Passing the Flood Test
The kids used to c.ill it VerNowhere, and outside the
Nehalem River valley, most people said "Where’s Vernonia”?
So if we w ereii t all aw are of the propensity of national press
(by public demand) to cluster around open wounds, it might be
a surprise that twice within the last year \ emonia has been in
the national new s
Both tunes have been, from my point of view, disasters
1 lie first disaster was when good people from my town, people
w ho love children and are my friends and neighbors, decided
that the only way to allay their fear for their children over
drugs was to mount a light to remove Fourth Amendment
protection from those same children through drug-testing of
athletes U least that’s how 1 saw it. I was in the minority -
most people look the view that it was a way to keep their
children sale I iifultimately, among the kids I saw every day,
the athletes are not the ones with the most trouble in their
lives, and the greatest impact of the whole disaster was to
divide the community.
Then came the next disaster, the Hood of February, 1996
This lltxxl w as the worst ever recorded We call it a 500 year
Hood, but no one has been taking notes for that long, not in
Vernonia It came rolling, surprisingly, through town and
every road into and out of town in places it had never been
before, like the main street through town. Bridge Street, 5 feet
dee,)
Besides the roads, it drowned the telephone exchange, and
somewhere, it tore up the long distance connection into town
In its wake it left tones of sewage-filled mud, a damaged grade
school, a ruined high school and health center. All ot a
sudden, there was no one else but us. A hundred years ago,
maybe less, people only had themselves and their neighbors.
Ilien there were telephones and fast transportation, and 40 or
50 miles didn’t mean much anymore. But last February,
Vernonia and the area around it learned what a community
really is.
And, all of a sudden, there were no suspicions or
accusations, just helping hands. Men, women, teenagers,
children. And all of them were my neighbors, and 1 was the
neighbor of them all No one asked to test anyone - people
gave help, in many cases, before it was asked There were so
many people who lost everything, that it has been common to
hear, "Oh, we didn’t have it so bad. We only had 30 inches.
Help someone else first.”
It came down to basics. There was no need for fear and
suspicion, no need for testing We were all tested, and most of
us passed. Our kids passed — they were part of it. There is no
constitutional right to protection against nature. There was no
assumed wrongdoing - we just asked people how they were.
And if it hurt, the answ er was a hug, some hot food and trying
to figure out how to get help When kids have drug problems,
the same answers work, and have been working well in
Vernonia for several y ears through an active drug and alcohol
counseling program.
One of the pieces of flotsam discovered after the Hood was a
little plastic urine collection cup with a little flag taped to it
that said ‘Tea! We won!" Maybe, this time, we really did.
N orthw est by
N o rth w est G allery
*___ _____________________
*
___________
2 3 9 N o r th H e m lo c k
C annon Beach
O re g o n 9 7 1 1 0
P .O . B o x 1 0 2 1
5 0 3 /4 3 6 -0 7 4 1
J O Y C E L IN C O L N . D ir e c to r
Pacific Northwest Contemporary Art & Craft
Celebrating 5th Year in Cannon Beach
BOTTLE BILL AMENDMENT
In 1971 Oregon passed the Bottle Bill , which covered
carbonated beverages. It imposed a 5c deposit on all cans or
bottles which held carbonated beverages such as sodas and
beer If these containers were returned you recieved your
nickel back The bottle bill worked! 93% of all containers
that require a deposit are recycled. OSPIRG is now proposing
an amendment to the bottle bill that would cover non-
carbonated beverages. In 1994 more than 100 million of
these containers were thrown in landfills and the rate of sales
of these products is increasing by 30% each year Only 28%
of non-deposit glass bottles are recycled. 95% of all plastic
bottles that are recycled in the US come from the 10 states
that have bottle bills.
So what is the expanded bottle bill, and why is it so
controversial? Well, this column is not about the pros and
cons surrounding the proposed expansion bill, but is rather a
piece of information to help you figure out what the new bill
will cover To place the bill on the ballot OSPIRG and Mrs.
Tom McCall, the chief petitioners, will need 73,000
signatures on their petition for the November 1996 election.
The bill will cover all single-serving beverage containers,
except liquor, wine and dairy products, to require a deposit.
The following quiz was put together by the Association of
Oregon Recyclers to help clarify the current bottle bill and
the proposed expansion. Don't be surprised if you don't know
all the answers.
Meniba Owned unce 1977
A full-line grocery store specializing in
organically-grown produce, grains,
herbs, wines and coffees.
415 N W CoaM SL - Newport. O R n MS 50J-165-S245
Haystack Rock Awareness Program Needs
V o lu n te e r s
The Haystack Rock Awareness Program, whose principle
sponsor is the City of Cannon Beach through its Parks &
Community Services Committee, is operated by a corps of
volunteers known as the Puffin Club. The Club is beginning
to plan for its twelfth year of on-the-beach interpretive
activities for visitors to the Rock during 1996. Volunteers
are urgently needed for both off-beach and on-beach
activities.
