6
community
october23
2012
Six Annual Events Showcase Vernonia
Part 1: Friendship Jamboree and Logging Show
By Jill Hult
Did you know Vernonia has six major events
during the year, all of which are predominately orga-
nized by volunteers? These events are:
1. Fourth of July Celebration
2. Vernonia Friendship Jamboree and Logging Show
3. Community Garage Sale
4. St. Mary’s Quilt Fair
5. Salmon Festival
6. Spirit of Christmas and Christmas Bazaar
Of course there are other community events
that happen in Vernonia throughout the year such as the
St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the PTA Easter Egg Hunt, and
the Halloween Parade to name a few.
All of the events give community members a
chance to come together and celebrate. But the other
thing they do, especially the big six, is give us an op-
portunity to invite outsiders in to experience our local
businesses, talents, environment, and overall commu-
nity. Each event is a way to market ourselves--that we
are a destination to experience. Tourists spend money
but they also spread the “word” and ultimately we want
that word to be WILL RETURN. While we are at it, it
should also include BRING A FRIEND!
So how do we make that happen? In my expe-
rience, it is a collaborative effort between volunteers
and their family members who didn’t “officially” vol-
unteer; organizations and businesses, as well as local
government. Over the next few months Vernonia’s
Voice will feature a series of articles that will focus on
these events. In this article, we take a look at the Ver-
nonia Friendship Jamboree and Logging Show Since
1957, the community of Vernonia Oregon has held a
three-day celebration titled the “Vernonia Friendship
Jamboree and Logging Show.” This event is held each
year for the purpose of community enjoyment and in-
creasing business and tourism in the community. Pio-
neers came to this area and called it home. We have
celebrated our rich heritage with this festival.
Jamboree is a non-profit, independent organi-
zation separate from City government that is operated
by citizens who volunteer their time. Operating costs
consist of port-a-potty rentals, garbage and recycling
services, electric and water use fees, applicable per-
mits, advertising, t-shirts, other merchandise, awards,
and insurance coverage. Funds to pay for these costs
are generated from vendor and parade fees as well as
each event contributing to their portion of services
needed.
I asked retiring Jamboree president Joann
Glass, “What are the biggest challenges Jamboree fac-
es most often?” Joann stated; “The two big challenges
are funding and volunteerism.”
The Jamboree organization is structured with a
president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary hier-
archy. Currently, these four positions are the mainstay
volunteers. In the last two years Jambo-
ree has been fortunate to add one other
person who has been a tremendous help
taking on the task of garbage and recy-
cling duties and another couple that has
done an excellent job organizing the
Logging Show event.
Typically the Jamboree com-
mittee tries to recruit additional volun-
teers for various duties before, during,
and after the event. Jamboree would like
to optimize success by having teams
of at least two people that would head
up sub-committee activities and recruit volunteers as
necessary. To do this, Jamboree needs 10-12 more vol-
unteers to join their organization. Of course work is
not the only reason Jamboree would like to see more
people get involved. The other reason is to bring fresh,
new ideas to the Jamboree weekend. Joann said, “We
would like to keep the attractions we have as well as
add more!” They also need new ideas to generate in-
come.
So here are some questions for you, the reader.
When you think about Jamboree, what are your favor-
ite events or memories? Do you think you have an idea
to add or talents to put to use? If so, Jamboree would
love to hear from you! Meetings start in January and
are held every 4th Thursday of the month at 6:00 PM.
You can also contact me to be added to the email list at
rebel2729@yahoo.com.
Please join Jamboree in keeping this commu-
nity tradition entertaining us and our visitors for years
to come!
An Opinion continued from page 3
area between Vernonia Lake and Anderson
Park and the work that went into helping West
Oregon Electric Co-Op move.
Haack has been competently manag-
ing a myriad of projects, continuing to move
the City forward on many different fronts.
Which was the main reason such a firestorm
erupted in April of 2011 when he was sud-
denly fired.
