Uffda!

Cooler temperatures, a steady rain and sky-high gasoline prices conspired to wreck the annual Nordicfest celebration last weekend.

As one food booth vendor pointed out, the customer were the die-hards and the other vendors.

Which bodes poorly for the Nordicfest organizing committee but perhaps worse for the many non-profit groups who depend on the Nordicfest weekend for a major part of their annual funding. These non-profits will have to survive through the winter on low cash reserves and the threat of rising gas prices.

Despite the elements and conditions we can't control, some aspects of Nordicfest did okay. Some booths said they did fine, some crafters said the did fine. For the most part, plenty of people fell short of their expectations, including the Nordicfest organizing committee. The problem is that this was the second consecutive rainy Nordicfest.

Be sure and thank the Nordicfest people and all the other groups that make this annual celebration happen.

Elsewhere, The Western News web site www.thewesternnews.com has had a poll on the page for several weeks now. The question is: Do you support the pool proposal?

After a small spike of 200 votes that flipped the results from 70 percent for the pool and 30 percent against to 70-30 against, the pro-pool faction has climbed back to trail 54-44 with more than 700 votes cast. We'll let it run until about 1,000 votes are cast before changing it to another question.

The vote on the swimming pool proposal is scheduled to happen this fall.

I've been told that someone has been going door to door in Libby collecting donations for the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina vicitims.

I've also been told that the Red Cross does not collect money door to door.

Make sure you know who you are giving money to when making a donation. There are plenty of outlets to give money for the hurricane relief efforts and, unfortunately, there are plenty of people available to take advantage of our concern and generosity for those people displaced by Katrina.

If you question a person collecting funds, don't give them money and call the sheriff's office or city police.

There are few things lower than such bunko artists. — Roger Morris