The INDEPENDENT, July 21,1999
Botwocn the Bookends
Letters to the Editor
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia City Library
Readquest, has gotten off to a good start at
Vernonia’s library. Each session has included a
special presentation, a dragon story, and a
theme-related craft. Orissa Burghard has en
tranced youngsters with tales of Custard the
Dragon, The Library Dragon and The Popcorn
Dragon-, Lauri Longoria has had us singing
along to Putt the Magic Dragon and other inter
active songs; Shelley Clines has demonstrated
and aided us in making medieval scent pouch
es, stained glass windows, and castle hats.
These activities have been in addition to Mr. Bob
and his music party and Radical Rose the Mad
Scientist
More fun is in store with the chalk drawing
and ventriloquism presentation on July 22, 1:00
p.m.; an interactive juggling presentation on July
27, 3:00 p.m.; an exciting Medieval Party on Au
gust 5, 1:00 p.m., as well as participation in the
Jamboree Parade. Along with this fun, don’t for
get the “quest for reading” and the certificates
that will be awarded at the Medieval Party for
reading at least 10 books this summer. The “par
ty” will include entering the maze to get to the
castle, going on a dragon hunt, participating in a
jousting contest, finding the king’s treasure,
building a sandcastle to take home, being
dubbed a king, queen, knight, prince or princess
and making a hat to match your new title, and
“feasting” on song and dance and maybe some
thing more substantial. Hawkins Park is the
place for this medieval fun. Sir Read-a-lot’s joke
of the day is posted in the library and today’s is,
“Why is it a bad idea to grab a dragon by the
tail? Maybe it’s his tail, but it could be your end.”
Work on the new library is progressing. It is
looking wonderful inside as well as out. Shelving
for under the windows, a video storage unit, and
a magazine display unit will soon be built; dis
cussion is being held on the best way to deco
rate the children’s area and also on how to
showcase items made by local craftspeople and
artists, and items relating to Vernonia’s unique
history.
Information about the Oregon-American Lum
ber Company and about the train that brought
the logs to the mill was requested just this
month. The writer of this request has some in
teresting memories that I would like to share. His
letter reads:
“After WWII I came to Vernonia and
worked at the Oregon-American Lumber
Co. until the following fall when I returned to
college. After graduation I worked for the
old Long-Bell Lumber Co...... I have fond
memories of Vernonia. I lived at the Ne
halem Hotel which was actually two old
frame hotels sitting on opposite sides of the
street. Mr. & Mrs. Oveson ran it. Of Norwe
gian ancestry and with a priceless accent to
Iks Says. . .
match she was one of the best cooks that
ever lived. The clientele was all loggers and
sawmillers, all hefty eaters and all enthused
by what was set before us...... I’m sitting
here picturing the town and the friends I
worked with. It was a real adventure to me.
That was over 50 years ago. At the time, as
we would ride to Portland, we would see
the huge old stumps of ‘old growth, yellow
Douglas F ir’ that were about 10 feet tall and
about that across that had been ‘jump
butted’ about the time I was born...... look
about you and enjoy the marvelous green.
It’s a beautiful place. And I'm thinking about
Mrs. Oveson’s pot roast with potatoes,
onions, long quartered carrots and thick
brown gravy. French cookery be durned!”
The mill, the train, the logging camps, and the
people who lived and worked here are Vernon
ia’s history. Those of us who are here today are
what Vernonia has become. The new city build
ings are representative of the past, the present
and the future and we hope to have ongoing dis
plays combining Vernonia’s past with contribu
tions by today’s citizens. It is truly a unique place
to live and I hope we don’t need to be reminded
of its marvelous green and of its beauty.
The library has in its collection a number of
books on logging, sawmilling, and the trains as
sociated with these activities. They include pic
tures of logging camps at Keasey, Camp Mc
Gregor, and Rock Creek, of Long-Bell No. 102,
Oregon-American’s No. 11 speeder, and of Ore
gon-American No. 104 after it got away and
wrecked on a spur above Camp Olson. They
also include articles about the end of the era of
railroad logging in 1957 for International Paper
Company in the hills overlooking Keasey, about
Anton Lausmann's East Side Logging Company
and Rock Creek Logging Company. Sam
Churchill’s Don’t Call Me Ma and Big Sam are
available, as are books about the Tillamook
Burn. Fire on the Wind, by Linda Crew, is a book
of fiction written for young adults. It takes place
in August,.1933, and relates the thoughts of Sto-
rie, a logger’s daughter, as the forest she loves
erupts in flames. We also have the video, Some
times a Great Notion. This may not show a com
pletely factual logging operation, but it does give
a good idea of the process.
New novels include Danielle Steel’s Granny
Dan, Ridley Pearson’s The First Victim, Jack
Higgins’ The White House Connection and Eliz
abeth Lowell’s Pearl Cove.
Enjoy the summer, read, and appreciate this
beautiful area in which we live.
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.
Phone: (503)429-1818
WO®
: < " W 42
By Dale Webb, member
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
Yes, vacation time has arrived again. My fa
ther and I took our annual trip to the Snake Riv
er at Oxbow Reservoir. Fishing was our primary
goal and we did a lot of it. We fish for crappie,
catfish and small mouth bass, which must be
turned back at this time of year. The crappie
weren’t as numerous or as big as we have seen
them in years past, yet we consistently filled a
five-gallon bucket by mid-morning. Crappie is
one of the best eating fish that we find in this
state. Bass are usually caught incidentally while
fishing for crappie and you definitely know when
you have a nice one on. We regularly caught
bass in the 2-1/2 pound category.
