PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 20, No. 8
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
FREE
April 21, 2005
Oregon Trail Rally returns to Vernonia School board candidates
Rally racing can get pretty wild on unknown logging roads.
Tighten your belts and hold
on as international competition
races on challenging northwest
Oregon forestry roads for the
Oregon Trail Rally, April 22-24.
With 70 competitors registered,
this promises to be an action
packed weekend.
The Oregon Trail Rally is a
three-day extreme motorsport
event that tests driver’s skill in
production-based cars and
trucks from manufacturers
around the world. They com-
pete both for the overall victory
and wins within a class struc-
ture that groups together vehi-
cles with similar performance.
Special spectator stages are
planned for Friday afternoon at
Portland International Raceway
to include five competitor
stages in the heart of Portland,
explained clerk of the course,
Mike Nagle. “This includes a 4
mile super special stage, simi-
lar to those run at international
rally events around the world,
where two cars will race each
other on a split course at the
same time.” Starting side-by-
side at the track’s drag start
line, the competing pair will
complete separate laps of two
different loops around the com-
plex. As each crew completes
their first lap they switch over
to the other's loop, and as they
Please see page 4
Vernonia
River Fest
April 23, 2005
See Special Pull-out
Section for Details
will appear at PTA forum
You can meet the candi-
dates for Vernonia School
Board on Wednesday, May 4 at
7:00 p.m., when the Vernonia
Community PTA presents a
public forum at Washington
Grade School.
All candidates will be intro-
duced and will answer ques-
tions which were constructed
and presented in advance by
the PTA. There will also be a
public question and answer pe-
riod near the end of the forum.
Five of the seven board po-
sitions will be on the ballot.
Leslie Barnes and Dick
Brunsman are seeking Position
4, currently held by Gienah Ch-
eney, who was appointed and
did not file for election.
Position 6 incumbent James
Krahn is being challenged by
Kim Wallace.
A three-way race has devel-
oped for Position 7, held by
Philip Doyle, who was appoint-
ed. In addition to Doyle, Debo-
rah Brown and Ernie Smith are
seeking to fill the position.
Two additional positions will
be on the ballot: Angela Taylor
is the sole candidate for Posi-
tion 1, now held by Ed Buckner
who was appointed and did not
seek election. Cari Levenseller
is unopposed in seeking re-
election to Position 5.
The PTA wants the commu-
nity to be prepared, informed,
and able to make an educated
decision for the May 17 elec-
tion. The children of Vernonia
are the future and schools are
the heart of this small town.
Everyone is encouraged to at-
tend this forum.
Leadership trainees apply
lessons to aid local projects
A group of 27 Vernonia citi-
zens will be traveling together
at the end of April to Kah-Nee-
Ta Resort in Central Oregon to
attend a “Conference of the
Communities,” as part of the
Ford Family Institute Communi-
ty Leadership Program. The
group from Vernonia, which is
made up of a diverse range of
citizens, including three high
school students, will be joining
citizens from the communities
of Bandon, Sherman County,
Wallowa County and Walla
Walla, Washington. The five
groups will spend the weekend
in leadership training with top-
ics that include “advocacy and
consensus building,” “Building
multi-party agreement in your
community,” and “mentoring.”
Additionally, each group will
have a display table and make
a presentation about their com-
munity.
Each of the participating
communities will also make a
presentation to the entire gath-
ering describing a project cho-
sen to work on over the next
12-18 months as part of their
training program. The Vernonia
group is working on a street-
scaping project for the down-
town area which has been titled
“Archway of the Past – Gate-
way to the Future.” This will in-
clude the creation and installa-
tion of public art which empha-
sizes the history of Vernonia.
Although still in the planning
stages, the focus of the project
will be four metal archways at
the entrance to four proposed
downtown pocket parks. The
project is expected to enhance
the city-wide goals of creating
pedestrian-friendly areas and
Please see page 5
Teenagers to senior citizens, these Vernonia residents are enjoying and learning from lead-
ership training provided by the Ford Family Foundation.