Voi. 18, No. 14_____________________ “Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
July 17, 2003
Grants will help city,
county achieve goals
Under the Local G overn
ment Grant Program, Oregon
Parks and Recreation Depart
ment received 43 grant re
quests, totalling $6.7 million, for
projects greater than $50,000.
OPRD
has
approxim ately
$4,040,000 for the program. As
a result, fewer than half of the
requests were approved.
The Vernonia City Council
was pleased to hear, at their
July 7 meeting, that the city’s
request for $194,700 placed
third on the list of 20 grants ap
proved. The city will use the
funds to purchase property ad
jacent to Vernonia Lake, build a
parking lot, install an additional
restroom and, if possible, erect
lights on the south side of the
lake.
Columbia County also did
well, placing well up the list in
Bus service
resumes for
90 day period
Oregon Trail Rally saddened by fatal crash
A crash that killed two top
ProRally drivers last Saturday,
just minutes into the first stage
of the race, were the first ever
fatalities during an Oregon Trail
rally event.
Professional drivers Mark
Lovell, 43, who had just won at
Pike's Peak, and his co-driver,
Roger Freeman, 51, both of
England, were the first team
out and crashed less than a
quarter-mile into the first stage
of the race on a forest road
near Timber. Lovell was driving
a turbo-charged modified Sub
aru Impreza WRX when he ap
parently lost control, sliding dri
ver’s side first into a three-foot
diameter tree, then skidding
across the road and landing in
a ditch.
The first stage of the race
was halted, with just a few cars
having started, and the teams
arrived early in Vernonia to wait
until a decision was made to re
sume the competition with the
second stage, part of which
was run on Old Pittsburg Road,
part on the Crooked Creek
Mainline and other forest
roads. The third stage was run
in Tillamook County.
Many of the spectators en
joying the opportunity to look
over the many high perform
ance cars on the school
grounds, were unaware of the
accident. Regardless, the rac
ing teams and their support
personnel - both professional
and amateur from many coun
tries and many, many states - ,
were unfailingly gracious in an
swering questions. The school
grounds had been designated
as a service area when
arrangements were originally
made.
It is too soon to know where
the next Oregon Trail Rally will
take place, but many hope it
will return to Vernonia.
Metro West Ambulance be
gan providing call-up service in
Vernonia,
Clatskanie
and
Rainier this week. It started
fixed route service from St. He
lens to Portland on July 10th.
The fare within City limits will
remain at $1.00 per ride (each
way) on Tuesday, Wednesday
and Friday. Out of town trips -
Portland, Hillsboro, etc. - will
be on Monday and Thursday.
The fare will be $15 to the gen
eral public and $10 for seniors
and disabled.
According to Henry Hei-
muller, of Metro West, the am
bulance company intends to
continue the service and, “in
certain instances," enhance it.
Columbia County has ex
pressed the desire to establish
a permanent transportation
provider by the end of the cur
rent 90 day contract.
the eleventh spot, with ap
proval of a grant request for
$160,000. The county will use
the funds to advance work on
the proposed Scappoose-Ver
nonia Linear Trail along the old
Crown Zellerbach Mainline
from Pittsburg to Scappoose.
The City of Vernonia initiated
the proposal for a trail from Ver
nonia to Scappoose, and has
been working with the county in
every way possible to support
the project.
Both projects interweave
with the city’s strategy of utiliz
ing enhanced outdoor recre
ation to further economic devel
opment.
An additional grant, from a
different program, has been re
ceived by the Upper Nehalem
Watershed Council to be used
for rehabilitation of fish-bearing
Bear Creek, inside the city, be
cause the creek gets too warm
in the summer to guarantee
survival of juvenile fish.
Vernonians take
top two spots in
senior spell bee
Two
Vernonia
senior
spelling cham pions recently
decided to try their luck at the
annual Oregon state contest in
Aurora — and they both came
home with trophies.
Carol Sawyer, who won in
Vernonia last year, took the first
place trophy at the state meet,
while this year’s Vernonia win
ner, Tobie Finzel, placed sec
ond in an exciting match which
needed a tie-breaker round to
establish the winners.
Both Sawyer and Finzel are
planning to attend the National
Spelling Bee for seniors in
Cheyenne, Wyoming, in Sep
tember.
Want some good advice?
D on’t bet against either of
them!