6
community
august23
2011
Young Cyclists Roll Through Vernonia
“Bike and Build” Rides to Assist with Nationwide Affordable Housing Efforts
On August 7, thirty young adults with Bike
& Build Inc., a national non-profit committed to
affordable housing, are bicycling into Vernonia on
their journey across the United States. The cyclists
travel from Virginia Beach, VA to Cannon Beach, OR
in order to raise money and awareness for affordable
housing causes.
“We are deeply proud that Bike & Build
has 265 riders this year who are so committed to the
affordable housing cause that they are willing to raise
much-needed funds and spend two months of their
summer biking across this amazing country,” said
Bike & Build Program Coordinator Brendan Newman.
“Bike & Build provides the opportunity; it is the riders
who make the impact on housing issues through our
cycling trips.”
During their overnight stay in Vernonia the
group stayed at the Vernonia Community Church.
The group will be traveling for more than 10
weeks and will help to build affordable housing in nine
locations, including Charlottesville, VA, Jackson, WY,
and Boise, ID. In order to participate in the trip, each
rider raised at least $4,000 to help fund the trip costs
and affordable housing efforts nationwide.
Bike & Build offers eight cross-country biking
trips each summer. The 18 to 25 year old riders see and
experience first-hand the affordable housing
need in this country. They stop in towns along
their route and participate in construction
efforts at affordable housing sites that are
in progress. The riders also meet with local
officials and community members to discuss
affordable housing issues.
Based in Philadelphia , Bike & Build
is a non-profit organization that encourages
young adults to address the country’s
affordable housing crisis through organizing
bicycle trips. Trip participants support the
affordable housing cause by fundraising and
building efforts. Since 2003, Bike & Build
has motivated over 1250 young adult volunteers and
contributed over $2.8 million and 80,000 volunteer
hours to housing groups such as Habitat for Humanity
and Rebuilding Together to fund projects in the United
States. For more information, visit www.bikeandbuild.
org or call (267) 331-8488.
Bull Stories: Pack in Hunt at Murderers Creek
I had been retired for several
years, when a friend, Jim Johns, and I
were doing some packing in the Cas-
cades with our horses in the summer and
packing deer in the fall. We had been
hunting deer for over forty years in the
Murderers Creek area and had been see-
ing some nice bulls the last few years, so
decided to pack in this fall to hunt elk. In
October during the deer hunt we packed
in some hay and cached it high in a tree,
cut some wood, cleared a camp spot for
the tent, had a water hole for the horses
and were all set for the November hunt.
We arrived three days before the
elk season in four inches of snow. We
put chains on to get to a friend’s camp
where we were going to leave the pickup
and trailer, spent the night in their tent
and packed in the next morning. We only
had a couple of miles to go so it wasn’t
much of a pack; we saw a small bull and
lots of tracks on the way in and there
were elk tracks in the snow where we
put up the tent. We scouted the next day,
saw a few cows and a couple of bulls, so
it looked good for opening morning.
The next morning, opening day,
I slipped out on a rim rock that over-
looked a clearing about two hundred
yards long and around one hundred
wide. Just as I moved out where I could
see one end of the clearing I saw a bull
moving into the timber. I couldn’t get a
clear shot so I didn’t try. I stayed put for
a while just in case more elk were mov-
ing in the area and after about an hour I
worked my way to where I saw the bull
earlier, figuring he may bed down close
because I was sure he hadn’t seen me.
It looked like he was headed into some
heavy cover that would make it a little
hard to slip up on him and I didn’t want
to move him too far out of the area be-
cause there were a few hunters below us
and a few above. I figured if I didn’t
move him out he may be back feeding
in that clearing the next morning so I
moved around to the other side of that
heavy cover and didn’t see much for
tracks coming out of that area so I hoped
I would find him in the morning. When I
got back to camp I saw where a few elk
had passed with in a hundred feet of our
tent. Jim came in and he had seen a bull
or two but didn’t get a shot.
