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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 2005)
The INDEPENDENT, August 4, 2005 Page 3 Letters “Pretty town” costs are way out of line To the Editor: After long consideration I picked Vernonia as my retire- ment destination. I think your town is one of the prettiest and home-like that I have seen in 70 years of living and traveling. In addition, I would have been close to two brothers and many relatives living and owning homes in the area. However, my dream began to fade when I was confronted by what I believe to be special rates/fees, etc. for out of state move-ins. A local contractor quoted his “best price” to clear a pad to accommodate a 2500 square foot house at $43,000, next an unfriendly person in the building department quoted $5200 as the cost to hook up the sewer, the city charges $8411 for set-up fees, i.e., per- mits, etc., the water hookup was $3500 and, finally, I was quoted $3500 for the electrical hookup. This property, by the way, is zoned residential and is within town limits. Bottom line, the “special fees” necessary to build added up to 3/4 of the cost of the house. I was also confronted by my future new neighbor who indi- cated that I was probably gay since I was moving from Cali- fornia. He based his opinion (I think) on the fact that I intended to share my new house with my sister and he had seen me with her on many occasions. Just for the record, I was married for 47 years and my sister for 49 years. We both have many grandchildren. I don’t owe him any explanation. Also, he made a problem with crossing his land to trench to the sewer line. With so many road blocks, I did what any other 70 year-old woman would probably do – I threw in the towel. I want to note that I did meet some friendly, helpful people at the Senior Center, my realtor and a couple business owners. I harbor no ill feelings toward your pretty town, however, some of the characters that I met will be long remembered. Sincerely, Kathileen L. Hall Lincoln, California that, yes, you have chores, too… like packing water…and later that, yes, you can learn to cook, too! You learn that there are opinions other than your own and how different people value things differently in life. I was blessed to have grown up in a time of hunting camps that were an annual event. I was also blessed to have hunt- ing partners like Ray Taylor, Owen East, Jim Johns and my uncle, Gene Weller, to learn from and to help build charac- ter in a young man. I have learned lessons from all of them, some of which I carry into life in general. These things I would not have learned, if not for hunting camp! As sportsmen, we need to do all that we can to bring back the annual hunting camp, not for ourselves but for the young hunters of the future. Have a safe and fun Jam- boree! To the Editor: This overdue letter is regard- ing an incident that happened to me 26 June, 2005, starting about 2:30 p.m. Along the straight stretch of Highway 47 directly off High- way 26 heading toward Ver- nonia, my 1964 Karmann Ghia experienced total electrical fail- ure just as I was approaching a flagger. Her employers, Apply A Line, were and still are in process of re-striping Highway 47 in the Vernonia area. I was the first or second car waiting to follow the pilot car to continue on toward Vernonia. This couple of miles of road where we were stopped is dan- gerous because local inhabi- tants customarily speed up here as though it were a drag strip. So, with a dead car, a line of cars behind me, and an ex- tremely narrow soft shoulder on both sides of the road, I in- formed the flagger of my situa- tion. Another employee of Ap- ply A Line helped me push my car back and forth so it was off the road as far as possible, [but it] was still blocking about a quarter of the lane. The flagger pulled orange traffic cones from Ike Says… From page 2 but it is not good, overall, for our sport. Instead, our focus should be on the reasons why the game populations are not increasing and, in many cases, why they are still decreasing. It seems reasonable that if game populations recovered in enough places, controlled hunts could be phased out, or at least tag numbers would be liberal enough to provide al- most yearly hunting. Without yearly hunting camps, young hunters are not indoctrinated into the sport. Most people have little idea what it is like to have a hunting camp and an annual ritual of association with people who are your peers. Hunting camps can lead to lasting impressions and character building events that will follow a young man into manhood. Many view hunting as solely the pursuit of game, but there is a lot more to it. Try living with other people in a 12’ X 15’ tent for two weeks, for instance. You