voice community
vernonia’s
january
2009
The Real Spirit of Christmas
By Scott Laird
Another Christmas-- another weath-
er-related disaster. That’s been the
story of the Christmas holiday the
last three years for Vernonia. Lots
of anticipation and excitement about
shopping and presents, about seeing
relatives and holiday meals, about
waking up to stuffed stockings and
wrapped presents under the deco-
rated tree, about packages arriving
in the mail, and then-- Boom!, it all
comes to a screeching halt. Three
years ago, it was ice and wind and
no power; last year it was flooding
Vernonia Firefighters and other volunteers, and even some
and no power; this year the worst The
of santa’s elves made sure everything got wrapped and Toy
snowstorm in forty years, and, you
and Joy got distributed for Christmas
guessed it-- no power. It makes it
hard to enjoy Christmas when the
lights don’t come on.
11
without power, and served turkey
dinner to anyone who wanted to join
with other community members for
a meal. The folks who organized
the dinner at the Senior Center gave
up their day to cook and serve for
everyone else, and the atmosphere
was festive and friendly with all
the turkey trimmings, pie and cof-
fee, and good fellowship. James
thanked his daughters, Jerilyn and
Evelyn, for encouraging him to hold
the dinner even without power, and
also thanked Connie King and the
Senior Center Board for the use of
the building and kitchen, and all the
volunteers who helped cook, serve
and clean up. James’ response when
asked why he gives up his Christmas
day every year-- “ I felt like I wanted
to give something back to the people
of our community.”
Watching what happened around
Vernonia this year, when the power
suddenly went off on December 24
at 1:00 PM and wasn’t restored until
2:00 AM on the 27th, (some families
in outlying areas were without power
for longer than a week) gave us a good
glimpse into what is really important
about the holidays. It showed how
Even without power, folks
some members of our community are enjoyed the Christmas Dinner
put together by Bill James
willing to give and sacrifice for others
and his family and friends
and showed the real Christmas spirit-- (above). Samantha Lindauer
Alex Barton helped
“peace on earth and goodwill towards serve and
meals at the emergency
shelter (right).
all men.” It’s a phrase we read on
greeting cards that we receive or sign
our names to, but do we really stop and think about what it means?
Down the street on Christmas Day,
Another elf works hard getting Toy and Joy ready to go.
at the Vernonia Middle School, a
disaster shelter was established, and
again, local volunteers were giving up their holiday to care for our citizens who were in need.
Gretchen and Terry Lindauer opened up the kitchen and along with their daughters, Samantha
and Brittney, and a host of other volunteers, were turning out three hot meals a day for anyone
who stopped by. Helen and Kevin Hudson, along with other volunteers and city staff kept
the shelter open for five days so anyone without power or heat had
a place to come in and warm up, spend time with family and relax
with some electricity, and spend the night if needed. Here again
were Vernonians, sacrificing their holiday so others might be com-
fortable, warm, and fed. The Lindauers fed as many as 250 people
each day, with numbers tapering off after Saturday, when power was
restored. The shelter housed forty individuals on Christmas night,
watched over by caring members of the community-- who even re-
trieved fourteen pet crates from Valley Vet, so residents could stay
with their pets if needed.
During the holidays, many of us get caught up in the hustle and bus-
tle-- the shopping and decorating, the traveling and greeting cards,
the ordering and wrapping. But this year, Vernonia got to see how
some people can take “goodwill towards all men” literally and act
out its real meaning.
All around Vernonia, there were folks going out of their way to help
their neighbors, their friends and aquaintances, even strangers-- or
just finding general work like shoveling walkways and clearing
streets and roads, efforts that would benefit us all.
Bill James, and his family and friends, put on their third annual Christmas Day dinner, even
People giving of themselves-- that is the true spirit of the holiday season. And some Vernonians
showed they really have it.
Holiday Bucks Winners Announced
The Holiday Bucks Program sponsored by the Vernonia Chamber of Commerce was a suc-
cess once again. This years winners in the weekly drawings were:
$25 Winners: Jeana Gump, Shannon Ervin, Bonnie Holce (2), Amy Etta,
Sue Lundy, Mary Lou Busch
$50 Winners: Shari Vanderschelklen and Judy McDonald
The Chamber thanks the participating Vernonia businesses for taking part in the holiday
bucks program.
Penny Costley picks one of the many winners in the
Holiday Bucks Contest (right) from the a selection of the
numerous entries (below).
Please join us for an Interactive
Community Meeting:
“The Dangers of Club Drugs”
Reach thousands of
potential customers
This presentation is part of a series of
informational and educational community
awareness events for students, parents
and other interested individuals.
January 15, 2009, 7:00PM
Vernonia Middle School
Presented by Vernonia High School & Middle School students
and the Vernonia Police Department.
Sponsored by the Vernonia Prevention Coalition
and the Vernonia Police Department
advertise
here!
Owned and Operated by
Don & Kim Wallace
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