The next morning I left camp a
little before daylight and moved out on
that same rim rock that overlooked that
clearing where I saw the bull yesterday. I
had to wait a little while for it to get light
enough to see and shoot. I saw a move-
ment at the upper end of the clearing and
there was a bull moving along at a good
trot and was going to pass within a hun-
dred feet of me heading for that same
heavy cover. I just held still until he
was just below me; he stopped at a juni-
per tree and I could see him but couldn’t
shoot because of the limbs. I froze and
waited; it seemed like a half hour before
he moved but it was probably only a
minute or two. He came up the hill and
didn’t head for the heavy cover, he must
have winded me and thought I was be-
low him. He was broad side to me and
Senior Center Activities
5-Area Luncheon: Mon-
day, September 26 at the
Clatskanie Senior Center
Connie’s Fabulous Break-
fasts: Fabulous breakfasts
are available to the public
on Fridays for a cost of only
$3.50. The event happens at
the Senior Center (446 Bridge
Street) from 7:30 to 9:00 AM
each Friday. Meal price in-
cludes a beverage, too. Enter
through the side, parking lot
door. What a deal!
Week Day Lunches: The
Vernonia Senior Center offers
nutritious and tasty lunches
each weekday for only $4.
These are available to the pub-
lic, not just Senior Citizens.
(Mealtime is noon; late arriv-
als may not be served.) You
can reserve your lunch by call-
ing by 11:15 AM, or further in
advance if possible, to assist
the cooks as they prepare the
day’s meals.
Maple Bars available lo-
cally! Connie King, the cook
at the Senior Center, is mak-
ing maple bars each day. The
maple bars are available to the
public, too, and only cost $1
each. Availability is subject to
quantity on hand. You can as-
sure yourself of a good supply
by pre-ordering them directly
from Connie by calling the
Senior Center (503-429-3912)
any week day, from 7:00 AM-
3:00 PM. Please allow one
day lead time for larger orders.
The Center’s front door opens
at 9:00, but the side parking lot
door opens at 7:00. Ah, sweet
treats!
donated clothes need to be
clean and in good condition
so they are “sales ready”. We
are offering half off during
the first week of each month.
Buy locally and support your
local Senior Center.
For after hours drop-offs
please contact Pauline 503-
429-5810.
Thrift Store: Bargain prices
can be found in Vernonia’s
Senior Center in their Thrift
Store. The retail store is open
Monday through Friday, from
9:00 AM until 3:00 PM. The
Thrift Store provides funds
for the Senior Center’s facility
and its many activities. Dona-
tions can also be dropped off
during those same hours, and
Membership Dues:
An-
other way to support Verno-
nia’s Senior Center is to pay
the $15 annual membership
dues. Checks may be mailed
or dropped off at the Senior
Center. Anyone 50 and older
may join.
Special Days: On the last
Wednesday of the month Wau-
na Credit Union will be serv-
ing ice cream. On the last Fri-
day of the month we will serve
birthday cake and ice cream to
celebrate that month’s birth-
days.
Questions? Call: (503) 429-
3912
about a hundred feet away; I aimed just
behind the shoulder and was just about
to squeeze the trigger when he turned to-
wards me and stopped just a little quar-
tered to me. I aimed for the chest area
and fired; the bullet hit the left shoulder
ball joint and the bull turned up the hill
wind milling the left leg. The next shot
was in the lung area; the bull turned back
down the hill at a run and stopped again
behind that juniper. This time I moved
and shot the bull in the head. It was a
fair six by six.
I dressed him out and went back
to camp to get the ax and some bags,
quartered and hung the meat in that ju-
niper tree, packed the horns to camp
and left the meat hang there for several
days before we packed it out to the camp
where our pickup was. Jim didn’t get
a bull and we packed our camp out the
next day after the season was over, by
then there was about a foot of snow on
the ground at the pickup. We chained up
all four wheels to get out.
LAUGH
By Don Webb
Vernonia’s Voice is published
twice each month on the 2nd
and 4th Tuesday. Look for our
next issue on September 13th.
