free
july2009
V E R N O N I A’ S
reflecting the spirit of our community
volume3 issue2
vernonia
visitors
guide
page 16
Far Out! It’s Time for the
Columbia County Fair!
Loggers Memorial Takes Shape at Camp 18
It’s Going to Be Groovy, Man!
By Scott Laird
The Loggers Memorial Project
at Camp 18, which was announced last
summer, is in the home stretch. The
Loggers Memorial will be part of the Camp
18 Logging Museum, located on Highway
26 at Milepost 18 in Clatsop County. A
dedication is being planned for August
30th at 11:00 AM and the finishing touches
are being constructed on the building that
will house the memorial. All that’s needed
now are a few more donations and a few
more loggers’ names.
It’s time once again to head over to
the Columbia County Event Complex in St.
Helens for the Columbia County Fair and
Rodeo. Looks like it’s going to be a far-out,
groovy and green happenin’!
This year, the Fair and Rodeo takes
place on July 15-19. The theme for the fair
this year (in case you haven’t figured it out)
is “Green and
G r o o v y
Celebration.”
“What does
that mean?”
you
might
ask. “We’re
going to be
highlighting
environmental
issues,” said
Columbia
County Event
Complex
Manager
R h o n d a
C o u r t n e y.
That means there will be a special “Green
Scene” area on Thursday through Saturday
which will feature groups doing green
projects. According to Courtney, it will be fun,
educational and help raise awareness about
environmental issues. The Green Scene will
be sponsored by Wauna Federal Credit Union
and Solar World.
The Fair as a whole is also focusing
on reducing its waste output. There will be
recycling stations throughout the fairgrounds,
with examples of what can and can’t be
recycled, and how to sort it. Recycling experts
will also talk with vendors and exhibitors
to help them reduce waste output. “We’re
working to educate everyone about what they
inside
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day
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vernonia
baseball
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vhs class
of 2009
grad tribute
can and can’t recycle and
compost,” said Courtney. “We
really hope to reduce what
goes into the landfill from the
fair and reduce our footprint.
The recycling stations will be
designed to be educational
and hopefully raise awareness
through an established sorting
process.”
OK, so that’s the
Green part.
Where’s the
Groovy part? “We’re going
to be taking a trip back to the
Sixties with ‘Goldy McJohn
and Friends’ with a featured
concert on Thursday evening”
said Courtney. Goldy McJohn
was the original keyboard
player with the
band
Steppenwolf, and McJohn’s
show features Steppenwolf’s
late sixties /early seventies hits
like “Born To Be Wild” and
“Magic Carpet Ride.” Sounds
like it will be way cool!
Another new program
this year is for all youth animal
exhibitors called “Animals
for Office.” Youth animal
owners will become campaign
managers for their animal,
continued on page 15
More Names Being Sought to Be Memorialized
“We are looking for people who
want to recognize their family or friend on
this memorial,” said Mark Standley, who
is coordinating the project.
The memorial will include
individual names and information of fallen
loggers on cast bronze 3’’ x 8” plaques
that can contain up to four lines of text.
The plaques cost $150.00, and will be a
tribute to the people who have made
logging their work, their passion and their
life. This could include not just loggers,
but others who’ve served the industry
like camp cooks,
mechanics, parts
suppliers,
and
others-- basically,
anyone
who
had
dedicated
their life to the
logging industry
in Oregon.
Standley is a
familiar
name
and face to most
loggers in this
The new Logger Memorial will be housed in this building, currently
under construction on the property of the Camp 18 Logging Museum.
continued
on page 15
Oregon Solutions Takes Next Big Step
The Oregon Solutions Team working on the Vernonia Schools Project met in Vernonia on
June 24 to celebrate the completion of what is being called Phase I, and kicked off Phase II of the
project at the same meeting.
Phase I of the project included work to help find an appropriate location for the Vernonia
school system and to assist in any land use applications that might need to be made. For over a
year, the Oregon Solutions team, representing federal, state and local government, private industry,
civic organizations, and philanthropies, has met to support
the Vernonia School District and the City of Vernonia in
these efforts. The team has leveraged hundreds of thousands
of dollars for the project and has engaged the businesses,
regulatory agencies, and the public in the process.
Phase II of the project will be focused on finding funding for
the first time Edgar has created
an arrangement for a parade the school project and for supporting the entire community
competition. “It was quite an in making connections between the overall Rebuild Vernonia
honor to be asked by Mackenzie efforts and the reconstruction of the school system.
Mackenzie Carr Wins
at Rose Festival Parade
Mackenzie Carr, 2009 Miss
NPRA (Northwest Professional
Rodeo Association), was
selected as the winner of the
State/Regional Queen for the
Portland Rose Festival Grand
Floral Parade on Saturday,
June 6.
to prepare her arrangements
and an even bigger honor
to
win,”
said
Edgar.
The parade is among
the festival’s most popular
events and is one of the
nation’s top two all-floral
parades. As the winner,
Mackenzie received a
large revolving trophy
as well as a permanent
plaque and blue ribbon.
“Winning the parade
made all the hard work
and preparations worth
while,” said Mackenzie.
In 2007 Mackenzie won
the Rose Parade as part
of the Columbia County
Fair and Rodeo Court
Mackenzie Carr and Lisa Edgar display the in the Courts division.
trophy and ribbon they won at the Portland
Mackenzie Carr is
Rose Festival Parade. Edgar created the flo-
a graduate and was the
ral display that Carr used to win first place.
2008 class Valedictorian
Mackenzie’s
floral
of Vernonia High School. She
arrangements were designed
currently attends Oregon State
by, and her rodeo partner
University, majoring in Civil
Pedro decorated by Lisa Edger
Engineering.
of Vernonia Florist. This was
The Oregon Solutions Team display the donation that the Vernonia
Sentry made to the new school project that Oregon Solutions is helping
develop. Pictured from left to right: Tony Hyde, Gordon Smith, Wendy
Willis, Tom Kelly, Sharon Parrow, Randy Parrow, and Ken Cox.
The meeting started with Gordon Smith and Randy and Sharon
Parrow from the Vernonia Sentry Market presenting the project
with a donation of $10,000 to kick off local business support for
the project. Co-convener Tony Hyde led the meeting through
a review of the work completed so far. The meeting also
included a presentation from Project Manager for the School
District Steve Effros; an early look at design plans from the
Boora Architect Team; and an overview of the fundraising plan
by Economic Recovery Manager Bill Haack.
The meeting ended with the presentation of a Declaration
of Cooperation that project participants have signed or are
being asked to sign, signifying their agreement to support the
project. Signers already on board include Columbia County,
The Ford Family Foundation, the Oregon Department of Land
Conservation and Development, Neil Kelly Company, Portland
Community College, Vernonia Sentry, and West Oregon
Electric Cooperative.
