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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1987)
■■■■■I Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, October 1, 1987 n. INDEPENDENT Serving the Upper Nehalem River valley Published m o n th ly on the last Thursday of each m onth by Public O p in io n la b o ra to ry Ltd 1206 State Avenue, Vernonia. OR 97(R>4, as a free newspaper td ito rs and Publishers (Jirk and Nom Andersen, (SOI) 429 9410 Op in io n Progress impossible without direction To say (h a t the C ity o f V e rn o n ia is s p in n in g its w h eels is an u n d e rs ta te m e n t T w o c ity c o u n c il m em b ers w h o to o k o ffic e in January are try in g to m a ke progress, b u t la ck g u id a n c e and d ire c tio n , and have lit t le c o o p e ra tio n fro m c ity e m p lo ye e s C o u n c ilo r Tom B u ffin g to n has trie d to b u ild a c c o u n ta b ility in to p u rc h a s in g and b id p ro ce d u re s, but th e changes are ro u tin e ly c irc u m v e n te d because we neve r had to d o th is b e fo re " C o u n t ilo r M a rio I e o n e tti has trie d to get progress re p o rts o n p ro b le m s th e c o u n c il has d e a lt w ith b u t th e re 's n o fo llo w u p by c ity e m p lo y e e s The p ro b le m s re tu rn w h e n c itiz e n s c o m p la in again A fte r m o n th s o f w ra n g lin g th e re 's no re s o lu tio n on C A T V c o m p la in ts Serious, lo n g s ta n d in g d ra in a g e p r o b le m s o n B and C Streets w ere lo o k e d at, n o t solved I he n u isa n ce a b a te m e n t p ro g ra m has g ro u n d to a h a lt, w ith the* w o rs t b u ild in g s s till s ta n d in g R a n d o m e n fo rc e m e n t is th e sta ndard in w e ed and grass tire h a z a rd c o n tro l I he c ity is sa d d le d w ith law suits th a t ha ve re s u lte d fro m la ck o f in fo rm e d d ire c tio n Perhaps it's tim e to r the c itiz e n s o f V e rn o n ia to in sist on h a v in g a c ity a d m in is tra to r It can n o lo n g e r be a rg u e d th a t th e e xistin g system w orks, it d o e s n 't W ith o u t go o d a d m in is tra tio n , w ith o u t le a d e rs h ip and d ire c tio n , th is c ity 's g o in g n o w here United Way works P eople H e lp in g P eople H e lp T hem selves ' is the w e ll k n o w n th e m e o f U n ite d W ay, and it w o rks I he b e n e tits o f several th o u s a n d d o lla rs o t U n ite d W a y c o n trib u tio n s c o m e to th e V e rn o n ia area th ro u g h V e rn o n ia Cares, S enior C itiz e n s C o u n c il, Energy A ssistance, Boy and G irl Scouts, fa m ily C o u n se lin g , S a lv a tio n A rm y . Red Cross and W o m e n ’s R esource C e nte r, to n a m e o n ly a few W h a t th e area re tu rn s is th e p ro b le m In 19H5 $ 320 fro m lo c a l d o n a tio n s w e n t to U n ite d W ay, in 19H6 it w as SbHI O n e reason to r low d o n a tio n s was a la ck of v o lu n te e rs to d o th e s o lic itin g A n o th e r reason is th a t p e o p le w h o liv e here, b u t m a ke d o n a tio n s at w o rk in o th e r c o u n tie s , need to s p e c ify th a t th e ir d o n a tio n s are fo r U n ite d W a y o f C o lu m b ia C o u n ty W h a te v e r th e reason, w e need to d o m o re th a n b e l ly u p to th e tro u g h , w e have to sta rt p u ttin g s o m e th in g in to it W h e n U n ite d W a y v o lu n te e rs c o m e y o u r w a y, d o n 't tu rn y o u r b ack p le d g e a m o n th ly a m o u n t o r m a k e a generous lu m p sum d o n a tio n B e co m e p a rt o f the ''P e o p le H e lp in g P eople ¡etween the Bookends By Dan Sevig. Vernonia School* Librarian The m a in reasons fo r reading a book are for self- discovery, enioym ent, or in fo rm a tio n Yet sometimes the excitem ent of participa tio n in a school-wide program w hich offers incentives vs ill reach students who w ill not read on their own Early in O ctober we w ill begin a reading m o tivation p ro g ra m at M is t and W ashington Grade Schools The them e o t the program is A round the W o rld w ith Books As students read books and turn in vouchers indicating pages read, their markers w ill move across a large o u tlin e map o f the w orld Students w ill receive a series o f awards as they lourney on this w orld tour The top award w ill be a gold medal and p a rticip a tio n in a spring fie ld trip All participating students w ill also be eligible for prizes in a ra ffle W ashington Grade School and Western A u to are sponsoring the prize w hich is a bicycle A sam ple bike w ill be on display at either WGS or M ist during the five months of the contest The Reading is Fundamen \ ta i" program , w h ich