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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1994)
The INDEPENDENT, August 10,1994 By Charlene Bechen Banks Library Volunteer Sum m er is fly in g by, and the Sum m er Reading Program is coming to a close. Com pleted reading records may, however, still be turned in through August 31. Those readers who achieved their reading goals will each re ceive a book award. The library is in need of an artistic volunteer who is willing to spend an hour or so a month lettering signs and creating displays. If inter ested, please call the library at 324-1382. The F rien ds of the L ib ra ry-sp o n so re d “Shady Evergreen” quilt will be raffled off at the Banks Barbecue on Sunday, August 21. Raffle tickets are on sale now at the library and will be sold at the barbecue for $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00. Two previous quilt pro jects have raised about $1,000 each. Since the Banks branch is small compared to the cir culation of other Washington County libraries, our portion of funding is less. The proceeds fro m th e q u ilt ra ffle w ill be used by the “Friends” to provide books and supplies that the Banks branch could not obtain through county funding alone. Remember, the second Saturday of each month is Recycle Saturday at the SWATCO Service Yard, 15945 NW Sellers Road, about one block South of the Sunset Highway. The next recycle day is August 13. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Magazines are now accepted, as well as glass, newspapers, aluminum, steel (tin) cans, corrugated cardboard, brown paper bags, motor oil in screw top containers and plastic milk and water jugs. This project not only helps keep our land clean and beautiful, it also raises money to help support the library through the efforts of the Friends of the Li brary. Volunteers are always welcome. Please call Donna McCall at 324-3404 if you can spare a few hours once a month to help out. Have you made the WILI connection yet? Anyone with a personal computer and modem can now access “WILI” , a computerized card catalogue listing more than 290,000 items available at W ashington County public li braries, Tuality Health Information Resource Center and the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts. The system allows the user to search by title, author or subject, reserve wanted it ems, review library card status and search for human services provided in the community. WILI even contains an electronic dictionary and word finder. Brochures with more informa tion are a va ila b le e ith e r at the libra ry or through Washington County Cooperative Li brary Services, PO Box 5129, Aloha, 97006. Libra ry H ours: Wed. and Sat., 10 a .m .4 p.m., Thurs. 1-7 p.m>, Fri., 1-5 p.m, Address: O ak Village Shopping Center, 669 S. Main Street. Phone:324-1382 Hospitality Center a great success To the Editor: The Vernonia Area Cham ber of Com m erce wants to give a big thank you to the following people and organi zations who helped make our H o s p ita lity C e n te r such a s u c c e s s o v e r Jam b ore e weekend: Enid Parrow for baking and calling all the other gourmet cookie makers (the selection was fantastic), Bill Hawkins for the Clarke & Wilson log ging pictures, Guy and Lisa H a rd w ic k , V e rn o n ia M ini Mart, Silva Diaz and the Jam boree Committee, Rose and W ally D ettm ers, D olly and J e rry Keenon, M ary Cota, West Oregon Electric Co-op, Ruth Steers, City of Vernonia, Don Whitchurch, and a very s p e c ia l th a n k s to th o s e Chamber members who gave hours out of their busy sched ules to host the center and show our visitors what a won derful, caring city we are privi Page 3 leged to live in. Thanks also go to any oth ers who helped, even if their names are inadvertently omit ted. Mary Tolonen, President Vernonia Area Chamber of Commerce County Fair was a job well done To the Editor: I would like to congratulate the C olum bia C ounty Fair Board for a job well done. With virtually no tax dol lars, a great amount of volun teer labor, and a strong com mitment, they have made the Fair a success. A big thanks to the Fair Board, staff, volunteers, and business people that made our fair possible. Dale B. Heimuller, Commissioner Columbia County Pearson Park fills every year with family and friends From left are Odell Pearson, Donna and a friend, Ralph Edmonds of Portland. Huge stones line the wall retaining the upper level. A view of the lower terrace of Pearson’s Park. V e rn o n ia ’s F rie n d sh ip Jamboree has, for 38 years, served as a magnet, drawing many of its former residents, in the spirit of reunion with those who stayed on follow ing the closure of the Oregon American mill. One, am ong many such families, is the Barrick family. Melvin “Bear” Barrick and his wife, Luella, with their 2 year old daughter, Donna, moved to V ernonia in 1934. B ear worked in the woods. In 1936 they bought th e ir home on Washington St. and there fol lowed three more child re n - Melba, Dolores and Eldon. Bear eventually wearied of w orking in the w oods and signed on at Ed Miller’s mill, where he worked for 26 years before retiring. The parents and one daughter, M elba, have since passed away. El don now has the fa m ily home. A cross the street and a few paces north of the home, lie s a b e a u tifu l p ro p e rty fronting an Rock creek, which Donna and her husband, O dell P earson, b o u g h t in 1964. It lay fallow for a num ber of years, but a dozen or so years ago Odell began de veloping it. Odell is a heavy equipment operator and con tractor in Tigard and has put his skill and e q uipm e nt to good use in creating a lovely private park, which has be come the locale for family re unions at Jam boree fo r at least a dozen years. A rock ery lines the property at the creek’s edge and the creek bank has been tiered, with massive stones, creating two levels with camping facilities and a barrel stove (unusable during summer months due to fire re strictio n s), that is s u ita b ly la n d s c a p e d w ith plants and flowers. Sharing the facility at this year’s reunion were 32 family m em bers and several p e r sonal friends. The tradition will continue. O dell and Donna have two daughters, five grandchildren and fou r gre a t-g ra n d so n s. You can be sure there will be many more reunions at Pear son’s Park.