While cleaning our crappie we save their
guts, which we use for catfish. Rigging up as if
we were fishing for sturgeon, but using lighter
poles, we thread the crappie guts on a single 1-
0 hook, then wrap them with stretchy string. Cat
fish strike very aggressively but are hard to
hook. The action was fairly fast paced with dou
ble hook-ups common. Catfish ranged in size
from one pound up to a ten pounder that I
caught. I wasn’t sure who was going to win that
Page 3
struggle but I finally managed to get the catfish
to the net. Dad tried smoking some of the catfish
we caught this year and they turned out really
good.
Oxbow reservoir is a fairly calm waterway
with one exception; up at the Brownlee Dam it
can be vicious when they are dumping water
over the spillway. The weather is usually very
warm and can get downright hot. The scenery is
beautiful, with luscious, velvety green hillsides
broken up by brown rims and cliffs. Wildlife is
abundant, with mule deer and mountain sheep
being common. One of the biggest thrills of the
trip is watching the sheep run around on the
cliffs or defy traffic on the road. A first for us this
year was when one of our neighbors sighted a
cougar on the Idaho side of the river from our
camp area. So, if you have a yearning for warm
weather and good fishing try the Snake River.
The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
employees involved in the canceled hunt deba
cle have received their punishment. Employees
who were determined to have known their ac
tions were questionable, lost their preference
points gained from last year and their opportuni
ty to draw a tag this year. Employees who held
Please see page 11
Needs of rural fire
districts important
We were glad the weather co
operated quite well that day.
We hope everyone enjoyed the
4th as much as we did.
We would like to thank Pat
and Darlene Knight and their
crew at Lew’s Place for spon
soring the Spaghetti Feed with
all proceeds going to the Fire
works Fund. It was a huge suc
cess.
A thank-you to each and
every one who donated money
for the fireworks. Some came
in checks through the mail,
some collected in jars down
town. A thank-you to Ray Pel-
ster and Don Bruers for collect
ing at the fireworks after the
parade.
The parade: It’s always
good to see so many dressed
up in their red, white and blue,
coming out to be in the parade.
Thank all of you for your time
and effort.
Kathy Brekken, Tim Bam-
burg and your crew for setting
up and setting off our fireworks
display. The fire department,
the police department and the
ambulance crews for being
there with your support and
help. A big thank you to all of
you.
Thank you to the boys of
Cub Scout Pack #201 and their
leader, Shelly Clines, for pick
ing up litter at the school
grounds the morning after our
4th of July celebration.
A big thank-you to everyone
who in some way helped make
our Fourth of July a success.
We have only one negative
thing to say...Please leave
your own fireworks at home
next year. Thank you.
Open letter to Gov. Kitzhaber
and the Oregon legislature:
I write as an individual, and
not as a representative of any
organization. I write to try and
protect the local fire service. As
are the rest of the men and
women who volunteer, Vernon
ia’s are the best of the best—
completely willing to risk their
lives to protect their neighbors
from fire, to assist the medics
in case of wreck or illness. Yet
these people have lives to
lead. Their lawns have to be
cut, they have to work for a liv
ing, they would like to go to
their kids’ school activities.
When the state demands ever
more time to comply with well-
meant laws and directives
about safety and certification,
there comes a point when try
ing to help, to volunteer, just
loses out.
Each required inoculation,
each class on wildland fires,
each re-certification, each test
of the self-contained breathing
apparatus, each form or ques
tionnaire to fill out, takes time.
Each, individually, is a well-
meant attempt by the state to
promote safety, etc. But cumu
latively, the effect is to prevent
people from volunteering, and
to chase them out if they do
join. This is not a local prob
lem. Across the country, all vol
unteer associations are having
trouble. One of Vernonia’s
neighboring districts is down to
one volunteer, and he couldn’t
respond if there was a fire, be
cause the law says one man
may not.
Enid Parrow, Member
Vernonia Pride
When my house is on fire,
am I better off with a few guys
who show up with a truck and a Golf tournament a
hose, or with Certified, Guar
anteed, State-Approved No big help for shelter
body? And Nobody...no re
sponse...is the other option. To the Editor:
A great big THANK YOU to
Vernonia can’t afford a million
everyone
who helped make
dollars annually for paid, pro
our First Annual Golf Tourna
fessional fire service.
Are people today less car ment a success! The Starting
ing, less concerned than they Place, our brand new shelter
were a generation ago? I don't for victims of domestic vio
think so. The well-intentioned, lence, is definitely off to a great
counterproductive bureaucra start because of all the con
cy, the state’s requirements of cerned people and businesses
safety and standard proce in the county who gave of their
dures go hand-in-hand with the time, money and services.
Our heartfelt thanks also go
lack of volunteers. It isn’t as if
to
the
terrific people at the Vic
we were in bad shape, safety-
wise. I believe the’ insurance tim Assistance Office and the
statistics show Oregon to be Courthouse. Their shower for
the best in the country for vol- The Starting Place was a great
idea, and all the gifts were very
unteer safety.
Nevertheless, we do need much needed and appreciated!
We could not have gotten to
to resist creeping demands on
the
point of soon opening our
the time of our volunteers.
shelter without all the help that
Frazier Rohm is continuing to pour in from the
Vernonia community. Thank you to a
whole bunch of wonderful peo
4th of July parade, ple.
fireworks were great
To the Editor:
The 4th of July in Oregon.
Cathy McClanahan
Executive Director
Columbia County
Women’s Resource Center
POUCT ON LETTERS
The INDEPENDENT welcomes readers* letters, but all let
ters must be signed and include a verifiable address and
telephone number, though the address and phone number
will not be printed.