Haack, and his management style is
still not always everyone’s cup of tea. He
had never served as a City Administrator be-
fore accepting the position in Vernonia and
was originally hired because of his familiarity
with many of the ongoing Vernonia projects
through is work on flood recovery in the com-
munity. He has struggled at times to work and
communicate effectively with his volunteer
Councilors.
The new Council has had to make
some very difficult decisions over the past
year. But they are finding ways to work to-
gether and reach agreement. It has not been
an easy year and the Council deserves a lot of
credit for persevering through a difficult tran-
sition time when they are faced
with an extremely heavy work-
load.
Haack’s ability to work
with his Council, manage large
projects, navigate the many layers
of state and federal governmental
Building off of last year’s
systems and communicate with
Veterans Promotion, through which
outside resources has provided
we reached nearly 40,000 veterans
an immeasurable service for this
nationwide, we are proud to announce
community.
we are hosting the veteran’s promotion
Right now Haack, Mayor
again this year. This means that from
Mitchell and the rest of the City
November 1 through November 30,
Council has the City of Vernonia
all AARP Driver Safety classroom
moving forward and competently
courses are free of charge to veterans,
managing itself and its issues and
active-duty and retired military service
projects in a way that has not been
members, their spouses, domestic
seen in years—maybe decades.
partners, dependants, children, and
They have been willing to tackle
widows or widowers.
the tough issues and often make
Additionally this year, as an
hard decisions.
alternative to the classroom course,
(for example, if a veteran is unable to
locate a convenient course in his or
her community), we are offering the
AARP Driver Safety online course at
a 50% discount.
We have scheduled the
following classes in Columbia County:
AARP Driver Safety Classes
FREE for Veterans
TOO BUSY?
Call your LOCAL bookkeeper
R
Y
OLL
A
P
PLUS LLC
Edi Sheldon 503-429-1819
edisheldon@gmail.com
Licensed tax consultant • Full service payroll
Personal & small business bookkeeping • QuickBooks assistance
CORPS, S-CORPS, LLC, Partnerships • Personal one-on-one service
LTC #29629 - Oregon licensed tax consultant
RTRP #P00448199 - designated as a registered tax return preparer by the Internal Revenue Service
The IRS does not endorse any particular individual tax return preparer. For more information
on tax return preparers, go to www.IRS.gov.
Paige Cieloha (left),
age 10 and in 4 th grade,
collected $188.58
to help the Cutright
Family, who lost their
home to a fire earlier
this month. Page
collected funds at the
High School Air Jams,
the Homecoming
football game and
the PTA carnival.
Paige’s friend Sophia
Wolf, who helped, is
pictured on the right.
In Clatskanie:
On November 17 at the Clatskanie
PUD, 495 Columbia River Hwy
One day, 6 hour, 9 to 4
To register call CCC at 503-338-2408.
In Rainier:
On November 20 at the Rainier Senior
Center, 48 W 7th Street
One day, 6 hour, 9 to 4
To register call 503-556-3889
Pre registration is required
for all classes. Seating is limited so
register early.
These classes are open to
anyone but only the veterans and their
families are free; others pay $12 for
AARP members and $14 for non-
members.
For questions or more
information call Don Hawley 503-
861-1813.
This class is designed for
seniors 55 and older but anyone can
attend.
Oregon State Law provides
for a discount on your auto insurance
premium for completing this course.
The course includes the current rules of
the road, defensive driving techniques
and how to operate your vehicle
more safely in today’s increasingly
challenging driving environment. You
will learn about some adjustments you
can make to accommodate common
age related changes in vision, hearing
and reaction time. Information will be
offered on aggressive drivers, air bags,
seat restraints and anti-lock brakes.
If you have already taken this
course or a similar one most insurance
companies require that a refresher
course be taken every three years to
continue to receive the discount; or
every two years if you are 70 or over.