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community bulletin board/letters to the editor
january11
2011
UNWC Annual Meeting
The Upper Nehalem
Watershed Council’s (UNWC)
Annual Meeting has been
changed from January 28th to
Saturday March 12th. The
meeting is open to the public.
UNWC will show the community
what they have accomplished
and what is planned for the
future, explaining their goals,
asking for community input,
electing new Board Members
and amending their Bylaws.
OSU Master Gardener™
Class in Clatskanie
After twenty-one years
of having the Oregon State
University Master Gardener™
classes in St. Helens, and last
year in Vernonia, this year’s
classes will be held in Clatskanie,
which starts on Tuesday, March
8th and meeting every Tuesday
through May 31st and will meet
from 9:30 am until 3:00 pm
with a thirty minute break for
lunch. Topics to be covered will
include vegetable gardening,
insect identification, botany
for gardeners, plant problem
diagnosis, growing fruits and
berries, lawn management, weed
identification and management,
pesticides safety, and plant
propagation. Weekly instructors
include Oregon State University
teaching and Extension faculty,
experienced Master Gardeners
and other professionals. Cost of
the series will be $75.00. Students
completing the class will be
expected to pay back about 50
hours on community horticultural
projects. Applications will be
accepted through February 15th.
For more information or to get
the application packet you can
contact the OSU Extension
Office by calling 503 397-3462,
emailing either Chip Bubl at
chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu or
Vicki Krenz at vicki.krenz@
oregonstate.edu or by stopping
by the office at 505 N. Columbia
River Hwy in St. Helens.
Columbia County
Commission on Children
and Families
The Columbia County
Commission on Children and
Families holds public meetings
on the 3rd Thursday of each
month at 5:30 PM. The meetings
are held at the OSU Extension
Office, 505 N. Columbia River
Hwy., St. Helens, Oregon. The
next meeting is January 20,
2011.
Skein Slayers Knitting/
Crocheting Group
Sponsored by the
Vernonia Prevention Coalition,
the Kiwanis and community
volunteers, Skein Slayers is a
knitting/crocheting group whose
goals are to invite people of all
ages who can knit or crochet
or just want to hang out and
talk on the second and fourth
Mondays at 6:00 PM. The
hope is that this will become a
multi-generational group that
talks about whatever the hot
topics are, particularly teens,
and knit or crochet hats and
scarves for our students in need
and for the Community Closet.
We’ll have topics that we’ll talk
about each night and a table of
supporting materials for the
topic; i.e. suicide prevention,
bullying, etc. Flyers will be
posted around town. Join us
Monday, January 24, 6:00 PM.
Don’t know how to knit?
You’re in luck because Vernonia
Florist is offering a knitting
class on Monday nights at 7:00
PM starting January 31st. After
taking their class, come down
and join us. We’re also looking
for yarn and needle donations.
Contact: Catherine Helmer, 503-
914-9525, catherine.helmer@
yahoo.com.
Readers Lend Their Voices...
To the Editor
Thank you to all our friends
and family for their love and support in
the loss of our brother, Gary.
We especially want to thank
those of you who joined with us at
the Memorial Service to share in
our remembrances of Gary.
And a special thank you to
Dana Hyde who graciously did all the
organizing and serving of the luncheon
along with Cheryl McWhirter, Lynn
Shaw and Courtney Paden.
Thank you all for the cards,
food and prayers.
Gary Dinger’s family
To the Editor
This is just an observation.
I had a conversation with a
local Real Estate agent. The subject of
buying a small house to rehab turned
to the agent noting that many small
houses are being purchased for cash
by people who have that amount of
cash. Undoubtedly many of these will
be gussied up and flipped for a profit,
others may be rentals.
It stayed on my mind and I
realized that what we are seeing is an
example of wealth consolidation. In
America, the rich are getting richer and
the poor getting much poorer. In this
case the prospect of buying a house
for 40-50K would seem to be a low
income dream. The mortgage payments
(er if there was financing) would be
around $200 a month. People would
be less likely to default, require Public
Housing assistance, and would have
more income for food and utilities.
That is not going to happen.
Instead the houses are investments. If a
low income purchases the house, it will
be for the original price plus a profit
transferring income to the investor.
Whatever the markup, the buyer will
pay that 3 times over in interest to the
mortgage lender on Wall Street. Or if
the house is rented, the renters will
never have equity or security.
