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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 2002)
The ¡«DEPENDENT, July 4, 2002 Page 3 Lotters to the Editor Collections will be for Fireworks Fund To the Editor: We would like to thank everyone who has already do nated to the Fireworks Fund. It isn’t too late to make a dona tion. It should be a fun 4th of July - a parade - Cub Scouts and Boosters will have their stands open while we all wait for the fireworks display. As reported in the last paper, Vernonia Cares (Bill Yeo) is go ing to be collecting during the parade, however, not for Ver nonia Cares. Bill will be collect ing for the Vernonia Pride Fire works Fund. We would like to thank Vernonia Cares for help ing us and, in turn, we plan to help them with an upcoming project. We will also have oth ers collecting during and after the parade. Thank you for your support each year. Enid Parrow Vernonia Pride Never underestimate power of good ideas To the Editor: My friend, Jessie Roberts, and I decided to fix up the old Between the Bookends By Ann Krutsinger, Library Assistant Banks Public Library Sign-ups for the Summer Reading Program are well under way! The theme is “Don’t Bug Me I’m Reading.” Our next free special program will be on Thursday, July 11th. Tom Question will present his show of juggling, comedy, poetry, stilt walking and acrobatics in REALLY BIG way! On Thursday, July 18th, Anne Louise Sterry’s pro gram of music and stories, “Guess We’ll Go Eat BUGS,” is sure to entertain. Steve Taylor and his “dummy” friend will be “Buggy About Books” on Thursday, July 25th. All programs begin at 2:00 p.m., but it’s wise to arrive early, as seats are limited! Each week, readers will have the op portunity to enter a drawing for a gift certificate to one of our local booksellers. Ask us how you can join the fun. Remember, the library will be closed on Thursday, July 4th. New titles arrive at the library each week! This week, Sue Henry’s newest, Cold Company, is here. Set in the long summer days of Alaska, this mystery joins the past and the present in a chilling tale. While rebuilding her home on the ashes of her old house, Jessie Arnold discovers a skeleton that is probably tied to a series of murders which occurred twenty years earlier. Now, another woman has disappeared and Jessie is wondering if she will be next. Keep cool with this one! Also on the shelves are Jean Auel’s newest book, Shelters of Stone, and the new Tony Hiller- man mystery, The Wailing Wind. Some of our new non-fiction includes Mario Thomas’ inspira tional book The Right Words at the Right Time, and Anthony Bourdain’s best selling A Cook’s Tour, about traveling the world in search of the perfect meal. We also have a great selection of books on the Friends’ book sale shelves, so you can take a paperback or two on vacation and leave them behind if you want to! Recycle Saturday, sponsored by the Friends of the Banks Library is held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month. Library patrons with internet access can browse library resources and reserve materials electronically. Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street. Hours: Tues., Wed,, Thurs., 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Wednesdays, 10:15 a.m., when school is in session. Phone: (503)324 -13 82 Internet: www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us. Ike Says.. . From page 2 an e-mail reply from our District biologist...who I suggested should be fired in my e-mail to Port land. His response contained the usual “we don't see anything wrong” report. I would have to dis agree, with last year’s buck harvest being only 37 percent of historical highs and 66 percent of recent years’ harvest, there is something seri ously wrong. My prediction for this year is that less than 500 bucks will be harvested and, in the years following, the harvest will fall off the chart. It’s only reasonable to expect that Mr. Beider- back will resign when this happens. Local sportsmen have repeatedly expressed their con cern to him, only to be ignored. If I did this on my job, I would not have one for long. On a more pleasant note, the kayaking has been great. I am slowly getting more confidence in my kayaking skills and have steadily found myself wanting bigger and better water. I have been on two trips to the Clackamas and once to the Sandy. Class III water while putting a knot in your stomach, sure is thrilling. So far the Dodge Park to Oxbow Park trip was the most interest ing. The very first rapid is the Class III pipeline, where I watched as my new friend, Alex, got flipped and then rolled back up in the middle. We joked about him doing most of the best rapid on this run, upside down. I eventually had a swim when I paddled back upstream and took another shot at the Jumping Rock. The Jumping Rock is a big boulder in the mid dle of the stream that, at the right