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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2003)
The INDEPENDENT, November 6, 2003 U p d ate on progress o f K en dra B arker To the Editor: After the article and photo of Kendra appeared in your news paper about 4 months ago we have been overwhelmed with the generosity of the Vernonia community as well as the sup port of strangers who don’t know Kendra or any of her fam ily. Thank you to the Vernonia Lions Club for setting up the donation fund to help with the expenses related to Kendra's cancer recovery treatments. Thank you to all of you who opened your hearts and your wallets to help. Thank you for caring and praying. Thank you for your show of love and sup port. Thank you for your gen uine concern. Kendra had her final radia tion treatment October 21. For tunately, she was able to stay at Ronald McDonald House, right next door to the hospital, for the final 6 weeks of daily ra diation treatments. She will continue with weekly chemo therapy treatments until March 15, 2004. Once every three weeks an overnight stay at Do- ernbecher is required for treat ment. The other chemotherapy can be administered in Eu gene. We were jubilant with the results of the MR I in late Au gust that showed the tumor was gone. But, due to the na ture and location of the cancer and the potential for additional mutated cells, the treatments will continue. Thank you for all the calls, prayer chains, cards, gifts, con cern, encouragement and sup port during the last 4 months. We will keep you posted on her progress. Thank you to The In dependent for printing the arti cle and this letter of apprecia tion. The Family of Kendra Nicoie Barker Vernonia and Springfield Successful effort puts in itia tiv e on ballot *To the Editor: Putting together an initiative to present to the public for con sideration is no easy task. Find ing property owners who will al low you to locate yourself on their property to obtain the re quired number of signatures is extremely difficult! We wish to salute J.J.’s Marketplace in Scappoose for the numerous days of allowing us to be there getting over 1,170 valid signa tures from registered voters in Columbia County. Also, a big thank you to Hi School Phar macy in Scappoose and Clat skanie and Vernonia Senior Center. Because of you we reached our quota and the ini tiative will be on the ballot in 2004. Sincerely, Thelma Bonar Tamara Maygra Dorothy Robertson Warren A p o lo g ize s to all fo r Jensen killing in 1988 To the Editor: To the family of Richard N. Jensen, Jr., and to the commu nity of Columbia County. Life is a process of making mistakes, learning from them and making wiser choices. No one is perfect, but we can be come better with each new day when we are ready to learn. I committed a horrendous crime that I’m ashamed of, and will have to live with for the rest of my life. In 1988, I took the life of a beloved member of your com munity. I shot and killed Mr. Richard Between the Bookends By Ann Krutsinger, Library Assistant The library will be closed for the Thanksgiving holi day on Thursday and Fri day, November 27 and 28. We will be open Saturday, November 29, at the usual time. If you are planning to pre-order books for the An nual Holiday Book Fest, please turn your order forms in soon, or call the library to find out more about this event. The Holiday Book Fest will be held Thursday, December 4 from 3-6:00 p.m. Libraries are resources for the newest fiction and latest mysteries. Libraries are also places to do research. We, at the Banks Public Library, like to keep tabs on the books that our patrons may be borrowing from other libraries so that we can make informed choices about materials that our patrons want. If you have a particular area of interest and would like us to consider purchasing a particular book, please bring us the title. Health is always a popular topic, from mental health to yoga videos and exercise books, or diet books and various ailments that afflict us as we age. Some examples of the latter are arthritis, lu pus, diabetes, and cancer. One of the books we have purchased be cause of patron interest is How to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine by Doctors Michael Murray, Tim Birdsall, Joseph Pizzorno and Paul Reilly. In this book you will learn how to assess your cancer risk through a screening questionnaire, how to change your internal envi ronment so cancer can’t survive, and discover the science behind the emotions and attitudes that play a role in prevention and treatment of cancer. You can also find out what combinations of foods, vitamins, herbs, minerals and supple ments can help you prevent, treat, or cope with cancer. Another recently purchased book is The American Diabetes Association Diabetes Cook book. Since managing your diet is the key to managing diabetes, this cookbook provides deli cious, wholesome recipes that are appropriate for the diabetic. There are fresh, healthy and fla vorful recipes for soups, appetizers, quick meals and snacks, main dishes and side dishes, breads, desserts and cakes. The authors also in clude advice on how to plan balanced meals that keep blood glucose levels in check. Perhaps if we all ate recipes from this cookbook we could slow down the rate of diabetes in this country. Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street. Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., 11 a.m. ~ 7 p.m.; Fri. and S a t 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Wednesdays, 10:15 a.m., through July. Phone: (503 ) 324-1382 Internet: www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us. to browse library resources or to reserve materials electronically. N. Jensen, Jr. To this day, I realize there may be people who hate me. I even hated myself for the crime I committed - for what I did, but not for who I am. Good people are sometimes capable of doing bad things and allow stupidity to overcome rational thought. I blindly followed the wrong crowd. I’ll live with that for the rest of my life, but I’m still a de cent human being with faith, ambition, feelings and a vision for my future. I pray that, somehow, others may view my crime as a deter rent, and live their lives in a more positive and meaningful way, instead of allowing poor judgement to destroy them. Even with endless talent and exceptional intellect, when we’re unethical, we can lose everything we’ve worked hard to achieve. I have learned a lot from my prison experience. Without faith, loving support of friends and family, life is meaningless. My years in prison have been enough time to think about my crime, but that’s not enought punishment for me. If I am released in 2009, I never want to serve another minute in prison, but I do want to share my life serving my community. It’s not what we do occasionally that makes us who we are, it’s what we do consistently. Good people sometimes do bad things. I am not the same person I was in 1988. I made a mistake, but I’m not a mistake My deepest, heartfelt apolo gy goes out to the Jensen fam ily, and to those who knew Mr. Richard N. Jensen, Jr. Sincerely, Rufus L Washington, Jr. Ontario Page 3 Grade Schools’ efforts are a help to Food Bank Dear People of Vernonia, Thank you, Washington and Lincoln Grade Schools, for your donation of 2,150 lbs. of food to this food bank. That’s over one ton of food! You exceeded last year’s total by 107 pounds. Su per work, students and staff! Thank you, parents, for send ing the food with your children to support this food drive. Also, thanks to Bonnie Holce and Patty Fetherston, who organ ized this whole project. Vernonia Cares statistics show a 30% increase in client numbers from this time last year. We’ve served 3,156 peo ple thus far in 2003 (1487 of whom are children). On behalf of the households who receive this food, again I say a heartfelt “thanks.” Be proud of yourselves, stu dents, for a job well done! Thanks, students, for proving that the youth are another part of Vernonia Cares! Gratefully, Sandy Welch, Director Vernonia Cares Food Bank T h a n k s to R a y fo r continued assistance To the Editor: Thanks, Ray Pelster. I came into town the other day from my home outside of Vernonia to see Ray with his leaf blower clearing the side walks. Many other times I have seen him trimming flowers in our lovely flower boxes, trim ming trees, and picking up trash. I believe the town owes him a great big “Thank you” for many years of caring for our beautiful home town. Lulu Lamping Vernonia Town Hall on Economic Development Monday, November 17,6:30 p.m. Scout Cabin in Hawkins Park City of Vernonia has funds for targeted training for local small businesses. These funds are part of a larger grant for market ing Vernonia in an effort to encourage visitors to spend some time and money in Vernonia. How the training funds will be used depends, in great part, on what local businesses feel is needed. Businesses have received a survey form to help in making that determination. Vernonia also needs to update its economic development strategy, which was last done in 1996. Please join local businesses In an effort to help guide the future of Vernonia and its people.
