september5 2019
VERNONIA’S
volume13 issue17
free
reflecting the spirit of our community
Small Woodlands Association Hosts Local Tree Farm Tour
The Oregon Small Woodlands
Association (OSWA) and the Oregon So-
ciety of American Foresters co-sponsored
a tour of the Courter Tree Farm
on Timber Road, just outside
Vernonia, on Saturday, August
17. The event was hosted by
the Columbia County Chapter
of OSWA, and featured a tour
of the Courter property, which
showcased the history of the
property and their sustainable
forestry practices, visited sev-
eral different stands of mature
and younger trees, and included
several guest speakers.
Dick Courter wel-
comed the nearly 100 guests to
the tour and gave a brief history
of the family’s involvement in the 54 acre
property. Dick and wife Gayanne’s fam-
ily have owned the tree farm for nearly
Mike Pihl and Dick Courter
80 years – it belonged to Gayanne’s
family originally. Dick formerly worked
for Crown Zellerbach and continues to
work as a professional consult-
ing forester.
OSWA Executive Director Jim
James was on hand and Bob Al-
verts, a past president of the Or-
egon Society of American For-
esters, addressed the audience.
Also in attendance were staff
from the Oregon Department of
Forestry and Oregon State Uni-
versity Extension Service.
During the tour, local logger
Mike Pihl provided some
insight on a recent harvest his
crew had done on the property.
continued on page 11
VHS Fall Sports Preview
Veteran volleyball squad has
eye on league title, football
kicks off new era, boys cross
country squad looks strong
By Scott Laird
Volleyball – Head coach Teresa Wil-
liams returns a veteran squad with loads
of talent and experience after finishing
2 nd in the Northwest League last year.
The Lady Loggers will have six seniors
leading the way this season, along with
a handful of other talented players, and
should be one of the top three teams
competing for the league title.
Senior outside hitter Jordan
Walters, last year’s runner up in Play-
er of Year voting in the league, is the
team captain this year and should be the
squad’s main offensive threat, as well as
playing defense on the back line.
Sophomore Brooklynn Walters,
a starting outside hitter last year, will
take over setting duties, although Wil-
liams was toying with a formation in
preseason that would rotate senior Jessi-
inside
6
summertime
low flows
10
rat ‘n rod revival
12
meet the
new teachers
ca Butcher into the setter
spot and utilize Walters as
a part-time outside hitter.
“Brooklynn still has some
things to learn about the
setter position, but she’s
so athletic that I don’t ex-
pect it to take long for her
to get comfortable there,”
says Williams.
Williams is look-
ing for senior middle
Lauren Ely to take her
game up a notch this sea-
son and contribute more
offensively.
Look for seniors
Abby and Isabelle Coleman to be an
important part of the rotation. Athletic
sophomore Nita Cook will see some
time as an outside hitter, and can play in
the back line, after showing good prom-
ise as a freshman last year. Sophomore
Audrey Hill and freshman Kortnie Ad-
ams give Williams some more height
and will compete for playing time in the
middle of the front line.
Left: Jordan Walters leads a veteran and talented volleyball squad.
Above: Vernonia football will play their first game on
their new field on September 13.
The Lady Log-
gers took part in a
preseason jamboree on August 29, where
they struggled to find their rhythm and
went 1-3. They kicked off non league
play on August 31 at the Kennedy Tour-
nament where they went 2-2, beating
Blanchet Catholic and Reedsport, and
falling to St. Paul and Salem Acade-
my. Williams noted the strong play of
Brooklyn Walters at that tournament.
The Lady Loggers will compete
in the Heppner East/West Challenge
tournament on September 7, before
starting league play with away games
at Faith Bible on September 9 and Man-
nahouse Christian (formerly City Chris-
tian) on September 11. They host the
Vernonia Tournament on September 14,
travel to face Catlin Gabel September 16
and host Neah-Kah-Nie on September
17. District Playoffs are scheduled to
begin on October 22.
continued on page 3
WOEC Annual Meeting Report
West Oregon Electric Coop-
erative celebrated their 75 th anniversary
at the Annual Meeting on August 17 at
the Vernonia Schools Commons.
Board President Brett Costley
and General Manager Bob Perry wel-
comed the membership and introduced
the Board of Directors, special guests,
and WOEC staff in attendance.
Board President Costley ad-
dressed the membership and noted the
apparent success of using electronic
ballots for the first time for the co-op’s
elections this year, stating participation
in the election was up about 10%, and
said the process went smoothly.
The big news of the day was
the results of the elections for Board of
Directors, which saw Mark Kaminski
elected to Position #2 and Erika Paleck
winning the Position #5 seat. Kamins-
ki unseated long-time Director and for-
mer Board President Robert Van Natta.
Van Natta, who has served the mem-
bership as a Board member for over
three decades, received a standing ova-
tion from the membership when he was
recognized by current Board President
Costley for his service. Paleck took the
seat formerly held by Nick Galaday,
who did not run for re-election.
Chief Financial Officer Dan
Huggett told the membership that fi-
nancially 2019 is looking good so
far, even though sales of electricity to
members is down about 7% due to a
mild winter and cool summer. Huggett
said the co-op received a clean audit
again this year. He reminded members
of the different ways they can access
their account and pay their bill, includ-
ing using budget billing.
Executive Assistant Billi
Kohler explained the process the co-op
has put in place to reduce the number of
shut-offs for nonpayment each month.
Kohler said efforts by customer service
representatives to contact members has
reduced shut-offs from 124 in 2014, to
just 23 in 2018 – an 84% reduction.
Operations Manager Don Rose
discussed the ongoing construction
project involving the Mist line rebuild,
which is being undertaken by current
line staff, saving the co-op on expens-
es. Rose said right-of-way mowing
projects have continued this year, with
52 miles completed last year and 26
more miles so far this year. Rose also
discussed the meter checks across the
territory that took place during the past
year.
General Manger Perry talked
briefly about planning for upcoming
retirements over the next several years.
continued on page 11