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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1995)
MUSEUM PIECE JUMP From page 6 area was hom esteaded by Bergersons and Bergersons still live there. Kist School is still there, to o , rem o de le d beyond recognition. Across the road from the school was an old barn that fell down a couple of years ago and was recent ly rem oved. The barn had been b u ilt of hand-hew n wood, then, in the 1930s had an addition build of railroad ties from a railroad line follow ing the Nehalem River, that had been b u ilt by B e ave r Logging. More on this subject next month. S enior C itizen mem bers Lyle and Elsie Taylor ce le brated their 50th wedding an niversa ry at the cen ter on June 10th, sharing a pot luck dinner with family members and about 60 friends. The T aylo rs w ere wed June 4, 1945, in Baker City, where they spent the first 17 years of th e ir m arriage. In 1962 they m oved to S h er wood; then to Jewell in 1979. They finally settled on a hay and cattle spread on Timber Road in Vernonia in 1985. They are both involved in the activities of the center; Lyle serves on the board of directors and they both spend many hours working on cen ter projects. Elsie will repre sent the center as a princess on the My Fair Lady Court at the C olum bia C ounty Fair. One of the five princesses will be selected as Queen, reign ing over activities of the fair. The T aylors have tw o sons, three grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Levi V inson, long tim e leader at the center, suffered a broken hip in a fall at his home. He is recovering, ac cording to spokesperson Nel lie Tipton, but is still hospital ized at St. Vincent Medical Center. . Trips scheduled for July in clude a visit to Wild Life Sa fari on July 8 and to Mt. Hood and Multnomah Falls on the 22nd. Birthdays in July are: 1, Margret Berndt; 6, Isabel Cul bertson; 12, Marge Trahan; 14, Lyle Taylor; 20, John Steele; 22, Hazel Shipman and Ruth Tandy; 29, Ethel Bartles; 30, Scotty Weimer. Godspell will open in St. Helens Vernonia lifeguard Stewart Johnson is a senior at Eastern Oregon State Col lege. The Shoestring Communi ty Players present six perfor mances of Godspell: A Musi cal Based Upon The Gospel A cc o rd in g to St. M atthew , with music and new lyrics by Stephen S chw artz. P e rfo r mances will be July 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 at 7:30 p.m. and July 9 at 2:30 p.m ., in O lm scheid Auditorium, St. Helens High School. C hurch of J esus C hrist of L atter D ay S aints G race R eformed B aptist C hurch F irst C hristian C hurch Bob E. Holbrook, Branch President 1350 E. Knott Street Vemonia, 429-7151 D.J.Dickey, Pastor Grant & North Streets Vemonia, 429-1919 or 429-8720 Sacrament Meeting, Sunday 10 a.m. Sunday School & Primary 11:20 a.m. Sunday School, All Ages 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Evening Worship 6:00 p.m. Relief Society, Priesthood and Young Women, Sunday 12:10 p.m. Wed. Prayer Meeting, 7:00 p.m. A ssembly of G oo F irst B aptist C hurch Michael Jackson, Pastor 662 Jefferson Vemonia, 429-6353 John Cahill, Pastor 952 Washington Avenue Vemonia, 429-1161 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Evening Service 6:00 p.m. Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Bible Study 6:00 p.m. Women’s Bible Study, 1st & 3rd Mon. 7:00 p.m. Women’s Ministry, alt. Wed. 7:00 p.m. Visitation, Monday 7:00 p.m. Bible Study, Wednesday 7:00 p.m. S t . A ugustine (C anterbury ) E piscopal C hurch The Rev. Robert Grafe, Vicar 700 Adams Ave. Vemonia 429-1860 Sunday Services, 10:00 a.m. F oursquare C hurch Dick Halaas, Pastor 410 North Street Vemonia, 429-6522 Sunday School 9:40 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Children's and Junior Church Evening Service 6:00 p.m. Ladies' Bible Study, Mon. 7:30 p.m. Women's Fellowship, 2nd & 4th Wednesdays, 1:30 p.m. Every Wednesday: Lades' Bible Study, 9:15 a.m. Evening Bible Study, 6:30 p.m. Choir Practice, 7:30 p.m. Pastoral Administrator Joan Dotter Ass't. Administrator Lani Vandehey 960 Missouri Avenue Vemonia, 429-8841 St. Vincent dePaul Society Irish Bruers, 429-7201 Grant Williams, Pastor 957 State Avenue Vemonia, 429-6790 Mass Schedule 2nd & 4th Sundays 4 Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Children's Church w/Nursery Evening Fellowship 6:00 p.m. Nursery Care AWANA, Wed. 7:00 p.m. Prayer Meeting, Wed. 7:00 p.m. Adult Bible Studies, Mon. 7:00 p.m. The