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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2002)
The INDEPENDENT, April 18,2002 Page 3 Letters to the Editor Spiritually, Vernonia doesn’t meet needs To the Editor: I am writing in response to Lisa Edgar's letter in your April 4th issue. I was reading along, nodding in agreement with her com m ents about com m unity support and shopping conve nience. Then, however, came the part where we parted opin ions. Although the act of locating a church home is commonly re ferred to as "shopping," it is nothing like comparing prices or delivery options on major ap pliances. Shopping for a church means going where the Lord leads you, not just going to the * s'- y;,-» Í,/ - ' ' ' “ '' X* X.......... message board in the entryway has been donat ed to the Vernonia community, “in loving memo ry of Kathryn M. (Malmsten) Greathouse” by Mark, Gordon, and Lowell Greathouse (Kathryn’s sons) and Low ell’s father-in-law, Arthur Knapp. Be sure to notice this new addition on your next visit to the library. The preschool story time continues to be well attended. This activity, held each Monday morn ing at 10:30, is an enjoyable time for staff, youngsters and parents. Preschoolers and their parents are encouraged to join the fun. Young sters are also encouraged to attend the Monday afternoon Reading Enrichment activities. These sessions are held at 3:30 each Monday that school is in session and are under the direction of Trish Maldonado. Although this article must be submitted prior to the performance of Steve Taylor, the magical ventriloquist, this should be another stupendous happening at the library. This event is in honor of National Library Week and is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. If you wish to join this or ganization, whose sole purpose is the support of the library and its programs, meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the library. The next meeting will be May 7. Recent acquisitions also promise to be excit ing, thrilling, provocative and alluring to Vernon ia’s readers. These include Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox, A ct o f G odby Susan Sloan, Wid ow ’s Walk by Robert B. Parker, Justice Hall by Laurie King, The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts, The Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind, The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters, and Three Fates by Nora Roberts. With all of the interesting activities that are currently taking place at the library, planning is beginning for the upcoming Summer Reading Program. The theme of “Don’t Bug Me, I’m Reading” holds many possibilities for some great activities. In order to make this a success, vol unteers are being asked to help with the pro gram. If you, your family, or organization will be willing to commit to helping with at least one of these sessions, please contact the library. The success of this program will be in direct propor tion to the amount of community involvement. In formational sheets will be available in the library shortly with available time slots for help with reading stories, helping with a craft, or with an activity. Keep reading and keep supporting your li brary. As this article points out, donors and vol unteers are extremely valuable in insuring the success of the library and its programs. '! jl By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library These past two weeks can be described only by adjectives such as noteworthy, unprecedent ed, extraordinary, and marvelous. Saturday, April 6, was the very first presenta tion by a Northwest author in Vernonia’s library. Co-sponsored by The Friends of the Library and the Library Board, the event was enjoyed by the 30+ DeoDle who attended. True-adventure au- thor Spike W alker related some of the thrilling adventures he has written about and talked about the way he researches and writes his books. He also told about studying and absorb ing the descriptive writing methods of such au thors as Steinbeck, Michener, and Thomas Wolfe and how these authors influenced him and his writing. After the presentation, W alker was gracious in writing personalized comments in all of his books that were purchased at the event. The books were obtained through the St. Helens Book Shop as part of a Book Fair fundraising event with a percentage of the gross receipts go ing to the library as a credit at The Book Shop. All in all, the afternoon was great— entertaining, profitable and satisfying both to the soul and to the stomach (One person commented that Enid Parrow’s brownies would draw a crowd just by themselves.). Several contributions have been made to the library in the past two weeks in memory of Ora Bolmeier. Ora was a long time, respected mem ber of the community, having taught school for many years and, after retiring, working as a clerk for the City of Vernonia. Although she had been in Forest Grove for several years, she will be re membered and missed by her many Vernonia friends as well as by her family. The donations in O ra’s memory will be used to purchase books re flecting Ora’s personality and interests and are greatly appreciated. The newly-installed, attractive information/ Vernonia Library 701 Weed Avenue Hours: Mon.» Wed., F it 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues., Thur. 2 p.m.-7 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. fe. .■ k fe * fe L. ; vfe fe., fefe^fe _ closest building with a cross on its sign. My family has needs other than local churches seem able to provide. A vibrant music pro gram is one, now that you men tion it. 'Exciting' music is cen tral to one of my family mem ber's praise experience. We're supposed to make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord, which may mean we need more than a pi ano as accompaniment. Also we believe that our chil dren benefit by an array of pro grams and services, not to mention a Sunday School class where there is more than one other student their age. And I have a wild suggestion for your question regarding 'getting the draws' locally. What if there was just one large church? What if all the little churches did away with their petty differences? What if all the local resources (monetary, time, talent!) were combined so that we could enjoy expanded m inistries and an 'exciting' praise team? I know for a fact that my family would be there, giving all we could to keep it happening. We, too, are proud Vernoni- ans, but spiritually for us, Ver nonia is lacking. I will buy my next refrigerator here, but must seek incorporeal fulfillm ent elsewhere. Continually seeking His ad vice, Susan Foster Vernonia Businesses need to support each other To the Editor: In response to the letter w rit ten by Lisa Edgar in the April 4 issue of the Independent, I am the Owner/Operator of “Marie’s Tropical Fish” located at the Bridge Street Mall in downtown Vernonia. I have also con tributed, through personal and business finances, monetary donations to this community. I am proud of this town and have seen the growth in the two years I have been here. I sup port the letter Lisa Edgar wrote, however, my concern is this. In your letter, you went on about supporting the local businesses and how the downtown busi nesses are “picked on.” My question for you is “why would you want to duplicate a busi ness already in operation?” I feel Creatures (your store) is a great thing for Vernonia. I have heard the talk from the kids and adults, both pros and cons, about your store. Never have I said a bad remark re garding your store. I have al ways supported your store in this way. I have worked hard to build my clientele. I have always made sure my customers are satisfied with their purchases. The point I am making is this. Why, after knowing I was in op eration, would you want to take a bit of the market I have tried to build? You have the “Creatures" cornered and I feel by you adding tropical fish to your business, this was a slap in the face to myself, the local busi nesses and yourself, which is what you wrote in the last Inde pendent. I ask, in fairness to your let ter, that you remove the fish from your business and all will be resolved. If you choose not to, I will still be fine with that, as I know that I am an honest, up standing business owner and proud Vernonian. Marie Due Vernonia Arts & Crafts can be in Jamboree with help To the Editor: Over the course of the past months it has come to our at tention that Vernonia and the surrounding area have a plethora of original artists and craftsmen. In past Jamborees there was a section for local artists and craftsmen to exhibit their cre ations. Due to the unprecedent ed turnout for last year’s Jam boree, and efforts to make the upcom ing Jam boree bigger and better, it has been suggest ed by many people that we bring back an original arts and crafts section. Are you one of these artists or craftsmen, or do you know someone that would like to dis play their creations to the pub lic during Jamboree weekend? If you are, we want to hear from you. We also would like to hear from anyone who has experi ence in coordinating Arts & Crafts shows or would like to help. At present we have received no entries for the theme con test. We feel there was confu sion about the original intent of Please see page14
