

RYDERWOOD Café porch

TOUTLE

Drew’s Grocery & Service

CLATSKANIE

Post Office

Mobil / Mini-Mart

Fultano’s Pizza

WESTPORT

Berry Patch (entry rack)

RAINIER

Post Office

Cornerstone Café

Rainier Hardware (rack, entry)

Earth ‘n’ Sun (on Hwy 30)

El Tapatio (entry rack)

Grocery Outlet

Senior Center (rack at front door)

DEER ISLAND

Deer Island Store

COLUMBIA CITY - Post Office

WARREN

Warren Country Inn

ST HELENS

Chamber of Commerce

Sunshine Pizza

St. Helens Market Fresh

Olde Town: Wild Currant, Tap into Wine

Safeway

SCAPPOOSE Post Office

Road Runner

Fultano’s

Ace Hardware

WARRENTON, OR

Fred Meyer

CATHLAMET

Cathlamet Pharmacy

Tsuga Gallery

Realty West

Puget Island Ferry Landing

SKAMOKAWA

Skamokawa General Store

NASELLE

Appelo Archives & Café

Johnson’s One-Stop

By Tracy Beard

PROVISIONS

ALONG THE TRAIL

Century-old Eats

Old World Puff Pancake

by Auton Miller

2 tablespoons butter

3 large eggs, room temperature

¾ cup 2 percent milk

¾ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Confectioners’ sugar

Lemon wedges

Syrup, optional

Fresh raspberries, optional Place butter in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, and place in a 425-degree oven until melted, 2-3 minutes. Process the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and nutmeg in a blender until smooth. Pour into prepared skillet. Bake at 425 until puffed and browned, 16-18 minutes. Dust with confectioner’s sugar. Serve with lemon wedges and, if desired, syrup and raspberries.

I make a version of this pancake and mix a little lemon juice with the confectioner’s sugar to make a sauce, and I serve it with fresh blueberries. I also make it in three individual 4-inch ramekins and bake for 12 minutes.

Other favorites from 100 years ago include smoked salmon over hot coals, homemade venison jerky, and canned homegrown fruits and vegetables. These items were prepared for long-term storage and everyday meals and are still being made today.

•••

Alex Nielson M.D., ABFM

Richard A. Kirkpatrick M.D., FACP

Rachel Roylance BS, MPAP, PA-C

Dr. Toddrick Tookes DPM, Podiatrist

Vlad Bogin M.D., FACP

Angela Escobar MSN, APRN, FNP-BC

Scott B. Kirkpatrick M.D., ABIM

Gordon Hendrickson, PA-C

ALEX

md

Tracy Beard writes about luxury and adventure travel, traditional and trendy fine dining and libations for regional, national and international magazines. She is in her eighth year as CRR’s “Out & About” columnist. She lives in Longview, Wash.

Popular Drinks at the Time

Although Prohibition continued for 13 years from 1920 to 1933, spirits still flowed freely in many speakeasies, back alleys, and throughout the countryside. Hooch, produced in the backyard, was a well-known beverage. However, due to the potency of this beverage, mixologists were inspired to create several famous cocktails during that timeframe. Here are five 100-yearold cocktails.

Gin Rickey

Created early in the 1900s, this refreshing highball drink probably contained bourbon or whiskey as that was the preferred spirit until gin began as made in bathtubs during Prohibition.

2 oz. gin

2 tablespoons lime juice

4 oz. club soda

Garnish with a lime wedge

Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned was initially referred to as a “whiskey cocktail.”

This versatile beverage survived Prohibition and is now found in numerous versions. Here is one of the oldest versions:

2 oz. rye or bourbon

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 sugar cube

Club soda

Sidecar

2 oz. cognac or

Armagnac

1 oz. Cointreau

orange liqueur

¾ oz. lemon juice

Garnish: lemon or orange twist

Add a sugar rim

French 75

2 oz.  gin

1 tsp. simple syrup

½ oz. fresh

lemon juice

4 oz.

Champagne

Mary Pickford

Rum was a hot commodity

during Prohibition.

2 ounces light rum

2 ounces pineapple juice

1 teaspoon grenadine

Garnish with a Maraschino cherry

Five other popular long-living cocktails are the Bee’s Knees, Highball, Ward Eight, The Southside, and the Corpse Reviver. •••

Food and Drinks 100 Years Ago

Looking back during Longview’s Centennial

By Tracy Beard

Longview, Washington, was dedicated in July 1923, and seven months later, in February 1924, the city received a charter from the state, established a municipal government, and was incorporated. World events at the time included the eruption of Mount Etna, the Great Kanto earthquake, the introduction of insulin, the first baseball game (held on April 18 in Yankee Stadium), and the sale of the world’s first domestic refrigerator (in Sweden). Our look back into food and drink during the city’s origination reveals that booze was illegal, and there were no home refrigerators. So who lived in the new city of Longview and greater Washington state, and what did they eat and drink 100 years ago?

