Every year the Winolequa Garden Club offers plants for sale, this year is no exception. The difference will be they have added a craft corner and will be open for a month. This year the event will be held on Mill Street in Winlock again, 1119 NW Mill, one block west of Shakertown.

This year is a tad bit different. They will be open for over a month, from May 14 to June 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. They operate on the honor system, meaning you either pay a donation or leave the amount if the item is priced. They will have a section for priced items, otherwise everything is by donation only.

Winolequa Garden Club has been giving scholarships to local students for years. The money the club raises helps give students the opportunity to apply for the scholarship if they plan on going to horticulture, nursing or other professions. Please contact the garden club for more information.

The Winlock Parks Board is hosting a park spring cleaning community event at Winolequa park. The event will take place on Saturday, May 22, and is an open house from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This is open to anyone in the community who wants to volunteer some of their time to help beautify and prepare the Winolequa Park for Egg Day and other summer gatherings.

Bring whatever project tools you have or just yourself and your own two hands. It's a great chance to meet the members of the park board. Refreshments will be available. In the past, this has been a fun event and I don't expect anything different this year.

Vader May Day was a big success this year with the parade, cakewalk, vendors and of course the food from the Little Crane.

Vader Mayor Joe Schey was in the parade with his troops, it is always good to see a mayor participate in their city's parade. This was the event that many local officials showed up for. Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza, Undersheriff Dusty Breen as well as other deputies. Lewis County Commissioner Dr. Lindsey Pollock was in the route and Mayor Brandon Svenson from Winlock drove the Egg Day Float.

The Toledo Thursday Market is moving back to the outdoors starting May 6. They will again be at the boat launch and this year they are going to offer many several opportunities and ways to buy their produce and foods.

Also new this year is their site manager, Meagan Kirby. The funds were donated by Timberland Bank to provide the funds for the site manager. Meagan has been living in Southern Oregon and recently moved up to the area.

There will be a variety of vendors at the outdoor market, they will have produce that includes: mushrooms, vegetables, eggs, plant starts along with flowers and different foods. We had the opportunity to talk to a few of the vendors and this is what they are offering to the Thursday Market.

The Vader May Day Festival is Saturday, May 1 and all are welcome to come. Vader May Day started in 1952 by Lena DeAger. At the time, the parade was made up of mostly girl and boy scouts. Lena was the girl scout leader and she encouraged her scouts to decorate whatever they could, pets, bicycles and wagons.

The May Day Queen, in the beginning, was chosen based on how much money she received from donation jars around the community. The Queen was a 1st grader, now they win based on how many buttons they sell. Another tradition was the Cakewalk and May Pole Dance during the festivities. Many of these traditions continue to this day.

Fences for Fido is a non-profit that helps families with fences for their dogs. They help families whose dogs are tethered, on chains, or in small areas. The organization is here to help those in Southwest Washington.

Seeing so many dogs running loose in cities, it was time to make people aware of what they do and who they are.

Last year Bradon Svenson took over as Mayor of Winlock with promises of making positive changes for the city. Within his first year, he has accomplished a great deal that is a step towards making Winlock into a city that people want to live in.

When Svenson first became mayor, the city attorneys resigned before the new council could even vote to get rid of them. During the attorney's tenure with Winlock, the city was involved in several lawsuits that were brought on by poor advice to the city staff. Buzzard and O'Rourke were hired to take the old attorneys' place. They have given reliable legal advice and pulled Winlock out of difficult situations.

Steve Dobosh has been Mayor of Toledo for 6 years, he has kept Toledo on an excellent path forward. Steve is known to look out for his citizens, he listens and he acts. He has been working diligently for Toledo, always available for the staff, citizens and anyone else who calls with questions about Toledo.

In the past few months, Toledo has had five new home permits. There isn't a lot of room for growth in the city limits, but they were able to find room for five new homes. The sewer is also in the design stage to Plomondon, in the city's urban growth area.

The new Agriculture teacher in Winlock this year is definitely here for the students. Steve Mahitka joined Winlock High School this year and his excitement has shown through.

Carol Hill, the rock of Toledo and the mother to many passed away recently and left a huge hole in the community.