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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2004)
The INDEPENDENT, February 19, 2004 Page 3 County dims hopes for annual rally race with Vernonia as the hub By Noni Andersen Although everyone involved in last year’s Oregon Trail Rally was saddened by the deaths of one team, the gathering of cars, racing teams, support ve- hicles and personnel in Vernon- ia was greatly enjoyed by the community. In turn, the hundreds of peo- ple involved in the event also enjoyed their July day in Ver- nonia, so much so, that the ral- ly group was considering an annual event here, with a full weekend of visitors. But fire danger is great in the forests during dry summers, so Oregon Rally Group, which brought their premiere event to Vernonia last summer, decided to move the event up to late April. In December, just as organ- izer Mike Nagle was ready to apply for permits to use some Columbia County roads, the group received a bill from John Clouse, director of the county’s Department of Emergency Ma- nagement, for $3,292.44, pri- marily for road work. Oregon Rally Group had paid the coun- ty $3,063.37 in advance, then contracted with Matt Pihl to make additional repairs re- quested by county Roadmaster Dave Hill. Nagle was under- standably upset and seeking answers. At a meeting February 11, at the Vernonia Fire Hall, Hill said he was simply sending figures Clouse requested and didn’t know they were billed to ORG. Clouse, in turn, said the Board of Commissioners au- thorized the bill. Commissioner Tony Hyde didn’t dispute Clouse’s statement, saying the responsibility had to be with the board. Commissioner Joe Cor- siglia said he simply didn’t re- member the incident. The bill was verbally rescinded by both Clouse and Hyde. In spite of that, Clouse and Hyde both strongly implied that they don’t want rally in Colum- bia County. Clouse repeatedly Between the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library Do you know how to tie a bow tie? Can you list all of the James Bond movies with the year they were re- leased and name the actor and the Bond girl in each? Did you know that some countries have compulso- ry voting and can you name them? Can you name the singers at Super Bowls numbers 1- 37? Did you know that 70 percent of the Miss Americas have been brunettes, 24 percent blondes, and six percent redheads? Would you like to know how to say, "I love You" in 33 lan- guages? A recent acquisition, Schott’s Original Miscellany, contains all of this information and much more. Also included in this book are such topics as coffee shop slang, the menu of the last meal served on The Titanic, a simplified version of Braille, instructions for measuring bra sizes, names of the seven dwarves, commonly mis- spelled words, and earthquake scales. If you have a question regarding some obscure sub- ject, be sure to look in this fun little book. Recent acquisitions by popular authors in- clude Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi, The Last Ju- ror by John Grisham, Blinded by Stephen White, Aunt Dimity: Snowbound by Nancy Atherton, High Country by Nevada Barr, Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler, The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lillian Jackson Braun, Divided in Death by Nora Roberts, and The Second Chair by John Le- scroart. I’m really looking forward to reading some of these and, hopefully, library patrons will be pleased with these new additions to the col- lection. The two novels that I have most recently read are by two of my favorite authors – William Kent Krueger and Kris Nelscott. Krueger’s newest of- fering, Blood Hollow, is his fourth to feature Cork O’Connor, Aurora, Minnesota’s charismatic for- mer sheriff. When evidence points to the guilt of Solemn Winter Moon as the murderer of a beau- tiful high school student, O’Connor fights an up- hill battle, encounters prejudice, surprise twists and miracles before the truth of the matter is re- vealed. Nelscott’s enigmatic African-American P.I., Smokey Dalton, and his young friend, Jim- my, are still hiding their true identities as they try to survive in Chicago in 1969. This is a Chicago, torn apart by racial strife, gang wars, drug prob- lems, and police corruption. Smokey is a lone man trying to help make things right under al- most impossible circumstances in Nelscott’s fourth novel of this series, Stone Cribs. It contin- ues to amaze me that Nelscott, a lady who lives on The Oregon Coast can capture the issues of this era in American political and racial history and present them through the experiences of an African-American man living in Chicago. The book for discussion this month is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. Date and time for discussion of this book will be Tuesday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the