community
may4
2017
Where Are They Now: Gloria Sanchez
adjust. It actually changed me a lot. I
had to meet different people from differ-
ent cultures and be OK with it. It was
different and sometimes it’s good to do
something different. It helped me to
meet people and understand the world
better.”
Sanchez says she had hoped to
improve her English when she came to
the United States for her exchange year,
and accomplished that goal. “I really
wanted to learn English,” she says. “I
think it changed my older brother and he
had a very good and nice experience. So
I did it, probably without thinking about
it too much. The main thing was to
learn English. Everything else just came
along with it. I really wasn’t too aware
of what it would be like, but I guess that
was the best part of my trip.”
Sanchez says her trip abroad
helped instill a love of travel, which she
still enjoys. “I love to travel and I think
that was part of it,” says Sanchez. “I’m
still a traveler now and I love to learn
and see other places.”
Sanchez notes that it was hard to
be an exchange student before the inter-
net and texting. “There wasn’t the same
technology we have now, so I couldn’t
talk to my parents every day,” she said.
“It was hard but it was OK. And after
that I could do everything by myself.
It helped me a lot in my studies later.
When I went to university I could take
care of myself.”
After graduating from VHS,
Sanchez returned to the winter season
in Chile in the southern hemisphere, and
finished her studies so she could pass her
exams. She was accepted into the Uni-
versity of Concepcíon in Concepcíon,
Chile, where she studied medicine.
Sanchez says after finishing her
continued from front page
initial studies she chose to begin work-
ing in her field, taking a post for the
Chilean government in a remote area
of Patagonia, in the very south of Chile.
She spent four years in Puerto Natales
practicing general medicine. “It is very
cold there and it was kind of rough be-
cause it is very isolated and remote,” she
says. “It is very beautiful, with a lot of
glaciers. It has a lot of tourists because
it is near Torres de Paine, which is a na-
tional park.”
Sanchez says she returned north
to the capital city of Santiago to earn
her major degree, studying to become
a pediatrician. She spent three years in
Santiago studying and three more years
there working. While there, she mar-
ried another doctor she had met in Pueto
Natales, and later divorced; she does not
have any children.
She has since returned to her
Plans for Dog Park in Vernonia Move Forward
“Based on what people have been telling us
about what they would like the park to be, and in order
to be good neighbors to surrounding property owners,
we looked at several spots we thought would work best,
and decided on the Ivy Street location,” says Smith.
“The site is flat and shady and has grass growing on it,
has available parking, and will require the least amount
of work to create a secure dog park area. It just feels
like a park.”
Smith and Vaughn will voluntarily raise
money to construct the initial park, and plan to create a
“Friends” group that will help maintain it.
Smith and Vaughn coordinated the first Pet
Fair last year, which was a huge success, raising $1,200
for Bailey’s Pantry, which provides pet food to those
in need in the community through the Vernonia Cares
Annual Camp 18
Logger’s Memorial
Dedication & Logging
Exhibition
Saturday, May 13, 2017
10:00 am
Camp 18 Logging Museum
food bank.
“The Pet Fair started as a way to let more
people in the community know there was a pet store
here in town and then it grew from there as a way
to benefit the greater need in Vernonia,” says Smith.
“When we started hearing the need at that event for
a place for people to play with their dogs, and the
opportunity was there for a second Pet Fair, we thought
we could have it benefit the Dog Park idea. People
have been really excited to help grow the fair and it was
just so successful last year and there was really some
wonderful camaraderie that came from it. To combine
the two just made sense and give folks a real tangible
reason to come out and support this.”
The Pet Fair will be expanded this year with
twice as many vendors and will include Nehalem BBQ,
hometown of Puerto Varas where she
now works in pediatric nutrition and also
in the ICU at a hospital.
“Right now I am by myself,”
says Sanchez. “I deal with a lot of chil-
dren each day and I love them. For my
lifestyle it is good. I have dogs and my
family. I have friends with children. I
like to travel.”
Sanchez says she has been back
to visit the United States often, but this
is her first return trip to Vernonia. “My
younger brother lives and works in
Washington, D.C. where he is studying
for his Doctorate in Economy, so I have
been to visit him several times.”
Sanchez says her year in Verno-
nia definitely had an impact on her and
how her life has taken shape. “It was a
very nice year for me and it made me see
the world differently,” she says. “I like
to go everywhere. I’m a traveler.”
continued from front page
Damsels in Defense, a bake sale by Vernonia’s Oregon
High School Equestrian Team (OHSET), pony rides,
custom dog blankets, nail trimming by Happy Tails
Pet Grooming, dog massage by local Reiki master Jeff
Dolan, and pet photography by Christy Murphy. The
Oregon Humane Society will be on hand with some pets
available for adoption, as will Displaced Pets Rescue.
The Humane Society will also be accepting dog license
applications. There is no charge for vendors, but they
are asked to make a donation from their profits to the
Dog Park.
In addition there are plans for a sidewalk pet
parade, several raffle baskets and items, and a table of
used donated items available for retail purchase, with
all proceeds going directly to the Dog Park; donations
of clean items in good condition are being accepted.
Mariolino’s
Pizza & Grill
Milepost 18, Highway 26, Elsie, OR
Open for
breakfast, lunch & dinner
Daily Specials
We have ice cream!
Cones-Shakes-Sundaes
Free Admission • All are welcome
For more information contact
Mark Standley (503) 434-0148
Darlene Wilcoxen (503) 728-2050
7
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