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About Vernonia freedom. (Vernonia, Oregon) 1978-198? | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1981)
PUBLIC LIBRARY 919 BRIDGE VERNONIA OR 97064 1-.$ Easter Bunny visits Vernonia Well over 200 children of all ages showed up at Anderson Park on Saturday, April 18, to join in the annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by • the Vernonia Chamber of Commerce. The Easter Bunny, present in all her pink fuzzy glory, handed out candy eggs and advice on where to hunt for the real ones to scores of enthralled children. “Is it real, Mommy?” and “Can I have one, too?’’ were heard from dozens of little mothers as the Easter Bunny, beautifully portrayed by Margret Dunay, mingled with the children and parents. “Just like every year, we have more trouble controlling the .parents than the kids, in all the excitement,” said continued on page 2 EASTER SURPRISE— The Easter Bunny, graciously portrayed by Marge Dunay, hands out the last of candy eggs. VHS Timberline Pages 3,4 & 9,10 index Public Forum......................... 2 VHS Timberline........ . ............... 3,4 Vernonia. Grown................... ..... 5 Notes on Folks............. ................ 5 Classifieds............ ...................... 6,7 VHS Golf & Track Schedules.... . 8 VHS Timberline................... ..9,10 Ch. 7 Program Listings. .......... 11 Regular Meetings............... 11 V ernonia Vol. 3 No. 25 Thursday April30,1981 Serving the Nehalem Valley F reedom Drug problems won't go away until we all get Involved by Dennis Dobson Eight law enforcement professionals met with concerned Vemonians last Monday night for the second in a series of community information seminars to discuss drug abuse and the legal system. The expert panel, including local police representatives, circuit and district court judges and District Attorney’s office representatives, took turns explaining to their audience their own responsibilities and restrictions within the framework of the legal structure. The group, consisting of Gordon McLaughlin and Bud Ashcraft of the Vernonia Police Department, Graham Tuksbury of the Columbia County (ColCo) Juvenile Department, Steve Atchison and Diane Middle of the County District Attorney’s office, District Court Judge Berkeley Smith and Circuit Court Judge John Hunnicutt, also explained degrees and classifications of crimes and the differences between adult and juvenile criminals as described by Oregon law. “From 17 through the mid-twenties are the problem ages,” said Tuksbury. “These are the ones we see dealing to other kids. Most juveniles are just experimenting,” he added. Explaining that there is a lot of sophisticated drug abuse in the county and that very few juveniles get caught at this ‘experimental’ stage Tuksbury added, “Kids who really get into this become a real problem.” According to Atchison this sophistication even extends to a resurgence in the popularity of LSD. “LSD is coming back, ” he said. “I myself have handled four LSD cases .in the last six weeks,” he added. PCP, an animal tranquilizer, added Tuksbury, is not only more common these days but is easily among the most dangerous of the commonly used narcotics. “I know of one young man who smoked it without knowing it was in the joint he was sharing and three years later he’s still very badly messed up,” he said. “The real problem I see in my courtroom everyday is alcohol,” Judge Hunnicutt said at one point. “I can’t remember even one adult or juvenile case I’ve seen since the first of the year where alcohol wasn’t a problem” he continued. Calling alcohol “The most dangerous drug in our society,” Hunnicutt also lamented the lack of legislative action on the problem. The point, that alcohol is the drug of choice for millions of Americans of all ages, highlights a common misunderstanding. ‘Drugs’ is a catchall phrase describing any substance that alters the body’s state and includes alcohol as well as aspiring, nasal sprays, glue and even cigarettes to a degree. ‘Narcotics’, on the other hand, describes a group of substances various legal entities consider controlled, or contraband while ‘Abuse’ consists of letting the use of any of these agents get out of control. “The real problem begins when a kid sees that everyone around him is abusing ‘drugs’ of one sort or another, justifying it by saying that it is sociall acceptable, while condemning narcotics,” said Diane Middle, an investigator for the DA’s office. “The kid stacks this up against the peer pressure brought to bear by the only people he can identify with, his friends in school, and ends up going along with the crowd simply for acceptance. When this gets out of control a problem is created,” she added. continued on page 12 News In Brief... VERNONIA CANCER SOCIETY CRUSADE BEGINS MAY 4 by Louise Hamnett The Vernonia Volunteers of the American Cancer Society will be NEW AMERICAN CITIZEN On April 23, 1981 at 10:15 am Molly Arlene Skidmore appeared in U.S. District Court in Portland and along with 20 other children became a United States citizen. Molly arrived December 5, 1979 from Korea through the Holt Adoption Program. Accompanying Molly on her day in court were her parents Fred and Diana Skidmore, brothers Steve and Roger and sister Mindy. Mindy took the oath of citizenship on February 22,1979. The new citizen celebrated her third birthday the next day. conducting their 1981 crusade against cancer starting May 4. We have information for everyone that may help save your life or the life of one of your family, a relative or a friend. Please accept the pamplet and read it. You do not know when that information will be needed but be ready for it for with detection cancer can be cured. There is a need for more crusaders in order to get to everyone. If you have just a little time won’t you please call 429-7401 and volunteer some. You will be helping more than you can realize. Won’t you please help to go further in the future. We want to wipe out cancer in your lifetime. You are the key. HIGHWAY DEPT. WIDENS BRIDGE ST. Beginning May 18 and continuing for approximately two weeks the State Highway Department will be installing a six foot wide shoulder on Bridge St. (Hwy. 47) from the Nehalem River Bridge to the Fire Hall. Plans call for the construction of a bike path along this route as well. The highway department asks that you not park along the shoulder of the road during this period.
