It's already Fair time

Pat Arnold, 395-2233

greenpastures@gorge.net

Maxine Bulick, 395-2101

Maxine@gorge.net

Sarah Burr Arnold, 395-2669

sba_352@gorge.net

Oh my gosh, it's already fair time!!! I can hardly believe it's the first of August. Maybe because we had such a long, wet, cold spring, but now summer's in full force with hot sun, cookouts and mosquitoes, tubing down the creek and working in the garden.

Speaking of mosquitoes, Dane Jacobsen flying in his ultra light sure sounds like a giant mosquito. What fun it must be to cruise the airwaves in the early morning hours, viewing the valley from above. A great way to get some super photos too. The closest I've ever come to this is floating in a hot air balloon which is also a lot of fun.

Saturday Market will have the Strawberry Mountain Boys on stage Aug. 7 for entertainment. If you haven't stopped by for a cinnamon roll or a luscious lunch, you're missing a tasty bargain. There's also Cascadia Creamery Cheese, fresh produce, pies, handmade items, jewelry, and of course the world famous quilts. This year's fair raffle tickets are also available, featuring a load of firewood, a load of gravel and a beautiful quilt made by the Trout Lake Quilters. We are so fortunate to have this market and the CSA Garden right here in town.

Fair activities were all listed in last week's column and are posted around town and in the Fair Book that was mailed to you recently so I won't repeat them here except to say "have a great weekend and I'll see you there!"

My niece from California just sent me an article about the Gilroy Garlic Festival there. Our own Margee Berry won the Great Garlic Cook-off with her Thai-style Watermelon Crabmeat-Kissed South Seas soup, which used one tablespoon of minced garlic. In the land of garlic, that's considered a mere hint. At the start of the high noon contest, chefs were presented with a box of the mystery ingredient -- mushrooms of all varieties -- and had to improvise while on the clock. Margee's dish included many ingredients besides garlic and watermelon, and was topped with crabmeat. Yum yum!

Your volunteer fire department has been hard at work during the past year. The commissioners received grant money to purchase a new Jaws of Life, infrared camera, individual air tanks and other equipment. The firefighters raised money to purchase a 1998 International truck. They have trained with the new truck and other equipment so as to be familiar with it when used in emergency situations. The following men have put in long hours working with the new truck and equipment: Larry Holtmann, Guy Huffsmith, Joe Smith, Lanny Smith, Jon Caryl and Rod Johnson. Our thanks to all the firefighters and EMTs for their dedication to the community and to the job. Once again, these are the folks you hope and pray you'll never need, but are so grateful that they're there when you do. You will have an opportunity to see Trout Lake's new fire truck in the parade. The commissioners have also petitioned the county to annex additional areas into the district. In addition the State Survey & Rating Bureau has adjusted our Protection Class to a 7 for those properties that are located within five road miles of a responding fire station and having standard hydrant distribution and water supply. This means reduced fire insurance premiums for those residences.

Trout Lake Newswriters are avidly seeking a new writer to join our ranks. This is not hard work folks; takes about an hour or two during the month to gather the bits of news that get sent our way and then put them together to e-mail in to the newspaper. Call any one of us at the top of this column to volunteer.

Maxine Bulick, news writer