community
july
2009
June Yard of the Month
By Janelle Thomas Cedergreen
This time of the year landscapes are ever changing
in Vernonia, growing more lush and beautiful each day.
Thanks for all your helpful nominations. Unfortunately,
most yards nominated were outside Vernonia City limits.
Vernonia Pride is concentrating on yards within the city
limits. This month I am stuck on Bridge Street!
Vernonia Pride is happy to announce our winners of the
Golden Rose Award for June 2009.
Residential – Howard & Barbara Ward at 2048 Bridge
Street
Yes, they were our Honorable Mention last month.
In driving by again, I noticed flowers are in bloom. Their
yard art of rusted metal Great Blue Herons shows up better
this time. The beautiful Japanese lacey leaf maple, which is
the centerpiece to their home’s entrance, was showing off its
colors of bronze and red. It is a great visual entrance to their
home. Overall, this yard is neat with great design balance!
Commercial – Café 47 owned and operated by Bill Long at
854 Bridge Street
Café 47’s front edifice is ever changing with a
riot of colors from baskets, street art, planters, and bright,
whimsical signage. I always look to see what he has added
out front. The entrance has great presence and is always neat
and well groomed. Fantastic & Funky!
Honorable Mention: Allison & Tim McLeod @ 1024 Rose
Avenue
This tiny, lusciously green front yard is tidy and
well groomed with sculptured shrubs and flowers that add
splashes of color making the home’s entrance very inviting.
Smart!
21
VCLC Courtyard Opens
The newly completed courtyard at the Vernonia
Community Learning Center (VCLC) is now open and
available for use. The Courtyard celebrated a grand opening
during the June First Friday Event with a ribbon cutting
before the start of the Friday Open Air Market.
Construction of the courtyard was completed by
volunteer community members from the Ford Institute
Leadership Program (FILP) and was funded in part by a grant
from the Ford Family Foundation.
Please remember ballot boxes are in place at City Hall and
Sentry Market. Each month look for new winners to be
announced.
Mayor Sally Harrison cuts the ribbon, officially opening the new VCLC
Courtyard. Pictured left to right are the volunteers who coordinated
and help construct the project (behind Harrison) Josette Mitchell, Kate
Laird, Janelle Thomas Cedergreen, Tobie Finzel and Carol Davis.
Howard and Barbara Ward are proud winners of the
June “Yard of the Month”.
Cafe 47 was chosen as the best Commercial Property “Yard of
the Month” in June.
Jr. Salmon to be Auctioned
The annual carved Salmon decorating event that helps sup-
port the Vernonia Salmon Festival got bigger this year. Ver-
nonia High School Art students were invited to decorate
some Jr. Salmon, and they took to the task wholeheartedly,
personalizing their wood cutouts with paint, jewelry and all
kinds of other supplies. The Jr. Salmon were scheduled to be
auctioned off during The First Friday Event on July 3 at 7:00
PM at the Vernonia Community Learning Center.
Mayor’s Art Contest
By Sally Harrison
After the “Flood of 07” and the
ongoing upset and uproar of discussions
concerning what exactly is going to happen
to homes, schools, and Vernonia in general,
I wanted the younger citizens of our
Community to have a voice. Consequently,
the “Mayor’s Art Contest” came into being.
Vernonia Mayor Sally Harrison visits with WGS
kindergarteners and gives them each copies of
her postcard book “ ABC To You From Me.”
I hope you had the opportunity to see
the Art Exhibit at the VCLC on June 5 th during
the First Friday Market in the new courtyard.
If you did, you saw the wonderful display of
posters created by our 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd graders.
The theme for the Mayors Art contest
was “Home, School and Vernonia.” I was
especially taken by how each class approached
the project. First Graders expressed, through
their art, the things they treasure about their
community like swimming, fishing and bike
riding. Second Graders did a marvelous
job showing “New Schools high above our
beautiful river.” Third Graders built three
dimensional vignettes of Vernonia. Very
creative!
I wish to thank all the young artists
for participating and a special Thank You to
their teachers Ms. Fleenor, Ms. Hansen, and
Ms. Gingrich for their direction.
The art project was designated a
contest, but, after seeing all the entries, I felt
they all were winners, so each was awarded a
Blue Ribbon of excellence.
I also had the pleasure of handing
out my “ABC to You from Me” books to the
kindergarten classes. At the same time, I was
asked to autograph some books and shown
a book one class had written and illustrated.
Wonderful! It had to do with a giant onion
and you’d have to see it to fully appreciate
how great it was. Great job, kindergartners!
I have an inventory of “ABC to
You from Me” which is a book of mailable
postcards. If you are interested in purchasing
a copy, please call me at 503-429-8425 or
e-mail at sallyharrison@verizon.net. They
are $20.00, and all proceeds will go to the
building of new schools in Vernonia.
GREAT FOOD & ESPRESSO!
D
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T-TH 5 a.m.-3 p.m.
FRI & SAT 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
SUN 5 a.m.-3 p.m.
Closed MON
854 Bridge Street - Vernonia
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T
“This project shows what a group of individuals
can accomplish when they choose to stay committed to a
goal,” said Josette Mitchell who was instrumental in helping
complete the project.
The courtyard, is owned by the city and as part of the
VCLC will be open for use by the general public, available
for private rental through the VCLC, and will host the Open
Air Market throughout the summer months.
Mitchell thanked Lonnie Dennis and Steve Wolf
for their work on the final construction of the project, and
Vernonia Hardware, True Value Hardware, Sentry Market,
Pumilite and the Vernonia Public Works Department for their
support.
The project was constructed as part of the
Community Leadership training which recently completed
it’s third class in Vernonia. Each class is required to chose and
complete a community project as part of their commitment to
the program. The Courtyard was the project of the second
class. FILP classes spend four weekends learning leadership
skills which they then practice through real world learning by
completing their project.