The Cowlitz Black Bears is an amateur baseball team located in Kelso / Longview, Washington. They play in the West Coast League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The league comprises teams from British Columbia, Oregon and Washington. Cowlitz calls David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College home.

Story Field at Lower Columbia College in Longview, WA, was remodeled for the 2010 Cowlitz Black Bears inaugural season. Amenities include Party Suites and the Bob's Sporting Goods Party Deck in left field, the Home Plate Club in the grandstand area and picnic tables and a kids playground sponsored by Kelso, Washington's Red Lion Inn.

Season:  June, July & August

The History of the Cowlitz County Fair~
On September 3rd and 4th 1937 the Cowlitz Valley Fair was held for the first time in Catlin Park, beginning a tradition that has lasted seventy-five years and continues on to this day as the Cowlitz County Fair. With the exception of the four years during World War II, the annual fair has provided such stimulating and amusing entertainment as a milking contest between civic leaders from Longview and Kelso held the very first day of that very first fair. Contestants included Kelso Mayor W.E. Chinn, Kelso Kiwanis President Thomas H. Van Noy, President E.G. Ditlersen and Secretary Eugene Crumb of the Kelso Chamber of Commerce VS Longview Mayor John P. Bell, Longview Kiwanis President Verne DeVilbiss, President J.L. Norris and Secretary L.K. Martini of the Longview Chamber of Commerce. The winner was Dr. J.L. Norris of Longview.
Other events of the day included the livestock judging contest and the Home Economics judging event. There were fair exhibits on clean easy milkers, grange feeds, grange flour, international trucks, batteries, tires, and J.I. Case Farm Machinery. The first day centered on farms and gardens. The Rose Valley Grange won first in the Grange exhibit division with a variety of farm produce. Pleasant Hill was 2nd and Kalama 3rd. The Judges were Mr.& Mrs. Heye Meyers of Vancouver.

COWLITZ COUNTY FAIR FOR THE 1st TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 1937 - 1962
Our fair began as The Cowlitz Valley Fair held at Catlin Park. But it didn’t stay put. The location moved to 15th Avenue and Ocean Beach Hwy in 1941, next to 7th Avenue and the old LP&N railway in 1942, then to Saddle Club Park in Longview at 14th and Baltimore in 1946, back to 7th Avenue in 1947, and finally to the present location in 1950. During this time the fair underwent two additional name changes: The Cowlitz County Fair in 1946 and The Columbia Empire Fair in 1949. There were no fairs nationwide from 1941 -1945 by government order due to WWII.
Right from the beginning the fair was a family friendly event. Admission increases reflected this, starting from only .25 to .50 cents for adults and from .10 to .25 cents for children under the age of 15. By 1962 admission was .75 cents for adults and the .25 cents for kids stayed the same and the age requirement was dropped to under 12 years of age and covered all of the events. The attendance grew from approximately 3,000 in 1946 to 23,302 in 1962.
From the beginning, the fair has had a western flare throughout, with many Country Western singers, comedians, and various other western themed performers. Events and entertainment included horse shows, juvenile rodeos, Sheriff’s Posse horse shows, many dog & chimp acrobatic performers, and jalopy races. Also in attendance were governors, noted political leaders, and T.V. & movie personality guest appearances. One of the exciting attractions was seeing who would win the crown for “Queen of the Fair.” Many of the young ladies who won the title of Queen had also first won a Rodeo title, demonstrating how hard working these youths were in the early days of the fair.
New building additions to the fair began with the construction of the automobile building in 1947 and went on to include the floral building, modern restrooms, model milk parlor and office building in 1948. Also added was a new horse show arena in 1952, a dormitory for youngsters who stay overnight for livestock exhibits in 1953, a caretaker’s house in 1954, and lastly in this time period, a 40’X120’ livestock building.

Cowlitz Public Shooting Range is open to all members of the public,  providing shooters with a safe place to shoot rifles, pistols, shotguns and archery since it opened on May 1, 2013. From the beginning, the range has staffed its operations with volunteers, a practice that continues to this day.

NRA certified Range Safety Officers (RSOs) are on duty at all times the range is open to insure the safety and fun of our shooters, friends and their families. The volunteer work of the RSOs allows the Cowlitz Game & Anglers to provide an excellent outdoor shooting range experience to its users at a very affordable price.

The Range is offers free firearm training classes open to any and all interested persons. These are classroom sessions only, not range shooting, but the range will be open as usual for shooting after the classes. All classes will be held at the Cowlitz Public Shooting Range Education Building, 1000 Toutle Park Road, Castle Rock, WA 98611. Take Exit 52 from I-5 and follow the signs to the end of Toutle Park Road.

Directions:
Take exit 52  toward Barnes Dr/Toutle Park Rd

Turn or Continue East onto Old Pacific Hwy
Turn left onto Burma Rd
Turn right onto Toutle Park Rd
Continue 0.9 mi. to the end of Toutle Park Rd

Holland America Bulb Farms, Inc., Woodland, WA The headquarters of operations for all related entities of Holland America Bulb Farms, Inc. is located in Woodland Washington. Dobbe Farms, LLC is importing the best quality bulbs, such as lilies, tulips and iris, from the most reliable suppliers in the Netherlands. Dobbe Farms is also growing premium cut flowers such as tulips, peonies and other seasonal crops as well as growing tulips and iris for the bulb production at the farm in Woodland Washington. These products are sold through Holland America Bulb Farms in Washington as well as coordinated sales through Holland America Flowers in California.

U-Pick Tulip Fields opening April 1st!

Kalama Horse Camp, located on the southwest flank of Mt. St. Helens, is outside the blast zone of the 1980 eruption. The camp and its nearby trails are close enough to the mountain for you to observe how the most recent eruption changed the area. You’ll also plenty of evidence of previous volcanic activity. The campground loop trail allows easy access to the main trail head. The trail head parking area, found at the east end of the campground provides parking for day use. There are over 50 miles of trails and closed roads are available from the campground.