Columbia River Reader Sept 2025

EYEWITNESS

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.

FOR YOURSELF OR FOR A FRIEND!

11 issues $55

In three editions:

• Boxed Signature Edition, with color $50

• Collectors Edition, with color $35

Rex Ziak • $29.95

WORDS

AND WOOD

Pacific Northwest Woodcuts and Haiku by Debby Neely •Boxed, Gift Edition with tasseled bookmark $35

OF

• Trade paperback B/W $25 DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL

•220 historic photos •Boxed, signed. $50. IN FULL VIEW

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: A PERFECT GIFT

A Layman’s Lewis & Clark by Michael O. Perry. •BW Edition $35

Hats off to Ian Thompson and all who work to make the Lower Columbia School Gardens the wonderful experience it is for kids — and for families, and for the community.

In Hal’s “People+Place” story this month, you’ll meet Ian Thompson and get a behind-the-scenes look at those 20 beautiful gardens, pulsating with life alongside local elementary and middle schools.

Ian explains that kids don’t necessarily or automatically grow up knowing about where food comes from. Think about it — with the prevalence of fast food, convenience food, and services like Door Dash, many busy families rarely cook at home, I’m told. How would kids know food comes from the soil if they’ve never seen any part of the process?

Parents sometimes make assumptions not borne out in fact. For example, when my son Perry was a young teenager, Ned and I replaced our front lawn with raised bed vegetable gardens, since that was where the sunshine was best, and I wanted a kitchen garden.

Perry learned first-hand about growing and eating plants then, but prior to that, had little, if any, direct knowledge. I was surprised upon realizing this. It happened on Amtrak.

Publisher/Editor: Susan P. Piper

Columnists and contributors:

Hal Calbom

Nancy Chennault

Alice Dietz

Melanee Evans

Joseph Govednik

Bob Park

Michael Perry

Ned Piper

Dan Polacek

Philip Portwood

Robert Michael Pyle

Marc Roland

Alan Rose

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

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*Other times by chance or appointment

E-mail: publisher@crreader.com Phone: 360-749-1021

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Amtrak, school gardens, and riding the rails; What’s that brown stuff?

Speaking of Amtrak, I read with interest the recent announcement that they will introduce a new fleet of trains next year for the Cascades route between Portland and Vancouver, B.C. They even released a photo of one of the trains on its way to Pueblo, Colorado, for testing.

See more photos, including interiors, at amtrakcascade.com/about/newamtrak-cascades-trains-arrive-in-2026/

Columbia

You’ll be impressed — the stylish new interior configurations are modern, upscale, and amenity-rich, and will certainly rival European standards. I look forward to a trip to Tacoma on the new train in 2026 to visit the Chihuly Glass and Washington State History Museums. CRR will publish a story about the adventure.

And don’t we all love the train?!

When Perry was about 10, he and I traveled on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight south to Los Angeles to go to Disneyland. We enjoyed riding along in our cozy roomette — two seats that convert to berths — and watching the “backside” of America go by.

In northern-central California, first passing through farmlands with rows and rows of crops, I recall Perry gazing out the window, then turning to me and asking, “What’s that brown stuff?”

“The would be dirt,” I told him. “It’s where farmers grow the things we eat.”

Who knew? Of course, that was before Ian Thompson and the Lower Columbia School Gardens.

I hope you are enjoying the gentle turning of seasons as we prepare to embrace Fall.

Wandering the grave markers

I’m looking forward to going to the Bunker Hill Cemetery Tour on Sept. 27. It will take place from 1–3pm, with one-hour-long tours. Wear good shoes because the ground is uneven. The suggested donation of $5 is such a good deal for the entertainment and education that will be provided!

Bunker Hill Cemetery is located at 350 Bunker Hill Road, 12 miles west of Longview, just off Ocean Beach Highway. Please come and bring your family and learn some new history about our local area.

Linda Curry Kelso, Wash

Editor’s note: Please see Joseph Govednik’s “Museum Magic” column, page 25.

CRR: A “window” with entertainment value

One thing for which I give myself points is that some years ago I decided to subscribe to the CRR rather than pick it up, even though that way I’d get it free. After reading one especially significant (for me) edition, I gladly paid to have it delivered.

Now that The Daily News no longer has a features section, and so many (though not all) of the small-town weeklies have disappeared, the CRR is a window on so much that would be missed without it, not to mention its entertainment value.

I could include a LONG list of my favorite columnists and features but, in the interest of saving valuable space, will mention only a few that come to mind.

The first one I turn to is “The Spectator,” written by the able writer/ author Ned Piper, who was one of “the big kids” while I was little. He was always nice and never teased me or did mean tricks like shoving a bottle of Tabasco sauce into my 4-year-old mouth. Together, we later sang in the Longview Community Church’s youth choir, and I have enjoyed his friendship ever since.

Of course, I always enjoy “Notes from My Lives” by my old Daily News colleague André Stepankowsky. Had it not been for his Aug. 15 column, I would never even have heard about the LeMay America’s Car Museum in Tacoma.

The wisdom and humor of Debra Tweedy’s “Quips and Quotes” help make my day, especially with a recent quote from a Naval admiral about how making one’s bed can lead to a day of accomplishment. And I’ve never known anyone who can review books and make them come alive like Alan Rose.

Finally, I especially welcome the relatively new “Our World in Words” by returned native Bob Park. I have fond memories of his family, especially his mother, Gladys Park, who was an active leader in the children’s Sunday School program at the Community Church during the 1950s.

John M. McClelland Longview, Wash.

Canoes

I am an avid fan of CRR and always enjoy Robert Michael Pyle’s works. This month’s poem especially hit home as I have some connection to Old Town Canoes.

My grandfather was a Penobscot Indian. He was raised on “Indian Island” (now the Penobscot Reservation) in Old Town, Maine. As a young man he used to make canoes out of spruce and birch bark, which became his transportation from the island to Old Town. My

grandfather would tell me stories of his growing up on the island hunting, fishing, and trapping muskrats and, of course, canoeing.

Eventually, he brought his canoemaking skills to Old Town Canoe Company, but long after they moved on from birch bark to wood. He was a craftsman at Old Town during the time of their wooden canoes. When he left Old Town, fiberglass was still many years away, in another lifetime. Spring forward to Scappoose Bay Kayaking, present day, Old Town Canoe Company, and the grandson of a canoe maker (me), who now maintains an office in Scappoose, Oregon, 3,349 miles from home.

Richard Kimball Scappoose, Oregon

Editor’s note: Mr. Kimball is a retired general contractor who operated in Scappoose. He lives in Columbia City, Ore.

Lewis & Clark

DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL

IEPISODE 17

The Worst Is Yet to Come

By Michael O. Perry

n this episode month, we continue the saga as the Corps of Discovery made their way across the Rocky Mountains. When Lewis and Clark learned there was no way across the mountains at Lemhi Pass, east of present-day Salmon, Idaho, the Shoshone Chief told of a trail north of there, used by the Nez Perce Indians to cross the mountains to hunt buffalo. With the help of Toby, an old Shoshone Indian, the Corps made their way to the east side of Lolo Pass, near present-day Missoula, Montana. This 150-mile journey, following the Continental Divide and down the Bitterroot River, took two weeks. The steep slopes and lack of a trail part of the way made it a difficult trip. However, anyone who thought the worst was over was in for a big surprise.

On September 11, 1805, when the Corps left the Bitterroot valley to climb 2,300 feet to reach Lolo Pass, they began the most difficult part of their 4,000-mile journey from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. A Nez Perce Indian had agreed to guide them the 160 miles over the mountains but abandoned them after just one day, leaving Old Toby, who had never crossed the mountains, to be their guide.

Much of the land the 33 Expedition members passed over remains unchanged today. Highway 12, across

the Idaho panhandle, follows their route to some degree, but there is a Forest Service road that pretty much follows their actual route for most of the way from Lolo Pass to Orofino.

What’s for dinner?

Finding enough deer and elk to feed the men had been difficult for many weeks. The portable soup brought from St. Louis was so rancid the men could eat only small portions. On September 14th, they were “compelled to kill a Colt” to keep from starving. Part of the horse was saved for breakfast and dinner the next day. Things would get worse.

Rather than following the river all the way, the Nez Perce trail followed the ridge tops. As a result, Toby made a couple wrong turns along the way. On September 15th, they left the valley floor and climbed 3,500 feet to reach the trail far above. At one especially steep section, several pack horses fell backwards and rolled 100 feet down onto the rocks. Up to a dozen men were needed to help those poor animals back up the hill. None of the horses died from the many falls, but the baggage they were carrying was damaged. Clark’s portable writing desk was broken to pieces in one such accident.

After leaving the river, both water and game were scarce. Fortunately, they found snow banks up to three feet deep on some north facing slopes that could be melted to get water. The remainder of the first

Captain Lewis’s Branding Iron

About 4 x 5.5 inches and about 1-1/2 inches in depth, the branding iron carries the information “U. S. Capt. M. Lewis” at the top, with a large open rectangle below. The brackets on each side were probably attached to a short handle. The iron was primarily intended to brand trees, establishing the passage of the Corps. The open rectangle permitted other information, such as a date, to be added by carving. The branding iron was used to mark the grave of Sgt. Charles Floyd who died from a burst appendix in 1804, and may also have branded supply boxes and barrels at the outset of the journey. The horses left in the care of the Nez Perce Indians were branded in October 1805, possibly with this branding iron. Joseph Whitehouse wrote,“Got up our horses and cropped their fore mane, and branded them with a Stirrup Iron on the near fore Shoulder, So that we may know them again at our return.”

The branding iron accompanied the Corps of Discovery to the mouth of the Columbia River, where it was used to brand trees and so mark the group’s successful transcontinental trek. On the return trip in 1806, the iron was likely traded to Indians in the vicinity of Celilo Falls. The branding iron was found among rocks along the Columbia’s north shore, west of The Dalles, in the early 1890s. It was given to Philip Jackson, publisher of the Oregon Journal, who donated it to the Oregon

sacrificed horse was eaten for dinner that night, along with more putrid portable soup.

Turn up the heat!

Captain Clark woke up at 3am on September 16th to find it snowing. It continued all day, and by evening there was eight inches on the ground. This made a difficult situation almost impossible. Private Whitehouse wrote, “Some of the men without socks raped rags on their feet…” Following the trail was a challenge, and heavy wet snow falling off tree branches kept everyone soaked. Clark wrote, “I have been wet and as cold in every part as I ever was in my life, indeed I was at one time fearfull my feet would freeze

Society in 1941.

in the thin mockersons which I wore…” A second horse was killed that night to feed the men.

Much time was lost when the men had to go searching for horses that wandered off each night. They couldn’t afford to eat horses and lose them too. Snow continued the next day, but by evening it stopped and temperatures rose, melting the snow and making the trail muddy and slippery. That night, a third horse, “being the most useless part of our Stock… fell a Prey to our appetites.” Breakfast on September 18th finished that horse, and another horse wandered off not to be found. Morale was very low; years later, Clark wrote, “The want of provisions

Five years ago, we introduced a revised version oF Michael Perry’s popular series which began 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.

together with the difficuely of passing these emence mountains dampened the Spirits of the party.”

Lewis and Clark away looking for enemy Indians, but the women gave Clark and his party all the dried salmon and boiled quamash (camas) roots they wanted. They ate too much and Clark wrote, “I find myself verry unwell all the evening.”

The end is near Clark and a small party had gone ahead to seek food. On September 18th, Clark realized they had crossed the worst of the Rocky Mountains. He wrote, “from the top of a high part of the mountain… I had a view of an emence Plain and Leavel Country to the S W. & West at a great distance.” A lost Indian horse found grazing in a meadow became breakfast for Clark’s party, with the remainder of the carcass hung in a tree for Lewis’ party to find the following day.

The trail was terrible. Robert Frazier’s horse fell off a steep precipice and rolled 300 feet down the drop-off into a creek. Fortunately, the horse missed the rocks and landed in a pool of water. After the heavy load of ammunition was taken off the horse, it “arose to his feet & appeared to be but little injured, in 20 minutes he proceeded with his load.”

Is there a doctor in the house?

