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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2013)
community december19 2013 Things to Ponder By Grant Williams When I was growing up in Orange County, California, back in the early sixties, my brother Richard never looked forward to Christmas. He always felt left out and unimportant. The anticipation of Christmas Eve church and the annual party that followed at our aunt Velma’s seemed so important to everyone else, yet remained boring for him. Of course, Christmas morning with all the gifts, especially the expectation of unwrapping the socks and underwear we all knew would be under the tree really got Richard excited. The difficulty of maintaining harmony in our family was a challenge for my parents primarily because there were six kids in our brood. The real problem wasn’t that Richard didn’t care about Jesus. He was fully aware that Christmas is the time of the year Christians celebrate the birth of the world’s Saviour. His big rub was the fact that his birthday fell one day after Jesus’ and he always felt overlooked because everyone was getting wore out from the rush of the holidays. When it came time to celebrate his birthday the energy necessary to make a young boy feel special was virtually depleted. Richard is now in his sixties and he has been able to put everything into perspective. He would now say to you, “Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt His name together” Psalm 34:3(NLT). Everyone comes to this time of the year with a different set of life circumstances. Let’s do our best this year to keep our outlook balanced. Christmas isn’t about us or our position in this world, it is all about Jesus and what He has done for us. God’s Son left the glory and riches of heaven to come to earth and enrich us with purpose and hope and forgiveness. In all of our busyness let’s make a sincere effort to keep Christ in first place and regard others as more important than ourselves. If you would like to read about a young 21 woman who managed to stay focused on the important things in life, read Luke 1:46-55. The “Open Door Gathering Place” will not be meeting on December 25 or January 1 st so we can enjoy time celebrating the Holy season with family and friends. Please remember to pray for those who are sick and those who need to travel to be with their loved ones. We will resume fellowship on Wednesday, January 8 th at the Vernonia Grange at 7pm. I can be reached at pastorgrantwilliams@gmail.com or at 503 702-3553. Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and may God bless you! Bridge Street Bits BRRRR... for a minute I thought the R was frozen on my keyboard. Hope the weather has improved when this paper comes out. Snowing again as this is being typed. Kids like the snow days and yes it is pretty, but... when it comes to frozen pipes, falling on the ice, fires because of heater overload, and cars in ditches, ...some of us are ready for warmer temps. Thanks for watching out for your neighbors, and especially seniors that might need some extra attention these days and any day. Vernonia residents are the greatest and also Vernonia responding crews as well. here at our dining hall. Come join in on good food and fun and warm atmosphere: 1:00 to 4:00. All community invited. All ages. Free. Merry Christmas! FROM COMMUNITY ACTION TEAM: Energy Assistance packets now available. Call Karen for packets and any assistance. 503-429-0273 VETERAN’S: “Honoring our Heroes” Columbia County Fairgrounds. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 58892 Saulser Rd. St. Helens, OR 97051. Proudly sponsored by Community Action Team. Info at: http://www.cat-team.org/index.html Transportation is available for veterans via THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS IN VERNONIA Columbia County Rider. Call Pam Daniel 503- weekend is over and hope you had a chance to 366-6591 info. get in on and enjoy some of the local activities that were around town. On the docket coming up: HOW TO SPOT A CON ARTIST: Warning Sign CHRISTMAS DINNER on Dec. 25 here at the #3: Con artists often push confusing financial Center once again by Bill James and Friends products. Determining the best financial product for you can be confusing given the variety and wide range of investments. People turn to financial advisors for guidance. Con artists know this and stand ready to assume full responsibility for your investment decisions. They may purposely confuse you and then say “let me worry about the details. You just worry about how you are going to spend all the money that you earn from this investment.” MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE VERNONIA SENIOR CENTER. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT THIS PAST YEAR 2013. SENIOR SIGN OFF: Keeping Christmas is good but sharing it with others is much better. Hope to see some of you here on Christmas Day! Vernonia Senior Center • 446 Bridge Street • 503-429-3912 Schedule as of April 1, 2013 Nehalem Valley Fixed Route Mon, Wed, Fri Leaves Vernonia 6:15am & 4:30pm Dial-a-ride Service Available Tue & Thr for 5 hours per day 503-366-0159 Please visit the website for fare schedule http://www.columbiacountyrider.com Please have exact fare ready. Drivers do not give change. Columbia County Rider General Public FIXED ROUTES RATES (All fares are one way) Per boarding within a Boarding Zone $5.00 Per Additional Zone (add) - per boarding $1.00 MONTHLY PASS RATES - Scheduled Routes Only 1 Zone $75.00 2 Zones $130.00 All Zones $150.00 Seniors, Disabled, Students & Children Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. $4.00 $1.00 $60.00 $110.00 $130.00 Church Directory (in alphabetical order) Assembly of God Sunday School: 9:45 AM Morning Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday Evening Prayer: 6:00 PM Wayne Marr, Pastor 662 Jefferson Avenue 503-429-0373 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Sunday Schedule: Sacrament Meeting: 10:00 AM Sunday School & Primary: 11:20 AM Relief Society, Priesthood and Young Women: 12:10 PM Marc Farmer, Branch President 1350 E. Knott Street 503-429-7151 Covenant Church Vernonia Sunday School: 9:45 AM Worship Service: 11:00 AM Wednesday Prayer Meeting: 7:00 PM John D, Murray, Pastor 359 “A” Street 503-860-3860 Grace Family Fellowship Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:30 AM Thursday Prayer: 6:00 PM Pastor Greg “Mac” McCallum 957 State Avenue 503-429-6790 Nehalem Valley Bible Church Sunday School: 9:45 AM Worship Service: 10:45 AM Wed. Ladies Bible Study: 10:00 AM Wednesday Service: 7:00 PM Sat. Men’s Prayer Meeting: 6:30 AM Gary Taylor, Pastor Grant & North Streets 503-429-5378 Pioneer Baptist Fellowship Sunday School: 9:30 AM Worship Service: 11:00 AM www.pbfalive.com John Cahill, Pastor 939 Bridge Street 503-429-1161 St. Mary’s Catholic Church Wednesday Religious Education: 3:15- 4:30 PM Sunday Mass: 12:00 PM Rev. Luan Tran, Administrator 960 Missouri Avenue 503-429-8841 Vernonia Christian Church Sunday School: 9:45 AM Worship Service in Youth & Family Center: 11:00 AM www.VernoniaChristianChurch.org Sam Hough, Pastor 410 North Street 503-429-6522 Vernonia Foursquare Church Sunday Worship Service: 10:30 AM Children’s Sunday School Carl Pense, Pastor 850 Madison Avenue 503-429-1103 Vernonia Seventh-day Adventist Church Sabbath (Saturday) Services Sabbath School: 9:30 AM Worship Service: 11:00 AM www.VernoniaSDAC.org Larry Gibson, Pastor 2nd Ave. and Nehalem St. 503-429-8301
