Page k — Vernonia Freedom
Wednesday December 13,1978
Jim and Pete Brunsman photo Jenelle Wiggins
Dave and Dick Brunsman photo Jenelle Wiggins
Nehalem valley people
Those who were here
The Bninsman Brothers
by Jenelle Wiggins
Dave and Peggy Brunsman,
longtime residents of Vernonia are
the proud parents^ of six children.
Their two daughters, Carol and Mary
are living in other states. Their four
sons, Dave, Pete, Jim, and Dick have
lived off and on in the Vernonia area
for their whole lives. What I find
unique about the Brunsman brothers
is that they are not only brothers but
also friends who have formed creative
working partnerships with each other,
Jim Brunsman, 25, spent most of
his boyhood out in the woods
exploring old homesteads, digging for
bottles or just walking and enjoying
the countryside. Once he and a friend
walked to Kaupi Lake and back in a
days time. Jim remembers there was
always something to do as a boy, and
sometimes he got in trouble for
having too much to do.
A favorite activity was hanging
around the OA Mill which was shut
down by this time and a playground
for neighborhood kids. The old mill
office made a good fort and the
sawdust bin offered thrills and chills
with its catwalk and rope swing. The
braver boys would jump from the top®
of the bin down into the pile of
sawdust below. When he got older
Jim and his friends took to their
pickups and the back roads.
Sometimes he still drives to Portland
by way of Bacona.
Today Jim is a commercial
fisherman, crabbing in the winter and
purse seining in Alaska in the
summertime.
“Vernonia men make good
fishermen,” Jim tells. “Being raised in
the woods gives a person common
sense. I like being in the woods and I
like being on the water. I don’t like
the thought of being stuffed in a
building somewhere. .What I like
about fishing is that it’s never 9-5.
You’re either four days early or two
days late. There’s a lot of adventure.
You always wonder what you might
pull up on that hook! ”
When Jim talks about fishing he
radiates enthusiasm.
“A lot of my good buddies are
fishermen,” he continues. “A crew
tends to get real close after they’ve
suffered through a couple good
storms. My dream is to someday get
together with my brothers and build
small wooden boats, old classics, for a
living.”
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Jim is spending less and less time
on land these days. But when he does
come ashore he makes a beeline to
Vernonia whenever possible.
“The basics are still here, the
people, the stores, and the logging
atmosphere. Sometimes I almost
wear my arm out waving. I remember
once I got a job in Hawaii and spent
the winter there. One day I started
thinking about Vernonia and how
spring was going to be breaking and
everything would be turning emerald
green. I got so homesick I just had to
come back. Well when I got to
Vernonia there was three feet of
snow on the ground!”
Peter Brunsman, 28, also has a love
of boats and has fished in Alaska
along with Jim for the last three
summers. Pete is skiff man, and his
job consists of driving a small 18 to 20
ft. boat which is powered by a 6
cylinder diesel engine. It is his sole
responsibility to position the net so
that the salmon will swim into it
instead of around it, and at the same
time be on the lookout for logs or
rocks which could rip the seine. Pete
anticipates a fishing partnership with
brother Jim within a few years. In the
meantime he will continue logging in
the winter and salmon fishing in the
summer.
Peter says his most vivid childhood
memory was the day they burned the
O.A. Mill for the movie ‘Ring of Fire.’
“I was in the 6th grade at the time,”
Pete remembers, “and they called me
out of class by mistake. I was out of
school for two days and got paid a
whopping $36.00. There were fire
shooters and snioke machines all over
town and I got to see Dave Jensen
and Joyce Taylor. My part in the
movie was to run alongside the train,
and then jump in and scream. The
second day my part was to run down
main street screaming. It was all
pretty exciting.”
As a boy, Peter spent many hours
after school working at Brunsman’s
hardware store. When he wasn’t
working he was off exploring old
homesteads or playing in the sand
caves down on Slaughter House Rd.
“When I was little I wanted to go to
Yale to be a fireman or Harvard to be
a cowboy,” Peter laughs. “As it
turned out I’ve spent most of my life
right here in Vernonia! This town has
a culture all of its own and if you’re in
good standing it’s the friendliest town
around. I guess what draws me back
is that I can go a hundred different
directions in five minutes and can be
completely alone in nature, without
ever catching a glimpse of another
soul.”
Dave Brunsman» 32 is the scholar
among his brothers with a degree in
Architecture from the Univ, of
Oregon. He has worked for
architect firms in San Francisco,
Portland and Ghana, Africa and he
has built houses in Cannon Beach,
Cascade Head, and Vernonia. David’s
style is distinctive in that it is always
compatible
with
a
forest
environment. His designs blend with
nature in their color, shapes, and
function.
Three year^ago David designed a
house for his parents lot on O.A. hill
overlooking Vernonia. The foundation
was dug in April and with a neighbor
Mike O’Brien and all four Brunsman
brothers pitching in, the house was
ready for occupancy by September. It
is as beautiful as it is unique with its
exposed beams, hemlock paneling and
cedar board and batten outside.
David has a respect bordering on
reverence for Mother nature? As a
boy he explored with Glen and Billy
Hawkins and remembers how much
everyone loved the mysteries and
magic of the woods.
“I’m a strong believer in forest
management,” says Dave, “but I’m
just too busy to drop everything and
drive to the closest National Forest
when I want to be inspired by the old
giant trees. We grew up never
knowing what it’s like to walk
through an old growth forest and I
really wish they had left a few old
growth stands in this area for people
to enjoy.”
Dick Brunsman, 22, like all his
brothers has a creative flair for
building things. He and his brother
Dave recently bought a house in
Coquille, Oregon with plans of
remodeling it and selling it. Dick
studied engineering in college but
feels he got his start by helping with
the construction of his parents house.
“I helped from the digging of the
foundation to the finish work and this
really gave me the basics of house
building. Dave and I worked together
well. Unfortunately I got stuck with a
lot of the dirty work because I’m the
youngest,” Dick tells with a laugh.
He is looking forward to the winter
in Coquille but plans to make regular
visits to Vernonia.
“It’s a great place to grow up and I
always enjoy visiting my parents in
their new house that we all helped to
build. Someday I hope we can all
work together again. When I think
about it, it’s nice being the youngest
cause that way I can learn from
everybody else’s mistakes.”