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The INDEPENDENT, November 21, 2001
Between tbs Bookends ......I
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
Thanksgiving Day, as defined in Webster’s
Dictionary, is “a national holiday celebrated as a
day of feasting and giving thanks for divine fa
vors or goodness..."
Place mats made by
youngsters at a recent after school program at
the library, listed dogs, family, and turkey, as
things for which to be thankful. As we prepare to
feast, let’s not forget to give thanks for the many
things we often take for granted. “Pollyanna’’
may have had the right idea, that of always find
ing something tor which to be grateful. When she
had to wear clothes from the missionary barrel,
she was glad they weren’t boys’ clothes. When
she was given a very small, bare bedroom, she
was grateful for the window with its view, and on
and on went the things that she recognized as
blessings and by so doing, brought happiness
into the lives of everyone that she met. While
most of us don’t go around voicing our grateful
ness daily, Thanksgiving Day brings the perfect
opportunity to look around and really appreciate
what we do have.
One of the recent things for which we can give
thanks at the library is the generous donation of
plants by Lorna Poetter of Farm Woman’s Nurs
ery. Lorna’s donation of spiraea and forsythia
have been planted along the Maple Street side
of the library and will be gorgeous when the yel
low and pink flowering bushes are in bloom. The
two ornamental plum trees in memory of Mer
cedes Proehl have also been planted in this
area. In appreciation of Lorna’s donation, two
books have been added to the library’s collec
tion. The Encyclopedia of Flowers provides in
formation on choosing plants to best suit any
landscaping area. It also includes information on
flowering time, light conditions, cultivation and
maintenance for gardening flowers, shrubs, and
trees. Beautiful colored illustrations accompany
each listed plant. The other book is Chicken
Soup for the Gardener’s Soul. This contains a
collection of entertaining, inspirational short sto
ries about the rich rewards that gardening brings
to life and a wonderful selection of comic illus
trations.
A person to whom we can be grateful is Lu-
anne Kreutzer, the owner of the St. Helens Book
Shop. She has donated numerous and varied
books to the library and will be ordering a list of
about 20 books that will be on display in the li
brary in early December. Through her generosi
ty, these books may be purchased as gifts for the
library at a 20-percent discount from the regular
price. Anyone wishing to give to the library in this
manner is invited to look at this varied collection
of items and to make a choice reflecting some
thing he/she would like to see in the library. A
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book plate will be placed in each of these books
indicating the donor.
A giant thanks is given to the members of the
Friends of the Library. This group has had one
successful fund raising event (the book sale and
raffle during Jamboree) and will soon be partici
pating in another. They will be wrapping books
for Christmas shoppers at Barnes and Noble on
November 25, and on December 15. Any dona
tions that shoppers make for this service will be
used on some library project/projects. They have
already purchased a family pass to the Chil
dren’s Museum that may be checked out by li
brary patrons.
Perhaps publicly thanking these individuals
and their efforts on behalf of the library will give
you the incentive to look around and give thanks.
On to the feasting! Usually the turkey is the
only one who cannot give thanks for Thanksgiv
ing. For a different perspective on this, we have
a wonderful book for children entitled ‘Twas the
Night Before Thanksgiving. On a field trip to a
turkey farm where children meet Farmer Mac
Nuggett and his eight tiny turkeys, they spy an
ax and realize what is going to happen to the
turkeys. But, the turkeys are smuggled onto the
bus and to the children’s homes where...
The very next evening,
Eight families were blessed
With eight fluffy
Thanksgiving turkeys
As guests.
They feasted on veggies
With jelly and toast,
And everyone was thankful
(The turkeys were most!)
So each one gave thanks
For love and for living,
And they all had a wonderful
Happy Thanksgiving.
Since the library materials are always of most
importance, we do have a video of Pollyanna as
well as a nice selection of new books which in
clude Christmas in My Heart by Joe Wheeler, To
tal Recall by Sara Paretsky, The Corrections by
Jonathan Franzen, War in a Time of Peace by
David Halberstam, The Mitford Snowmen by Jan
Karon, The Christmas Quilt by Thomas J. Davis,
and The Thanksgiving Day Murder by Lee Har
ris.
Vernonia Library 701 Weed Avenue
Hours; Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m
Tues., Thur. 2 p.m.-7 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Preschool Story Time, Mondays, 10:30 a.m.
Phone; (503)429-1818
Federal funds secure county 9-1-1 improvements
From page 1
Though the need was obvi
ous, finding the money to meet
that need has been a different
matter. Voters in the St. Helens/
Scappoose areas, where there
have been few communications
problems, outnumbered Ne
halem Valley/Clatskanie area
ballots to defeat a bond issue
that would have supported the
Page 3
microwave system. Voters later
supported some upgrades for
the system.
