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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1999)
The INDEPENDENT, April 21,1999 Page 3 Lottors to tha Editor ■ By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia City Library This lovely sunny Saturday morning, April 17, as I rode my bicycle to work on the Linear Trail, I marveled at the remarkable surroundings and activities that make Vernonia such a great place to live. There is hardly ever a time when at least someone and usually several people are seen enjoying the trail. This morning I met some youngsters on bicycles and a group of gentle men who were picking up trash as they walked. The trilliums were in bloom and the air smelled heavenly. Then, to be seen, at the south end of town were the nearly framed library and city hall buildings. This is really exciting and the latest word is that construction is proceeding “on schedule" with a possible date for making the move to the new buildings being mid-August. Dan Brown was out working on his new building. Sidewalks were being swept and hosed, flowers were being planted and weeded in the sidewalk containers as the annual clean-up day was in progress. A group of motorcyclists waved as they rode peacefully through town. There is so much more that could be mentioned, but this morning was such a positive example of what our community is all about that I just had to write about it. Plans are being made for the upcoming Sum mer Reading Programs, with this summer being the last that these sessions will need to be held in sites other than the library. The idea this year is that we will have probably three performers and another couple of activities (activities and presentations to be geared so they can be en joyed by all ages) and just have as much fun as we can. Thursday afternoons are being consid ered for the activities, which will probably begin in late June and end in early August with the Jamboree parade. If you would like to offer your ideas or help, please contact the library. The May/June issue of Reminisce features the year of 1959 in its “Fond Flashbacks”. Since this happens to also commemorate the fortieth year since my husband (who, then, drove a Studebaker) and I graduated from high school, it brought to mind some fond memories. It was the year that Wilt Chamberlain made his profession al basketball debut with the Philadelphia War riors and that Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates became a star when TV’s “Rawhide” premiered. Hit songs from the year included “Kookie, Kook ie” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”; top box office stars included Cary Grant, James Stewart, Doris Day and Debbie Reynolds; and top television shows included “Gunsmoke”, “Wagon Train”, and “77 Sunset Strip". Pedal pushers and below-knee length skirts were be ing worn and “flat tops” and brogans were still in style. Do any of these bring back fond memories for you? If so, or if you just enjoy reading about the past and seeing some wonderful pictures of bygone days, Reminisce is available in the li brary on a regular basis, as only one of the 25 periodicals that the library has available for its reading public. Others include Seventeen, Dirt Rider, Country Living, Family Fun, Parenting Good Housekeeping, Crafts, Country Woman, Better Homes and Gardens, and Consumer Re ports. . ■ . . . . ............ ........... I Two books that I would like to recommend this month are both mysteries. They are Blood & Water, by San Francisco attorney Lori Fair- weather, and Suspicion, by Barbara Rogan. In Blood and Water, Fran Estes is accused of killing her twin sister, Sid. Following a drunken argument, after which Fran blacks out, her sis ter’s car is found smashed on the beach below the jagged cliffs over which it plunged. When she regains consciousness, Fran discovers her sister’s blood on her clothes and she has no rec ollection of the previous evening. Since she is also beneficiary of a $500,000 life insurance pol icy payable in the event of her sister’s death, the evidence mounts against her. As Fran follows leads pointing to other possible suspects, which include Sid’s boyfriend, a local bartender and even her own husband, she finds her own life in danger and it isn’t until the very last pages that the killer (killers?) and motive are revealed. Suspicion tells the story of Emma Roth who, with her husband, Roger and son, Zach, have moved from New York City to an old Victorian mansion overlooking Long Island Sound. Emma, a prolific author, finds changes are being made in her latest manuscript while she is as saulted by feelings of someone else’s presence in certain areas of the mansion. As she investi gates the strange history of the house, the an niversary date of an auto accident in which she was involved and in which a man and his daugh ter were killed, looms. As Emma finds her home invaded, her family threatened and her sanity questioned, this tale builds to a thrilling conclu sion. New acquisitions include The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve, Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King, Bittersweet by Danielle Steel, The Color of Night by David Lindsey, and A New Song by Jan Karon. Another interesting new acquisition is Oregon Trivia compiled by Ted Magnuson. This includes sections about the geography, entertainment, history, arts and literature, sports and leisure, and science and nature of Oregon. It is written in question and answer form and covers a variety of interesting facts about Oregon. Down the Hill is a new book that will be of in terest to those of us who live in a logging com munity. Even though this book is written about logging in the state of Washington, it contains terms, folklore, photographs, poems, etc. that tell the history of the timber industry in the Pacif ic Northwest. Written Roy Stier, this book re flects his love of the woods, from backpacking, to working as a managing forester and logging engineer for St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Compa ny The photographs in this book in themselves, make this a must for anyone interested in log ging of the past. Enjoy your wonderful community, continue to read and keep watching the progress of the new library. Vernonia Library 919 Bridge Street. Hours: Mon. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Wed. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Fri. 1-5 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. 