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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2017)
community march16 2017 17 Bridge Street Bits By Karen Miller GREETINGS EVERYONE! March is usually indicative of nicer weather but, as soon as I planned an AARP Safe Driving Class, here came the snow once again. The instructors and I apologize for having to cancel class on that snowy March 6. We are rescheduling another but I am not announcing an official April date JUST in case. I do have the names and numbers of those that were set to participate, and I will call you as we solidify the date. This time we are thinking of a Saturday if permission is granted by the American Legion Hall. If you are interested in joining this class please call me at (503) 429-0273 and leave your name and number for a return call. I will post on the Vernonia Community Board as well. A FREE MEAL will be served at the American Legion Hall building on March 29 at 11:30. ALL are welcome to attend, Senior Center members or not. Sponsored by a private supporter of the Vernonia School Bond issue. See you there! THANK YOU to our volunteer Meals on Wheels drivers, delivering in rain or shine, or snow... A BELATED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Happy 100 th Birthday to Vernonia Senior Center member Eleanor Thompson. At age 100 this woman does not sit around. For years Eleanor was, and still is, the drummer in the Golden Oldies Band. We love you Eleanor, thanks for being such an inspiration to us young ‘uns! NEED SOME FREE TAX HELP? Call the AARP volunteer and make your appointment (503) 397-3377 at the St. Helens Senior Center. Allow an hour and a half for your appointment. For 60 and over and for low to middle income taxpayers. NOMINATIONS are currently being taken for the Columbia County My Fair Lady Court. Call me with your ideas (503) 429-0273. ONCE AGAIN we wish to thank the three participating local restaurants who make up meals for our qualifying Meals on Wheels participants here in the Vernonia area: Mariolino’s, Black Iron Grill, and Subway. These meals are VERY MUCH appreciated. The participants love them. Also seniors, go in and check out their $6 meals made up especially for you at Black Iron Grill and Mariolino’s. CALL MICHELLE MOORE, Columbia City Benefits Group for continual great advice and service for Medicare clients. Leave a message (503) 366-9550. She is willing to meet with individuals or groups. CALL ME with any senior questions or concerns. (503) 429-0273. NEXT BOARD MEETING: April 14, 2017 at the American Legion Hall. Come join us. SENIOR SIGN OFF: We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Vernonia Senior Center • 939 Bridge Street • (503) 429-3912 Where Are They Now? Tricia Levenseller is scheduled to be released in February of 2018. She says she is also working on a new story idea that she hopes to sell to her publisher soon. Although she currently has a part-time job, Levenseller says she is mostly supporting herself with her writ- ing. “When you sell a book you get an advance, which is a pretty good chunk of money, and then once your book has been out and the publisher has earned back that advance, then you start making royalties from every book sold,” explains Levenseller. “So, I’m just waiting to get to that point where I’m starting to make a regular income before I fully make the switch over to writing full time.” Levenseller says that, surpris- ingly, English was not her favorite class when she was a student in high school in Vernonia. Instead she says she really enjoyed her math classes with Randy Shockey, although she says she loved her English teacher, Miss Safier as well. “She is such a great personality and re- ally made her classes fun,” says Lev- enseller. “She definitely was an inspira- tion to me. But I thought I was going to study math in college.” Choosing English Language and editing as a college focus was an interesting choice, especially since Lev- enseller wasn’t really a reader as a young student. In fact, she says it wasn’t until her sophomore year in high school that she really started reading for enjoyment. “I had a really late start, but when I fi- nally read my first Young Adult fantasy book and realized there was this whole genre that I never knew existed, I started reading everything I could get my hands on; I read about 200 books in that one year,” she says. “And while I was read- ing them, I found myself noticing mis- takes - and I’m not talking about copy editing mistakes, like grammar, spelling and punctuation - I was specifically in- terested in content editing and looking continued from page 14 at the flow and pacing of the story, and plot holes or character inconsistencies. And I found myself thinking, ‘If I had written that I would have done that dif- ferently.’” The job compatibility test she took in high school that revealed “Edi- tor” as a good career direction helped seal the deal. “When I looked into what an editor does, the idea was already ap- pealing to me because I had already been doing it subconsciously while I was reading,” says Levenseller. “And the idea that I would get to read books for a living was the most exciting thing I could think of.” When she’s not writing, Lev- enseller says she loves to play volleyball for fun and she also loves to watch tele- vision shows. “I love all forms of story- telling and I feel like watching TV is, in some ways, a part of my job,” she says. “I can’t read or watch anything without looking at what the author or creator is doing and how the story unfolds and how the plot twists. I’m always reading and watching with a critical eye. Even video games have a plot line and I have an Xbox that I love to play.” Levenseller, who is still living in Utah in the town of Orem, just north of Provo, says there is a very rich pub- lishing community in Utah that is prob- ably second only to New York City and Chicago. “There are so many Young Adult authors here and we get together and write together and there are so many book conferences here that we can par- ticipate in, so I think this is probably the best community I could be in right now.” Levenseller says she will be traveling to Chicago in April for C2E2, a comic and entertainment conference, where she will sit on a few panels and meet with her readers, “and hang out with book lovers.” She will also be heading out on a book tour for several book store appearances this spring. Church Directory 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 Roger Cook, Branch President 1350 E. Knott Street 503-429-7151 Grace Family Fellowship Sunday School: 9:00 am Worship Service: 10:30 am Thursday Prayer: 6:00 pm Greg “Mac” McCallum, Pastor 957 State Avenue 503-429-6790 Nehalem Valley Bible Church Sunday School: 9:45 am Worship Service: 10:45 am Tues. Ladies Bible Study: 9:30 am Wednesday Service: 7:00 pm Sat. Men’s Prayer Meeting: 6:30 am Gary Taylor, Pastor Grant & North Streets 503-429-5378 Open Door Gathering Place Service: Sunday 6:00 pm Grant Williams, Pastor 375 North Street 503-702-3553 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
