The INDEPENDENT, August 16, 2000
Letters to the Editor:
Betwoen the Bookends
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
Activities relating to the library’s summer
reading program, “Ticket to Tomorrow” officially
ended with the entry in the Jamboree parade. I
really want to thank and compliment all the chil
dren on the float who waited so patiently for the
parade to begin and who behaved so well during
the parade, and Orissa, Kim and Heidi (the float
decorators). Candy for parade participants was
once again provided by Randy Parrow and Sen
try Market, and the trailer for the float by Dick Ti
tus, with Jeff once again as the driver, assem
bler and last minute repair person. Once again it
was a fun and successful summer of activities
with a total of 75 different children participating
in at least one session. An average of 30 at
tended each of the 5 Wednesday afternoon pro
grams. Of course the encouragement of reading
is the main purpose of “summer reading” and
most of these children did check out materials
regularly. The tickets to the State Fair should be
arriving any day and will be awarded to children
who attended at least three of the summer ses
sions and who recorded at least 10 books they
read over the summer. Bring those lists to the li
brary to be eligible and thanks to all the parents
and youngsters who participated in this sum
mer’s library fun.
Cataloging is in process with 3,034 materials
bar coded to date, using a total of 110 volunteer
hours. Savings, if materials had been electroni
cally converted equals $1,456.32, or $682.50, if
minimum wage had been paid to those volun
teers. Most of the adult fiction may now be
checked out electronically Much of the adult
non-fiction, a large portion of the juvenile mater
ial, a very large amount of the young adult sec
tion and none of the reference materials have
been done. It is possible and fun to use Athena
to search the library’s holdings. Try it on your
next visit to the library and also try the Visual
Search.
New books include Riptide by Catherine
Coulter, Nora Nora by Anne Rivers Siddens,
Place Last Seen by Charlotte Mcguinn Free
man, Middle of Nowhere by Ridley Pearson,
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher, Dust to
Dust by Tami Hoag, The Vineyard by Barbara
Delinski, A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava, and Rav
eling by Peter Moor Smith.
The last three are my monthly recommenda
tions. Barbara Delinski’s novels are for the ro
manticist, for the reader interested in relation
ships. She is a master of detailing and develop
ing relationships, in this instance the Seebring
family members who come to realize how much
can be learned from the older generation. Sev-
Firefighters thankful
for people's help
To the Editor:
I would like to thank the
many people who helped dur
ing major fires on Stoney Point
Road and in downtown Ver
nonia.
Joyce Vaughn helped the
Vernonia Rural Fire Women’s
Auxiliary provide a smorgas
bord meal for lunch and dinner
at the Schaumburg bam fire.
The fire crews never ate as
well as we did at that fire. Patti
Davis provided for snacks at
the Silver City Cafe fire.
These wonderful folks help
to make a little sunshine on a
cloudy day. Thank you.
Paul Epler, Chief
Vernonia Rural Fire
Cheerleaders
say
thanks for your help
To the Editor:
We, the cheerleaders of Ver
nonia High School, express our
gratitude and thanks for all the
Page 3
enty-six year old Natalie Seebring, owner of a
Rhode Island vineyard is remarrying after being
widowed for only six months. Her children are
upset by her decision, so she decides to write a
book about her life so they can understand what
she has been unable to tell them directly. She
hires Olivia Jones to write the book and she and
her daughter Tess move to the vineyard for the
summer. Tension builds as the wedding ap
proaches and Natalie’s long buried past is slow
ly revealed. Keep a hankie near when reading
this novel of family tragedy, unlikely romance
and old wrongs finally made right.
A Perfect Evil is Alex Kava’s first novel. It’s a
fast.-paced exciting thriller with readers wanting
to stay up all night to discover the identity of the
killer. It begins with the confession of a killer,
Ronald Jeffreys, that he only killed one boy, not
the three for which he was convicted. Three
months after his execution, another boy is
found, sending a shocking message...the killing
has only begun. Platte City, Nebraska Sheriff
Nick Morelli is joined by FBI profiler Maggie
O’Dell in the investigation. From page one until
the very end, the story moves swiftly under
Kava’s expert use of multiple points of view. This
will keep you turning pages as quickly as possi
ble to discover the real killer.
Raveling is also a first novel, by author Peter
Moore Smith. This is a suspense novel pitting
two men against each other in a struggle be
tween brothers that’s as old as the Bible. In this
version, you’re not quite sure who is Cain and
who is Abel, until the author is ready to let you
figure it out. With the disappearance of Eric and
Pilot Fairlie’s young sister Fiona twenty years
ago, the Fairlie family begins to unravel. Their
father left, their mother sees ghosts, and Pilot is
diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Eric, a prominent
neurosurgeon, seemingly rescues his mother
and Pilot. But...who is guilty in Fiona’s disap
pearance and who is really sane? The story
starts slowly as though the reader has stepped
into a story already in progress, but the deeper
into the book one gets, the deeper the mystery
becomes. Told from the point of view of Pilot, a
medicated schizophrenic, this will really keep
you guessing.
Enjoy the rest of the summer and keep read
ing. If you haven’t been in the new library yet,
come on in. You’re in for a real treat.
contributions that the commu
nity of Vernonia has given us.
Our thanks also go out to all of
the out-of-town businesses that
donated to our cause. With
your help and support, we
raised the money for uniforms
and other necessary cheer
leading items. Once again,
thank you for supporting the
Vernonia High School cheer
leaders.
