4
Letters to the Editor/Community Bulletin Board
October 21
2021
Readers Lend Their Voices...
To the Editor,
The Good Ol’ Days, Toby
Finzel’s monthly column in the Voice,
always gets my attention. Imagining
the town, the timber, and the people one
hundred years ago is a bad habit, but
fun.
The September 15, 2021 issue
with the reprint about fires in Verno-
nia recalled another more recent burn
across the Green Bridge in 1977. Up
in my attic I found a photograph that
uniquely documented that fire. The pic-
ture is of Alice Randall in her Alice’s
Timbernook jacket standing in the still
smoldering ruins of her bar and restau-
rant with a camera dangling from her
wrist. The back side of the photo is
Vernonia Weather
September 2021
DATE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Ave/Tot
HIGH
73
81
80
82
79
78
89
83
82
67
76
70
70
80
67
72
69
65
66
68
83
65
70
85
79
70
61
60
60
59
LOW
35
36
36
40
49
40
42
46
47
44
54
37
37
37
31
31
48
49
45
41
41
48
42
42
43
49
45
40
40
43
PRECIP
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
T
T
T
0
0
0
0
0
.95
1.25
.07
T
T
.10
T
0
0
.15
.32
.38
.16
.15
73.0
41.9
3.53
Weather data is collected at the U.S.
Weather station at the Vernonia Water Plant
Purr-fect Pals
postmarked Park City, Montana,
April 26, 1977.
The photographer was
Nancy Melvin, now of Chicago,
but who lived here briefly with
her husband, the muralist Tom
Melvin. It arrived imprecisely ad-
dressed to John and Cory, “corner
of Rose Ave and Ralph’s gas”,
Vernonia, OR 97064. It’s a home-
made postcard telling about work-
ing on the railroad after they went
there looking for jobs and money.
There are still some peo-
ple around who knew that water-
ing hole in the photo better than
I. Perhaps Tony Hyde or Rick
Hobart could tell you more about
the jukebox, the fireplace, or the
restaurant. Gary Everett told me
he was playing pool in ankle deep wa-
ter at Alice’s the morning of the first
flood. “Wait a minute. It burned in
‘77. The first flood was in ‘96, wasn’t
it?”
“No, I mean the first flood.”
Was he thinking of Noah and
the animals?
Gary goes back a lot further
than I do. Undoubtedly there were
floods before ‘96 I guess. Vernonia
I never did go back to that bar. And
maybe I was a bit gleeful using the new
name, “Alice’s Cindernook.”
I might have gone to the restau-
rant though, because Harry Emmons’
wife Arlie cooked there. By then I knew
Harry from the cedar mill behind my
house where he made shakes and shin-
gles with Ed Miller and Jimmy Whita-
ker. They would go to Alice’s between
shifts at the cedar mill for a waffle and
an egg.
Alice rebuilt it, but it burned
again. This time it was a kitchen fire,
I think. Maybe Arlie left the deep fryer
on. The building survived that fire but
Alice’s ownership ended. I’ve heard she
collected another insurance
payout. It’s hard to escape
a ring of fire. Today, that
Upper Nehalem
building is called the Chinese
Watershed Council Place.
The good ol’ days also
Monthly Board Meeting/
have
changed.
I used to like
Committee Transition
referring
to
the
“good ol’
Business Meeting
days” as the times before the
Thursday, Oct 28
wife and kids came along,
5:30-7:30 pm
but the wheels of time have
Vernonia Grange
been turning and now I think
Masks and social distance required of marriage and kids as being
Zoom optional
“The Good Ol’ Days.”
For more details visit
Cory Colburn
www.unwc.nehalem.org
Keasey, OR
or call (503) 396-2046
history didn’t start when I got here. I
think previously it housed a bowling al-
ley.
I still remember the one time I
was in there: Alice herself was tend-
ing bar and I stepped up and made my
request. She looked me over and said,
“I’m gonna have to see some ID.” Since
I was 22 or 23 this wasn’t unusual, and
even though I didn’t have my driver’s
license with me, I had a United States
Passport, which I offered. “I don’t
know what this is and I’m
not serving you,” was Al-
ice’s response.
Now don’t get the idea
I torched the place off, but
HOW TO SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vernonia’s Voice welcomes and requests your thoughts, opinions and ideas.
Please include your name, address and phone number, limit your letters to
300 words or less. Vernonia’s Voice reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or
ask for a response to letters submitted. We will print letters space permitting.
Deadline is the 1 st and 3 rd Monday of each month. Email: scott@vernonias-
voice.com or mail to: Letters, PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064.
FREE Household Hazardous Waste
Collection – Saturday, October 23,
8:00 am - 2:00 pm, at the Columbia
County Transfer Station, 1601 Rail-
road Ave., St. Helens. Call Kathy at
(503) 397-7259 for information
Columbia Humane Society
Featured Dog
James is a fun-loving 6 month
old guy that is looking for his
new forever home. We feel he
would be best suited to be
placed with his brother Jim, as
he is a little shy when you first
meet him. Given a chance to
settle in he will be a wonderful
companion.
If you are interested in
meeting him please email
adoption@columbiahumane.org
in order to obtain an application.
Taco is a very sweet and very loving girl that will make a great addition to the right
family. She is currently living in a foster home as she has found shelter life to be
too stressful. She is probably 2-3 years old and weighs about 60 lbs. She really
loves to be with her people so having people who work from home, or who won’t leave
her for long periods of time will be best. In a low key home she is very low key, loves to
just hang out and sleep or watch life pass her by on the deck. The occasional walk is
ok but not always mandatory. She is working on being potty trained, and will indicate to
you she needs to go by getting really excited. She is not a huge fan of the rain. She
loves to chew on her bones and play with her toys. She would like a male dog friend
her size that likes to play. She has a tendency to get overly excited and doesn’t know
her size so a home with kids over 12 and no kitties would be best. She does find food
on the counter to be pretty interesting and can’t resist the urge to try to get it. If you
are interested in meeting Taco please send an email to adoption@columbiahumane.org in order to obtain an applica-
tion. Once we have an approved application on file we will then schedule a time for you to come and meet her. Please
note that we prefer all communications concerning adoptions to be made via email, as we spend the majority of our
days with the dogs and cats that are in our care. This allows us to be able to answer emails in the evenings.
2084 Oregon Street, St. Helens, OR 97051
E-mail: info@columbiahumane.org
Web: www.columbiahumane.org