In a perfect world the local
investors would underwrite mortgages
at the selling price to buyers who will
live in the house. The local investor
would garner 3 times the home value
over the term of the loan. Nothing
would go to Wall Street. The local
lender would be right there if the buyer
missed payments or failed to maintain
the house.
In the end, the concentration
of wealth and property will continue.
It would take a great deal of effort
and leadership to influence the course.
That is where America is bankrupt,
innovation is not so wild a dream as
those who profit by its postponement
HOW TO SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vernonia’s Voice welcomes and requests your thoughts, opinions and ideas.
Please include your name, address and phone number, limit your letters to
300 words or less. Vernonia’s Voice reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or
ask for a response to letters submitted. We will print letters, space permitting.
Deadline is the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. Email to: scott@vernoni-
asvoice.com or mail to: Letters, PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064.
Upcoming Events
City of Vernonia Transportation Plan Workshop,
January 13, 5:30 - 8:30 PM --Open House at the
Vernonia Community Learning Center, 939 Bridge Street.
Bring your ideas and hear about pedestrian, bicycle and
roadway improvement options.
Zack Rumbolz Scholarship Benefit Concert,
January 29, 7:00 PM at Vernonia Community Church,
957 State Ave. Music by the Hill Road Band.
Financial Peace University, Starts February 6 at
the Vernonia Christian Church, 410 North Street. Free Class
Preview sessions on January 23rd, and 30th at 4:00 PM.
Learn to manage your personal finances and become debt
free the Dave Ramsey way! Call 503-369-3245 for more
information.
School Site Construction
The Vernonia School Construction is under way and the site
appearance is changing almost daily. You can follow the
progress via the Construction Webcam at this link:
http://oxblue.com/pro/open/builtbypandc/vernonia
would make seem.
Roger Lindsley
Beaverton
Letter to the Editor,
The Vernonia Lions club
would like to say “Thank You” to the
people of Vernonia. By putting your
spare change in our Gales Creek Camp
collection cans around town we were
able to give an extra $250.00 to Gales
Creek Camp. (The camp provides
experiences for children, youth and
families affected by Type 1 diabetes,
this helps them gain confidence to
manage their diabetes and achieve the
goal to grow toward living independent
lives.) This shows us that if everyone
gives a little we can accomplish a lot.
Good Job Vernonia!
The Lions would also like to
Thank the stores and restaurants that
have participated this last year. We
hope to get new cans out this year and
in a few more places.
Also, the Lions are especially
proud we were able to help our
community and a little bit of the world
this last year with our fundraising
efforts (BBQ sandwich booth during
Jamboree, Texas Hold ‘em and selling
Raffle tickets and plant sale). We have
been able to donate over $15,000.00
this year. Some of our donations were,
Maintaining trailers for families who
where lifting their homes, having the
Mobil Screening Unit come to the grade
school, being able to provide 17 pairs
of eye glasses, nine scholarships to
graduating Seniors, Camp Wilkerson,
Oregon Sight and Hearing, Vernonia
Cares Food Bank, the list goes on. But,
we could not have accomplished this
without the support of our community.
Thank You!
We hope you all have a Happy
and Healthy New Year.
Sincerely,
Vernonia Lions Club
Our motto “We Serve”
To the Editor
It is with great pride we write
this letter. In the calendar year of
2010, Vernonia Sentry has donated
over $3000 in cash and product to
the following groups (and we’re sure
we’ve missed some).
Vernonia Schools – Senior/
Junior/Sophomore/Freshmen/
Volleyball/Basketball/ Grade Party,
Vernonia Middle School, Washington
Grade School, Mist Birkenfield Rural
Fire Protection District, Vernonia Rural
Fire Protection District, Vernonia
Prevention Coalition Fireworks,
Vernonia Cares, Vernonia Head Start,
Vernonia Boy Scouts, Vernonia Girl
Scouts, Vernonia Library, Vernonia
Police Department/Vernonia Night
Out, Vernonia Pride, Haiti Fundraiser,
Vernonia Vacation Bible School,
Vernonia Ridge Riders, Vernonia’s
Biggest Class Reunion, Vernonia
Senior Center, and countless Free
Video Coupons.
In addition to the $10,000 we have
already given, we still have a challenge
to local businesses of a match of up to
$5000 cash donations to the Vernonia
Schools Building Project. Call us for
details!
We thank you and appreciate
the support of the Vernonia Community
and look serving you in 2011.
Randy, Sharon and the Crew at Vernonia
Sentry
