The INDEPENDENT, June 20, 2002
Page 3
Lattars to the Editor
Writer can’t see while
wearing blinders
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to an
article by Foster Church in The
Oregonian travel section on June
2, 2002.
Dear Mr. Foster Church:
Your Oregonian article of
June 2nd unjustly attacked my
home of Vernonia. It’s clear to
me your visit to Vernonia was
observed through darkened
blinders. Vernonia is so much
more than moldering remains
of solid working-peoples’ busi
nesses, parks gone to seed,
ghostly abandoned movie the
ater, decrepit Masonic Temple,
bars and taverns, taverns and
bars, all surrounded by dismal
terrain rent with patches of
clear cuts.
Without blinders, one sees...
A Community with a 15-mile
driveway north of Hwy 26 lined
with the most picturesque
countryside the coast range
has to offer. It’s a community
—
which, during the ‘96 flood,
demonstrated “love thy neigh
bor” in its truest form. Many a
warm home opened doors wide
to those in need. I remember
watching this community, as a
whole, pitch in to clean both
neighbors’ homes and sur
rounding areas. I tasted the
great cooking from many
neighbors who chose to help by
keeping everyone’s stomachs
full. I watched Vernonia’s Scout
Cabin, destroyed by the flood,
rebuilt, and NOT with FEMA
an the Bookends
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
Dear Paul Newman
After all these years it's over between
you and me.
There’s a younger man.
I get to see him five times a week and he
tries to bring me the world.
I worried a lot about your racing in them
fast cars, your beer drinking,
the fact that the color of your eyes is fad
ing a little with age.
Them eyes always reminded me of Ed
Kozelka
who sat next to me in American history.
When you and Ed turned them blues on
me, it sure made my pilot light blaze up.
When reporters asked why you was
faithful to Joanne, you once said,
"Why should I go out for hamburger
when I can have steak at home?”
Now that Joanne is looking so plain, I
wonder if you are going to Wendy’s.
Paul baby, it was fun, and I’ll never forget
your spaghetti sauce.
I gotta move on.
I'm the same age as you, but in the dark
Peter Jennings will never notice.
—Marie Kennedy Robins
This is just one selection from the book, When
I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, re
cently added to the library's collection in memo
ry of Ora Bolmeier. It makes me smile when I
look at the words that “spell check” highlighted
as this was written. Ora, who spent many years
as a teacher of high school English classes,
would have been fast to make the corrections (or
at least to point them out). Choosing books to re
flect Ora’s interests and personality was a pleas
ant task and gave me the opportunity to think
about Ora—how she always wore cardigan
sweaters, how she was reserved yet always
friendly, how she remembered names of former
students, how independent she was, and how
she loved Vernonia and was so glad to have her
Vernonia friends visit her in Forest Grove. Each
of the books purchased includes an appropriate
nameplate. They include Modern English Mis
usage, What Teachers Do When No One Is
Looking, The Secret School, Helen Hath No
Fury, and Irregardless of Murder. Be sure to look
for these and other selections that were recently
added to the library’s collection in memory of Ora
Bolmeier.
Other new acquisitions
include The Wailing Wind
by Tony Hillerman, Mortal
Prey by John Sandford, A
Thousand Country Hoads
by Robert James Waller,
Courting Trouble by Lisa
Scottoline, A Fine and Bit
ter
Snow
by
Dana
Stabenow, In This Moun
tain by Jan Karon, and The Survivors’ Club by
Lisa Gardner.
Schedules and registration forms for the
“Don’t Bug Me, I’m Reading” summer reading
program are available in the library. The fun-filled
activities will begin Monday, June 24th at 7:00
p.m. with a presentation by B.J. the Clown, and
will end Monday, July 29th at 7:00 p.m. with
Steve Taylor, the magical ventriloquist. The oth
er activities will take place throughout the month
of July and will also be on Mondays, but in the
morning, at 10:30 a.m. These activities will in
clude stories, crafts, a presentation on bicycle
safety, a display of exotic bugs, and an interac
tive musical program. Register for the “buggy”
fun at the library this summer and try to win the
“buggy” container by guessing the number of
items it contains.
