in other words
november17
2016
7
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
Newspapers of the Upper Nehalem,
Part Three
We always appreciate feedback
from readers of this column, and we
especially appreciate corrections and
additional information. This writer must
have been working far too late into the
night last month when she referred to an
October 1982 article in the publication,
Country Echoes. The article covered the
retirement, not the passing, of U.S. Bank
Assistant Manager, Ralph Bergerson.
As most of our long-time Vernonians
know, Mr. Bergerson enjoyed over three
decades of retirement, only passing
away this past February. It was also
pointed out that he was actually the
Assistant Manager for many years, not
the Manager, who during Ralph’s tenure
managed both the Hillsboro and the
Vernonia Branches. Thanks to Pat Ray
for catching the errors.
Longtime
resident,
Betty
Holsey, asked why Jack Seeley hadn’t
been mentioned as the editor who
succeeded Marvin Kamholz at the
Vernonia Eagle when it was sold to Sel-
Mor Publications in 1970. There was
a succession of editors after Kamholz
including Jerry Moore (1970-71), Jack
Seeley (1971-72), Larry Garner (1973),
and Bill Rhoades from August 1973
until it merged into the Columbia County
Herald in 1974. Mr. Rhoades went on to
establish the Vernonia News Weekly in
1976 which we covered last month. We
were lucky with this month’s column
because both publishers of our most
recent papers were able to fact check the
article before publication; thanks Noni
and Scott.
Hoping to eliminate the lack
of news coverage in the northern and
interior parts of Columbia County,
the North Columbia Reporter was
established in November 1983 with
Jerry Painter at the helm. A weekly
publication, its target market was
Clatskanie, Rainier, Vernonia and the
areas between those towns. Within its
first two months, Vernonia newcomers,
Dirk and Noni Andersen, became
involved in managing the struggling
paper that ceased operations within
two years. Noni, with a background in
journalism, was the publisher and editor,
and Dirk was the business manager.
The Andersens had moved to Vernonia
in 1983 following Dirk’s retirement
from teaching in California. Their
children were grown, and they wanted
to get back to the Pacific Northwest
where both had lived before. They
chose Vernonia because it was a small
town, but close to Portland, and didn’t
realize that there was no local paper.
For a year or two, the
Andersens published the Jamboree
paper and a special Christmas
publication, but they wanted Vernonia
to have its own newspaper. In January
1986, they launched The Independent
that served Vernonia for twenty-six
years. Billed as “The Voice of the
Upper Nehalem River Valley,” Dirk
and Noni diligently covered city
council, planning commission, school
board, fire district and other public
meetings. They took strong stances in
their editorials but also covered human
interest and local business topics. At
first a monthly publication and always
free of charge to readers, advertising
revenue increased sufficiently that it
became a twice monthly paper and
added coverage of the city of Banks in
Washington County. Early advertisers
included Vernonia Market Place (now
R&S Market), Sandra McLean Nursery,
Sam’s Food Store and Ralph’s Chevron,
the latter three businesses now long
gone.
The Independent’s contributors
over the years included the librarians
in Banks and Vernonia; Dale Webb’s
outdoor column on behalf of the Izaak
Walton League; Jim Buxton who covered
West Oregon Electric Cooperative
meetings; a gardening column by local
master gardener Schann Nelson, health
column by Audeen Wagner and Judy
Hargis, P.A.; senior center news was
covered by Jacqueline Ramsay; recipes
were presented by Gladys Sharar Gans
and others, while editorial cartoons were
from Bruce Jensen and Robb Wilson.
Following Dirk’s passing in 2006 and
Noni’s retirement, Noni’s son, Clark
McGaugh, and his wife, Rebecca, took
over daily operations. Noni continued to
edit and contribute until the final issue in
December 2012.
Vernonia’s Voice was launched
in June 2007 by Evangeline Doyle and
Scott Laird, co-publishers and managing
editors, “to produce a paper that reflects
the spirit of our community.”
With
original graphic design by Rebecca
Wright and more color than earlier
papers, the Voice featured articles
about local businesses, civic and school
activities with the intent of promoting
the positive aspects of the community. It
also covered City Council meetings. The
very first front page stories covered a
women’s cancer awareness bicycle ride
and the first “First Friday” celebration
featuring Vernonia artists, extended
local business hours, music and food.
