Winter is still hanging on here with some pretty cold temperatures, frozen pipes, and other issues. As I write this, we have minus 9 degrees here at Shady Nook Farm in Glenwood this morning. The old barn cats aren’t liking this much. Luckily, we haven’t experienced the broken or frozen pipes here at our house, but keeping ice on the stock tanks broken so that cattle can get water is another concern. Just think sunny thoughts, Glenwood friends. Spring will be here soon.
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If I listed the many reasons I love our little Glenwood community, my editor would probably say the column runs too long. However, I do want to share one more heart-warming act of generosity that recently occurred here, in addition to the amazing support for the Avila family. I recently shared in the news about a student here at our Glenwood school who longed to have a trombone to continue practicing with it, as the student did when in the previous school. Well, a very generous person who read that news item recently gifted the student with a trombone.
I just received this from Glenwood school counselor Mrs. McLaughlin: “It was a very sweet moment between the donor and the student. They were in shock and super grateful.” She went on to say, “We have a wonderful community that heeds the calls and need of our students.” Wow. Made my week, for sure.
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I didn’t receive much in the way of community news items for this week, so most of the news is about school happenings. The senior class crab feed on Feb. 8 was very nice. The seniors and their parents worked hard from afternoon into the evening to serve the delicious crab and all the sides. The best part of the dinner was seeing so many friends and visiting with those we don’t see often. Thank you to the senior class, Toni Troh, and all the parents who worked hard to make it a success.
I also wanted to mention seeing second grader Sophia Bensel busy busing tables all evening just because she wanted to help. What a great little helper she was. Don’t tell anyone, but I told her she was working as hard and as well as any restaurant worker and deserved a tip, which I gave her. It was cute to see the sparkle in her eyes as she ran to show her mama her first tip.
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The Glenwood gym was packed on Jan. 31 for the Glenwood High School homecoming basketball games. The Klickwood boys junior varsity and varsity teams both came out decisive victors over Trout Lake in exciting games. Senior boys Gavin Bensel, Christian Tomeo, and Tomei Tomeo were honored for their senior night, their last high school game in the Glenwood gym.
One Glenwood senior girl, Jayla Avila, plays on the very successful Trout Lake Mustangs girls team. In order for her to also celebrate her senior night in front of her hometown crowd, Trout Lake and Stevenson graciously chose to have their game in the Glenwood gym between the two boys games so Jayla could be honored. The Trout Lake Mustangs girls came out the winners of their game, too, and it was great to get to see Jayla and our other Glenwood girl on the team, junior Emma Patterson, play in their hometown gym.
During halftime of the boys’ varsity game, the homecoming court was presented and the king and queen were crowned. Those on the court were Giana Jackson and Blaine Arnold, Jocee Hoctor and Wyatt Patterson, Ari Berge and Anthony Avila, and Queen Jayla Avila and King Devin Gimlin. It was a very full and fun night for all who attended.
Although Jayla’s and Anthony’s dad, Jose, couldn’t be there that night as he normally would, his kids and Lori visited him the next day and shared videos and photos of that special night. I’m pleased to report that Jose is making good progress in his recovery from the stroke he had in December. He’s learning to stand and take some steps now and keeps such a great, positive attitude through all this. He appreciates all the well wishes and visitors. Knowing so many of us are thinking the most positive thoughts for his recovery means a lot to him.
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Klickwood played their final game of the regular season at Lyle on Feb. 14. The Trout Lake Mustangs girls also had their final regular season game that night at Trout Lake. I’ll share those results next time, as well as news regarding post-season games. Way to go Klickwood and the Trout Lake Mustangs.
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I know this is news about our neighboring community, but I wanted to share it here, too. The Trout Lake Mustangs girls celebrated their homecoming Feb. 7 with a victory over Southwest Christian. The classes did their traditional dance routine competitions, and the homecoming court was presented. It was great to see our Glenwood girl, Trout Lake student Emma Patterson, on the court. She has been a key player on the Mustangs team, as has Jayla, and we’re all keeping our fingers crossed here in Glenwood that the Mustangs advance well in post-season play to State. What a great finish that would be for Jayla. As I write this, the Trout Lake girls are tied for first place in their Big Sky 1A division.
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Stay warm, everyone, at least as warm as you can. Those who are out every day plowing our roads, logging, or feeding cattle in all the pastures are the winter heroes around here. I saw one of our county road crew trucks out at 4:30 this morning, scraping and sanding the packed snow on the BZ-Glenwood Highway to make it safer for morning commuters and the school buses. No rest, no matter how cold or snowy it gets. We appreciate all of you.
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Mary Pierce writes about the community of Glenwood every other week in Columbia Gorge News. Please send any news items to gmpierce09@gmail.com.
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