Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2004)
The INDEPENDENT, August 19, 2004 Page 3 Letters From page 2 question whether or not we should keep our armed forces in Iraq. But if we really consider it, those who are attacking our military are attempting to con- tinue attacking us as a country, because our military represents us, the U.S. And we are over there because of 9-11! And who can deny that the attacks of 9- 11 threatened the world’s safe- ty? To deny it and leave our attackers un-chastened would be to leave mass-murder assassins on the loose and make people everywhere fear for their safety even more than they do now. We as a nation are bringing justice to those who brought the tragedy to us. It would be cowardice for us to back out now just because the going is getting rough. Who ever said war was easy? Or pleasant? And what did we expect to find when we went over to Iraq? Repentant terror- ists? Terrorists ready to give up their dictatorship over their country? No! We expected to find cruel opponents ready to stop at nothing to keep their country and its people in their cruel grasp. The attempt of our soldiers’ attackers is to force us to leave Iraq so they can once again gain control over their country, and eventually the whole world (as is their plan!). This war with Iraq is a matter of justice, not vengeance or power. It is our duty to see through to finish the work we began, and not let down the people of Iraq who are depend- ing on us. Keep in mind: We Between the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library The Friends of the Library had a very suc- cessful book sale during Jamboree and would like to thank everyone who donated and purchased books. Julia Schafer of Hillsboro was the winner of Christopher Burkett’s gorgeous new book, Resplendent Light, which was donated by Christopher and Grey Dawn Gallery. Other raffle winners were Robb Wilson, Diana Skidmore, and Kaytee Burghard. All prof- its from the sale and raffle will be used to provide materials and programs for the library. The Summer Readers once again made it through the parade on their float reflecting the summer theme of Discovering New Trails @ Your Library. The youngsters made all of the decorations at the last program, which was August 4th. On that last day as they were mak- ing “float” decorations, they were also treated to “floats” (root beer floats). I was especially grate- ful to the parents who accompanied their chil- dren on the float. The candy for the youngsters to throw during the parade was once again donated by Randy Parrow and Sentry Market. It was a fun summer with Camrin Eyrick and Linda Johnston creating some great activities for the children. Youngsters who have not yet turned in their reading goal sheets to receive their prizes may do so until September 1st. Thanks to all who participated in making this another fun/edu- cational summer for the youngsters of the com- munity. From my summer reading, the two new books I would recommend are Coal Run by Tawni O’Dell and After the Fire by J. A. Jance. Coal Run takes place in the coal-mining country of western Pennsylvania and tells the story of a local ex- football hero and his effort to rectify a secret mis- take of his past. It also tells about the communi- ty of Coal Run and the effect that a mining explo- sion had on the remaining citizens. Narrated by Ivan Zoschenko (“the Great Ivan Z”) this book has a rich cast of characters, including his for- mer beauty queen sister, his former idol, and the young woman whose life he changed forever. This is a book of humor, suspense, and compas- sion. The other recommendation is not a novel, but a book of poems and recollections of Judith Jance as she chronicles the relationship with her first husband as it collapsed due to his alcohol addiction and to her unwitting denial and co- dependence. After the Fire gives Jance’s fans a chance to better know the author and to see how her eighteen-year involvement with an alcoholic helped shape the character of Detective J. P. Beaumont, the protagonist in sixteen of her nov- els. Other new acquisitions for adults include Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts, Kill the Messenger by Tami Hoag, Unlucky in Law by Perri O’Shaughnessy, The Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman, Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard, Sam’s Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson, The Rule of Four by Dustin Thomason, Day of the Dead by J. A. Jance, Garden of Beasts by Jeffrey Deaver, and My Life by Bill Clinton. The Randy Hansen family recently donated two beautiful books to the library in memory of Max White and Shirley Cutright. These items will be enjoyed by library patrons and are much appreciated additions to the library’s collection. Thanks to a donation to the Friends of the Library that was designated for the encourage- ment of reading for children, a nice selection of Beginning Readers—both fiction and non-fiction have recently been acquired. These include information about topics such as bats, volca- noes, wolves, and mummies. The class action lawsuit against the top five compact disc distributors involved in price fixing in the 1990’s has been settled. As part of the set- tlement approximately 5,540 music CD’s are being distributed by states to not-for-profit corpo- rations, charitable groups, and government enti- ties such as schools and libraries. Thanks to the effort of our State Library personnel, our library has just received 46 of these varied music CD’s. Be sure to look for these on your next visit to the library. 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, 10:30 a.m., when school is in session. Phone: (503 ) 429-1818 didn’t start the war – the terror- ists did. If we back out now it will do great damage to the respect and confidence the world has had in the United States, as it’s protector and defender. Fellow Americans, please seriously consider this crucial issue, and the part you play in this war. Freedom from fear is one of the four freedoms our U.S. Constitution upholds. Will you help keep our country “free from fear?” Will you uphold the cause of true freedom? Or will you suffocate it and cause free- dom to die out? Thank you, and my God Bless America… and you. Sincerely, Michelle Huntington Birkenfeld Thank you all for a great Jamboree! To the Editor: Dear Jamboree Committee, City Council, Volunteers, Vernonia Police, and all involved: In light of last year’s response to how Jamboree went, I thought it was neces- sary to write this year to say WOW!!!!! A JOB WELL DONE. This was a very pleas- ant festival and I think you all deserve a big hats off. It was nice to see everyone so relaxed and working togeth- er. Can’t wait till next year. Thank you, Toni Candiello Vernonia Thank you, Vernonia, for exceptional help To the Editor: A BIG Thank You! To the community of Vernonia and Nehalem Valley Speed and Beauty Car Club. We would like to thank Glenda Delemos especially for getting 9-1-1 on the phone as fast as she did, and all of the phone calls to check on my grandmother. Eula Gifffert “grandma” col- lapsed Aug. 8 with what we thought was a bump on the head. As it turns out, she had a bleed in the brain. She passed away Aug. 12. To the car club members, by-standers and all of the EMT’s who helped pack up all of our picnic stuff and put them in our cars, which were in the show that day, Thank You! Without all of your help we would not have been able to get out of there as quick as we did. To the Paramedics, thank you for getting her to the hospi- tal as quick as you did, and for everything you did to make her as comfortable as possible. It is amazing what people do for each other in a time of need! We just wanted to thank every- one who helped our family that day. Thank you all! Clarence Giffert, Ron Giffert, David, Rauna, Chelsea, Brooke & Brandan Johnson Vernonia Where is justice in Washington County? To the Editor: Where is the justice? What happened to justice in Washington Co., when an aver- age everyday person gets caught with $20.00 worth of ille- gal drugs in their possession, they are arrested and have to post a min. bail of $2,000 which is 10 percent of $20,000. By no means am I condoning that it’s right to have these drugs. But where is the justice when a man who was a city official until his arrest and is charged with 11 counts of sex abuse by sex- ually abusing two teenage boys, which can affect those boys for the rest of their lives, can bail out of jail with only posting a bail amount of $1,113.00. Obviously in Washington Co. it’s the person who has the drugs, NOT the person who messed up these teenage boys lives and their family and obviously has been deceiving the people of Cornelius. Where is the jus- tice? Not in Washington Co., that’s for sure. Jay Silas, Sr. Banks Ambulance volunteers appreciate support To the Editor: We, the Vernonia Volunteer Ambulance Association, would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire community for their support during our garage sale on July 30-31, 2004. The Association is trying to raise money to send a new vol- unteer to Emergency Medical Please see page 24