It’s that special time of year again, when we can slow down a bit to renew and strengthen the ties that bless and bind us — to our families, friends, neighbors and the larger world — and celebrate, in our various ways, the meaning of this season.
In this darkish time of year, besides personal spiritual reflection, it is also uplifting to enjoy public holiday light displays, marine parades, tree lighting events, and seasonal art and music. At right, we list a few highlights.
I send you all my best wishes for a warm and festive holiday season. Thank you for reading Columbia River Reader!
Publisher/Editor: Susan P. Piper
Columnists and contributors:
Merrilee Bauman
Hal Calbom
Nancy Chennault
Alice Dietz
Karla Dudley
Joseph Govednik
Bob Park
Michael Perry
Ned Piper
Ed Putka
Robert Michael Pyle
Marc Roland
Alan Rose
Hans Schafus
Greg Smith
Andre Stepankowsky
Debra Tweedy
Judy VanderMaten
Editorial/Proofreading Assistants:
Merrilee Bauman, Michael Perry, Marilyn Perry, Susan Nordin, Tiffany Dickinson, Ned Piper
Advertising Manager: Ned Piper, 360-749-2632
Columbia River Reader, llc 1333 14th Ave, Longview, WA 98632
P.O.
Office
Sue’s Views
HOLIDAY LIGHTS & INSPIRATION
Dec. 5 Parade of Lighted Floats, Downtown Kalama, 6pm
Dec. 5 – 7, Festival of Nativities 3–8pm, 900 11th Ave., Longview. More than 700 Nativity displays from around the world.
Dec. 6 Downtown Longview Christmas Parade, 5pm
Dec. 12 – 24 Lights in the Park from 5pm, nightly, Tam O’Shanter Park, Kelso, Wash.
Dec. 13 Castle Rock Festival of Lights Santa photos, parade, tree lighting. castlerockfestivaloflights.com
Dec. 13 Christmas Ships in St. Helens Riverfront District (with Santa and Mrs. Claus)
Dec. 27 Lighted Christmas Boats, Port of Kalama, 6pm
Christmas Ships Various dates in December on Willamette and Columbia Rivers. For schedule, visit christmasships.org
ROLAND ON WINE
Marc’s Holiday Wine Suggestions
Long Shadows Poet’s Leap Riesling very approachable,great as a starter $20 Abeja Chardonnay well regarded, $40. Eroica Riesling a classic PNW choice; bright acidity and fruit that balance any holiday mea
Mark Ryan Winery Viognier a great pick. Treveri Cellars Sparkling Gewürztraminer, $17.
Chateau Ste. Michelle Brut, a classic méthode champenoise that’s very budgetfriendly.
Lastly, a Washington syrah, let’s go with a monster Syncline McKinley Springs Syrah from Lyle, Washington. $17.
Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Marc Roland ROLAND WINES
Find more details and events on Calendar pages and in ads & articles throughout the issue.
E-mail:
Debby Neely’s original woodcut: “North Fork Chinook.”
By Judith Martin, Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Both of my sons have recently become engaged. When sharing this good news, more than half the people ask me, “Do you like her?”
How should I respond to this, other than just saying, “Yes, of course”? I’ve thought about saying, “You know, I’ve just been dying for someone to ask me that. Let me share this with you ...”
GENTLE READER: “What a question!” is a useful, all-purpose response that may be said with varying degrees of shock, outrage and amusement, depending on your relationship with the asker.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I took a long crosscountry flight, during which I was assigned the middle seat. The gentleman seated by the window insisted on asking me about my relationship with Jesus, showing me photos
on his cellphone and trying to engage me in conversation, while I was very pointedly trying to watch a movie.
The flight was full, so moving to a different seat was not an option. I provided short, polite responses and tried to focus on my movie without encouraging further conversation, but kept getting interrupted. What response would be best to effectively shut down conversation without offending the other person?
GENTLE READER: When you say you were very pointedly watching the movie, Miss Manners understands you to mean that, in spite of the brevity of your answers, your lack of engagement and the unspoken revolt inside your head, you were still relying on a wellintentioned person to take a hint.
This man was not, and did not. The next step would therefore have been to say, “Please excuse me, but I would like to watch the movie.” While this may not come naturally to the demure who are wary of being explicit, it is sometimes necessary.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was taught from a young age that when a close friend or family member has experienced a loss, the appropriate thing to do is to be there for support. Depending on the person, this might include sharing stories about the deceased, bringing over a casserole, helping with child care, holding their hand while they cry, or whatever the griever needs. I have tried to be there for my friends, not only because of this lesson, but because I genuinely want to help them at a difficult time.
However, when I experienced a loss, I was shocked that others had very different reactions to my situation. Though there were a few friends who did support me, many made it clear from day one that they weren’t emotionally available.
One had experienced her own recent loss, and I understood she was emotionally taxed herself. But the others’ lack of support shocked me. These were close friends I’d known for years who seemingly had no interest in supporting me.
I was told that what I was asking was presumptuous, unkind and insensitive; that I needed to recognize that everyone has their own burdens and do not want the responsibility of mine; that I needed to seek out a professional’s help, a support group and maybe medication to “get over it.”
I wasn’t asking for hours-long phone conversations or for friends to become my therapist. I simply wanted a little support now and again. Is that too much to ask?
GENTLE READER: New (and unpleasant) as is your realization, you need only look to the many cliches about fairweather friends to recognize that the problem itself is ancient — so ancient, in fact, it may even predate the idea that one could pay a professional to listen to one’s problems.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was in an upscale restaurant and the 20-something server totally messed up. The appetizers never arrived, our order was incorrect, etc.
The young woman gave a half-hearted apology that mostly blamed the kitchen. Then she just stood there, waiting for my response.
Other than, “Yes, you did a terrible job,” what could I say? It seems that young people want to hear “That’s OK,” but bad service is not OK. How should one respond?
GENTLE READER: The proper response lies between those two extremes. By saying, “Thank you for you apology,” you accept it without suggesting that the infraction was unimportant. But you also avoid the equally ineffective — not to mention rude — trap of criticizing the apology or repeating the complaint.
Miss Manners acknowledges that the apology was shabby, but pointing this out will neither improve the young lady’s work ethic nor increase her propensity to take responsibility in the future. Treating it as a proper apology leaves her with no doubt that you are aware things went badly wrong, and you generously see her as having accepted responsibility for it.
Nov 19, 2025 – Jan 14, 2026
By Greg Smith
The Evening Sky
A clear sky is needed.
Saturn is still in the night sky in the southeast. It’s about a quarter of the way up . November 15th will find Neptune nearby Saturn at the 9 o’clock position about a half a binocular view away; you will need big binoculars or a telescope to see it. The Pleiades (M45) is now above the eastern horizon by 7:30 pm. It is a beautiful star cluster that has been known from far antiquity. Best seen in binoculars.
The Morning Sky
A cloudless eastern horizon sky is required. The Big Dipper is standing on its handle in the northeast. Also in the lower northeastern sky is M13 the Hercules globular star cluster. One of the best star clusters in the sky. Best seen in large binoculars. Jupiter rises around 12:30 am on the Eastern Horizon. M44 the Beehive open star cluster is on the horizon just below Jupiter.
Venus will be rising about 8:00 am and will be somewhat hard to see in the growing brightness of the rising sun in eastern sky. It will be the brightest star at that time of the morning very near the eastern horizon.
Night Sky Spectacle
A clear dark sky is a must.
MOON PHASES:
New Moon, Wed., Nov. 19th
1st Quarter, Thurs, Nov. 27th
Full Moon: Wed., Dec. 3rd
3rd Quarter, Thurs., Dec. 11th
New Moon: Fri., Dec. 19th
Full Moon: Sat., Jan. 3rd
3rd Quarter: Sat., Jan 10th
END OF TWILIGHT:
When the brightest stars start to come out. Allow about an hour more to see a lot of stars.
Wed., Nov. 19th • 5:08pm
Wed., Dec. 3rd • 5:01pm
Wed., Dec. 10th • 5:00pm
Wed., Dec. 17th • 5:01pm
Wed., Dec. 24th • 5:05pm
Wed., Dec. 31 • 5:10pm
Wed., Jan. 7th • 5:15pm
Wed., Jan.. 14th • 5:25pm
SUNSET
Wed., Nov. 19th • 4:35pm
Thur., Nov. 26th • 4:31pm
Wed., Dec. 3rd • 4:28pm
Wed., Dec. 10th • 4:27pm
Wed., Dec. 17th • 4:28pm
Wed., Dec. 24th • 4:34pm
Wed., Dec. 31st • 4:34pm
If you get the chance to see the Comet Atlas , do so; you will need a clear sky and binoculars. Pay attention to the news about where to find it.
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.
Half-acre
Historic and
Cathlamet is the center of this rural farming and fishing community, providing retail and medical support.
The site has field space, outdoor tool storage and septic. You get the electricity, water and garbage bills. Lease is $500 monthly, first and deposit at signing. scotthorner428@gmail.com
By Greg Smith
GOOD BASIC BOOKS
Star Gazing for Everyone with Binoculars by Greg Babcock, who lives in Camas, Washington, and does most of his viewing in Washington and Oregon, so he knows the problems with local viewing. This book is clear and easy to read and follow. He uses three uncluttered sky maps for each season. One looking south, one overhead and one looking north. He does recommend 10 X 50 binoculars, but lower sizes can be used. Use the binoculars that you have. $20 cloudbreakoptics.comw
Sky & Telescopes Pocket Sky Atlas By Roger W Sinnott. Published by Sky and Telescope Magazine. I have found this to be an excellent and handy star atlas. Its 6.5” X 9” is very handy. There is also a jumbo edition that some say is extremely useful when doing serious star gazing with a 4”+ plus size telescope. They both are spiral bound, so the pages lay flat. $9.99 on Amazon.
BOOKS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
What Are Stars? What Is the Moon? (Very first Lift-the-Flap Questions and Answers) By Katie Daynes. Usborne House, England. Two liftthe-flap books for young children 2 years and up. Stars $9.99, Moon $21 on Amazon.
Crinkle, Crinkle, Little Star By Justin Krasner and Emma Yarlett. Workman Publishing. A hardback “read and touch” bedtime book for young children 2 years and up. $7.12 on Amazon.
USEFUL TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
Planisphere - The Night Sky 40° - 50° (Large; North Latitude). Here is your map to the night sky. This is the absolute most basic thing a star gazer MUST have. You can’t be without this. $18.95 on Amazon. Two sizes.
Binoculars The best way to start learning the objects of the night sky. You probably already have a pair, so use those. 7X35 and 7X50 are great. 10X50 is probably best,
but you will have to brace yourself to stop the shaking of your hands when holding them. Anything bigger will need a tripod to hold them steady.
Telescopes Do not by a cheap one offered in many stores unless it has an aperture of 4” or more. Those small telescopes that brag about 500X are false claims. A two-inch wide aperture telescope is only good to 100X. Rule of thumb, 50X per inch of aperture or 2X per millimeter. These two inch scopes will allow you to see the Moon and the five naked eye planets, some star clusters and the nebula in Orion, along with double stars like Alcor/Mizar in the handle of the Big Dipper. Reliable brands are Celestron and Orion.
VISIT / JOIN AN ASTRONOMY CLUB If you get a telescope or are interested in getting one,contact us at the Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club and we will guide you on what to look for, or get to know how to use yours. Look us up at friendsofgalileo. com, or on Facebook.
AD DEADLINES.
Jan 15 2026 issue: Dec 26 Feb 15 2026 issue: Jan 26 Submission Guidelines and funrazr IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE! Call us!
NOTES FROM MY LIVES
Iby Andre Stepankowsky
Great Literature: The graduation letter from his dad
’ve always believed in the power of great literature to build character and perspective about this crazy, thrilling, disappointing and unpredictable experience we call human life.
My choice contribution to the “personal beloved classic” feature in this issue of the Reader — Thoreau’s Walden — is based on that conviction.
Yet the premise of all my “Notes from My Lives” columns is that important messages often are easily for the taking in everyday life — if you’re sensitive to them.
You can connect with nature just as well by listening to a unit of cawing crows chasing off a predatory feline as you can by climbing the tallest mountain. You don’t have to be as devout and ascetic as Mother Teresa to be humbled by helping the poor.
Little epiphanies often occur when you least expect them. One came to me right after this past election day as I was cleaning out old files.
Buried inside one folder was a handwritten letter my late father gave to me upon my college graduation in 1977. His scratchy, forceful penmanship conveyed a message that covered both sides of a standard sheet of blank white paper, now faded to offwhite. I had wondered for years where it had gone.
It was a little nugget of gold that carried a message similar to that of Walden. I was 21 at the time.