Residents of Washington

Prospectors ran to Washington after the discovery of gold in 1855. Soon after, English, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian settlers arrived to claim ownership of the valleys through free land grants. Each of these ethnic pioneers had their culinary traditions, but they soon melded. Salmon was already a staple for the coastal Indians, and more than 30 other fish species, including rockfish, cod, lingcod, sablefish, and smelt, were a regular part of the local diet. Oysters and crabs rounded out the seafood menu.

Near Puget Sound, the New Englanders gathered clams and made clam chowder, a dish they were already familiar with, and they also began substituting beef with chopped clams in other recipes. Women learned how to cook salmon over an open fire from the local Indians. Men hunted for elk, deer, and waterfowl. Washingtonians soon developed a cuisine undefined by a specific culinary style. Instead, they created menus that blended fresh produce, seafood, and locally hunted and raised meats into a lighter form of cooking without the traditional heavy sauces from their homelands.

Residents of Longview

Early pioneers Harry and Rebecca Jane Huntington arrived to file homestead papers and settle along the Cowlitz River in 1849. Along with these early pioneers, others from Washington moved to the area. Later, Robert Alexander Long, the president of Long-Bell Lumber Company, and Mr. S.M. Morris began making decisions in a Kansas City, Missouri boardroom in 1918 to construct a mill town in Cowlitz County. The idea grew, and a planned city was born six years later.

The Kitchen

Before the 1920s, pantry storage was outside the kitchen area, and wood stoves were the norm. However, the Roaring 20s brought new technology. The Hoosier, a free-standing cabinet with builtin bins for staples, came on the scene. Individual homes had access to electricity and natural gas. Putting kitchen essentials together, like proper storage, a small icebox, and a gas range where homemakers simply had to turn a dial and light a match, created a more efficient, modern kitchen, and soon this room became the center of each home.

The first Kraft Kitchen, circa 1924

An early 20th Century Art Nouveau style kitchen wikipEdia

What are you reading?

Monthly feature

coordinated by Alan Rose

By Jim MacLeod

Techies and crossword fans can name the world’s first electronic computer, but very few know that ENIAC’s programmers were all women. They weren’t introduced to the media nor mentioned during the worldwide announcement on February 15, 1946. All the focus was on the hardware, and many years passed before their contributions were even acknowledged.

Conceived during the darker days of World War II, the thirty-ton behemoth was desperately needed to shrink the time required to calculate ballistic trajectories for U.S. Army artillery. Allied Forces in Europe, North Africa, and Asia depended on the Army’s Research Division at the Aberdeen Proving Ground for this critical support. Heavy weapons were susceptible to variations in wind, precipitation, air temperature, humidity, projectile weight and velocity, demanding unique firing tables to ensure their accuracy.

Manual calculations that had previously taken thirty to forty hours could be completed by ENIAC in a scant twenty seconds. But first, the complex differential equations had to be converted to specific settings of hundreds of dials, switches, and pluggable wires. Men were needed in combat roles, so the U.S. Army recruited scores of young female math majors to perform the exacting calculations. It was the six best and brightest “Computers,” as these women were then known, who were selected to become the first programmers for ENIAC.

Internet Law professor Kathy Kleiman introduces each of them, following their lives from pre-WW II to their eventual induction into the Women in Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame in 1996. Unappreciated for decades, their talent, imagination, and perseverance was finally recognized by the industry they helped to create.

Miss Manners from page 9

In general, please do not expect the younger generations to act the same way yours does. Some manners are eternal; some change. It’s OK to acknowledge this. I know this will likely fall on many deaf ears, but it’s worth hearing the other perspective.

GENTLE READER: While Miss Manners has always known that etiquette will often change with the times, expressing gratitude is something upon which she will not budge. She is sure that your internal appreciation is brimming, but people who take the time to pick out presents -- or more likely, pay for them from your unsolicited wish list -- deserve the external and explicit kind. Miss Manners’ inbox is full of complaints to that effect and she assures you that they are not just coming from the older generations.

(They also have old-fashioned notions about getting answers to their invitations, but we digress.)

Drink Good Coffee, Read Good Books

Located in the historic Castle Rock Bank Building

20 Cowlitz Street West Mon-Sat • 8:30–5 360-967-2299

As far as discussing pay, as long as this information is freely given and not rudely demanded, Miss Manners has no objection, although she would prefer it be confined to the workplace. Career talk in social situations is rarely titillating.

Treating waitstaff with respect and kindness is certainly obligatory. Doing so and using the correct fork, however, are hardly mutually exclusive.

