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
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13
17
26
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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
