Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, April 29,1992
The
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published
monthly on the last Wednesday of each month, by
Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 1206 State Avenue,
Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. All material
protected under U.S. Copyright laws. Editors and
Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen, (503) 429-9410.
T
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fe. J i _ i
Don't let $100 rain
on festive grad party
Some Vernonia High School seniors and their par
ents are upset because of VHS Principal Steve
Giere's decision to disallow the use of $100 in student
body funds to help pay for the all night, alcohol and
drug-free party following graduation.
According to Giere, he made that decision because
other parents were upset about allowing the party to
be held in the banquet room at Lew's Place, a restau
rant and bar. "Several of them [the parents] com
plained to the school board" because they felt stu
dents were getting "a mixed message," Giere said.
What concerned some parents is teaching students
about the serious problems associated with drug and
alcohol abuse, while allowing them to have a party
where alcohol is sold. The party is provided by par
ents and donors from throughout the community and
is not a school-sponsored event, which, Giere said,
further justified disallowing the expenditure of student
body funds.
Superintendent Ellis Mason said that no parents
complained to the school board and that only one
parent had mentioned the possible conflict to him. A
review of school board minutes also fails to show any
parent complaints about the party's location.
This is a minor problem, no matter which view is
held, and should not be blown out of proportion.
Some feel Giere was dictatorial in deciding how stu
dents could use the money from their own Studer
body fees, but it's likely that his decision falls within
the scope of his responsibilities.
If parents feel strongly about the issue, they should
take their reasons to the school board and ask that
policy be developed on the use of student body
funds. That is the proper way to handle the situation.
A few other thoughts are in order, though: No laws
are being broken by having a teen party at Lew's
Place, which is well and legally operated. There, no
alcohol will be available to minors, which is more than
can be said at many private parties. It's also the only
place available in Vernonia that makes the event feel
"special" to the graduates; no matter how well deco
rated it may be, a church hall or school gymnasium
just isn’t the same thing, because it's associated with
every day life. On graduation night, they want to feel
special.
It is far better to let the new graduates celebrate by
dancing, playing games and eating the night away
under the watchful eyes of parent chaperones, than
to scrape them up off the highway after a few beers
with "friends."
No one wants to do away with the event, including
those who are unhappy with the location. Anyone in
the community who wants to help make up the $100
deficit, or who wants to contribute just because it's a
positive activity, may call the high school to find out
who is handling contributions for the drug and alcohol
free graduation party.
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M M M M M
M M M M M M M M iM M M M N
By Nancy Burch
Vernonia City Librarian
Several months ago the suggestion was
made that the library include video and audio
cassettes in its collection. A few audio books
were purchased and have been requested
frequently. The Ring of Fire video has been in
constant use by library patrons. The decision
has now been made to make both audio and
video tapes a permanent feature of the library’s
collection. Some of the audio books that are
available at present are: Odds Against, by Dick
Francis; Terror Stalks the Class Reunion, by
Mary Higgins Clark; U h -O h , by Robert
Fulghum; Real Ponies Don't Go Oink, by
Patrick McManus; and The Road to Gandolfo,
by Robert Ludlum.
The use of video cassettes by the library is
intended to complement, rather than to
compete with, the local video stores. Our goal
will be to focus on family type classics,
"how-to” kinds of things, health-oriented
materials and standard childrens' fairy tales. In
so doing, we hope to provide a needed
service to the community, while increasing
library circulation. The budget for this project is
quite limited, of course, so any donations of
suitable materials would be greatly appre
ciated. If your child has outgrown or become
Successful clean-up
To the Editor:
We'd like to thank all who
showed up to help with the
city cle a n -u p e ffo rt th is
month. About 24 people de
cided that, since they were al
ready co m m itte d fo r the
morning, why not show up in
spite of the rain. Most of the
families were either Chamber
of Com m erce m em bers or
Jaycees. Some high school
students working for health
credits also braved the ele
ments and gave up their Sat
urday morning sleep-in.
Local merchants donated
items for a raffle for partici
pants, including video rentals
from Vernonia Sentry, tanning
sessions from Vernonia Vari
ety and gift certificates from
MiniMart. Each adult partici
pant received a certificate for
pie-a -la-m o de from Crazy
Charlie's, while the little ones
earned root beer floats from
Vernonia Cafe.
Refreshments of hot dogs
and pop were provided by
V ernonia Sentry, Keenon
Land Services and the Boost
er Club.
Nehalem Valley Sanitary
Service provided a drop box
and Columbia County provid
ed plastic bags for trash pick
up.
