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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2004)
The INDEPENDENT, January 15, 2004 Between the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library It’s certainly been an in- teresting week (weather- wise) in Vernonia. Hours have been just slightly ir- regular at the library— opening a little earlier one day and a little later anoth- er, but all in all the library has been open to serve the citizens nearly all of the time as scheduled. Friends of the Library meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Jan- uary 20th at 6:30 p.m., with the book discussion group to meet that same evening at 7:00 p.m. Anyone interested in either or both of these or- ganizations is encouraged to attend. New mem- bers and membership renewals ($5.00 for an in- dividual and $10.00 for a family) in The Friends are being accepted now for 2004. The sole pur- pose of this organization is to aid the library by providing materials or implementing programs and services that would not otherwise be avail- able to the community. The Friends of the Library will help sponsor the Oregon Chautauqua program scheduled for Tuesday, February 17, at 7:00 p.m. Be sure to mark your calendars for this presentation enti- tled, “The Great Depression: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” Historian and folklorist Twilo Scofield will be using photographs, personal ac- counts, songs, and materials from the WPA files to illustrate the plight of Americans during the hungry years of 1929-1933. This free, public pro- gram is made possible by funding from the Ore- gon Council for the Humanities, an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. If you’ve been unable to attend one of these Chautauqua presentations, ask someone who has and they will assure you of both the educational and entertaining value of these programs. The Friends of the Library and members of the library board will provide re- freshments, while the Staggenborgs, of Vernon- ia Inn, are once again generously donating a room for Ms. Scofield following the evening’s en- tertainment. The after-school reading enrichment program has been funded, again, with a grant obtained by the Columbia County Commission on Children and Families, through the State of Oregon. Even though some sessions have already taken place, funding approval was late, so not much publicity has been given the program to date. Flyers, with the upcoming schedule, will be avail- able at the schools and the library. Most of these sessions for youngsters ages 7-12 will be held on Monday afternoons (only when school is in session) at the library, at 3:30 p.m., under the di- rection of Trish Maldonado or Orissa Burghard. Lasting about an hour, these enjoyable pro- grams include stories (read by adults as well as youngsters) and activities/crafts. Watch for schedules because there is discussion of some activities being held on Friday afternoons since students are dismissed early on Fridays. Pre-school story time is always available to youngsters on Monday mornings at 10:30. This is a good opportunity for moms and kids to get out of the house and enjoy an activity with others. Federal tax forms have arrived and are avail- able in the library. There is a charge of .10 a copy for items duplicated on the library’s copy Page 3 Letters machine. Library patrons were generous in adopting (purchasing) items as gifts for the library at Christmas. Nearly 20 of the books and books on CD were purchased and have been added to the library’s collection. Examples of these materials are Skipping Christmas by John Grisham in CD format, Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith, Christmas in the West by Sam Travers, I Love You Like a Tomato by Marie Gior- dano, The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan, and Valley of Light by Terry Kay. Thanks to all who purchased these items for the library. Recent additions to the Sally, Jane and Arthur Connolly Collection include All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki, The Solace of Open Spaces by Gre- tel Ehrlich, The Book Lover’s Cookbook, In Flan- ders Fields by Norman Jorgensen, and One Va- cant Chair by Joe Coomer. Be sure to take a look at Jorgensen’s beautiful interpretation of John McCrae’s poem about Christmas on this battle- field during World War I. Another recommenda- tion is Coomer’s, One Vacant Chair. This novel is about Aunt Edna, who paints portraits of chairs—not people in chairs, just chairs. The old house where Edna has lived, and taken care of her mother until her recent death, is filled with these paintings and with the chairs themselves. Told by Edna’s niece, Sarah, who has stayed af- ter the funeral to help clean up the last of a life and travel with her Aunt Edna to Scotland to help scatter the ashes of her grandparents, this novel reveals Edna’s remarkable secret life, as well as the fragile business of living and dying. It has some wonderfully poignant and humorous de- scriptions of characters and events such as Reverend Roberts while conducting both a fu- neral and a wedding and James, the