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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2019)
february21 2019 free VERNONIA’S volume13 issue4 reflecting the spirit of our community Vernonia Wrestlers Win District, Again! The top two finishers in each weight class qualify for the State Tournament. Second place finishers for the Loggers were Shawn Long at 113, Wyatt Jones at 120, Luke Thompson at 126, Byron Cook at 132, Austin Sicard at 138, and Josh Rice at 152. Hepner Forster finished 3 rd at 160, but won a wrestle-back match to grab a spot at State. Brandon Depue and Cypress Coleman also finished 3 rd for the Loggers. Sholes, Jones, Forster, and Rice are all returning to the State Tourna- ment after qualifying last year. Rice Barnes named Coach of the Year, sends 11 wrestlers to State Tournament The Vernonia Loggers brought home the District Champi- onship, winning Special District 1 in convincing fashion for the third year in a row on December 16. The Loggers scored 264.5 points while defending their title; the closest team was Neah-Kah-Nie with 141. 11 Loggers qualified for the State Tournament at Memorial Coliseum on February 22-23. Head Top: James Watson, above left: Hepner Forster, above right: Josh Rice will all represent the Loggers at the State Tournament February 22-23. Coach Chris Barnes was named Special District 1 Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. The Loggers had four individual District Cham- pions, Patrick Fletcher at 106 pounds, Matt Lavoie at 120, Josh Sholes at 126, and James Watson at 170. was the top finisher for the Loggers, bouncing back from a first round loss to win the consolation bracket and finish in 3 rd place. Fire and School Board Positions Up for Election Several positions will be on the May 21, 2019 ballot for both the Vernonia School Board and the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District. Positions up for election on the Vernonia School Board are Position 2, currently held by Board Chair Greg Kintz; Position 3, currently held by Brittanie Roberts; and Position 7, cur- rently held by Katie Cook. All are for four year terms. Position 6, currently held by Steve White- man who was appointed to fill a vacancy left by Brett Costley, will also be on the ballet. This seat will be for two years to complete Costley’s term, and will then be up for election again in two years. Positions up for election on the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District Board are Position 2, currently held by Joel Glass; Position 3, held by Jesse Harbour; and Position 4, held by Tim Buchanan; Buchanan has said he is not seeking re-election. Candidate filings will be accepted through March 21, 2019. Candidates must file with form SEL190 and $10 or file with form SEL 190 and an accompanying SEL111 petition (25 signatures of electors in district, applies to all dis- tricts). Both forms can be found on the County elections website. Columbia County does not produce a voter’s pamphlet for this election. For this up- coming election, candidate filings will be scanned and posted to the County website. Voter inquiries regarding candidates will be directed there. Artisan Coffee: Where Coffee and Art Converge By Scott Laird Dan and Heidi Brown have be- gun fresh roasting coffee and selling their beans under the name Artisan Cof- fee. The Browns are running their new business from their Grey Dawn Gallery location at 879 Bridge Street in Vernonia’s downtown. They’ve installed a large Diedrich commercial roasting inside 9 intercultural society of vernonia 10 new youth ministry 12 vhs winter sports report system in a back room and received their license in December. Currently they are only roast- ing and selling beans and have slowly been building a following. Plans are to expand the gallery space to allow them to brew and sell cups of coffee. They will continue to show art in the gallery space. The Browns have been plan- ning to expand their gallery into a cof- fee house since they built the build- ing 18 years ago. “The front of the building is wired and plumbed and set up for cabinets so we could serve coffee,” says Heidi. “We didn’t plan for the roasting part be- cause back then that wasn’t really a popular thing.” The retail coffee industry has really changed in the last several decades, with the development of nu- merous methods for brewing coffee and the expansion into fresh roasting beans, and the Browns are jumping in. “I guess small commercial roast- ers have been available for a while, but I didn’t even know it was a thing,” explains Dan. Currently Artisan Coffee is roasting 10 different flavors with no blends, and have been creating unique profiles that bring out the best flavor from each of their bean varieties. The Browns say the flavors will change throughout the year as beans become available from different regions and climates. Artisan Coffee has held several coffee tasting events and will continue hosting them at the Grey Dawn Gallery on the first Saturday of each month. It’s a chance to try some of their different flavors and find a favorite or two. “The tasting really gives our customers a chance to see the differences,” says Heidi. “Our most popular flavor is the Brazil, and the Sumatra is also popular. We also have a Columbian decaf we’re roasting that has been popular.” Heidi notes that customers can buy whole roasted beans, or the Browns can grind the beans for you. Roasting coffee beans is actu- ally a fairly complicated process, with a number of variables that need to be taken into account. The size, density, and moisture content of the batch can vary. Temperature in the roaster, time, and the amount of air flow may need to be adjusted during the roasting process. Room temperature and humidity while roasting can also impact the end result. Heidi says they can roast about three batches of about four pounds each in an hour, and says they log the conditions for every batch of beans they roast. continued on page 11