On September 20th, Clark arrived at a Nez Perce village, east of present-day Orofino, Idaho. The warriors were

When Lewis and the rest of the men arrived two days later, Clark “cautioned them of the Consequences of eating too much.” The next morning, Lewis and several men were very sick. Clark broke out the bottle of Dr. Rush’s bilious pills, better known as “Thunderclappers.” These pills, consisting mostly of chlorine and mercury compounds, did an excellent job of cleaning out their intestinal tracts, something Lewis and most of the men didn’t need since they were sick with acute diarrhea for over a week. What made everyone so sick? Was it bad water, bacteria in the dried salmon, or the roots they ate? We’ll never know.

Extreme hunger

The men managed to shoot some deer, but another perfectly good horse was sacrificed for a meal on October 2nd. A few days later, some of the men began buying dogs from the Indians to eat. Captain Clark wrote, “all the Party have greatly the

next page

Dugout Canoes

The Indians showed the Corps members how to use hot coals and fire to help hollow out the canoes. It took ten days to build five canoes. They were notoriously hard to manage and unstable. It’s a marvel that, fully laden with supplies and men, they stayed afloat, let alone made their way to the mouth of the Columbia. Even the Indians were skeptical, lining the banks at a hazardous river passage near today’s The Dalles, waiting to salvage cargo and rescue drowning men. The canoeists and their primitive craft somehow survived that passage, and many others.

advantage of me, in as much as they all relish the flesh of the dogs.” The Nez Perce had many dogs, but since they never ate them, they disapproved.

The Nez Perce chief drew a map for Clark showing the rivers leading to the ocean. He indicated one place, present-day The Dalles, Oregon, might require portaging around the rapids. Everyone was excited at being able to build dugout canoes and ride the last 500 miles to the Pacific. They only had small axes, so it must have been difficult to fall the three- or fourfoot diameter pine trees. The Indians showed them how to use hot coals and fire to help hollow out the canoes. It took ten days to build five canoes.

The Nez Perce had exceptionally nice horses. They were the only Indians to practice selective breeding, which had produced the Appaloosa. Since the Corps would not need their 38 remaining horses to get to the ocean, arrangements were made to have the Nez Perce take care of them until the following spring. Lewis branded each horse and cut off their manes. If the Corps failed to return, the horses would belong to the Indians.

Finally: Downhill all the way

On October 7th, the 33 members of the Expedition set off in their canoes down the Clearwater River. The canoes were packed full and took in water at many rapids while the men learned how to navigate them

...“The want of provisions”...

It was getting pretty bad by then. They had this stuff made up way back a year and a half before in St. Louis, just add water to make soup, and it was rancid. If they’d had anything else to eat they would’ve eaten it, but they couldn’t even find chipmunks out there. This is out where nothing grows. If you don’t pack your food with you, you die, and that’s what Lewis and Clark were faced with. They had 33 men and nothing. So they ate their horses.”

downriver. Sergeant Ordway described a near disaster a day later, “One of the canoes Struck a rock in the middle of the rapid and Swang round and Struck another rock and cracked hir So that it filled with water. The waves roared over the rocks and Some of the men could not Swim. Their they Stayed in this doleful Situation until we unloaded one of the other canoes and went and released them.” Unlike the failed Iron Boat Experiment at Great Falls, pitch from the plentiful pine trees was available and used to repair the leaks in this canoe.

The Shoshone Indian guide, Old Toby, and his son disappeared on October 9th. The Nez Perce saw them running eastward toward Lolo Pass. Clark had not paid Toby, so he tried to get the Nez Perce chief to track them down. The chief told Clark not to bother since Toby would be robbed of anything he had as he passed through Nez Perce camps. In 1806, on their return trip, the captains were told Toby had taken two of the Expedition’s horses as payment for his services. Toby was never seen or heard of again, but he most likely had saved the Corps from death by leading then to and through Lolo Pass.

Welcome to Washington

On October 10th, the Corps reached the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers at present-day Lewiston, Idaho. It took six more days to travel down the Snake River to reach the Columbia River at present-day Pasco, Washington. Private Whitehouse said the water flowed “swifter than any horse could run.” Traveling with the current sure beat the months of rowing, poling, pulling, pushing, and carrying the boats up the mighty Missouri.

Even though the Snake River has been tamed with four dams in Washington, you can still get a feel of the canyon by driving south out of Kahlotus towards Pasco; take Route 263 down into Devil’s Canyon. Stop at Windust Park, just downstream from Lower Monumental Dam, to fully appreciate the Snake River Canyon. Continue driving along the river until you come to Burr Canyon and return to the Pasco-Kahlotus Highway.

Next episode, we will arrive at the Shoshone village where Sacajawea had been kidnapped in 1800.

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Clatskanie Mini-Storage

NOTES FROM MY LIVES

Iby Andre Stepankowsky

All dried out Summer’s passing mothballs his valued clothes line

t’s sprinkling now, and showers are expected for the next week. Summer’s lease is, lamentably, expiring and giving way to fall. Aside from the usual summer perks that I relish — especially hiking, gardening, and canoeing —the change of seasons also throttles another joy of sunny skies.

I won’t get to use my clothes line again until next spring.

Made of plastic PVC pipe and light rope in about 20 minutes, my retractable clothes line has saved me hundreds of dollars since I made it about 20 years ago. The annual savings from air drying dozens of loads of laundry each year easily pays for the gas and (self-performed) oil change needed for our annual summer journey to a family reunion in Spokane.

Our dryer is now about 30 years old, aging well because it gets so little use. However, there are other, noneconomic satisfactions of drying our laundry outdoors.

Drying clothes in the sun is a rudimentary form of solar power. It is one way I try to diminish my footprint on the planet and combat climate change. Clothes dryers use a lot of power. Limiting their use is a form of earth stewardship.

A University of Michigan study found that, over the lifetime of a dryer, 100 percent line drying could save a household upwards of $2,100. It would also cut back climate-warming carbon emissions by more than three tons per household over the same time.

The environmental and cost benefits vary from region to region. Consumers in areas powered primarily by burning coal see greater savings if they switch to air drying than those of us in the sustainable, hydropower-supplied Pacific Northwest. Still, the savings to the planet can be immense.

Any time I hang up the wash, I think of my mother and grandmother. Grammy never had a dryer, and so she hung her hand-washed laundry on a line suspended above the courtyard of her Manhattan apartment building. It was one of dozens of laundry lines that crisscrossed the sky. On warm days, East River breezes made the lines flutter like rows of colorful pennants, brightening the drab walls of the six-story brownstone. You could tell from the garments hanging there whether the tenants had children, were married, single or aged.

My mom had a dryer, but she didn’t use it much because power rates in New Jersey and New York are steep. But she had a social reason, too: Depending on where she lived at the time, her clothes line was a connection to neighborhood news.

Suburban housewives and moms once carried on across-the-backyard conversations while putting out and bringing in laundry. I think my mom looked out the window to see if our neighbor Joan Prentzel was about to string her large family’s clothes out, too, so they could share family and neighborhood gossip.

Sadly, relatively few American households have clothes lines any more. Many neighborhoods prohibit them through restrictive covenants. The trend has further isolated neighbors from one another, depriving folks of a social tool and means to live more lightly on the land.

I acknowledge most people believe it is inconvenient and time-consuming to hang out the wash. I disagree. Shirts hung up outside on hangars rarely need ironing, and taking down the wash doubles as a chance to sort and fold it.

In addition, dryers are hard on fabric. And there’s no way a dryer can really replicate that fresh and soothing scent of wind and sunshine that air-drying imparts to sheets, towels and clothing. You see, I’m already missing summer.

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.

MISS MANNERS: My husband and I bought our current home about four years ago, although the house itself is about 20 years old. The backyard is surrounded by a standard wooden fence.

The condition of the wood suggests the fence has been there nearly as long as the house, and we think it desperately needs to be replaced. Two of our neighbors have fences that adjoin ours and which, based on condition, were built around the same time.

Even though it’s our right to replace our fence, do we owe any consideration to the neighbors? After all, our shiny new fence will now be mixed with their well-worn ones surrounding their yards.

I don’t want to imply that I’m asking their permission, because we intend to replace it regardless. But is it worth giving them a heads-up that we’re having the work done? Is there a way to suggest the possibility of them also having their fences replaced without it sounding insulting?

I assume that having theirs replaced at the same time, by the same company, might save a little money -- as the workers and materials will already be on site -- but I’m not sure if this is worth bringing up. We have good relationships with all of the neighbors and don’t want to create animosity or awkwardness where there isn’t any.

GENTLE READER: When anyone wishes to express indignation about an unwelcome encroachment, the accepted

Riversong

By Judith Martin, Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin

metaphor is not, “Can you believe Soand-so was in my living room, uninvited, playing my piano?!”

The expression is, “Can you believe this was going on in my own backyard?!”

Miss Manners mentions this as a reminder that if you want to maintain good relations with the neighbors, you will absolutely have to be considerate, which means: giving notice of your plans; reassuring them that you are available to handle any unintended inconveniences that result; taking “no” for an answer to any suggestion that they consider redoing their own -- and spending less time thinking about what you have a right to do.

Fortunately, it is possible to do all of this without putting the central question up for debate. Tell them that you are planning to replace your fence and say that, while you have no idea if they were planning to redo theirs, if they are, you would be happy to see if using a single contractor would be a way for everyone to save money.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: At a restaurant, if my food is served by someone other than my waiter and I need to request an additional or missing item (e.g., extra sauce or sour cream), do I make that request to the person who served the food? Or do I wait for the waiter to come over and ask if everything is OK?

Does it even matter? Sometimes the waiter doesn’t come over for a few minutes and I’d prefer not to let my food get cold.

GENTLE READER: Although not in the habit of being intimidated by waiters, Miss Manners knows that any answer she gives will elicit a flood of responses from professionals explaining the system in use at their restaurant -- and why it is the only possible solution, which must perforce be universally and instantly adopted.

Before that happens: Listen up, restaurant folks.

The customers do not know The System. They are annoying and they do not know what they want and they did not order what they said they ordered and they do not tip enough. But they would like some extra sauce before their food gets cold. So here is Miss Manners’ answer for the customers: You may ask your waiter, or you may ask any member of the staff who comes to your table -- up to and including the head chef -- politely, of course. If you cannot get anyone’s attention in a reasonable amount of time, then you may ask any employee or supervisor for help. And if the restaurant is particularly busy, it may take a few minutes.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I need to attend the funeral of a family member, and I’m dreading having to encounter a person who did very evil things to the deceased while they were alive, taking advantage of their age and good nature.

This person controlled the deceased, poisoned her mind against her own children and leeched off her financially. I cut off all contact with this person years ago, and now I’m afraid that I will have to face her.

I have no intention of initiating any conversation with her, but what do I do if she initiates one with me? In public, she loves

OSummer’s Last Golden Glow

End-of-season growing tips

Story and photos by Nancy Chennault

ur 2025 summer weather kept us on our toes. Day after day we experienced sweltering days that made us yearn for the return of a “normal” Pacific Northwest misty morning. The four weeks between September 15 and October 15 are probably the most transitional in the calendar year. As much as we want to hang on tightly to those clear, hot to warm summer days, the transformation has begun (top photo). There is no denying that fall is in the air.

The gardening season isn’t over It is merely changing its focus. The following tips will help you enjoy the final weeks of garden harvests in this challenging but productive year.

Cucumbers are the ‘zucchini’ of the 2025 vegetable season. For the first time in years, gardeners have an abundant harvest. Eager to share the bounty with friends, family and coworkers, they are being told “No thanks, we have plenty.” This is a statement we don’t usually hear in a typical summer.

•Keep cucumbers evenly moist. Inconsistent watering will result in bitter, irregular-shaped fruits.

•Leaves that look like they are sprinkled with powdered sugar have ‘powdery mildew.” Water in the morning to allow leaves and the ground to dry before night, ‘washing’ the leaves as you water will keep this fungus disease under control.

•Growing on a trellis or wire fence (See photo #2) will keep cucumbers straight, easy to pick and provide good air circulation.

•To keep your cucumbers producing as long as possible, harvest every 2 to 3 days.

Tomatoes are perhaps the most prized of Pacific Northwest vegetables. Nothing tastes better than a warm, vine-ripened tomato picked just before mealtime. Tomatoes have grown rapidly this summer, setting record numbers of fruit. The goal now is ripe fruit.

•Stop watering tomatoes planted in the garden. Water container tomatoes minimally.

•Remove the top growth and side shoots that have just begun to blossom. These will not have enough time to reach mature size and will take energy away from ripening fruit.