blind black man whom Aunt Edna marries. Anther recommendation I’d like to make is for an author, April Henry. Ms. Henry lives in Port- land and has written several novels about Claire Montrose, who formerly worked for DMV deter- mining whether vanity license plates were ac- ceptable. After Claire inherits a valuable painting in Ms. Henry’s first novel, Square in the Face, she changes occupations, but continues to con- clude most chapters with license plates for the reader to decipher. Learning to Fly is the one of Ms. Henry’s novels that is not about Claire Mon- trose. This novel is about 19 year-old Free Meeker who is pregnant, has a shaved head, nose ring and a tattoo of Chinese characters around her biceps. In the chaos of a fiery auto- mobile accident, Free assumes the identity of a hitchhiker and a gym bag filled with $740,000. With each offering, I think Ms. Henry gets better and better. Her latest release is Buried Dia- monds and I highly recommend it as well as her other books. Through e-mail with Ms. Henry, a request has been made that she visit the library later this year and she has responded favorably. Watch for more information regarding this and “IBCNU”. Vernonia Public Library: 701 Weed Ave. Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Tues., Thur. 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:00 a.m., when school is in session. After School Reading Program: Mondays, 3:30 p.m., when school is in session. Phone: (503 ) 429-1818 Editor should not Merchants say thanks belittle non-voters for local support Noni Andersen’s opinion piece in the January 2 edition of The Independent attempts to belittle the non-voters in the re- cent 911 election. To me it only indicates that she doesn't agree with the voting laws of Oregon. Perhaps we should all go around complaining about laws we don't like. But then again she took great exception to that when people tried,em- phasis on tried, to complain to the city about overzealous en- forcement of laws that some people didn't like. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a non-vote at times carries more weight than a no vote under current law. And I would suggest that many of the non-votes and no votes may in- dicate that people are unhappy with the way 911 is managed or financed. The federal government is responsible for implementing the 911 system and they im- posed a tax on every telephone to pay for the system. We pay for 911 every time we make a phone call. In addition to that we pay taxes to support city, county and state police and fire departments. Most ambulance services are provided by profit driven organizations. These police, fire and ambu- lance organizations should pay any additional funds necessary to finance 911 through their tax revenues. They alone should determine each organizations share based on call volume or some other formula determined by them. Voters in the smaller communities of Columbia County should not be asked to subsidize the larger communi- ties. Previously each of the emer- gency responding emergency organizations had their own dispatching methods. Consoli- dating these functions should have saved taxpayers money. Instead it has created another layer of government with more taxing authority. Frank Schrier Vernonia To the Editor: We’d like to take this oppor- tunity to thank everyone who shopped locally during the Christmas season. It really makes a difference to the local merchants – and you helped make our Christmas successful and prosperous. Happy 2004 to everyone! Sincerely, Dennis & Marilyn Nicks Vernonia Measure 30 is good for the community To the Editor: Measure 30 is Good for the Community. If passed, Ballot Measure 30 will sustain Oregon’s current budget preventing further cuts in jobs and services. If it fails, the state will have to cut about $800 million from community services. Education will be hardest hit with a $428 million cut. Public Safety (police) will be cut $83 million, and Human Services will have to reduce ex- penditures by $269 million. One of the Human Service pro- grams earmarked for cuts is In- Home Services for Seniors. Loss of funds for this program will put more seniors in nursing homes, a higher cost alterna- tive to staying in their own homes. The failure of Measure 30 will also hurt our economy. The state would lose $1.9 billion in decreased state spending, lost federal matching dollars, and decreased spending by laid off workers according to the Ore- gon Center for Public Policy. The cost of Measure 30 is rather small. The typical Ore- gon taxpayer will pay $81 per year for the next three years. This tax increase will be offset by reductions in the federal tax rate during the same period. The Community Action Team Board has taken a position in support of Measure 30. Please join them in supporting our communities. Rocky Johnson Executive Director Community Action Team NOTICE The INDEPENDENT is published on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Because January has five Thurs- days, the next issue will not be published until February 5, 2004. The deadline for the next issue will be January 30, 2004.
