This is the 40th Anniversary of Mt. St. Helens' eruption, a time that many of us locals remember all too well.

It was early in the morning on a Sunday, many of us were going about our usual days. Getting ready for church, just doing what we did as a family 40 years ago. For myself, I was a young high school age student living in Winlock.

We went to church that morning like we always did on Sunday. The Lutheran Church in Winlock has a beautiful view of Mt. St. Helens. After church when we all walked out, there was a huge plume of ash coming out of the top of the mountain. At that point, I remember asking, "what happened?" and someone older said "It looks like she finally blew her top." I didn't understand what exactly that meant at the time.

The Winlock Dance Center recently gave a basket to a student who wrote an essay for Mothers Day. Mrs. Collins and Miss Iverson worked in coordination with Robin Brumley at the dance center. Emly Austin won the essay contest and the basket worth $100.

Within the past two months, a small piece of Vader history has gone missing. The missing piece is a small memorial stone taken from the Little Falls Cemetery in Vader. The stone was located and last seen next to the sitting bench in the back part of the old section.

The stone is inscribed with the dates January 2, 1923 - January 6, 1923 and the baby's name Nigel James Bowen Son of Ralph & Virgil "Virgie" M. Bowen. The cemetery cannot find the family or relatives of this baby boy and he seems to have been buried at this cemetery alone. There were several Bowen families living in the Vader/Ryderwood area in the 1920s according to records. It is not known where the families went after the baby's death.

Many seniors this year didn't get their full last season of their high school spring sport.

These past few months many American's have lost their jobs due to Covid-19. As many struggle to make their mortgage payments, there are options that are available. The Care Act of 2020 was passed to offer borrowers relief in the time of crisis, but is this your best option?

Many Centralians are familiar with Seminary Hill and its history. The hill and nature reserve are named for the large gothic style three story building which was built in 1889 atop the hill overlooking the town.

ToledoTel is recognized as a leader in high-speed internet and is dedicated to serving not only our local area but also anywhere we are able in Lewis County. Today, ToledoTel activated two free WiFi hotspots in Winlock.

They activated City Hall and the other at the Winlock Senior Center. You may be able to pick up the signal where you live or you may need to drive to the location of the hotspot. Van Cleve Ford in Morton will be ready this week. At Morton, students need to access the WiFi across the street at the old grocery store as Van Cleve has limited parking.

As of this day, Friday, April 24, Lewis County had 29 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus. The first confirmed case in Washington was on January 21. This was three months ago.

At the same time, there are thousands of local businesses that are either closed, conducting restricted business or are out of business in this county.

In my restricted travels about our county, I see solid social distancing practices and many face masks. I see stations in the businesses that have alcohol and towels for hands and shopping carts and whatever. Good practices being adhered to. I see people wearing gloves and taking them off before they get back into their cars. I see 6-foot demarcations taped off on the store floors in front of the checkout counters. I see plastic cough guards have been installed between cashiers and their customers.

Following his retirement last June, as the superintendent of the Winlock school district, Rick Serns had many plans of how to use his time in retirement.