One of the things that Miss Manners has been most impressed by in emerging generations is a fresh emphasis on being inclusive, promoting kindness and not stereotyping or labeling groups of people -- rather, appreciating differences and the individual.

She would gently encourage you to remember that when speaking on behalf of them. Your words might be construed as louder than your actions. •••

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.

Jim MacLeod writes as JJ MacLeod, author of seven e-books in the Harry & Company Mystery series available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.com. He and his wife of more than 50 years enjoy waking up to scenic views of life along the Columbia River.

Top 10 Bestsellers

Brought to you by Book Sense and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, for week ending May 28, 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 Midnight Library Matt Haig, Penguin, $18

2. A Court of Thorns and Roses

Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

3. Trust Hernan Diaz, Riverhead Books, $17

4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, $17

5. When Women Were Dragons Kelly Barnhill, Anchor, $17

6. The Priory of the Orange Tree Samantha Shannon, Bloomsbury Publishing, $20

7. A Court of Mist and Fury Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

8. Cloud Cuckoo Land Anthony Doerr, Scribner, $20

9. Circe Madeline Miller, Back Bay, $18.99

10. The House in the Cerulean Sea TJ Klune, Tor, $18.99

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION

1. Killers of the Flower Moon David Grann, Vintage, $17

2. Crying in H Mart

Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17

3. Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20

4. Quietly Hostile Samantha Irby, Vintage, $17

5. The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Penguin, $19

6. All About Love bell hooks, Morrow, $16.99

7. Cascadia Field Guide Cmarie Fuhrman (Ed.), Mountaineers Books, $29.95

8. How to Tell a Story

The Moth, Meg Bowles, Catherine Burns, Jenifer Hixson, Sarah Austin Jenness, Kate Tellers, Crown, $18

9. Tiny Beautiful Things Cheryl Strayed, Vintage, $17

10. Dopamine Nation

Dr. Anna Lembke, Dutton, $18

BOOK REVIEW

1. Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50

2. The Covenant of Water Abraham Verghese, Grove Press, $32

3. Happy Place Emily Henry, Berkley, $27

4. Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday, $29

5. Yellowface

R. F. Kuang, Morrow, $30

6. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28

7. Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $29.99

8. The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Tom Hanks, R. Sikoryak (Illus.), Knopf, $32.50

9. Tress of the Emerald Sea Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $29.99

10. In the Lives of Puppets TJ Klune, Tor, $28.99

1. The Wager David Grann, Doubleday, $30

2. A Fever in the Heartland Timothy Egan, Viking, $30

3. The Creative Act Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32

4. Poverty, by America Matthew Desmond, Crown, $28

5. Raw Dog Jamie Loftus, Forge Books, $26.99

6. Atomic Habits James Clear, Avery, $27

7. I’m Glad My Mom Died Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster, $27.99

8. Project 562 Matika Wilbur, Ten Speed Press, $50

9. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, $22.99

10. Look for Me There Luke Russert, Harper Horizon, $28.99

1. Weather Together Jessie Sima, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $18.99

2. Bluey: Camping Penguin Young Readers, $5.99

3. Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss, Random House Books for Young Readers, $18.99

4. Bluey: The Pool Penguin Young Readers, $4.99

5. Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak, Harper, $19.95

6. Bluey: The Creek Penguin Young Readers, $4.99

7. Bluey: The Beach Penguin Young Readers, $4.99

8. Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99

9. Jamberry Bruce Degen, HarperFestival, $8.99

10. Remember Joy Harjo, Michaela Goade (Illus.), Random House Studio, $18.99

Enjoy in a bleak Steinbeckian way

almost literally. Barbara Kingsolver (The Poisonwood Bible) was inspired by David Copperfield . Although an “entertainment,” Dickens was also showing the plight of the poor, especially of children caught in poverty, and trying to make his readers care.

“Poor Demon,” she said quietly. “Can’t they find anybody to adopt you?”

1. The Sun and the Star Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro, Disney Hyperion, $19.99

2. The One and Only Ruby Katherine Applegate, Harper, $19.99

3. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Judy Blume, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $9.99

4. When You Trap a Tiger Tae Keller, Yearling, $8.99

5. Squished Megan Wagner Lloyd, Michelle Mee Nutter (Illus.), Graphix, $12.99

6. School Trip

Jerry Craft, Quill Tree Books, $14.99

7. Allergic Megan Wagner Lloyd, Michelle Mee Nutter (Illus.), Graphix, $12.99

8. A Wolf Called Wander Rosanne Parry, Mónica Armiño (Illus.), Greenwillow Books, $7.99

9. Swim Team Johnnie Christmas, HarperAlley, $15.99

10. Bea Wolf Zach Weinersmith, Boulet (Illus.), First Second, $19.99

By Alan Rose

lessons are hard earned: “The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.”