“You find yourself at the threshold of your life with the tools to tackle it,” Dad wrote.
“As long as you accept the challenge of life with the interest that you demonstrate (sic) in your just-ended endeavor, you will find life is a very interesting pastime. Life is very rewarding for those who strive for excellence and very boring for the ones who just call it ‘just a job.’ ”
“Remember that the final judgment on your endeavors (comes from) you. Keep your standards very high and strive for perfection even when perfection is not demanded, and you will find love, esteem and respect.”
A little sappy, perhaps, but powerful nevertheless. And, as it turns out, it is reminiscent of Thoreau’s dictate to “live life deliberately.”
The letter is especially dear to me for two reasons.
One, because my father, an emigre, grew up impoverished and had to start working at age 11 to help support his family. Nevertheless, he attained a high level of cultivation and built a successful life in America.
Two, because I’m now just a few years shy of my dad’s age when he passed away. So that graduation letter is another reminder about the need to self-assess and make the best use of the light of life that has been shed on me.
To me, at least, my dad’s letter is great literature..
Award-winning journalist Andre Stepankowsky is a former reporter and editor for The Daily News in Longview. His Columbia River Reader columns spring from his many interests, including hiking, rose gardening, music, and woodworking. More of his writing can be found under “Lower Columbia Currents,” on substack.com.
Scappoose
Lewis & Clark
DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL
WEPISODE 19
Ocian in View!
By Michael O. Perry
hen the Corps of Discovery camped near Cape Horn, east of Cathlamet, on November 6, 1805, they knew they were getting close to the ocean. The next morning the fog was so thick they couldn’t see across the river, but they set out with great hopes of soon arriving at their destination. After they passed an Indian village west of Skamokawa, the fog lifted and they heard the roar of the ocean. That night at Pillar Rock, Clark wrote, “we are in view of the opening of the ocian, which Creates great joy.” In a second notebook, Clark wrote, “Great joy in camp we are in View of the Ocian, this great Pacific Octean which we have So long anxious to See.”
So near and yet so far
When Clark wrote “ocian in view” on November 7, 1805, they were still 20 miles from the actual coastline. The Corps thought they would reach the coast the next afternoon since 35-mile days had been typical as they traveled down the mighty Columbia the previous three weeks. However, these last 20 miles would prove to be the most miserable part of the entire journey.
The next day, a severe storm halted all progress and Clark wrote, “we are all wet and disagreeable, as we have been for Several days past, and our present Situation a verry disagreeable one in as much; as we have not leavel land Sufficient for an encampment and for our baggage to lie Cleare of the tide, the High hills jutting in So Close and Steep that we cannot retreat back, and the water of the river too Salt to be used, added to this the waves are increasing to Such a hight that we cannot move from this place, in this Situation we are compelled to form our Camp between the hite of the Ebb and flood tides, and rase our baggage on logs.”
The shoreline was covered with large drift logs. Clark wrote that some were upwards of 200 feet long and 7 feet in diameter. The waves and high tides tossed the logs, threatening to crush the men and their canoes. In an effort to save their canoes, they used large rocks to submerge them. It was impossible to proceed until the storms let up.
When it rains it pours
Journal entries for the next two weeks reinforced how miserable their situation was. A series of winter storms had them pinned down east
This map showing the mouth of the Columbia was created for the National Park Service in 2005 as part of an informational display at the Megler rest stop.
for six days along the narrow shore as rocks pelted down from the steep bank above. Clark wrote “every man as wet as water could make them.” In 11 days, they experienced no more than two hours in a row without rain.
Their buffalo, elk and deer skin clothing was soaked and rotting away, leaving some men nearly naked. Efforts to find elk or deer failed. They supplemented the few birds they shot with pounded fish purchased at Celilo Falls and with fresh fish they caught. During one stormy day, a boat of “War-ci-a-cum” Indians stopped by to trade with them. After buying some fish, Clark wrote, “the Indians left us and Crossed the river which is about 5 miles wide through the highest Sees I ever Saw a Small vestle ride… Certain it is they are the best canoe navigators I ever Saw.” The Indians had learned to make exceptional boats, whereas Lewis and Clark’s dugout canoes bobbed around like corks.
Desperate times
of the present-day Astoria-Megler bridge at what Clark called “this dismal nitich.” Every time they tried to round Point Distress (today’s Point Ellice), huge waves turned them back. The men were trapped
On November 12th, Clark wrote, “It would be distressing to a feeling person to See our Situation at this time” and, “our Situation is dangerous.” Two days later, in desperation, Lewis decided to set out by land to try to get around Point Distress and see if there were any trading
cont page 10
… two hours in a row without rain …
If you read the journals, there’s about four or five days in a row where he’s trying to say the same thing in different words. It is really a desperate time; they’re up against this steep cliff and the rocks are coming down on them and the tides are bringing these big logs in. They’re soaked and they’ve got nothing. They have no food. The best they can do is shoot a duck or catch a fish or something — but you’ve got 33 men that are dying of cold and starvation. And I think that Clark, what he was writing there was desperate, and truly from the heart.”
Five years ago, we introduced a revised version oF Michael Perry’s popular series which had begun with CRR’s April 15, 2004 inaugural issue and was reprised three times and then 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 and Clark Episode 19 from page 9
ships there. But the river became calm during a slack tide and he was able to get a canoe around the point. The next day, Clark was able to take the rest of the men around Point Distress where they camped on a sandy beach. They were now in plain view of the ocean and could see the waves and surf crashing across the Columbia bar. Lewis returned two days later and reported there were no ships or white men in the area.
Just
a little farther
On November 17th, Clark invited “all the men who wished to See more of the main Ocean to… Set out with me.” Only 11 men took him up on his offer. Surprisingly, over half the men who had just traveled more than 4,000 miles had no desire to go the last few miles to see the ocean! At Cape Disappointment, Clark wrote they looked “with estonishment the high waves dashing against the rocks & the emence ocian.” Today’s north jetty has allowed sand to accrete in that area, so you will not see what Clark saw when you go there.
During their three-day journey to Cape Disappointment and the 9-mile walk along the beach to present-day Long Beach, the men saw a dolphin, a flounder, and a 10-foot sturgeon washed up on the shore. They also saw whale bones. And, Sgt. Ordway wrote they saw “a verry large turkey buzzard” which was shot in the name of science so Clark could better examine it. That “buzzard” was a California condor –one of many the expedition would see on their journey. It had a 9-foot wing span and was almost 4 feet in length.
It had been two weeks since Clark first saw the ocean. And while they had made it around Point Distress and established Station Camp near an abandoned Chinook Indian village, the weather was still miserable. On November 22, Clark wrote “waves brakeing with great violence against the Shore throwing the water into our Camp &c. all wet and Confind to our Shelters.” On November 23, 1805, Clark wrote, “I marked my name the Day of the month & year on a Beech [alder] trees… Capt Lewis Branded his and the men all marked their names on trees about the Camp.” They had seen names of sailors from trading ships carved on other trees.
All in favor say ‘Aye’
On November 24th, each member of the expedition, including Sacajawea and Clark’s slave, York, was asked
for their opinion of where to spend the winter. The north shore was out of the question due to the constant storms and lack of elk. A few deer had been shot, but the men needed elk to replenish their clothing. The Clatsop Indians told them there were lots of elk on the south side of the river. So the choice was whether to cross the river or go back upriver to spend the winter near The Dalles.
Wintering near the mouth of the Columbia had advantages — the weather would be milder, there was elk to eat, they could boil seawater to make salt to preserve the elk meat, and if a trading ship arrived they would be able to replenish their supplies. Everyone except Sacajawea’s husband, Charbonneau, voted, and all but one person voted to cross over to the Oregon shore to spend the winter.
“
The next day they headed back upriver to cross at Pillar Rock where the river is narrower. Nobody was interested in crossing the five miles of open water at Station Camp! Lewis went ahead, seeking a place to spend the winter. Meanwhile, storms returned and pinned Clark’s party down near Tongue Point. Clark wrote, “O how Tremendious is the day.”
“ … the first writer to challenge the belief …
As far as the mouth of the river goes,there wasn’t anything in the journals to speak of, just these things that Rex Ziak quotes. That’s why all the other interpretive books, they just kind of glossed over it, didn’t even have them come down the Washington side. So, it was really a wake-up moment when I got to this point in the story. If I hadn’t read Rex’s book, I would be very disappointed in how little was here. Rex captures what is the most dismal, miserable, challenging time of the whole journey. And it was right here at the mouth of the Columbia.”
… a missed opportunity…
These guys had to really have had it. To be totally done in. It was a cakewalk to go down and see the ocean. And the ones that never saw the ocean at Long Beach and never went down to Cannon Beach to see the whale, never saw the Pacific coast at all. I mean, what an empty feeling that would be. Or, how tired and sick of it all you really might have been.” -- Michael Perry
bluff above the Netal River, about 7 miles inland from the ocean. Plans were drawn up for a log fort and construction began on December 10. The men moved into their new winter quarters on Christmas Day in 1805.
Clark’s Controversial Words
The wind “blew with Such violence that I expected every moment to See trees taken up by the roots, maney were blown down. O! how disagreeable is our situation dureing this dreadfull weather.”
Clark carved his name on a tree, “Capt. William Clark December 3rd 1805. By Land. U. States in 1804 & 1805.”
Hunters managed to shoot some elk, the first since crossing the Rocky mountains. Clark became worried about Lewis and his detachment since they had been gone for five days; Clark feared they’d had an accident.
A day later, Lewis returned and said he had found a good place to spend the winter. Two days later, after the storms passed, everyone traveled to the site where Fort Clatsop would be built – Clark wrote it was a “most eligible situation.” It was located on a
Nothing written by Lewis and Clark has caused as much controversy as Clark’s famous words, “Ocian in view! O! the joy.” Virtually all historians believe Clark was mistaken, and that what he actually saw was just Grays Bay and the Columbia River estuary. After all, when he wrote those famous words at Pillar Rock, they were still 20 miles from the ocean. But, how could Clark have made such a big mistake and not correct it later? And, just how did so many people come to doubt what Clark wrote?
It wasn’t until 1904, almost a hundred years after Lewis and Clark completed their journey, that the first complete edition of their journals was edited and published by Reuben Thwaites. Thwaites, who never visited the mouth of the Columbia, wrote a footnote stating
“The ocean could not possibly be seen from this point.” This statement was based on information from a friend who had gone to Pillar Rock and reported back that the view of the ocean was blocked by Point Adams west of Astoria. Historians reading that footnote assumed Thwaites was correct, and repeated it in their own books.
It is doubtful if Thwaites took into consideration the South Jetty at the mouth of the Columbia that was completed in 1895. This four-mile long jetty extended northwest out into the ocean from Point Adams. Sand immediately began to accumulate around the jetty as it was built, and by 1900 there was a forest growing on the hundreds of acres of newly accreted land at the northwest tip of Oregon, blocking the view where the ocean had been just 15 years earlier. While it was indeed impossible to see the ocean from Pillar Rock in 1904, in 1805 there had been a view of 6 degrees between Point Adams and Cape Disappointment. Thus, it is quite likely Clark saw where the sky met the water – but was it the ocean? The curvature of the earth is about 8-inches per mile. Thus, the surface of the flat ocean is 13-feet below the horizon when looking west along the surface of Columbia River from Pillar to page 12
Chance encounter
Former Longview residents Rick and Heather Sievers, who now live on “the rocky, verdant edge of the San Juans,” reported that they “saw a car on the Guemes Island Ferry (across from Anacortes) with the Columbia River Reader’s name on the door. We then met the driver, Hal Calbom, on the crossing. Felt like we met the best parts of our old home in Longview.”
Photo by hal Calbom
Basilica in Barcelona Left to right: Steve and Kay Lippard, of Longview, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on a cruise with a final stop in Barcelon, with friends Deborah and Craig Downs, of Kelso, Wash., at the Sagrada Familia. This is one of the most recognized architectural jewels in the world. Designed by Antoni Gaudi, it is a masterpiece of Catalan modernism and is declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
WHERE DO YOU READ THE READER?
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We beg your pardon...we’re just having fun in the rose garden! A few members of the Mt. St. Helens Club gather to consult CRR during their June 18th hike in Portland’s Washington Park and the Rose Garden. Left to right: Denny McConnell, Jean Hines, Bruce McCredie, John Reynolds, Art Montoya, Chere Jackson, Barbara Reynolds, Leslie Pogue, Linda Jennings, Bill Dewsnap. In addition to hiking, members enjoy bike rides, getaways, lunches, snowshoeing and kayaking together.
