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
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intercultural
society of vernonia
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new youth ministry
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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.
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