welcome
august
2009
3
from the editor...
Vernonia’s Voice is extremely pleased and honored this
month to welcome April Bamburg as a contributor.
The plan is to have April help us cover news, events,
and activities related to Columbia County, where she
has extensive knowledge, experience and connections.
April has graciously offered to volunteer her time
to help Vernonia’s Voice cover more of the County,
in more breadth and in more detail. Please look for
April’s story this month on the Columbia County
budget situation, and join us in welcoming our newest
voice, April Bamburg.
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been selling Twilight tee-shirts or hats or something.
What I do want to talk about is fame. And/or infamy.
Over the last few years, Vernonia has gotten
some pretty serious exposure out in the world. A
disastrous flood, the Axmen television series, and now
Twilight. Think about that for a minute. It’s quite a lot
of attention for such a little place, but I’m not exactly
sure it’s the way we want to be famous. But at least
we’re on the map.
But wouldn’t it be great if people knew about
Vernonia because of the newest, most energy-efficient
and cost-effective school campus we built. What if,
instead of being known for having some of the highest
utility rates in the state, we were known for a new and
radically innovative wastewater treatment facility we
constructed. What if we were known as an outdoor
adventure mecca, where people traveled from all over to
use our parks; traveled here to ride mountain bikes, and
ride horses and bikes on linear trails from Scappoose to
Banks; to hike and camp in our woods and to fish and
kayak in our lake and our rivers and creeks? What if
people came to Vernonia for sports tournaments at our
newly constructed recreational complex at the site of
the old schools-- and used our skate park, ball fields,
disc golf course, and stayed to attend performances
at our amphitheater or watch movies at our drive-in?
What if we were famous for our public art, for our
restaurants, for our open-air market and First Friday
Arts Celebrations, for our active and lively downtown
corridor, for our live music scene, and for our festivals
and events? What if, instead of being infamous as the
town that floods, we were famous for our new Senior
Center/Food Bank/ Health Complex that we built out of
the flood-way? What if we were famous for our youth
sports teams, for our successful youth baseball program?
What if people wanted to move here to live because of
the quality of our schools and our education system;
for the young scholars we produced and state spelling
bee champions; for the livability of our community--
our walking trails, scenery, and the friendly nature and
community spirit of our residents? What if Vernonia
was famous for coming out the other end of tough
economic times as a healthy, vibrant, self sustaining
and interesting place to
live and work?
This is the
Vernonia I would like
to see us famous for.
What about you?
Recently, I noticed a new phenomenon around
Vernonia. During my travels around town, I have
noticed people I don’t recognize posing to have their
photograph taken in front of the Wauna Federal Credit
Union office. Being the crack reporter that I am, I
quickly deduced that this must have something to do
with the filming of the movie Twilight that took place
here last year. And sure enough, when I approach these
people and ask “You must be on the Twilight Tour?”
they inevitably answer (sometimes sheepishly) “Yes.”
This past month, I met two women with their two
teenaged daughters who had driven up from Modesto,
California, and were spending a week of vacation
touring the film sites from the movie. They even had
a guidebook they bought, that some enterprising young
lady from St. Helens had published, which showed
photos of all the local locations used in the filming, and
explained details about each site. Vernonia’s bridge, the
old 76 Gas station parking lot, and the Wauna building
were featured prominently.
OK, two steps back here. For those of you who
don’t know about Twilight (and I know there’s a few of
you out there--I actually met a real live person the other
day who had no idea what I was talking about), it’s a
series of novels for young adults that features a love
story between a girl and a vampire. (Now you know
why you haven’t heard of it!) The books have been
wildly popular (think Harry Potter--- you have heard
of him, haven’t you?) and the first story was recently
made into a movie-- as you may have figured out, some
of it was filmed in Vernonia.
Now, I’m not going to get into the merits of
how people choose to spend their vacations. I think
it’s great whenever anyone drives through Vernonia,
and stops, gets out, looks around, and hopefully spends
some money at some local businesses. In fact, I think
Scott Laird
we missed out on an opportunity-- someone should have
Editor and Publisher
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
News Editor
Scott Laird
Copy Editor
Dennis Nicks
Photography
Scott Laird
Sandy Welch
April Bamburg
Nancy Burch
Mackenzie Carr
Janelle Thomas -
Cedergreen
Necia DeWitt
Brandy Fosdick
Ben Fousek
Sally Harrison
Seth Lenaerts
Heather Lewis
Jennifer Maloney
PJ O’Leary
Sonia Spackman
Burt Tschache
Bob Young
Want to advertise?
Contact: ads@vernoniasvoice.com
Have an article?
Contact: news@vernoniasvoice.com
PO Box 55
Vernonia, OR 97064
503-367-0098
www.VernoniasVoice.com
The Vernonia Police Department
&
Vernonia Prevention Coalition
Invite you to Attend
Vernonia Night Out
August 25th 6:30 - 8:30pm
at Anderson Park
•Join your friends & neighbors to show your
support for Vernonia’s Public Safety Officers &
Volunteers and Stand Up Against Crime
•Visit with local Police, Fire & Medical personnel
Get tours of vehicles and equipment
•Police Dog and other demonstrations
•BBQ Dinner provided by the Vernonia Lions Club
•Other regional public safety agencies have been
invited to attend
In support of Park rules and a Family Friendly environment, this
is an ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug) Free event.