Off Beach volunteers work with the Brochure. Hospitality
or the Membership and Mailing Committees
Beach Volunteer will be moving equipment to and from the
beach, counting visitors and talking to visitors about the
fragile tide pools and fascinating birds and how best to enjoy
them without doing harm. No scientific background or
special information of any kind is necessary and volunteers
can select their own hours.
For more information and to sign up, call Minam Webber
(503)436-1580 or leave your name and address and phone
number with Michell McConnell at Cannon Beach City Hall
(503)436-1581.
1. Which of the following products' bottles or cans are not
returnable for a deposit?
Mystic Kiwi-Strawberry Juice
Beer
Strawberry Pub Soda
Crystal Geyser Juice Squeeze
Pepsi
Select Cola
Schweppes Seltzer Water
Evian Water
2. When was Oregon's beverage container redemption law
passed?
1961; 1971; 1955; 1981
QUALITY TOOLS, INC.
2966 Hwy 101 N.
Seaside, 0 B 97138
738-3074
SAWS
DRILLS
GRINDERS
Tom Brownson
COMPRESSORS
President
STATIONARY EQUIPMENT
3. Were glass bottles returnable in Oregon before passage of
the Bottle Bill?
4. Are retailers who sell beverages required to accept all
returnable bottles and cans?
5. Is there a limit to the number of bottles and cans a person
can redeem at one retailer a day?
AIR TOOLS
I sales, service and sharpening
2 & 4CYCLE
"UPPER-LEFT“
6. If yes, what is that limit?
288 144 75 244
7. Can a retailer refuse to accept a container if if has ants in
it?
T h e F u tu re 's S o B rig h t,
Y ou G o tta W ear S hades!
k e l t t i
i-vi'K xra-/-'
North Coast Pride Network
8. Can a retailer refuse to accept a returnable container if the
retailer doesn't sell that brand or size of container?
P.O. Box 2 7 9 8
Gearhart, O R 9 7 1 3 8
(5 0 3 ) 7 3 8 -0 2 1 5
9 Do retailers who accept returnable bottles and cans receive
a handling fee for the service?
10. Who may apply for permission to operate a redemption
center for returnable bottles and cans in Oregon?
Fred Meyer Inc. Costco
Jerry Powell
Montgomery Ward
Joe’s Chevron
City of Cannon Beach
The Columbia Pacific Region's lesbian, gay,
transgendered, bisexual group standing firm
against hate. NCPN now presents...
the Gay Film Festival Galore.
11. What is the main criteria for approval of a redemption
center?
Accepts 10 or more brands
Provides convenient service
Is open at least 12 hours
All of the above
What Is Going By Is Everything
At the edge of a clear stream,
a fair breeze moving west on the current,
generations of alder and fir
from the beginning of water.
In deep pools and facing upstream
Rainbow Trout the size of my forearm.
This morning 1 awoke
clear-headed
as the tops of pines.
'Parnassus Pooks
ZJ + Tenth Strut
.Astoria, Ortaon
9 7 < °3 X)
Mfrutoy
SrUwcUy I 0
Last night
as if for the first time
1 saw the stars spread out across the
heavens
and I thought how much better
to admit the spirit starves
than this holding on, this holding fast,
as if the sky is not where it is
but strapped upon my back.
I knelt to rinse my mouth,
to beg the rising constellations.
Above me, high in a tree
at the stream 's edge,
1 heard an owl's call
dixiding the darkness into light.
John
Buckley
C oast R ange
A ssociation
P.O . B O X 148
N EW PORT, O R 97365
T h e C a n n o n B ea ch A rts A sso c ia tio n is sponsoring
a tour to the Portland Art Museum's Imperial Tombs of China
Exhibit June 19th. The tour will pick up folks in Seaside and
Cannon Beach in the morning and return them in the
afternoon This is the best exhibit of Chinese art that has
ever been sent to the United States. Please contact Mary Ann
Owen at (503 ) 436-1005 for more information, as soon as
possible, as there are only a limited number of tickets
available
12. Will the expanded Bottle Bill include milk and infant
formula containers?
13. Will the expanded Bottle Bill include half gallon distilled
water containers?
ANSWERS
1. Mystic Kiwi-Strawberry’ Juice & Evian Water
2. 1971
3. Yes
4. No
5. Yes
6. 144
7. Yes
8 Yes
9. No
10. All of these
11. Provides convenient service
12 No
13. Yes
Sea Garlic
and other organic vegetables *
David Siegel
CANNON BEACH LIBRARY
Neahkahnie Oregon
503-368 « 7 0
* Certified Organic
by Oregon Tilth
131 North Hemlock
P.O Box 486
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
J
Ouned and operated by the Library
and Woman's Club of Cannon Beach
Post O ffice Box 604
C annon Beach, O R 9 7 1 1 0
u retft LETT tb & t AfRIL 1ÎÎ4
(5 0 3 ) 4 3 6 -0 7 4 4
He had been kicked in the head by a
mule when young, and believed
everything he read in the Sunday papers.
George Ade, 1866-1944