The INDEPENDENT, December 1, 2005
Page 13
PEO wreaths to be sold at Bazaar
ZooLights once again shine for holidays
Stop by the PEO table at the
Vernonia Christmas Bazaar if
you have not already ordered
your Christmas wreath. These
wreaths have become a tradi-
tion of the local festivities.
They not only look lovely, but
they smell deliciously. Each is
hand-tied using a variety of
Oregon greens which have
One of the Oregon Zoo’s fa-
vorite holiday attractions is
more environmentally friendly
this year. The ZooLights dis-
play includes more than
400,000 “LEDs,” light-emitting
diodes that use a fraction of the
energy of conventional bulbs.
ZooLights features more than
750,000 individual lights and
plans to eventually replace the
remaining 350,000 mini lights
with energy-efficient LEDs.
The LEDs will save about
18,000 kilowatt-hours of elec-
tricity over their month of oper-
ation, compared to convention-
al bulbs – about the same con-
sumption as 20 average-sized
homes.
“Since Oregon Zoo is a con-
servation organization, we
want to be a leader in energy
efficiency,” said Krista Swan,
zoo event coordinator. “The
zoo has been using LEDs for
several years and we continue
to add more each year. Using
these energy-efficient lights
helps the plants and animals
that we’re trying to save.”
ZooLights illuminates life-
sized animal silhouettes, trees,
been dipped in a biodegrad-
able preservative. Prices begin
at $18.00. Boxes for mailing
are available.
Profits from the sale of
wreaths and other handmade
items goes to the scholarship
and educational programs sup-
ported by the PEO organiza-
tion.
Santa’s mail box at Fire Station
Children may mail their let-
ters to Santa Claus at a special
mail box set up outside the Ver-
nonia Fire Station. The mailbox
is sponsored by volunteers of
the Vernonia Rural Fire District
who will help make sure Santa
answers letters received.
The mailbox will be available
until Christmas Day.
Above, Dale Webb was one of a group of people who recent-
ly put holiday lights on the trees by the Welcome to Vernon-
ia sign.
L
e o n e t t i ’ s
P i z z a & G r i l l
2 DOLLARS OFF
LARGE COMBINATION
PIZZA.
Offer expires 12-15-05
721 Madison Ave.,Vernonia • 503-429-5018
buildings, walkways and the
zoo train. The zoo added
210,000 LED lights this year,
more than doubling the amount
in the display. LEDs use only
about one percent of the power
of standard (C-7) holiday lights,
and about 10 percent of the
power in a mini-light. LEDs are
also small, long-lived and very
hard to damage. As the tech-
nology evolved in recent years,
the price of LEDs has dropped
and they are now available in
home holiday lighting and com-
mon uses such as flashlights
and bicycle lamps.
Oregon Zoo visitors can en-
joy the 18th annual lighting dis-
play through December 31. Zo-
oLights is sponsored by the
The Boeing Company, and is
open from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday
through Thursday and 5 to 8:30
p.m. Friday and Saturday. The
festival is closed December 24
and 25.
The zoo opens at 9 a.m. dai-
ly and is located just off High-
way 26. The zoo is also acces-
sible by MAX light rail line.
General admission is $9.50
(12-64), seniors $8 (65+), chil-
dren $6.50 (3-11), and infants
two and under are free. A park-
ing fee of $1 per car is also re-
quired. Additional information is
available at <www.oregonzoo.o
rg> or by calling 503-226-1561.
Adopt a family
for the holidays
Community partners and
host families are being sought
by Columbia County Women’s
Resource Center/The Starting
Place (CCWRC) shelter for this
year’s holiday Adopt-A-Family
project.
Last year, with generous do-
nations from community busi-
nesses, community partners
and families, CCWRC was
able to brighten the holidays
for over 230 people throughout
Columbia County. These fami-
lies received gifts of food,
clothing, winter coats, toys and
Christmas trees for families.
To adopt a family this Christ-
mas, or for more information
about the program, call Ollie
Gibson-Lavell at 1-866-397-
6161.