free
december2009
june8  2010
V E R N O N I A’ S
reflecting the spirit of our community
volume4    issue11
Tree To Tree Adventure Park Offers
Challenges and Excitement

A new outdoor park, Tree To
Tree Adventure Park has just opened
between Forest Grove and Gaston, and
WOW! is the only way to describe it!

Tree To Tree Adventure Park is
a playground/obstacle/challenge course
that is set up in the trees and according
to the owners is currently the only park
of its kind west of the Mississippi Riv-
er. Visitors can choose their own level
of difficulty, with various adventurous
paths to take. You decide what degree
of difficulty suits your comfort level.
Similar to ski runs, there is a blue,
green, red and black diamond course--
the higher the level of difficulty, the
higher up in the trees you head and the
more difficult the obstacles. Adven-
turers move from “Tree to Tree” using
platforms, tight ropes, wobbly bridges,
suspended logs and more, including zip
lines. Visitors are fully secured by a
harness and lines at all times for safety.

With a soft opening on Memo-
rial Day Weekend, owners Julie Barris,
her daughter Marissa Doyle and a host
of other family members had the oppor-
tunity to welcome paying customers for
the first time. The family continues to
work on the rest of the grounds around
the new park before their official grand
opening on June 19th. But the tree
course is open and ready for action.

“It’s a self-based adventure,”
says Doyle. “You go at your own pace
and it’s really more of a personal chal-
lenge. That’s what we focus on here-
- we get you ready and organized with
your equipment and then let you do
inside
tion has been ongoing throughout the
winter and spring.

The course was built and de-
signed by Synergo, a local Portland
company that design and builds chal-
lenge courses that include aerial ele-
ments.

Working your way through
the course is a real adrenaline booster.
Even though you know you are attached
to the safety cable with no possibility of
falling, it still takes some time to settle
in and feel comfortable. This is not for
the faint of heart! Working your way
through the green course takes bal-
ance, some strength and conditioning,
and most of all, nerve. If you are in any
way adverse to heights, this might not

The Vernonia City Budget Com-
mittee is struggling through an especially
tough budget process this year. The com-
mittee began meeting on April 6, 2010,
and almost two months and close to ten
meetings later, were still having difficul-
ty deciding how to produce a balanced
budget.

The Budget Committee is made
up of five citizens along with the five
members of the Vernonia City Council,
who work with staff to recommend a bal-
anced budget back to the City Council
for final approval. Oregon law requires
all governments—state and local—to
balance their budgets before the start of
the July 1 fiscal year.

This year’s budget process began
with what appeared to be a rosy forecast
in the Budget Message by City Adminis-
trator Bob Young, who is the Budget Of-
ficer for the process. Since that time, the
Budget Committee has unearthed numer-
ous discrepancies in the original numbers
that were presented.

On May 25 th , a memo was sent
out to City department heads at the Li-
brary and Police Department and to
members of the Parks Committee asking
for them to review their proposed bud-
gets and make suggested cuts from their
departments. Those cuts requested were
$9,000 from the Library, $33,000 from
the Police Department, and $10,000 from
Parks.

The Budget Committee met most
recently on June 2nd where Committee
Chair Josette Mitchell led a discussion
continued on page 10
continued on page 5
Cultivator: Not Your Usual General Store

2
vhs
graduation
9
mountain
bike trails
20
first
friday
City Wrestles
With Budget
At Tree To Tree Adventure Park near Gaston, visitors move from stable platforms as
high as fifty feet off the ground by way of suspension bridges, swings, zip lines, and more.
whatever you want and have fun out
there.”

The family-run business (it in-
cludes Mom Julie, and Dad, as well as
siblings Marissa, George and Jared and
all their spouses) is located on a twenty-
six acre parcel of land-- the tree-top ad-
venture course is situated in 4.5 acres of
forest. The rest of the property features
nature paths and trails and a separate,
low to the ground, challenge course for
facilitated team building activities.

The family has been develop-
ing the project for the last three years--
according to Doyle, it took quite a bit of
time to find the proper location with the
right zoning, and time to acquire all the
necessary permits. Everything was se-
cured by last November and construc-
free
Cultivator General Store recently
opened in Clatskanie. The creation
of Paulette Rees-Denis and Jeff Rees,
this is not your Mom and Pop’s Gen-
eral Store.

The designation “General
Store” conjures up images of a dim-
ly-lit, dusty interior, with a bunch of
old guys in overalls sitting around a
wood stove drinking coffee and talk-
ing about the weather, the price of
corn, and tractor parts.

The name General Store also
brings to mind a place where you can
purchase a variety of goods and catch
up on the latest local news. And, in
reality, that’s what Cultivator is. It’s
just not dim and dusty and there is no
wood stove.

In fact, Cultivator is bright
with lots of sunlight, is colorful and
cheerful, and full of wonderful spe-
cialty goods-- wines, craft beers, or-
ganic produce, chocolates, cheeses,
household products, personal care
items and gifts. It’s still a place to
sit around with a cup of coffee (or a
double mocha), and catch up on the
local news. And you can also get a
bite to eat from the kitchen.

It’s a cross between a health
food store and cafe-- all rolled into
one. A general store for the new mil-
lennium, so to speak.

Paulette and Jeff have cre-
ated a warm and beautiful space
that invites their visitors to relax and
stay for a while. The atmosphere is
friendly and the staff is knowledge-
able. The food is tasty, healthy and
fresh. And the variety of goods en-
courages browsing and discovering
new and interesting ideas. Paulette
and Jeff also hope to create a sense
of community-- a place for people to
gather, share ideas and build relation-
ships.
Just some of what you’ll find when you
visit the Cultivator General Store in
Clatskanie.

“Jeff and I have talked for
years about opening a wine bar,” says
Paulette. “We love food, we love to
eat, and we love to cook. And be-
continued on page 11