•Remove large leaves that shade the fruit. (See photo, top right)

•Remove leaves that are at the base of the plant to about 18.” Excess foliage in contact with the ground potentially can increase the spread of dreaded ‘LATE BLIGHT’ which turns tomatoes black, making them inedible. It will kill the plants as well, seemingly overnight.

•Late Blight occurs as a result of rain showers when temperatures cool after a period of warm, dry weather. Be prepared to cover your plants with plastic before the onset of fall rains to help safeguard your crop.

•If there is no sign of Late Blight, tomato plants can be pulled up and hung upside down in a cool, dry spot to ripen. Or harvest tomatoes that have just begun to turn a lighter green and wrap them in newspaper. Either of these methods can potentially extend your tomato harvest into November.

Squash can ramble all over your garden or be a compact bush.

•The large leaves of squash plants shield the developing fruit from the summer sun. With cooler fall temperatures, often before the onset of rain, the leaves will be covered with the fungus, ‘powdery mildew’. See the notes with regards to this disease in the discussion of cucumbers. Powdery mildew on the leaves will not affect the fruit, but it may slow production.

•Summer squash (photo 3) should be picked when small and tender. Overripe fruit will develop a tough skin and be dry and somewhat flavorless. However, these can be grated and used in recipes for breads and cakes.

•Winter squash (photo 5) should be left on the plant until after the first hard frost. The fruit then develops a waxy finish to the skin so that it will not rot when stored for winter consumption. A sharp freeze will also turn the starches into sugar and the

Photos,clockwise from top: Look closely and you’ll see the beginnings of Autumn color.; Burpless cucumber grows to its potential with support; Crooked NecksSummer squash can be eaten raw or gently steamed; Removing excess foliage now will reveal green tomatoes ready to ripen in the September sun; prolific and tendr,; Immature Bush Delicata squash (winter squash).

flavor will be much sweeter. Once harvested, the winter squash can be washed with a mild bleach water solution and then dried. Store in a cool, dry place with good air circulation. Winter squash will maintain its flavor and freshness well into spring.

The transition to fall has begun, but enjoying the fruits of our labor is a delightful reminder of the remarkably hot summer of 2025. There will most likely be a spike in temperatures sometime during this month, but, soon we will forget the endless hours of watering and angst because of the heat. Happy harvesting!

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.

Outdoor Enjoyment

Looking UP

SKY REPORT

Sept 17th – Oct 17th

By Greg Smith

The Evening Sky

A clear sky is needed.

Saturn reaches opposition on Sept 21st, meaning it is at mid-southern sky at midnight and viewable all night long. On Oct 3rd, Saturn will be paired with a nearly full moon. Neptune will be close by Saturn at the 7 o’clock position about a half a binocular view away; you will need big binoculars or a telescope to see it..

The Morning Sky

A cloudless eastern horizon sky is required. Jupiter rises at around 2am in mid-September and 1am by the end of September. Venus will be rising some two hours before the sun and will be quite bright in the eastern sky. On Sept. 19th, Venus, at about 5:45am. will be a moon’s width from the star Regulus in the constellation of Leo.

Night Sky Spectacle

A clear dark sky is a must. In the far northeastern sky the Pleiades are rising. This is the harbinger of the winter constellations. I know it’s not quite Fall yet but the sky does not follow our calendar. It dictates the calendar and is giving you a heads up for what is coming.

MOON PHASES:

New Moon: Sun, Sept 21st

1st Quarter, Mon, Sept 29th

Full Moon., Mon, Oct 6th

3rd Quarter Mon, Oct 13th

END OF TWILIGHT:

When the brightest stars start to come out. Allow about an hour more to see a lot of stars.

Wed., Sept 17th, 7:48pm Wed., Sept 24th, 7:34pm Wed., Oct 1st, 7:21pm Wed., Oct 8th, 7:07pm

Wed., Oct 15th, 6:55pm

SUNSET

Sunset is getting earlier - Yea! Wed., Sept 17th • 7:20pm Wed., Sept 24th • 7:06pm

Wed., Oct 1st• 6:52pm

Wed., Oct 8th • 6:39pm

Wed., Oct 15th • 6:26pm

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.

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Mount St. Helens Club

HIKES

sketch by the late deena martinson

(E) - Easier: relatively flat ground (up to 5 miles and/or less than 500 ft. e.g.) (M) - Moderate: Longer, more elevation gain (over 5 miles and/or 500+ ft. e.g.) (S) - Strenuous: Long and/or elevation gain (over 8 miles and/or 1200+ ft. e.g.) 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

September 17 - Wed               Astoria Riverwalk (E) Drive 100 miles RT. Hike 5 miles out and back along the Columbia River.  No elevation gain. Leader: Art M. 360-270-9991

Sept 19 – Fri        Eagle Creek to Punchbowl Falls (M)      Drive 162 miles RT  Hike 5 miles RT with 1000’ e.g.  Spectacular path passing many waterfalls, winding through old growth forest, with places where you are walking along a cliff edge.  One short section has a cable to hold onto.  People afraid of heights might not want to go on this hike!  A NW FOREST PASS or AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS is required for each vehicle. Leader: John M. 360-505-0878

Sept 20 - Sat        Johnston Ridge Observatory (M/S) Drive 122 miles RT  Hike 10 miles RT with 1800’ e.g. on the Boundary Trail.  Interpretations of geological features given by hike leader on the way.  A NW FOREST PASS, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS IS REQUIRED FOR EACH VEHICLE OR A $5 FEE AT HUMMOCKS TRAIL PARKING LOT. Leader: Allen B. 805-208-7335

Sept 24 - Wed    Coweeman River Trail (E) Drive 8 miles RT  Hike 3.5 miles out and back along the Coweeman River on flat gravel trail. Leader: Maureen B. 360-449-9488

Sept 27 - Sat   Mirror Lake/Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain (S) Drive 195 miles RT to trailhead.  Hike 6.5 miles RT with 1500’ e.g. past Mirror Lake to summit viewpoint.  A NW FOREST PASS OR AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS IS REQUIRED FOR EACH VEHICLE.     Leader: Susan M. 360-751-1255

October 1 - Wed                Capitol Lake (E)

Drive 140 miles RT  Hike 4.6 miles on a level path around the lake and thro ugh the Port of Olympia area. Leader: Julie L. 360-7471415

October 4 - Sat                  Cowlitz Divide (S)

Drive 20 miles RT  Hike 10 miles RT with 2500’ e.g. inside Mt Rainier NP.  Witness some awesome views of Mt. Rainier!     Leader: Bruce M. 360-425-0256

October 4 - 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

October 8 - Wed                Powell Butte (E-M)

Drive 110 miles RT  Hike a 4.5- mile loop with 500’ e.g. through a large meadow on top of a volcanic cone.  On a clear day we will be rewarded with excellent views of Mt Hood, Mt St Helens and Mt Adams, as well as southeast Portland.

Leader: Barbara R. 360-431-1131

October 11 - Sat         Hamilton Mountain (S)

Drive 143 miles RT  Hike a 7.5 mile loop with 2000’ e.g. on the way to Hamilton Mountain Summit.  Great views of the Cascade Mountains and Columbia Gorge.  A DISCOVER PASS IS REQUIRED FOR EACH VEHICLE.

Leaders: Julie L. 360-747-1415, Bruce M. 360-425-0256

October 15 - Wed             Altrusa Park (E)

Walk from Roy Morse Park to Altrusa Park for 3.5 miles RT with very little e.g.   Leader: Bruce M. 360-425-0256

October 17 - Fri                   Indian Heaven/ Blue Lake Loop (M/S) Drive 160 miles RT to the Thomas Lake TH.  Hike an 8.4-mile lollipop loop past Thomas Lake along part of the old Cascade Crest Trail (Susan’s Meadow) to Junction Lake, along the PCT to Blue Lake, then return to parking lot via Thomas Lake Trail.  A NW FOREST PASS or AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS required for each vehicle. Limit: 12 hikers. Leader: Harry A. 360-280-4184

WMove over, Pinot Noir Austrian varietal grape adds spice to Oregon wine scene

by Marc Roland

hen people talk of Oregon wine, Pinot Noir almost always hogs the conversation. But nestled between the rolling hills of the Willamette and Umpqua Valleys is a lesser-known grape that’s quietly building a loyal following: Grüner Veltliner. Hard to pronounce (it’s GROO-ner VELT-lee-ner) but easy to enjoy, this Austrian varietal is adding fresh spice to Oregon’s wine scene.

Its voyage to Oregon began in the 1980s, when Hungarian émigré Zoltán Nagy, a wine chemistry instructor at Chemeketa Community College, brought a few Grüner cuttings to Oregon.

Known as “suitcase vines,” these plants had no passport, just potential. Nagy shared them with pioneering growers like Lowell Ford of Illahe Vineyards, and Earl VanVolkinburg of Vitae Springs Vineyard. By the late 1980s, Oregon had its first small Grüner plantings quietly tucked away among rows of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Fast forward to 2005, when Stephen Reustle of Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards in the Umpqua Valley produced the first commercially-bottled Grüner Veltliner in the United States. Inspired by a motorcycle trip through Austria, he came home convinced Oregon could do the grape justice. Oregon’s cool climate and diverse soils match the conditions of Austria. The grape thrives in the Willamette Valley’s volcanic and sedimentary soils, where cool nights lock in acidity and warm days encourage flavor development.

The story of Grüner in Oregon parallels the first Pinot growers in their spirit of collaboration and experimentation. So why Grüner? Grüner Veltliner is bright, zesty, and food-friendly. Full of crisp citrus and green apple flavors, interlaced with peppery spice and a mineral edge. In Austria, it’s the go-to wine for everything. Chefs love it, because it pairs with hardto-pair foods like asparagus. In Oregon, the grape tends to show a touch more ripeness, sometimes even tropical fruit notes, while still holding onto that signature freshness. The result is a wine that works at the dinner table, on the patio, or as a refreshing companion to local seafood and farmers market fare.

Grüner Veltliner is still a tiny player in Oregon, with fewer than 100 acres planted statewide. But what it lacks in acreage, it makes up in zeal. Wineries like Illahe, Raptor Ridge, Johan, Chehalem, and Ricochet Wine Company have all embraced the grape, each putting their own spin on it.

At Raptor Ridge Winery, Grüner has such a devoted following that they host a yearly “GrünerFest,” a sold-out celebration held in April, featuring tastings, food pairings, and a chance to learn about the grape’s history. It’s proof that even in Pinot country, there’s room for something different.

For wine lovers, Grüner offers a delightful surprise. It’s crisp yet complex, approachable yet sophisticated. It pairs beautifully with Pacific Northwest staples like salmon, oysters, and fresh garden greens. And perhaps best of all it’s still under the radar, which means bottles are often priced more reasonably than Pinot Noir. So next time you’re exploring Oregon wine country, keep an eye out for Grüner. It may be hard to find at our local grocery stores, but definitely worth a trip to a wine shop.

Longview resident and former Kelso teacher Marc Roland started making wine in 2008 in his garage. He and his wife, Nancy, now operate Roland Wines at 1106 Florida Street in Longview’s new “barrel district.” For wine tasting hours, call 360-846-7304.

Our World in Words

IPark Sheet Metal is born Gumption,

guts, and a banker’s

by Bob Park

n serving my sheet metal worker’s apprenticeship at W. Heaton and Son Sheet Metal, Uncle Bill’s shop, I noticed when we worked on ductwork for home or business heating and air conditionings systems, we worked for other companies who sold the package of equipment plus the duct work. We as a sheet metal shop fabricated and installed for them as a subcontractor.

My idea was to start a sheet metal shop that would provide both the equipment and ductwork as a package deal, one stop shopping. At the same time I planned to do other types of sheet metal work.

This concept, as well as wanting to own my own business and be and live like Uncle Bill — with the status of being the owner/ boss — is what brought me to decide to “cast off” and start Park Sheet Metal.

While serving my apprenticeship over four years, I had married Gloria, built a home at 23 Cedar Gate Road, and we had two kids, Alice and Alan.

So with this idea in mind, the task at hand was to figure out how to finance my idea. Gloria’s strong suit then and over the next 65-plus year: She was game to give anything a go.

My thought process led me to think of our house as source of funds. We had borrowed $13,000 to build it. With large amounts of help from my Dad and father-in-law Vernon, we built it all in nine months from start to finish, while all three of us had fulltime jobs. We sub-contracted out only the plumbing and plastering.

gamble

Having built the house ourselves, we had immediate equity.

