Two weeks ago, I had some great help getting the 322 pumpkins that my garden yielded this summer harvested.
I would like to personally thank Tim, Shea and Cole Brown, Shelby and Lacy Condon, Hannah Stratton, and Art and Rosemary Coffin.
I really appreciate everyone’s hard work picking, carrying, loading, unloading, cleaning and sorting all those pumpkins! There were so many of us though that the job went very quickly and was lots of fun, too.
Thanks also to Jim Beaulier for the use of his trailer to haul the pumpkins downtown. It took two trips, but they all made it.
Produce Ready
Ten-pound bags of Russet potatoes are for sale at the potato shack located at 41 Presque Isle Road. Sorry, we are temporarily out of the Shepody variety. Cost per bag is $3.50 or $6 for two bags. Pumpkins are also available and are individually priced from 50 cents to $5.
Self-Defense Course
Ten women are wanted to participate in a self-defense course to be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday nights at the grade school multi-purpose building. The cost for the course is $50, and it will run for a total of 10 weeks.
The start date will be set once enough participants are registered for the course. Please consider coming to learn something new and also to get some exercise. Call Julie at 435-7137 to sign up.
Ongoing Events
The Ashland Area Senior Citizens group meets every Thursday at noon at the Ashland Rec. Center. Any senior citizens wishing to participate in the potluck lunches and meetings are always welcome.
The Portage Lake Seniors’ Lunch is held on the last Tuesday of every month at 11 a.m. at the Town Hall. All seniors are invited to attend and can bring a potluck dish to share or give a cash donation. For more information, contact Wilza Robertson at 435-6211 or Grace Nason at 435-6373.
The Red Hat Loonies of Portage Lake meet the second Thursday of every month at Dean’s Motor Lodge. Membership dues are $2. Come and have a great meal and a great time, too! For more information, contact Rachel Stevens at 435-6358.
If you can help plan for Portage Lake’s Centennial Celebration, please contact Barb Pitcairn at 435-2368 or Grace Nason at 435-6373.
Ladies, are you interested in crafts or have some that you’ve started and just can’t seem to finish? If so, take yourself over to the Portage Lake Municipal Building for Girlz Night every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Enjoy the company and the satisfaction of finally completing a project!
(Julie Graham-Berry is the correspondent for Ashland, Portage Lake, Oxbow, Masardis, Garfield, Nashville Plantation and surrounding townships. She can be reached at 435-7137).
Photo courtesy of Julie Graham-Berry
HELPING HARVEST PUMPKINS in Ashland recently were, front row: Cole Brown. Back row, from left: Shea Brown, Shelby Condon, Graham Berry and Lacy Condon. The kids helped pick, carry, load, unload, clean and sort 322 pumpkins.
Photo courtesy of Julie Graham-Berry
SHEA BROWN juggles two pumpkins while Shelby Condon lifts one over her head, and Graham Berry hugs Lacy Condon as she bends down to pick up a pumpkin that is still very green. 
