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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2021)
January 21, 2021 V E R N O N I A’ S Volume 15 Issue 2 free reflecting the spirit of our community ¡Hola El Amigo Mexican Food and Bakery! Logger Stadium Fundraising Moves Ahead Food truck and new bakery are a family thing Community campaign has raised over $57,000 By Scott Laird By Scott Laird This summer the addi- tion of El Amigo food truck in the back of Black Iron Grill courtyard was a welcome addition to the Ver- nonia restaurant scene. The loca- tion quickly became a favorite for locals and visitors, offering to go food, a necessity as COVID restric- tions stretched on and on. Custom- ers were able to use the Black Iron Grill picnic tables for outdoor seat- ing if they wished, and the partner- ship seemed to work well. Plus, Vernonians were again able to en- joy authentic Mexican food as La Cabaña continued to struggle to reopen following a fire almost two years ago. Now El Amigo has ex- panded, opening a Mexican bakery in the space previously occupied by Jack’s Hobo Bakery at 805 Bridge Street. Family members Teodoro Carreno, Olivia, Nancy, Deysey, Deysy and Nancy at the El Amigo Bakery Yare, and Emiliano are now oper- ating the two businesses under the The food truck was an instant success fill- name El Amigo Mexican Food and Bakery. ing a void and offering tasty and authentic Teodoro runs the food truck while burritos, tamales, enchiladas, and more. his wife Olivia, who also owns a hair sa- Teodoro preps most of the food fresh each lon in Hillsboro, is the main baker. Olivia’s day. They offer house-made sauces, veg- daughter Nancy takes care of the accounting etarian options, and a variety of meats in- and business end of things, while her girl- cluding steak, chicken, carnitas, asada, and friend Deysy helps out in both the bakery chorizo. Taco Tuesdays have been popular and the food truck. Olivia’s other daughter and they also have offered special family Yare and teenage son Emiliano also pitch in platters that include a variety of items, or a when needed. The business has also been taco feast to go. hiring a few locals to help out. When the bakery space came avail- After closing a restaurant in Hill- able at the end of November, the family sboro about four years ago, Teodoro and talked with Black Iron Grill owner Dana Olivia saw an opportunity in Vernonia and Roach who owns the building, and then negotiated for the space in the courtyard. continued on page 9 A group of community volunteers is continuing their ef- fort to raise funds to construct a new covered seating area at the Vernonia Schools sports complex, which would serve the Logger Field football and track and field facility. The Vernonia Logger Stadium Steering Committee has met with representatives from a company that develops and builds grandstand facilities and has re- viewed possible stadium designs. The committee plans to construct the 900 seat grandstand and cover from steel and aluminum to reduce costs and ensure longevity. The Steering Committee is also work- ing with the Vernonia Boosters to build a centrally located snack shack and restroom that could serve the Logger Stadium, soft- ball, and baseball fields. A letter writing campaign to potential donors, headed up by Vernonia High School alumni Jim and Kathy Eckland, along with a digital Go Fund Me campaign, has received a positive response. The Ecklands were instrumental in the School District’s fundraising cam- paigns following the 2007 flood, and helped secure the funds for both the Alumni Field softball and Holce Field baseball fields. The Ecklands report that the campaign has received a total of $32,415 in donations from over 120 separate donors – $29,100 inside 3 7 11 Bridges, Ladders, Imagination Ora Bolmeir Trees Removed Youth Reengagement Project through the letter campaign; $2,280 through Go Fund Me; and $1,035 in In-Kind donations. Cash donations have ranged from $25 to $5,000. Several local businesses have contributed to the campaign. $14,385 of the donations came from donors who currently live within the Vernonia School Dis- trict. “We are very grateful for all the donations,” said Jim Eckland. In addition, the Vernonia Education Foundation recently voted to contribute $25,000 to the project, bringing the total fun- draising effort to $57,415. The Steering Committee had hoped to receive any excess funds that were left over from the School District’s most recent bond project, which paid for the new art room addi- tion, major repairs and upgrades at the Mist School building, new playground equipment, and sev- eral other projects; the Committee recently learned there will not be any left over money from those bond funds. The Steering Committee will continue to fundraise while also planning to use the money raised so far as seed money to ap- proach potential large donors to complete the project. That strat- egy is now being developed. The Steering Commit- tee is planning to create a regular newsletter to send out to donors to keep them informed on the prog- ress of the project. If you would like to contribute to the Vernonia Logger Stadium project please see the ad on page 15. The Washington, D.C. Seige Has Western Roots and Consequences History and the growing power of right-wing extremism point to a volatile future for the West during the Biden presidency By Carl Segerstrom High Country News Five years and four days after armed militiamen took over the Mal- heur Wildlife Refuge, a remote federal wildlife preserve in eastern Oregon, for 41 days, supporters of President Don- ald Trump stormed and briefly occu- pied the United States Capitol in Wash- ington, D.C., on January 6. It’s not hard to trace the links between Malheur and Washington; fa- miliar insignia, instigators and ideolo- gies fueled both anti-government ac- tions. Extremist leaders and movement regulars from the Western U.S., including former Washington State Rep. Matt Shea, who sup- ported the efforts from afar in Spokane, and recent U.S. Sen- ate candidate Jo Rae Perkins, R- Ore., who joined the crowd that laid siege to the Capitol, helped fuel the melee. Backing their message, if not their tactics, was a bevy of Western legislators, who lent the movement legiti- macy by supporting Trump’s baseless election-fraud claims. Meanwhile, one of the most visible figures in the anti-federal gov- ernment movement in the Western U.S., Cliven Bundy, expressed dismay that President Trump didn’t stick to his guns after he issued a half-hearted mes- sage calling for a peaceful end to the occupation. The anti-government occupa- tions bookending the rise and fall of Trump’s presidency show the main- streaming of right-wing extremism in the United States. They also portend the potential for future conflicts here in the West. When President-elect Jo- seph Biden takes charge of the federal government and its vast Western land- holdings, he will enter an already-del- icate situation, where armed extremist groups stand ready to rise up against continued on page 8
