The INDEPENDENT, February 5, 2004
Page 5
Business Notes
Parrow to head Vernonia “The Junction” opens in Birkenfeld
There is a new, old place in
Chamber for coming year Birkenfeld.
The
Junction
Randy Parrow was elected
president of the Vernonia Area
Chamber of Commerce at their
January meeting. He will be
assisted by Vice-Presidents
Royce Hagelstein and Mike
Sykes, Secretary Brandi Page
and Treasurer Mary Kornegay.
Serving as directors will be
Marilyn Vicks, Dana Roach,
Sandy Welch, Ken Bateman,
and Patty Fogel.
Committee chairs will be as
follows: Publicity, Noni Ander-
sen; Marketing, Donna Webb;
Fall Festival, Shirlee Daughtry;
Business Assistance Team, Jim
Tierney; Linear Trail, Schann
Nelson.
Parrow asked chamber
members to be committed in
supporting the activities of the
chamber. As (former) chairman
of the Jamboree committee, he
also told the group that both
Jamboree and the Salmon
Festival would like to come
under the chamber umbrella as
chamber-sponsored events.
Though still in the planning
phase, this often-discussed
move received impetus during
recent Town Hall meetings on
economic development, where
one of the goals expressed was
greater integration between the
chamber and other community
organizations.
George Tice made a presen-
tation on the Rafts & Crafts
Festival being promoted by the
Vernonia Lions as a family-
oriented event that would help
raise funds for a skate and bike
park.
According to Tice, the Lions
will provide the initial funding
and have additional fund
raising ideas, but they would
like to have the event be a
chamber function. Chamber
members expressed several
concerns that would have to be
address before the chamber
could accept responsibility, but
consensus was reached to help
support the event.
The next chamber meeting
will be February 11, at noon, at
the Buckhorn Restaurant.
Anyone interested is invited to
attend; it is not necessary to be
involved in a business in
Vernonia.
CPAC elections scheduled
Columbia County will be
holding
Citizen
Planning
Advisory Committees (CPAC)
elections.
CPACs provide advice and
recommendations to county
Land Use Planning entities,
including the Planning Depart-
ment, the Planning Commis-
sion and the Board of County
Commissioners. CPAC mem-
bers serve for two-year terms.
Each CPAC is divided into
neighborhoods. Residents and/
or property owners within the
neighborhoods elect their own
CPAC members. There must
be at least five voters from
each neighborhood to hold an
election for the neighborhood.
Eligibility to vote requires either
picture identification showing
your address in the CPAC
neighborhood where you will
cast your ballot, or a tax
statment proving that you own
property within the neighbor-
hood where you are voting.
Only one vote is allowed.
Election for the Upper
Nehalem neighborhood will be
Tuesday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.
at Vernonia City Hall, 1001
Bridge Street.
The election for Mist-Birken-
feld will be Wednesday, March
17 at 7:00 p.m., at the Hemeon
residence, 14090 Wallace Rd.
in Mist.
Elections will also be held in
other areas. For more informa-
tion, call Chief Planner Glen
Higgins, or Land Use Planner
Jim Holycross, at Columbia
County Land Development
Services, 503-397-1501.
2004 Vernonia Parks
windshield stickers
are not available
Windshield stickers for 2004
Friends of Vernonia Parks are
now available at City Hall.
Vernonia residents can pick up
their 2004 sticker free of
charge. Parks visitors and
patrons living outside the city
limits can purchase an annual
daily use pass at City Hall.
Prices are $12.00 for a Senior
Annual Pass and $20.00 for a
Family Annual Pass.
(formerly J’s Place) recently
changed hands, with new
owners Kathy Briggs and
Peggy Cahill taking over from J
Hemeon. The new name, The
Junction, comes from the
historical train activity that took
place in Birkenfeld.
Briggs and Cahill are looking
forward to drawing people in
from all over the valley for fun
and daily specials. There will
be a Valentine’s Day celebra-
tion with a live band ($5.00
cover charge). They are
working on a new menu and
will be having a monthly birth-
day party with music (no cover
charge during your birthday
month) and cake. A new pool
league is being formed and
now is the time to sign up.
Kathy Briggs grew up in New
Jersey and said she saw
antlers only on reindeer at the
mall at Christmas time. The first
time she looked up from the bar
and saw a hunter in camou-
flage sitting there, she blurted
out “Oh sorry, I didn’t see you.”
Now that’s good camouflage.
Though she currently lives in
Portland, Briggs plans to move
closer when her two sons, age
11 and 12, finish the school
year. According to Briggs, “after
being laid off in the past, it’s
good to be in control of my own
destiny and it’s a fun place to
work.”
One of Peggy Cahill’s great-
grandfathers was a soldier who
settled in Birkenfeld after
mustering out of the service
back east. Her mother was a
Benson from Jewell. Her great-
grandfather Benson was a
stagecoach driver on the
Centralia to Longview line.
Cahill grew up in Portland,
but says all her favorite child-
hood memories are of visiting
her grandparents in Birkenfeld.
She remembers sitting at the
bar, in what is now The
Junction, with her sister, eating
ice cream and saying she
wanted to own the place
someday. She and Briggs start-
ed helping out at J’s Place last
July, saw the potential and
made an offer to buy. Now
she’s fulfilling her childhood
wish and living at the family
homestead.
Cahill
looks
forward to The Junction “being
the community meeting spot” in
Birkenfeld.
Kathy Briggs and Peggy Cahill invite you to come on in.
Both owners have retail,
sales and marketing experi-
ence. Cahill managed a restau-
rant previously.
Briggs says they want The
Junction to be a great place “to
meet, eat and kick up your
feet.” Their grand opening is
scheduled for July 3 so Briggs’
relatives from New Jersey can
come and camp out.
The Junction is open
Tuesday through Thursday
from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday
from 11 a.m. to midnight, Satur-
day from 9:00 a.m. to midnight,
and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to
8:00 p.m.
Stop in to see the changes
and stay for awhile at The
Junction, located at 11126 Hwy
202. For more information or to
sign up for the new pool
league, call 503-755-0900.