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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1998)
The INDEPENDENT, May 6,1998 Matters to the Editor Between the Bookends By Cecelia Sadtler Volunteer, Banks Library If you haven’t been to the new Banks Public Library, May is a great time to visit. The aisles are roomy, the shelves are brimming with a growing collection of interesting books, large windows let in the bright spring light, and there’s one final program scheduled for the Banks His tory Lecture Series. May 14 is the date for the last historical pre sentation in this year’s series. The history pro grams were made possible through the efforts of the Friends of the Banks Public Library with funding from the Oregon Council for the Human ities, the Banks Area Merchants Association, and the Japanese American Citizens League. The lectures have covered a variety of enjoyable and informational topics about growth in Banks and surrounding communities. Audiences have been very enthusiastic. The final program is titled Banks, A Darn Good Little Town and will be presented by Ann Fulton, author of a book by the same name. Fulton, Adjunct Professor of Histo ry at Portland State University, will follow the for mal lecture and slide show with a general dis cussion. Historical photographs will be on dis play and refreshments will be served. There is no charge for the program which begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Banks Library. Fulton’s interest in depicting life in rural Ore gon is also evident in her authoring of Vernonia, A Pocket in the Woods. This well documented and illustrated volume follows the settlers who arrived in the mid-1870s at the place where the Nehalem River meets Rock Creek. It continues in a stimulating narrative to track the growth and development of the city of Vernonia. The Banks Library has a copy of this book available for bor rowing. New books on the shelves this month are Robert B. Parker’s new thriller Sudden Mischief which has received great reviews in major news papers. Also new is Pandora by Anne Rice. This novel takes the reader through the ages from Imperial Rome to twentieth century Paris and New Orleans with the mesmerizing tale of Pan dora’s fantastic adventures and immortal love. A must-read for Anne Rice fans and all who appre ciate the lessons and insights of history. During May the front desk at the Banks Library is the setting for an interesting display of Tobacco settlement will harm children To the Editor: Let’s step back one moment and take a real look at the multicultural books. The Library has used funds from the Washington County Co-operative Library Services (WCCLS) Multicultural Grant to create a collection of books featuring a variety of rich customs. You can glimpse a peek into the stories, festivals, folklore and rituals of Hispanic, Japanese, Hebrew, and many other peoples. The Library is in the process of expanding their collection of reference materials. There are books about everything from baby names to sci ence, religion to travel accommodations, gar dening, art, fashion and video games. There’s a book about game rules, the New Book of Gui- ness World Records and many, many more. With the convenience of the Library’s photocopy machine you can make copies on the spot at ten cents apiece. The Library has been given a 1997 set of The Thomas Register of American Manufacturers. This valuable resource contains addressee, phone numbers and other information from man ufacturers who elect to register in this guide. If there is a product you’ve been looking for or wondering about, stop by the library and look it up in the Thomas Register. The Banks Library sponsors some events that take place on a monthly basis. Recycling Saturday is organized by the Friends of the Library and will be held this month on May 9. Bring your recyclables to the SWATCO service yard located at 15945 NW Sellers Road between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Another monthly Library event is the meeting of The Banks Writers’ Group on the second Monday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The date is May 11. This is a small group whose purpose is to provide a low key format for developing writ ing skills. Participants are invited to share their writing and to receive sensitive and honest feed back from peers. If you would like more informa tion or would like to join this group please call Cecelia Sadtler at 324-0225. These are just a few of the reasons to put the Banks Library on your ‘to do” list today! Local flyers, news bulletins and copies of The INDE PENDENT are also available. Come by and see us soon. Banks Library 111 Market Street. Hours: Tues, and Thurs., 1 p.m. to 7 Phone: (503 ) 324-1382 Tobacco Industry’s recent balk at a sweetheart settlement. What are they buying, and what is the American Public selling? Here’s a short list: 1. Immunity: The multi-bil lion dollar industry that has lied Mothers come fir s t a t Tonys Shoes... YOUR SANDALS HEADQUARTERS! BIRKENSTOCK GERMAN ENGINEERING FOR YOUR FEET Arizona Page 3 Our entire sandal collection has arrived, with 100s of styles for that perfect gift for Mom. NOW OPEN SUNDAYS 12 PM - 4 PM TONY’S SHOES 1620 Columbia Blvd., St. Helens • Open 9:30-6 Mon-Sat, til 7 Thur. to us for decades, and encour aged our children to smoke is getting immunity. Immunity is protection from being held accountable. Everyday citizens do not get to buy their way out of being responsible, but these corporations do. 2. Profit: This immunity makes for a good profit. Right after this proposed deal was worked out, tobacco stock prices sky rocketed. Why? Simple. It allows this industry to make millions making people ill, all the while knowing that taxpayers will flip the bill as their profits mount. 