Appalachia, child poverty, and the opioid epidemic, so yeah, this was probably never meant to be the feel-good book of the year. But it did receive the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and deservedly so.

The story of Damon, nicknamed Demon, is straight out of Dickens,

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.

The book opens, “First, I got myself born. A decent crowd was on hand to watch, and they’ve always given me that much: the worst of the job was up to me, my mother being let’s just say out of it.” Demon’s mother is a teenage girl strung out on drugs and unconscious on the floor of their single-wide trailer. His birth will foreshadow his life, “when your parent clocks out before you clock in.”

Growing up with his mom and her current boyfriend in one of those rundown trailers “where old furniture goes to die,” Demon finds small joys in small things, like playing in the muddy creek next to his home. His childhood ends abruptly at 10 when his mother dies of a drug overdose, either accidental or maybe she’d just become tired of surviving, and he’s on his own.

She’d only ever called me Damon before, like Mrs. Peggott and Aunt June, to show she was taking their side. I didn’t want to be poor anybody. But I felt like kissing Emily. Or throwing up, from how mixed up I was. Possibly both. You’d want to do it in the right order, though.

– from Demon Copperfield

You can enjoy this novel in a bleak Steinbeckian way (Remember all those happy Steinbeck endings? Expect bleak.) What saves the book from being a downer is Demon’s voice: sharp, perceptive, unsentimental, and irreverent (he has no time for God since clearly God has no time for him).

As in David Copperfield, Demon has to make his way in a broken world, peopled with memorable characters who either can’t help in spite of wanting to, or who don’t want to. His

A school counselor tells him that he is resilient, and although he doesn’t know what the word means, he is. The reader cheers for him with each advance, weeps for him with each harsh setback, and begins to see through the eyes of the poor, to understand the hopelessness, even the anger and the striking out in despair: “I thought about what Rose said, wanting to see the rest of us hurt, because she was hurting. You have to wonder how much of the world’s turning is fueled by that very fire.”

Ultimately, Kingsolver achieves what Dickens did. She makes us care.

Book Club for Our Time: Both the day group (Kelso Library) and the evening group (Longview Library) have chosen Demon Copperhead to discuss. See dates and times at www.alan-rose.com, or on the libraries’ websites.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Harper Collins Books 32.50

HOW TO PUBLICIZE YOUR NON-PROFIT EVENT IN CRR

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:

July 15 - Aug 20

by June 25 for July 15 issue

Sept 15 – Oct 20 by July 25 for Aug 15 issue.

Calendar submissions are considered for inclusion, subject to lead time, relevance to readers, and space limitations.

See Submission Guidelines below.

Submission Guidelines

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

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

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

Unsolicited submissions may be considered, provided they are consistent with the publication’s purpose. Advance contact with the editor is recommended. Information of general interest submitted by readers may be used as background or incorporated in future articles.

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

Quilling Exhibit by Heidi Bishop

Reception

June 23, 12–3pm. Alcove Gallery until July 13. 1526 Commerce Ave., Longview, Wash. 9am–3:30pm Monday thru Friday. Heidi’s intricate floral images and storytelling pieces give the viewer a chance to observe her patient, detailed workmanship. This seeminglymagical art form has been around since at least the Renaissance and has enjoyed a resurgence since the 1970s. Community Arts Workshop at CAP is open to all with free materials and classes in a variety of arts media.

Mount St. Helens

Hiking Club

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.)

June 17 - Saturday Flicker, Towhee, Upper Marquim Hill and Council Crest Trails (M)

Drive 114 miles RT Hike 8 miles out and back with 1,525‘ e.g. Rated a moderate hike due to steady 4-mile uphill trek through forest to Council Crest. Leader: John M. (360) 508-0878

June 21 - Wednesday Summer Solstice Kalama Waterfront Park (E)

Drive 20 miles RT. Celebrate the start of summer and the longest day of the year with a 3 mile walk though town and over to the waterfront on level and paved path along the Columbia River. Leaders: Barbara R. (360) 431-1131

June 24 - Saturday Fossil Creek (S)

Drive 109 miles RT Hike 8 miles RT with 1300’ e.g. through old growth trees spared by the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens. Views of Goat Mountain. Leaders: Bruce (360) 425-0256

June 28 - Wednesday Lake to Lake Trail Loop via Lacamas Lake (E/M) Drive 120 miles RT Hike 5-6 miles with 500’ e.g. Great trail with wildflowers, birds and waterfalls. Leader: John R. (360) 431-1122

June 30 – Friday Dog Mountain (S)

Drive 200 miles RT Hike 6 miles up and back with 2,700’ e.g. thru old growth forest to a high point that has one of the best views of the Columbia River Gorge. This is a great workout! Leaders: Bill D. (503) 260-6712

July 8 - Saturday Hardy Ridge

Leader: Mary Jane (360) 355 5220

July 15 - Saturday Toutle Trail to Loowit Trail. Leader: Bill D (503) 260 6712

From Page to Stage CRRPress and Friends of Longview Gala Centennial Book Launch & Variety Show. June 30, LCC Rose Center. 7pm. Brownsmead Flats, Tapestry dancers, readings, fun! Details, page 2.

