6
community news
june1
2017
What’s Happening at the Vernonia Library
Upcoming Events
and 3 rd Saturday, 10 am.
Summer Reading 2017!
Basics of Home Canning
For children birth through age
14. Sign up at the Library starting
anytime between June 19 and July
15. Receive a free book, book bag,
and Oregon State Fair tickets. Return
your time log between July 25 and
August 12 to enter prize drawings
and earn free Oregon Zoo tickets.
Teens and Adults can
participate in Summer Reading
too by entering book reviews in a
drawing. Chance to win a free drink
card to the Black Bear or a $25 gift
card to R&S Market.
Thursday, June 8, 6:30 – 8 pm
Join us for a conversation with
Jenny Rudolph of the OSU Extension
Service about safe methods of home
canning. We will discuss when and
how to use a pressure canner vs. a
boiling water bath canner and other
tips to successfully preserve your
harvest. Bring your pressure canner
gauge to be tested for FREE while
you are here.
Knitting Workshop for Adults!
Saturday, June 3, 10 am - Noon
Free but limited to 10 participants.
Materials provided. Classes
taught by Caitlin Hunter. Contact
boylandknitworks@gmail.com for
more information.
Follow-up lessons and the
start of our Knitting Group will be
held Saturday, June 17. Knitting
Group will be at the Library every 1 st
Readers Theater
Tuesday, June 20, 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Forest Grove’s Young at Heart
Readers Theater team returns with
a new line-up. Readers Theater is a
type of theater using props, scripts,
and actors. For all ages.
Family Movie Night
Thursday, June 22, 6 pm
Featuring: Lego Batman (PG)
Relax and enjoy a free movie and
popcorn at the library.
Warren Easley Author Night
Monday, June 26, 6:30 – 8 pm
Join author Warren Easley in a
reading, Q & A and book signing.
Author of the Cal Claxton Mysteries
set in Oregon with a new release in
June titled Blood for Wine. Hosted
by the Friends of the Library and the
Library’s Book Discussion Group.
X-Stream Magic Show
Thursday, June 29, 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Join magician Jeff Evans in a blend of
live demonstrations and helmet-cam
video. See “extreme magic” including
Jeff’s escape from ropes, chains,
and the Party Popper Vest of Death!
Recommended for ages 5 and up.
Easley title, TBA
*Meeting early this month for the
author visit to follow
Storytimes
Baby and Toddler Time
Mondays, 10:30 – 11:15 am
Songs, rhymes, books, toys, and
bubbles! For ages 0 - 3. Older
siblings welcome.
Preschool Storytime
Fridays*, 10:30 – 11:15 am
Stories and a craft/activity for
children up through age 6. *No
storytime on Fridays June 23 and 30
Library Closures
Ongoing Programs
Tuesday, July 4
for the Independence Day Holiday
Writer’s Group
Library Hours & Contact
Thursday, June 15, 6-7:30 pm
3 rd Thursday of every month. For
writers with all levels of experience.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 – 5
Tuesday, Thursday: 1 – 7
Saturday: 10 – 4
Closed Sundays
Book Discussion Group
Monday, June 26, 5:00 pm*
Last Monday of every month, 5:30
pm. Book selection for June: Warren
Phone: (503) 429-1818
E-mail: library@vernonia-or.gov
Vernonia Study Club: 1925 – 2015
By Shannon Romtvedt
Before the Senior Center, Ver-
nonia Cares, and other important organi-
zations in the Vernonia community, there
was a hardworking group of women who
formed the Vernonia Study Club. Ac-
cording to a history written in the early
90s by member, Maude Wells, the Study
Club was organized in 1925 for the pur-
pose of “self-improvement and civic
betterment.”
The Vernonia Public Library re-
cently added a memorial to the Vernonia
Study Club in our meeting room area to
recognize the club’s contributions to the
community. When they disbanded in
2015, the Vernonia Study Club donated
their final balance of funds to Vernonia
Cares and the Friends of the Vernonia
Public Library, a total of $3,000. The
memorial in the library recognizes the
donation by providing the community
with a condensed history of the Study
Club, a picture of members active in the
90s and early 2000s, and an article from
The Independent, May 2002, highlight-
ing a Silver Tea, raising money for li-
brary books.
In ninety years of service, the
Study Club made quite an impact on
Vernonia history. They sponsored the
first Garden Club, organized a Commu-
nity Chest to take care of needy fami-
lies during the depression, gave money
to families who lost their homes to fire,
organized the Christmas basket program
for several years, led War Bond drives,
and rolled bandages and raised money
for the Red Cross during World War II.
In 1969, the Club “spear-head-
ed a community wide drive to build
another Legion Hall when the first one
collapsed.” They raised money for the
school, sponsoring projects that were
later taken over by the PTA and High
School Honor Society. The Club spon-
sored Girl Scouts for several years.
Maude Well’s history notes that the
Study Club took up and sent a dona-
tion to Doernbecker Hospital when they
found out Vernonia children could not
be treated until a donation from the com-
munity was made.
Of ongoing concern to the Ver-
nonia Study Club was the City Library.
Along with advocating for the Library at
City Council meetings, the Club “held
annual rummage sales for several years
for the benefit of the library. For more
than fifty years, they cooperated with the
Library Board in holding coffee hours or
silver teas during Library Week in April.
All the profits from these were given to
Upper Nehalem Watershed
Council Annual Meeting
Thursday, June 22
at the Vernonia Grange Hall
Free seedling give away!
6:00 pm Dessert potluck
6:30 pm Public elections of board
members
6:45 pm Slideshow presented by
Maggie, showing aerial photos of
watershed and recent project photos
7:45 pm Business meeting
the library to buy books. They also held
Book Drives to collect books from the
community.” Several of the members
also served on the Library Board.
In more recent years, the Ver-
nonia Study Club donated funds to buy
books in memory of deceased members.
When member Faith Reynolds passed
away in 2015, the Study Club and a few
other individuals donated money for
books in her honor.
The club chose to disband in
2015 because there were only three
members (others passed away or relocat-
ed), and most of the projects Study Club
took on were no longer needed or taken
over by other entities in the community.
Original Study Club members in
1925 were: Mrs. Vernon Douglas, presi-
dent; Mrs. Scherwhorn, vice-president;
Mrs. Mary Wilson, secretary-treasurer;
Mrs. Lindley, Mrs. McGee, Mrs. Space,
Mrs. Emmott, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs.
Greenman, Dr. Wight, Mrs. Shinn, and
Mrs. Davis.
The memorial now in the Li-
brary includes pictures of members in
2001: Pauline King, Barbara Sturdevant,
Ethel Blackburn, Doreen Buchan, Cozy
Tatman, Irene Christensen, Dixie Pol-
vorosa, Faith Reynolds, Nancy Burch,
Louise Hamnett, Frances Lentz, Maude
Wells, Ruth Proctor, and Barbara Berg-
erson. Other members not pictured
who were members of the Vernonia
Study Club over the last few decades
include: Pat Styles, Fran Hendrix, Patri-
cia Wheeler, Barbara Ward, and Sylvia
Kaufman.
While looking at the photos in
the library, Ralph Sturdevant, husband
of member Barbara Sturdevant, com-
mented “that was a fine bunch of ladies.
They worked hard. They don’t make
them quite like that anymore.”
Thank you to Nancy Burch, Ra-
chel Langmaid, and Eileen McRoberts
for contributing to the Vernonia Study
Club memorial in the Library. Thank
you to the Vernonia Study Club for nine-
ty years of service to the Vernonia Com-
munity.