Being 21 and really naive, and knowing Uncle Bill banked at the National Bank of Commerce in Longview, I got my courage up and walked into the bank after work and asked for the manager. I was taken behind the teller to an older man who introduced himself as Bob Crook, the bank manager.

I told him my name and we sat down at his desk. I gave him my idea. He asked questions. We went back and forth a bit. He told me I needed to come back with a list of equipment I planned on buying and have a location picked out with rent firmed up and we would talk again.

I was encouraged, to say the least. I took a day off work and went to Portland to Pacific Metals Company and asked for the equipment salesperson. I was taken back to see Bill Fahey. As an aside, this was the start of a 50-plus year relationship with Bill and his son selling me equipment. We hit it off right away, he being an Irish lad.

He gave me pricing on a metal slitter, four-foot shear, 8-foot brake, bar folder, Pittsburgh lock machine and four foot rolls. The total came to $2,300.

Bob Park enjoys the good life in his hometown, and elsewhere. This is #7 in a series of his recollections growing up in Longview, where he founded a steel fabrication business still operating worldwide.

I can’t remember exactly how, but I found a location at 11th Avenue. It was right next to The Daily News. It was for rent by a man who lived on Nichols Blvd. The rent was $250 per month.

Back I went to see Bob Crook, the banker. He gave a look at the machine quotes and the proposed rental agreement. He asked about fixtures. I told him I would be building benches and stands for the slitter myself. I drew him a sketch of the layout I had in mind with a partition in the front as an office and showroom for the furnaces, plus an area to greet people. He asked how I would get material in and out of the shop. I then drew on my sketch the 6-foot double door at the back of the shop annex that opened to a storage area and the alley.

He put his left hand up under his chin and gazed over the top of me for a while, thinking. Then he said, “Bob, I take a chance on one person a year, and you’re it this year.” Now I was on fire, and scared at the same time.

He said I could borrow $4,000 and he would get the paperwork ready, and that I should order the equipment and sign the rental agreement.

I remember talking to Gloria but do not recall her having any big reaction.

We then told our parents. My mom and dad had no comment. Gloria’s dad said, “Bobby, let’s go for a ride.” Vernon said on the ride, with me driving, “Bobby, you have a good steady job that pays well, why risk that?” You have a wife and two kids. This is a bad idea.”

I said in reply, “I have my union card, so if I go broke I can always go back to my job as a sheet metal worker.”

As I remember, it was a short ride from his house to our house and back. He was not happy, but never mentioned it again.

The man I rented the building from was very helpful. His was maybe the best, or near the best, help ever given me.

He said, “You and your wife need to hire an accountant to show you the ropes of how a profit and loss and balance sheet work and learn how double entry bookkeeping works.”His name was Bill Linhoff. What I am describing happened over about a week’s time and the exact order may be off:

I signed the papers at the bank and opened a Park Sheet Metal checking account.

I signed the rental agreement and took possession of the “shop.”

I told Uncle Bill my plan to start my own shop. He was not happy in the least. He asked how I planned to finance this. I told him of my loan from the National Bank of Commerce. I do not recall his words but remember his anger. He was hot and walked off.

I knew I had not handled that well. I picked up my toolbox and left with very mixed feelings. I did not like making Uncle Bill angry or leaving the men I had worked with since I was about 14. I knew I would miss them.

The next few days are a blur in my memory, but Gloria and I met with the accountant, I started to build the benches, plus started receiving and setting up the equipment.

And Park Sheet Metal was born.

to act like she’s a wonderful, friendly person. It’s part of her scam.

Can I just turn and walk away if she approaches me? She’s truly an evil, despicable individual. Still, I don’t want to create a scene at a funeral.

GENTLE READER: Not causing a scene at the funeral is a good etiquette rule to follow.

If this person approaches you, you may say, “Excuse me,” and walk away, purposefully, but without any show of anger -- as if you were called off to deal with something urgent. You can go to the bathroom for a minute if need be.

Miss Manners is indifferent so long as it convinces anyone watching that your departure was unrelated to the person. There will, if necessary, be other times to make a scene.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Will you please help me with a response to the question, “How much did you pay for that?” I receive this question from friends, acquaintances and even strangers.

GENTLE READER: “Why? Did you want to buy it from me?”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work as a volunteer at a military base overseas. My problem is with a co-worker who will not communicate with me except via email. Usually the content of the communications is of a negative nature.

I am of the sort who prefers working out differences using speech and not the written word, especially when the two individuals live in close proximity.

This person is in a position of authority. I have repeatedly requested -- to no avail -- that we either talk in person or over the phone when she has gripes. Are there any etiquette rules regarding email and business communications?

GENTLE READER: There are, but you are not going to like the most important one: The boss gets to set the rules.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: In a historical novel I was reading, a young woman was widowed, and she was bemoaning that she would have to wear only pearls -- no diamonds. Was that really a thing at one time?

GENTLE READER: Yes. Mourning, which would last at least two years for a widow, proscribed any jewelry except pearls and black onyx, with the only gold permitted being the wedding ring. Everything was supposed to be matte, so even clothing made of shiny material was not supposed to be worn.

Ridiculous, you say?

What’s Happening Around the River

Biz Buzz notes news in local business and professional circles. As space allows, we include news of innovations, improvements, new ventures and significant employee milestones of interest to readers. Please email to publisher@crreader.com

Dylan Bergeson, son of Eileen and Mark Bergeson, of Longview, Wash., a journalist for Aljazeera Plus, directed and produced a short film about preserving Gaza’s culinary history amid a genocide. The film has been nominated for an Emmy under the “Outstanding Short Form Program” category. Bergeson received a Webby Award for this film in New York City in May. The awards will be given on October 17. Here is a link to view the film: https://youtube/rshx5u7ptkU?feature=shared

CAPTAIN’S TABLE

Former dredgerman and restaurateur expands footprint in Kalama

By Dan Polacek, Port of Kalama Communications Administrator

Most folks in Kalama may not know Zachariah Van Santiago by his full name, but say “Chachee,” and heads turn. That’s Zach, a guy who swapped tugboat decks for meat smokers and turned his love for food into the popular Flavors of Chachee food truck at Port of Kalama’s Mountain Timber Market.

His story is full of heart, grit and deep gratitude for his family, the Port of Kalama, and the people who helped him achieve his dreams of earning a 200-ton Master’s License (a Coast Guard certification to captain large vessels, crucial for his river dredging career) and becoming a restaurateur.

Even as a kid, Zach was passionate about food and being on the water. You could always find him by fire pits, riverside stoves or cooking with family.

“Regardless of one’s background, race, ethnicity, or the challenges faced in life,” he said, “everyone has an appreciation for food. It serves as a unifying force: bringing people together at the table, fostering stories, laughter and cherished memories.” Cooking was his happy place, but captaining a tugboat was a dream he chased first.

In 2013, Zach realized that dream, moving from Tacoma to work as a deckhand at the Port of Portland. He earned his 100 and 200-ton licenses over 10 years, but life on the water began to feel limiting, and ultimately wore him down.

Then, during COVID, his world turned upside down when his father suffered a heart attack in Puerto Rico. Zach raced to move him from a small, overwhelmed hospital to the San Juan VA in Puerto Rico. The next three years of his dad’s recovery were both tough and a wake-up call — Zach realized he couldn’t stay on the river if he wanted to be there for his family.

Finding success at the Port’s market With his wife and kids cheering him on, Zach took a bold leap in 2023. He left tugboat life and launched the Flavors of Chachee food truck at the Port of Kalama’s Mountain Timber Market.

“I am immensely proud to express my gratitude to the Port of Kalama for granting me the opportunity to start my small business,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here without their support.”

Following his success at the Market, the Chachee’s brand has flourished, expanding to concert venues and now launching its first restaurant in

downtown Kalama this summer. The restaurant’s menu will offer exciting new items, including weekend brunches with champagne flights, hearty pasta dishes and fresh seafood. “I am so grateful for my wife and family’s support, as well as for the many friends I’ve made,” Zach says. His wife Kyndal has been his “rock,” hustling behind the scenes, with his kids and father-in-law pitching in.

Kalama is just the beginning for Zach Chachee’s on Main promises a cozy vibe, serving dishes that evoke the comfort of a Sunday dinner. “I’m thrilled to keep sharing my culinary passion with Kalama,” Zach said. His culinary cred stands out, having recently earned second place in the Best of Southwest Washington BBQ competition. He’s also teamed up with a friend to take over Bruno’s European Restaurant in Lakewood, Washington, the first of next year. With the support of his family and the community, Zack and his Chachee’s brand are poised for continued success, one meal at a time.

Chauchee’s on Main is located at 254 N. Hendrickson Dr., Kalama and open Tuesday through Saturday, 11am–5pm. Phone: 564-262-2586.

1425 Maple Street Longview, WA 98632

360.425.2950

www.cascade-title.com

Financial strategies built just for you.

1332 Vandercook Way Longview, WA 98632 360-425-0037

•

•

•

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VISITOR CENTERS

Chamber of Commerce 1715 Bay Ave., #1, Ocean Park, Wash.

• South Columbia County Chamber Columbia Blvd/Hwy 30, St. Helens, Ore • 503-397-0685

• Seaside, Ore 989 Broadway, 503-738-3097; 888-306-2326

Calbom

Production notes

“Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.”

– W.B. Yeats

This monTh’s PeoPle +Place inTerviewee, i an T hom P son , acknowledges the paradox: You build and establish what you’ve dreamed of, you revel in its success, then you struggle to keep it physically and fiscally alive and well. It seems sustainability — “the ability to maintain something at a certain rate or level once you’ve established it” — can be easier said than done.

We see dramatic sustainability-driven improvements all around us: alternative energy, waste management, even clean skies over the Los Angeles basin.

In fact, we’ve completed Phase One, done a lot of the “sexy” stuff, picked the low-hanging fruit, if you will. We’ve accomplished tangible things, putting electrons in our gas tanks and erecting wind towers on our ridge tops.

And here, closer to home, Ian’s Lower Columbia School Gardens is a smashing success. Now comes the hard part. Sometimes we are better builders than we are maintainers. Maintenance is boring. Look at our traditional infrastructure — roads, bridges, dams — fabulous things we’ve built but have so often failed to well maintain.

Three things are essential to not only building but also sustaining:

1. Behavior Change — it’s our habits and choices that drive sustainability.

2. Administration and Policy — it can be contentious, but we need laws and regulations to guide and govern change.

3. Education — sustainability relies on continuous improvement. Planters and growers are lifelong teachers and learners. True sustainability is the harder part. Gardens, once planted, need watering and feeding.

people+place

Whoever said, “A job well done never needs doing again”  obviously never weeded a garden. -- Anonymous

Garden Party

Urban Sustainability Takes Root

This is a saga of growing and growing up.

Ian Thompson

Its protagonist is a boyish 54-year-old Longview, Washington, man named Ian Thompson, who claims he devoted most of his youth to being uncooperative, cocky, and irreverent. “I was a smart ass. I just wanted to be funny.”

He took this attitude to college and languished — predictably — until one day he got the opportunity to see the world beyond the confines of the classroom.

“I took a six-week adventure trip to Ecuador, roughing it, a travel study thing. And I learned more in that time than in my previous two years of college.”

Today he runs one of the most successful, nationally-heralded extracurricular programs in contemporary education — Lower Columbia School Gardens — and is changing the world as he sees it, one grade schooler at a time.

HC: Are you a Longview native?

IT: I was born in Zigzag, Oregon, and we moved here in 1984. I was in 8th grade.

HC: You had an on again-off again relationship with school?

IT: Well, ‘smart ass’ is a hard thing to live down! I just didn’t apply myself much, even at Evergreen College where I went for awhile. I just wanted to travel, strum my guitar. Thought maybe I could be a music teacher.

HC: Were you an outdoors person?

IT : Yeah, I guess. The Ecuador trip was really roughing it, outside. Then I worked for the Washington Conservation Corps for awhile, thinning, trail improvement, reserve firefighting.

HC: What started you on the path that led to School Gardens?

THE GREEN SWATCHES ARE SELF-CONTAINED AND UNIQUE

IT : I got a job as a laborer building custom homes in Longview. I was not strong and I really had to get used to it but I really started to enjoy it. And I had a bit of an aptitude for measuring, and angles, and figuring out how to put things together. I was very passionate about it and I knew I never wanted to do anything else.

