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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1995)
Page6 The INDEPENDENT, Sept. 13,1995 Lignell-Ferguson vows celebrated A wall of maple and wild plum trees served as a natu ral backdrop for the wedding of Sharon Lignell and Alan Ferguson on Aug. 26 in an o u td o o r cerem ony at the home of the bride’s parents, Dirk and Noni Andersen of Vernonia. S heldon Ferguson, the groom’s brother, flew in from C alifornia to serve as Best the groom, provided vocal se lections. The bride’s brother, Clark McGaugh, served as usher. Following the ceremony, guests attended a reception in the banquet room of The Sidetrack Restaurant. In addition to other guests, more than forty family mem bers from three states joined in the celebration, including Museum Piece x ? -. By Robb Wilson, Curator Columbia County Historical Society Museum Have you ever been up in the woods trying to find an old logging or homestead, only to find nothing or, at best, a few scattered boards or some concrete?The places may be on old maps, but often the only proof of their exis tence is a few scraps or the stories of old timers. What were once thriving places are now obscure. Some summer State Forestry workers visit ed the museum recently, seeking tangible evi dence for many sites that have been over grown with trees and brush. Some that were as large as Camp McGregor have little to prove they were once there. Sometimes, the remains of an old trestle that crossed a small canyon is the only proof that a railroad passed through a particular location, but nothing was written down to document the route. In past articles, I have discussed old build ings, some sites and their history. The problem is when those who remember are gone, un less their recollections are written down, the history is gone, also. Now let’s take a look at some northwest Washington County areas. I recently received an old photograph show ing a tall tree that had been made into a flag pole in front of the Timber grade school. I’ve been to Timber many times, but do not know where the old school was. In the late 1920s, when the photograph was taken, Timber was a thriving community, primarily due to the rail road. It produced a rich history but most of it has been forgotten and there are very few people left to share it. There must be someone out there with a book in them about Timber, Strassel, Hay ward, Buxton, Manning, Sherman Mills, Snoo- seville Corners or Scofield. z.w.v. Scofield once had a very large wood prod ucts mill called and operated by, I think, Stan dard Box. They produced a variety of products and employed many men. Descendents of many of those families still live in the area but seem to know little about the operations of that period. The only evidence of the mill’s exis tence are some concrete blocks still standing where they were poured in the late 1920s. Buxton was also a thriving area. Even I re member when there was a store there! Up Mendenhall Creek, there was a big fam ily- owned sawmill with a dammed up creek mak ing a mill pond. There were also many homes and other buildings. The fam ily may have been the Elwoods, but it’s all gone now. The other communities mentioned are the same way-very little has been written down and saved. Oregon Geographic Names pro vides some insight, but not a complete history. I would also like to gather information and photos of some of the eateries that once thrived on the Sunset Highway in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Who remembers eating the best chicken dinner at Gaddy’s? Or sitting down to a good breakfast in the “streetcar diner” by the old Rocket Gas Station? I don’t even know the name of the place. Remember getting off the bus at Staley’s, then having a piece of pie? Remember the “neon” at Dingheiser’s? What about the Runnel Cafe and the one at Tim- ber/Vernonia junction? If you have any information, photographs or history to share on any of the things I’ve touched on, give me a call or stop in soon, be fore your personal knowledge is lost. W inter Hours (October through May): Friday and Saturday noon to 4:00 p.m. S u nd ays, 1:00 to 4 :0 0 p.m . or by appointment. Phone 429-3713. ¡shop Levada says mass at St. Mary’s Man. Jo Kelly of H illsboro was the Matron of Honor. Additional attendants in cluded the bride’s children, Robert Lignell as ring bearer and Melody Lignell as flower girl. The double ring ceremony was performed by the father of the groom, Merle Fergu son. Tamara and David Turner, sister and brother-in-law of the groom’s parents, Merle and Caroline Ferguson and Shirley and Dennis Cahill, all of Kingsburg, Calif. The new Mrs. Ferguson is employed by the Oregon De partm ent of Human R e sources, St. Helens office. The groom’s employer is Eric Luscier C onstruction, with headquarters in Vancouver Wash. Program set to help smokers quit The public is invited to an eight session Breathe-Free Stop-Sm oking C linic to be held on the following dates: Tuesday 9/19, Thursday 9/21, Sunday through Thursday 9/24-9/28 and Tuesday 10/3. The classes will start at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the Vernonia Senior Citizen Cen- ter, 446 Bridge Street. The stop-smoking clinic is a nationally successful pro gram de veloped over 40 years ago. It is sponsored by the Vernonia Seventh-Day Adventist Church. For transportation or for more inform ation call 429- 4873, 429-6161 or 429-1941. o e X tlO rM G W * Two busloads of seniors from Vernonia Senior Center will attend the Bamum & Bai ley C ircu s in P o rtla n d on Thursday. On Septem ber 22, there w ill be an e x c u rs io n to Beaverton Mall and on the 26th the local center will en tertain seniors from Columbia County’s other senior centers, at lunch. The Doll Club will convene for their first meeting of the The pews at St. M ary’s Catholic Church were full as Bishop Levada said mass on Aug. 20. His visit was tw o fold, to make a pastoral visit and to acknowledge the fif tee n-p lus years of service Joan Dotter had given to the parish, ten of those years as Pastoral Administrator. D otter’s accom plishm ent was especially noteworthy, as she was the first lay person in Oregon, and among very few in the nation, to be appointed to this position. •In the years Dotter served without a resident priest, the parish functioned fully, with all administrative pastoral needs fulfilled. Parishioners grieved the loss when she left to take a management position in a dy- Samuel J. Goodman w inter season on the 27th and on the last Wed. of the month thereafter. Currently the center is ad ministering a survey of mem bers for suggestions concern ing the c e n te r’s food p ro gram. Results of the survey will be published in the next issue of The INDEPENDENT. S eniors are in vite d to spend Thursday afternoons at the center as Game Day resumes for the season. Samuel James Goodman was bom August 15, 1995, at Tuality Hospital in Hillsboro. He weighed 8lbs. 15oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. His parents are Ben and Tami Goodman of Vernonia, they have one other child, Sara. G randparents are Elmer Goodman of Vernonia, Carole F ranklin of W alla W alla, W ash., and Jack and Pat Agee of Athena. namic young company. Bishop Levada appointed Lani Vandehey as Pastoral A dm inistrator and also an nounced the assignment of a priest for Sunday Masses. Fr. Ron Millican will say his first mass at St. M ary’s on Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. Religious education classes for youth will be held at 9:00 a.m. 25th St. Mary’s Quilt Fair scheduled The 25th Quilt Fair of St. M ary’s Catholic Church will be held Sept. 21-24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, at 960 Mis souri Avenue, Vernonia. Som e 250 q u ilts w ill be displayed at the “Church built of scraps,” many of them for sale, others on display for ex hibit only. There will also be custom- built wood articles, both utili tarian and decorative, apparel and gift items for sale. Lunch w ill be available, with two homemade soups each day, plus salads, freshly baked rolls and pies. The public is invited to at tend th is e xcitin g annual event. Worried about the cost? Tuality Healthy Start: ■ Appointments available at the Vernonia Health Center ■ Personal visits with a certified nurse-midwife ■ Prenatal care, hospital delivery and follow-up care ■ No one turned away because of inability to pay C all 359-9523 Accepting private-pay clients, most major traditional insurance carriers, many managed-care plan members, and certain Oregon Health Plan participants. Vernonia Health Center 854 Grant Avenue
