Helping rebuild 'Old Ironsides'

A local small business, Glenwood Valley Timber, is playing a part in the renovation of the first United States Naval-commissioned ship, the USS Constitution. Blair Simpson's GVT mill is located in the old St. Regis truck shop near the Klickitat River southeast of Glenwood. The crew will manufacture planks measuring 5 inches by 13 inches by up to 40 feet in length from old growth fir logs originating at the Hoopa reservation in northern California. According to Mr. Simpson, this project will involve special tooling to enable GVT to cut these dimensions.

After GVT mills and dries the planks, they will be transported to Boston, Mass., to be utilized in retrofitting the ship that is also known as "Old Ironsides." The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world -- she turned 210 years old in October. Glenwood Valley Timber will be playing an important part in the ship's continuing story.

Jessica Molyneux traveled to the Tri-Cities to attend an "Opening Doors" workshop sponsored by Gear Up at Washington State University on Nov. 27 and 28. Jessica, who serves as the Glenwood PTO secretary/treasurer, will share the information she learned at the bi-lingual workshop with local parents. The Gear Up program is designed for students graduating in 2012 and 2013. Their goal is to inspire future graduates to do well in school and to take appropriate classes in preparation for college. The program includes equipment, software, tutoring and summer camp resources for those graduating classes.

Jensi Smith indicated that college representatives will be in Glenwood in January to help future collegiate students with FAFSA forms, college aid and scholarship sources. Additional information will be published closer to the date for those interested in attending. The Gear Up group will also host a family night in February to help parents learn about Digital Learning Commons. DLC provides academic resources for students, parents and teachers.

The school students, staff and visitors enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by school cooks Kim Holly and Pam Keithly before being released for Christmas vacation on Dec. 18.

Per Glenwood School tradition -- the 2008 Homecoming Court was also announced before the students left for the holidays.

The court consists of princesses Amy Keithly, Dave'y Lumley, Neola Putnam and Allison Skahan. Princes are Devin Dean, Dustin Jones, Tim Kuhnhausen and Jimmy Smith. Congratulations to the students named to the Homecoming Court.

Ginger Burton announced that the Glenwood Grange will not hold the regular monthly meetings during January and February. A decision regarding the March meeting will be reached at a later date.

We hope Maggie Samuelson is feeling better soon after her recent accident. Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery are sent to Les Blair.

Happy New Year everyone!