Today random swatches of intense green, both wild and civilized, stand out amidst the comfortable suburban homes, streets, parks and businesses of Longview and Kelso.

The green swatches are self-contained and unique. Some are organized in rows, and well tended. Many have a Garden of Eden quality, too: fresh, surprising, ornamental, quirky, untamed, undisciplined, free.

Their one commonality — clearly visible both from 30,000 feet or from across the street — each of all 20 of them sits next to a school

IT: I was super happy doing woodworking. I was the carpenter guy.

HC: You were married, had children?

page 20

IT: Yeah, I had two kids, Ezra and India. And they started going to this school, Northlake. Their grandmother was Nancy Roland, now of Roland Wine, and she was just the best teacher, third grade.

HC: And one thing led to another…

IT: The culture of that school was just amazing. And they had started this school garden at the time. A garden at the school. So I got involved when they were in second grade.

HC: : How far along was the garden?

IT : It was just a few piles of dirt and some seeds and some little sticks for the peas to climb on. It was not big. But it was a volunteer thing, not the school bureaucracy. It was a pioneering thing that they were doing. A handful of teachers and parents, mostly on their own time. And they said to the principal, ‘we can do this’ and he said yes and they did it.

HC: Did it surprise you that ‘this is where food comes from’ needs be a part of a child’s A-B-Cs?

IT : There are some kids in the third generation of families who don’t even cook. You can’t blame those kids for not knowing — ‘You mean we’re just supposed to pick up that plant and eat it?’

HC : There’s a lot of attention these days to kids being raised on screens, in automobiles and eating fast food. There’s even a name for it, Nature Deficit Disorder.

IT: Oh, yeah. It’s in our DNA to have interactions

IT WAS JUST A FEW PILES OF DIRT AND SOME SEEDS AND SOME LITTLE STICKS FOR THE PEAS TO CLIMB ON

You half expect a glimpse of Adam and Eve themselves as you wander in among the exotic gardens, hand-painted signs and wild profusions of flowers.

Instead you’re likely to encounter a busy cadre of enthusiastic school gardeners, literally “digging it,” a host of cheerful volunteers, comparing and boasting of their lavender bundles, and the elves that manage the place, green wizards that manage this Department of Good Works. Folklore tells of vast and bountiful gardens feeding the souls and the stomachs of ancient civilizations. Lower Columbia School Gardens makes more modern, modest claims: educating, seeding, sustaining, and sharing.

HC: How did you start to get your hands dirty?

IT : They would have work parties and volunteers and teachers would show up. And they needed some stuff built. And so I was a carpenter. I built a grape arbor and I built some other things and the teachers were very appreciative.

HC: How do you tie the gardens into the curriculum, the education?

IT: Well, in order to care and take care of something, you have to first know about it. Part of it is just the kids knowing something about the natural world. ‘This is where food comes from. The soil is actually feeding us.’

HC: There’s a lot of what people refer to as “positivity” floating around here.

IT: That’s part of values, too. Teaching about caring, and nurturing. And it’s little things, too. We’re not going to give you plastic forks. We’re not going to serve you a tomato in January. Presentation of food matters.

It’s still all about science, hands-on learning. It’s about fresh air, too. Cooking isn’t drudgery.

with nature. It’s a key for mental health. It’s not just about getting good test scores. Even running around for twenty minutes on a blacktop: they’re not really in nature. They’re not playing with sticks, they’re not building forts, they’re not playing in the creek. They’re not having those sensory experiences.

HC: I hear volunteers and teachers talking a lot about “values,” too. What do you mean by that?

IT: It’s being connected to where the food comes from. Kids learning about fresh food. And a lot of it is aesthetic, it’s about what’s beautiful and wholesome.

It was an idea whose time had come. “We need one of those at our school.”

Columbia Heights joined Northlake, then Monticello and St. Helens. Before long the “pea patch” was a full-fledged Program, with a capital “P.” Lower Columbia School Gardens bloomed and blossomed, as did its need for volunteers, resources, and financial support.

The gardens had come of age. Suddenly “sustainability” became more than simply a philosophy. Success bred weeds, thorns, and challenges, not just fruits and flowers. Lower Columbia School Gardens needed to nurture itself, too.

Ian Thompson, the irreverent carpenter, had become a critical part of the care and feeding of the organization itself. Today he picks up saw and hammer less rarely, and runs the whole show.

HC: Are you still as hands-on as you’d like to be?

IT: I’m a builder. I’m a creator. I like to do things and see the results.

HC: Is maintaining something like this harder than building it in the first place?

IT: I think it is. That first round of parents that started this, they’re all gone. The kids are grown up. Some of them have their own kids in the gardens. Every day you think, ‘this is what we have. Is it thriving? Are the students using it? Are the volunteers engaged?’

HC: There’s competition for resources, I assume…

IT: The big obvious challenge is just sustainability. The gardens are alive. You can’t put them in the closet for a month waiting for the next grant to come in. A lot of grants and service organizations say ‘What new thing are you going to do?’ They don’t necessarily want to pay to just keep doing the thing you do.

HC: Is it still all volunteers?

IT: No, we have part time and full time staff people. We learned from people a lot wiser than us that you can’t manage volunteers with other volunteers. You

need a coordinator at each school. And a large part of what we do is give the food and produce away — that takes coordination and a lot of effort.

HC: Are you optimistic? Is this your contribution to saving the planet?

IT : I’d say we’re not really happy about a lot of things going on in the world on a large scale. But what we can do is give kids these experiences no matter what their home life is like.

HC: Planting the seeds…

IT: This is part of life. Everyone has the opportunity to plant seeds, to grow plants, to harvest the food, to chop it up and cook it. And we give it away, thousands of pounds free all around the community. And that mimics the economy of nature, which is about abundance, generosity, the gift economy. The hope is that the gardens won’t be seen as an extra, but as a core essential part of growing up.

LOWER COLUMBIA SCHOOL GARDENS IN THEIR OWN WORDS AND PICTURES - NEXT PAGE

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.

In 2002 at Northlake Elementary, family doctor Lee Ann Gekas rallied parents and teachers to turn an empty field into a garden, taking a four-month sabbatical to see it through.

Soon, children were tugging carrots from the soil, snapping beans and holding strawberries as if they were jewels. The first garden lesson was simple: food is not bought, it is grown.

The years that followed were tender, uncertain, and full of growth. Northlake’s garden stretched wider, Columbia Heights joined in, and in 2010 the effort became a nonprofit: Lower Columbia School Gardens. Soon an orchard of 80 fruit trees was planted, other schools sought guidance, and by 2014 the group stood on its own as a 501(c)3. What began as a small patch of soil now reaches 4,600 students annually, including every elementary and middle school in Longview and Kelso. That’s 20 schools in all — supported by 10 staff, four trucks, and five trailers — a modest infrastructure for such abundant work.

Today, Lower Columbia School Gardens faces what every mature nonprofit learns at some point: Funders love the shiny newness of starting a garden, but resist the long middle — the unglamorous but vital tending that keeps 20 gardens alive. Yet the work continues, through seasons and grants, between certainty and hope. Children still arrive each morning with ready hands and open hearts to learn the oldest lessons: that food comes from soil, that worms are our wiggly friends, and that sharing half a peach with another makes the whole fruit taste better.

Cowlitz Tribal members and staff help plan and install a native plant space at the new Lexington School Garden in 2024, including this Camas micro prairie. For generations, the Cowlitz have tended Camas praticies across our region. One of the many lessons we’ve learned from this collaboration is that plant relatives thrive in relationship with people—a truth the Cowlitz people have carried by tending Camas prairies here for time immemorial.

The Gardens in Action

Nodesks or chalkboards needed: Bent low among soil and sunlight, a young gardener studies the small teacher between his palms — a plump peapod that has waited all summer to share its lessons:

This is how patience becomes sweetness. This is how you say thank you: by helping. This is how good food tastes when you’re part of the story.

Magic happens when kids grow their own food: naysayers become veggie-lovers and zucchini turns into a “party guest.” Kids who swore off greens transform when they plant, cook, and eat together. Gardening builds lifelong healthy habits; cooking for yourself is far more tasty and fun than food from a can or box.

Community Days: During summer break, every garden becomes a gathering place. People pitch in with planting, watering and weeding, then linger for food and friendship. Community Days are about more than vegetables—they’re about growing joy and nourishment, side by side, one small act of service at a time.

At our Free Farm Stands, the Earth shares generously with us, and we joyfully pass that gift to the community. Each year, more than 5,000 pounds of produce reach neighbors—plus countless handfuls enjoyed by students right from the vine. With five stands across town and more on the way, we practice gratitude by sharing the harvest wisely, taking only what we need so others may do the same.

This fall, join Garden Days in Lexington Sept. 23, Oct. 7, Oct. 21, help at seasonal work parties, or support our fundraisers: Give More 24! on Sept. 25 — and mark your calendar for the Fall Gathering Fundraiser on Saturday Nov. 8, a special evening of food and community!

For more info, to volunteer or donate, visit lowercolumbia schoolgardens.com. Checks may be mailed to PO Box 785, Longview, WA 98632

Manners from page 15

Well, ridiculously exaggerated. Perhaps only in novels were ladies condemned to dowdiness in tribute to someone of whom they may have been only too delighted to be free. Now, expressing mourning through appearance has pretty much been dropped. Many people do not even wear black to funerals, much less afterwards -- unless it is to weddings. But visible mourning did serve a purpose. At the funeral, it indicated respect for the deceased. And in later stages, it warned others that the wearer’s state was possibly fragile.

As quaint as it seems, Miss Manners would think a modified version would be useful nowadays as protection against sidewalk therapists, with their unsolicited demands that the bereaved quickly achieve “closure.”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I own a small retail gift shop. I offer my clientele traditional gift certificates, printed on card stock, that have the recipient’s name, the sender’s name and the gift amount, all handwritten by myself.

For the past several years, a gentleman from the West Coast has called and purchased a gift certificate for his sister who lives here locally. It’s a considerable amount each year. She came in once and requested a hand-blown glass item that was out of stock. I have since had them restocked, but she hasn’t returned. I keep detailed notes of each gift certificate sold and redeemed. This past year, when the brother called, I didn’t mention to him that his sister hasn’t been redeeming the certificates. I thought it gauche. But I did send a polite note with her next gift, telling her that the item she was looking for is now back in stock. I included our store hours, and wrote that we look forward to seeing her again.

It’s been six months and she has not shown up, and she has several gift certificates now. They never expire and will always be honored; that’s not the problem. I honestly feel in a quandary about receiving money for products that are not being purchased.

The brother presumably doesn’t know she isn’t redeeming his gift

certificates, but I don’t know if saying something to him is the polite thing to do.

Should I say something the next time he calls, or stay quiet?

GENTLE READER: “I hope that your sister is well. I haven’t seen her in the shop in a while, and I was concerned. I would love her to enjoy the things that you are kind enough to facilitate her buying.”

This is a gentle way to alert him to the certificate situation, while legitimately veiling it under the more polite guise that your concern is really about her health.

Miss Manners will add that it also saves both of you the embarrassment -- if it gets back to her -- of ratting her out if her taste in shops has changed.

(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.)

MUSEUM MAGIC

CStory & photos by Joseph Govednik, Director, Cowlitz County Historical Museum

If they could speak

Bunker Hill Cemetery event brings history to life

emeteries have always fascinated me, in particular, old ones. When I was 12 years old my family took a trip to Boston, and I was amazed to see small cemeteries all over town, with grave markers dating to the 1600s.

The elaborate carvings on the old stones fascinated me. A cemetery in many ways is like a museum: it has monuments to the past lives of those who have gone before, is a sacred location where the past is held in perpetuity, and a place where those alive today may reflect on where we came from.

There are many historic cemeteries throughout the circulation area of our Columbia River Reader audience. One I wish to highlight is the Bunker Hill Cemetery near Stella, Washington. Most people drive past Stella coming or going to the coast and it’s gone in the blink of an eye. They may notice the sign reading “Welcome to Historic Stella,” traveling east or westbound on Washington State Route 4, but might not realize the history and significance of this town.

