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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1990)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, June 27, 1990 «. INDEPENDENT Serving the upper Nehalem River valley Published monthly on the las, Wednesday ol each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory L td , 1206 State Avenue. Vernonia. OR 97064. as a tree newspaper All material protected under U S Copyright laws Editors and Publishers, Dirk & Nom Andersen. (503) 429 9410 ........ ... .. ....■■■........... . ....................... ■' ............. *■*.... O p in io n Park development is start of new era With the installation of a pedestrian bridge over Highway 47, development of the Banks Vernonia Lin ear Park is demonstrably underway Actually, there has been work on the trail for nearly a year, but surveying, brushing and checking the con dition of bridges and culverts just doesn't have the visual impact that a 90 foot long overpass has. The many volunteers who worked hard to get approval of the first new state park in 20 years have every reason to start getting excited about it. The linear park has already brought some changes to the area - it's certainly a factor in the increased property sales the community has been enjoying There will be more changes, too One of them will be an improved Hwy 47 because more people will be using it and the state will make improvements to accommodate the increased traffic Another spin-off is the funding that's been made available for improvements at Vernonia Lake The Oregon Tourism Alliance wouldn't authorize those expenditures previously, but once the state park became a reality, the improvements made a lot of sense We are aware that some people are still trying to block the park The latest ploy has been to spread a rumor that there was a shooting and double murder on the trail. Well , it just isn't so. folks. That was just another attempt to create opposition to the park, and it was a pretty feeble attempt Anybody who wants to check a rumor of that sort has only to call the appro priate law enforcement authonties. The park has all of the official approvals it needs and it will be developed The official opening is pro jected to be in September and we're quite certain the Parks Department will meet that time line At this point objections are futile Park opponents who dealt objectively with the state are satisfied with the land swaps they negotiated, and some of them even sold portions of their property to the state to improve the alignment of the park Working together, we can make this a really posi tive experience We will be the host community for Oregon's first new state park in twenty years It's time to "accent the positive and eliminate the nega tive"... besides, that’s a lot more fun than spreading silly rumors 15 By Nancy B u rch V e rn o n ia C ity L ib ra ria n In c o n ju n c tio n w ith V e rn o n ia 's Centennial celebration next year, bu, as an ongoing project, the library is creating a special interest section devoted to the history of our local logging and timber industry. In addition to acquiring any available books on the subject, we will be com piling pictures, newspaper articles, reminiscences of people who would be willing to share their recollections, and any other m aterials or inform ation that we can gather on the subject. We are now in the beginning stages of this project and are a skin g fo r h elp w ith fu rth e r suggestions, m aterials, memories or in form ation that you would be willing to contribute. One specific item we are seeking is a video tape of "The Ring of Fire." Please contact the library if you can help in any way. This is a project for and about our com munity and we hope there is much interest and involvement m its compilation and future use. Another new undertaking in the library is the acquisition we have recently made of the audio tapes of four books. We have "California Gold" by John Jakes, "I Wan, to Grow Hair, I Wan, to Grow Old. I Wan, to Go to Boise" by Erma Bombeck, "Silent Partner" by Jonathan Kellerman," and "I, Was On Fire When I Lay Down On I," by Robert Fulgham. They are now available for your use and comments. Remember that young people can earn Summer Reading certificates for each ten books read and a special prize will be given to the child reading the most books before September 15. A special thank you to Sarah Lynch for giving the library a nice assortment of childrens' books in time for summer reading. Library Hours: Monday and Friday 1-5 p m , Wednesday, 9 a m -5 p m . and Saturday, 10 a m -2 p m Preschool Story Time is every Wednesday from 10 30-11 a m L e tte rs to th e E d ito r Wonderful people To the Editor: Janelle and I want to thank the people of Vernonia and the Nehalem Valley for their outpouring of love The sup port encouragement and un dersta n d in g we have re ceived the las, few months has made coping with the problem s asso cia te d with ALS much easier (Your daily prayers thoughts cards and calls have gone a long way in soothing our frustration and fears ). We feel extremely blessed to be a part of this community Your generosity through contributions has helped to alleviate our most urgent fi nancial needs We don', wan, to single ou, individuals because there are jus, too many, bu, we do wan, ,o thank several groups The Christian community and their churches for the on going prayers and fund raisers, our fellow loggers and their fami lies for their unselfish sacri fice of tim e energy and sweat and the youth of Ver nonia who through various endeavors contributed $500 to our cause Your efforts have provided us w ith a 1990 Ford van equipped with a wheelchair lift a stairway lift, a wheel chair ramp many household items that make physically dem anding chores easier, and the courage to go when we wan, to give up What is most important to us7 The fact that you all care and wan, to help, the realiza tion tha, this situation has bonded the com munity to gether the fac, tha, we can say we are a part, and always will be, of such a loving group of people David & Janelle Serafln Great volunteers To the Editor: With a busy summer com ing and all the time spent on everyday events, it is nice to have such great people as the volunteers tha, give the extra time to help make Ver nonia such a wonderful place The Vernonia Volunteer Fire Department and the Ver noma Ambulance Association give hours and hours every month ,o help save lives and property and deserve a very big thank you from all of the people they serve The Vernonia Police De partment has several very good reserves tha, help fill in the spaces when needed and are a very valuable asset to an understaffed force Volunteer groups like the Ridge Riders and the Vernon ia Youth Summer Baseball Association work very hard every year to improve Ander son and Spencer Parks and give youth some summer ac tivities Thank you to Cavenham Forest Industries for providing the pole for the swimming pool and Rick Gwin and the Sera,in Sale Loggers for ge, ting i, ou, o, the brush Gene Weller hauled the 80 foo, pole down to the swimming hole and did an amazing |Ob o, getting it through our tight li, tie streets, thanks a bunch Gene I wish I could thank all o, the individuals who give parts o, their lives to help make Vernonia such a fantastic place to live The new decade is going to be filled with lots of exciting events and growth and the communi ,y will need the ideas and dreams o, all of you I, is a privilege to be involved with all o, you as your mayor Thank you Scott Sword. Mayor City of Vernonia Help is appreciated To the Editor: The Nehalem Valley Tim ber Coalition would like to thank the following for their assistance with the formation o, the coalition and tor help m making our activities a suc cess More letters on page 18