We picked up a lot of litter
and, soon, we will try again
— and hope for a sunny day.
Please, think before you
drop litte r; a receptacle is
close enough, just look for it.
Library Hours: Monday and Friday 1-5
M B , W ednesday... 3:, 8 ,^ - 5 - ,
Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Preschool Story
all the help they gave us dur
ing the last few m onths
[while] closing the wrecking
yard. Both men were instru
mental in helping us deal with
all of the physical details and
work in cleaning up the yard.
We would also like to thank
a ll of ou r c u s to m e rs and
friends for their loyalty and
patience with us while we at
te m p te d to de al w ith o u r
boss's death and the strain it
put on all of us.
The last two people we
would like to thank are Ed
ward A. Biros and his w ife
E liz a b e th .
W ith o u t the
strength and support of these
two exceptional people we
couldn't have lasted a week
after Edward's death. It was
a difficult time for all of us but
we couldn't quit on Ed and
E liz a b e th . We all fe lt a
tremendous grief and sense
of loss, but how could we
give up the fight if the two
people that suffered the most
kept hanging in there. Every
time circumstances conspired
to overwhelm us, either Ed or
Elizabeth would be there with
a kind word or a hand on the
s h o u ld e r to buck us up.
W ords do not do justice to
what these two people came
to mean to us, so all we can
do is give them our love and
a great big thank you from
both of us. Gasoline Alley
Auto Wrecking may be gone
but, thanks to these two won
derful people and their son, it
will never be forgotten by us.
Chris Collins,
formerly Manager
Alfred Forrest,
formerly Yard Foreman
Gasoline Alley
Dolly Keenon
Julie Prohaska
Thanks to all of you
To the Editor:
I am writing this thank you
note on behalf of myself and
Fred Forrest, both form erly
employed by Gasoline Alley
Auto Wrecking. We would
like to thank Ron Wilcox and
Sam Carter, our yardmen, for
tired of your copy of B am bi, or you have
learned all you can, or want to, from your copy
of How to Golf, consider donating them to the
library.
At present, copies of Little Women, Where
the Red Fern Grows, The Vanishing Wil
derness and Anne of Green Gables are avail
able at the library.
Upon hearing of our project to add videos to
the public library, Gordon Smith offered to let
us place orders through Sentry Market's video
department, thus letting the library take advan
tage of discounted prices. This makes us
doubly happy, not only to receive videos at
reduced prices, but to know that we have the
support of local business in this venture.
The library's policy for use of these audio or
video materials will require a deposit of $5.00
when checking out a tape. This deposit will be
refunded when the cassette is returned. The
tapes may be kept for one week, with a fine
being charged if kept longer than the week.
We hope this will be a service that the
community uses and enjoys.
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Volunteers honored
To the Editor:
The Oregon Department of
Human Resources houses a
Volunteer Program which re
cruits volunteers and devel
ops lo cal com m u nity re-
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sources. These volunteers
and resources are used to
assist the clients of the de
partment's various agencies
acquire independence, main
tain their health and develop
strong families.
The DHR Volunteer Pro
gram of C o lu m bia C ounty
curre ntly has Big Brothers
and Big S is te rs place d
throughout the county. We
provide volunteer clerical as
sistance to the DHR agencies
as needed. We p ro vid e
transportation to assure med
ical services are available to
the tow and very tow income
of our county. We coordinate
a summer camp program for
children of very tow income
families and a back-to-school
c lo th in g p ro je c t fo r the se
same children. We also lo
cate personal care products,
household needs, education
al s u p p lie s, clo th in g , c h il
dren's toys and young adults'
items of entertainment. Al, of
these activities are undertak
en by v o lu n te e rs fro m
throughout Columbia County.
Last year, the DHR Volun
te e r Program of C olum bia
C o un ty p ro v id e d 15,963
hours of volunteer time, drove
53,060 miles to connect folks
to medical services and ac
q u ire d $1 8 ,9 0 0 of goods
which were distributed to the
low and very low incom e
households of our county.
April is Volunteer Recogni
tion Month and the week of
April 27 through May 2 is Vol
u n te e r R ecognition W eek.
The DHR Volunteer Program
of Columbia County honored
its volunteers at a luncheon
yesterday, April 28.
I would like to take this op
portunity to extend a heartfelt
thank you to the very special
volunteers who have served
our com m unity during the
past year.
Al Jesse, Supervisor
DHR Volunteer Program
Columbia County