Many years ago, Stella was a vibrant logging community with ample employment in the nearby forests. Wherever there is a community, there is a need for a cemetery, and Stella was no different. The cemetery that served the Stella community was, and still is, at Bunker Hill, just one mile as a crow flies. Within its grounds are the people who worked in the timber industry, logging railroads, and docks which exported lumber to ports and cities far away.

As museums use artifacts to interpret the lives of those long ago through displays and exhibits, a cemetery can provide a venue to educate those alive today about the lives of the past. Our local cemeteries serve as a final resting place for the mortal remains of many prominent people who shaped this region, and as such, much of our history is buried in these grounds.

YOU’RE INVITED: Living History Cemetery Tour

On September 27, I invite you to the Bunker Hill Cemetery Tour, a living history tour in partnership between The Stella Historical Society, Cowlitz County Historical Museum, and Bunker Hill Cemetery Association.

This guided tour will take you along a route with living historians who will share the lives of those who have gone before. Many of the living historians on this tour are the progenitors of the deceased.

During this tour, a docent guide will lead groups along a path of discovery as they stop by several graves and hear about the lives of those buried, as told by living historians. The tours run every 20 minutes and depart from 1pm-3pm, for a total of seven tours. Each informative tour will take approximately an hour to complete. Please wear comfortable shoes as the grounds have many uneven areas. Spaces are limited for each tour, so it is highly recommended that attendees register to reserve their 20-minute slot using this QR code, or go to www.cowlitzcountyhistory.org and register there. People not registering to reserve a tour spot are welcome, but may be put on a wait list as space is available.

A suggested donation of $5 per attendee is appreciated, and any generosity beyond that will be gratefully accepted to support this program and others. We kindly ask that people attending this program be mindful that this event is at a cemetery, which deserves reverence and respect.

MAN IN THE KITCHEN CLASSICS

An easyto-make Autumn Warmer

Potato Leek Soup

Nothing hits the spot on a cold autumn afternoon like a bowl of long-simmered soup, the kind that will taste even better the next day. Here’s a Potato Leek soup that fits that description. The ingredients are simple; the result, repeatable.

Leeks are a mild member of the onion family, used primarily to flavor soups and sauces. Their use dates back thousands of years and is a national symbol for Wales. The white bottom part of the leek is used in the kitchen, cutting off the roots and green stem. Before using, slice through the good part of the leek, length-wise, and fan its leaves under running water to remove any accumulated sand.

1/2 C. butter

2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and chopped

1 qt. chicken broth

4 C. peeled russet potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, peeled, chopped

1 Tbl. chopped fresh thyme

Italian parsley and thyme for garnish

Simmer leeks in the butter until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the leeks and butter to boiling chicken broth. Reduce heat; simmer for an hour or longer. Add potatoes, carrots and thyme and cook until vegetables are tender. Strain the soup, and puree the solid ingredients with a cup or more of the soup liquid. Add the pureé back into the soup base.

Season with salt and white pepper and serve in bowls or cups with a sprinkle of chopped Italian parsley and/or thyme on top. Serve with a crusty artisan bread as a final touch.

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.

COLUMBIA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

JOIN THE FUN! CENTENNIAL SOUP-OFF AT LONGVIEW’S HISTORIC MONTICELLO HOTEL

Saturday, October 11

6:00 – 9:00pm

Monticello Hotel Ballroom 1405 17th Avenue Longview, Wash.

It’s not just soup!

It’s the Columbia Theatre’s Annual FUNdraiser. Local restaurants participate in a friendly (well, mostly friendly) competition to see who has the best soup and YOU get to decide who the winners are!

Ways to support the Columbia Theatre during the evening: •PURCHASE A SEAT Tickets $100 per person include entertainment, appetizers, and samplings of soup from some of the area’s finest restaurants. Tickets available at columbiatheatre.com or box office, 1231 Vandercook Way, Longview, open Mon 11:30am–5; Tues-Fri 11:30am–5:30pm.

• DESSERT DASH

21 delectable desserts to bid on from the area’s finest bakers

• RAISE THE PADDLE

All proceeds benefit the Columbia Theatre Association

• SILENT AUCTION Take home an item or a future service or experience!

Sponsorship opportunities may still be available; CTPA’s Centennial Soup Off is a great way to advertise your business. For more information contact Kelly Ragsdale at 360.423.1011 ext. 11.

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.

Bruno’s Pizza 1108 Washington Way. Pizza, breadsticks, wings, salads, fish & chips. WE DELIVER. Four beers on tap. 360-636-4970 or 360-425-5220.

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.

The Corner Cafe

796 Commerce Ave. Breakfast & Lunch. Daily Soup & Sandwich, breakfast specials. Tues-Sat 7am-3pm. Closed Sun-Mon. 360353-5420. Email: sndcoffeeshop@comcast.net

COLUMBIA RIVER dining guide

Eclipse Coffee & Tea In the Merk (1339 Commerce Ave., #113)

360-998-2139. Mon-Fri 8am–4pm. Specialty coffees, teas, bubble teas and pastries....drinks with a smile. Takeout and on-site.

Freddy’s Just for the Halibut 1110 Commerce Ave. Cod, Alaskan halibut fish and chips, award-winning clam chowder. Burgers, steaks, pasta. Beer and wine. M-Wed 10am–8pm, Th-Sat 10am–9pm, Sunday 11am–8pm. Inside dining, Drive-thru, outdoor seating. 360-414-3288. See ad, page 10.

Hop N Grape 924 15th Ave., Longview Tues–Thurs 11am–8pm; Fri & Sat 11am–9pm. BBQ meat slow-cooked on site. Pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, turkey, salmon. Worldfamous mac & cheese. 360-577-1541.

Kyoto Sushi Steakhouse 760 Ocean Beach Hwy, Suite J 360-425-9696. Japanese food, i.e. Hibachi, Bento boxes, Teppanyaki; Sushi (half-price Wednesdays); Kids Meal 50% Off Sundays. Mon-Th 11-2:30, 4:30-9:30. Fri-Sat 11am10pm. Sun 11am-9pm. 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

Castle Rock, Wash

Luckman’s Coffee Company 239 Huntington Ave. North, Drive-thru. Pastries, sandwiches, salads, quiche.

Vault Books & Brew

20 Cowlitz Street West, Castle Rock. Coffee and specialty drinks, quick eats & sweets. See ad, pg 30

(Parker’s former location), 1300 Mt. St. Helens Way. 360--967-2333. Open daily, 11am–10pm. Steaks, pasta, calamari, salads, sandwiches, fondue, desserts. Happy Hour, full bar.

Kalama, Wash.

LUCKMAN’S COFFEE Mountain Timber Market, Port of Kalama. Open 8am–7pm. 360-673-4586.

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;

Warren, Ore.

Toutle, Wash.

Roland Wines 1106 Florida St., Longview. Authentic Italian wood-fired pizza, wine, beer, specialty cocktails. Casual ambience. 5–9pm Wed-Sat, 360-846-7304 See ad, page 4.

Scythe Brewing Company 1217 3rd Avenue #150

Stuffy’s

360-353-3851

Mon-Thurs 11:30am -8pm; FriSat 11:30am -10pm. Sun 12-8pm. Family-friendly brewery/ restaurant with upscale, casual dining, lunch and dinner.

804 Ocean Beach Hwy 360-423-6356 8am–8pm. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. American style food. Free giant cinnamon roll with meal purchase on your birthday with proof of ID. Facebook: Stuffy’s II Restaurant, or Instagram @stuffys2.

Teri’s

Café on Broadway

1133 Broadway. Lunch and Dinner, full bar. Mon12–8pm. Tues-Thurs 11am–8pm, Fri 11am–9pm; Sat 12–9pm. 360577-0717

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 32.

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.

Poem by Robert Michael Pyle

Two Rivers

Two rivers run down to the bay, meeting at Miller Point.

One short, all tidal, and deep, like its name.

Judy VanderMaten

EMPIRE OF TREES

by Hal Calbom

AMERICA’S PLANNED CITY AND THE LAST FRONTIER

Leaps and Bounds

One long, from the hills, tidal just to the town of its name, and many days gray, just like its name.

Two snaky bodies of water, making their beds between forest and field, looking to find their way, together.

Past ghost towns of the Finns and the Swedes. Past log dumps and stumps of forests past.

Past the churches and creameries and graveyards and stores. Past wood ducks, and otters, muskrats and mink.

Two snaky bodies of water, making their beds between forest and field, looking to find their way, together.

Two rivers rush down to the bay under bridges and raindrops and roads, through gorges and culverts and tidegates, By docks and houses, gillnets and mudbanks. By kingfishers, eagles, reedgrass, and newts. Ospreys, salmon, suckers and smelt. Past meadows of cattle and elk, shadows of cedars and spruce, all the way to the bay, the big river, the bar, all the way to the sea.

These rivers are rolling... these rivers are rocking on down...

Two snaky bodies of water, finding their way, together.

One of Longview’s — and Southwest Washington’s — proudest accomplishments is Lower Columbia College. Like so much else conceived and built by early citizens, the college was an ambitious gamble founded less on need and practicality than on faith and optimism. Its history, like that of the city itself, is a tale of heroic sacrifices, financial sleight of hand, and good faith. Today, based on these gifts of will and vision, it flourishes.

WORDS AND WOOD

by Debby Neely

PACIFIC NORTHWEST WOODCUTS AND HAIKU

This page and pg. 5 feature excerpts from CRRPress books.

Eclipse II

As the day turns dark

In the shadow of the Moon

Cranes watch silently

CRRPRESS was founded in 2020, with the first printing of Tidewater Reach, followed by Dispatches from the Discovery Trail (see current episode, page 5), Empire of Trees, Words and Wood, and A Lifetime of Art.

Purchase info, see page 2, 39.

UIPS & QUOTES Q

Selected by Debra Tweedy

The best way to predict your future is to create it. --Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President, 1809-1865

Creative activity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

--Arthur Koestler, Austro-Hungarian author and journalist, 1905-1983

Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.

--Victor Hugo, French writer, 1802-1885

One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night. --Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist, 1901-1978

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Dust them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.

--Alan Alda, American actor 1936-

Pain and suffering are a kind of currency passed from hand to hand until they reach someone who receives them but does not pass them on. --Simone Weil, French philosopher, 1909-1943

Really, I don’t like human nature unless all candied over with art. --Virginia Woolf, British writer and critic, 1882-1941

Reader, suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

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

Hope confronts. It does not ignore pain, agony, or injustice. It is not a saccharine optimism that refuses to see, face, or grapple with the wretchedness of reality. You can’t have hope without despair, because hope is a response. Hope is the active conviction that despair will never have the last word.

--Cory Booker, US Senator, 1969-

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.

CWhat are you reading?

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Cheryl Strayed

Review by Philip Portwood

heryl Strayed was at a crossroads in her life. She’d lost her mom to cancer. She’d divorced her husband who she still felt was her soul mate. She was having sex with strangers and had become a heroin junky. So, she decided to backpack The Pacific Crest Trail from California through Oregon and reflect on her life, about what had broken her and how to make her life whole again.

The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail was designated by Congress in 1968, and finished in 1993, a couple of years before Cheryl did her trek along this western mountain range. I became interested in the storyline because of my own backpacking trips, to the Jewel Basin in Montana and several trips on the Mount Margaret Trail near Mt. St. Helens.

Strayed had never backpacked before. She overloaded her pack, naming it “Monster.” Her boots were too tight and she lost a couple of toenails because of it. Then one of her boots fell down a cliff, and she had to walk in sandals, held together with duct tape. (REI replaced her boots free of charge per their policy. She had packages with supplies mailed to stops along the way.)

She was a single, young 20-something woman, traveling alone in the wilderness. She encountered many colorful people, as well as rattlesnakes and a charging bull, and finally completed her trek at the Bridge of the Gods. Readers will find this true story fascinating. A movie was made of her experience with Reese Witherspoon portraying Cheryl. Readers should be advised of foul language throughout.

Philip Portwood has been a volunteer tutor in English and US Citizenship at the Longview Public Library for 20 years. He sings with the Castle Rock Men’s Ensemble, is a retired organist occasionally filling in at local churches, and has rescued his fifth dog.

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 mini-interview if preferred.