Sincerely,
VHS Cheerleaders and
Coach Nancy Dailey
Cat shelter is goal of
Humane Society
To the Editor:
West Oregon Wood Prod
ucts of Columbia City donated
two office trailers to Columbia
Humane Society. We were
hoping to use the trailers for cat
intake, cat isolation, a lunch/
break room and storage. Alas,
plans do not always work out
the way we would like. The Hu
mane Society was unable to
accept the trailers.
We at Columbia Humane
Society would like to express
our heartfelt gratitude to some
very special people and organi
zations:
West Oregon Wood Prod
ucts for their generous dona
tion and community support;
Columbia County Clerk Betty
Huser for her guidance to en
sure the proper channels were
followed; Columbia County
Board of Commissioners Jack
Peterson, Rita Bernhard and
Anthony Hyde, for their under
standing and a chance to make
plans; the City of St. Helens
Planning Administrator Skip
Baker for answering numerous
questions and trying to make
the whole process easier for
us; Alpine Transporting, Inc., of
Boring, for giving us a bid 1/4
the cost of the other bids we re
ceived. Last but not least, Mol
ly Hopman of Portland for do
nating part of the cost of the
axles, wheels and tires.
Thank you all,
Mary Riggs, Shelter Director
Columbia Humane Society
St. Helens
Fosters will re-open
foster care home
Dear friends and neighbors:
We wish to inform you that
after taking several months
away from our business and af
ter much thought and delibera
tion, we have elected to re
open our Adult Foster Home
and continue on with a commu
nity resource which many of
you have, and continue to ask
about. Improving personal
health combined with our love
for our friends and a loving
community supportive of our
contribution to their lives, have
convinced us that we are truly
where we belong.
While we still intend to mar
ket our large property, we are
at the same time looking for an
alternative site here in Vernon
ia to build a new residence ca
pable of housing a business
like ours. In the interim, it is
business as usual and we have
already accepted Vernonia
friends back into our home.
We sincerely thank you for
your friendship, your love and
support and your heartfelt con
cerns for our health and our fu
ture. It is great to be back! God
bless you, one and all.
Don and Donna Foster
Rising River Ranch
Vernonia
Car club says thanks,
urges participation
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Nehalem
Valley Speed & Beauty Car
Club members, I would like to
extend a gracious thank you to
all of our sponsors, family and
friends for the success of the
eighth
Annual * Jamboree
Cruise In, Aug. 5, in Vernonia.
This year we had 261 en
trants to our show. This show
could not be possible without
all of your generous support
and participation.
I hope that you were able to
attend the show this year and
had a chance to listen to the
Bouncing Baby Boomer Band
and the Legendary Boomettes.
While listening to the band, I
hope you were able to enjoy
one of the Vernonia Booster
Club’s great burgers. A special
thank you to the Boosters for
providing food and beverages
for our event, and School Dis
trict 47J for use of the grounds
to hold the show.
If you have an interest in
cars, you might want to join our
club or if you would just like to
volunteer to help out the day of
the show that would be great.
Glenda DeLemos, President
Nehalem Valley Speed &
Beauty Car Club
Vernonia
School supply drive
seeks contributors
To the Editor:
As parents in our communi
ty, we know how expensive
school clothes, supplies and
other things that our kids need
at the start of school can be.
We would like to help make the
load a little lighter for those par
ents who have a hard time.
We are making a plea to the
parents who can afford to help
by purchasing extra school
supplies. These supplies will
be donated to kids attending
the Vernonia and Mist schools.
We will have a collection box
located at the Vernonia Fire
Station if you would like to help.
If you have any questions,
you may contact Shelley Cota
at 429-0163, evenings only.
Sincerely,
Shelley Cota, Shelly
Lende and Karrie Dass
Vernonia
Another large group
enjoys fishing derby
To the Editor:
This year’s fish derby was
another good one. We had 83
kids participating and we had a
lot of fun.
We want to thank Bill Yeo for
auctioning off fishing gear, and
everyone who helped register
and sort and help the kids. 83
kids is a big hand full.
Don Webb
Nehalem Valley Chapter
Izaak Walton League
Inappropriate parade
entry discouraging
To the Editor:
We were very discouraged
that the City of Vernonia would
allow a parade participant such
as the group that held a sign
that read “Expose Corporate
Waste.” Their dress and be
havior seemed inappropriate
for a “family” type parade.
This is meant to be a fun
and positive atmosphere for all
of us, not a platform for nega
tive protest groups.
If we would’ve known, we
would have stayed home with
our family.
Vernonia has come a long
way in upgrading this little
town. Even though we live in
Birkenfeld, we think of Vernonia
as part of our family. I, for one,
went to school here and my par
ents still live in Vernonia.
Another issue not associat
ed with the parade: Men were
walking around wearing T-
shirts that had naked women
on them. Why are we, as a
community, allowing the de
grading of women in this way?
We need to band together
and help eliminate these kinds
of things - but in a positive
way.
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Huntington
Birkenfeld
Ed. note: The City of Vernonia has
nothing to do with the Jamboree
parade. That is the responsibility of
the Jamboree Committee, a sepa
rate entity.
Mootilda Cow has
been returned home
To the Editor:
Cows really do come home.
Mootilda the plywood cow was
returned on Sunday of Jam
boree weekend. Thank you so
much for returning her
Jamie Jones
Vernonia