4xz -'x x Phone: (503)429-1818 To the Editor: Even though the snow flakes fell, it didn’t dampen the spirits of the anxious children April 3rd at the Annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Vernonia Area Chamber of Commerce. Approximately 275 children showed up to gather eggs and see the Easter Bun ny. Vernonia Sentry donated 115 dozen eggs and our thanks go out to Chuck, Gor don and Randy for their contin ued donations. Curt Poetter, Nancy Dailey, Brenda Gooch, Sharon Parrow, Katie Poetter, Shelly Cota, Diane Waltrip, Cat Ross, Schann Nelson, Mary Tolonen, Tonya Tolonen, and the West Oregon Electric crew Darlene McLeod, Glenda Raney, Mary Dolbow, Carla Strand and Jana Borst boiled and dyed eggs. Schann Nel son’s daughter and friend Rose Peets colored eggs and helped hide also. Sounds like they had a great time and plan on helping us again next year. Jerry and I recruited our survey crew and families, the Wal laces, Monnins, Vance Swen son and Marci, to help color 15 dozen eggs. We got out the paint and brushes and the cre ativity and enthusiasm flowed. Two of the newest Chamber members, LV Schoonover and Mario Leonetti, jumped right in and offered their input. Mario donated some pizza coupons to be hidden in some plastic eggs along with the rest. LV helped hide eggs and even made our announcements to the crowds with the mega phone the city let us use. The morning of the hunt, our egg hiders met at Mario’s for break fast and then headed down to the park to rope off the areas and begin hiding eggs. As usu al, some of our best helpers showed. Bill and Mary Cota along with grandchildren Kyle and Kristen Cota, Arnie and Mary Tolonen, Bob and Diane Waltrip, Alaena and Rob Guinn, Nancy Dailey, Ray and Shelly Cota, LV Schoonover, Tegan Jones and Mary Ann Shaw joined Jerry and me in the cook shack to wait out the snow. The weather always seems to clear long enough for the hunt, and give us a chance to enjoy the event. This year two young ladies stepped for ward and volunteered to help out. Thank you Brandi Abney and Heather Findley. We hope to see you next year. Your help was greatly appreciated. Ver nonia never fails to step up and join in to help make projects such as this a success. I’m looking forward to another great time in the year 2000, as the Easter Bunny hops our way again. Sincerely, Dolly Keenon Vernonia Area Chamber of Commerce made it on top fine but, as we started down a draw, we no ticed the remnants of a snow bank...this is when the bottom fell out of the road. We had ex perienced these conditions be fore and made a hasty retreat. The ground was so soft that when I stepped out of my pick up to lock the hubs, I sank in al most up to my ankles. Back on the valley floor we saw what looked like a better road going up onto the plateau to the south. After climbing over a very rough goat trail, we reached a road that was better, but lightly traveled. We climbed up on the south plateau, head ing to what we would hoped would be the main road to Frenchglen. The road was wet from recent snow melt, but wasn’t as soft as the other road. I was in the lead and came up against a snowdrift; I could see a road sign on the ridge above the drift so I start ed punching my way through the deeper snow. I had to hit it three times to get through and reach the ridge top. Disap pointment greeted us when the road sign indicated we had a long way to go on a road that was full of snow drifts and soft mud. We decided that we were licked, turned around and headed the 35 miles back to Rabbit Basin. The boys want ed to go fishing again at Anna Please see page 5 [The following letter, dated March 16, 1999, was sent to Vernonia High School last month. It is re printed here with permission of the author.] Vernonia teens are winners in real life To the Editor: Last week I took my wife to the airport to get a flight. While waiting with her, I became aware of a group of young men and women waiting to take the same flight. Some of the group were playing cards, others were sitting in groups quietly conversing. It was clear they were headed somewhere as a group and I recall thinking that I hoped my own children had represented themselves as ad mirably at the same age. The more I watched, the more impressed I became with this group of youths. I finally asked one of the adults that appeared to be traveling with them. I was told this was the Vernonia High School cross country team and they were on their way to Hawaii. I continued to notice this exemplary group of young people until they boarded their flight. My wife lat er told me she had seen the same group in Los Angeles and on the flight to Hawaii and every one of them continued to conduct themselves in an ex cellent manner. I don’t know how this team did in competition this year but it’s obvious Vernonia High School has a winning cross country team. Sincerely, William M. Holman Camas, Wash. Snow stopped for the Easter Egg Hunt .................................................................. «.......................... Iks Says By Dale Webb, member Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter (This is part 2 of Ike Says, from April 7, continuing the tale of a hunting, fishing and exploring trip to southeastern Oregon by Dale Webb, Ken Enneberg and their teenage sons.) We decided to head back to Rabbit Basin after dinner since it had the best hunting opportu nity. We also wanted to explore the upper reaches of Warner Valley and try to get out of the valley over to Frenchglen. It was dark going up from the bottom of the valley so we pulled up to a large corral, where we camped for the night. We awoke in the morning to a .... .................-..................... serenade of cows mooing at these strange objects next to their water hole. We hadn’t seen the water hole when we parked. After breakfast we headed up the valley and soon were driving through a field of large boulders sitting at the base of cliffs that formed an im posing plateau above. Some of the boulders were so huge that their round shape provided a nice shelter. I found a large piece of obsidian and was telling the boys that Indians had probably packed the arrow head material into the val ley...then Mike found a piece of obsidian embedded in one of the huge boulders. As we were climbing back into our pickups, a couple of F- 16 fighter jets flew high over head. Then there was the thun derous roar of another F-16 banking hard, high above us and we were suddenly watch ing a spectacular dog fight be tween four F-16s as they wres tled in the sky for electronic kills. We were surprised when a bright light was emitted from the back of the lead jet. It was ejecting flares as it twisted in the sky in an attempt to elude the pursuing jet. This was quite a show of modern technology high over an ancient land. The road was becoming narrower and, reaching a junc tion, we decided to try to get up on the plateau to the north. We