Fundraising Breakfast Hosted by Cowlitz Valley VFW Auxiliary #1045. 9–10:30am. June 10, and the second Saturday every month at the VFW Hall, 4311 Ocean Beach Hwy, Longview. Eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, French toast, toast, coffee, orange juice and water. $7 per person. Proceeds support Veterans programs. Public welcome.

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 8th 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 reopens July 8, with “Kid’s Day” celebration, 11–4. Fun, old-fashioned games for all ages, museum tours, scavenger hunt. Located at 8530 Ocean Beach Highway (10 miles west of Longview), Free admission; donations always welcome. Hours: 11–4, Sat-Sun through Sept. 2-3.

In the Mood for Summer?

Astoria-based RockFish Blues Band opens Roland’s Winery summer music offerings on Friday, June 16, 6–8pm. The winery is located at 1106 Florida in Longview, Wash

Musicians, left to right: Ron Baldwin, Mark Badger, Greg Alfaro (front), Tom Schmidt.

watErcolorizEd skEtch by thE latE dEENa martiNsoN

BEHIND THE MUSIC: HAL CALBOM

Pacific Home Companions

Brownsmead Flats, a Northwest natural resource, headlines CRR Gala

Some fifteen years ago this paper’s editor asked a favored freelancer to go hunt down a loose band of minstrels who’d named themselves for their own riverine habitat, Brownsmead Flats, and were showing up more and more at community events around the rivermouth.

In his subsequent article Steve Brock said, “I got really caught up in the folksy, sometimes political, sometimes humorous songs, their excellent vocal harmonies and great musicianship.” In a nice imaginative touch, he concluded that, “It reminded me of what you might expect to hear on a show like ‘Northwest Home Companion,’ if there were such a thing.”

Editor Sue Piper, forever a fan of Garrison Keillor and his quietly epic “Prairie Home Companion,” got the comparison immediately and it’s stayed in her mind ever since. “When we started to think about the book launch

THE MINTHORN COLLECTION OF CHINESE ART

and gala,” said Piper, “this Reader live event, I said I wanted it to feel like the Oscars meet Prairie Home Companion.”

Be careful what you wish for. This June 30th, the headliners for CRR’s Page to Stage Book Launch and Gala Celebration will be the still-intact and flourishing Brownsmead Flats, now in their fifth decade as collaborators, troubadours and friends.

With a style so laid back it’s almost recumbent, they continue to sing and strum our Lower Columbia’s sound track. The five-member string band — pictured above: Ray Raihala, Dan Sutherland, Larry Moore, Ned Heavenrich, John Fenton — has been known to refer to its potent homebrew of ringing strings, sneaky wit, crystalline vocal harmonies, and aging-boomer irreverence as Crabgrass. They’re found less in auditoriums and concert halls than

BROADWAY GALLERY

1418 Commerce Avenue, Longview Mon 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.

ALL-GALLERY SHOW

June: “I Am 100 Years.”

Retrospective Show of Gallery Artists honoring Longview’s Centennial

CALL TO ARTISTS

perched on the region’s collective front porches — its festivals, farmers markets, street fairs.

“I mean, its pretty unusual to trace your origins to a potluck supper,” said Ned Heavenrich, harp player and one of three founders. “We were all building homes here in the flats, had kids ‘round the same age, helped each other build, and then found we loved music, too.”

The Flats seem unfazed by this latest celebrity star turn, on CRR’s cover

Join Us for First Thursday

July 6• 5:30–7pm Nibbles & Bites! Live Music

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 and take classes!

no less! (Could People magazine be far behind?) Expect their now timehonored —- resilient, ornery, and completely original — Crabgrass in peak form, even amidst the rollicking Roaring 20s atmosphere.

IF YOU GO Summer Opportunities to enjoy Brownsmead Flats

Check their Facebook page for changes/additions

June 30 “From Page to Stage”

CRR Centennial Book Launch & Variety Show (details, page 2)

July 22, Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco, Wash. 7–8:30pm

July 23, Astoria (Ore.) Sunday Market, 11am–2pm.

Aug 5, Spencer Park, Vernonia, Ore., 5–7pm

Aug 9, Seaside, Ore. Farmers Market 2:30–5:30pm

Aug 19, Nehalem Bay Winery, Nehalem, Ore. 3–5pm.