I’m glad fall is around the corner. This means more rain. I like to get good use out of my umbrellas. They are more than just a fashion statement.

in the historic Castle Rock Bank Building 20 Cowlitz Street West Mon-Sat 8:30–5 • Sun 10–4 360-916-1377

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stewart.com/longview

1. Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir, Ballantine, $22

2. Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $19.99

3. All the Colors of the Dark Chris Whitaker, Crown, $19

4. Martyr! Kaveh Akbar, Vintage, $18

5. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

James McBride, Riverhead Books, $19

6. I Who Have Never Known Men

Jacqueline Harpman, Transit Books, $16.95

7. The Ministry of Time

Kaliane Bradley, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $18.99

8. Tell Me Everything

Elizabeth Strout, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18

9. The Frozen River Ariel Lawhon, Vintage, $18

10. North Woods

Dan Mason, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $18.

Brought to you by Book Sense and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, for week ending Aug. 31, 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 Tyranny

Timothy Snyder, Crown, $12

2. The Wager David Grann, Vintage, $21

3. Braiding Sweetgrass

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $22

4. The Wide Wide Sea Hampton Sides, Vintage, $19

5. The Artist’s Way: 30th Anniversary Edition

Julia Cameron, TarcherPerigee, $24

6. The Light Eaters

Zoë Schlanger, Harper Perennial, $19.99

7. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord

Daniel J. Levitin, W. W. Norton & Company, $19.99

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

9. The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Amy Tan, Knopf, $36

10. On Island Time

Chandler O’Leary, Sasquatch Books, $24.95

BOOK REVIEW

By Alan Rose

WThe Bad Muslim Discount

Syed M. Masood Anchor $18 Paperback

e are a nation of immigrant stories, those family tales of how our ancestors came to this country from Ireland, or from Italy, from Mexico or Moldavia, from China, or Lagos or Laos. Each story is different, unique to a particular family and its origin culture. Yet there are similarities, too: these immigrants were usually driven by dreams and/or desperation. They experienced disorientation, needing to adapt to different customs, to

1. Katabasis (Deluxe Limited Edition)

R. F. Kuang, Harper Voyager, $35, 2. Dungeon Crawler

Carl Matt Dinniman, Ace, $30, 3. Atmosphere

Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine Books, $30, 4. My Friends Fredrik Backman, Atria Books, $29.99, 5. Hemlock & Silver

T. Kingfisher, Tor Books, $28.99

6. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

V. E. Schwab, Tor Books, $29.99

7. James Percival Everett, Doubleday, $28

8. The Emperor of Gladness Ocean Vuong, Penguin Press, $30

9. Wild Dark Shore

Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron Books, $28.99

10. The Wedding People

Alison Espach, Henry Holt and Co., $28.99

1. Coming Up Short

Robert B. Reich, Knopf, $30

2. Everything Is Tuberculosis

John Green, Crash Course Books, $28

3. Abundance

Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Schuster, $30

4. The Let Them Theory

Mel Robbins, Sawyer Robbins, Hay House LLC, $29.99

5. The Serviceberry

Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Burgoyne (Illus.), Scribner, $2

6. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

Omar El Akkad, Knopf, $28

7. A Marriage at Sea

Sophie Elmhirst, Riverhead Books, $28

8. The Creative Act

Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32

9. The Book of Alchemy Suleika Jaouad, Random House, $30, 10. Murderland

Caroline Fraser, Penguin Press, $32.

Top 10 Bestsellers

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle, World of Eric Carle, $10.99

2. The Wild Robot on the Island

Peter Brown, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $19.99

3. Goodnight Moon

Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $10.99

4. Good Night, Gorilla

Peggy Rathmann, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, $8.99

5. Blueberries for Sal

Robert McCloskey, Puffin, $9.99

6. Aggie and the Ghost Matthew Forsythe, Simon & Schuster/ Paula Wiseman Books, $19.99

7. Little Blue Truck and Racer

Red Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry (Illus.), Clarion Books,$19.99

8. Things That Go!

Amy Pixton, Stephan Lomp (Illus.), Workman, $5.99

9. Room on the Broom

Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illus.), Dial Books, $9.99

10. The Invisible Parade

Leigh Bardugo, John Picacio, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $19.99

An immigrant story for our time

a different language, often to different values, while also trying to hold on to their own cultural heritage.

The Bad Muslim Discount is a more recent immigrant story, a novel set in 2016, that is timely, touching, and poignant. It’s also very funny. Anvar, the son of Pakistani immigrants, has grown up and been educated in the US, and is now an attorney. A product of American and Pakistani cultures, he often finds himself suspended uncomfortably between the two. Irreverent and endlessly joking, he is frequently at odds with his family’s traditional values and more somber outlook (he’s the “bad Muslim” of the title).

Family and friends express concern that he is losing touch with his religion. “I’m just trying to make sure you don’t endanger your soul,” a friend tells him. Anvar replies, “Don’t worry about it.

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.

1. A Wolf Called Fire Rosanne Parry, Greenwillow Books, $18.99,

2. Hatchet

Gary Paulsen, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $9.99

3. A Whale of the Wild Rosanne Parry, Greenwillow Books, $9.99,

4. Space Case The Graphic Novel Stuart Gibbs, Ward Jenkins (Illus.), Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $14.99,

5. A Horse Named Sky Rosanne Parry, Greenwillow Books, $9.99,

6. A Wolf Called Wander Rosanne Parry, Greenwillow Books, $9.99,

7. Quest for the True Dragon Jaimal Yogis, Vivian Truong (Illus.), Graphix, $14.99

8. Odder

Katherine Applegate, Charles Santoso (Illus.), Feiwel & Friends, $16.99

9. The Eyes and the Impossible Dave Eggers, Shawn Harris (Illus.), Yearling, $14.99

10. The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels

Beth Lincoln, Claire Powell (Illus.), Dutton Books for Young Readers, $9.99

That radical Islamists and “America First” nationalists had essentially the same worldview and the same desire to recapture a nostalgia-gilded past glory was proof, in my opinion, that God’s sense of irony was simply divine. Still, I wasn’t worried. The common sense and decency of my fellow Americans would never allow xenophobia and hatred to come to power.

– from The Bad Muslim Discount

They made me give it up when I passed the bar.” His mother comments, “This one thinks he is funny…He’s the only one who thinks so.”

A second, more serious story is told by Safwa, a young Iraqi woman from wartorn Baghdad. She is living with her conservative father and abusive fiancé.

For her, culture is a prison, and this new country may offer her an escape. But she lacks proper documents.

Anvar and Safwa’s stories also reflect the immigrant experience in 21st century America. A presidential campaign is underway where one of the candidates is stoking antiimmigrant, and particularly antiMuslim, sentiment, as a way to boost his campaign and fire up his base. Safwa worries at the increasingly hate-filled rhetoric. But Anvar reassures her. He has lived here much of his life. He knows this country. This man will never be elected, he tells her. The American people are better than that. Ouch!

Throughout the book, Anvar struggles with his faith, in God and in humanity, eventually coming to an uneasy peace for his soul that allows him to proceed amid life’s many complexities and uncertainties—“I no longer believed that I believed, though I did have faith without knowing what I had faith in.”

LONGVIEW

U.S. Bank

Post Office

Forever Fit - 1211 18th Ave

Bob’s (rack, main check-out)

In front of 1232 Commerce Ave

In front of 1323 Commerce Ave

Where to find the new Reader

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

WOODLAND

The Oak Tree

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

VADER

Little Crane Café

RYDERWOOD

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)

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

Café porch

TOUTLE

Drew’s Grocery & Service

CLATSKANIE, ORE

Post Office

Mobil / Mini-Mart

Fultano’s Pizza

WESTPORT

Berry Patch (entry rack)

RAINIER

Post Office

Cornerstone Café

Rainier Hardware (rack, entry)

Earth ‘n’ Sun (on Hwy 30)

El Tapatio (entry rack)

Grocery Outlet

Senior Center (rack at front door)

DEER ISLAND

Deer Island Store

COLUMBIA CITY

Post Office

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

Realty West/Computer Link NW

Puget Island Ferry Landing

SKAMOKAWA

Skamokawa General Store

NASELLE

Appelo Archives & Café

Johnson’s One-Stop

ILWACO

Time Enough Books (entry table)

LONG BEACH

Long Beach Merchants Assn

OCEAN PARK

Ocean Park Chamber of Commerce 1715 Bay Ave.

RAYMOND

NW Carriage Museum

Timberland Library

SOUTH BEND

Pacific County Historical Society & Museum

Little white church in the woods invites you

By Laura McCartney

Join us for a day of treasure hunting and community fun at the Stella Market and Vintage Décor on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event will be held at Stella Lutheran Chapel Church, 124 Sherman Road in west Longview, Wash. See ad, page 36.

Known as the little white church in the woods, Stella Lutheran has been serving the community since 1948. This year we are excited to be holding this new event, which will feature a delightful mix of vintage décor, handcrafted items, antiques, handmade jewelry, honey from Grays River, art and unique finds—perfect for gift-giving or adding charm to your home. And if you enjoy garage sale treasures, we’ll have some of those too!

Whether you’re a collector, a decorator, or simply looking for a fun outing, the Stella Market offers something for everyone. Food and refreshments will also be available, so plan to stay awhile! Mark your calendar, bring your friends, and enjoy the welcoming spirit of Stella Lutheran Chapel. Handicap parking is available.

The Longview Mobile Library will also be at this event from 9:15am to 11am.

Columbia River Reader BOOK BOUTIQUE

Lewis & Clark, Longview’s Centennial, Columbia River poetry, art, history, see pg 2, 29, 39 Gift Subscriptions for yourself or a friend!

Mon-Wed-Fri • 11am–3pm, or by chance or appointment 1333 14th Ave, Longview Free local delivery of books 360-749-1021 GREAT

Where do you read THE READER?

At the Post Office

In front of the CRR sidewalk box at the Longview Post Office. Annaleiya is the granddaughter of Bruce & Teresa Huhta and a 10-year-old fifthgrader at Butler Acres Elementary in Kelso.

“She’s always on the lookout for the next edition of the CRR to read with her “Nana,” wrote Teresa Huhta.

WHERE DO YOU READ THE READER?

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

For cell phone photos, choose the largest file size up to 2 MB. Include names and cities of residence. Expect an acknowledgment within 5 days of submission; otherwise, please re-send. Thank you for your participation and patience, we usually have a small backlog!

In the dark

Longview residents Gary and Susan Nordin in Lava River Cave at Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Deschutes County, Oregon.

Submission Guidelines

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

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

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

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

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

HOW TO PUBLICIZE YOUR NONPROFIT EVENT IN CRR

Send your non-commercial community event info (incl name of event, beneficiary, sponsor, date & time, location, brief description and contact info) to publisher@crreader.com

Or mail or hand-deliver (in person or via mail slot) to: Columbia River Reader 1333 14th, Longview, WA 98632

Submission Deadlines

Events occurring: Oct 15 – Nov 20 by Sept 25 for Oct 15 issue Nov 25 – Jan 18 by Nov 5 for Holiday 2025 issue.

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

See Submission Guidelines above.

Stella Market & Vintage Décor Stella Lutheran Church. Sat., Sept. 20. See ad below, story, page 32.

Movie Nights Under the Stars ; Sept 26–8pm, Top Gun Maverick , at Mint Valley Golf Course. Bring blankets or lawn chairs. Pre-activities start at 7:30pm. Free.

Car Seat Clinic Saturday, Sept 20, 10am–12pm, Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue, 701 Vine St, Kelso. Qualifying participants receive one free car seat per family. $10 gift card to every vehicle/family attending. NonEnglish speakers: Bring interpreter age 13plus. Info, www.Facebook.com/safekidslc.

Friendship Force International (FFI) public informational meeting, Sunday, Sept 21, 2pm, Willow Grove Clubhouse, 7337 Willow Grove Road, Longview. Wash. FFI is a non-profit cultural organization focused on promoting understanding, cultural education, and citizen diplomacy through homestay journeys (both hosting and being hosted, with people from other U.S. states as well as internationally) and personal friendships. Through these encounters, strangers become friends by experiencing different views and discovering common ground. More info: Jane, 360-636-2846 or Judi, 360-261-9504.

There’s Still Snow on Silver Star Fictional tale by David Bareford of 1902 Yacolt fires. Through Oct. 5, Love Street Playhouse, Woodland, Wash.Fri-Sat 7:30pm, Sun 2pm. Tickets from $26, lovestreetplayhouse.com or call 800-9668865.