learn about space, how to share it and how not to infringe, something that will carry over into today’s ever increasing population densities. Learning Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter meets on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Call 503-429-7193 for loca- tion of meeting. Chicken Feed raised lots of “scratch” To the Editor: Dear Cares Supporters, You came through again! Thank you for coming to Ver- nonia Cares Food Bank’s sec- ond annual Chicken BBQ meal July 23. We sold 276 meals and profited a little over $1,400! Thank you, people who purchased our meal, including those who attended the “70’s thing reunion.” Special thanks, also, to the twenty volunteers who donated over 150 hours la- bor to make this “Chicken Feed” a success! We live in a wonderful community that shows that Vernonia Cares! Cathy Meyer and Sandy Welch, Co-Chairpersons Thanks for help from highway workers her vehicle and marked around my car so it would be obvious that there was a disabled vehi- cle. While I tried to find a cause for the electrical failure, the flagger moved away from my car toward Hwy. 26 so there was a wider margin of safety around me and my vehicle. While the pilot car came and went, leading lines of cars back and forth, I called for a tow truck and waited by the side of the road with my dog. One scary incident hap- pened when a young woman driving a blue compact came speeding up from 26. The flag- ger and I looked at each other in some alarm as she waved her STOP sign back and forth to get the driver’s attention. Fi- nally, the driver slowed down and stopped within twenty feet of my car, but I was getting ready to dive into the weeds with my dog, because it wasn’t clear that she intended to stop. The flagger was obviously alarmed, also, as she stood her ground, she said quite clearly, “Don’t hit me!” When the pilot vehicle arrived, that driver had a difficult time making her turns because there was very little room. When it began to rain heavi- ly, Apply A Line had to suspend work for the day. After some discussion by radio, it was de- cided that the pilot vehicle would hold up traffic coming to- ward 26 from Vernonia while the flagger and I pushed my car, between an eighth and a quarter mile, to a road from a field where the vehicle would be farther off the road. At all times the employees of Apply A Line behaved in a pro- fessional manner. They worked smoothly as a team to ensure a continuous flow of traffic, while keeping safety as their upper- most concern. The employees I came in contact with were in- credibly polite, professional, and helpful. I want to express my appre- ciation to ODOT for their choice of Apply A Line, a company that obviously chooses their em- ployees carefully, and to Apply A Line, for hiring Debra Peter- son, the flagger who wears the red baseball cap, because she was totally fantastic, even help- ing me push my dead car with a smile on her face in the rain. The driver of the pilot vehicle, and the other woman truck driv- er, whose names I do not know, were also incredibly helpful and professional. To all of them, my deepest thanks. Sincerely yours, Erika Paleck Vernonia “ICE” your cell phone for emergency help To the Editor: “In Case of Emergency,” cell phones can be lifelines. Emer- gency responders throughout the world are asking cell phone users to create a specific entry in their phones call ICE, or “In Case of Emergency.” It couldn’t be easier. Enter the number of your emergency contact/s in your cell phone’s address book. Label it as ICE and store it. This allows me- dics, police, emergency per- sonnel and doctors to access your emergency contacts if you are in an accident or be- come critically ill. Not only does this make our jobs easier, it saves a lot of time, helps the emergency provider and, ulti- mately, helps the person in need. Please take a minute and program these three simple let- ters into your cell phone. They could help save your life. Holly J. Vaughn/EMT B Metro West Ambulance Vernonia volunteer Scouts have many programs for youth To the Editor: As a 1st year Den Leader in Cub Scouts and a 2nd year scout parent, I want to let everyone know of the exciting opportunity offered to boys in grades 1-5 here in Vernonia. Sponsored by the Vernonia Li- ons Club, they make our group a possibility. Some of you may not know that Cub Scouting celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. That’s 75 years of helping boys learn and grow through community service and outdoor education. Boy Scouts of America also offers the op- portunity to gain scholarships and those that achieve the rank of Eagle Scout often gain more job opportunities as a result. Scouting offers other pro- grams as well. They offer a sports Please see page 15