Lewis & Clark
Rock. Surface water elevations at Pillar Rock vary from three to six feet above sea level. If Clark was sitting in his canoe, his eyes would have been another three feet higher. And, if he stood to look at the mouth of the river through his telescope, he would have been six feet above the water. Thus, in theory, Clark could have seen the tops of waves and swells in the ocean.
The Expedition experienced a series of winter storms that November, with storm swells likely upwards of 10 feet high. Also, since the ocean’s waves came further into the mouth of the Columbia before the jetties changed things, it seems likely Clark did see the ocean’s waves from Pillar Rock.
It is interesting to note that none of the Corps’ other journal writers mentioned seeing the ocean on November 7th. Many historians cite this as evidence that Clark was mistaken. However, Clark had made other mistakes in his journal entries, but he always corrected them at a later date when he realized he’d been wrong. In this case, he had several opportunities to correct the record when they returned to Pillar Rock at a later date. But no such correction was made.
Photos, opposite page: Rex Ziak presenting his Lewis and Clark story in 2004. After publishing his landmark book, “In Full View,” in 2002, Ziak led tours of key sites near the mouth of the Columbia River.
In fact, on December 1st, after going back upstream to Pillar Rock to cross over to Tongue Point on the Oregon side, Clark wrote, “The Sea which is imedeately in front roars like a repeeted roling thunder and have rored in that way ever Since our arrival in its borders which is now 24 Days Since we arrived in Sight of the Great Western Ocian.” Clark had to do some calculating to be able to say it had been 24 days since he had first seen the ocean; 24 days earlier had been November 7th. Thus, even after he had been to the ocean and back to Pillar Rock, Clark made no corrections – in fact, he affirmed his original statements of November 7th.
… the local Indians … Historians estimate that Lewis and Clark interacted with between 50 and 70 Native American tribes, including the Nez Perce, Mandans, Shoshones, and the Sioux. The captains followed Jefferson’s instructions to gather all the information they could — their cultures, military strength, lifestyles, social codes, and customs. Interactions with the Clatsop and Chinook Indians were especially important to their stay at the mouth of the Columbia. In 1805 they found some 400 Clatsops living in several villages on the southern side of the Columbia River and south down the Pacific Coast to Tillamook Head. The Chinooks lived on the northern banks of the Columbia and on the Pacific Coast, while the Nehalem, the northernmost band of the Tillamook, lived on the Oregon coast at Tillamook Head south to Kilchis Point. They are described by historians as shrewd traders and masterful canoe builders. Despite complaints of pilfering and other nuisances, the captains felt they had been treated with "extrodeanary friendship."
In 2002, Rex Ziak of Naselle wrote an outstanding book that local history buffs will enjoy. His book, In Full View, focuses on just one month of the Corps’ journey and is the most insightful work about the Lewis and Clark Expedition I have found. It is likely no other living person knows as much as Mr. Ziak about what the Corps of Discovery experienced between November 7 and December 7, 1805.
Ziak was the first writer to challenge the belief that Clark had been wrong about seeing the ocean on November 7. After reading his book, I find it hard to imagine anyone not agreeing with him. Rex grew up in the Naselle area and spent 10 years researching his book, retracing their footsteps during the same nasty weather the Corps experienced.
Ziak used an extremely detailed navigation chart, showing the mouth of the Columbia River 20 years before the south jetty was built, to help the reader understand the daily events. The map shows that when Captain Clark was at Pillar Rock, he had a clear view of the opening where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean.
Above: Rex Ziak’s first book, “In Full View,” published in 2002, revolutionized Lewis and Clark scholarship.
As the bus unloaded near Dismal Nitch, Ziak busied himself, using chalk to draw a long map on the sidewalk. The map, showing the Columbia River drainage from Idaho to the Pacific, was the basis of his talk. He described the Corps making their way from the Bitterroot Mountains to within five miles of the Pacific Ocean in a month, then taking another full month to reach the ocean and crossing the Columbia to where Fort Clatsop was built
By Michael O. Perry
From a National Park Service sign in Seaside, Oregon. After the Lewis and Clark Expedition was established at Fort Clatsop, members of the group camped here from January 2 to February 21, 1806. The explorers conveniently found stone to build an oven, wood to burn, fresh water to drink, elk to hunt, and seawater to boil, having “... a good concentration of salt.”
As described in the last episode (page 9), the Expedition spent a miserable two weeks trying to reach the Pacific Ocean following the sighting of the mouth of the Columbia River from Pillar Rock on November 7, 1805. After deciding to spend the winter on the south side of the river, they loaded their canoes and went back upstream where the river was narrower and crossed over to Tongue Point. Lewis and a couple of men went ahead seeking a place to spend the winter. For the next five days, storms returned, pinning down Clark’s party and preventing Lewis’ party from returning. Clark became
worried about Lewis, fearing he’d had an accident. A day later, Lewis returned and reported he’d found a good place to spend the winter.
The Corps constructed a log fort under a canopy of old-growth Sitka spruce somewhere near today’s reconstructed Fort Clatsop. The fort was on a bluff on the west side of the Netal river, southwest of present-day Astoria and about 7-miles from the ocean. While it was a dark, damp and mossy setting, it provided protection from the gale force winds
cont page 30
Mount St. Helens Club
(E) - Easier: relatively flat ground (up to 5 miles and/or less than
(M) - Moderate: Longer, more elevation gain (over 5 miles and/or
(S) - Strenuous: Long and/or elevation gain (over 8 miles and/or
Call leader to join outing or for more info. Non-members welcome. Driving distances are from Longview, Wash.
(SS) – Snow Shoe (XC) – Cross Country Ski (K) – Kayak (B) – Bicycle RT - round trip e.g. - elevation gain
Nov 29 - Sat Cape Horn (M)
Drive 128 miles RT. Hike the entire Cape Horn circuit for 7.5 miles or less. Enjoy views of the Gorge, Cigar Rock, a waterfall, and a train tunnel. Leader: Pat R. 360225-7232 or cell 360-560-9554
Dec 3 - Wed Willapa Hills Trail - Chehalis (E) Drive 90 miles RT. Hike about 5 miles towards Chehalis and back, passing through serene countryside on a mostly flat gravel and paved trail. Discover Pass required for parking at the lot, with a restroom, or off-street parking requiring no pass.
Leader: Barbara R. 360-431-1131
Dec 6 - Sat Lake Sacajawea (E) Walk 4 miles on flat ground around the whole lake or any portion for a shorter walk. **This walk is designed for super seniors and/ or people with physical limitations at a slow pace.** Leader: Susan S. 360-430-9914
Dec 6 - Sat Kwis Kwis Loop (M)
Drive 110 miles RT. Hike 7.5 miles with 1050’ e.g. through the beautiful Sitka Spruce temperate rain forest. AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL/SENIOR PASS IS REQUIRED. Leaders: Linda J. 360431-3321; Julie L. 360-747-1415
Dec10 - Wed Frenchman’s Bar (E)
Drive 44 miles RT. Hike 6.6 with 68’ e.g. on a level, mostly paved trail beginning at Lake Vancouver Park to the Columbia River and back. Leader: Julie L. 360-747-1415
Dec 13 - Sat Milo McIver State Park (M)
Drive 140 miles RT. Hike 5.3 miles with 587’ e.g. on the Maple Ridge, Vortex, and Riverbend Trail Loop. Enjoy views of lush forests and the beautiful Clackamas River. A $10 day use fee, or an Oregon State Park Pass is required for each vehicle. Leader: Dory N. 213-8201014
Dec 17 - Wed
Watershed Park Olympia (E/M)
Drive 136 miles RT. Hike 5-6 miles out and back, starting with a forested loop for about 1.5 miles with 285’ e.g. on a dirt path, then we will nexus with the Olympia Woodland Trail which is paved with no e.g. Leader: Art M. 360-270-9991
Dec 20 - Sat
Bumping Knots Loop (M)
Drive 90 miles RT. Hike a 7 mile loop with 700’ e.g. This is a nice winter hike adjacent to Williams Creek. Leader: Bruce M. 360-425-0256
Dec 31 - Wed Lake Sacajawea New Year’s Eve Walk (E) Bundle up and walk the entire lake for 4 miles to welcome in the New Year! Very little e.g. Leaders: Linda J. 360431-3321; Julie L. 360-747-1415
Jan 3 - Sat Lake Sacajawea (E) Walk 4 miles on flat ground around the whole lake or any portion for a shorter walk. **This walk is designed for super seniors and/or people with physical limitations at a slow pace.** Leader: Susan S. 360-430-9914
Jan 7 - Wed
Marine Park Vancouver (E) Drive 84 miles RT. Hike 3.5 miles, out and back, on a level paved urban trail that follows the Columbia River with a mix of forested and urban scenery. Leader: Art M. 360-270-9991
Jan 14 - Wed Pacific Way Trail (E) Hike 5 miles out and back on a level gravel path. Leader: Moe B. 360-4499488
Jan 16 - Fri Kalama Falls Trail (SS) Drive 108 miles RT. Depending on winter conditions this will either be a snowshoe hike or normal hike of 4 miles RT with 311’ e.g. Leader: John M. 360-508-0878
sketch by the late Deena Martinson
sketch by the late Deena Martinson
Winter on the cusp...
BRR...Here comes the cold!
Preparing for the holiday season’s temperature drops
Story & Photos by Nancy Chennault
We find ourselves in the whirlwind of holiday preparations this time of year.
To prepare our favorite summer plants and garden areas for sudden drops in temperature, take some time now to take protective measures so you are not caught off guard.
Local gardeners ask each autumn – -early winter. Clean out? Clean up? Cut back? In 2025, with nary a freeze or even a killing frost as of mid-November, gardens, porches and patios in our region of the Pacific Northwest still have summer bloom. Yes, they may be a little damp and soggy from heavy rains and wind, but we have been surrounded by stunning fall colors ushered in by our summer-long drought and sunny days.
Nancy Chennault and her husband, Jim, operated a landscaping business and independent nursery/garden center for 20+ years. She wrote CRR’s Northwest Gardener in CRR’s early years. After a hiatus, she re-joined CRR to reconnect us with some of her favorite gardening topics. Nancy is founder of “Castle Rock Blooms” community team of volunteers.
The time to start is now. Find your weather window of no rain and begin. It can be quite therapeutic, even refreshing, to begin the cleansing process while immersed in the frenzy of the holidays.
The majority of landscape ornamentals that occupy gardens in the Pacific Northwest are hardy to extremes of seasonal temperatures and appreciate the opportunity to “go dormant” in the winter months. It is a time to rest and restore as the plants conserve energy for growth and blossoms next spring and summer. As our winters get warmer and our summer sunshine lasts longer, we have plants that are now ‘hardy’ that were considered ‘tender’ just 5-10 years ago.
So, where to start?
MOVE: Do you have some “plant pets” you just can’t bear to part with? Potted shrubs and trees, such as citrus, can be placed in a garage or pump house for the duration of cold weather extremes, (mid-teens longer than 1 or 2 nights). Just moving under the overhang by the house foundation or
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onto the porch and placing next to the house may be enough. Add a quilt or blanket for extra insulation. Once the cold weather passes, they can be moved or left until spring. If you leave them under overhangs or snuggly nestled under evergreen branches, WATER THEM enough to keep them moist. They will not receive moisture from winter rains and will not survive. If we do experience severe cold, a moist plant has a much better chance of survival.
What about plants in the ground? Often extremely cold weather is preceded by dry cold which can suck the moisture out of leaves. This freezing will result in damage that can be avoided if the plants are well watered. Broadleaf evergreen shrubs, such as azaleas, under house overhangs and trees are especially susceptible. Be sure to check these areas throughout the winter to make sure they stay moist.
Special Note: Tuberous Begonias and Geraniums need to be kept VERY DRY so they do not rot. They can handle fairly cold temperatures if they are dry. A little bit of water can be applied when new leaves begin to show in mid-March or so. Fallen LEAVES: They may be wet and matted from fall rains, but leaves can be used in many ways. Keep them raked off of lawns but leave them in garden beds to give beneficial organisms food, and beneficial insect eggs and pupae winter protection. As you rake and mound, you may uncover clusters of white, caviar-looking slug eggs which can be crushed or thrown in the garbage. Note: It is good time to do some adult slug control as well. Reserve some of autumn’s abundance of leaves for mounding at the base of tender shrubs. Leaves left in the
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garden will break down and help retain moisture through summer dry periods and add nutrients to the soil.
MULCH: The addition of fir or hemlock bark mulch in the fall will protect tender bulbs and perennial plants. Leave seed heads for winter food cont next page
cont from page 16
for wildlife. When you do cut back hardy fuchsias and other perennials, leave 6-8 inches of stem to deflect winter rains from the plant crown. Mulching will also keep bare soil from becoming compacted and muddy.
An added bonus … fewer weeds next spring!
