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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2005)
The INDEPENDENT, December 1, 2005 Readers cause Miller to say “Got milk?” Vernonia High School Sports Report By Ben Schorzman The Vernonia Kindergarten through fifth grade classes read 2,058 books in five weeks, ex- ceeding the goal necessary to cause Principal Aaron Miller to milk a cow. Miller is the one kneeling above as he milks Pepper Ann, the cow, provided by George and Judy Marsh of Cor- nelius. Judy Marsh is at the cow’s rear, helping while acting Superintendent Ann Kingsley holds the reins and offers encouragement. Lee wins trip to D.C. for writing essay Dalan Lee, a junior at Ver- nonia High School, recently won a trip to Washington, D.C. Lee wrote an essay on patriot- ism winning the trip sponsored by the Oregon Chapter of the Colonial Dames. The Colonial Dames is a group of women selected on their historical ancestry to pre- serve all things with historical significance, to educate fellow citizens on our country’s histo- ry, to stimulate a spirit of true patriotism and to honor the memory of historic ancestors. Here is the essay, entitled Patriotism; Webster’s dictionary defines the word patriotism as “devo- tion to one’s country.” This is a very vague statement and in the wake of the turmoil of past few years one must reexamine what it means to be a “patriot” for your country. I believe that to be a through and through one hundred percent patriot in a democracy you must always question our countries logic and to always voice your opin- ion whenever possible. The beauty of a true democracy of course is that you can disagree with the government and do something about it. Democracy also has a dra- matic downfall; that is that a choice few citizens of a demo- cratic country think that their opinions matter above all else and this leads to riots and van- dalism that could lead to the cause of many deaths that did- n’t need to happen, all because of a political election that didn’t swing their way. What I’m trying to say is that a true patriot takes the good with the bad; he or she believes so much in the values of a true democracy that nobody, not even the president of that country should get in the way of that country’s freedom. To love your country is not so much as to love the lakes, streams and dirt beneath your feet but to love the values and ideals for which it stands and the grounds for which it was created. The kamikaze fighter pilots of World War II are an ex- cellent example of the word pa- triotism, men willingly commit- ted fiery suicide for the idea to protect their homeland, I can think of no greater devotion to a single ideal. Devotion to your country and devotion to your government are two very different things. The government makes the de- cisions and represents your countries ideals and values to you and other nations. Patrio- tism, I believe should not re- quire you to be loyal to govern- ment, but to check its decision making and its representation of you. It’s as much your coun- try as it is theirs, sometimes more. V ALLEY V ETERINARY C LINIC R ABIES S PECIAL 8 $ 50 T HURS 10 AM -5 PM • 58376 N EHALEM H WY . S. V ERNONIA Page 11 Football The Vernonia fall sports sea- son was wrapped up on No- vember 22 with the Fall Sports Dessert. At the dessert, the All- league players were an- nounced and the team did very well. Senior Russell Lende was 1st team All-League Punter and 1st team Defensive Back; Senior Bryan Budge was 1st team Defensive End; Junior Willie Hansen, 1st team Offen- sive Line; Sophomore Jeremy Lende, 2nd team Tight End; Ju- nior Luke Johnston 2nd team Fullback; and Junior Brent Thompson 2nd team Line- backer. Thompson got the nomination at Linebacker, but he could’ve been nominated at Running back, too. He aver- aged just over 100 yards rush- ing a game. Russell Lende av- eraged 35 yards a kick as a punter; Coach Funderburg said with a smile “Unfortunately, that means that we had to punt a lot this season.” The team graduates three seniors, Lende, Budge, and John Howley, and they were significant season. contributors this Volleyball One player from the team received All-league honors this year, Senior Kristin Cota re- ceived 3rd team honors. Winter sports Winter sports are underway with boys and girls basketball and wrestling. Games start No- vember 29 with both basketball teams traveling to Catlin Gabel. On December 2, the boys play Amity at home. The girls also play at home. All home games start at 3:00 p.m. with the JV Girls, followed by JV Boys at 4:30 p.m., Varsity Girls at 6:30 p.m., and Varsity Boys at 7:30 p.m. The wrestlers start with a tournament at Banks on De- cember 2. On December 8, they wrestle at home with Sea- side and Amity visiting. You can go online to the Vernonia School District’s home page at <www.vernonia.k12.or.us> and follow the links to the high school page, then athletics to get schedules for any of the teams.