August Community Art Show, “The Show of the Century” honoring Longview’s Centennial. Details on website or come into the Gallery

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.

August 31, Cannon Beach (Ore.) Park, 5–6:30pm.

courtEsy photo

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.

Baseball in his blood

Lifelong fan recalls highlights

By Neil Martello

The weather is nice, the sun is warm, and the grass is green.  I’m going to have some fun and go out and watch a baseball game. My dad took me to my first professional ball game in April 1954 at Baltimore Memorial Stadium. The hometown Orioles were playing the Chicago White Sox  (the Orioles won 1–0). I loved the experience and haven’t stopped cheering…I was a fan for life.

In 1963-64, I played American Legion Baseball for Kelly Post 174 and played at Herring Run Park — the same fields that Hall of Famers like Reggie Jackson and Al Kaline have played on. I even worked for the Orioles while I was in high school (Baltimore City College). I was working as a parking lot attendant.  It was a lot of fun.

Let’s go back to the 1860s, when baseball fever boomed in America.  I read a story that goes like this: Abraham Lincoln was playing baseball in 1860 when a message arrived for him during the game. He told the messenger not to interrupt him while playing. He found out later that the message read that he had been nominated for President by the Republican Party.

On June 19, 1846, Alexander Cartwright brought the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Nine together at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey (the home of Frank Sinatra) to play the first game of baseball under his rules. He was called the father of baseball. By the way, New York Nine won 23–1.

The Longview-Kelso area has always been a hotbed for baseball and softball, from the early 1920s to the present, including the Cowlitz Black Bears, who came to town in 2010. They play from June through August.  They attract the top collegiate players to play at David Story Field, on the campus of Lower Columbia College in Longview.

I have seen a lot of local players make it big, play over the years.  For example, Rick Sweet, from Longview. In 1983, while I was working at a group home, he sent me some box seat tickets. I took a group of kids, and we saw him hit a home run, the last home run he hit in the majors.  He played catcher for the Seattle Mariners and is still coaching young players today.

Trevor May grew up in Kelso, and pitched for Kelso, and is currently pitching for the Oakland A’s.

Jason Schmidt was raised in Kelso and pitched for the LA Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Atlanta Braves.

Wes Stock was born in Longview, and I saw him pitch for the Baltimore Orioles.  On May 26, 1963, he did something that I believe no other Orioles has ever done. He won two games in one day.  In those days, they would play a doubleheader. You’d buy one ticket and see two games. Wes won both games.

Photos, clockwise from left: Neil Martello in 2012 in Las Vegas with Wes Stock, who pitched for the Baltimore Orioles in the 1960s, and later served as pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners; An early baseball game in Longview; Cowlitz Black Bears at LCC’s Story Field, about 2010, and still going strong.

I met Wes in 2012 while having breakfast in Las Vegas. I was wearing an Oriole T-shirt, and Wes came up to me and asked me if I was an Orioles fan. I said I was, and then he told me he had pitched for the Orioles in the 1960s.  He was a nice person, and we talked for about 35 minutes.  He gave me a rundown of what the old Orioles were doing. Wes was the Seattle Mariners pitching coach from 1977 to 1981.

Danny Ainge was from Eugene, Oregon, and played baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, but made his mark as a professional basketball player and a coach for the Boston Celtics. Some ballplayers also from Oregon are Dave Kingman, Mickey Lolich, Ryan McKenna, and Wally Backman.

Softball was very big in the Longview-Kelso area after World War II. One famous local player was Eddie Feigner. The strong-armed Marine barnstormed all over the world for 55 years.  His team was called “The King and his Court.” His team had only four players; Eddie was the pitcher, and they had a catcher, first baseman, and shortstop. Eddie was so good he could throw a softball more than 100 miles an hour behind

his back, between his legs, blindfolded from second base.  I saw him pitch in 1964 in Baltimore.

Richard Moore from Castle Rock told me this story recently, about a group of all-stars in 1975 who played against the King and his Court on a field next to the Longview YMCA (It is a parking lot today.)  “I got a hit off him and I

believe it was a bloop single, just barely getting over the infield, but the next day’s paper made it sound like it was a line drive bouncing off the centerfield fence.”

Eddie said late in his life, “I hope they think of me as an honest, sincere performer who always puts on a good show.”  He retired from pitching after

suffering a stroke in 2000.  His pitching records remain unbelievable, even to this day.

Humphrey Bogart once said, “Leave your troubles at home and go see a ball game.”

Baseball gets in — and stays in —your blood. Baseball can have a hold on your imagination and will always remain

unique, but remember there’s always the next game, wait until next year, but I never stop cheering… I’ve been a fan for life.