Advertisers in this first issue included
Sentry Market, Wauna Federal Credit
Union, Grey Dawn Gallery, True Value,
R&R Motors, and local realtors. Other
articles covered the recently-opened
Learning Center, the Blue House Café’s
first location on Nehalem Highway
North, Julie Prohaska’s flower business,
and the Old Mill House Bed & Breakfast
FOR TOWING EMERGENCIES
IN AND AROUND THE
VERNONIA AREA
Police and County personnel are required
to use a rotation of available providers,
UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY ASK
for a service by name.
REQUEST TOWING SERVICE FROM
(now the Carpenter’s House).
Scott Laird became the sole
Publisher and Editor in 2008, and
the Voice continues to the present
as Vernonia’s only newspaper, a
twice-monthly free publication with
subscriptions available for people who
live out of town. In an age where print
journalism is not the only source of
information, our town is lucky to still
have a paper that features stories of local
interest following the long tradition
started when Vernonia was young.
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was a long-
time resident whose family had a farm
in the Upper Nehalem Valley between
Natal and Pittsburg. Each year from
1906 until 1955, he kept a regular diary
of his activities. Here are a few entries
from a rainy and later cold November
1906. As with many holidays back
then, Thanksgiving meant a community
dance.
S unday, November 11, 1906:
Went down to the Boales Creek
and caught some salmon in
the morning.
Went down
Cooks Creek in the afternoon
and Claus Messing and I
caught a few salmon. Rained
a little in the morning but
pretty fair all day.
Monday, November 12: Oiled
the buggy harness and split
some wood in the morning.
Went up to Pittsburg in the
afternoon and mailed eight
postal cards to Eastern people.
Rained most all day.
Tuesday,
November
13:
Carried the mail to Mist. Sent
for 120 more postal cards.
Rained pretty hard all day.
Got to Mist at 11:15 back
home at 3:10 P. M. Big slide
on the lower side of the road
between here and Pittsburg.
Wednesday, November 14:
Killed a hog in the morning.
Worked on the road at big
slide
between
here
and
Pittsburg in the afternoon.
Rained quite hard in the
morning but not very much
the rest of the day.
Thursday, November 15: Cut
up the hog the first thing in
the morning then went up
and worked on the road the
rest of the day. Rained quite
a little all day.
Wednesday, November 28:
Started for Clatskanie at 2:30
A.M. Arrived at Clatskanie at
9 A.M. Awful cold going out,
froze up solid. Got several
postal cards and mailed
while out. Had a fine time.
Left Clatskanie at 12:30 P.M.
Got to Mist at 3:15. At home
6 P.M. Pretty good weather
most of day.
Thursday, November 29: Did
not do much of anything any
of day. Clear and a pretty
good day. Sent postal card
to Alice. The Thanksgiving
turkey went up to Vernonia
in the evening to the dance.
Had a good time, 29 numbers
sold. I had No. 22 danced
quite a bit. The dance broke
up at 6 A.M. Got home at 7:30
A.M.
Friday, November 30:
Got
home from the Vernonia
dance at 7:30 A.M.
Had
breakfast and went to bed
and slept until 2 P.M. Pretty
good weather most of the day.
Went up to the Post Office in
the evening for the mail. Got
postal from Lameck.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is
located at 511 E. Bridge Street and is
open from 1 to 4 pm on Saturdays and
Sundays (excluding holidays) all year.
From June through mid-September,
the museum is also open on Fridays
from 1 – 4 pm. There is no charge for
admission but donations are always
welcome.
Become a member of the
museum for an annual $5 fee to receive
the periodic newsletter. We now have
a page on the Vernonia Hands on Art
website, www.vernoniahandsonart.org
If you are a Facebook user, check out
the Vernonia Pioneer Museum page. The
museum volunteers are always pleased
to enlist additional volunteers to help
hold the museum open and assist in
other ways. Please stop by and let one
of the volunteers know of your interest in
helping out.
Books on Wheels
A NEW SERVICE
AVAILABLE THROUGH THE
VERNONIA PUBLIC LIBRARY
Library volunteers will deliver books to
citizens who are homebound or physically
unable to come to the library.
To apply or find out more details,
call Audeen Wagner (503) 429-9700
or the Library (503) 429-1818.
Shop Hours: Mon - Fri 9:00 - 6:00
Vernonia Public Library • 701 Weed Avenue