Churches of Vernonia Welcome You By Charles Comstock A teacher once instructed students to write about the senses of sight and sound so the reader could share the same feeling and awareness of those senses. Not so easy sometimes. In the early to mid 1930s, Vemonia was a rather quiet town with the bare essentials of business activity struggling for exis tence. The McDonald, Vernonia and Nehalem Hotels, though open for business, were often unoccupied. Cash purchases of gasoline at Treharne’s ‘filling station” were infrequent and then usually for two or three gallons. The door to the bank building had not been unlocked for several years yet, through the win dow, deposit and withdrawal slips could be seen on the counters as though it was business as usual — it certainly wasn’t. The WPA and CCC had a couple projects underway out of town where a few men were working, but that did little to reduce the number of occupants spending their idle days in the town’s pool halls wishing they could be elsewhere. By comparison, a kid for tunate enough to have a nickel to spend could buy a whole bag of candy. When that eerie siren sounded one blast for the nine o’clock curfew, the streets were already empty except for a few folks interrupting the monotony of the times by watching a sec ond-rate Western at the Joy Theater. That’s the way things were in our town during the depth of the depression. In 1936, there was a change toward better times. While the country as a whole was just beginning to see a bit of light at the end of the long tunnel, Vernonia had its modern sawmill and available timber to provide lumber to the world. The re-opening of Oregon American’s mill brought economic life back to our community. Thus, the sounds of opportunity once again became familiar and joyful to our ears. The morning whistle at the mill meant that men were working again and the wages earned could buy food at the local grocery store, pay the past due rent and even order new overalls or a pair of shoes from Montgomery Ward’s “wish book” . All through the day, we heard the pulse and heartbeat of the mill across town with the whine of the saws and the purr of those octopus like lumber carriers as they moved forward and back with equal ease to store lumber in the sheds. Indelible, also, was the “choosh” sound of the shredder that prepared the scrap for the giant burner. We soon became accustomed to these noises, not as an annoyance or distraction but as the sounds of opportunity. If they had stopped anytime during the day except for the noon time lunch break, the townsfolk would surely have reacted with concern. All those look-alike houses on OA Hill were occupied once again. The headquarters building for Oregon American at the point on the hill (now the Columbia County Historical Society Museum) had special significance and respect in the community. That is where the payroll for the workers was processed and where many decisions affecting the mill were made. Symbolical ly perhaps, it was the most important building in town! For about twenty-one years, the mill continued to produce some of the finest lumber ever made and, meanwhile, those sounds of opportunity continued to be music to our ears in Ver nonia. Register to vote today S t . M ary ' s C atholic C hurch V ernonia E vangelical B ible C hurch Chris Brush, Pastor 850 Madison Avenue Vemonia, 429-1103 Sunday Services Morning Worship 10:30 a.m. Bible Study, Wed., 6:45 p.m. G o d s p e ll fe a tu re s 16 songs including “Prepare Ye” and "Day by Day” . T ic k e ts fo r a d u lts are $8.00; for seniors and stu dents, $6.00. Tickets may be p u rch a se d in ad van ce at Tony’s Shoes in St. Helens and A lls ta te Insu ran ce in Scappoose. They may also be purchased at the door on the days of the performances. The Sounds of Opportunity Word & Communion Services 1st & 3rd Sundays at 10:00 a.m. Holy Day Services 7:00 p.m. Sacrament of Penance Schedule by Appointment Before or After Mass S eventh D ay A dventist « L e t me analyze your insurance needs with a free Family Insurance Checkup. 9 J JOEL AVINA 52555 N. Col. River Hwy (down from Longfellows) Scappoose Roger Kruger, Pastor, 397-6883 2nd Ave. and Nehalem St. Vemonia, 429-1941 Sabbath School 9:15 a.m. Morning Worship, 11:00 a.m. Tuesday Prayer, 7:00 p.m. STATI FARM 543-7101 1-800-543-5972 IN S U R A N C I State Farm Life Insurance Company Home Office: Bloomington, Illinoia L ike a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®
