^ O jd o rït miss th e
hunt
b ig c
It takes hours and hours of
work to hard boil, dye and
hide Easter Eggs. It takes the
kids about 15 minutes to fin
ish the hunt, so...
The annual Vernonia East
er Egg Hunt in Anderson
Park will be on Saturday,
April 22.
Children will be divided by
age groups and directed to
the appropriate area of the
park. The hunt will start
promptly at 10:00 a.m., with
the youngest group starting
first so parents can assist
toddlers. Older children will
be started soon thereafter.
In addition to Easter Eggs,
youngsters will be hunting for
plastic eggs with prizes in
side. Leonetti’s Pizza and
Grill
has
in
creased the num
ber of gift certifi
cates that will be
tucked inside the plastic
eggs this year.
Following the hunt, the
Easter Bunny will have can
dy and goodies for the par
ticipants.
The Easter Egg Hunt is
sponsored by the Vernonia
Area Chamber of Com
merce. All of the helpers are
volunteers.
Community
Auction!!.... .
Page 11
BULK RATE
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 37
Vernonia, OR 97064
1299 University Of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97400-1299
“ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Voi. 15, No 8
PHOTO BY JUDY HILL
Happy members of the Rose City Motorcycle Club are ready to return home after deliv
ering their annual donation to Vernonia Cares. For more information, see page 17.
School board eases penalty to
student who had gun at school
IEP team - teacher, counselor,
administrator and parents -
met to consider the situation.
The team, with the exception of
the parents, Don and Juanita
Dennis, concluded that his
learning disability was not a
factor in the situation.
Superintendent Larry Mc
Clellan expelled the student for
the remainder of the school
year, with a home tutor ten
hours per week, and imposed
probation until February, 2001,
the remainder of the one year
period.
During the hearing, the par
ents insisted that ADD was a
contributing factor, and that
their son’s self-esteem would
be seriously damaged, exacer
bating emotional problems, if
he had to remain on probation
when he returned to school.
The board agreed with the par
ents and deleted the period of
FREE
April 19, 2000
Make Vernonia Shine
with annual clean-up
Nice day for a ride...
State law allows an auto
matic one-year expulsion of
any student who brings a
weapon to a school. Policies
adopted by the Vernonia
School Board allow that penal
ty, but also allow the superin
tendent to consider mitigating
circumstances and impose a
lesser penalty.
In a public hearing request
ed by his parents, all parties
agreed that Vernonia High
School junior Brandan Dennis
took a gun onto the school
grounds in February; they also
agreed that he had done so in
advertently, leaving the wea
pon in his unlocked pickup fol
lowing a target shooting ses
sion the prior day.
Dennis, diagnosed as hav
ing Attention Deficit Disorder
(ADD), is a special education
student with an Individual Edu
cation Program (IEP), so his
Vernonia’s secret
attraction... pg. 14
’o o
probation entirely.
In other business, the board:
• heard a presentation by
Schann Nelson on the status of
the District Improvement Plan.
• adopted the budget calen
dar.
• approved a two year leave
of absence, without pay, for
Mary Miller. Miller and her hus
band have accepted jobs in
Niger, Africa.
• approved the following
coaching positions for Winter
2000-01 - James Brookins,
head wrestling coach; Jeff
Parker, assistant wrestling
coach; Vince Baker, head girls
basketball coach; Jeff Cheney,
assistant
girls
basketball
coach; Bob Bruce, assistant
boys basketball coach. Long
time head boys basketball
coach has informed the school
that he does not intend to
coach next year.
“Make Vernonia Shine” is
the theme of the annual clean
up day in Vernonia— and that is
exactly what community volun
teers plan to do.
Saturday, April 29th from
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., volun
teers of all ages and abilities
are needed, in groups or as in
dividuals. Youth under 10 must
be accompanied by an adult,
and all youth must have a par
ent or guardians’ written per
mission to participate.
Some areas targeted for im
provement this year are Ver
nonia Lake, Hawkins Park, the
new City Hall, swimming area
and various sidewalks about
town.
Plans include brush cutting
and weed-eating unsightly ar
eas, trash and litter pick-up,
helping senior citizens and the
physically challenged with yard
clean up and minor projects,
and planting flowers, trees and
shrubs.
Volunteers should wear
proper shoes and clothing, and
bring gloves, rakes, shovels,
brooms, clippers, or whatever
they prefer to work with. Espe
cially needed this year are
weed-eaters,
brush-cutters,
and some pickups. Volunteers
may choose a preferred site, or
get an assignment on Clean
Up Day at the Health Center
Building.
More adult volunteers are
likely be needed this year. Most
years, youth do a lot of the
work. This year, clean-up day is
the same date as the prom so
fewer students will be able to
volunteer.
If you would like to help but
are unable to do so on the
29th, donations for food and
flowers are still needed.
A fun-filled, wrap-up Barbe
cue and awards celebration for
workers will begin at 1:00 p.m.
in the Scout Cabin Building in
Hawkins Park. Recognition for
best idea, largest group, etc.,
will be given.
Sore muscles may result
from the day’s activities, but all
participants are guaranteed a
feeling of satisfaction at day’s
end!
For information or early
sign-up, please call 429-1204
or 429-5201.
The annual clean up day is
sponsored by Vernonia Pride,
SOLV, the City of Vernonia and
the Vernonia Area Chamber of
Commerce.
Note: there will be NO Free
Dump Day this year, but
the City will accept burn
able yard debris, such as
limbs and brush, at Public
Works.
School district needs volunteers
for budget committee vacancies
With budget meetings start
ing in early May, the Vernonia
School District is still seeking
volunteers to fill three vacan
cies on the budget committee.
Starting May 4, the commit
tee will meet on Thursday
evenings, usually three or four
times. Applicants must be resi
dents of the school district.
Anyone interested is asked
to call the district office at 429-
5891 and ask for an applica
tion.
Preliminary calculations of
resources and expenditures for
the coming fiscal year indicate
a very tight budget. The work of
budget committee members is
important in order to bring dif
ferent points of view to the bud
get process.