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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2018)
6 community november1 2018 Vernonia Indoor Play New facility offers parents and kids a place to play this winter Vernonia families with pre- school children will have a new place to meet, play, learn, and burn off energy this winter. Vernonia Indoor Play is offering space at the Grace Family Fellowship Church, in the small chapel next door, for families with children to meet and play in a warm and cozy space that is out of the winter weather. “It’s a way for parents to come and let their kids run around and get some exercise and not be out in the weather,” says Rachel Organ, who along with Tiffany McTaggart, are organizing this service for the community. Both Or- gan and McTaggert are parents of young children. “We’re going to give this a trial run, because people have said it’s some- thing they’ve wanted, so we’ll see if they show up,” explains McTaggart. “We know that our toddlers go crazy in the winter when they can’t be outside.” Vernonia Indoor Play will kick things off with a free Open House on Monday, November 5 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. There will be donuts for all, with coffee for the adults and juice for the kids. Vernonia Indoor Play is not a day-care facility and parents are ex- pected to drop-in and stay to supervise their children. It will be a volunteer run not-for-profit. Cost to bring children to the facility will be just $3 per fam- ily, per day, and passes for regulars are also available for purchase – five visits for just $10. During their initial trial run the facility will be open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Depending on interest and vol- unteers, the schedule may expand to in- clude more days or afternoon sessions. Sessions may also include days when school is not open. “We’re trying to make this as ac- cessible and affordable for the commu- nity,” says McTaggart. She and Organ agreed that if the admission cost is an issue for anyone they are open to the idea of trading set-up or clean- up time in exchange for the cost. The space is being donated by Grace Family Fellowship, the group will just need to pay for any increase in utilities they create. Mc- Taggart says the group held a cou- ple fundraisers to earn start up costs and said they have also received a very generous $800 donation from the Vernonia Lions Club to pay for their utilities for the first year. The group has set up two registries at Amazon and Target where people can help by purchasing some need- ed supplies, toys, and other items. “We will be promoting physical and creative play,” says Organ. McTaggart says she is work- ing with the Vernonia Sprouts, a par- ent group at the Vernonia’s Schools, to provide “volunteer days” where parents can drop off preschool children and then go volunteer at the school. She said she is also working with Columbia County social services to make the Indoor Play facility a place where parents can have supervised visits with their children not living with them. For more information you can email vernoniaplay@gmail.com. VRFPD Welcomes Class of Volunteer Recruits continued from front page different technical rescue techniques. Steinweg says there are several advantages to having such a large class of recruits and running a joint academy program with Mist-Birkenfeld. He says this group of recruits will learn to work together as a team as they go through their training, including work- ing with members of a neighboring department, which happens frequently in rural areas, where nearby depart- ments almost always show up to assist each other dur- ing structure fires. He said another advantage is that Vernonia’s Officers will get a good chance to learn the strengths of each individual recruit as they go through the training. “Our officers will know what they can ex- pect from these volunteers and know their skill level,” explains Steinweg. “We’ll know we can ask this volun- teers to go up on a roof, and know this other one isn’t as comfortable on a ladder.” Steinweg added that some hands-on training will take place at the Mist-Birkenfeld station where they have a variety of training props, including a burn cell, a ventilation roof, and a forceable entry door; equipment that Vernonia does not have. “Sitting in the classroom is good for learning, but getting the chance to do hands- on learning is really important,” says Steinweg. “Hav- Poppino Painting 503-429-7101 Tim Poppino 19025 Woods Road Vernonia, OR 97064 Licensed Bonded Insured CCM#90548 Visit US today for all your financial needs! We saddle shoe. Do you? 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She has done a lot of organizing and a lot of public relations work to get people in the door, and we’re really seeing the results of her hard work.” Chief Smith was appreciative of the sacrifice and effort on the part of the volunteer recruits. “It’s a lot of time to invest,” says Smith. “It’s eight weekends they’re giving up. These people are rearranging their lives so they can get this basic training to be able to run calls and help their community. It’s a big commit- ment.” Back to Business! 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