Communications between
emergency responders (law
enforcement, fire and medical)
is also a problem, with agen
cies unable to talk directly to
each other because they use
different UHF/VHF frequencies.
The proposed changes, esti-
mated at $1.8 million, will in
clude a multi-channel VHF sys
tem on a microwave “back
bone,” plus equipment for
emergency response agencies
that will allow interagency com
munications. The district has,
little by little, saved $400,000
that will be used in addition to
the $1.4 million grant approved
by Congress.
Public servants earn
community’s thanks
To the Editor:
Since the unthinkable disas
ters of September 11, police
and firefighters of New York
and across the nation have re
ceived well-deserved praise for
their valor and willingness to
sacrifice their lives to save oth
ers. It is also about time that we
recognize our own.
Our crew of unpaid volunteer
firefighters is on call twenty-
four hours a day, seven days a
week, ready to risk their per
sonal safety to protect our lives
and property. They and the
EMT’s respond at a moments
notice, interrupting their per
sonal lives to effectively safe
guard our community. Every
call can be life threatening.
Our police department pro
vides that “thin blue line” that
guarantees our freedom from
criminal activities. Every time
they go on duty, they risk their
lives doing what is often a
thankless job that very few oth
ers would be willing to do. Have
we forgotten that we lost one
police officer, shot and killed
while making a routine traffic
stop?
May I also take this opportu
nity to extend my personal
thanks to a host of others?
First: To the city administra
tive staff: Mike, Kathy, Janelle,
Cindy and Julie. They keep the
City running smoothly and are
always efficient, friendly and
cooperative. Together, they
have made Vernonia the most
progressive city in Columbia
County and brought it prepared
for the 21st century.
Second: To Robyn and the
public works crew. Always will
ing to give freely of their own
time and talents to make Ver
nonia a place to be proud of
while furnishing all of the es
sential city services. There is
no crew better than these dedi
cated public servants.
Third: To the City Council,
Planning Commission, dozens
of committee members and lit
erally hundreds of volunteers,
all unpaid, except for the knowl
edge that they are making a
valuable contribution through
their service.
Fourth: To Nancy and the li
brary staff, providing a public
service that is way beyond that
of a city of comparable size.
Visit the library and be amazed.
The next time you meet a
public servant, how about
adding your “thank you” in ap
preciation of his/her contribu
tion toward making Vernonia
the place where you want to
live?
Art Parrow
Vernonia
Vernonia’s help will
feed needy families
To the Editor:
Thank you, Vernonians, for
helping make this year’s Fall
Canned Food Drive a success.
Special thanks to Susie Arm
strong, who organized and ran
this year’s drive. Through
everyone’s efforts, the Food
Bank received 2,610 pounds of
food. I wish to especially thank
the door-to-door volunteers:
Cub Scout Pack 201; Boy
Scout Pack 201; Vernonia
Community Church; Vernonia
Christian Academy; Shannen,
Jessica and Heidi Coleman;
Mary Daniels; Lee’s U-Catch
crew; Lorina Rich; JoAnn
Beamish; Jan Tschiggfrie; Can
dy & Kristin Olsen; Judy Gwin;
Deanna Brown and the Tae-
Kwon-Do class. Helpers at
Cares who helped sort and
stow away all this food were:
Debby VanZant; Margaret
Berndt; Olean Wagner; Ron &
Nic Welch; Angie Taylor and
kids; Michele and Levi Taylor;
Debbie Huntington and kids;
Linda Garrymore and Candy
and Nick Olsen. Thank you all
so much. Thanks, too, to Gale
Gardner, who repaired the can
vas banner. I hope I haven’t left
anyone out and, if I have,
please know I appreciate you,
too.
Your generosity and hard
work will certainly help to feed
the hungry around Vernonia
this fall. During the month of
October, Cares received mone
tary donations in the amount of
$1,469.09, too. We gratefully
accept donations of food or
money at all times through the
year to help meet the needs of
the hungry. We have seen
many new clients just in these
past few months, often due to
decreased employment. If you
would care to contribute, we
are a non-profit organization
and your gift is tax-deductible.
Vernonia Cares Food Bank
is your hand extended to our
town. Thank you for contribut
ing the food and funds to pro
vide this service to our commu
nity. Truly we live in a town
which proves “Vernonia Cares.”
Sandy Welch, Director
Vernonia Cares Food Bank