In an entertaining match before a small but vocal crowd, Raymond turned it on when it had to while upending upset-minded rival Willapa Valley, 22-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-21 at Seagull gym Saturday afternoon. Junior outside hitter Kyra Gardner was on fire offensively while leading the Lady Seagulls with 16 kills and 1 block.

"We came out very strong in the first set and were passing and attacking the ball very well," Coach Swogger told the Herald Sunday. "We had a good lead opened up, however, we let them back in and allowed them to take the set. We had some issues with serve-receive and let it get to us. We did better after that but did not recapture the intensity and level we started with in set one. We need to work on playing to our potential and staying there throughout the entire match."

Each year the Willapa Harbor Chamber of Commerce gathers nominations for businesses and individuals that people feel should have recognition for their accomplishments in trying to make our community a better place.

Even though the annual banquet had to be canceled due to the lockdown for the COVID pandemic, the awards were still distributed. Each of these businesses and individuals worked hard last year and have earned high praise for their dedication and service.

SOUTH BEND - It was befitting that the Raymond-South Bend Ravens combined football team played their inaugural game on President's Day as history was made last Monday (Feb. 15) before a small crowd on a rainy day on a mud-filled Millam Field in South Bend. The Ravens did not disappoint their fans while winning on a late touchdown. Raymond-South Bend splashed and splattered its way past Ilwaco's Fishermen 24-13.

"The biggest key to our win was just not giving up and battling to the final whistle," Raven Assistant Football Coach Mike Tully told the Herald. "We made some mistakes in key situations early, but we were able to wear them down as the game went on and were finally able to get some breaks to go our way in the fourth quarter."

With the exception of a few plays, Raymond's defense shut down Ilwaco's offense.

Longtime and experienced in the fire service, Bill Didion is the newly appointed Raymond Department Fire Chief.

Didion began his career with the Raymond Fire Department (RFD) in 2000 as a resident/volunteer and was hired as a firefighter/paramedic in 2007, where he has served until taking over as chief. He has been in the fire service for more than 20 years, including time as a volunteer with RFD and the Naselle Fire Dept. Didion was also employed by Pacific County Fire District #1 for four years as a Firefighter/EMT. He has been a full-time employee of RFD since 2007. For the last several years he has been the Captain of the C shift as well as the Fire Training Officer for the department.

Didion is a 1997 graduate of Naselle High School, as he said, "The home of the Comets." Bill and his wife, Sheila, have five children, Koda, Kenzy, Kemra, Hannah and Benson, and two grandchildren, Carter and Naomi. After high school, he attended Clatsop Community College, Bates Fire Academy in Tacoma, and went on to become certified as a paramedic at The College of Emergency Services.

The Raymond Police Department has a nice new home after completing the move across the street last January, according to Raymond Police Chief Chuck Spoor.

The new address is 302 Second Street in historic downtown Raymond; it's where the old Pennywise used to be located.

Chief Spoor informed the Herald that the building cost the city of Raymond $230,000. "Renovations and getting it set up as a police department cost us another 230k," Spoor said.

Chief Spoor cited a number of reasons for why the RPD needed a new place to live so to speak.

"Over the last decade or so we have been dealing with a serious leak between the fire and police department," Spoor said. "During the severe storm last January, the leaks became much worse, damaging drywall and creating a mold problem as well. We mitigated the issue by removing all drywall and ceiling materials and had the areas cleaned of mold. The building also had some structural issues due to settling, causing a wall to separate from the roof in the area of the sally port.

There is a joy when a small business is discovered and a surprise when the knowledge that it has been in operation for over a decade. Debbie A's is a business like that. Tucked away in the Old Willapa area and being talked about by word-of-mouth.

Debbie Aust has been working in the Raymond and South Bend area for years at a variety of businesses including florists that have come and gone. During that time, she has honed her skills in decorating and organizing in the wedding business.

After working for others, Debbie took the step of opening up her own business by building a shed on her property. "We put up a big gigantic shop with a big loft all full of all wedding," she said. "I've been doing that until 2 years ago. I sold a lot of my decor." She discovered that she had to slow down because of some knee issues. "I can't roll the wine barrels into my toy hauler that I just bought and haul it and take it out into the backyard. I can't be on the ladder doing the lights and hanging everything. I had to stop."

Near the end of December of 2020, the City of Raymond placed a legal in the Herald asking for people, who were interested, to apply to lease the public market next to the Northwest Carriage Museum. Only two applied, the current leaseholder Willapa Bay Farmers Market, and Alder & Co. which is owned by Jeff Karnatz and Paul Stazel of Lavender Farm.

During the Raymond City Council meeting on February 1, 2021, it was voted unanimously to accept the application of Alder & Co. The new lease is scheduled to last for the next 2 years.

Last week, 21 additional Pacific County residents tested positive for COVID-19 bringing the total number of coronavirus cases to 718.

SOUTH BEND - Don Cox has celebrated many milestones during his life - including turning 100 on January 7 when he and his family got together to commemorate a century of life from South Bend with a Zoom birthday call.

Don was born January 7th, 1921 in Portland, Oregon, to Delvin Albion Cox and Katherine Mae (McLaughlin) Cox. He had two older brothers, Delvin and Howard.

Don Cox achieved many milestones during his, now more than a century on earth, including his 75-year marriage to his wife, Marge (who passed away Feb. 24, 2020), his service in the military, his education at Washington State University, and of course his three-generation family business.

Don started South Bend Pharmacy in South Bend back in 1958, and the store is now into its third generation. Don Cox is currently living in South Bend with son David Cox.

Last week, 24 more positive COVID-19 cases were reported to the Pacific County Health and Human Services and 2 more deaths. The total number of deaths among Pacific County residents that have been attributed to COVID-19 is now 9. The death rate due to coronavirus is 1.3% of all COVID-19 cases.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 697 cases with 22 hospitalizations. There are 30 cases currently active. The current case rate per 100k over 14 days is 198.7.

"We are kinda in a plateau right now in terms of cases, not really going up or down at this point," said PCDOH Director Katie Lindstrom. "It is still a high rate. Anything over 200 cases per 100k is high risk." So the county is close to slipping into the high risk category again.