THE MINTHORN COLLECTION OF CHINESE ART

A gift from Dr. and Mrs. H. Minthorn to the community via Lower Columbia College Foundation, The Minthorn Collection of Chinese Art encompasses a wide range of styles and is displayed in the upper level of the Forsberg Gallery in LCC’s Rose Center, open M-Th 10–3. Free.

Outings & Events

Longview ’23 Club Annual Dinner Monday Oct. 6. Social 5pm. Dinner 6:30pm. St. Rose Parish Center, 2571 Nichols Blvd., Longview Wash. Program: Club president Mary Cranston speaking about the birth of Longview’s sports culture. Open to all. Ticket prices and other details: longview23club.org.

Registr by Sept. 26.

Intro to Federal Government Monday, Oct 6, 5:30–7pm, Longview Public Library. Taught by the staff of the Office of the Washington Secretary of State. Dive into the three branches of the federal government, the U.S. Constitution, and how legislative committees shape national policy. Practical tools to engage at different levels of government and make your voice heard. Free, open to all. Info: longviewlibrary.org; 360-442-5300.

Scappoose Public Library Authors Festival Sat, Oct 11, 11am–3pm. 12 local authors, readings, book signing and sales. 52469 SE 2nd St, Scappoose, Ore. Info:emann@ scappooselibrary.org.

BROADWAY GALLERY

Book Sale Oct 17-18, 10am–4pm; Oct 19, 10am–1pm. First floor, Longview Public Library, Longview, Wash. Friends of the Longview Public Library, proceeds benefit Library programs. Info: Facebook. com/FriendslongviewWAlibrary.

SW Washington Symphony Fall Concerts Saturday, Oct 18, 7:00pm; Sunday, Oct. 19, 3:00pm. Lower Columbia College Rose Center’s Wollenberg Auditorium, these season-opening concerts will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth with his “Piano Concerto in G Major,” and his songs on the legendary Don Quichotte, as well as Edward Elgar’s beloved “Enigma Variations.”

1418 Commerce Avenue, Longview Tues thru Sat, 11–4. Visit the Gallery to see new work. For event updates check our website: the-broadway-gallery.com, at Broadway Gallery on Facebook, and broadway gallery longview on Instagram. FIRST

FEATURED ARTISTS

Sept Guest Artist Bernadette Crider (pottery); Gallery Member Ron Otis, poured acrylic painting.

October: Guest Artists Pauline Phillips, jewelry; and Lyn Craig, ceramic painting

Classes & workshops available; details on our website or in store.

gifts,

authors, wearable art, original paintings, pottery, sculpture, photographs and MORE!

Columbia River Reader / September 15, 2025

Oct. 2nd 5:30–7pm. Join us for Live Music and Refreshments OPEN Tues - Sat 11–4 Free Gift Wrap on request.

Voted one of top 3 Galleries in SW Washington.

See “story, page 32

Brownsmead Flats October 5th concert to benefit Charlene Larsen Center in Astoria

T he B rownsmead F la T s will be continuing their long tradition of supporting the Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts, (formerly the college Performing Arts Center) 588 16th St, Astoria. The concert is 3pm, Sunday, Oct 5. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $15 — because it’s a fundraiser!

The Brownsmead Flats play acoustic music that may be best described as “Crabgrass” which they liken to a folk/bluegrass style with a maritime flavor. The band has a strong focus on vocal harmonies and many of their

See “In the Spotlight,” page 37

Saturday, Oct 4, 7:30pm

Tickets: Adult $25; Senior/ Students $23, Child $20

CLATSKANIE ARTS COMMISSION

Performance at Birkenfeld Theatre, Clatskanie Cultural Center, Clatskanie, Ore.

Tickets / Info: www.clatskaniearts.org

songs are composed by members of the group and reflect on living in the Pacific Northwest. A variety of instruments are played by the quintet. Dan Sutherland is featured on the hammered dulcimer, fiddle, and mandolin. Ray Raihala picks the banjo, guitar and mandolin. Ned Heavenrich plays harmonica and guitar. John Fenton keeps the band together rhythmically with the bass, and Larry Moore rounds out the group with his expertise on mandolin and occasional flashes of fancy foot work.

The Brownsmead Flats create a festive atmosphere where audiences are encouraged to participate and the versatility of the group allows them to generate music for audiences of all ages. Their tight harmonies and enjoyment of making music together translate into an event guaranteed to fill audiences with song and mirth. The Brownsmead Flats celebrated their 40th anniversary of making music in 2024! They are truly a local treasure!

– Submitted by Carol Smith

HIKES

See page 12

by Hal Calbom

Their pairing is a serenade to serendipity. Their music spans folk to flamenco to Fado.

They are Jaca, world musicians this month IN THE SPOTLIGHT.

WHIRLED MUSIC

Eclectic duet begins tour in our own backyard

“We’re doing 48 different venues,” said guitarist Jaxon Williams, “And Birkenfeld Theater is the very first.”

That’s sweet music for the Oregon village of Clatskanie, home of the Birkenfeld Cultural Center, considering that the internationally acclaimed artists who call themselves Jaca — Williams and his clarinet-playing partner Wesley Ferreira — are joining me on a zoom call from their homes in Spain and Portugal, respectively.

“I guess we consider ourselves trailblazers a little bit,” said Wesley, “both in the music we play and the way we play it.”

Jaca (pronounced ZHA-ka) opens their American tour at the Birkenfeld Theater 7:30pm, Saturday October 4th. Coast audiences should be aware thir second date is Sunday the 5th, 2pm matinee at the Raymond Theater in Raymond, Washington.

With Williams on classical guitar and Ferreira on clarinet, Jaca produces a stupendous quantity and quality of music from just their two instruments, no pre-recorded accompaniments allowed.

Hal Calbom is associate publisher with CRRPress,and produces CRR’s monthly “People+Place” feature, see page 19.

“We squeeze every ounce out of these things,” said Ferreira, who met Williams at a recording session in Phoenix 12 years ago. “I was completing a record and needed a guitar player at the last minute, and there was Jaxon.”

cont page 38

In the Spotlight from page 37 IF YOU GO Jaca

We hit it off immediately,” added Williams, “sneaking in all sorts of influences.”

I asked them who handles rhythm and percussion and, with some pride, both answered quickly” “It’s all us. When we say we squeeze music out of these instruments we mean it!”

Both musicians emphasized to me the universality of the “folk” tradition: how many cultures, geographically at opposite ends of the earth, have managed to produce music using wood, string, stretched hide and the human voice?

“We’re about finding the common elements in all these traditions,” said Ferreira, “and try to introduce new music to our audiences.”

As do many of the acts we’ve featured IN THE SPOTLIGHT, Williams and Ferreira relish playing medium-sized venues, cities and towns.

The Best Time

Sat., Oct 4, 7:30pm Birkenfeld Cultural Center 123 Nehalem, Clatskanie

Adults $15, Students $10 clatskaniearts.org

Sun., Oct 5, 2pm. Tickets from $5 Raymond Theatre 323 3rd St., Raymond, Wash. sundayafternoonlive.org

“We’re doing deep cultural tourism in the heart of rural America,” said Wesley, “Most of these halls and performing venues have wonderful acoustics. And you can’t beat the welcome.”

For a taste of whirled music — a trip around the planet on winds and strings — give Jaca a listen this October — we have two venues to choose from.

Ithe spectator by ned piper

Gumption and success

hope you’ve discovered the recent series in the pages of the Reader. “Our World in Words,” written by a longtime friend and high school classmate of mine, Bob Park. I’ve come to enjoy Bob’s memories of his growing up years in Longview, and lessons he learned along the way.

Twenty-one years ago, when Sue purchased the Reader, she invited me to write a monthly column in the paper. I was thrilled. I sat down at my computer and wrote a 500-word piece of fiction. Another good friend I’d kept in touch with over the years was Lee Quarnstrom, a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News , who had earlier moved from Longview, making his home in California.

I sent my piece of fiction to Lee with a message asking Lee if he thought my piece of fiction would be of interest to Sue’s readers. He told me to trash what I’d written and write instead about my own life, what I liked, what I was passionate about. “That’s what people want to read about,” Lee wrote.

Bob Park’s essays illustrate Lee’s point nicely.

Bob and I met when we were babies. Our parents became friends through the Longview Community Church. At R.A. Long High School, Bob and I were in Miss Sonneman’s history class. This was my favorite class and I worked my tail off, hoping for an “A.” I could never do better than a “B,” while Bob effortlessly, or so it seemed to me, racked up an A+. He was smart.

A few weeks before graduation, I asked Bob where he was going to college.

“Oh, I’ve decided not to go to college,” he replied.

What??! I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. My parents had convinced me that if I didn’t go to college, I would fail miserably at life.

“What are you going to do?” I asked Bob.

“I’m going to be a janitor in my uncle’s sheet metal shop,” he told me.

“A janitor?” I exclaimed. “Are you kidding me? Bob, you’re smarter than that. I can’t believe you’re serious.”

Fast forward seven years — I graduated from the University of Washington, with a degree in drama and no prospects in sight for employment. By then, my friend Bob owned a sheet metal shop with something like 35 employees. His company expanded and, still thriving today, constructs steel buildings all over the world. Literally all over the world. His “gumption” — independent thinking, work ethic and ambition — certainly paid off. He’s an inspiration. Read how Bob got his start on page 13.

Longview resident Ned Piper is mostly retired, but assists with CRR ads and distribution — when he is not enjoying TV sports or political talk (wrangling) shows.

RAINIER GROCERY OUTLET

Home of Agent Buster and his sidekick Clipper. With 40% to 70% in savings on Brand name groceries, we make savings a reality. Come and check out the newly revamped store.

NEW OWNERS! We are committed to serving the community! Jeremy and Monika Medhaug “ ”

215 W B ST, Rainier, Oregon 503 395-2018

SPLUGGED IN TO COWLITZ PUD

By Alice Dietz, Cowlitz PUD Communications/Public Relations Manager

Fuel Efficiency Tips

ave energy and money during cooler temperatures in the fall by taking control of your energy use. The following actions help to reduce your energy use:

1

Add or repair weatherstripping on windows and doors to reduce heat loss and drafts.

2Reverse the direction of your ceiling fan in colder weather. Running the fan in reverse pulls the warm air off the ceiling and disperses it throughout the room.

be reached at adietz@cowlitzpud.org, or 360-501-9146.

A Different Way of Seeing...

3

Check your air filters every month to improve air quality, reduce heating costs, and improve the efficiency of your heating system. Be sure to change the filters regularly to keep the system running properly.

4

If you have a programmable thermostat, program it to automatically change the temperature at set times for each day. Temperature is a personal/household decision, but the U.S. Department of Energy suggests setting your thermostat to 68 while you are awake and at home and lower it while you’re asleep or away from home.

THE TIDEWATER REACH

Field Guide to the Lower Columbia in Poems and Pictures

THREE EDITIONS • $25, $35, $50

By Robert Michael Pyle and Judy VanderMaten

“Tidewater Reach is a pleasure to hold; it provokes delights, both intellectual and emotional. I commend all who were involved in bringing us this treasure. It deserves a place on your bookshelf and in your heart.”

-- Cate Gable, “Coast Chronicles,” Chinook Observer, Long Beach, Wash.

DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL

A Layman’s Lewis & Clark $35

by Michael O. Perry

Gregory L. Gorham

5Take advantage of sunlight by opening your shades, allowing for natural light and capturing the warmth from the sun.

6Keep furniture, drapes, carpets, and other objects from blocking the vents or registers. Blocked wall/baseboard heaters or register vents prevent heated air from circulating freely around the room and may cause your heating system to work harder and prevents rooms from warming up to the set temperature on the thermostat.

Call energy efficiency for more ideas: 360-5019514 or 800-631-1131.

Mail Order Form, page 2. Or call 360-749-1021 FREE local delivery.

Books also available at:

• Columbia Gorge Interpretive Museum Stevenson

• Broadway Gallery Longview

• Cowlitz County Historical Museum Shop Kelso

• Kelso-Longview Visitor Center, Kelso

• Vault Books & Brew Castle Rock

• Tsuga Gallery Cathlamet

• Redmen Hall Skamokawa

• Skamokawa Store Skamokawa

• Appelo Archives Naselle

• Time Enough Books Ilwaco

• Marie Powell Gallery Ilwaco

• Godfathers Books Astoria, Ore.

• RiverSea Gallery Astoria,Ore.

• Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum The Dalles, Ore.

Please support our local booksellers & galleries