SNOW: Although it is a source of insulation, as snow piles up on branches and the broad leaves of evergreen shrubs such as rhododendrons, keep it brushed off as much as possible. The excessive weight could break branches.
Warm wishes for a cozy winter of happy holidays!
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OMAN IN THE KITCHEN CLASSICS
SWISS STEAK
Savory, succulent comfort food
ne of the comfort food memories from my youth is my mom’s Swiss steak. You could cut it with a spoon. Its thick gravy coating was cooked deep into the meat. It fit our budget, too, being made from cheaper cuts of round steak
The Swiss get the credit for “Swiss steak” and the word is always capitalized. However, Switzerland had nothing to do with its creation. The term “swissing” means rolling or pounding material to soften it. To swiss steak for this recipe, you pound flour into the meat with the blade of a knife to tenderize it. Cube steak is swissed by running it through a series of blades. You can swiss steak at home, using a heavy carving or chef’s knife.
Swiss(ed) Steak (serves 4)
1-1/2 lbs. round steak, 3/4” thick
1- 1 / 2 C. flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/2 C. white or red wine
1 can beef broth, 14.5 oz.
1 Tbl. chili sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbl. canola oil
2 Tbl. butter
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Wash and dry the steak; trim away fat and membrane and cut the meat into serving-sized pieces. When swissed, they will increase in size. Spread some of the flour mixture over a piece of steak. Using the cutting edge of a heavy knife, pound the flour into the steak, cutting into the surface with multiple blows, one
way, then the other, and diagonally in both directions. Replenish the flour as needed. Turn the steak over and repeat the process.
The multiple cuts into the meat will break down the connective tissues of tougher cuts of meat. The flour is
impregnated into the meat with each cut and will turn to gravy as it cooks. The result is heavenly.
Heat the oil and butter in a skillet (with a lid) and brown the steaks on both cont page 20
Multiple blows with the knife blade cuts seasoned flour into the meat before browning on both sides.
Swiss Steak from page 19
sides. Pour off any remaining oil. Add the wine, 1/2 cup beef broth, the chili sauce and garlic. Bring to a boil on the stovetop, cover and put in the oven for 30 minutes. Turn the steaks over, add another 1 / 2 cup of beef broth and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. Turn the steaks one more time and continue cooking until they are tender and the broth thickens. Add more broth from time to time, as needed. You don’t want it to boil away. Remove the steaks to a serving platter and make gravy.
Gravy
2 Tbl. Butter, softened
2 Tbl. Flour
1 14.5-oz. can beef broth
After removing the steaks from the pan, make a paste of the butter and flour and stir into the pan drippings, cook for about two minutes. Slowly stir in the beef broth and bring to a boil. If too thick, thin with water and bring back to a boil.
Paul Thompson wrote his popular “Man in the Kitchen” column and other features since CRR’s first issue until he died in 2021. We re-run some of his classic recipes and column excerpts from time to time, in fond remembrance and appreciation for his friendship and role in developing CRR’s zeitgeist.
Diane Kenneway Escrow Closer / Assistant
Celinda Northrup Escrow Officer / LPO
Alison Peters Escrow Officer / LPO
WORDS AND WOOD
Pacific Northwest Woodcuts and Haiku
by Debby Neely
An astonishing book debut. The variety of moods and nuances Debby evokes in simple black and white — delicacy writ with a knife and gouge — testifies to her craftsmanship and to her love for her subjects. Adding haiku to these dramatic images pins them in moments and heightens our attention and interest.
• 70 original woodcuts and haiku
• Author foreword and commentary
• Gift-boxed with tasseled bookmark $35
EMPIRE OF TREES
America’s Planned City and the Last Frontier
by Hal Calbom
• 220 historic photos
• Then and Now Format
• Author interview
• Gift-boxed and signed: $50
However isolated Longview was, thanks to its huge ambitions and aggressive promotion the whole world would watch its birth and development
by Michael O. Perry
From a reclaimed swamp on the Columbia River, Long-Bell produced a million board feet a day, shipped their lumber around the world, and built a model city called Longview. This is history not just of a region, but of a daring spirit, relentless idealism, and colossal ambition. By the mid-thirties, the Depression had crumbled their empire. But the planned city they built still stood, and stands today.
• Month-by-month following
• Author commentary
• BW Edition $35
words and wood pacific northwest woodcuts and haiku debby neely
Columbia River Reader Press 2026
FROM DISCOVERY TRAIL
Lewis and Clark for the rest of us. Author Michael Perry takes a fresh look at the Expedition from the layman’s point of view, adding new notes and commentary to this third edition of the popular book based on the 33-part series debuted, and still featured in, Columbia River Reader.
Dispatches adds to the Expedition lore the insights and observations of a gifted amateur historian.
Lewis & Clark
following the Expedition commentary and illustrations
THE TIDEWATER REACH
Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River in Poems and Pictures
by Robert Michael Pyle and Judy VanderMaten
• Poetry by renowned naturalist Robert Michael Pyle
• Original photographs by Judy VanderMaten
• Field notes and commentary
• Signature edition $50
• Collector’s edition $35
• Standard edition $25
The Northwest’s premier naturalist and writer turns his eyes and art to verse, picturing the tidewater reach — where the salt water and fresh water meet in the Columbia — in beautifully crafted, whimsical and profound stanzas. More than your conventional field guide — a different way of seeing.
A LIFETIME OF ART Catalog Raisonne
by Gregory L. Gorham
Pacific Northwest painter Greg Gorham collects his buoyant evocations of local color in a
museum-quality masterwork.
• 230 pages, vibrant color
• Large format exhibition edition
• Author original manuscript
• Gift-boxed with easel $100
An entirely creative way to own and display great art!
THE TIDEWATER REACH
Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River in Poems and Pictures By Robert Michael Pyle and Judy VanderMaten.
Rex Ziak’s edited and annotated edition of Franchére’s 1820 journal, The First American Settlement on the Pacific.
IN FULL
SUBSCRIPTION THOUGHTFUL GIFTS... FOR YOURSELF OR FOR A FRIEND
11 issues mailed to your home or business $85
In three editions:
• Boxed Signature Edition, with color $50
• Collectors Edition, with color $35
A LIFETIME OF ART
WORDS AND WOOD
Pacific Northwest Woodcuts and Haiku by Debby Neely •Boxed, Gift Edition with tasseled bookmark $35
• Trade paperback B/W $25 DISPATCHES FROM
Southwest Washington author and explorer
Rex Ziak revolutionized historical scholarship by documenting minute-by-minute the Corps’ dangerous days at the mouth of the Columbia.
COLLECTORS CLUB / BOOK MAIL ORDER FORM
BOOKS: PERFECT GIFTS!
A Layman’s Lewis & Clark by Michael O. Perry.
•BW Edition $35
•220 historic photos •Boxed, signed. $50.
TDon’t miss Cowlitz County Historical Museum’s Holiday event and Last Chance to see Washington State ‘on-loan’ exhibit
Story & photos by Joseph Govednik,
Director, Cowlitz County Historical Museum
wo things are happening this holiday season at the Cowlitz County Historical Museum. One is our annual Winter Festival, and the other is the last chance to see our engaging exhibit, “Browsing the Stacks,” which will come down early in 2026.
The exhibit offers the opportunity to travel through Washington State’s history and culture without leaving town! This exhibit is on loan from the Washington Secretary of State’s Office and represents a colorful collaboration of informative panels supplemented by artifacts from the Museum’s collection. Come by and see this professionally curated exhibit before it’s too late! (See photos, next page.)
In keeping with the Holiday Spirit, our annual Winter Festival is a free familyfriendly open house on Sunday, December 7, from Noon-4pm. We often think that staying up until midnight to welcome January 1st might be the most observed celebration worldwide, but there are lots of other New Years around the world, each with their own unique
WINTER FESTIVAL
Museum staff and volunteers have decorated and prepared to welcome visitors at the family-friendly winter fest on Dec. 7th.
VISITOR CENTERS
Brochures Directions • Information
Museum & Visitor Center Hwy 101, South Bend, Wash. 360-875-5224
• Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau 3914 Pacific Way (corner Hwy 101/Hwy 103) Long Beach, Wash. 360-642-2400 • 800-451-2542
• Ocean Park Area Chamber of Commerce 1715 Bay Ave., #1, Ocean Park, Wash.
• South Columbia County Chamber Columbia Blvd/Hwy 30, St. Helens, Ore • 503-397-0685
• Astoria-Warrenton Chamber/Ore Welcome Center 111 W. Marine Dr., Astoria 503-325-6311 or 800-875-6807
Museum Magic from page 25
traditions. We’ll explore some of the better-known days, and a few more obscure ones. From Chinese New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and Diwali to Nowruz, Songkran, and Hijri, there are so many wonderful New Year’s traditions to discover all around the world. Join us at the Museum as we learn through crafts, games, and fun how these and many other
New Year holidays are celebrated. As always, the Storytellers Network and the Lower Columbia Woodcarvers will be sharing their holiday tales and wonderful carvings with visitors again this year.
Mark your calendars for Sunday, December 7th and join the fun at our Winter Festival open house from 12:00 pm until 4:00 pm. The event is free, but children must be accompanied by an adult. Be sure not to miss it! For more information, please contact the Cowlitz County Historical Museum at 360-577-3119 or visit the Museum’s website at www. cowlitzcountyhistory. org.
“Browsing the Stacks” special exhibit from the Washington Secretary of State’s office feature memorabilia and artifacts from the State’s history, industry, culture, and lifestyle.
At right: A model fallout shelter.
A monthly feature written and photographed by Southwest Washington native and Emmy Award-winning journalist Hal Calbom
ProDuction notes
Of making many books there is no end
even For A pubLicAtion biAsed For books, this month’s Reader is awash with words.
Alan Rose, our beloved bibliophile and book reviewer, asked us to submit our own personal favorites, and arrays them for us.
Our columnists wax literary, from Greg Smith’s astro-gift ideas to Ed Puttka’s “must read” on the American Revolution.
We follow Lewis and Clark’s continuing saga through the eyes, ears and insights of our own Pacific Northwest authors Michael Perry and Rex Ziak.
We meet this month’s P+P subject, Susan Donahue, in a library, rhapsodizing about books, of course.
And to add icing to an already frosted cake, our own Columbia River Reader Press trumpets its 2026 list with a four page centerfold insert. Buy our books!
Yes, indeed. We are the Columbia River Reader and we are biblioholics. Bibliomaniacs. Book nuts.
And the question has arisen: Are we, like the dinosaurs, an endangered species clicked, tapped and scrolled into oblivion by all things cyber? The printed word an anachronism? The home shelves mere piles of moldy paper? The screed given way to the screen?
We think not.
Let’s consider books as currency, not collectibles. They are meant to be circulated and shared, not hoarded and brooded over.
The Little Library boxes on corners are a hopeful sign of giving and taking. Book clubs proliferate. And donating books to Longview’s Friends of the Library or similar groups is a noble means of sharing and caring.
Give books as gifts (Yes, we happen to have a catalog of them in this issue…) and you present something both meaningful to you and enlightening to the recipient.
And whether you and your giftee agree or disagree on content or readability, what great grounds for conversation!
Books will always be with us, and worth it. Take a page from us.
people+place
Encore! Mainstage maven has more to do
Susan Donahue has her hands full.
She and a host of Friends of the Longview Library volunteers are inundated by books and book lovers, congregated in the library basement for their semi-annual book sale.
Donahue takes money, offers suggestions, applauds choices, answers questions. A retired high school teacher — and inheritor of the Mainstage Theatre program from the beloved Dana Brown — she gives the lie to our library-geek stereotypes.
“Actually I am an introvert, but I like to do extroverted things,” she said. “And I love books and talking about books.”
Asked if she can possibly characterize her busier-than-ever life and roster of community commitments as fitting any definition of “retirement,” she dodges the question (she’s also a skillful politician it seems) and defers to her husband: “He’s kind of a really good relaxer. I’m not good at relaxing.”
The Library book sale offers no rest for the weary: It seems to be the busiest place in town: At least two
THIS REALLY IS AN OUTREACH PLACE
dozen visitors, from seniors to moms with strollers, comb the stacks and tables all morning long.
“It’s one of the most popular things we do every year, twice every year,” said Donahue. “People get really excited, put their books on the table and are just ready to devour them!”
The sale offers good value — a dollar or two for most books — especially since many of the buyers then cycle the books back to the library to be sold again.
Throughout the year volunteers gather every Thursday to sort newly-donated books. Most are not destined for library shelves, becoming manna from heaven to hungry bibliophiles.
The Library uses these and other proceeds to support a spate of popular outreach programs — summer reading, story walks, staff training, the Columbia River Authors Fest, and the Longview Room, among others.