provides students in grades K-6 w ith 3 paperback books each year w ill be co n tin u e d Funds for our fa ll and spring Book Fair pro vid e lo ca l m atching funds fo r this program O f course, p ro vid in g 3 paperback books fo r a personal lib ra ry is only a beginning Books are an ex ce lle n t b irth d a y or holiday gift, or just a w ay to te ll your c h ild th a t you th in k reading is im p o rta n t Letters to the Editor To the Editor: I w alked to my m ail box to day and to my surprise there was The INDFPFNDFNT Some w onderful person from Vernonia sent it to me I real ly enjoyed reading it and am looking forw ard to the next issue Thank you I have some good friends in Vernonia that I miss a lot No m atter what the distance is between us, I w ill never forget them We recently were in Vernonia and there vsere a lot ot you I didn t get to see hec ause o t poor plann ing on my part fo r this I am tru ly sorry Pat Larson Kingman, Arizona To the Editor: In response to the* question of the m onth I didn t realize a person had to run tor o ffice to have input to C ity affairs I know of nobods who has the answer to all the C ity s problem s It takes co m m u n ica tio n and a lot of foot w ork to perform any job w ell O perating on hearsay instead o t tacts is creating City pro blems W hen the elected o ffic ia ls egotistical problem s are solv ed m aybe they can settle dow n and do the |ob they were elected to do Leonard Simmons Vernonia To the Editor: I m w ritin g to explain why I sent my 12 year old to Seattle to attend school for awhile M y husband and I have 4 boys and have lived here for 2 ’ > years We moved to Ver nonia to r tw o reasons First fo r a business opportunity, and second so we could live a life style where we could be home fo r our children Bevond this, we ve found it's the people of Vernonia who make the difference, who make Vernonia a desirable place to live As I liv e through my c h ild re n s a d o le s c e n c e I remember how hard it is to grow up I remember the desire to be accepted, not o n ly by peers but also as an adult I recall how d iffic u lt decision making was as my p a re n ts gave me m o re freedoms and long term con sequences were not always a part of this process In Vernonia the problems for ms son N ic k as w ell as so many ot our children were to o m uch free tim e and too few positive activities to par- tic ipate in What do we o ffe r our children except to stand around on street corners, ride in older teen's cars, and a t tend beer parties/ We o ffe r no sex education to elem en tary children through 9th grade and very little in co m m u n ic a t io n s k ills w it h parents or dating re la tio n ships One example o f positive reinforcem ent through ac tivities was the baseball pro gram offered last spring It was a very good exam ple of how a few interested adults made use o f our children s tim e I believe each player, coach and fan came away f e e lin g good about themselves Thank you I do have an o p tim istic view for the future lust as I know it is the people o f V er nonia who make the d if ference. I know we can W'e need to w ork w ith our school system We need to organize and support activities and sports fo r our children Teach them to have fun through p a rticip a tio n and ac com plishm ents H elp teach them and oursefvps co m m u n ic a tio n skills, to share ideas and dream W e need to prepare them fo r the world, fo r colle g e and life beyond V ernonia le t's b u ild together a com m u n ity a tm o s p h e re w ith p ositive alternatives for our teenagers, so my toddler and 1st grader and yo u r children can fin d th e ir grow ing needs m et in V ernonia Barb Fulmer President, Vernonia Booster Club Vice-Pres Parent-Teacher Club To the Editor: I'm w ritin g in response to a le tte r in the August Indepen dent in w hich an opponent ot the proposed linear state park com pared its siting to the siting o f m e tropolitan P ortland s m ega-dum p just outside o f V ernonia In m y op in io n , there is no com parison at a ll unless you w ant to com pare fresh fru it w ith rotten, dead meat In m y o p in io n , state parks are w o n d e rfu l places where mv fa m ily has spent lots of hap py tim es together, I cannot say the same o f a mega d um p State parks do not p o llu te the air and water but as a rule, try to preserve the n a tu ra l e n v ir o n m e n t w henever possible I support the m ovem ent to site a state park in and around V ernonia I believe it w ill be n e fit V ernonia in manv ways, not the least o f w hich w ill be to preserve the beauty o f our land, and not trash it Patricia Jensen Vernonia
