PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 19, No. 8
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
bunnies, chicks
and, of course, a
visit with the big
Easter rabbit who
was handing out
bags of goodies.
47J Board may borrow to build
In a surprising series of dis-
cussions at their April 8 meet-
ing, the Vernonia School Dis-
trict Board of Directors ap-
peared ready to incur signifi-
cant debt for the first time in
fifty years. The board will have
a workshop tonight, April 15th,
at 6:00 p.m. in the district office
to determine whether or not to
proceed.
Because the newest building
in the district was constructed
in 1951, Superintendent Mike
Funderburg told the board, they
must consider the guiding prin-
ciples and budget goals which
specify that the district “will
maintain safe and healthy
physical facilities.” Mainte-
nance supervisor John Lewis
has told the board that the ex-
isting facilities are beyond re-
pair, and Funderburg reminded
them of efforts to mitigate mold,
caused by years of neglect and
simple old age, in the Washing-
ton Grade School (WGS) base-
ment. Board chairman Jim
Krahn said that maintenance
and upgrade of the facilities
should have been conducted
over the years in a systematic
way, adding, “The age of these
buildings is ludicrous!”
Since the failure of a bond
measure in 2001 and Funder-
burg’s arrival in June of 2002,
the board has been considering
ways to get students out of the
basement at WGS, provide
modern food service facilities
April 15, 2004
Exciting weekend of
ProRally racing on tap
Vernonia
Easter
Egg Hunt
—
Hawkins
Park
2004
Finding brightly
colored Easter
eggs was only
part of the fun
for youngsters
at the Vernonia
Easter Egg Hunt.
They also enjoyed
the pygmy goats,
FREE
and increase gym space. Over
this period the board appears
to have reached a consensus
that, if a way could be found to
finance it, a free standing build-
ing containing a gym, food
service and classroom space
would best meet the district’s
needs.
With that in mind, Funder-
burg presented the board with
an opportunity to build that re-
quires fast action in order to
capitalize on the available re-
sources. At the Small Schools
Summit in Pendleton last
month, Funderburg and Krahn
engaged in a series of discus-
sions with representatives of
the Scio School District. Scio
Please see page 2
Teams from across North
America will convene in Hills-
boro to start the Oregon Trail
SCCA (Sports Car Club of
America) ProRally, April 24-25,
where competitors will face the
challenge of Northwest forestry
roads. The service area for the
event, which is round two of the
SCCA ProRally Championship,
is at Washington Grade School
in Vernonia.
Unlike circuit racing, a Per-
formance Rally takes place on
gravel roads, and the course is
unknown to competitors until
they face the roads at speed.
Variable
road
conditions,
changing weather and the race
against the clock must all be
taken into account by rally
teams as they hurtle their finely
tuned racing machines through
day and night.
SCCA Performance Rally
vehicles are production-based
cars and trucks from manufac-
turers around the world. They
compete both for the overall
victory and for wins within a
class structure that groups to-
gether vehicles with similar
performance.
Racing takes place on “spe-
cial stages,” using back roads
closed by local authorities for
the event. “Transits” connect
the “special stage” sections to-
gether and are driven at normal
highway speeds, with teams
fully subject to all traffic laws.
Each vehicle carries a driver
and a co-driver/navigator. Us-
ing a detailed route book and a
sophisticated rally computer,
the co-driver keeps the team
on-course and advises the driv-
er of any hazards ahead. This
role is as critical as the driver’s
skill, since the team is traveling
at full racing speeds over roads
they have never before seen, in
any type of weather.
The first car will start Satur-
day at 10 a.m. from Hillsboro
Stadium and head west, or
“transit” to the first stage in the
Tillamook State Forest. Cars
are not expected to reach Ver-
nonia until about 7:45 Saturday
night.
Car buffs will be able to take
a good look at the cars Sunday
Please see page 14
“Make Vernonia Shine” on April 24
Mark your calendar to join
friends and neighbors on Sat-
urday, April 24, from 9:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m., for the annual city-
wide Make Vernonia Shine day.
The day will begin with reg-
istration at Providence Family
Health clinic and end with a
free lunch for all workers at the
Scout Cabin.
The focus of this year’s ef-
★ ★ NOTICE ★ ★
The Vernonia solid
waste transfer
station will close
at 12 Noon on Sat-
urday, April 24.
forts will be on litter pick up
throughout town, plus clean up
at the welcome sign and on the
Linear Trail, beginning at An-
derson Park. There will also be
yard work at Pioneer Museum
and work at Vernonia Lake.
Groups or individuals who
would like to work on a particu-
lar area, or suggest a site,
should call Vernonia Pride at
503-429-5201.
Power outages
scheduled for
Saturday
Details on page 4