Olequa Senior Center has made several changes and Nicole Barr was happy to give us the information about the changes she has in store for our community. Talking with Nicole, she has such enthusiasm for her new role and she is looking forward to meeting the community.

In May of 1973, Winlock welcomed a hometown hero with Christmas in May. Major Edward (Ed) Leonard was in the Vietnam war and was also a Prisoner of War (POW) for 4 years and 8 months. Now, the Winlock Historical Museum has been fortunate to receive and display many of the articles, pictures and other memorabilia of that day.

Monday, December 27 at 6:09 p.m. a fire broke out in a home off of Florence Place in Winlock. Many fire departments arrived on the scene during this snowy day. The home is a total loss and the residents in the home lost everything. The daughter of the occupant saved her other family members from being caught in the fire, definitely doing a heroic deed. This is a tough time of year to have a house fire as they had just received gifts for Christmas from the community and those too were lost. The family needs household items and monetary donations as they rebuild their home.

Trying to recap 2021 is a task like none other. We are in the middle of the worst pandemic, we have a huge surge in inflation, a huge increase in the crime rate and people are still financially struggling. Many have lost loved ones. There are still mandates which people argue about today. We were able to finally leave the stages that were enforced and affected small businesses terribly. New businesses opened and the festivals went on. This was a year like none other.

We had planned on doing an update on Nancy Sobolesky's journey, but unfortunately, she passed away on Christmas day. So instead, we are paying tribute to a lady who fought a hard battle for many months. She was loved by her family and friends. She received so many cards from the community, she was part of Winlock just as her husband Marv has been.

Marv was open about discussing her journey with us, it is the hope that the journey she had will help at least one person if they see these types of health issues.

The Centralia Washington Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which serves Lewis County and a portion of southern Thurston County, held a special Stake Conference on Sunday, December 12, 2021, at their Stake Center on Jackson Highway in Chehalis. Over 1,000 members were in attendance.

Ever spend too much time contemplating truly menial issues? Like, why does the fridge have a "d" in it while the refrigerator doesn't, or how we went from throwing tea overboard to allowing massive taxation?

Well, here is one to add to this list; why do adults always doubt the existence of Santa in Christmas movies yet are not shocked by their children's gifts that no one bought them?

It's great. The entire movie they doubt Santa's existence, yet they don't even question the brand-new bicycle parked next to the tree Christmas morning; though it's a hilarious oversight, it does make one wonder what we are overlooking as a society today. For instance, the parent that is so busy working to provide for them that they have missed their children growing up, or the individual pushing so hard to make it to the top that they've forgotten why.

The Toledo New Life Assembly church has a new pastor starting in January. Frank Corbin has been selected to lead the church in the new year. He has been a pastor for many years and he is bringing his years of experience to Toledo. You will find that Frank is a very kind man, which is needed in these times.

Pastor Corbin was raised in Cathlamet, Washington and that is where he decided to be a pastor, he stated, "I was raised in Cathlamet Assembly under the ministries of Pastor Gene Ross and Pastor Larry Bentz. I received my calling as a teenager while attending youth camp at Mayfield Lake Youth Camp. I determined at 18 years of age that while in Navy boot camp that I would begin my adult life journey serving the Lord and I have; in ministry and in secular work."

The Toledo Cowlitz Prairie Grange was opened almost 100 years ago and has been serving the community ever since. The Washington State Granges were chartered in 1889, two months before Washington became a territory. Many granges are no longer operational in our area, only Hope Grange and Cowlitz Prairie are still going strong. Hope Grange is located in Winlock and the Cowlitz Prairie Grange is located just north of Toledo on Jackson Highway.

The time is finally here, the Lewis County Senior Centers are having soft openings and they are inviting the communities in. Since the first COVID lockdown, the senior centers have been closed for the safety of the senior citizens. During the almost two years, there have been several variants, Delta hitting this Summer and being the most deadly.

Carol Brock, Vice Chair of the Lewis County Senior Board and the Board have been busy sanitizing, repairing and getting the centers open for all to enjoy. They had to perform a lot of work, Carol stated, "As you may know earlier this year the county suggested we do a complete evaluation of the condition of our centers and the recommendations of that report to re-open as safe as possible.