Kelso resident Neil Martello has lived in Cowlitz County for the past 48 years. For fun, he takes classes at LCC, and may be found at local baseball games at any levels.

Rotarian Dave ready to plant

Green Mountain Maple

Scarlet Oak

You can trust your care to the staff at Longview Orthopedic Associates, the Lower Columbia’s most experienced and best trained orthopedic team.

LOA physicians have treated professional and college athletes, introduced new surgical procedures to Cowlitz County, and provided training to other surgeons throughout the United States. Most importantly, they are there to serve the needs of local patients on a daily basis.

From joint replacement procedures and sports medicine care to arthroscopic surgery and general orthopedic treatment, Bill Turner, Jon Kretzler, Peter Kung, A.J. Lauder, Jake McLeod, and Tony Lin can provide the solutions you need to lead your best life..

LOA is located at Pacific Surgical Institute, with MRI and physical therapy services available onsite for your convenience.

Dr. Kretzler, MD

Dr. Kung, MD

Dr. Lauder, MD

Dr. Lin, MD

Dr. Turner, MD

Dr. McLeod, DPM

Northwest Gardening

Story by Alice Slusher

In extreme heat’s grip, Tomatoes face trials, for sure, Find solutions here

Growing tomatoes in extreme heat and dry conditions

The last couple of summers have been a real challenge to gardeners. The extreme heat waves and exceptionally dry conditions create problems that make it difficult to grow healthy tomatoes. Here are some of the most common issues and the solutions. I don’t have a crystal ball, but it looks as if this summer is shaping up to be another hot and dry one!

1) Problem: Leaves and fruit sunburned

Solution: Loosely drape a shade cloth, row cover, or even a bed sheet over the plants during the hottest times of the day. Don’t wrap the plants up, though, or you will bake them. Air needs to circulate, so create a tent with sawhorses or t-bars.

Problems: 2) Fruit cracking and splitting 3) Blossom end rot. Keep your soil evenly moist. Soil that is too dry or too wet can make calcium unavailable to the plant and cause blossom end rot, and fluctuations in soil moisture can cause the delicate skin to split.

Solution: Don’t let your soil dry out completely.  Appropriately regulated drip irrigation systems are the easiest way to control consistent soil moisture, but don’t just “set it and forget it.” Check your soil moisture frequently; your soil at 6 inches should be moist, like a mostly wrung-out sponge. Your plant will need more water as it grows, especially in hot or windy conditions. Mulching your plants will help to keep the soil moisture from evaporating. A couple of inches of untreated grass clippings work well as mulch.

4) Problem: Flowers dry up and fall off; no new tomatoes for a couple of weeks

Solution: With temps in the 90s, pollination can’t happen. Not as much insect activity, either. Help pollinate the flowers by buzzing the blunt end of your electric toothbrush on the flower or stem.

A Tomato Haiku GARDENING

5) Problem: Tomatoes showing signs of needing nitrogen despite fertilizing properly (lower leaves yellowing)

Solution: Frequent watering during heat waves can leach nutrients, especially nitrogen, from the soil. If you notice this, you may need another application of your usual nitrogen fertilizer.

6) Problem: Plants are wilting mid-day, but the soil is still damp

Solution: As a protective mechanism, plants close up cells to prevent moisture loss through the leaves. When a leaf is wilted, it reduces the surface area exposed to sunlight and slows down water loss. If the soil is moist, the plant will perk up by late evening or morning.  Please resist the urge to water it and re-check soil moisture in the morning.

7) Problem: Spots appearing on the lower leaves of the plant after watering overhead

Programs & Events

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.

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:

June 20 Choosing Landscape Plants

June 27 Protecting Your Plants from Heat

July 11 Solving Summer Garden Problems

July 18 Summer Watering

July 25 Deer and Elk Management

Solution: The lowest leaves and those in the back of the plant are most likely first to show signs of fungal or bacterial disease from wet leaves. Water in the early morning if you are hand-watering so the leaves will dry. Better yet, water at the base of the plant, keeping the leaves dry. Prune off affected branches promptly to control the infection, and don’t compost the leaves. Remove the lowest leaves so they are not touching the ground. Vine/indeterminate tomatoes (the ones that provide tomatoes until the first frost) may be pruned to increase air circulation.

My favorite solution will help you avoid many of the problems resulting from heat-stressed plants. Don’t wait until something happens to your tomatoes — heat, insects, disease, bird damage, cracking. Pick your tomatoes early, when the fruit is just starting to get a pink blush. Bring them inside and let them ripen on the counter. You will get the same excellent fresh-off-the-vine, full-bodied flavor and none of the problems.

