Image provided by: Vernonia Public Library; Vernonia, OR
About Vernonia freedom. (Vernonia, Oregon) 1978-198? | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1979)
Vernonia Freedom — Page 5 Wednesday February 21,1979 Notes on Folks Gene and Terri Baska are happy to announce the arrival of their baby on Feb. 2. Robert Grant, was 9 lbs. 4 oz. and joins brothers Greg and Scott in the home. Grandparents are Myra Baska and Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Heath, all of Vernonia. Ruth Steers received word February 4, of the birth of her second great grandchild. The baby was the first for Patty and Allen Fetherston of El Cajon, California. The baby girl weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces and was named Alina Hope. Sunday, February IT, was a very special day for Mrs. Bill Horn, as she and her husband met the rest of Mrs. Horn’s family in Forest Grove to’celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday. As a surprise to Mrs. McRobert her six children, their respective wives and husbands, her only sister, brother and his wife all joined her for church services at the Methodist Church, 16 in all to worship together. Following the services, they all enjoyed a no-host dinner in the banquet room of the King’s Round Table in Beaverton and a leisurely visit. Flowers that were on the altar in Ethel’s name were taken along to adorn the luncheon table, then to her home. Zona Tandy has been moved to Forest View Care Center after falling and breaking her hip and injuring her right leg during the icy weather. Jenelle Wiggins Ernie Carter Nehalem valley people Those who came Ernie Carter by Jenelle Wiggins “Back in 1946, when I was a carpenter and worked out of ‘226 Local’ I used to come out here and go fishing whenever I had time off,” Ernie tells me. “In fact I liked the area so much I started to buy a house when the p.A. Mill shut down in ‘52 but I changed my mind. In 1969 I bought 8 acres out Trehom and we’ve been here ever since.” Ernie rests in a recliner while we chat I notice there is a hospital bed pushed against the wall of the room. “Ernie was an excellent carpenter,” Mrs. Carter tells me. “You can hardly go two blocks in any direction in Portland without seeing some building that he has worked on. Then.he was injured on the job and they operated on him. That operation left him paralysed.” “I met a girl named Joy and that’s what brought me to Oregon.” Ernie talks slowly and calmly, giving me a chance to recover from what his wife has said. “And she chased me until I caught her!” We all laugh Ernie proudly tells me that he personally designed their new home. “Did you notice there are no steps?” he asks. “I designed it to adept to my wheel chair but I didn’t want to be obvious so I just sloped everything.” It is truly a beautiful home and as he talks a warm fire crackles in the hearth and the dock on the mantle chimes out the hour. “It seems the more handicapped I become the less I can do,” Ernie continues. “But bee keeping is my love. Actually it’s a lot like gardening. You don’t garden here like you would in Eastern Oregon and likewise you don’t raise bees here like you would in Eastern Oregon. Marion Siedehnan, who lived out Pebble Creek kept bees for over 50 years and we would get into some pretty heated discussions.” “This area used to be excellent bee country 60 years ago after they first logged. Fireweed was predominant and that is how Apiary Road got its name. But gradually the underbrush choked out the fireweed and you have to be a pretty fair beekeeper these days to get production. Beekeeping goes back to Cleopatra. I got interested in bees through gardening. If properly pollinated 7 a garden will fluorish and crops will even be moré frost resistant. ” Because there has been such a demand to learn about beekeeping in Vernonia, the Community Center now offers a ‘Beekeeping’ class every Wednesday evening with Ernie Carter as the instructor. “We need mòre beekeepers,” Ernie explains, “because so many of the bees in this area have been killed off by poisonous sprays. When we still had the railroad tracks they would periodically spray the tracks to keep the brush back and the bees would get into the stuff and die. People make some awful mistakes, one being spraying at the wrong time of year. Naturally if you spray an orchard while it is in bloom you are going to kill off all the bees that try to pollinate.” Mrs. Carter brings me a cup of clover tea with lots of honey and I sip on that while Ernie continues. “A lot of people aré afraid of bees and if a swarm comes into their yard they panic. Like my wife Joy. She’s. scared to death' of bees, but she got so interested in their habits that one day I caught her spying on the hive with a pair of binoculars. Actually anybody can raise bees because now allergies can be overcome through a series of shots.”. “I’ve been very lucky. In 10 years of working bees I have never been stung. I have no fear and I never wear aftershave. I remember once a swarm flew into the yard and went up into the tree and we couldn’t get it If you kill a queen bee then the swarm will usually go back to the hive. So a bunch of fellows got their guns and started shooting into the swarm hoping to somehow kill the queen. Eventually they knocked a branch out of the tree and down comes the swarm. All the while I’m sitting under the tree in my wheel chair. Well those fellas took off running for the house and there I sat. And I never got stung.” “However it is important to know when to I STAN'S AUTO SHOP Complete Automotive And Auto Body Service Barber Available Wed. through Sat. Manicures by Appointment Professional Styling & Cutting 884 Bridge St. 429-6121 free estimates gladly Larry Johnson Les Parry auto body mechanic and painter 332 A St. 429-7455 work a hive and when not to. You don’t want to bother a hive when it’s windy or cold. And never approach a hive from the front because you are blocking the bees flight pattern and risking getting stung.” “Honey is a pure food. Bacteria cannot live in it However bees can be carriers of a bacteria commonly called ‘foulbrood’ for which there is no cure. Spraying the hive with z tetracycline is a good preventative measure.” “Joy Carter interrupts, “A month ago, when Ernie was in the hospital, the inspector came to examine our hives and because he found a few-contaminated cells he stamped all the hives contaminated and took those bees from us. There was Ernie in the hospital terribly ill and I was crying over those silly bees,” Joy tells. “They used powdered cyanide to kill the bees and then they burned the hives,” Ernie explains. “Now I have to start all over again. If I hadn’t been in the hospital I could have cleaned up those hives in a matter of a few days. It may seem strange but a bee keeper gets attached to his bees.” ' Ernie will now' have to buy new hives and have a nucleus of bees, which includes a queen, shipped to him through the mail Changing the subject, Ernie tells me that he and Joy have been charter members of the Frog Valley Breakers. “I’ve been laid up for quite a few years and anytime I had trouble on the road it was always a CB’er who stopped to help. I was impressed because up until then I’d had a false impression of CB’ers. So I got a radio and have found it’s good company for somebody who is laid up.” “Before it got so popular, people could get a lot of help with a CB. I was director of Channel 9 for 3 years and it used to be that if an emergency came through people would dear the channel Once I got a call for help from a fellow in Canada who was in a shooting accident and another time a boat going down the Columbia caught fire and I was the first to turn in the call” Ernie takes pride in being able to help others out, and rightly, so. Despite his handicap Ernie Carter is living his life to its fullest potential We can all learn from his example. You can meet him at Wednesday nights ‘Beekeeping’ class at the Community Center. 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