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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2021)
April 1, 2021 free VERNONIA’S Volume 15 Issue 7 reflecting the spirit of our community Giving it Their Best Shot experiences or the stress involved – difficulty scheduling an appointment, the long drive into the metro area where they were available, trou- ble finding parking, or waiting in line for hours. But amidst all the chaos and challeng- By Scott Laird ing bureaucracy the Mist-Birkenfeld Rural As the COVID vaccinations first be- Fire Protection District (RFPD) has stepped came available earlier this year there was a forward to develop an innovative program to lot of confusion about who was eligible for make sure residents in their rural community have convenient access to the pandemic slowing, and potentially life sav- ing, vaccine. Word is quickly spreading about the vac- cine delivery service Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD employees Larry Box- man and Hailey Palmore have successfully imple- mented, and this week, they added regular access to vaccines in Vernonia to eligible residents. “Es- pecially in communities we live in out here, like Vernonia or Mist or Jew- ell, people hear from their neighbors how something goes and that can be a catalyst for them to get it themselves,” says Pal- more. “We initially didn’t The Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD is holding COVID vaccination clinics at their think this was a big deal,” station, and the Vernonia fire station. Left to right: Mist-Birkendfeld says Boxman. “We were staff paramedic Larry Boxman, Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD Director of just trying to take care of Public Health Services Hailey Palmore, and Fire Chief Joe Kaczenski. our district. But apparent- ly we’re pretty unique, being a fire district that the shots, and what the process was to receive is able to provide the service of vaccinating our them. Information seemed to be changing own residents. We’ve always seen ourselves as daily, new manufacturers were quickly test- more than just a fire district – we see ourselves ing new versions and getting them approved, as an extension of public health. We gave flu supplies were unreliable, and locations and ap- shots to members of our district this past fall, pointments were elusive. and we just thought giving COVID vaccines As the vaccine rollout gathered mo- was the right thing to do.” mentum people may have been hesitant to Boxman says the Mist-Birkenfeld search out the vaccine after hearing about bad Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD takes the lead on regional COVID-19 vaccinations WOEC Names Kohler Interim GM New Board member appointed at March meeting By Scott Laird The West Or- egon Electric Coopera- tive (WOEC) Board of Directors has appointed Billi Kohler as the in- terim General Manager to replace Bob Perry who is retiring, effective April 2, 2021. Kohler cur- rently works as the Ad- ministrative Services Manager. She is a 2010 graduate of Vernonia High School, who start- ed her career at WOEC working in the office through a school-to- work program while still a high school stu- dent. Following gradu- ation she joined WOEC as a part-time employee as a management assistant. After leaving the co-op she returned in 2016 as a Member Service Representative, working at the front desk, taking payments, handling collections, and other accounts receivable work, along with customer service. Two years ago she was promoted to Administrative Services Manager, managing Board of Director relations, supervising the front desk employees, and assisting the General Manager. She is currently completing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting at Phoenix University. Kohler is married with three sons and lives in Vernonia. “I am excited,” said Kohler about her new interim posi- tion. “I’ll be honest, it did take me by surprise. This has been my goal all along and I knew eventually this was where I wanted to end up. This is a kind of accelerated version of it. I’m stepping into this role to help the co-op right now.” Kohler and the Board agreed to a six month trial period for her appointment as interim. “I’m excited to have Billi take this position,” said Board Chair Brett Costley. “Billi is young and doesn’t have the manage- rial experience someone like Mr. Perry had. But she is extreme- ly smart and very hard working, and Bob had been looking to continued on page 3 inside continued on page 9 Vernonia SK8 Project Receives Needed Funding Community fundraising to continue in order to add more park features By Scott Laird 4 Narcan Available in Vernonia 6 Trade-offs in Construction 7 VHS Sports Report The City of Vernonia has announced the Vernonia SK8 project has received the funding they need to move forward and break ground for a new skate park facility at Spencer Park. Local resident and businessman Randy Holce quietly donated $100,000 to the project in December 2020, and after the City’s community grant application to Oregon State Parks was not awarded for the third year in a row, Mr. Holce stepped forward again last month and donated the remaining $140,000 the project needed to move forward with construction. Because of increasing construction costs, the project’s community organizers are now mak- ing one final push to raise additional funds so they can build the best park possible for local kids. “This has always been about the kids,” says resident Wendy Sears who has helped head up the community effort to raise the funds and get the skate park built after decades of stops and starts, and failed promises to the community’s youth. Sears, along with other members of Vernonia SK8, have been persistent over several years, continually searching out funding sources, applying for grants, encouraging support from the City Council, and holding continued on page 4