The Friends of the Library will be holding their
next meeting at 7:00 p.m. on July 2nd. New
members are always welcome. Donations of
books for the Jamboree Book Sale may be left at
the library during library hours or dropped off at
Glen Purvee’s building (998 Bridge Street) next
to miniature golf on Saturday, July 27th from 10
a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Last week’s hot weather found me returning
to the library to give the outside plants a much-
needed drink of water. Upon entering the build
ing and feeling the air-conditioned coolness, I
began thinking that residents of the community
might welcome a place in which to cool off on un
bearably hot evenings—a place to read, watch a
movie on the VCR, visit, play checkers, work a
jig saw puzzle, or play a computer game. If this
sounds like something of which you would like to
take advantage, please contact the library and
we’ll try to arrange some “cool" evenings. It
seems a shame to not take full advantage of this
wonderful facility.
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.
Phone: (503)429-1818
dollars. The vision of a few be
came contagious; it didn’t take
long for the word to get out.
Students applied for and re
ceived grants. Neighborhood
fundraisers began. And, once
the money started coming in,
kudos to those townfolk who
gave of themselves to build
such a magnificent building.
What Vernonia is...is not be
ing able to find a parking spot
at home games because every
one else already got the best
parking spots...It’s eating to
your heart’s content at the 4th
of July Bar-B-Q on the high
school field, followed by a bril
liant display of fireworks...It’s
watching neighbors compete in
Vernonia’s logging show...It’s
watching the kids grow up to be
fine adults. It’s hearing kids ad
dress adults as Mr.or Mrs. It’s
seeing them open doors for
others and saying “please” and
“thank you”...It’s taking a walk
around the lake on a warm
summer evening...It’s taking a
bike ride on the Banks/Vernon-
ia Linear Trail or a dip in Rock
Creek’s summer pool on a hot
day...It’s rafting down the Ne
halem River to the county
park...It’s walking in to a store
and being addressed with a
smile and your name...And, fi
nally, it’s the deep desire of our
Volunteer Fire and EMS De
partment, who unselfishly give
of their time, day or night, to
help their fellow neighbors.
Trust me, this author is in no
way dispirited when I walk
down Bridge Street. What I see
is a new City Hall and Library. I
see a street lined with trees and
lit with old-fashion lights at
night. I see a flower shop, real
estate offices, art gallery, an
tique shop, pet store, mini mart,
gas stations, a mini mall with
various little shops, hardware
store with nursery, bank, credit
union, dental office and medical
center, restaurants, Western
Auto, Napa, The Independent,
auto body shop, senior center,
deli serving great gourmet cof
fee, laundromat, and, a block
off Bridge Street, a Sentry gro
cery store. Imagine, all this
within walking distance.
My community might not
meet your standards, but it cer
tainly meets mine. Vernonia is
a community who loves God
first and foremost, as demon
strated by the 13 or so church
es posted on the sign at the en
trance to town, and they love
their neighbors as themselves.
What more could you ask of a
community?
To answer your question as
to why Vernonia has not be
come an upper-middle-class
refuge for prosperous families:
Maybe it’s their definition of
what a community really is. I
sense that a community, by
your definition, is composed of
upper-middle-class people with
large homes and manicured
lawns, but noticeably very cold
to the touch. Thank you, but no
thank you. These days, when
disaster can strike at any given
moment, my money is on Ver
nonia. And, we won’t need help
from the National Guard, either.
In conclusion, I think it’s un
fortunate that a good portion of
your article was centered
around the bars and taverns. I
see you even made a mental
note to return to one of them.
Mr. Church, take off your blind
ers. Judge more than the cover
of the book. Read the first page
and you might, as I did, just fall
in love with a small town re
motely pocketed in the woods.
Mr. Church, for tour reserva
tions, please contact:
Debbie Brown
Vernonia
Banks is noting centennial of name, not city
To the Editor:
On June 6, a letter from the
Banks Historical Society ap
peared in your paper clarifying
that "Centennial of Banks” is
not correct, and that the “incor
porated seal" will not be cele
brated until 2021. Whereby the
fact is Banks is celebrating 100
years of the official community
name of Banks, not the city’s
official seal of incorporation,
and of which is evidenced by
ties to property owner John &
Nancy Banks, the first officially
established (January 21, 1902)
post office named “Banks", and
the railroad which spurred abil
ity to make the timber industry
boom. Such being, the Port
land, Nehalem & Tillamook
Railway Company, built by the
Pacific Railway & Navigation
Company, for the rich railroad
tycoons to get at the virgin tim
ber which extended in almost
every direction. In 1901, the
area the railroad would pass
through was surveyed and by
1903, tracks were being layed
in Banks.
The book titled Portrait & Bi
ographical Record of Portland
& Vicinity Oregon, published in
1903, sets forth John L. Banks,
Please see paae 14