Junction City Monitor

To say the least, the past few weeks have been an adventure. June 18, I headed off to the Napa Valley as my husband headed for Poulsbo, Wash., to join our son Kent for a fishing trip at Nehia Bay, Wash. My first surprise came on June 20 when my daughters-in-law, Annette and Carolyn, gave me a 70th surprise birthday party at the home of Carolyn and our son Kyle. Many of my friends, from working at Safeway, came to help me enjoy the day. Other friends came, too. Our youngest grandson, Jake, was involved in Little League Baseball playoffs. He is 9 and pitches and catches for his team. They won the Napa-Solano playoffs and brought the first championship to Napa. Our son Kyle coached the team. On June 25, we boarded the plane for Poulsbo, where Annette and Kent live. I had a great visit with our grandchildren there.

Three generations of fishermen came home the last of the week, having limited out every day fishing. Halibut, salmon and rock fish were in abundance. Many of our friends thought Kim should be with me on my birthday, but what fisherman would agree? The joy of the fishing trip was held short, as we were notified of the fires in Junction City. Many reports were given to us, some very scary, by people who cared. Thanks go to Dave Shuman, Ron Kasper and Rick Lawson who kept us informed of the conditions. Thanks also go out to the members of our church who prayed for Junction City to be safe. We thought it best to let out our birds, guineas and peacocks, when we heard everyone was being evacuated. We hope when the smoke subsides, some of them may return home. Our male peacock came home today. His female is down the hill, but very spooky to return home. There have been no signs of the guineas; only one remains in the pen.

Our thanks go out to all the firefighters who are here to help, watering down our homes and keeping Junction City safe. Our friend Dan McLaughlin from Pacifica, who has 40 acres across from the fire house, had several acres burn and his small cabin destroyed. His son was here and notified the firefighters. It was our understanding the Lake Tahoe firefighters stationed their equipment to save all the homes at Cooper's Bar and adjacent areas. Thanks so much.

People First of Trinity County thanks the following people for the delicious goodies they donated to our bake sale: Kathy Adams, Kathy Smith, Janet Abernathy, Erin McCully, Pamela Dishman, Donna Shuman, Cindy Crosswhite, Gail Cummings, Myrtle Crowel, Linda Tucker, Marsha Peltier, Ann Hettinger and Christine Seronello. We would also like to thank Tops market for letting us hold our bake sale in front of their store. The bake sale was a huge success.

What a miracle that the Fourth of July festivities went on as usual. The parade in Weaverville was enjoyed by everyone, even though the smoke was hanging. The ice cream social was great as always, but we certainly did miss the heartburn specials that are usually sold near Umpqua Bank. Here's hoping they return next year. The melodrama "Egad, The Woman In White" was enjoyed by many. The cast was marvelous and Junction City was once again represented by Tasha Weaver and Beka Baldocchi. The entire cast kept you laughing. The new villain, Nate England, did a great job along with everyone else in the cast.

Upon arriving home, we found that the new Junction City Cafe has opened. We stopped for lunch on the Fourth of July and found the food good and the service friendly. They had a houseful and everyone was laughing and having a goodtime. Let's hope we can all support this small cafe and it will be here for many years.

Saturday we went to Redding to find some chicken laying hens to replace our guineas and found none. If anyone knows where to find some hens, please let us know. Call 623-4631.