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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2000)
Page 6 The INDEPENDENT, May 3, 2000 M Community ____ Women’s Resource Center now has regular schedule in Vernonia A representative of the Co lumbia County Women’s Re source Center is now available in Vernonia every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Ollie Gibson-Lovell will be in Vernonia to provide information or referrals, and assistance with restraining orders. She will also arrange for other services provided by WRC. The local office of the Women’s Resource Center shares space with Columbia Community Health in the credit union building. The Vernonia phone number for WRC is 429- 1053; the 24-hour crisis line is 503-397-6161 and collect calls are accepted. Additional services available through the Women’s Re source Center include emer gency shelter for battered women and their children, peer/support counseling, legal advocacy/court support, emer gency transportation, youth and teen outreach programs, low-income housing informa tion, rape advocacy, and much more. To learn more about how the Women’s Resource Center may assist members of the community, call Gibson-Lovell at 429-1053. Senior News By Patricia Olson There is an old saying in Oregon; “If you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes.” That has seemed to be the case lately. We really can’t complain too much as we’ve had some very nice days...and then, some of the other kind. Every day is nice when you’re in good company and enjoying your self. That’s what we do a lot at the Senior Center. The only sad thing is when we can’t Anna Naspini wins Easter Story contest Eleven-year-old Anna Naspini was the winner of an Easter Story contest spon sored by Specialized Engrav ing for children ages 7 through 11. Naspini, who wrote her story as a poem, won an Easter bas day, June 24. It is open to any ket full of fun things and a one interested in attending. beanie baby. Second place Prices have not yet been set, went to Michael Calhoun, who but there will be lots of prizes! won a book, a jell pen and can The first riders will leave at dy sticks. Brittney Lindauer 9:00 a.m., with the last rider out won a calendar and candy at 11 a.m. Liz Brainerd, (503) sticks for her third place entry. 647-5172 is the contact for the All who participated did a great poker ride. job. The winning entry: The annual Jamboree Play Easter comes in the Day will be Sunday, August 6. It midst of Spring is also open to anyone interest All the flowers and ed in participating. Call Beverly splendor of a king. Grant at (503) 429-8470. With life and beauty that the birds all sing, The next meeting of the In so comes our Lord, Ridge Riders will be Thursday, Christ our King! May 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ver — Anna Naspini nonia Public Library. Ridge Riders schedule work day The May trail ride of the Ver nonia Ridge Riders will be held Saturday, May 20. The ride is open to club members and their guests. The time and lo cation has not yet been con firmed. Call George Bellingham at (503) 429-9523 for more in formation. A workday has been sched uled for for the Anderson Park horse arena. Please show up at the arena on Sunday, May 7 at 10:00 a.m., if you are able to help. Call Bellingham for futher information. The Ridge Riders Poker Ride has been set for Satur- M I l H I 1 4 lii* i share it with you. COLCO announces the fol lowing: Door to door trans portation for all residents of Co lumbia County. Our new Ver nonia office phone number is 429-4304. Call us for your transportation needs. Jacqueline wishes to an nounce that she has moved her knitting and crochet class es to her home at 1105 River side Drive, Sp.4. The time is from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Wed nesdays and Fridays. The last announcement I have is for a paid position for janitorial service one day a week at the Center. We need someone to vacuum, sweep and generally tidy up. It will pay minimum wage. Last week, April 24th, nine people from our Center visited Rainier for five-area lunch. We had a good time fellowshipping with old friends and there was a good turnout from all the Mother's Day Breakfast May 14th 8 ant - Noon At theScout Cabin in Hawkins Park AU you can eat Pancakes Choice o f Sausage o r Bacon Fresh Fruit Cup Coffee, Juice, Tea w m ì $4/Person - 3 & Under Free By Robb Wilson Stand up and be counted! Or at least take the time to fill out your census form if you haven’t already. Where were you on April 1st? The 22nd Unit ed States Federal Census was under way. April 1 was “CENSUS 2000 DAY,” when the hope of the U.S. Census Bureau was to have a count of all residents and all people living in the United States. Close to 60% of all households had re turned their forms by the April 19 deadline. The other 40% are still being gathered by census workers. At the beginning of April, every house hold should have received by mail or hand de livery, a census form to fill out. The first census for the United States of America was taken in 1790 by order of the Unit ed States Constitution and, thereafter, every ten years. The census was (and still is) a way to de termine the number of representatives each state will have in Congress. The population count for that first census 210 years ago was 3,929,214 people. It was conducted by 217 per sons in nine months. Today there are about 265,000 persons working for the bureau, which hopes that the count will be completed by July. This is the largest peacetime call up of work ers for the government, ever. Very few of these employees are full time, some have been work ing for almost two years preparing, but most of those hired will work only a few months and some may have an assignment that lasts just one day or an evening! Columbia County has about 70 people working for the bureau. Beside the number of congressional repre sentatives, the census lets officials know about economics and needs so they can determine where monies for federal and government proj ects can be allocated. Schools, hospitals, roads, institutions, water and sewer projects, etc., are built as needed due to population increase. You may have seen some of the television advertising the bureau put out this past month to encourage viewers to fill out their census forms and get their “Slice of American Pie.” The cen sus helps determine where a new fire station, senior citizens center or daycare facilities are needed. Other government departments and institu tions are dependent on allocated monies for funding their needs. These are determined sole ly on population. You don’t need to have a job, be a voter or a taxpayer to be listed on the cen sus. The only qualification was to be living on April 1st or before. Census taking is not a new idea; it goes way back to Ancient Rome. In 1066, England started a census, and cities in Germany started a count in the 1400s. In 1666 the people of New France (Canada) were counted. Sweden started the first national census in 1749. Today, Canada has a census every five years. Basic questions asked for the census are age, gender, race, marital status, place of birth and relationship to head of household. In the 2000 census, only seven questions were asked on the short form, the fewest in the past 180 years. The long form goes into more detail, with 34 questions that deal with a broad spectrum of American people. These responses will help de termine long range planning for future genera tions. The long forms went to about one of every six households, so feel privileged if you were cho sen to be part of “A Snapshot of America!” In years past, questions might have included whether you had a telephone or a kitchen, or a bathroom in the house with running water. They wanted to know how people lived, to help deter mine economic needs and assistance. At differ- See page 15 Centers. Last,’ but far from least, our chairman is back! Fred Oviatt returned to Oregon just in time for our last board meeting. He is very busy so we haven’t seen him very much, however. Lots of new things are com ing in to the Thrift Shop and Pat Lloyd is doing a great job pre senting them in our store area. Several pieces of small furni ture items have been brought in. We can’t take large items, due to small floor space. We are still seeing paper and items on the door stoops. Please, how can I encourage you to use the drop box? It will save many items from meeting an early death in the dumpster. Watch out for those sneaky frosts. Several people got sur prised last week. It’s fun to gar den but heart-breaking to lose plants to frost bite. Spring is here but the weather is not reli able yet. Enjoy the splendor of this season. It’s a beauty! Free Corsage w!advance tickets! Tickets available from Boy Scouts or call 429-4035 or 429-6008 Susan Easley County Commissioner Proven Leader • • • • • Elected Twice to St. Helens School Board Appointed Twice to Commission on Children & Families 5+ Years Budget Management & Policy Development 5+ Years Experience in Collective Bargaining Strategic Planning & Partnering with Private, County and State Agencies • Successful Small Business Owner Experienced Effective Involved Paid for by the Committee to Elect Susan Easley, 292 S. 1st Street, St. Helens, OR 97051