3. Responsibility: Big Tobac co wants to keep the smoking gun. Reams of documents, just now discovered, show us Big Tobacco knew it was making us sick, but instead of being responsible, it rolled right along, targeting not only adults, but our kids. The bottom line is this: These companies are trying to buy the right to keep on killing our children with an addictive drug. We should not allow any one to buy the right to kill for profit. Very truly yours, Joe Di Bartolomeo Astoria Helpers at Easter Egg Hunt were great To the Editor: As a representative of the Vernonia Area Chamber of Commerce, I’d like to take this time to say how much we appreciate Vernonia Sentry Market for donating all the eggs for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt. When we had excessive breakage in the boiling process, Manager Randy Par- row replaced them with bigger and better eggs. Our bunny helpers were Sharon Doores, Nancy Dailey, Mary, Arnie and Tonya Tolo- nen, Kathy Fetch, Dolly, Jerry and Alaena Keenon, Rob Guinn, Katie Parrow, Bill, Mary and Shelly Cota, Pat Miles, Mary Ann Shaw, Tegan Jones, Dianne Waltrip, Trista Eckland and her friend. The weather held off raining on us and the Easter Bunny had lots of candy to hand out. The kids are so cute, and we look forward each year to their smiling faces. Even though some would rather not sit in the bunny’s lap, most were eager to give a hug, or at least a wave. The volunteers gave of their time and hearts, and we want them to know it was appreciated. Thanks Treharne Cafe for serving us our breakfast. We look forward to next year’s Hunt. Sincerely, Dolly Keenon Vernonia Area Chamber of Commerce Thanks for support of D.A.R.E. program To the Editor: The Vernonia Police Depart ment would like to thank Ver nonia Sentry Market for their donation of $500 to the Ver nonia D.A.R.E. program. This money will be used to pur chase materials for the stu dents’ D.A.R.E. graduation cer emony. We appreciate the gen erous donations from local businesses who support the D.A.R.E. program and help make it a success for our youth. Jim Walters Chief of Police Vernonia Police Dept. Mike Durbin’s efforts are really appreciated To the Editor: The Vernonia Booster Club would like to acknowledge the efforts of Mr. Mike Durbin, Ath letic Director at Vernonia High School. We, the Booster Club, work to raise money to fund activi ties that students in our district are involved in. The activities that we support include, but are not limited to, academic scholarships, financial support to purchase equipment needed for individual students to partic ipate in various athletic activi ties, sports awards dinners, uniforms (T-shirts) for band members, assistance for stu dents traveling to Ashland to see plays, volunteer support for almost any activity when asked: the list goes on and on. Our organization has had one of the most successful years that we can recall. Mr. Durbin has been very involved in keeping us informed of opportunities for us, not only to provide services but where we could possibly make money to further support our students. He attends nearly all of our meetings, which are always in the evenings, even though he does not live in the community and must either drive to Beaverton and return or stay after school until 7:00 pm. Mr. Durbin has been instru mental in several of our suc cessful endeavors and his enthusiastic support of our efforts is very much appreciat ed. Without his cooperation, dedication, support, and sug gestions, we would not have experienced the success that we have enjoyed this year. We would like to take this opportu nity to acknowledge Mr. Durbin’s efforts and to say thank you. We look forward to working with him in the coming years. Vernonia Boosters Great town; great day; great youth! To the Editor: It is 4:38 p.m. on April 18th, as I type this letter. I am tired and want to get this done before I forget the details. On my way home I noticed how wonderful my town looks. I realized that while I was focusing on my own actions today (Vernonia clean-up day), others were accomplishing beautiful improvements in Ver nonia. I could see these imme diately as I drove home. I also realized that what I had been working on would be invisible to most of us. At 9:00 a.m., I met with thir ty-four individuals (if you count Scooter, the turtle) who chose to perform random acts of kind ness in our community— specifically for senior citizens who requested help after it was offered. I got nervous at 9:30 a.m., when I knew that we needed to have forty-seven students to start all the homes and had only twenty-three. After sending out six crews with three or four students each, I made some phone calls and asked those seniors who were going to have to wait, to please be patient. We could only do our best and they agreed. For the next five hours, crews returned and then left again to make sure all the homes would get the help they wanted. Some went out a third time. We had also planned a car wash to benefit The Senior Center if we had a surplus of students but, since we did not, I planned to cancel. At 10:30 a.m., I was speaking with Guy H ardw ick and told him how Please see page 13
