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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2005)
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, O R 97064 Perm it No. 37 Voice o f the Upper Nehalem River Valley M/tere you calling us? New trail will be topic for Vernonia meeting Join the National Night Out celebration The community is invited to join the Vernonia Police De partment at Anderson Park on Tuesday, August 2, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., for the 22nd annual “National Night Out” (NNO). Vernonia is one of 30 Ore gon communities registered to participate in NNO, a crime pre vention event involving 34 mil lion people in more than 10,000 communities across the nation. Family fun at Columbia County Fair The Columbia County Fair got underway yesterday, and is going strong in its 90th year, with activities until 11 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday, and until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The carnival opens daily at noon; tonight is the junior rodeo at 6:00 p.m., and there are two nights of professional rodeo; dem onstrations ranging from old time threshing machines to skateboards and BMX bikes will fascinate people of all ages. There is an abundance of free entertainment, plus 4-H and open competitions, a great Chili Cook-off and much, much more. You w on’t want to miss the first-ever Emergency Services Fair, either, with demonstrations — as varied as K-9 drug sniffing to a Bomb Squad Robot — by emergency responders from throughout the county. If you haven’t picked up the full schedule from one of the stores around town, they may still be available from the stand at The INDEPENDENT office, 725 Bridge Street. For Vernonia’s NNO, Chief of Police Mathew Workman is working with many organiza tions, including the Vernonia Fire District, Metro-West, the Red Cross, Vernonia Lions and others. There will be free BBQ, raffles, music, and other activi ties. The night will be fun while showing that Vernonians are unified in their fight against crime. Businesses and individuals can help in many ways, includ ing donations of goods or serv ices. If you would like to help in any way, contact Chief Work man at the Vernonia Police De partment, 503-429-7335. The National Association of Town Watch (NATW), the origi nators of NNO, has announced that Target is this year’s nation al corporate sponsor. Two m eetings have been scheduled by Columbia County on the planned 22 mile-long lin ear trail along the old Crown Zellerbach mainline, from the Multnomah Channel at Chap man Landing to the City of Ver nonia. The first meeting is tonight, July 21, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Scout Cabin in Vernon ia’s Hawkins Park. The second meeting will be Wednesday, July 27, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Scappoose City Hall, 33568 E. Columbia Avenue. County Commissioner Tony Hyde will open the meeting, and maps showing the trail alignment will be available. The county is seeking comments and suggestions from the pub lic to provide an information base for developm ent of a master plan for the trail. The county purchased the 17-m ile-long form er logging road from Hancock Timber Re- Bridge work will close Timber Rd. Part of Timber Road, north of Hwy. 6, will be closed for about two months to replace a deteriorating culvert at Beaver Creek with a new bridge. According to the Washing ton County Departm ent of Land Use and Transportation a new one-span 48-foot-long concrete bridge will replace a severely rusted eight-foot di ameter pipe. The contractor began moving equipment on site Monday July 18, 2005. Timber Road will be closed to all traffic until the first week of September. Strassel Road can be used as a detour between Hwy 26 and Timber Road. The new bridge will be a 48- Please see page 5 source Group, with assistance from the O regon Parks & R ecreation D epartm ent and the Department of Transporta tion. Helping the project along, the Bureau of Land Manage m ent (BLM) has allocated $267,000 to replace several deep culverts along the right- of-way. Originally constructed for the Portland-Southwestern Railroad in the early 1900s, it was used to take logs from Ver nonia to Chapman Landing un til 1945. It was converted to a logging road by Crown-Zeller- bach. Anyone residing or owning property in Columbia County and/or interested in learning about the trail project is urged to attend one or both of these meetings. Barbecue benefit for local food bank You can enjoy great barbe cued chicken on Saturday, July 23, and help Vernonia Cares Food Bank at the same time. The menu for the fund rais ing dinner will include a quarter barbecued chicken, potato sal ad, baked beans, roll, ice cream cup and a beverage - all for just $7.00. It will be served by Cares volunteers at the Vernonia Senior Center from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Take-out meals will also be available during that same time. Tickets for the barbecue will be available at the door, 446 Bridge Street, beginning at 5:00 p.m., July 23. Sales will continue until 8:00 p.m. or until the food is gone. “Show your support and have a great meal at the same time. W e’ll do the clean up!" Di rector Sandy Welch said.
