6
area news
november
2009
Columbia County Breaks Ground on New Transit Center
By April Bamburg
to turn around.”
Commissioner Rita Bernhard noted in her com-
ments that the county’s transportation system started with
It was rainy and gray, but less than dry weather
did not stop supporters of the Columbia County Rider a woman named Dorothy Churchill, working out of the
transit program from attending a groundbreaking cer- back of her station wagon.
“The
connections
emony that will allow the
made
[for
Columbia
program to operate from a
County,
through
Connect
centralized location.
Oregon]
are
going
to be
That centralized
transformative,” said Sen-
location, at the former
ator Betsy Johnson. “This
Stimson Logging site at
is a great opportunity for
1155 Deer Island Road in
Columbia County to get
St. Helens, will include
out and get moving.”
administration and dis-
For local resident
patch offices, an area for
Sarah Brewington, the
vehicle maintenance and
Columbia County Rider
the first park and ride fa-
transit service has provid-
cility for Columbia Coun-
ed a bit of independence,
ty Rider that is their own.
according to her father,
On October 23,
John. Sarah is wheel-
county and state elected Col. Co. Commissioner Tony Hyde, State Senator Betsy John-
chair-bound. “Without
officials, representatives son, Senior Center Manager Cheryl Young, St. Helens resident it, people with problems
like Sarah has would be
of senior services and
Dan Garrison, ODOT Representative David Kim, Col. Co.
community
members Commissioners Earl Fisher and Rita Bernhard take shovels to cloistered in the com-
munity,” John Brewing-
gathered at the site to me-
the new Columbia County Rider Transit Facility location.
ton said.
morialize a groundbreak-
In June, the county purchased property with
ing ceremony, and tour the new office space.
“The irony is not lost on me,” said County Com- funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment
missioner Tony Hyde, one of the event’s featured speak- Act and the Oregon Connect II Program. Both funding
ers. “We’re taking a spot that used to employ 50 to 60 sources were obtained through the Oregon Department of
people and turning it into a spot where we can transport Transportation.
Transit staff projects that the project will be com-
people to another county to work. This is a trend we need
pleted by the end of 2010. Just one step in a larger project
PCC Schedules Classes In St. Helens
Portland Community College
has scheduled two classes at St. Hel-
ens High School for winter term, Jan-
uary-March 2010. The two classes for
this term are Math65 and Writing121.
“We are hoping to get the word out
in a big way and see how enrollment
goes, then use that as a jumping off
point to start scheduling a slate of
core classes,” said PCC Community
Relations Manager, Meryl Lipman.
Parents, students, teachers,
and administrators are encouraged to
spread the word about this new op-
portunity for college bound students.
Registration begins November 20.
West County FlexRoute
Our West County FlexRoute operates between Vernonia and St. Helens
with stops in Scappoose. Routes have fi xed stops and run on a circulatory
type schedule. Extra time is built into the schedule to allow short deviations
to assist anyone who may have diffi culty getting to a FlexRoute bus stop.
This Route only runs Tuesdays and Thursdays
Leaving From
Vernonia City Hall &
Senior Center
Chinook Plaza,
Scappoose
OHSU/Fred Meyer
Walmart, CCMH,
Creek Side
Columbia County
Courthouse
Old Town Parking
17th & Columbia Blvd/
SHCFCU
Columbia Commons/
DHS
Ace Hardware/
Walgreens
Rite Aid/Safeway
Depart AM
Depart PM
8:30AM & 11:00AM
2:00PM
9:15AM & 11:45AM
9:25AM & 11:55AM
2:45PM
2:55PM
9:45AM & 12:15PM
3:15PM
9:50AM & 12:20PM
9:55AM & 12:25PM
3:20PM
3:25PM
10:00AM & 12:30PM
3:30PM
10:05AM & 12:35PM
3:35PM
10:07AM & 12:37PM
10:10AM & 12:40PM
3:37PM
3:40PM
$1.50 per boarding: General Public/Seniors/Students/Children
Also Available: Nehalem Valley Fixed Route Service
Mon-Fri Vernonia to Washington County
See website for schedule and fares.
