Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, August 29, 1990
n, INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley Published
monthly on the last Wednesday ot each month by
Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd , 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
Garbage may hide a
great opportunity
e tw e e n th e
By Nancy Burch
Vernonia C ity Librarian
Have you ever felt you should read a certain
book but for one reason or another kept
putting it aside in favor ot others that more
readily caught and held your attention? Then,
when you finally decided to read it now or
never found it to be so engrossing that you
hated to put it down until you had read the final
page This has been my experience with M K
Wren's novel. A Gift Upon The Shore Martha
Kay Renfroe (M K Wren) is an Oregon author
who lives at Roads End near Lincoln City on
the coast and she uses the Pacific Northwest
as the setting and the near future as the time
frame tor this spellbinding tale
After nuclear war. earthquakes and tidal
waves have ravaged the West Coast, violent
looters and a horrifying tever have taken their
toll on the remaining human population Mary
Hope, a writer, and her beloved friend. Rachel
Ward, a painter are two survivors
After
searching into and beyond the Willamette
Valley into the Cascades and finding no other
survivors, these two determined women take
In less than six months, Vernonia will celebrate
the 100th anniversary of its incorporation as a city
Many plans are under way for special activities
throughout the centennial year Also, the new Banks-
Vernonia Linear State Park will open officially this
spring, bringing even more publicity to this area
It's a great opportunity to attract visitors; it may
even broaden our tax base by attracting new resi
dents and businesses The question is: What will
A commendable job
visitors see when they come to Vernonia9
Some sights awaiting them are buildings that don't To the Editor:
meet minimum health and safety codes; rust heaps of
undnvable vehicles; garbage and other forms of litter
To all those people who
strewn about; lots full of overgrown weeds and grass w orked hard on the Jam
boree, I wan, to commend
es...to name a few of the less savory vistas
Disparate though they may seem, all of these you on a job well done I
have been involved with the
public nuisances have one element in common: Jamboree, it seems like most
Under city ordinances they are all illegal
ot my lite There have always
The next question is: Why is there no enforce been problems except this
year Everything I though,,
ment of city ordinances governing these conditions?
wen, very smoothly
The city's police chief has the authority to act as
Also, the town, and espe
building official and enforce nuisance abatement ordi
cially the school grounds and
nances He and his officers should enforce the city's parks, were in the best shape
ordinances regularly and consistently especially they've been in years You
have se, the stage tor a really
since that's what they're paid for
great ce le b ra tio n tor next
The next question is: Why doesn't the city council year I know tha, all of the
insist on better performance by the enforcement arm baseball players associated
of city government, and back up that insistence with with the softball games are
looking forward to next year
penodic reviews of the chief’s performance9
Once again, congratula
It's nice to be nice, it's even desirable to be nice,
tions
except when that isn't getting the job done
on the task of preserving all remaining books
they can find as the only record of a world that
has perished, but also in the hope that some
spark of culture will survive
Eventually, Mary and Rachel find they are not
the only humans left and their farm becomes
home to a small group of fanatics, led by
Miriam, who views books as blasphemous
The conflict between Mary and Miriam divides
the community in passion and terror as A Gift
Upon the Shore reaches its thrilling climax
When I firs, started reading the book, the
theme really depressed me with its description
ot such destruction ot life as we know it,
caused by both man and nature But. hope is
the theme that is established and maintained
thoughou, the book and i, I were a survivor,
and had to make decisions concerning which
books were important ,o save tor future
generations, this would definitely be on the
______
list
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 am
L e t t e r s t o t h e ID d it o r
Pro or con, you have a
say about property taxes
A mail election will be held in September on the
question of an operating levy tor the school district.
Our school property tax rate falls just about in the
middle of rates throughout the state, so while we're
not low, we're not high either.
One thing is certain, however; only people who
vote will have a voice in setting our tax rates and in
determining the future of our educational system
There is nothing easier than voting by mail, so if you
don't vote, please don’t complain You have the op
portunity to make a difference
Bill Hawkins
Portland
Thank you, Bill
To the Editor:
Hooray for Bill Hawkins'
He really is a great ambas
sador tor Vernonia We have
been coming ,o Vernonia ev
ery year tor Bill's annual soft
ball tournament and wha, a
wonderlul job he does We
have several ot his h a n d
crafted trophies and cherish
each one
We also have a great ap
preciatwn tor what all ot you
"locals" pu, up with, with this
great influx ot tourists we put
up with “them" all year'
We play several tourna
ments each year bu, rarely
will any team member miss
com ing to Vernonia to r a
good, clean fun time all due
to the hard work and unselfish
effo rts of Bill H aw kins
Thanks, Bill'
Larry & Claudia Peterson
Seaside Merchants
Women's Slowpltch
Softball Team
Thanks for the help
To the Editor:
We a, M is, B irke nte ld
RFPD wish to say "Thank
you'" to all those who helped
with site preparation tor our
planned substation Many,
many people were involved in
this protect, and several busi
nesses as well
The site tor the Peterson
Substation is tilled and nearly
ready to build upon Located
|us, north ot Apiary junction
on Hwy 47, seven m iles
south of Mist, this station is
planned to shorten response
times in tha, area and place
needed equipment closer tor
emergency services
While the individuals who
volunteered their time are too
numerous to list, we are very
grateful tor their help Among
the businesses who donated
th e ir tim e, m ate rials and
equipment were L J Chnsto-
phersen (trucks, loaders, op
erators. e tc ). Cavenham For
est Products (rock and till ma
tenal), Oregon State Highway
Division (rock and till materi
al), Bud Hemeon (dump truck
and d riv e r), Dan German
(dump truck and driver), L.
Jepson & Sons (dump truck
and driver). Columbia County
(dump truck), and Evenson
Logging Company (expertise
and materials)
Earlier this summer Caven
ham Foros, Products were in
advertently let, o „ ot a pub
lished list ot those who helped
with this protect The majority
of the till material was dona,
ed by them for our use as
needed We certainly appre
ciate their help and apologize
tor leaving them ou, earlier
The land was donated by
Richard Peterson, a life time
resident, who home is located
|us, across the street trom
where the new station will be
built
Again, thanks from all ot
us
Dave Crawford, Fire Chief
Mlst-BIrkenfeld Rural Fire
Protection District
Crisis line moved
To the Editor:
As a result ot the closure of
St H e len 's H o sp ita l, the
Columbia County Women's
Resource Center has moved
its after hours diversion sys
tem ,o a new home base a,
More letters on page 18