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.