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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2012)
12 schools march13 2012 PTA Press Extra!! Extra!! Read All About It By Melissa Zavales PTA Vice President ick at 971-258-9994, or Melissa Zavales at 503-329-3173. Hello fellow Vernonians…What an exciting week we have had. A big shout out to the VHS wrestling team for their awesome skills at state wrestling!! Also another big shout out to our VHS boys bas- ketball team for their 4th place at State. We would also like to applaud our VHS band. The amazing group of students and par- ents really stepped it up this last week and participated in the state basketball tourney. Applause came from all over Oregon for our band. Kudos to them!!! We had a fabulous time selling Valentine’s Day candy grams. They were a huge success this year with 273 being sold. Kids of all ages enjoyed giving a friend, relative, and/or someone special a little something. Thank you to all whom partici- pated. It is almost time for Easter. With that being said we the PTA are hosting our annual egg hunt a Hawkins Park this year. A little birdie has told me that the Easter Bunny will be stopping by. If you would like to donate some time helping us orga- PTA IS PROUD TO BE VERNONIANS! nize this annual fun event please attend our We are working very diligently on next PTA meeting Thursday March 15th at the new school fall carnival. We are meet- WGS library at 7:00 PM ing to organize, plan, and delegate respon- sibilities. We have a carnival committee I would like to end on this note. that meets regularly and we would love to We are a community that makes things have more community members. Any in- happen. So many volunteers help to make put you may have is a vital asset to ensure Vernonia a place to be proud of. The team- the best School Carnival in the history of work between students, faculty, business- Vernonia. Please attend our next meeting es, parents, and community members is Thursday, March 15th, 7:30 PM at grade phenomenal. Without all of us working school library. You do not have to be a together Vernonia would not be the town it member of the PTA to help with the car- is today. Thank you to all. Please share in nival. If you would like to help, but can’t that spirit and join your local PTA because make a meeting, please call, Camrin Erry- “We Can Make Things Happen!!!!!” Boosters Buzz It’s Spring Time—Play Ball!-- Baseball, Softball and T-ball will be starting in early April, so it’s time to dust off that glove and bat and start practicing! Volunteers Needed—Speaking of playing ball, volunteers are needed to help prepare the temporary field on Lone Pine Road for the upcoming season. Contact Brooke Morrison at 503-726-8427 if you are willing and able to give some time to help provide a good quality field for the kids this year. Boys Basketball Wrap Up—the parents would like to say thank you to boys basketball coaches Todd Sullivan and Jay Holmes for a great season! “We saw lots of improvement this year!”, said one parent. Next Booster Meeting-- March 14 at 7:00 PM at the Washington Grade School Library. Vernonia Soccer Club News-- Challenger sports will be returning to Vernonia this year for soccer camp. You can register online at: https://registration.challengersports. com/FindACamp/FindACamp. asp?IdS=0002C0-C7BD830 &Method=CampSession&K ey=1697380|1|20516&~= Our Club website: h t t p : / / w w w. e t e a m z . c o m / vernoniayouthsoccer/news/ Vernonia Youth Soccer will be giving away 2 free full day camp registrations (ages 8-12 are eligible to attend the full day camps). We want the players to write a letter (1 page max) describing what they like about soccer and their experiences playing thus far. We’ll have a panel of judges select two lucky recipients. Deadline is March 31 st . Look for us during the St. Paddy’s Day Parade in Vernonia. Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Look for our next issue March 27th. VHS Forestry Class Update The Vernonia High School Forestry Class has been working on an invasive species project to identify and take inventory of invasive species in the riparian zone along Rock Creek, the Nehalem River, and Bear Creek, all near Vernonia. “These are all places the class can walk to from campus,” says Forestry Instructor Byron Brown. “We’re in the process of mapping the presence and percentages of each species, so that we can monitor the rate and speed of their spread.” Brown says the class has done some background research on the presence of local invasive species, especially Reed Canary Grass, Scotch Broom and Himalayan Blackberry- -how to identify, how they spread, Kanan Olsen (above) and Bridger Stewart (right) of the Vernonia Forestry Class plant trees at the Jewell Elk Refuge in conjunction with the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council and Oregon Fish and Wildlife. environmental and economic impacts, and various methods of control. “We have taken pictures and are creating slide shows with the information we’ve learned so far and detailing the extent of the problem.” The class is working with professionals from Longview Timber, OSU Forestry Extension and the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council to help with the project. “Eventually we’d like to present the results of our project to them,” says Brown. The class has also begun monitoring water temperatures and water levels at several specific sites in upper and lower Bear Creek, and will continue to monitor and keep records through the rest of the school year and into next year. The class will be adding water quality testing for Ph, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, nutrients and turbidity. Brown says he also plans to add stream reach mapping, photo monitoring and macroinvertibrate inventory to their watershed studies. Brown also mentioned another project the class has undertaken this year. “Our free firewood project for senior citizens is over for this year,” says Brown. “We hope it helped some people. Thanks again to the donation by Mike Pihl.” In addition Longview Timber generously donated a huge amount of firewood that the class is cutting and splitting to sell for a fundraiser to help buy equipment and supplies. The prices are $40 a pick-up load for those who come by and pick it up themselves, and $50 if the class delivers it. Brown says he is looking for someone from the community to help with this project. “Deliveries are harder for us now since track season started,” says Brown who is the head coach for the VHS track team. “If someone wanted to volunteer to help us with this, we’ll compensate them for the gas.”
