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
