july3 2014
VERNONIA’S
volume8 issue13
www.vernoniasvoice.com
free
reflecting the spirit of our community
Inn to be Renovated
By Scott Laird
The building which formerly
housed the Vernonia Inn is being reno-
vated.
New owner Jerry Cordell, along
with his business associates, brothers
Elmer and Santos Rivas, have already
begun work on the fifteen room lodge
they have renamed Ride Inn. Cordell
says plans call for a complete rehabilita-
tion to the building with a grand open-
ing tentatively scheduled for October 1,
2014.
Cordell and his partners had
previously purchased the old Masonic
Lodge and are currently renovating it.
That building will most likely be a six
room up-scale bed and breakfast.
“I’m very excited about Verno-
nia,” said Cordell during a recent tour of
both properties. “I think there are huge
possibilities here.”
Cordell says the name ‘Ride
Inn” was specifically selected to help
tap into the potential customer base of
bicycle, motorcycle and other tourists
who visit or pass through Vernonia.
According to Cordell the
exterior of the inn will be pressure
washed and repainted. Some of the
exterior wood work will also be re-
placed. Inside the main lobby will
be new tile and cabinets and the inn
keepers quarters will be totally re-
done. The guest rooms will also be
totally renovated with new berber
carpet, blinds, bathroom fixtures, tub
surrounds, tile, and furniture. “It’s
going to be really nice,” says Cordell.
Cordell, who currently lives
in Portland, says he has a history of re-
modeling homes, having completed nine
projects over the years. Several of those
properties were duplexes and multi-unit
properties. He owned a plumbing busi-
ness for thirty-five years. For the last fif-
teen years he has worked at Home Depot
as an assistant manager in Atlanta, GA;
he currently works as a part-time associ-
ate at Home Depot. Cordell has no past
history operating a hotel/motel/inn type
Training a Burro for 100 Days
Leslie Seeburger will be saying goodbye
to a friend soon.
Seeburger has been fostering and working
with a wild burro, California Girl (or Cali Girl for
short, or just Cali) for the past three months on her
farm outside Vernonia.
Cali, who was born in a corral and raised
on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, is a
four year old wild Jenny burro. “Her ancestors are
from the Slate Range, Fort Irwin, so she’s basical-
ly a descendant of army burros,” says Seeburger
about Cali Girl.
Cali has had no previous training, and is
being ‘gentled’ by Seeburger. In other words See-
burger is training and handling her and getting her
used to working so she can be adopted. A burro is
inside
3
hands-on
development
9
vernonia pride
10
life with a
scottish accent
15
the scuttlebutt
of establishment but says he may act as
the inn keeper himself when the ‘Ride
Inn’ opens.
Cordell says he will do a lot of
the work himself. One of the rooms we
toured needed a good portion of the floor
replaced where a Jacuzzi tub had to be
removed. “We’ll just redo the floor,” ex-
plained Cordell. “That’s no big deal for
me. It’s a simple task.”
Cordell says he sees a lot of
potential for Vernonia and he has made
a significant investment here. “It’s not
Landon Avenue Design:
From Useless to Useful
A unique, new business has opened at the cor-
ner of Bridge Street and Jefferson Avenue in Vernonia
Tiffini Meyer recently opened ‘Landon Av-
enue Design,’ filling the space which previously was
home to the ‘Made In Vernonia’ store.
Meyer and ‘Landon Avenue Design’ sell hand-
made items that she describes as “simple and elegant.”
But it goes much deeper than that.
“From useless into useful,” is another way
Meyer describes her product line.
Meyer finds discarded items and materials -
things that people are getting rid of - and turns them
into beautiful furniture, decorations, cards, banners
and other creations, all with her own personal touch.
“People burn things like barn wood because they don’t
think there is a use for it,” says Meyer. “I don’t see it
that way.”
Everything for sale at ‘Landon Avenue De-
sign’ is almost exclusively one-of-a-kind. “Unless I have
multiples of something, everything is unique,” says Mey-
er. “Every shelf is different – it’s made with different
wood or a different design. The coat racks have different
knobs. I buy everything second hand, polish it up and
make it new again.”
the idea of making money,” explains
Cordell. “It’s the idea of doing some-
thing with yourself and your money to
improve the community. That’s what
I’m about; improving the community.”
The October 1 opening date is
tentative, says Cordell. “That will be
pushing it hard, but we think we can do
it. I’m very aggressive when it comes to
these types of projects. I want to get it
done so we can meet that deadline and
get it open.”
considered ‘gentle’ when you can catch it, lead it,
pick up its feet, and load it in a trailer. Seeburger
already has several horses and several mules, so it
seems like Cali has found a good place, and friend
to do her training.
It’s all part of a program through the Pa-
cific Wild Horse Club (PWHC), a non-profit that
promotes the protection of wild horses and burros.
To further their mission, the PWHC, in conjunc-
tion with the BLM, have created the ‘The 2014
Great Burro Turnaround,’ an event used to show-
case these burros and help find them homes. The
event will be held on July 13 in McMinnville.
Seeburger got involved in the project this
past year when she saw an application at a horse
event. After applying, Seeburger was one of ten
continued on page 8
The name ‘Landon Avenue Design’ comes from
two places and is based in family roots. Landon is the
name of Meyer’s youngest son. Landon Avenue is the
name of the street where her grandmother lived. “It’s just
a meaningful name for me,” says Meyer.
Meyer does sell some new products, mostly
handmade soaps and lotions, and all come from Oregon.
continued on page 9
