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The INDEPENDENT, August 7,1996
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The
INDEPENDENT
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Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published
twice monthly on the first and third Wednesdays of each
month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge
Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper.
Editors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen, (503)
429-9410.
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Jamboree a success
in spite of obstacles
A lot of people said it couldn’t be done, that the com
munity was just too devastated following the February
flood to get the Vernonia Friendship Jamboree togeth
er this year. But those people didn’t count on the en
ergy and dedication of Gwen Milligan and a small -
very small - crew of helpers.
Fortunately, most of the events - softball tourna
ment, cruise in, horse gaming, Alternative Stage, fish
ing derby, logging show, fast draw, black powder ren
dezvous, worship service — have individual commit
tees, but the overall organizing still had to be done.
When it’s done right, and Milligan did it right, it takes
considerable time just to handle the concessions, ob
taining permission for spaces on private property, set
ting a size for concessionaires, checking the contracts
and being sure all regulations are observed.
Then there’s the parade, mailing out entry forms,
getting enough people to keep it organized, getting
qualified judges, putting up No Parking signs, and
more.
It s easy to forget the time involved in arranging for
extra trash cans and trash hauling, obtaining enough
portable toilets, obtaining and putting up signs show
ing the parade route and where events will be held.
And there are always the last-minute changes: This
year it was a change in the parade route because
there was no room to disband behind Washington
Grade School due to construction equipment and piles
of gravel.
While some events couldn’t continue because there
was no place to put them, most notably the teen
dances, one major event was added to the mix - a full
carnival.
The City of Vernonia is to be commended for the
way it really cooperates with Jamboree; many munici
pal governments aren’t so supportive.
Commendations, too, to all of the individual commit
tees for their hard work, but especially to the Jam
boree committee: Milligan, Deborah Colby, Ken
Scramm, Denise Edwards, Martha and Melvin Mc
Namee, and two special helpers, Pat Miles and Bar
ney Phillips.
Just think, some people said it couldn’t be done!
Right idea, wrong name
While trying to honor people, in the recent Jam
boree tabloid, whose special efforts made life a little
safer during the flood, we published the wrong name
for the man who spent a long night keeping the phone
switches dry so we could maintain local communica
tions. That special person was GTE employee Stu
Stephen of Vernonia.
We also missed two people whose efforts have
been invaluable during the recovery period: Audeen
Hanson and Sue Bailey, at the Vernonia Recovery
Center, have the huge task of keeping track of every
body who was flooded and putting them in touch with
the right people to help them back on their feet.
Your efforts are appreciated.
7/V/j SEÆ/cus
G ames ...
J u rr
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By D avid M ichael Jones, member
izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
My cast flipped the black woolly bugger out
among the rocks on the mainstream of the
Umpqua and, as it sank, the smallmouth’s ag
gressive take parted my line. I was fishing on
the Umpqua with Chris Winslow of Winslow’s
Guide Service (541-584-2332) and, as usual,
he was outfishing me about three or four to
one as he is a better fisherman and it was his
water. Part of the credit goes to the fly Chris
was using, the pattern of which I will pass on
in a future column after I clear it with Chris.
But, as Chris said when we we discussed pat
terns to tie before the trip, “Think green for the
immature crawdads with the soft shells that
the smallmouth feed on.” He was kind enough
to let me use his fly and pole as we were tak
ing the boat out behind his house and in four
casts I hooked two of the bronze bass. I think
they were named Sally and Joe and we let
them go to be caught again. Chris also was
kind enough to show me a knot that is new to
me, called the “Salmon Trailer’s Knot” and I
will pass that along in a future column too.
Hopefully this knot will cut down on the number
of fish I lose due to my blood knots parting.
The mystery of the disappearing stoneflies
on Rock Creek in the Nehalem River system
has this writer concerned. For years I have
noticed a decline of the large, robust black
and brown stonefly that was common on Rock
Creek for the 15 years that I have been here. I
have noticed a few of the little yellow stones,
but not many, and certainly not the number
that I’ve seen on the Wilson or the North
Umpqua. I asked some Fish & Game person
nel doing a stream assessment on Rock
Creek to keep their eyes open and the report I
got back was of one adult stonefly and one
nymph. They also mentioned that they were
seeing very few fish, which is something I
have noticed as I wade Rock Creek.
Although mayflies can be more indicative of
stream pollution than stoneflies, I’m not famil
iar enough w ith the various species of
mayflies to know one from the other. The large
stoneflies, on the other hand, have really got
ten my notice while out riding my bike in the
Rock Creek drainage since catching one in
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the face will get your attention. Plus, as a fly-
fisherman, I know how trout can go crazy on
the feed when stoneflies come out. Consider
ing the size of the larger stoneflies, I would
imagine a trout or salmon smolt getting one
for dinner must be similar to a human sitting
down to a Thanksgiving feed. I wonder if the
years of spraying deciduous trees, poisoning
big leaf maple stumps, and using chemical
fertilizers on the commercial tree farms up
stream from Vernonia has contributed to the
decline of the insect populations that are so
crucial to the health and well-being of our na
tive fishes.
The Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission will
deal with fishing regulations during a meeting
coming up in September. The public can still
comment by calling Charlie Corrarino at (503)
872-5252, or write in care of Angling Regula
tions, ODFW, P.O. Box 59, Portland, OR,
97207. A change that would help our fishing
and our fish is to reduce both the daily and
yearly bag limits on salmon and steelhead.
Who really needs two fish a day over twenty
inches, and forty fish a year? At a time when
even the most harvest-oriented sportsmen
must admit that our native fish are in trouble, it
is absurd to encourage the killing of that many
fish. Reducing the bag limit on trout in our run
ning waters and closing smaller streams to be
used for rearing areas for pre-smolt salmon,
steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout would
be a positive step in making sure our children
will have fish in the future. We need to get
over the idea that a stringer of trout is a great
feat - trout are not smelt. Restrictions on the
use of bait would also help the mortality of the
smaller fish caught and released. It is often
the handling of the fish that stresses and kills
it, even if the hook is removed promptly and
as safely as possible. Leaving the fish in the
water as much as possible helps and using
surgical forceps to grasp and turn the barbless
hook without even touching the fish will en
sure the minimum of stress on the fish.
My Uncle Dick is going to take me out for
steelhead flyfishing on the Deschutes River
sometime in the near future, I hope. He has a
summer steelhead fly pattern he calls “Old
Purp that I will pass on in the future when I
Please see page 3
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