library. There is still time for anyone wishing to read this book and take part in discussing it. Pre-School story time continues to be held on Monday mornings at 10:30 and the Reading En- richment Program is held on Mondays at 3:30 on days when school is in session. The library has quite a nice collection of books on cassette, as well as some in CD format. The diverse video collection is being supplemented with some DVD’s. Many of these items have been donations, but there is quite a nice selec- tion of both audios and videos. Microfilm of Ver- nonia’s newspapers may be viewed and printed with the microfilm reader. Interest in Vernonia’s past continues to be of importance to many area residents and former residents. The library has copies of The Oregon American Lumber Compa- ny—Ain’t No More, Vernonia, the Town that Wouldn’t Die, 75 Years of Nehalem Valley Histo- ry, and Vernonia, A Pocket in the Woods. Videos of “Ring of Fire”, “The Vernonia Incident” and “The Flood of 1996” are also available. This is “your” library. An ongoing attempt to provide materials that “You” want to use is one of the most important goals of the library staff. Sug- gestions are always welcome. 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. Phone: (503 ) 429-1818 raised problems the county had had with Hood to Coast events — clogging public roads, inade- quate emergency services, cre- ating public nuisances — which didn’t apply. Rally runs on closed roads, hires their own security, has professional emergency services (and hires local emergency personnel), etc. Hyde was somewhat more subtle. He just kept implying the timber companies didn’t want rally on their roads and he didn’t want to alienate them, particularly since negotiations are underway with Hancock to purchase the Columbia Main Line for a linear trail from Scap- poose to Vernonia. The local timber company representatives at the meeting agreed that they didn’t want ral- ly, citing damage to roads as their primary concern. They seemed somewhat surprised, and some seemed to be inter- ested, when a representative from Simpson Timber in Shel- ton, Washington, recounted his company’s many years-long, beneficial association with ORG. The Simpson forester relat- ed that the company has had no problems and has the rally group fix only the roads the company plans to be using, noting that rally cars can run on roads with grass growing on them from disuse. He also spoke of major economic bene- fit to the community, especially Letters Vernonia Lions not Raft & Craft sponsor To the Editor: There have been state- ments in two recent issues of The INDEPENDENT that the Vernonia Lions Club is spon- soring a Raft and Craft Festi- val. This is a mis-statement. The Lions Club is not sponsoring this festival nor are we supply- ing start-up funding. Our only agreement has been to provide a Polish sausage and kraut concession for the event. Sincerely, Bill James, President Vernonia Lions Club The INDEPENDENT gladly pub- lishes information about local events and organizations, but we can be only as accurate as the in- formation provided. large donations to the food bank, with twice yearly rally events. Vernonia’s economy could, obviously, benefit from the presence of an annual event of this sort. Non-profits could make money, as well as com- mercial establishments. Whe- ther that will happen is debat- able. Oregon Rally Group has many years of experience and knows what fees to expect. If Columbia County is going to in- sist on exorbitant fees, ORG will take their money else- where. What is Rally? Rally racing is a 2-person team event, with a driver and navigator, racing against the clock on unfamiliar, closed roads. They navigate with a map. Teams may be either am- ateur or professional, with sponsors ranging from local auto shops to Mitsubishi or Subaru. Rally is an international sport. Teams in Vernonia last year came from Europe, Japan, Canada and nearly every state in the U.S. Erik Kesterson Honors planned at VHS, March 10 A public gathering will be held March 10 in honor of Erik Kesterson, the 1992 Vernonia High School graduate who lost his life in Iraq when his helicop- ter crashed. He would have been 30 years old on March 10. The commemoration will be in an assembly at Vernonia High School and Erik’s mother, MJ Kesterson said that the family would welcome a few words from local people who knew Erik. Anyone who would like to speak is asked to call Mayor Cindy Ball for more in- formation. She may be reached days at 503-397-4555 ext. 100, or leave a message for her at Vernonia City Hall, 503-429-5291. Erik’s brother, Tim Mahalak, is planning the event. He may be reached at 541-954-1269, or by email: <timmahalak@ cmfsg.com>. Arrangements are not yet fi- nal. Additional information will be published in the March 4 is- sue of The INDEPENDENT.
