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The INDEPENDENT, December 18, 2003
The
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice
monthly, on the first and third Thursdays of each month, by
Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia,
OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Publishers, Dirk & Noni An-
dersen. Editor, Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410,
e-mail: noni@vernonia.com Display Advertising, Clark Mc-
Gaugh, 503-429-9410, e-mail: clark@vernonia.com
Opinion
The greatest gift we
can give is ourselves
It is easy to overlook the everyday generosity of
many, many people who are important in many, many
ways. These people are called volunteers and there
are so many of them who give so generously of their
time and talents that we have a tendency to take them
for granted.
Though we will, undoubtedly, miss many of them,
here are a few of these everyday Santa Clauses:
Lions Club members, who paid for and built the
gazebo in Hawkins Park and are now going to start on
a skate/bike park, in addition to their ongoing activities
in support of sight and hearing impaired people.
Members of the Pioneer Museum Association, Mist-
Birkenfeld Historical Society and Banks Historical So-
ciety, who have worked long and hard to preserve local
history.
Hands On Art helpers who provide children with in-
valuable exposure in both visual and performing arts.
Unpaid classroom aides in every school district who
take time to help a child read or understand arithmetic.
The folks who fill boxes and bags with groceries at
Vernonia Cares.
Coaches and organizers for kid’s activities – summer
baseball and softball, soccer, football and more.
Nature’s caregivers from the Izaak Walton League
and the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council.
Vernonia Pride for the downtown decor in every sea-
son, for landscaping and for organizing the communi-
ty-wide cleanup day each spring.
Mist-Birkenfeld Helping Circle, which fills whatever
functions are needed – social service agency, organiz-
ers and community cheerleaders.
Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians
who provide greatly needed services.
Unpaid elected officials and unpaid appointed offi-
cials – city councils, school boards, fire district boards,
planning commissions, cemetery commissions – who
spend hours and hours in the trench of public service.
Vernonia Jamboree committee who work all year to
provide one long weekend of community activities, and
have now successfully added the Fall Salmon Festival.
Helpers of all ages at the Senior Center.
Not only is there a Santa Claus, there are many of
them.
Proposal slights Nehalem Valley area
From page 1
The only reference to “Ser-
vice Improvements” for the
Vernonia area is that to
“maximize” service provided
in Vernonia, “…service go-
ing into the Portland area
should only go to Hillsboro.”
From there, the plan recom-
mends developing “a trans-
fer point at Hillsboro senior
citizen center.” Those need-
ing door-to-door service can
then transfer to the Tri-Met
LIFT, the consultant says,
and those who are physical-
ly able can be dropped off at
the MAX station.
Mist and Birkenfeld, as
usual, were not mentioned
as being part of Columbia
County when services are
under consideration.
In contrast, the plan rec-
ommends keeping vehicles
available in Clatskanie,
Rainier, St. Helens and
Scappoose “during midday
when seniors are going to
and from meal sites.” This
was not recommended for
Vernonia. The plan also rec-
ommends three (3) daily
round
trips
between
Clatskanie, Rainier and
Longview, plus St. Helens-
Portland service “at a mini-
mum…early morning, mid-
day and late afternoon.”
The plan notes that high
fares have reduced ridership
and recommends lowering
fares to $1.00 per trip. As an
example, it uses making the
fare $1.00 from Clatskanie
to St. Helens and $1.00 from
St. Helens to Portland, for a
$2.00 trip from Clatskanie to
Portland.
In other business, the
council:
• Authorized Mayor Cindy
Ball to seek professional
consultants from the north-
west Resource Conserva-
tion and Development coun-
cil and/or the Columbia Soil
and Water Conservation
District regarding improve-
ments and preservation
work needed for Vernonia
Lake, plus a fish ladder that
would allow the Rock Creek
swimming pool to be used
later in the year. Currently,
the dam that forms the pool
must be removed as soon
as salmon start coming up-
stream.
• Authorized Bassett to
seek
additional
bicycle/pedestrian funds for
improvements along E.
Bridge Street because the
city lacks sufficient funds to
meet the match required for
a federal grant.
Please stay happy and safe.
We’ll see you in 2004!