Columbia County Rider “ Public Transportation for All”
503-429-4304
www.ColumbiaCountyRider.com
For several months in 2008, the county conduct-
ed an analysis of the program, the routes and improve-
ments that could be made to the transit system. As part of
that analysis, officials held stakeholder meetings to gain
input from community members, distributed surveys and
considered the data.
The size, location, access to the highway and
proximity were the factors that brought the site to the top
of the list of potential sites for the county’s new public
transit hub.
Ultimately, the county would like to see a transit
district formed, as this is the way to ensure that the pro-
gram receives a consistent funding stream.
New routes added in past few months
Vernonia residents may have noticed two new
routes in the past few months— a flex route from St.
Helens to Vernonia and a fixed route from Vernonia into
Washington County. These routes began in July, and both
have shown limited success, according to Henry Heimull-
er, Transit Director. “It always takes time to get the word
out,” he said.
There’s also a need for a third trip to Washington
County, one that would occur mid-day, Heimuller said.
The service currently offers two trips, on commuter hours.
“There is more need there for school kids, medi-
cal appointments,” he said. “It’s likely we’ll see an in-
crease in [need for that] service.”
For information on trip schedules and transit ser-
vices call (503) 366-0159 or go to www.columbiacounty-
rider.com.
“This article has been published at April’s web site,
http://www.examiner.com/x-19696-Columbia-County-
Buzz-Examiner.”
Twilight Fans Gather in
St. Helens for New Movie
On Thursday November 19th
Saint Helens, Oregon will be home to the
Twilight saga again. A four-day movie re-
lease party, Experience New Moon kicks
off with a VIP party at the Columbia The-
ater at 212 S. 1st Street in St. Helens.
Fans can spend the weekend
with other Twilight fans in the original
movie locations. Some of the more no-
table scenes from the movie--the Swan
house, Bella and Edward’s first date, the
bookstore and dress shop in Port Ange-
les--were filmed in Saint Helens. A scene
of Edward playing piano for Bella and a
Forks High School office scene were also
filmed in Saint Helens. The main street of
Vernonia was downtown Forks, WA and
also home to the Forks Police Station.
The four-day event benefits the
Oregon Food Bank and includes screen-
ing parties, a walking tour of movie lo-
cations, a Volturi Ball, scavenger hunt,
Twilight character look- a-like contest
and more.
Nationally known Quiluete sto-
ryteller, Anita Wheeler will share tradi-
tional Quiluete stories during a special
session at the VIP Party Thursday night.
Most activities are free and fam-
ily oriented. For a full list of events and
more information, visit www.experience-
newmoon.com.
Twilight fans are thrilled about
the event and are coming from as far away
as Arizona and Texas. Reena Edame of
Phoenix, Arizona says “I had planned
to attend a big New Moon release event
in another city but when I heard about
the event in St. Helens, I couldn’t make
plans fast enough! I’m so excited to have
a chance to be in St. Helens for New
Moon and also get to do some location
sight seeing.”
A portion of the proceeds from
the event will go to help The Oregon
Food Bank and The Columbia Pacific
Food Bank. Food donations will also be
collected.
Experience Twilight is a family
owned and operated business. Katherine
and Steve Kidd and their daughter Jessica
all play an active role in operations. They
publish the Experience Twilight Tour
Guide and ExperienceTwilight.com. Re-
cently, they moved from Washington
to Saint Helens, OR where they plan to
open a Twilight merchandise store.
“Jessica and I are huge fans of
Twilight. The movie made me fall in
love with the Northwest all over again,”
says Katherine.
“We planned a mother daugh-
ter trip for Jessica’s birthday and went
to see all the sites where Twilight was
filmed.”
When researching the trip became time
consuming and information was scat-
tered, mother and daughter started blog-
ging to share what they had found.
Then the blog turned into a pa-
per print booklet that people could take
with them. Now they sell a printed and
bound book on amazon.com.
This Twilight fan duo has taken
nine trips to various Twilight movie and
book locations in the past year.
