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.