By Mary Pierce
I am very pleased to share this great news from Kara Griffin regarding her son James, a 2022 Glenwood High School graduate. After his graduation, James entered active duty in the U.S. Army. After Basic and Advanced training, James served in an infantry unit of the 82nd Airborne. After the war in Iran began, James was deployed to Jordan and Israel, where he was the senior combat medic for his unit. James’ deployment has ended and he is now stationed at Ft. Bragg until his discharge this November and he’ll finally be headed home!
Following his Army service, James will attend Central Oregon Community College, with a goal of earning certificates in fire science and paramedicine. Even following the Army, James will continue to serve people in very meaningful ways. It will be so good to see him back in Glenwood in a couple months, spending a little time with his dad, Dan Griffin, and his mom. Glenn and I, and I’m sure many others here in our community, appreciate and are thankful for James’ service to his country.
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I think all of us here in Glenwood, plus visitors to our community, appreciate the American flags that fly from all their poles along Main Street. Todd French started that program many years ago. Due to health issues, he was no longer able to take care of that project, so Kristopher Nowak took responsibility for it. He raised money to replace many tattered flags and put in a lot of hard work on the project.
When Kris started to put the flags at half-mast in remembrance of 9/11, he discovered that the flags were soiled by oil that had sprayed out of the loose swivels on the flag poles. He took everything down for now and, with some volunteer help, is working to get everything back in good condition. Here’s more information in Kris’s own words.
“With the help of George Lively (fabrication) and Shelby Havin (powder coating), I have a dozen brand new super heavy-duty flag mounts with fresh powder coating on them to replace the old weak mounts I was currently using. They did great work and really helped out on the cost. I can’t thank them enough. If you see them, please thank them for their hard work. It was much appreciated.
“Once I clean up the flags and regrease the swivels, I’ll be hanging them all back up with the new mounts. Regarding the grease cleaning of the flags, does anyone have a contact with a dry cleaner that could help with the cost of the cleaning? A dozen flags will get expensive and at this point it will be out of pocket.
“I’m also going to reuse the old mounts for the military flags and hopefully add a few more flags. Speaking of donations, I want to thank the local Glenwood folks and travelers passing though for their generosity in donating for this cause. Every little bit helps.
“This town of ours, Glenwood, is an amazing place with some of the most generous, humble, and patriotic folks I’ve ever known. Maintaining the flags for this town is not only a privilege for me but an honor. Thank you everyone.”
Thank you, Kris, George, and Shelby. You are greatly appreciated here in our community.
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In other community news, the annual Glenwood Homemakers Fall Bazaar will take place at the Glenwood school on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is your chance to find some beautifully handcrafted items from a wide variety of vendors.
The Glenwood Women’s Club will, once again, have a table featuring homemade fudge in beautiful Christmas mugs and other pretty dishes. The fudge seems to go fast, so get it while you can. They will also have cookies, small, fun trinkets priced for the young shoppers to do their own shopping, and sachet bags of lavender grown by club member Alicia McKenzie and packaged neatly. The sachets always smell very good. The Homemakers will serve both breakfast and lunch and the food is always very delicious. The proceeds from the bazaar help the Homemakers continue the wonderful community service projects they support.
Please spread the word to your friends and family in other communities near Glenwood. What makes me really smile every year is seeing friends from White Salmon, Underwood, Goldendale, and Trout Lake come to support the bazaar.
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The latest edition of The Eagle’s View, compiled by Glenwood School Principal Bev Scott is, once again, jam-packed with photos and articles featuring happening over the past week in our school. You can access The Eagle’s View on the Glenwood School Facebook page and on the school website under the Glenwood School District heading. It is so very worth the read. Our little school is moving forward and upward in exciting ways.
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Our high school volleyball combine team, Lakewood, has had a rigorous schedule of practices and games, and they’re playing well. They have had some tough, close losses, then a good win at Horizon Christian last week, before heading to a tournament at North Powder last weekend. Keep up the good work, Lakewood!
Our middle school volleyball combine team, Klickwood, has been playing hard and well and improving with each game. I loved how two middle school players came to hang out at my house after practice one day last week. The first thing they did was tune in to a college volleyball game on TV. A person would think they were both out there on that court, they got so involved in every play. It was fun to watch.
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Enjoy the fall season that is now upon us and have a good week.
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