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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2008)
16 vernonia’s voice congratulations graduates july 2008 Sports Awards Scholarship Recipients Football Century 21 All Professional Rebekah anne Peerson $ 500 Clatsop County Safety Council Cody Davis $2000 Columbia County 4-H Mackenzie Carr $ 500 Equestrian Scholarship Marissa Clement Mackenzie Carr $ 500 $ 500 Gene Weller Memorial Caleb Stevens $ 500 Hancock Forest Management Matthew Baldwin $ 500 Holce Logging Izaak Walton League Sahrina Smith Lauren Lason-Dyer Mackenzie Carr Kelsey King Ashton Yontz Lindsay Shaw Megan Perry Michael Calhoun $ 1000 $ 1000 $ 1500 $ 1500 $ 1500 $ 1500 $ 3000 $ 500 J. M. Browning Logging, Astoria Cody Davis $ 2500 Joe Curl Memorial Lauren Lason-Dyer $ 1000 Karen Pitt-Kilgore Memorial Mackenzie Carr $ 500 Kris Duane Crowston Memorial Shandee Cota Lauren Lason-Dyer Cody Davis $ 600 $ 600 $ 1200 PEO Kelsey King Megan Perry $ 500 $ 500 Vernonia Boosters Jake Thompson Caleb Stevens Mackenzie Carr Marissa Clement $ $ $ $ 500 500 500 500 Vernonia Education Association Benjamin Bamburg Ashton Yontz Lauren Lason-Dyer Tarrah Johnston Marissa Clement Megan Perry Lindsay Shaw Kymberlia Sebring $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 250 250 250 250 250 250 400 800 Mackenzie Carr Megan Perry Lauren Lason-Dyer Cody Davis $ 500 $ 500 $ 1000 $ 1000 VHS Alumni Ashton Yontz $ 1000 Wauna Federal Credit Union Mackenzie Carr Kelsey King $ 500 $ 500 Windermere Michael Calhoun $ 500 WOEC, Sam Hearing Mackenzie Carr Michael Calhoun Kelsey King $ 500 $ 500 $ 500 Zack Rumbolz Memorial Lauren Lason-Dyer $ 5000 Vernonia Lions’ Club Auf Wiedersehen Matthias Kreuter-Neuss In April 07 my exchange program first told me, that I was going to spend the next school year in a state named Oregon. A state I had never heard of before. The first thing the helpful internet later told me about Oregon was that it usually rained here 200 days a year. Later I would say it felt more like 300 days of rain per year. But first of course I thought it was just some exaggerated number, because I just couldn’t imagine a place with more rain than Germany. It turned out, I had no idea. About a month later my exchange program told me they had found a family in a nice town named Vernonia. A town I never had heard of before either. But at first I was very glad because it was close to the Pacific and relatively close to Seattle, both places I really wanted to visit. My excitement stopped about when I realized that the town looked extremely tiny on the map. But in the end, what first seemed to be a huge bummer, ended up to be the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The first thing that overwhelmed me in different ways was my host family, who couldn’t have been kinder, more welcoming and funnier. There support and love would be the base for the wonderful 10 month to come. They showed me their amazing home state, they introduced me to a number of great people, and they spent fun weekends with me and laughed a countless number of times with me. Without them I clearly couldn’t have had a time so awesome like the one I had. I think every host family, but especially the Stewards deserve a huge applause. Most Improved Most Inspirational Most Valuable Lineman Most Valuable Defense Most Valuable Offense Most Valuable Player Kyle Brixey Jake Thompson Taylor Smith Jeramey Lende Byron Schorzman Jeramey Lende Volleyball Most Valuable Player Most Improved Player Most Inspirational Player Coach’s Award Black and Blue Award Horizontal Award Mackenzie Carr Heather Bassett Karly DeWitt Tricia Levenseller Shandee Cota Ashley Paleck Samantha Lee Wrestling Most Inspirational Most Valuable Most Improved Kodiack Stone TommyCarr Tyler Bernardi Girls Basketball Honorable Mention All League Tricia Levenseller Boys Basketball Letter, Most Inspirational Most Improved Most Outstanding Benni Scheytt Blake Moeller Byron Schorzman Golf Most Improved Most Improved Most Valuable, 2 nd Team All League Jacob Alf Calvin Barnes Paul Whiteman Baseball Most Improved Honorable Mention All League Coach’s Award Most Valuable, 1 st Team All League 2 nd Team All League 1 st Team All League Taylor Smith Alex Lende Tim Brown Byron Schorzman Cody Davis Jeramey Lende Equestrian All League Most Improved Most Improved Most Valuable, All League Most Inspirational, All League All League Mackenzie Tarkalson Chantel Szlavich Allee Chadek Brianna Carr Jamie Benes Bryan Benes Track Best 1 st Year Best 1 st Year, All League Most Inspirational All League All League Most Improved All League Most Inspirational Most Valuable, Most Dedicated, All League Most Dedicated Nora Hieronimus Shelby Grittman Benni Scheytt Mat Krause Tommy Carr Justin Caputo Samantha Lee Megan Hieronimus Blake Moeller Michael Calhoun Softball 1 st Team All League 1 st Team All League 2 nd Team All League 2 nd Team All League Karly DeWitt Bonnie Birkmaier Souvanny Miller Brittney Paden But Vernonia was an amazing place in a lot of different ways, even because it is so small. The school was smaller, so I didn’t get lost and could easily find new friends. The teachers were nicer to the students, which made school fun for me and not boring torture, like it used to be. And the town itself was so small I dealt with the same people almost every day, which made it all feel more like a big family. Everybody accepted and involved me as a part of their life already after a few months. When I look back I can see an enormous amount of experiences, ones that made me laugh, and ones that amazed me, ones that shocked me and also ones that made me cry. But every one of them I will never forget. I experienced the unbelievable force of water, 200 to 300 days of rain, homecoming, prom, an unusual Christmas, my host family in an IKEA, I went to the beach, Seattle, Montana- the place where dreams come true, I stepped in one or the other language trap, I got an amazing new nickname, I found self-confidence, I almost died doing white water rafting and then doing Cross Country, I experienced how long 3 miles are, I spent a month getting up at 10 o’clock to go to school, I started hating bus rides and I started loving church, I got bombed with sarcasm 24/7 by my host mom, I consumed a ton of hash browns, brownies and tater tots, I made new friends, I missed my family, I had cats for the first time, but hopefully not the last, I didn’t have to wash dishes by hand for almost a year, I found out how helpful garbage disposals were, I got to prove that somebody can live for ten month on muffins and McDonald’s without exploding, I learned the real meaning of the word Dork, I fell in love with a beautiful girl, I got kicked out of Mr. Browns class, I missed out on experiencing a lock-down, I lived in a purple painted room for 10 months, I went skiing and snowboarding and had to get rescued by the snow patrol, I went paint balling and got shot in the butt, I had to listen to lame jokes in Psychology and Film Studies, I got a thousand new reasons why soccer is still the best sport in the world, I lost an old accent and got a new one and had the best time of my life. For all that I can only say: Thank you very much Vernonia!
