Current conditions unavailable
.jpg)
As the Christmas season amps up, a beloved holiday celebration will fill up the Mint City this Saturday morning.
The 75th anniversary of the Chehalis Santa Parade is one of my favorite events of the year. (I might have taken a waterproof ukulele to this parade a year or two ago to play Christmas songs between floats.)
For the diamond anniversary of this Yuletide festival and its theme this year of “A Country Christmas,” another longtime institution is being honored. KMNT 104.3 FM, our town’s spot on the radio for country music, will be the grand marshal.
I had a chance to chat with Lindy Waring, general manager of KELA/KMNT, about this honor.
She noted that our two local radio stations she manages make up the smallest market in which their owner, Bicoastal Media, operates. It has 13 markets and over 50 radio stations across Washington, Oregon and northern California. Locally, there are about nine employees, from sales and production to on-air talent.
Waring herself started at KELA/KMNT a little over five years ago, in February 2020 — a month before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. She began as sales manager and was quickly promoted to general manager.
“It was fun and interesting and it all works out,” she said.
While KMNT plays country music and KELA has a lot of national talk programming, she said their bread and butter is the local coverage: live broadcasts of high school sports, the daily “Let’s Talk About It” call-in show, weather and emergency coverage, and their many on-location live broadcasts.
She said that young up-and-coming radio broadcasters like to come here to work because of the experience they can get doing sports play-by-play for prep teams. That includes their current news director, Nate Rodriguez, who moved here from southern California in part because of the chance to broadcast sports.
KMNT will broadcast live from the parade from 9 to 10:30 or 11 a.m. before it switches to coverage of the Toledo Riverhawks competing in the state football championship.
The parade begins at 11 a.m. and will proceed through downtown Chehalis. A tree-lighting ceremony will follow, along with photos with Santa, at the Lewis County Historical Museum located at 599 NW Front St.
Waring will wear many hats during Saturday’s Santa Parade: As a longtime board member of the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the parade, she’ll be handing out awards. She’ll be part of the live radio remote broadcast. And she’ll take some time to hop into the KELMA/KMNT truck to lead the parade.
“I’m excited,” she said.
Still in the mood for gratitude
Happy 10th day of Thanksgiving!
Our national day of thanks, boxed in by Christmas cheer, is quickly set aside for Black Friday and onward with Yuletide activities. Still, Thanksgiving is not just a day for family and football, but an invitation to re-orient ourselves toward appreciating our blessings going into December.
Unlike turkey leftovers, a spirit of thankfulness won’t go bad.
And as I’ve made it one of my lifelong quests to make music a part of this important holiday, here’s a little ditty I wrote about this year’s two days of celebrations (one at the in-laws, one that we host). (This is one of three Thanksgiving songs I wrote last week, but who’s counting?)
The Five Days of Thanksgiving
(To the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)
On the first day of Thanksgiving
I ate lots of turkey
And the sauce of the cranberry.
On the second day of Thanksgiving
(They call it Black Friday)
I bought celery and Wheat Thins at Safeway.
On the third day of Thanksgiving
Our house was sure bursting
With family that we love to see.
On the fourth day of Thanksgiving
My sweet wife said to me,
“I think this is a day for resting.”
On the fifth day of Thanksgiving
Christmas season’s in full swing,
BUT I LOVE THANKSGIVING!
Four days off
Three days of leftovers
Two family feasts
And a week to thank our God with you.
Dad Joke of the Week
Grays Harbor County Commissioner Vickie Raines, the longtime chair of the Chehalis Basin Flood Authority, is stepping down from that leadership position after 11 years (although keeping her seat on the board).
Flood control is a thorny issue. Leading this group is a thankless and difficult role that Raines has filled admirably.
She deserves our gratitude.
Instead, I’m thanking her with this dad joke headline:
She Reigns No More — Raines Won’t Retain Rain Reins.
(May the heavens spare us a flood disaster as bad as that pun.)
Brian Mittge is a community enthusiast who has written for The Chronicle since 2000 as a reporter, editor and columnist. He can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