“It’s welcoming to everybody,” said Donahue, “you can even reserve a room here for your meeting or book club. This really is an outreach place. It’s our library.”
Susan Donahue
Gavin King, 9, and his 2-year-old sister Taryn with treasures they found at the October Longview Library Book Sale.
From Stage to Page
Donahue, 61, is a retired English teacher who taught at both Mark Morris and RA Long High Schools in Longview. Raised in Portland, she caught the theater bug at Mt. Hood Community College, at first on the technical side — lighting, sound, stage design, behind-the-scenes choreography.
After transferring to the University of Oregon, “I thought I wanted to be a professional stage manager,” she said. “Being an assistant director, I was in every piece of theater they put on.”
After blocking and coaching student actors for days on end, she realized what she was really doing was a lot of teaching. “So I kind of shifted my focus and decided to be a teacher. I got my first job at North Salem High School and taught English and theater.”
This best-ofboth-worlds scenario was fine, except for an energetic, passionate young woman who selfdescribes as “not very good at relaxing.” She was loving every minute of it, but those minutes were adding up to ten to twelve hours a day.
“I was in my mid-twenties and I thought ‘I am never going to date anyone, I’m never going to get married, never do a normal thing because all I do is this job!’” She decided to reset, taking a job teaching English at Mark Morris in Longview. Neither she nor the Planned City have ever been quite the same since. Heir to a Legacy
“I love this town. I absolutely love this town. And I have some friends that just don’t get it. And I say, ‘there are so many things to do here!’”
Donahue taught at Mark Morris for 12 years, met and married her husband John, and discovered Southwest Washington’s vibrant theater scene. In 2004 she moved to R.A. Long, and joined forces with a local legend, Mainstage Theatre founder and creative spirit Dana Brown.
“Mainstage is the theater for the Longview School District, because it has kids from both Mark Morris and RA Long,” said Donahue. “I’m a person that believes that schools should provide kids as many opportunities as they could possibly have.”
When Brown died of cancer in 2007, a grateful community and its two high schools hosting the Mainstage program renamed the Theatre in his honor, and gave Donahue the daunting task of furthering his leadership and legacy.
Her job was in two parts. “I tried to choose a season that would be something that would stretch the kids, both technically and the actors,” she said. “But also something, especially, that would bring people into the theatre, because that’s how we raised our funds.”
Theater of Life
Donahue is an unabashed believer in educational opportunity, and especially in the diverse learning experiences offered by her passions, the dramatic and musical arts.
“When you’re acting there’s a thousand things going on. You have to get along with people of so many
cont page 29
Through trusting Christ, my life — both on and off the field — has been changed radically. I’ve been able to play free with no worry of failure, knowing that I play for an audience of one: Jesus Christ. I no longer have to worry what others think of me because I know I’m created in the image of God and I wouldn’t want it any other way.” – Jackson Noonan
If you’re interested in more info on FCA and want to get in the
email Area Director Alyssa Root: aroot@fca.org.
Donahue has left many friends and her own legacy at R.A. Long High School and in the Dana Brown Mainstage Theatre,
Jackson Noonan Lower Columbia College Baseball
different personalities. And some of those personalities are really big and some of those personalities are really introverted, and you won’t know necessarily how that person feels. You do a whole variety of things.”
Donahue cites the Mainstage 2019 musical production, “Mamma Mia,” as a high point of both the student development and audience development she strived for (she retired in 2024).
“Once people come in and they see a show, they’re hooked!” she said. “We had huge numbers of people come in that had never been to the theater, or they hadn’t been for a long time.”
people — sources of both learning and conflict, understanding and misunderstanding, policy and politics.
“Kids are different now,” Donahue said, “It’s not just COVID. I feel like having someone who really believes right now in public schools is just critical.”
She advocates for process, not a particular point of view, and, somewhat surprisingly, feels more optimism than one might imagine in these contentious times.
“I have more hope. I think that more people now are getting out there, getting involved, wanting to express themselves about Longview,”
IT’S KIND OF NICE THAT PEOPLE ARE SPEAKING UP...
And her actors and dancers gained life skills applicable well beyond the stage: “There’s a lot of getting along. There’s a lot of collaborating. There’s a lot of thinking on your feet. And that’s also for technicians,” she said. “You have to really collaborate with people, and I think you have to do that a lot of time in life, too.”
On Board
Donahue extended her community engagement by running successfully for the Longview School Board this November.
“Public schools get it done,” she said. “We need people that care about every single kid, and make sure that everybody is heard. Teachers were glad to see me running because I knew what it was like.”
Schools are often the laboratories for change, and — in the case of the dramatically changing demographics among American young
she said. “And even if those feelings are different than mine it’s kind of nice that people are speaking up about it and not just saying ‘it is what it is.’”
Stepping Forward
Donahue both lives and preaches involvement. She points out that many elementary schools now have only a few parents in their PTAs, and frustrated parents often look to schools and teachers as surrogates for a “system” which aggrieves them.
“I wish teachers were trusted more in the current climate,” she said. ‘Used to be the school was the hub of the community, and people would do anything they could to support the school. That’s kind of changed a little bit, and that makes it harder.”
Forever an optimist, Donahue offers the same encouragement for all of us, school parents or not:
“Volunteer! Find something you’re passionate about. Find that thing that you love,” she said.
“There are so many things to do!”
Sat, Dec. 6 • Doors open 5pM
Cowlitz County Event Center 1900 7th Ave., Longview, Wash.
TICKETS: Single $100 • Couple $180 Table of 8 • $700
longviewjuniorserviceleague.ejoinme.org
Registration closes Nov. 30
The Evans Kelly Family one oF longView’s
For more information about Longview Public Library programs. and joining the Friends of Longview Library, inquire in person at the library, 1600 Louisiana Street, Longview, Wash., or visit their website: longviewlibrary.org
Interviews are edited for clarity and length.
Hal Calbom, a third-generation Longview native and author of Empire of Trees: America’s Planned City and the Last Frontier, produces CRR’s People+Place monthly feature, and is CRRPress associate publisher. See his “In the Spotlight” feature, page 37.
Providing Clean Power
Since 1936 Northwest hydropower produces no carbon emissions, thereby significantly reducing the total carbon footprint of the region’s energy production.
league of lower coluMbia
Lewis & Clark • Episode 20
and crashing waves that the Corps had experienced in November as they made their way along the north shore of the river to reach the Pacific Ocean.
Nothing but the best-est Plans were drawn up for a log fort and construction began on December 10th. The first priority was building a meat house since “all our last Supply of Elk has Spoiled in the repeeted rains which has been fallen ever Since our arrival at this place, and for a long time before.” It only took two weeks to build Fort Clatsop with the “Streightest & most butifullest logs.”
During that time, it rained continuously. It snowed and hailed. Lightning and strong winds added to the dismal conditions. Clark described December 16th as “Certainly one of the worst days that ever was!” During their four-month stay at the mouth of the Columbia River, only twelve days were without rain. Finding enough dry wood for their fires was a constant challenge.
A Christmas to remember
On December 25th, Joseph Whitehouse wrote, “We saluted our officers, by each of our party firing off his gun at day break in honor of the day (Christmass).” Sergeant Ordway wrote, “They divided out the last of their tobacco among the men that used and the rest they gave each a Silk handkerchief, as a Christmas gift, to keep us in remembrence of it as we have no ardent Spirits, but are all in good health which we esteem more than all the ardent Spirits in the world. We have nothing to eat but poore Elk meat and no Salt to Season that with.”
Clark wrote they had “a bad Christmas diner” consisting of unsalted, spoiled lean elk meat, spoiled pounded fish purchased two months earlier at Celilo Falls, and a few roots.
Itching to see Santa?
Everyone had moved into the still uncompleted fort by Christmas Day, and Clark wrote they were “Snugly fixed.” Sleeping under a roof must have been a great relief, but they still had to deal with the fleas “that torment us in such a manner as to deprive us of half the nights Sleep.” Sergeant Gass wrote, “the ticks, flies and other insects are in abundance, which appears to us very extraordinary at this season of the year, in a latitude so far north.”
than two
fort.
… five men hiked to the ocean
The Corps had run out of salt for seasoning food, and, perhaps more important, for preserving meat. Preserving meat was critical for the Corps. The elk meat harvested near Clatsop was lean and tasteless. If it spoiled it made the corpsmen sick. And they hoped to lay in a good supply of salted meat for the journey home. To make salt, the Corps needed rocks to build a furnace, wood to burn, and ocean water to boil. They also needed fresh water and game to survive their sojourn at the coast. The party found a site 15 miles southwest of Fort Clatsop. Five men traveled to the beach site, built the camp and set five kettles to boiling 24 hours a day. According to their records, they set out from Fort Clatsop on Dec. 28, 1805, and left the camp Feb. 20, 1806, with 3.5 bushels or about 28 gallons of salt.
In their rush to build the fort, the men had neglected to build chimneys for the fireplaces. Whitehouse wrote, “We found that our huts smoaked occasion’d by the hard wind; & find that we cannot live in them without building Chimneys.” A day later, Whitehouse wrote the chimneys were “completed, & found our huts comfortable & without smoak.”
On December 28th, five men hiked to the ocean, near present-day Seaside, to set up a salt making operation. A week later, Lewis wrote that two of the men brought back “a specemine of the salt of about a gallon, we found it excellent, fine, strong, & white; this was a great treat to myself and most of the party.” Prior to that, much of their meat had spoiled in the warm and damp conditions. In seven weeks, enough sea water was boiled to extract 3-1/2 bushels (28 gallons) of salt, most of which was used to preserve meat for their return trip the next spring. While at Fort Clatsop, 131 elk and 20 deer were killed.
“fireplace” in the rooms at Fort Clatsop, which was simply an open fire built on a stone slab. There was no enclosed chimney; the smoke rose in the room to escape through a hole cut in the roof.
New Year’s Day of 1806 was welcomed with a volley of gunshots, “the only mark of rispect which we had it in our power to pay this selebrated day.” The men were, almost certainly, already making plans for the trip back to St. Louis in spring. But first, they had to survive a soggy winter.
cont next page
This photo, taken less
weeks before the Fort Clatsop replica burned down in 2005, shows smoke coming out of the chimney in the middle room. On that day, a re-enactor was demonstrating how the Corpsmen made candles by heating a kettle of tallow over a fire. This is probably where the fire started that destroyed the
A
Fort Clatsop Replica
The firsT forT claTsoP replica, built in 1955, burned down on October 3, 2005. Rather than rush to rebuild it in time for the 2005 Bicentennial events, it was decided to take a little time and try to do it right.
In the 50 years since it was built, historians had learned more about the fort and knew the 1955 reconstruction was not as accurate as it might have been. However, while the replacement fort would end up incorporating some of the new knowledge to better reflect how the original fort may have been constructed, a decision was made to build the new fort on the old 1955 foundation even though evidence indicated the original fort was “U” shaped rather than made up of two parallel structures facing each other, open at both ends.
In late 2005, after the charred debris was cleared, excavations were made under the replica fort in search of evidence of the Lewis and Clark expedition. In three weeks of digging and sifting, the only things found were pieces of broken glass and pottery made after Lewis and Clark’s visit. A blue bead found was believed to have been made after 1850. Previous excavations in the area also failed to turn up any evidence of elk or deer bones, the Corps’ garbage pit, or a latrine pit (which could be identified by high levels of mercury from Dr. Rush’s infamous “Thunderclappers” used to treat many Corps members’ illnesses). Thus, there still is no clear evidence of where the original fort was located.
The replacement fort was constructed indoors at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds so that visitors could watch as it was built. The reconstruction began on December 10, 2005, which happened to be 200 years to the day after Lewis and Clark started construction of the original fort. After the new replica fort was built, it was disassembled and treated with a wood preservative and then rebuilt at the Fort Clatsop site.
by Hal Calbom
in the spotlight
Only two pop groups have ever — ever — had their first seven singles crack the Billboard Top Ten.
That’s rare rock and roll history. And it’s not even the Beatles. A hint: Do you believe in magic?
This month it’s a lovin’ spoonful ... IN THE SPOTLIGHT ...
Spoonful of Hits
Legendary tunesmiths play Longview’s Columbia Theatre
Italked by phone to super-agent Jim Della Croce as he wheeled through downtown Nashville.
Given his location and track record, I began by asking him about the current state of country music in its self-proclaimed capital.
He paused, let out a sigh, then referenced a couple of his past, pedigreed clients: “I’m sure Waylin is rollin’ over in his grave by now. And Merle, too.”
Things ain’t what they used to be in Nashville.
Or, perhaps, they’ve simply reverted to what they used to be.
What’s trending now — as the recording business continues in its doldrums — are the classic tunes and acts which got us all here in the first place.
