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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2013)
june6 2013 VERNONIA’S volume7 issue11 www.vernoniasvoice.com reflecting the spirit of our community Birkenfeld Store Reinvented as “The Ol’ House of Music” try, serving up whiskey and ing from the stage. Some- beer and sometimes a big old times you’ll find bicycle riders, helping of the blues. decked out in their spandex Drive north of Verno- On a visit to The Birk with their thousand dollar bikes nia on Highway 47 and then you are likely to run into a parked out front, stopping for follow Highway 202 towards completely eclectic crowd of lunch as they ride the country the coast range and it feels like people. On a recent evening roads, sitting alongside work- you are heading back in time. And in a way you are, espe- cially if you stop in the sleepy village of Birkenfeld. Cows, horses and farmhouses line the highway as you cross rivers and creeks Eventually, twenty miles west of Vernonia, you reach Birkenfeld, home to one of the more interesting estab- lishments in Oregon. A place that has been re-invented again and again. A place full of memories and history. And now, a place full of music. Established in 1910, the the Birkenfeld Country Store, is considered the longest RootJack performing live at The Birk. continually operating Country Store in the State of Oregon. there were bikers in leathers, a ers dirty from a morning in the Now known as “The Birk,” this logger straight from a job site woods, who are sitting beside a isn’t just a country store any- still dressed in hickory shirt and group of local retired couples. more. suspenders, city folks who own Everyone is welcome at The Although owners Mike cabins at Fishhawk Lake-the Birk. and Wendy Ingraham continue nearby vacation resort, as well The Ingrahams pur- to operate a small store section, as locals from Vernonia, Clats- chased the Birkenfeld Country with beer, chips, canned goods kanie and of course Birkenfeld. Store back in 2004. Several and other “necessities, ” they Throw in some college-age years ago they starting call- have slowly drifted away from kids and few grandmothers ing the place “The Birk Pub & the store concept and more into and grandfathers and you’ve Eatery,” putting an emphasis providing food and live enter- got quite a range in one room. on food and drink. They also tainment in an unusual location During that visit I watched started booking live music on and setting. what looked to be three genera- weekend nights a few times a What the Ingrahams tions spending an evening out month. have created is a unique desti- together-a father who had to Now, after several re- nation, an old style roadhouse be in his seventies, out on the cent major renovations that filled with hospitality and floor with his daughter and his completely changed the inte- charm, located out in the coun- granddaughter, dancing to the rior layout, the Birkenfeld hard rocking Country Store has been almost continued on page 11 blues com- By Scott Laird inside 9 13 17 26 27 city sewer rates vhs graduation izzett leaving jr salmon auction vernonia ballet free Budget Committee Approves School Budget With No Teacher Cuts By April Bamburg On May 23, the Vernonia School Board and members of the Budget Committee took a step toward saving high school Spanish, Shop and Physical Education courses. The document may read “Approved Budget,” but it still has one more hurdle – the full School Board’s adoption, which could come at the regular School Board meeting on June 13th. But, the Approved Budget still comes at a price with cuts to the number of school days next year and several instructional assistant positions. At the May 23 meeting, the Budget Committee was presented with a proposal to cut nine days from the school calendar as well as two instructional aid positions. Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox proposed further cuts to the number of instructional assistants, for a total of three, to cut an additional day of school from the calendar, and revealed that one retiring teacher and a half-time schedule of another teacher who is leaving the district, will not be replaced in the coming school year. In the budget committee- approved document, high school Spanish is budgeted at .80 full- time equivalent (FTE), while high school shop is funded at .55 FTE, elementary PE is at .60 FTE and high school PE is at .40 FTE. In addition, Cox recommended that the superintendent position be cut to half-time, and the board and budget committee approved that recommendation with the rest of the budget document. Cox told the board, budget committee and assembled crowd that if the district doesn’t get more than a dozen new students by the end of September, they’ll face a reduction in state funding in the 2014-2015 school year. A situation like this occurred in the previous budget cycle, Cox said, and because of that, the district must have an additional $85,000 in the contingency fund to pay back the state in May 2014 when the state asks for the overpayment of state funds back. Attendees expressed concern over the uncertainty over the number of new students that would need to join the district. Cox told the crowd that if those students did not arrive in this school year, the district would be forced to cut a teacher or calendar days to make up for the shortfall, although the previously mentioned cuts would help to cushion the blow. The school board and budget committee approved the revised budget document and referred it to the next school board meeting for full approval. That meeting is June 13, 2013 at 6:00 PM Fleck Wins Second State Championship, Sets State Meet Record Nathan Fleck, a senior from Vernonia High School ended his Ver- nonia track career in style. Fleck set a new state record in the 800 meters while winning his second straight state championship at the 2A State Track Meet at Hayward Field in Eugene on May 24 th Fleck’s time of 1:57.07 was also a new Vernonia school record. Fleck led the race from start to fin- ish, pulling away to win at the end by 30 meters. “He’s just been absolute- ly great all year,”said Logger head coach Byron Brown. He’s made all the runners around him better and pushed himself to excellence all sea- son. He is possibly the best middle distance and all around runner ever to come out of Vernonia.” Senior Samantha Lindauer, capped her career by bringing home four medals with an impres- sive 3 rd place finish in the 3K, 6th in the 1500, as well as medaling in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. “This was a great way to finish her high school career--another leader on the track for us,” said Brown. The Logger’s Meghan Sullivan also brought home four med- als—in the 4x100, 4x400, and took 4th in the 100 meters and 5th place in the 200 meters. “This was just an outstanding performance by an outstanding athlete in just her sophomore year,” said Brown. “ Her 2nd leg of the 4x400 was absolutely amazing--she must have made up close to 75 meters on the leader and actually moved us from last to first at that point in the race. She almost killed herself doing it, but it showed what a champion she is. Expect great things if she can stay healthy.” Maina Martin took 3 med- als with a 7th in the 100 meters and medals in the 4x100 and 4x400 re- lays. Senior Dezi Roberts took home 2 medals for 6th in the high jump and continued on page 17
