Vol. 19, No. 6
‘Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
His sacrifice is remembered...
The family of Erik Kesterson receives a salute after being presented with a flag that flew
over the U.S. Capitol in his memory. Seated in the front row are M.J. Kesterson, Clay Kester
son and Tim Mahalak.
The community gathered at Vernonia
High School on March 10, to honor the mem
ory of Erik C. Kesterson, who lost his life No
vember 15, 2003, when two Black Hawk hel
icopters collided in Iraq. Erik, who honor
ably met his goal of serving in the military
with both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S.
Army, would have been 30 years old on the
day of the assembly.
The Colors were presented by the Nation
al Guard and letters were read from Gover
nor Ted Kulongoski, Congressman David
Wu, and Representative Betsy Johnson. Sen
ator Joan Dukes spoke, along with members
of Erik's family, teachers, and friends.
Tim Mahalak, Kesterson's half-brother,
talked about his brother's heroism, relating
how, in September of 2000, Kesterson was in
a helicopter that crashed on landing and
started to burn. Erik was the first one out
but, instead of moving out of harm's way, he
pulled seven others out of the helicopter to
safety. He was awarded the Marine Corps
Medal of Heroism for his actions that day but
"...w as very humble about it," said Mahalak.
Kesterson's mother, M.J., presented a
plaque and a sign to the school. The sign
said, in part: "We talk about the freedoms we
have... We obtained these freedoms through
the unity and might of our military; but they
are not free. They were bought with a price
and are kept with a price... Visit Arlington
National Cemetery and other cemeteries...
They all paid the price, the ultimate price."
She also presented a plaque to Sharon
Williams, one of her son's favorite teachers at
Vernonia High School, for "having faith in
Erik and giving him a break," by allowing
him to pass her class and graduate so he
could go into the service.
Mayor Cindy Ball brought a memorial gift
from the City of Vernonia—an American flag
which had been flown over the nation's capi
tal in memory of Erik. A member of the U.S.
Marine Corps presented the flag to the
Kesterson family - father Clay, mother M.J.
and brother Tim.
March 18, 2004
9-1-1 District again
earns national award
for fiscal excellence
Columbia County taxpayers
have a lot of reasons to be hap
py with the operation of their 9-
1-1 emergency dispatching dis
trict.
When voters formed the dis
trict, its outmoded equipment
couldn’t be replaced because
their cramped work area in the
basement of the county court
house was too small to hold
new computer consoles.
Over the years, a fiscally re
sponsible adm inistration and
board of directors have worked
hard to develop a service that
is now recognized throughout
the state for its competence
and professionalism.
By the help of grants to
stretch available funds, the dis
trict now serves county resi
dents from a district-ow ned
building with the most modern
equipment available, including
microwave communications in
areas previously unreachable
because of “blind” spots.
In spite of all that, the dis
trict’s latest honor has nothing
to do with dispatching or com
m unications... it’s about budg
eting.
For the second year in a
row, Columbia 9-1-1 Communi
cations District has received
the Distinguished Budget Pre
sentation Award from the Gov
ernment Finance Officers As
sociation of the United States
and Canada (GFOA).
The award, which recog
nizes excellence in govern
mental budgeting, specifically
recognizes Administrative Ser
vices Manager Nancy Edwards
and Office Support Specialist
Kathy Simek. Columbia 9-1-1
is one of only 45 entities and
managers (out of 14,000) in the
U.S. and Canada to earn this
recognition.
The district was chosen after
examination by a panel of inde
pendent experts to determine if
its budget met program criteria
in four areas - as a policy doc
ument, an operations guide, a
financial plan and a communi
cations device.
“This award is the highest
form of recognition in govern
mental budgeting [and] repre
sents a significant achievement
by your organization,” wrote
Stephen Gaughier, GFOA’s Di
rector of Technical Services, in
the letter announcing the
award.
Columbia 9-1-1 Communi
cations District provides emer
gency communications for all
of Columbia County. It is also
the coordinator and dispatcher
for 16 public safety agencies in
the county, as well as the Ore
gon State Police and the Ore
gon Department of Forestry.
Preliminary okay
for vendor at lake
Vernonia City Council grant
ed prelim inary approval, at
their March 15 meeting, to Lar
ry and Gail Snethen to operate
a food and bait concession at
Vernonia Lake.
The Snethens have agreed
to install a moveable conces
sion trailer at the lake. A city
franchise fee of five percent of
net proceeds will apply to the
operation, which also requires
approval by the Colum bia
County sanitarian and the Ver
nonia Parks Commission.
Approval was also granted
to the Cowboy Mounted Shoot
ing Association to hold another
Please see page 3