“People are in the mood to celebrate what was and is great,” Della Croce said. “And that’s the Lovin’ Spoonful. Nobody did it better.”
Longview’s Columbia Theatre will host this evolved, beloved band, its legacy intact, on Thursday the 22nd of January at 7:30pm.
Hal Calbom is associate publisher with CRRPress,and produces CRR’s monthly “People+Place” feature, see page 27.
a tribute band Lovin’ Spoonful circa 2026 is neither a tribute band nor a nostalgia act. “We have one of the surviving founders, Steve Boone, who is pushing 80 but still comes out for gigs like this, said Della Croce. “And the rest are guys that love this music and have reputations to match it.”
The original band was founded in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1965. Their first single, “Do You Believe in Magic,” soared to the top of the charts and has stayed in the pop music canon for the six decades since.
A parade of hits followed on its heels: “Daydream,” “Summer in the City,” “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” “Darling Be Home Soon,” “Jug Band Music,” and my own favorite, “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?”
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. Commercial projects, businesses and organizations wishing to promote their particular products or services are invited to purchase advertising.
ADVERTISING Deadlines, see page 7 Ned Piper, Manager 360-749-2632 nedpiper@gmail.com
General inquiries: publisher@crreader.com 360-749-1021
HOW TO PUBLICIZE YOUR NONPROFIT EVENT IN CRR
Send your non-commercial community event info (incl name of event, non-profit 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, Longview, WA 98632
Submission Deadlines
Events occurring:
Jan 15 – Feb 20, 2026 by Dec 26 for Jan 15 issue.
Feb 15 – March 20, 2026 by Jan 26 for Feb 15 issue
Calendar submissions are considered for inclusion, subject to lead time, relevance to readers, and space limitations. See Submission Guidelines above.
Trees of Heroes Saturday, Nov 29, 1–3pm. Honoring post-Sept 11 fallen heroes. 11 trees throughout Washington State, incl one in Longview. Help decorate the tree while visiting with other families and sharing memories. Anyone is welcome to attend, including families of local fallen heroes to place their loved ones’ ornaments. Partnership of Gold Star Families of Washington and the Washington State Fallen Heroes Project. Event held at Ashtown Brewing, 1145 11th Ave., Longview, Wash. Info: 360-431-1177 (Renee Ramey, a Gold Star mother).
Community Festival of Nativities Fri, Dec 5, 3–8pm; Sat, Dec. 6th, 3–8pm; Sun, Dec 7, 3–7pm. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 900 11th Ave., Longview, Wash. FREE.
Breakfast/Brunch with Santa Sat, Dec 6, 9-11:30am, pancake breakfast with sausage and eggs. Scappoose High School, Scappoose, Ore. Sun, Dec 7, 10am–12:30pm, Brunch box. Rainier Senior Center, 48 W. 7th St., Rainier, Ore. Festivities at both events include reindeer games, cookie decorating, Santa visits. Tickets at door $10; advance $8 online: amanicenter.org: Proceeds benefit Amani Center (Columbia County Child Abuse Assessment Center).
Mount St. Helens Club HIKES
newcomers welcome
watercolorizeD sketch by the late Deena Martinsen, See schedule, page 14
THE MINTHORN COLLECTION OF CHINESE ART
A gift to the community from Dr. and Mrs. H. Minthorn 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 Forsberg Gallery in LCC’s Rose Center, open M-Th 10–3. Free.
Winter Festival at Cowlitz County Historical Museum Sun, Dec. 7, 12–4pm. Free. Learn about New Years around the world via crafts, games, fun activities. Children must be accompanied by an adult. 405 Allen St., Kelso. Wash. See Museum Magic, page 25.
Christmas Concert in the Venue Sun, Dec. 7, 3–5pm. North Coast Chorale. Admission $14. Little Island Creamery, 448 E. Little Island Rd., Cathlamet, Wash. See ad, next page.
Kelso Rotary Lights in the Park Dec 12–24. 5–9pm (10pm Fri and Sat). Spectacular lighted displays, music on car radio. $5 suggested donation. Benefits local community projects.Tam O-Shanter Park, Kelso Wash. Enter from S.Kelso Dr.
Liberty Theatre White Christmas Singa-long Fri, Dec 19, 7pm. 1954 film on big screen, embedded lyrics. Annual favorite usually sells out. Tickets online at libertyastoria.org $10 adults, $5 age 12 & under. Liberty Theatre, 1203 Commerical St., Astoria, Ore.
BROADWAY
GALLERY
1418 Commerce Avenue, Longview Tues thru Sat, 11–4. Visit the Gallery to see new work. For event updates check our website: the-broadwaygallery.com, at Broadway Gallery on Facebook, and broadway gallery longview on Instagram.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Dec Guest Artist Krista Mead, watercolor; Cindy Grieve, gourd art
Jan Happy New Year All-MEMBER SHOW
See ad, page XX
New Classes & Workshops available on our website or in gallery
FIRST THURSDAYS
Dec 4 • 5:30–7pm
Join us for New Art, & Nibbles. Music by Del Biolostosky
Jan 8 • 5:30–7pm
Join us for music & refreshments
Artisan ornaments, cards & gifts just for the season.
OPEN Tues - Sat 11–4
Free Gift Wrap on request.
Voted one of top 3 Galleries in SW Washington. January 13–25 Studio Clearance Sale
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.
Strategies for Resolving Conflicting
Evidence by Angela Packer McGhie, a Certified Genealogist, writer, and lecturer. Lower Columbia Genalogical Society’s Jan 8, 2026, zoom meeting. Virtual meeting “doors” open at 9:30am; speaker’s program will begin at 10am. The public is invited to attend and to consider joining the society for $20/yr. For a link to join the meeting or to join the society contact lcgsgen@yahoo.com 24hrs prior to the event
Sunday, Dec. 7th, 3:00pm
Tickets: Adult $30; Senior/ Students $28, Child $25
CLATSKANIE ARTS COMMISSION
Performance at Birkenfeld Theatre, Clatskanie Cultural Center, Clatskanie, Ore.
Tickets / Info: www.clatskaniearts.org
Holiday Who-Ville in Scappoose historic house
Everyone, whoever may live near or far, is invited to come to the Watts House by bike, foot or car! The historical Watts house in Scappoose has been transformed into WHO-Ville for a holiday treat.
Each room of the 1900s-era home has been meticulously decorated in Whoville, Grinch and Seuss style. Grand Opening is November 30th, 6–8pm. This coincides with the citywide Holiday Lighting contest. Whoville will be open every Wednesday from 3–7pm and Friday–Sunday from 6-8pm in December and the first week of January. Admission is free and the experience is loved by young and old alike.
View the news coverage from the previous two years on YouTube by doing a “whoville in Scappoose” search. Consider making a visit to Scappoose Whoville a holiday tradition. The Watts House is located at 33568 E. Columbia Ave., Scappoose,Ore.
Opera on a Saturday Morning Longview ladies join NYC audience and others around the world for LaBoheme
By Karla Dudley and Merrilee Bauman
Anew way to see opera: broadcast live from the Met to your local theatre.
I saw “Aida” earlier this year in Olympia, and recently attended “La Boheme” in Vancouver. The cameras are rolling as the audience in New York is settling into their seats.
“La Boheme” is the story of Mimi (a seamstress) and Rodolfo (a writer) in Paris, with other drama and characters woven into the tale. The singing was amazing; the costumes and sets were historical and colorful. One of the highlights to me was the Christmas
Ihad the best seat recently at the New York Metropolitan Opera production of “La Boheme” for only $25. And I was back home by 2pm! At Sue Piper’s suggestion in last month’s Columbia River Reader, I decided to try out her recommendation of the Met Live in HD series that live streams performances to cinemas around the country.
This live performance, which began at 1pm in New York City (10am PST), was shown in a theater in Vancouver. I confess that I had reservations. As a fan of live theater of any kind, I wondered if this would measure up. I thought I’d miss the exciting atmosphere of being in the audience and hearing live music. And, yes I did miss that a little but as soon as the show started I realized that this was a totally different experience.
Eve market scene with LIVE animals; (the dancing bear may have involved a costume, but the donkey and horse were real.)
The stage was full of children and adults, all celebrating Christmas with song and dance. A marching band added to the chaos. Between the opera’s four acts are interviews with performers and a backstage view of the crew moving huge sets into place. It was a very interesting, fun morning and a chance for opera buffs and curious first-timers to get a taste of the world and music of opera. – Merrilee Bauman
I felt like I was part of the audience, but was also able to see and hear so much better than I would have just sitting in a seat. The incredible camera work allowed me to be so close to the singers…to not only hear perfectly, but also to see their expressions, their emotions, and even their tears. And, dare I say, every tooth in their mouths.
The subtitles were easy to read and unobtrusive. I know this opera well and expected the tragic ending to move me, but this was on a whole different level. It was total immersion in this art form. At a live performance I would be just sitting during the intermissions, but with this production, every intermission was an opportunity to see the complicated
The Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live movie theater transmissions brings world-class opera productions direct from the Met stage in New York City to cinemas around the globe.
Q
UIPS & QUOTES
Selected by Debra Tweedy
Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly of wisdom.
--Queen Elizabeth II, 1926-2022
Remember that not to be happy is not to be grateful.
--Elizabeth Carter, English writer, 17171806
One need never be dull as long as one has friends to help, gardens to enjoy, and books in the long Winter
--D.E. Stevenson, Scottish writer, 1892-1973
We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.
--John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, 1917–1963
I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when you have room for it.
--Robert Brault, American operatic tenor, 1963-
Some of the days in November carry the whole memory of summer, as a fire opal carries the color of moonrise.
--Gladys Taber, American author and columnist, 1899-1980
Fine old Christmas, with the snowy hair and ruddy face, had done his duty that year in the noblest fashion and had set off his rich gifts of warmth and color with all the heightening contrast of frost and snow.
--George Eliot, English novelist and poet, 1819-1880
For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.
--Charles Dickens, English novelist and social critic, 1812-1870
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
--Ernest Hemingway, American writer and journalist, 1899-1961
Even the act of peeling a potato can be a work of art if it is a conscious effort.-
-Joseph Beurys, German artist and theorist, 1921-1986
What are you reading?
The British Are Coming The War of America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775 – 1777
Rick Atkinson
Review by Ed Putka
On November 16, PBS debuted Ken Burns’ sixpart, 12-hour documentary “The American Revolution.” Anyone wishing to dive deeper into this fascinating period of our history could do no better than to get their hands on Rick Atkinson’s The British Are Coming.
This first book in his three-volume story of the Revolution is as readable a narrative history as you will find anywhere. A natural storyteller, Atkinson makes what would otherwise be dry descriptions of battles and events into an exciting and page-turning near-novel. He combines this storytelling with meticulous research (his appended notes and sources run to 178 pages). For example, he tells us with quartermaster detail that when the British General Gage demanded Bostonians surrender their weapons in April 1775, “some 1,778 firelocks had been handed over, plus 634 pistols, 973 bayonets, and 38 ancient blunderbusses.”
Atkinson, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his history of the Second World War, Liberation Trilogy, brings the same skill sets to this volume. We have the incisive character sketches, precise contemporary language, and new maps that give us a deeper understanding of the people and places involved in the eight-year conflict that shaped this nation. A bonus is sixteen pages of color photos, mostly portraits of the major personalities.
Volume Two, The Fate of the Day, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, was published earlier this year and continues the brilliant storytelling. Previews of the Burns’ documentary have Atkinson appearing as one of the guest historians, so tune in to see the man behind the words..
Retired judge Ed Putka writes humorous stories, many of them about his childhood growing up in a Polish neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and frequently reads them at the monthly WordFest events.
feature coordinated by Alan Rose
ATTENTION READERS
Read a good book lately? Share your impressions and thoughts with other CRR readers. Email alan@alan-rose.com or publisher@crreader.com for info. Writers and non-writers welcome, editing services provided, and can be based on phone miniinterview if preferred.
Longview native Debra Tweedy has lived on four continents. She and her husband returned to her hometown in recent years, largely due to Lake Sacajawea and the Longview Public Library. Newly-relocated to Springville, Utah, to be near family, she remains part of CRR’s editorial team from afar.
