from the editor
Have you had a chance to check
out our new website yet? If not, make
sure after you put down this issue of our
print edition, you hop online and go to
www.vernoniasvoice.com and take a
look. Though still a work in progress,
this new project is really changing how
we are bringing Vernonia news to the
public.
First of all, I want to take a
moment to thank our good friend Ben
Fousek for all his energy, time and hard
work to bring this project to life. Ben
really has a tremendous vision for Ver-
nonia and approached us several years
ago about building an interactive web-
site for Vernonia’s Voice. We were not
ready then, but now the time seemed
right and with Ben’s technical skills and
inspiration we have taken the plunge. I
can’t really say enough about what Ben
has done for us throughout this process.
We certainly could never have done this
without all of Ben’s help. Thanks Ben!
We have built a website that al-
lows us to interact with Facebook, so
people using that social media format
can see updates from us as well as news
articles and stories that we post to our
website. The new website allows us to
release news much sooner than in the
past when we had to wait for our next
print edition to be published, which was
sometimes a two week wait. If some-
thing is newsworthy, now we can pub-
lish it right away!
welcome
march7
2013
When Dean Smith was recently
named the new Fire Chief by the VR-
FPD Board at the their banquet we were
able to publish the news and the break
the story the next day, instead of waiting
a full two weeks—by then it would have
been old news. When the Vernonia Log-
gers won their second game at the state
basketball playoffs, we were able to post
the result almost immediately. We will
also be able to post obituaries as soon as
we receive them, allowing the public to
know about upcoming services before
they happen. These are just a couple of
examples of ways we will now be able to
keep the community informed about the
news in Vernonia.
The new website has search
function capabilities, so from now on
you will be able to find past articles that
include information you are interested in
by searching the site using tag words.
But that’s not all. The new
website also has a community calendar
which allows us to highlight upcom-
ing events, as well as list future events.
This is a tool that many people have
been looking for in our community for
some time. Hopefully this calendar on
our site will start to meet this need for
our community. We also have an events
page which separates out community
and school events as well as local enter-
tainment. And if you haven’t seen the
posterboard calendar option, make sure
you check that out. It’s visually appeal-
ing and can also keep you in the know!
We will also be doing some
fun things like interactive polls so you
can know how your neighbors and
other Voice readers feel about specific
and timely issues in Vernonia. We’ve
provided links to other community re-
sources like the City website, the Verno-
nia School District and the Chamber of
Commerce. Under the “About” menu
you can “Contact Us” to submit Let-
ters to the Editor, Birth or Wedding An-
nouncements and more. You can even
find the form to order a print subscrip-
tion for The Voice. Eventually we will
have all the old pdf files of past issues
available for you to view.
And some of the advertisers are
now interactive as well. Just click on an
ad that you see on our webpage and you
will be taken directly to a page spon-
sored by that advertiser so you can get
more information about their business.
So, like us on Facebook, if you
haven’t already, so you can get current
information about Vernonia. And tell
your friends. We are currently running a
campaign to reach 1,000 likes; when we
do we have a random drawing from all
our friends and give away a Vernonia’s
Voice prize pack with a bunch of great
stuff including a Voice sweatshirt and
dinner for two at The Birk and more!
continued from front page
Officer Brady brings a
lot of training experience to the
Vernonia Department. He has
relationships with other law en-
forcement departments in Wash-
ington County, in Hillsboro and
a brother with the Lake Oswego
Police Department. Brady says
he was able to tap into those
connections to help elevate the
training in North Plains and
also now in Vernonia. He and
his brother recently made a Safe
Schools presentation to the Ver-
nonia School District. He was
also recently involved with help-
ing to run an Emergency Vehicle
Operators Course training at
Portland International Raceway,
which he has done several times
in the past.
Brady says he is really
enjoying working in the Verno-
nia community. “ I think a re-
ally big part of this job is deal-
Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-7
Lady’s Night Wed 5-12
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Lynn Berry
Mark Brown
Dr. Kenneth Cox
Marc Farmer
Bill Haack.
Ms. Luna
Dr. Carol McIntyre
Jennifer Moloney
DeAnna Pearl
Gayle Rich-Boxman
Michal Smith
Christopher Sedlmeyer
Photography
Scott Laird
Gayle Rich-Boxman
Want to advertise?
Have an article?
Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com
One year subscriptions
(24 issues) $35
Scott Laird
Editor and Publisher
Meet Your Police
Vernonia’s Voice is published
on the 1st and 3rd Thursday
of each month.
Vernonia’s Voice, LLC
PO Box 55
Vernonia, OR 97064
503-367-0098
ing with people,”says
Brady. “You have to
take people for who
they really are, be able
www.VernoniasVoice.com
to look past outward ap-
pearances and what is
been good so far. I like it here.”
happening in a certain
Officer Brady is married
situation and try to find out what
is really going on. I’ve found with children and grandchildren.
that to be really helpful. Espe- He enjoys riding his motorcycle-
cially in a community like this he has a 2003 BMW Sports Tour-
where people are very tight. I ing bike. He also loves to cook,
need to make the effort and say especially barbecuing and grill-
‘I’m here to help you and how ing. He says he really spends
most of his spare time with his
can I do that?’”
Brady says that he rec- family and grandchildren.
Officer Matt Brady
ognizes that he is still new here
seems
to
be a good fit for Verno-
in Vernonia. “It takes time to
nia.
His
past experience work-
build relationships,” he says. ‘I
ing
with
people,
his experience
know that this is not a sprint,
it’s a marathon and it takes time as a trainer, and his ability to
to get to know people and the make connections make him a
environment. I just have to be real asset to the VPD and the
patient, especially with myself community.
and let those things happen. It’s
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