Let’s hear it for a great growing season this summer! •••

Kalama resident Alice Slusher volunteers with WSU Extension Service Plant & Insect Clinic. Call 360-577-3014, ext. 1, or send question via cowlitzmastergardener@gmail.com.

the spectator by ned piper

structural worthiness. In a newsletter mailed out, the WSDOT outlined the schedule of work to be completed on the bridge in the coming months.

PLUGGED IN TO COWLITZ PUD Crossing the

This morning, I crossed the Lewis & Clark Bridge. Sue sent me to Rainier to collect the mail from CRR’s P.O. Box over there. I must admit that everytime I cross that bridge, I think about a warning expressed by a friend who knows concrete and has worked a

River

lifetime in construction. He predicted a few years ago that the Lewis and Clark had flaws that could cause it to collapse.

Apparently, the Washington State Department of Transportation also has concerns about the bridge’s

Antidote Tap House - We Cure What ALEs You!

“Lewis and Clark Bridge will close for critical repair and preservation work,” the newsletter declared. “Steel expansion joints allow the Lewis and Clark Bridge to expand and contract with daily temperature variations. The bridge must close to replace two bridge expansion joints and a fractured floor beam. This repair project will help preserve the bridge and extend its service life.”

Beginning June 26th, travelers, commuters and commercial traffic can expect nighttime single lane operation starting at 8pm. This will slow access with northbound and southbound traffic sharing a single lane. The single lane closure will occur 20 days before the full bridge closure and for an unreported number of days after.

Full closure will last for up to eight days beginning at 8pm on Sunday, July 16th and ending on Monday, July 24th. I’d like to think that DOT took into account CRR’s delivery schedule getting Readers to Columbia County on the 15th. (Editor’s note: Would you?)

During full closure, interstate traffic must detour to Astoria or Vancouver to cross the Columbia. Another option: The Wahkiakum County Ferry will operate twice an hour, all day, between Puget Island, Washington, and Westport, Oregon. Since the ferry has limited capacity, preference may be given to healthcare workers and first responders. It stands to reason that travelers should prepare for lengthy wait times and long lines. Ferry info line: 360-795-7867. Website: co.wahkiakum.wa.us

Let me suggest to those who use the Lewis and Clark Bridge for scheduled medical appointments, to either plan for lengthy travel times, or consider contacting your provider to reschedule your appointment.

With this closure, many of us will come to appreciate how important the Lewis and Clark Bridge is in our daily lives.

Longview resident Ned Piper coordinates advertising and distribution of CRR, and enjoys the opportunities to meet and greet friends, both old and new.

By Alice Dietz, Cowlitz PUD Comunications/ Public Relations Manager

Introducing NEW Home Energy Loan Program

Cowlitz PUD and Fibre Federal Credit Union have teamed up to offer residential homeowners financing on five energyefficient programs: insulation, windows, ducted and ductless heat pumps, and heat pump water heaters. Loans ranging from $2,000 to $12,000 are available through the credit union. The PUD rebate is applied to the loan’s annual percentage rate, lowering it to zero in most cases. How do I get started?

1. Contact Cowlitz PUD’s Energy Efficiency Services

2. Complete the Residential Energy Efficiency Loan Program Participation Form located on our webpage at www. cowlitzpud.org.

3. Obtain project pre-approval. To gain pre-approval on your home energy project, contact Cowlitz PUD Energy Efficiency Services at 360-501-9514, or email eeservices@cowlitzpud.org.

Heat Pump Water Heaters

A heat pump water heater is a smart upgrade from your standard electric water heater. It delivers the same reliable supply of hot water while saving up to 60 percent on your water heating costs. That means you’ll be saving money for many years to come. Learn more at www.cowlitzpud.org.

Customers can visit the Cowlitz PUD website for information on current programs and rebates at www.cowlitzpud. org/efficiency/

Sign Up Today, Receive a $5 Credit!

Sign up for both eBill and AutoPay and receive a $10 credit on your next bill! With eBill you will receive your bill electronically instead of waiting for a paper bill in the mail. When you set up AutoPay using your checking account or credit card, your bill will be automatically paid on its due date! Sign up on SmartHub today or contact Customer Service for assistance at 360423-2210.

•••

Alice Dietz is Cowlitz PUD’s Communications/Public Relations Manager. Reach her at adietz@cowlitzpud.org, or 360501-9146.

COLUMBIA RIVER READER COLLECTORS CLUB

LEWIS AND CLARK REVOLUTIONIZED

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.

IN FULL VIEW

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.

EYEWITNESS

TO ASTORIA

Gabriel Franchére $21.95

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

DOWN AND UP

Rex Ziak $18.95

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

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION

11 issues $55.

SUBSCRIPTIONS MAKE THOUGHTFUL GIFTS... FOR YOURSELF OR FOR A FRIEND!

We’ll send your recipient a printed gift notification card.

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