PAPERBACK FICTION
1. The God of the Woods
Liz Moore, Riverhead Books, $19
2. Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir, Ballantine, $22
3. Remarkably Bright
Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99
4. I Who Have Never Known Men
Jacqueline Harpman, Transit Books, $16.95
5. How About Now
Kate Baer, Harper Perennial, $18
6. The Frozen River Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18
7. Mate Ali Hazelwood, Berkley, $20
8. The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition
William Goldman, Harper Perennial, $22
9. Playground
Richard Powers, W. W. Norton & Company, $19.99
10. The Life Impossible Matt Haig, Penguin, $19
Brought to you by Book Sense and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, dated Nov. 12th, 2025, 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 NON-FICTION
1. On Freedom
Timothy Snyder, Crown, $20
2. On Tyranny
Timothy Snyder, Crown, $14
3. Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22
4. How to Know a Person
David Brooks, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20
5. The Wager
David Grann, Vintage, $21
6. The 2026 Old Farmer’s Almanac Old Farmer’s Almanac $10.95
7. All That the Rain Promises and More
David Arora, Ten Speed Press, $17.99
8. The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Penguin, $19
9. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025
Susan Orlean, Jaime Green (Eds.), Mariner Books, $18.99
10. Meditations for Mortals Oliver Burkeman, Picador, $19
Aclassic is a book that has never stopped saying what it has to say. Written in a specific time, it remains relevant, speaking to each age anew in new ways. Last month, I called for favorite classics beloved by readers of this column, books that had struck a personal chord at a certain age, books that had been formative, maybe transformative, and that they would recommend to other readers.
1. The Black Wolf
Louise Penny, Minotaur Books, $30
2. The Everlasting Alix E. Harrow, Tor Books, $29.99
3. The Secret of Secrets
Dan Brown, Doubleday, $38
4. Katabasis
R. F. Kuang, Harper Voyager, $32
5. Queen Esther John Irving, Simon & Schuster, $30
6. The Correspondent
Virginia Evans, Crown, $28
7. The Impossible Fortune
Richard Osman, Pamela Dorman Books, $30
8. Alchemised SenLinYu, Del Rey, $35
9. Tom’s Crossing
Mark Z. Danielewski, Pantheon, $40
10. Heart the Lover
Lily King, Grove Press, $28
1. Nobody’s Girl
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Knopf, $35
2. Bread of Angels
Patti Smith, Random House, $30
3. Always Remember Charlie Mackesy, Penguin Life, $27
4. Book of Lives
Margaret Atwood, Doubleday, $35
5. The Serviceberry
Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Burgoyne (Illus.), Scribner, $20
6. 1929
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking, $35
7. Separation of Church and Hate
John Fugelsang, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $29.99
8. Strong Ground
Brené Brown, Random House, $32
9. Ursula K. Le Guin’s Book of Cats
Ursula K. Le Guin, Library of America, $16.95
10. 107 Days
Kamala Harris, Simon & Schuster, $30
Top 10 Bestsellers
1. The Humble Pie
Jory John, Pete Oswald (Illus.), HarperCollins,$19.99
Jan Bono (Long Beach,Wash.) recommends Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. “Possibly the first and last time I enjoyed a science fiction novel,” she writes. “It answered all my ‘meaning of life’ questions back then.” Heinlein’s classic made the same revelatory impact on me as a teenager. But the “meaning of life” questions kept changing.
Science fiction was also important to Fred Hudgin (Ariel, Wash.) when he was a young man, especially Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, inspiration for the classic 1982 film, “Blade Runner.” “I thought and dreamed about that book for years,” as he began writing his own science fiction, “hoping mine would someday be as good.”
14 CRR readers talk about their favorites
Andre Stepankowsky (Longview, Wash.) was deeply influenced by Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, both its lament that “most men live lives of quiet desperation,” and its exhortation to live life deliberately.
The Good Earth first inspired Elaine Cockrell (Longview, Wash.) to read about China, and then all the other books written by Pearl Buck.
Alan’s haunting novel of the AIDS epidemic, As If Death Summoned, won the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award (LGBT category.) He organizes the monthly Word Fest gathering (info at left). Reach him at www.alan-rose.com.
Turning to the East, Stewart Dall (Longview, Wash.) recommends The Art of War by Sun Tzu, for its “profound simplicity” beyond its military application. It’s about so much more than war.
Mary Putka (Kalama, Wash.) taught Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird to eighth graders for many years. It still remains her favorite, with the humane, noble Atticus Finch observing, “I think there’s just one kind of folks, folks.”
Dean Takko (Longview. Wash.) didn’t read many classics until he was an adult, which he thinks is an advantage. “You can reflect on your own life experiences and understand the pain or happiness the character is cont page 37
for the holidays
Nov. 29 Small Business Saturday *Passport Event @ 10-6pm / Downtown Kalama / Mountain Timber Market
Dec. 6 Polar Express Family Movie @ 6:30-9pm (Free entry / snacks)
Dec. 6-7
Port of Kalama Interpretive Center / 110 W. Marine Drive
Holiday Market @ 11-5pm (Santa Pics / Kids Market / Live Music & more!)
Mountain Timber Market / 254 Hendrickson Drive
Dec. 27 Lighted Christmas Boats @ Port of Kalama @ 6pm
experiencing.” Among his favorites are the short stories of Ernest Hemingway, especially “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.”
What about Children’s Lit?
Tiffany Dickinson (Longview, Wash.) recommends Matilda by Roald Dahl. “It was one of the first books I’d ever read that made me laugh out loud (kid’s books were always so SERIOUS). I loved Matilda’s resilience and pep, that the villains get their due, and she lives happily ever after.” Husband Paul Dickinson read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes in eighth grade and counts it as a “kind of coming of age.” “It was the first time I started seeing things from the point of view of an adult”—without happily-ever-after endings.
Some readers recommended lesser known works by favorite authors. Instead of The Catcher in the Rye , Portland, Oregon writer Jeff Stookey recommends J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories , which profoundly touched him as a teenager with its human pathos and introduced him to Eastern philosophy and mysticism, expanding his understanding of spirituality.
Where to pick up YOUR copy of Columbia River Reader
It’s delivered all around the River by the 15th of each month
(except the Holiday edition, which comes out Nov. 25th. Here’s the handy, regularly-refilled box and rack locations where you can pick up a copy.
LONGVIEW
U.S. Bank
Post Office
CLATSKANIE, ORE
Post Office
Instead of The Egg and I, Mary Stone (Castle Rock, Wash.) recommends Betty MacDonald’s memoir of growing up in the Great Depression, Anybody Can Do Anything, which Mary found “refreshingly humorous,” and also helpful as she herself was learning to write.
Forever Fit - 1211 18th Ave
Bob’s (rack, main check-out)
In front of 1232 Commerce Ave
In front of 1323 Commerce Ave
In front of Elam’s 1413 Commerce
Teri’s on Broadway (side entry)
In front of Freddy’s 1110 Commerce
YMCA
Fred Meyer (rack, service desk)
Grocery Outlet, OB Hwy
Fibre Fed’l CU - Commerce Ave
Monticello Hotel (front entrance)
Kaiser Permanente
St. John Medical Center (rack, Park Lake Café)
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
Ned Piper’s (Longview, Wash.) favorite is Albert Camus’ existentialist novel, The Stranger, opening with the memorable line, “Mother died today…or was it yesterday?” When I first read the book in high school, I was perplexed and frustrated by its lack of moral clarity. It was unlike anything I had ever read before. I remain haunted still by its idea of the “benign indifference of the universe.”
Although admitting that George Eliot’s Middlemarc h is his all-time favorite, Hal Calbom (Seattle, Wash.) recommends Body and Soul by Frank Conroy, a book which “over the years I’ve purchased for friends and perpetrated on people. It intertwines culture and music and urban life and childhood with a splendid tone and narrative drive.”
Hermann Hesse is perhaps best known for the cult classic Siddhartha, but Ed Putka (Kalama, Wash) prefers Hesse’s masterpiece, The Glass Bead Game (also published as Magister Ludi ), finding it “a brilliant examination of what constitutes a meaningful life.”
So, as bleak November slides us into winter, consider cuddling up with a classic, wrapped in your warm blanket, maybe accompanied by a cup of hot cider or glass of wine (or whiskey, if you’re reading Hemingway). Slow down time, taking a break from our frenetic TikTok existence with its Instagram attention spans. Turn off the TV, put away your phone, and settle in for a quiet evening with a companion who can transport you to a different time and place, perhaps even induce in you new and wondrous states of being.
Books make great gifts ... for your friends or for yourself!
LCC Student Center
Columbia River Reader Office 1333 14th Ave. (box at door)
Omelettes & More (entry rack)
KELSO
Visitors’ Center / Kelso-Longview Chamber of Commerce
KALAMA
Etc Mercantile
Fibre Fed’l CU
Kalama Shopping Center corner of First & Fir
Columbia Inn
McMenamin’s Harbor Lodge (rack)
Luckmans Coffee, Mountain Timber Market, Port of Kalama
WOODLAND
Visitors’ Center
Grocery Outlet
Luckman Coffee
CASTLE ROCK
In front of CR Blooms Center
Cowlitz St. W., near Vault Books & Brew
Visitors’ Ctr, 890 Huntington Ave N., Exit 49, west side of I-5
Cascade Select Market
Fibre Fed’l CU
VADER
Little Crane Café
RYDERWOOD
Café porch
TOUTLE
Drew’s Grocery & Service
COLUMBIA CITY
Post Office
ST HELENS
Chamber of Commerce
Sunshine Pizza
St. Helens Market Fresh
Olde Town (near 2-Cs Vendor Mall)
Big River Tap Room
Safeway
WARREN
Warren Country Inn
SCAPPOOSE
Post Office
Road Runner
Fultano’s
Ace Hardware
WARRENTON
Fred Meyer
CATHLAMET
Cathlamet Pharmacy
Tsuga Gallery (entry rack)
Computer Link NW
Puget Island Ferry Landing
SKAMOKAWA
Skamokawa General Store
NASELLE
Appelo Archives & Café
Johnson’s One-Stop
Oakie’s (rack inside)
ILWACO
Time Enough Books (entry table)
OCEAN PARK
Ocean Park Chamber of Commerce, 1715 Bay Ave.
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
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–10:30pm; 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. 503-556-9950. interstatetavern@yahoo.com
El Tapatio
117 W. ‘A’ Street
Mexican Family Restaurant. Open Fri-Sat 11am-11pm, rest of week 11am-10pm. Full bar. 8-11pm. Patio seating. 503-556-8323.
Longview, Wash.
1335 14th Avenue
18 rotating craft brews, pub fare. M-Th 11am–9pm. Fri-Sat 11am–10pm. Local music coming soon. 360-232-8283. Wine Wednesdays: $5 pours.
Formerly The Carriage Restaurant & Lounge located on 14th Ave. 3353 Washington Way Chinese & American cuisine. Full bar, banquet room stage room with balcony; available for groups, special events. Restaurant: 11am–9pm, Lounge 11am–1:00am. 360-425-8680.
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.
COLUMBIA RIVER dining guide
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-Wed 10am–8pm, Th-Sat 10am–9pm, Sunday 11am–8pm. Inside dining, Drive-thru, outdoor seating. 360-414-3288. See ad, page 17.
Hop N Grape 924 15th Ave., Longview Tues–Thurs 11am–8pm; Fri & Sat 11am–9pm. BBQ meat slowcooked on site. Pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, turkey, salmon. Worldfamous mac & cheese. 360-577-1541.
Kyoto Sushi Steakhouse 760 Ocean Beach Hwy, Suite J 360-425-9696.
Japanese food, i.e. Hibachi, Bento boxes, Teppanyaki; Sushi.
Mon-Th 11-2:30, 4:30-9:30. Fri-Sat 11am10pm. Sun 11am-9pm. 360-425-9696.
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
OMELETTES & MORE
3120 Washington Way
Open 7am – 1:30pm. Closed Christmas Day. Home-cooked comfort foods. Breakfast & lunch classics. Dine in or order online at omelettesandmore.com. 10% Senior Discount everyday. 360-425-9260. See ad, page 12
20 Cowlitz Street West, Castle Rock. Coffee and specialty drinks, quick eats & sweets. See ad, pg 34
Kalama, Wash.
LUCKMAN’S COFFEE Mountain Timber Market, Port of Kalama. Open 8am–7pm. 360-673-4586.
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. 360673-9210. Indoor dining, covered outdoor seating.
Antique Deli 413N. First. M-F, 10–3. Call for daily sandwich special. 360-673-3310.
FIRESIDE CAFE
5055 Meeker Dr., Kalama. Open Wed-Sun, 9–4. 360-673-3473.
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 8.
Big River Tap Room 313 Strand Street on the Riverfront. Lunch/Dinner TueThurs 12–8pm; Fri-Sat 12–9pm. Chicagostyle hot dogs, Italian beef, pastrami. Weekend Burrito Breakfast, Sat 8-11, Sun 8am-3pm.
Scappoose, Ore.
Fultano’s Pizza 51511 SE 2nd. Family style with unique pizza offerings, hot grill items & more! “Best pizza around!” Sun–Th 11:30am–9pm; Fri-Sat 11:30am–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 56575 Columbia River Hwy. Fine family dining. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Full bar. Call
Toutle, Wash.
