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.