water condi tions, forms a large water pillow that allows a kayaker to boat right over the top of the rock and free fall into the hole behind the boulder. My run didn't go quite as anticipated and I got forced off the side of the boulder, but somehow ended up in the hole behind it. When I hit the hole, I was a little too sideways and got flipped. I didn’t even try my roll, I just wanted out of there! Soon my buddies were towing me to shore and we contin ued. Near the takeout we started seeing lots of people, since this was the 97-degree day in Port land. Needless to say, the wildlife was very inter esting, especially the two young maidens who happened to forget their bathing suit tops. Now I know why kayakers are always smiling. Catch you on the next wave! Izaak Walton League Nehalem Valley Chapter meetings are on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. The public is welcome. For meeting location, call (503) 429-7193. girls’ softball field. We knew to do this we would need money so we contacted SOLV (I knew about them because my mom does a lot of stuff with them.). We asked them if we could get a grant and they gave one to use. We got $250.00. Then we started working. Steve Lan ders came down with his tractor and tilled it. Also my dad, Roy Gehrke, brought down his tiller. Then we dragged it with an old railroad tie and fencing. We ordered bases and the home plate and pitcher’s rub ber and all the other little things needed and will put them out soon. Hopefully, we will use the field again. Erin Gehrke Vernonia What is purpose of Historical Museum? To the Editor: When you wander through the many treasures of an his torical museum, you may expe rience an overwhelming sense of the past and the people who occupied a particular space in time. Emotions run free, sur rounded by mementos of the past, and you can draw conclu sions as to how the past influ ences the present. Conversations with the cura tor bring forth stories and re membrances of times gone by. An old photograph may al low you to put a face to a name you’ve heard, or it may rekindle the memory of an event from the past. You may view with envy or disdain the fashions of the past, through the wardrobes on dis play. A phonograph or music box may cause you to remember what you were doing when you first saw or heard one. (How many of today’s youth know what an LP record is?) A collection of old docu ments allows you the opportu nity to research the past of an area or town. A historical museum gives today’s youth a glimpse into the vibrant past, letting them see roots that have grown through the years. This helps strength en the generational bond and solidify a lifetime sense of pride in their community that they, in turn, can pass on to their chil dren to help keep a community strong far into the future. Visitors to the com m unity can witness the ups and downs of the area and gain a better understanding of why we choose to live where and how we do. In the process, they might decide to return or tell their friends, who might want to visit. There are many more rea sons an historical, museum is a benefit to a community and the citizens who reside there, too many to list here. Personally, an historical mu seum brings to the surface feel ings and emotions I am not al ways able to experience in the “day to day struggle." It also re minds me that “the struggle" existed before and will continue long after I am gone and, with that knowledge, I am feel a sense of peaceful humility. Unfortunately, when an his torical museum is closed, AS OURS HAS BEEN FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS, none of the above is possible. Some of the people who are concerned about the closure of the Columbia County Historical Museum in Vernonia, are trying to find solutions so it can again be open for the public to enjoy. For that reason there will be a Town Hall Meeting at Vernonia City Hall on Monday, July 15 at 7:00 p.m. We NEED a large turnout of community and area residents who can show their support and offer ideas that will help to open the museum again. This m eeting is OPEN TO ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS, not just Vernonians. Please attend this meeting to show your support for the museum and, more importantly, our community. Glen Purvee Vernonia Flexible Senior Center policy on donations To the Editor: To those folks who do and those folks who don't donate goods to the senior center here in Vernonia: It has been brought to our at tention that we (folks who work here) skim the good stuff and it is never put out for sale to the public. Our policy is to keep clean, repaired, usuable items. If it is appropriate, some will be used by folks living here. Other wise, we ship to ARC, St. Vin cent dePaul or Goodwill. We also hold back items for gifts, door prizes or - as is coming up - auctions, raffles or “Christ mas and Halloween in July ’’ Please see page 16