Woodland,
The Klondike
The Klondike 71 Cowlitz St, Historic Riverfront District. Steaks, seafood, burgers. Daily specials M-Th. Catering. Full bar. klondiketavern.com. 503-396-5036.
“John Sebastian wanted to be a solo artist, always did,” said Della Croce.“He split from the band in 1968, played Woodstock, and the rest is history.”
Pop inspirations
The split was entirely amicable and in the intervening years members have come and gone, still carrying the torch for the magical Spoonful sound. Luminaries like Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson cited them as inspirations. REM Guitarist Peter Buck called them “America’s most underrated band.”
The current lineup features an all-star troupe of musicians delighted to present one of pop and rock’s greatest catalogs of hits. Members have played and produced with such artists as Badfinger, Levon Helm and Neil Diamond.
The Columbia may never get such a collection of pop classics in one show. And by the way, for rock trivia buffs, that other group that charted its first seven singles was….Gary Lewis and the Playboys of “This Diamond Ring” fame. Enjoy the music! It rarely gets better than this special Spoonful.
The Three-Second Dream
By Hans Schafus
Buck had always been a sound sleeper. When his head hit the pillow, it didn’t matter whether it was made of down feathers, wood or concrete, he dropped off like a descendant of Rip Van Winkle. He never dreamed. That is, until one night he had a dream that lasted only three seconds.
Like an exploding Roman candle, much flashed in those brief seconds. In the first second, he was aware of a smart-looking brunette somewhere in her early forties sitting alone on a railway platform. Above her head was a sign, Gare du Nord. In the next second, he noticed people coming and going in a swirl of movement. In the final second, she sat huddled in a tan trench coat, dark brown scarf and black beret, and when she looked up she smiled at him. That’s when he woke up. The dream had such clarity that Buck had no difficulty remembering her face in vivid detail.
In the morning he dismissed the dream as a rare occurrence, yet every two or three months the dream would resurface.
Always the same, but now other details emerged. The overcast sky hinted of late afternoon light, and her trench coat had melting droplets of snow, a sure sign of winter. And there was also the faint sound of Christmas music.
From the second-story window of the Starving Artist Foundation, Nicole looked from her Director’s office above the Oakland railroad
yard. She paid scant attention to the crude, enigmatic graffiti on the boxcars that paraded by her window. Yet, each working day she would draw the curtains and for a few moments, scanned the boxcars being shunted before settling into her routine. She often worked through the weekend to avoid unwanted interruptions.
Early one Saturday morning she saw a stylized graffiti the entire length of a boxcar. It was more like a mural and portrayed a far-away European city in hues of gray and silver. It momentarily held her interest before she plunged into foundation work. Later in the day she noticed the car had rolled away. Some weeks later she was spending another working Saturday and, when pulling the curtain, she was again captivated by a new boxcar mural. This time the scene was of mist-shrouded barges anchored in an icy river. She allowed the momentary distraction, then wrestled with another contract. Yet an hour later, curiosity pulled her to the window, but the track was empty.
Nicole began to long for Saturdays and every time she pulled the curtains she cont page 43
Welcome to Historic Downtown Longview!
Saturday, Dec. 6 •11:30am-5pm, at the Roxy Theater
1101 Commerce Ave., Free admission
The market will be decorated for the holidays and feature artisan vendors ... including painters, jewelry makers, wood turners and local authors. Keebler Coffee, located in front portion of the Roxy Theater, will sell holiday sips and treats 8am – 8pm.
Santa visits 3-5 pm. Carolers perform 4-4:30pm
Event funded via a grant from ArtsWA. Table fees benefit Longview Downtowners, a non-profit aimed to support Downtown Longview businesses. 5pm Annual Cowlitz PUD Holiday Parade on Commerce Ave
Miss Manners from page 41
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Two years ago, a friend and I met for lunch and to celebrate our birthdays. She presented me with a card that featured a stylized drawing of a breed of dog whom we both are fond of. As she gave me the card, she noted that she had to really debate whether she wanted to give it to me, as she liked it so much. I allowed that it was a nice card, but if she really wanted it, she could keep it. She refused the offer, so I kept the card safe, thinking that I would frame it for her and she could have it back.
When we met for our next birthday lunch, I reminded her of the card and how she had been reticent to give it to me. I said that I had kept it safe, then presented her with the picture. Initially, she was pleased, but by the end of the meal she was complaining that she had no place to put it on a table at her home. I pointed out that she could hang it up, and she grumbled there was no free wall space, but she did take the picture with her.
Fast-forward to this year, when I received a package from her and inside was that same framed picture as a birthday present. I found it irksome. If she had not wanted it, she could have just given it to a charity.
GENTLE READER: Unfortunate as this is for your friendship, it is fascinating to Miss Manners as an illustration of etiquette’s subtext.
On the surface, your behavior was reasonable and considerate. Your friend admitted to wanting the card, so you tried to give it back to her. Twice.
But presents (unless they are merely plucked from the recipient’s wish list) are loaded with symbolic meaning: “I know you, I understand you and I want to please you.”
To return a present to its donor is therefore to respond with, “Well, you failed.” (Therefore, discretion is required in disposing of what is unwanted -- which is fine to do, as long as the giver doesn’t know.)
You should undo that unintended message by telling her how much you value the card and didn’t really want to let it go, except that you value the friendship more. And send her a different birthday present reflecting another interest of hers.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, gentlereader@missmanners.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)
Toys, coats and gifts for children in need
Gilmore/Knowles Community Christmas Center opens Dec. 3rd
A public Ribbon Cutting and open house will be held at the Gilmore/Knowles Children’s Community Christmas Center on December 2nd from 12 noon to 3pm in the YMCA, 766 15th Ave, Longview. The Center opens the Christmas center for families in need on December 3rd, with hours 9am to 3:30pm, Monday through Friday, through Dec. 22nd.
Parents may come and complete an application. Qualifying families will be scheduled the same day or following days to shop for the children in their household. Selections include new toys and clothing, plus new and gently-used coats for all family members.
If you wish to help
Community members wishing to contribute can fill out a tag on a tree at participating local merchants or bring donations directly to the center during its open hours. Gently-used coats can be taken to Orchid Cleaners, 734 Commerce Ave, Longview, where owner Patrick Shaw contributes by dry cleaning coats for the center.
For further questions or ways to donate, please contact the center via email: gkcccc@gmail.com
Opera from page 33 choreographed set changes behind the scenes, and hear interviews with the performers, giving me a deeper understanding of the show.
I’ve always felt that opera has a bad reputation as being too high brow and too expensive for the average person. But, really, it’s just a way of telling
a story through music, drama, humor, acting, costumes, and sets. And the voices. Oh, the voices!
Some of the best singers in the world who have devoted their lives to this art form sing at the Met. They are the best of the best. I was transported to another world for a few hours on a Saturday morning in Vancouver. I recommend that you try it sometime. –
Karla Dudley
UPCOMING MET LIVE IN HD OPERA
Dec. 6 • The Magic Flute (Mozart) Encore performance. Set in Egypt, above.
Dec. 13 • Andrea Chénier (Giordano) Set in Paris during French Revolution
Jan 10 •I Puritani (Bellini) Takes place during the English Civil War
Jan. 24 • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Bates) Set during WWII
Info and specific cinema locations: metopera.org
Nearby participating cinemas are located in Olympia, Vancouver, Portland, Tigard, Beaverton, Hillsboro. Ticket prices are typically $25 adults, $23 seniors, $19 children.
Rthe spectator
by ned piper
Fast forward to the cast party
eading Hal’s People+Place feature on Susan Donahue, primarily her dedication in her former role directing The Dana Brown Mainstage Theatre, reminded me of an experience I had in high school theatre.
As R.A.Long High School 1958 senior class president, I was expected to act in the senior stage production of “Around the World in 80 Days.” Foreshadowing my current position with the Reader, I was cast as a paperboy. It was a small part, but I was hooked by the greasepaint and the applause.
Live theatre is full of surprises. After graduating, I attended Lower Columbia College as a drama major. While at LCC, I acted in a two-act play, written by George Bernard Shaw. It
was about a man and a woman reclining on the deck of a ship. The dialogue included an identical line in each act.
We were in the middle of Act One. Judith said, “Would you like another gin?” My response should have been, “I’ll wait until dinner.”
Without thinking, I said, “Yes, I have a bit of a thirst.” The problem was, that was the response from Act Two. Judith followed with her Act two line. Shortly thereafter, the play concluded. Judith and I stood up and bowed to modest applause.
We looked at each other with puzzlement, realizing what we’d done. The director met us backstage with, “What happened out there?!”
Live theatre is full of surprises. And it was an early cast party that night.
Longview resident Ned Piper is mostly retired, but assists with CRR ads and distribution — when he is not enjoying TV sports, movies, or political talk (wrangling) shows. But maybe he’ll get back to work on his unfinished/unpublished novels.
PLUGGED IN TO COWLITZ PUD
By Alice Dietz, Cowlitz PUD Communications/Public Relations Manager
Lights in the Park: A bright tradition that warms the heart
As the days grow shorter and the air turns crisp, there’s one tradition that brings warmth, wonder, and community spirit: The Cowlitz PUD and Kelso Rotary Lights in the Park. From December 12 through December 24, starting each evening at 5pm, families, friends, and neighbors are invited to experience the magic of this drive-thru holiday light display at Tam O’Shanter Park in Kelso cCloses 9pm)
This beloved event is more than just a dazzling spectacle of lights — it’s also a celebration of giving back. All proceeds from Lights in the Park benefit local scholarships, community projects, and the Warm Neighbor Fund, which helps families in need with their utility bills during difficult times. Every car that drives through helps brighten someone’s future.
One of the most beautiful things about Lights in the Park is its reminder that making memories doesn’t have to be expensive. For just a small donation of $5, you can enjoy a magical evening filled with twinkling lights, festive music, and the joy of the season — all from the comfort of your car. It’s a perfect outing for families with young children, seniors, or anyone looking for a safe, cozy way to celebrate the holidays. So gather your loved ones and head to the park. Whether it’s your first time or a cherished annual tradition, Lights in the Park is sure to leave you smiling—and maybe even a little inspired by the power of community.
Let’s light up the season together.
Alice Dietz may be reached at adietz@ cowlitzpud.org, or 360-501-9146.
The Three-Second Dream from page 39 4
would search the rail sidings and, now and then, be rewarded with another full-size graffiti, always of drizzly, faraway scenes, She so wondered who was the mysterious artist.
Buck had long ago dropped out of art school and now eked out a living doing two-minute sketches of tourists. Sometimes, when the creative drive seized him, he resisted sleep and would steal himself to a nearby marshalling yard and unleash his true passion on one of the awaiting boxcars. With an array of spray cans he painted with fast, sure strokes. Afterwards, he would tumble into bed and whenever a painting was particularly good, the familiar dream would return.
As the months passed, Buck’s frugal habits and his “day job” painting sketches provided him an ample slush fund. He had reached a point when he wanted to take a break. But before leaving, he made his way to the rail yard and painted a final mural, displaying the woman of his dreams.
When Nicole pulled the curtain, she was stunned by the latest mural. A woman sitting on a platform bench. It was the very likeness of herself. She also noticed its title, Gare du Nord.
There was light snow on the ground as the plane hit the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle. A shuttle dropped her off at the comfortable pension, Academie des Arts. She slept in, but in the late afternoon she made her way to see what was so luring about the Gare du Nord platform. Muted Christmas music was playing in the streets as she walked
through light falling snow. At the station she sat on a bench and watched the hurried passengers come and go. Then she looked up and saw a man approaching her, and she smiled.
Buck could not fail to recognize the woman wearing the tan trench coat, dark brown scarf and tilting black beret. He pulled her from the bench. Staring at her he said, “I’m beginning to trust three-second dreams.”
“I hope you’ll give me a little more time than that,” she responded, and then they walked with linked arms out of the station.
“The Three-Second Dream” is from Hans Schaufus’s book, Catching Christmas on a Greyhound: 29 Stories for Christmas, which he wrote, one story each holiday season since 1976 as part of his annual greetings to friends. The book will be available for $15 at the Broadway Gallery in Longview, beginning in December. For mail order info contact Hans at hansschaufus@scattercreek.com
The artwork throughout the book was done by artist Steve Naccarato, graduate of R.A.Long High School in Longview, now living in New York City.
Hans Schaufaus enjoys world travel and photography, and helped create the Longview Outdoor Gallery, a 12-year project resulting in a collection of 30 sculptures in Downtown Longview donated to the City in time for Longview’s 2023 Centennial celebration.
