New Parent Services will celebrate its 25th anniversary Thursday night.  The organization provides education and support for parents in Hood River County.  Nancy Johanson Paul of New Parent Services says it started as a volunteer program, and now is modeled after the Healthy Start model used throughout the country.  Paul says they have served about 400 families in Hood River County during the program’s existence.  A celebration event is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. at Hood River Valley Christian Church on 975 Indian Creek Road.

September is National Preparedness Month.  It’s a time when people are encouraged to take stock of how prepared they are for an emergency, and take steps so they are ready to go an extended amount of time without power or have to be evacuated.  Lauren Kraemer of Oregon State University Extension in Hood River and Wasco counties says people should prepare a kit with three days of supplies that can be ready to go with five minutes notice.  Items in a three-day kit should include food, water, medications, and important documents.

The 26th annual Aluminum Man Triathlon and Duathlon is Saturday in The Dalles.  The event starts and finishes at Riverfront Park.  There are three different races:  the Olympic Triathlon with a one-kilometer swim in the Columbia River, 50K bicycle ride, and 10K run, the Olympic Duathlon with just the bike ride and the run, and the Sprint Triathlon that cuts the distance of all three events in half.  New this year will be team competitions in both the Olympic Triathlon and Duathlon.  Competition starts at 9 a.m. Saturday.

With classes getting underway in North Wasco County School District 21, enrollment appears to be slightly up from a year ago.  Superintendent Candy Armstrong says the numbers are fairly steady, up by about 25 students from last year.  Armstrong says they still have to wait a couple of weeks to get a better handle on the numbers, but adds they have gotten better at estimating what to expect.  But she also notes there is always a last minute flurry of students coming in and going out, so the wait for the most accurate enrollment numbers remain.

The annual Huckleberry Festival is this coming weekend in Bingen’s Daubenspeck Park.  It’s the 52nd annual run for the festival, which will feature entertainment for all ages starting Friday evening and continuing through Sunday afternoon.  The parade through downtown Bingen is Saturday at 11 a.m., and this year’s grand marshals are the members of the White Salmon Lions Club.  Of course there will be plenty of huckleberry pie available.  A complete schedule of events is on-line at huckleberry-fest.com.

Boys Soccer Hood River Valley 4, Putnam 1:  Andres Baeza scored a pair of goals and Alex Gutierrez had a goal and an assist as the Eagles won their season opener.  Oscar Munoz added the other HRV tally.   Girls Soccer Putnam 3, Hood River Valley 1 The Dalles 3, Mac-Hi 2   Volleyball Ridgeview def. The Dalles 25-17, 25-20, 25-21

With classes starting this week in the Hood River County School District, a large freshman class at Hood River Valley High School is creating a bump in enrollment.  Superintendent Dan Goldman says a big eighth grade class went through both middle schools last year, and they expected a jump of about 65 students at HRVHS, but the early returns puts the increase at about 90.  He does point out historically they won’t have an accurate enrollment figure until the latter portion of September, when registered students who have not shown up in the first ten days are removed from the rolls.  Goldman says the district tends to be very conservative on enrollment projections, and they are about to embark on a year-long process of facilities planning, with potential growth to be one of the factors taken into consideration.

Set up for Cycle Oregon’s start from The Dalles this weekend will get underway Wednesday.  Cyclists being arriving and setting up at Sorosis Park on both Friday and Saturday to be ready to begin their week-long tour on Sunday.  Tara Corbin of Cycle Oregon says The Dalles has some of the unique components necessary to be a start and finish location for the event, including long-term parking for participants and good locations to set up camp and to finish the tour.  Those who would like to volunteer to help can call The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce at 541-296-2231.

Over 450 swimmers jumped in the Columbia River Monday morning to take part in the Roy Webster Columbia River Cross Channel Swim in Hood River.  Two people shared the honors for the most time they have taken part in the event, with Doug Brenner and Jeff Gudman each involved for the 41st time.  Seven others were in the swim for at least the 30th year.  Steven Kassakian of Providence, Rhode Island traveled the farthest to jump in the Columbia, just over 3,012 miles.  Lee Gehrig was the oldest swimmer at the age of 81, while Kristen Dawn Anderson was the oldest woman at 77.  A total of 20 swimmers were over the age of 70.  Five ten-year-olds shared the title of youngest swimmer.

The Hood River County School District is advising that school bus schedules published earlier this week are incorrect, and parents should go to the district website for the correct information.  The Hood River News ran the schedules in their Wednesday edition, but the district announced today they were not the latest version.  Superintendent Dan Goldman notes with changes to school start times this year, every route has some kind of change, primarily involving the time students are picked up.  Correct bus schedules are available on the Hood River County School District’s website on the transportation page…go to www.hoodriver.k12.or.us.  School start times for this year are 7:40 a.m. for elementary schools, 8:40 a.m. at Hood River Valley High School, and 8:45 a.m. for middle schools.  Hood River News editor Kirby Neumann-Rea says they will be running a corrected version of the bus schedule in their Saturday edition.