welcome
Thank You, Vernonia
By Bill Langmaid
As Committee Chair for the
Last Chance Dance I had an impossible
task. Organize a three part event that
would adequately commemorate
everything that WGS and VHS mean to
this community, but do it in two months
and without any prior experience. But
heck, this is Vernonia, and we don’t
seem to understand that some things are
impossible.
Fortunately I had an incredible
team of people step forward to shoulder
some of the load. I received guidance
from the board of the Vernonia
Education Foundation and the VSD
district office staff. I was lucky when I
mentioned the event to Janean Zavales,
because she jumped at the chance to do
it. A natural choice for dance organizer
was Lisa Edgar, as she was coming
off two successes in the VHS Winter
Formal and Prom.
Mark Brown, Carol Senn,
Julie Ramsey, Doris Bucholz, plus all
the teachers, aides, and administrators:
I did this in your buildings, and it
wouldn’t have happened without your
full cooperation and tolerance. You
have had an amazingly complex task
this spring, and I know I made it more
difficult. Thank you for allowing that to
happen.
The ladies that run Hands
on Art helped me immensely with
the organization and logistics for the
auction. With over 80 pieces it was a
herculean task, and they made it look
easy. Thank you Barb Larsen, Tobie
Finzel, Randal Harvey, Diana Peach and
Erika Paleck for everything. A special
thank you to Dawn Plews and Pam
Weller for helping cashier the event.
Thank you to Dee Way, cheer
coach, for recruiting her new team to
our cause. Our students are the best in
the state, and volunteerism is one way
they show it. When asked to help, all I
heard in reply was “Sure, tell me what
to do.” Parents, be very proud of them.
Thank you Alexis Baska and Amanda
Mikalow for making sure things went
smoothly.
A big thank you to Doran
Lower, our Digital Arts teacher, who
helped with producing the posters and
tickets for the event. Tasia Pond, your
poster design was fantastic, thank
you! And Rebecca Wright, thank you
for helping create the event program
despite my horrible procrastination.
Janean put together an
excellent meal plan, executed by Sheril
McWhirter with the assistance of
Cedar Ridge Conference Center. Carol
Sohler and Britt and Larry Steele were
amazingly helpful, even offering up
their supplies to ensure our success.
Lisa did an amazing job decorating the
gym, even making a welcome sign for
the school entrance, with the help of
her family plus Kelsey Brown and Kim
Allen.
Another special thank you to
Senator Johnson, who not only made it
to the event at the end of a long and wet
day, but also recruited Mark Kuhn as
our auctioneer and provided invaluable
assistance to me in the final days of
preparation. Senator, you are a class act.
I also need to thank my wife, Rachel.
Without her support none of this would
have been possible.
Thanks too to everyone who
felt this was a worthwhile way to spend
an evening. We raised over $10,000 for
the Vernonia Education Foundation,
but more importantly we once again
showed unity as a community. We
might be losing some buildings, but that
won’t change who we are. The smiles
that evening in the halls of Washington
Grade School were a testament to that
character.
There are many people that
helped that I have not named. Partially
because I don’t particularly enjoy
reading lists of names in a newspaper,
but also because I’d inevitably forget
someone, and then I’d feel bad about
that. So, I end with thank yous to Sharon
Bernal, who thought she was merely
coming for dinner, and to Tommy
Sherman, for the sound system and
entertainment during the meal. The
multitude of talented and willing
volunteers made it fun for all of us.
july10
2012
3
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Lynn Berry
Mark Brown
Victoria Guerrero
Jill Hult
Bill Langmaid
Dr. Carol McIntyre
Karen Miller
Gayle Rich-Boxman
Wolfgang Rotbart
Triangle GIS, LLC
Photography
Jill Hult
Scott Laird
Julie Prohaska
Gayle Rich-Boxman
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