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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 2015)
november19 2015 VERNONIA’S volume9 issue22 www.vernoniasvoice.com reflecting the spirit of our community Goddess Glass Designs: Creating Beautiful Things for This World Julie Krengielski has been specialty, glass dream catchers, along designing and working with glass art with functional items like bowls, vases for 18 years and now her pieces are and pipes. She is focused right now on available right here in Vernonia through Christmas items but says she also creates her business, Goddess Glass Designs. things like Easter eggs and Valentine’s Krengielski is an accomplished, hearts. “The possibilities with glass are skilled and detailed glass artist who just endless,” she says. began her career in Portland. She has been living and working in Vernonia for the last three years, with a studio on a farm just north of town. She spent numerous Saturdays at the Vernonia Open Air Market this past season where she said she enjoyed the chance to get to know other local vendors and meet the community as well as people passing through the community. She plans to be a vendor at the “Christmas in the Country Bazaar” at the Vernonia Schools on Julie Krengielski is the owner/artist December 5-6. Her work of Goddess Glass Designs. is featured at several galleries and shops in the Pacific Northwest Krengielski says she does a including an artist cooperative in lot of custom work, especially for long Gresham called “Northwest Creations” time and repeat customers. “Some and at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Her of my best ideas have been inspired work is also available on her Etsy site: initially by requests for custom work,” Goddess Glass Designs. says Krengielski. “I had a friend whose young daughter was into mermaids and she asked me to make a necklace for her. I had never made anything with a mermaid before and when it was done I thought ‘This is awesome!’ And then I made more.” Being out in public with her art work is a great way to meet people and talk about her art, says Krengielski. It’s also a part of her work she really seems to enjoy. “You never know who Her work is varied and original you’re going to get to visit with, and not and includes nonfunctional items like just make a sale, but make a personal Christmas tree ornaments and other connection.” holiday decorations, jewelry like earrings Krengielski especially loves and necklaces, home decorations, potted all the different and vibrant colors and plant decorations, and her current continued on page 9 inside 3 changes to senior meals 4 pcc columbia county 7 the good ol’ days 12 vhs fall sports free Physical Therapy Comes to Vernonia Health Clinic The Vernonia Health Clinic (VHC) has added physical therapy services to their available treatment options, beginning November 2. Bryan Lang of Whole Body Health Physical Therapy in Northwest Portland is currently seeing patients at the VHC on Monday afternoons, with additional hours scheduled in the future according to need. He is teaching this semester at Pacific University on Wednesdays, and says he hopes to add more physical therapy (PT) appointment times in Vernonia at the end of the semester. “Starting in December I’ll be here all day on Mondays,” says Lang, “and then my hope is to build it into a two to three day-a-week schedule.” Lang, who is originally from Milwaukie, OR, graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in General Science with an emphasis on Physical Therapy and double minors in Chemistry and Psychology. At Pacific University he earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy as well as a Masters Degree in Health Care Administration. Lang explained that PT is a somewhat broad term because it can cover so many different types and forms of treatment. “If you go to a podiatrist you know that they’re going to treat your feet, an orthopedic surgeon is going perform surgery on muscle, ligament, tendon and bone,” says Lang. “Physical therapy is a bit different. I might see someone post-surgery for just about any type of condition, or I might just see that weekend warrior that has a sprain or strain. I might see someone injured in a motor vehicle accident or on the job. Some people call physical therapists “Movement Systems Specialists” which is an odd term, but it is what we do. We look at the person and how they move, what is painful, how we can avoid that pain, how we can make them stronger, or more flexible, to help optimize their function.” Lang says that for anyone with Home Sweet Home! USDA and partners celebrate home completed under programs helping families achieve homeownership through foreclosure renovations Jason and Jessica Smith are happy and ready to begin moving into their newly renovated home in St. Hel- ens, thanks to lots of hard work and some help from several agencies. The Smiths are the owners of the second home completed in Colum- bia County as part of the United Stated Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Self-Help Acquisition Rehabilitation Program (SHARP). Staff from nonprofit Commu- nity Action Team (CAT) and other local officials toured the formerly foreclosed home during an Open House celebra- tion on Thursday November 12, 2015. The Smiths purchased and ful- ly renovated the house with assistance from CAT using their USDA technical assistance grant to provide coordination and training for the home renovations and to secure the assistance of profes- sional subcontractors through SHARP. The Smiths are first-time home- buyers: Jessica is a veterinary techni- cian and Jason is a service station work- er. They have a soon-to-be six year old son and an 18 month old daughter and are one of three current participants in the pilot program in Columbia County. Prior to being accepted into the pro- gram, the Smiths lived in an apartment in St. Helens. “We’re so excited to be moving in,” said Jessica. The Smiths were plan- ning to begin moving that afternoon fol- lowing the Open House. continued on page 10 Medicaid or Medicare there is no cost for an appointment. For those with other insurance the cost is just a co-pay or a deductible. Lang said he would try to offer a sliding scale for someone with no insurance. Bryan Lang is providing physical therapy at the Vernonia Health Center. Lang says he became involved with the Vernonia community several years ago while working on his Masters at Pacific. For his Capstone Project Lang conducted a feasibility assessment on providing physical therapy services in Vernonia. He says the conclusion at that time was that it was not feasible because Medicaid would not reimburse enough for physical therapy services. Lang says that while completing his project in Vernonia he became very enamored with the community as a whole through the people he worked with; people like Heather Lewis, Erika Paleck and Brett Costley “I met Heather Lewis while conducting my study,” said Lang. “When I started my feasibility assessment, it was obviously important for me to complete it for myself but, because I didn’t know the people I was completing it for, it didn’t seem to have any real value. Then I talked to Heather continued on page 16 Jason and Jessica Smith at their newly renovated home.
