Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2005)
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, OR 97064 Permit No. 37 Vol. 20, No. 18 “Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” Prepare to welcome 2,000 visitors with Cycle Oregon They’re here… Heavy rains on Saturday allowed waiting salmon to head for their spawning grounds on tributaries of the Nehalem River. These two headed up Rock Creek a little early for the Ver- nonia Salmon Festival. For more on Salmon Festival events, please see pages 13 and 28. B e ne f it p l a nn e d t o a id fa m il y o f Ma t t G i l es A benefit for the Giles family will be held September 24, at Shay Park, from noon until the food runs out. For $7.00, attendees will re- ceive half of a barbequed chicken, potato salad, roll, dessert and a beverage. Pre- sale tickets are available at Wauna Federal Credit Union, Vernonia Sentry Market and Vernonia City Hall. Direct contributions may be made at Wauna Federal Credit Union. Also available, for $25 each, will be 8x10 color aerial photos of Vernonia taken by Clark McGaugh of The Inde- pendent during a plane ride with Matt Giles in March. Giles was killed in a plane crash on August 5 in Idaho. All proceeds from the sale of food and photos will go to the Giles family. September 15, 2005 Cycle Oregon will arrive in Vernonia on Friday, September 16, marking the second time Vernonia will host an overnight stay for 2,000 intrepid bike rid- ers plus their support staff. Events planned for the riders include a mini logging show, lots of live entertainment, living history presentations at the Pi- oneer Museum, tours of New Moon Llama Farm, film clips of the movie “Ring of Fire,” which was filmed mostly in Vernonia and much more. Entertainment will be provid- ed Friday, at Hawkins Park, by the Golden Oldies, Mop Socks Girls, Burt Tschache, Banks Community Band, Jazzercise and others. Several local organizations will provide vending services and St. Mary’s Quilt Show will stay open until 9:00 p.m. on Fri- day. Please see page17 F ib re re op e n s l an d t o hu nt e rs Longview Fibre Company’s Oregon timberlands west of In- terstate 5 have been reopened for the bow-hunting season, with recent rains sufficient to reduce the forest-fire threat. Longview Fibre lands now open to bow hunters include the Deer Island, Nehalem, and Coast Tree Farms in Columbia, Washington, Clatsop and Til- lamook Counties, as well as Please see page 5 Wagner family loses home to Hurricane Katrina While most people in the Vernonia area were awed by the force of nature as they watched Hurricane Katrina de- stroy much of the Gulf Coast, Bob and Audeen Wagner of Vernonia were worrying about their son and daughter-in-law, Craig and Carolyn Wagner, who live in the Back Bay area of Biloxi, Mississippi. Heeding the hurricane warn- ings, Craig and Carolyn Wagn- er gathered up their three cats and left for Picayune, Missis- sippi, approximately 70 miles inland. That wasn’t far enough away to escape direct contact with the hurricane — the house where they were staying lost part of its roof — but they were unhurt. The day after the hurricane, August 30, they returned to Biloxi to see what was left. They no longer had a home; they didn’t even have a neigh- borhood. Except for some rub- ble and the pilings that support- ed the elevated homes, every- All that is left of the Biloxi home of Craig and Carolyn Wagner are pilings and rubble. thing was gone. They had the clothes they were wearing and the few items they had taken for two days away from home. A self-employed naval archi- tect/marine engineer, Craig had worked from home, so his of- fice was gone, too. Fortunately, he had taken his laptop com- puter when they left Biloxi. As they looked around the area, they discovered that their 37-foot sailboat, “Mañana,” survived because one of the Please see page 17