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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1994)
4 * ufllN By Robb Wilson, Curator Columbia County Historical Society Museum sonal items from WWI veterans. But the most striking thing is the Honor Roll that hangs on the wall just as you enter through the muse um’s front door, which memorializes World War Two veterans who worked at O-A Mill. It is a chronological listing of the men who worked at the mill, giving their names, the de partment of the mill each worked at, and the branch of the service they entered. Remem ber that this building was the office for the mill and it was the com pany’s president, Judd Greenman, who honored these men as they went into the armed forces. Here too, in the old board and meeting room, is another big list on the wall, this time in alphabetical order, with the names of 310 fellows who served. The significance of this list is that there are nine names with gold stars behind them , these are the men who did not come home, the ones who died for their country. With the fifty-year remembrance of D-Day on television and in the papers these past weeks, I have taken note of this event, as well as all of World War Two. My interest now is far different than what it was in my youth. Then, as children, the TV shows and movies that dealt with the war made it seem exciting and kind of romantic. I have learned from the per sonal experiences told of by veterans of the era, that no war is romantic and all war is an awful thing. I have started talking with people in the area about their memories of the war in the 1940s and will relate that in the next col umn. If you have sto rie s or m em ories to share, please contact me. Memorial Day reminded me of a few per sons I want to talk about. Ellen Divine recently passed away; she and her husband Sam, were curators here at the museum from 1969 through 1972 and were active in preserving the history of the area. I wrote once about how names are some times lost and forgotten when a person dies. The Spencer name, that was here in the val ley for over 112 years, is now silenced. Ben Spencer, who was born here in 1914, recently passed away. He being an only son and hav ing no sons o f his ow n, m eans th a t the Spencer name has come to a standstill. Charlie Biggs came to the area in 1920 and was a farmer. Farming was and always has been a hard way to make a living in the upper Nehalem Valley and he came upon a way to make his land and acreage pay. In 1926 he helped start up and operate the valley’s first golf course, on his land. Another thing that Charlie should be remembered for, is that he is the last of the World War One veterans who lived in Vernonia. Hanging in the museum is a framed certifi cate dated 23 Oct. 1917, with the name May nard Grunden on it. It is a certificate for Grun- den’s promotion to “Sergeant of the National Army of the United States” . It is tagged with a note stating that he was “the first deceased member of Vernonia Barracks 2525 of World War One,” but does not give the year of his passing. But he was a Veteran all the same! There are a few other reminders of veter ans on display, too, a few items belonging to a man who was in the war between the states in the 1860s; photos of some of the Civil War veterans who settled this valley after the war. There are some pictures, a uniform and per Sum m er Hours (June through Sept.): Thursday through Saturday noon to 4:00 p.m. Sundays, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. For appointments or information, phone Vernonia Sentry Market Need July Picnic Supplies? Yankee Doodle down to Vernonia Sentry for all of Your Picnic Needs! MANUFACTURER COUPON | E X P IR E S J U L Y 1, 1 9 9 4 Parents, friends and repre sentatives of social service agencies and schools cele brated fam ilies’ accomplish ments at the end of the first year of the Even Start Family Literacy program . C elebra tions were held at Vernonia Head Start, St. Helens High School and Rainier Methodist Church. The program , a part of C o m m un ity A ctio n Team, Inc., provides adult educa tion, and help with job search, life skills and parenting skills for Columbia County families w ith child ren ages birth to eight years. Parents improve their own basic skills, while they learn about child devel opment and parenting. They also learn how to becom e more actively and positively involved as a partner with the p u b lic s ch o o ls and many spent a number of hours as volunteers in their children’s classrooms. Classes are held at St. He lens High School, Vernonia Head S ta rt and R a in ie r Methodist Church. Most of the parents enter the program to earn a GED, but some adults who have high school diplomas partici pate to im p ro ve rea ding , math, writing and problem solving skills to help them- COLCO SCHEDULE Mondays - Portland, Bea verton Tuesdays - St. Helens Wednesdays - Forest Grove, Cornelius, Hills boro Thursdays - St. Helens Local trips available Mon day through Friday. C all one day in a d va n ce . The num ber is 429-3912 fo r de parture tim e s , re s e rv a tio n s or more information. V ■ selves compete successfully for jobs. Adults from the 33 families involved in Even Start com pleted the following steps to ward self-reliance: • Seven earned GED cer tificates. • Six more have taken and passed some of the five GED tests. • Six en te re d o th e r jo b tra in in g or e d uca tion p ro grams. • Five registered to vote for the first time. • Nine became employed. • One was removed from public assistance. • E ight re ce ive d lib ra ry cards. • Seven got their driver’s li censes. • Eight sought counseling. • Sixteen signed up for the Oregon Health Plan. • Fourteen earned First Aid and CPR cards. • Seven earned Food Han dler’s cards. • Seven found housing or improved housing. • Two fa m ilie s e n ro lle d their special needs children in early intervention services. Even S tart is fun de d through the Oregon Depart ment of Education with a fed era l g ra nt, w ith a d d itio n a l support from the Colum bia County Commission on Chil dren and Fam ilies, U nited Way of Columbia County and a variety of community orga nizations, school districts and social service agencies. The program staff is com posed of Coordinator Cathy Lindsley, Fam ily A d voca te Phyllis Castle and Adult Edu c a tio n S p e c ia lis t B a rb ara Kern. Families interested in be ing a part of Even Start in the fall, may cal, 556-3736. Com munity groups interested in having a speaker on family lit eracy and Even S tart may call the same number. SWIM LESSONS IN VERNONIA AT 64 OZ. APPLE JUICE CEDAR RIDGE Save 40 C TREE TOP 100% JUICE (Larry Steele Basketball Camp) Retailer: Tree Top will reimburse you lor the lace value, plus 8 t handling, provided you redeem it on products indicated Any other use constitutes fraud Invoices sup porting purchases may be requested Coupon may not be assigned or trans ferred Customer must pay any sales tax Void where taxed or regulated by law. Good only in U S A. Cash value 1/100 cent. For redemption mail to: Tree Top. Inc., P 0. Box 870149 El Paso, Texas 88587-0149 Limit one coupon per purchase Good From: June 22,1994 To: Good O nly At: ©1994 Trw Top. Inc TWO WEEKS — JULY 18TH - 29TH July 1,1994 Vernonia Sentry 28700 115257 Commuters — Spend your travel time engrossed in a good book! 21st Sentry Video has the five top books from the New York Times Best Seller List, also self-help and motivational tapes. 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