March16 2017
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
Pesio Receives
Life Saving Award
Offi cer Carnahan pro-
moted to Patrol Sergeant
The Vernonia Police
Department had two presenta-
tions at the March 6, 2017 Ver-
nonia City Council meeting.
Vernonia Police Chief
Michael Conner presented Pa-
trol Offi cer Cody Pesio with
the Life Saving Award from the
American Police Hall of Fame
Above: Offi cer Cody Pesio with Chief Mike
for his rescue of a female from a
Conner. Below: Offi cer Shawn Carnahan
house fi re on January 10.
receives his Sergeant’s badge from
Conner read a description
his daughter Madison.
of the events that led to the res-
cue, telling the audience, that included
several of Pesio’s family members, that
Offi cer Pesio responded to a fi re call
on Lone Pine Road and was the initial
fi rst responder to arrive. According to
Conner, Pesio heard shouts for help and
located the female standing just outside
the door to the residence. When Pesio
tried to get her away from the structure
she refused, arguing that her dogs were
still inside. When the female tried to re-
enter the home, Offi cer Pesio restrained
her and moved her away from the home. to duty that he is being presented this
Moments later the fi re fl ashed and blew award. Please express our congratula-
out the windows of the home. “It’s hard tions to Offi cer Pesio; he has brought
to say what would have happened when credit to himself and to your depart-
the fi re fl ashed, but I can assume that ment.”
there would have been serious physical
Prior to Offi cer Pesio receiv-
injuries, if not death,” said Conner.
ing his award, Conner announced the
“As a Police Administrator, I promotion of Offi cer Shawn Carnahan
recognize that one of our biggest faults to Patrol Sergeant. Carnahan is a vet-
is that we sometimes fail to recognize eran of the Vernonia Police Department
the good work done by our staff, how- since 2008.
ever we are often times too eager to
“This promotion has been a
point out the faults,” continued Conner. long time coming,” said Chief Conner.
“This was undoubtedly worth recogni- “He stuck with us through some seri-
tion.”
ously hard times and stood by me. He
Conner also read a letter from is a dedicated employee and I think this
the American Police Hall of Fame, is a well-deserved promotion.”
which stated in part, “The staff at the
Carnahan received the oath of
American Police Hall of Fame is hon- offi ce from City Recorder Stephanie
ored to present this award for his ser- Borst. His daughter Madison then had
vice. It is because of his dedication the honor of pinning on his new badge.
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VERNONIA’S
volume11 issue6
Construction on Senior
Center and Food Bank
Building to Begin in Summer
The Vernonia community took Black Iron Grill, Mariolino’s and Sub-
a giant step toward the construction of way on a rotating basis. The congregate
a new joint use facility when the Board meal requirement is met with a certifi -
of Directors of Vernonia Cares and the cate program at these same restaurants.
Vernonia Senior Center agreed on the
The Vernonia Cares Food Bank
design presented by their architect in has rented space in the American Legion
early March.
Hall for the past 32 years. The 2007
Groundbreaking for the Rose fl ood was over four feet deep inside
Avenue Center, the last major piece of that building, damaging all equipment
Vernonia’s 2007 fl ood recovery pro- and food supplies. Thanks to the hard
gram, should occur
late this summer if the
planning and construc-
tion schedule remains
on target.
“It’s
really
great to have both
groups in agreement
and moving forward
together,” says Sandy
Welch, who is the Ex-
ecutive Director of
Vernonia Cares and
also serves as the Sec-
The Vernonia American Legion Hall, home of Vernonia
retary for the Senior
Cares, was surrounded by water in November 2015.
Center Board. “With
the Seniors we have a Board of 12 work of many volunteers and generous
people and at Cares we have a Board food donations from many sources, it
of nine. So to have 21 people agree is a was able to reopen a week later. Cares
really good thing.”
remained open six days a week to serve
The long awaited new build- those affected by the fl ood for the next
ing is being made possible through a two months. Subsequent lower fl oods
Community Development Block Grant have required the food bank to evacu-
(CDBG) awarded last year to the City ate twice since 2007, and it had to close
of Vernonia for the construction. Both one day due to surrounding fl ood waters
of these crucial social service agencies this past February that fortunately did
were severely affected by the fl ood.
not enter the building.
The Senior Center, formerly
Moving out of the fl ood zone
next to the Bridge Street Mini Mart, will be a huge relief for Welch and Ver-
was cleaned up and refurbished after nonia Cares. “In 2007 we lost every-
the fl ood as an interim measure. The thing,” says Welch. “All our records, all
buyout agreement with FEMA depend- our freezers, we lost all the food. Since
ed on it being demolished by March that time we have developed an evacu-
2015. Since that time, the seniors have ation procedure so that in two hours’
held social activities in the American time we can move everything to high
Legion Hall on Adams Avenue and ground. So we are prepared but we
have an offi ce and thrift store operation hope we never have to use it again.”
in the former Vernonia Learning Center
Since 2007, both organizations
on Bridge Street. Home delivered meals have sought alternative locations for
are currently being purchased from the their operations; in fact the Senior
continued on page 10
Where Are They Now? Tricia Levenseller
With her fi rst Young Adult
novel already published, this
VHS grad is building a career
as an author
Project.
By Scott Laird
For Tricia Levenseller, an in-
terest in writing all started with her Se-
nior Project at Vernonia High School
(VHS) back in 2009. Now she has seen
her fi rst Young Adult novel published
and is on her way to what looks to be a
successful career as an author.
After taking a job compatibil-
ity test back in her junior year of high
school, and fi nding out that “Editor”
would be a good career fi t for her, Lev-
enseller sought some advice from her
high school English teacher Juliet Safi -
er on how to fi t that job into a Senior
All VHS seniors are required
to complete a Senior Project, in which
they explore a career with the help of a
mentor and then make an oral presenta-
tion of their project to a panel of com-
munity members.
“For my Senior Project we de-
cided I would write the fi rst three chap-
ters of a book because the Senior Proj-
ect was supposed to be 20 hours and I
fi gured that would be about three chap-
ters - I had no idea at the time because
I had never written anything before
- with the intent of creating an editing
project for myself,” said Levenseller
during a recent phone interview. “But
continued on page 14
