The INDEPENDENT, January 5, 2006
Page 3
Letters
Generosity shown by
Vernonia’s citizens
To the Editor:
Once again, Vernonia citi-
zens generously donated all of
the turkeys and hams needed
for the Vernonia Cares Christ-
mas food boxes. In the after-
math of a year full of natural dis-
asters, our neighbors and
friends extended the true spirit
of the season and gave locally.
This year, 138 Christmas food
boxes were distributed to feed
429 people. These numbers
are better put in perspective
when realizing that 400 people
represent 20% of Vernonia’s
population. Thank YOU.
Beside turkeys and hams,
Vernonia Cares received dona-
tions in various ways. Many in-
dividuals purchased a holiday
food box for $20.00 through the
check stand at Vernonia Sentry.
Vernonia Cares has received
many direct monetary donations
as well as a vast variety of food.
Thank YOU everyone!
Randy Parrow at Vernonia
Sentry was generous beyond
the Saver Shield promotion for
turkeys, which allowed [Vernon-
ia Cares] director Sandy Welch
to redirect funds for other food
items. Thank YOU! Pam and
Ginger in the meat department
ordered, stored donated turkeys
and hams and even loaded
turkeys for transport. Thank
YOU! To all of the checkers,
thank you for accepting meat
and cash donations. It is truly
appreciated.
Thanks also go out to Cedar
Ridge Sports Camp, Washing-
ton Grade School and Bill Yeo
for providing freezer storage
space. The donation effort
would not have been possible
without the ability to store all
those frozen turkeys. Thank
YOU!
We wish to extend a special
thanks to the Vernonia Jazzer-
cise classes. Instructor Penny
Between the Bookends
By Angie Spiering, Library Assistant
Banks Public Library
It is now 2006. Wel-
come to the New Year.
Get the year off to a good
start. Join Miss Cathy for
Preschool Storytime on
Wednesdays at 10:15 am.
The themes for January
are:
January 4: Don’t Bug Me
January 11: What’s In
Your Pocket?
January 18: All Things Green
January 25: Happy Hippos
Don’t forget about the Cultural Pass Program!
Banks has added a new museum to the list. Be-
low is a list of passes that the Banks Public Li-
brary has available for check out. You may check
out up to two per day. The passes are available
for a one day loan period. Our library does ac-
cept telephone reservations once you are regis-
tered for the program. Each pass has its own
rules for use.
— Portland Art Museum
— Oregon Garden
— Children’s Museum
— Washington County Museum
— Rice Rock Museum
— Pittock Mansion
— Portland Chinese Garden
— Forestry Center
— Japanese Garden
— Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
The library is preparing for Summer Reading
2006 with a shirt sale. You can pre-order t-shirts
in adult, teen and kid sizes. We also have denim
shirts available. Please contact us at the library
for more information.
We have just received Mississippi Flyway,
written by local author Nel Rand. The story, set
in 1967 along the banks of the Mississippi River
and bird flyway, tells of thirty-one year-old Ellie
Moon – recently divorced, hounded by a control-
ling mother, and haunted by her dead sister
Rose – who goes on a road trip with her es-
tranged father, a noted gambler and conman.
Follow their adventures as Ellie retrieves dark
memories of her childhood that have haunted
her adult life.
Ms. Rand’s book will be available for checkout
at our library or for purchase at <www.barne-
sandnoble.com>.
Also, new to our library this month are:
Teacher Man: A Memoir by Frank McCourt. In
bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent
wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records
the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in
public high schools around New York City. His
methods anything but conventional, McCourt
creates a lasting impact on his students through
imaginative assignments (he instructs one class
to write “An excuse note from Adam or Eve to
God”), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients
as lyrics) and field trips (imagine taking 29 row-
dy girls to a movie in Times Square).
Undead and Unreturnable by Mary Janice
Davidson. Though she’s the vampire queen,
Betsy Taylor is much more like a princess. In
Mary Janice Davidson’s novels, this high-main-
tenance monarch is finally coming to terms with
her new status.
They say Christmas is a time for friends and
family. But with a half-sister who’s the devil’s
daughter, an evil stepmother, a fiend living in her
basement, assorted spirits and killers running
amok and a spring wedding to plan with the for-
mer bane of her existence, Eric Sinclair, Betsy is
not sure she’ll survive the holidays.
Oh, right. She’s already dead…
Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weis-
berger. This is an irresistible tale about what
happens when a girl on the fringe enters the
realm of New York’s chic, party-hopping elite
Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street.
Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., 12 - 7:00 p.m.;
Fri. and Sat. 12 - 5:00 p.m.
Preschool Story Time:
Wednesdays at 10:15 a.m.
Phone: (503 ) 324-1382 for information
(503) 846-3245 to renew material
Internet: <www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us.>
to browse library resources, to
reserve or renew materials online.
You will need your card number and
password to renew by phone or online.
Costley matched each turkey
donated by students and won
the friendly competition among
businesses with a total of 36
turkeys. Thanks to all that par-
ticipated.
The third annual turkey drive
has been a tremendous suc-
cess. Thank YOU all!
Pat and Bob Stacklie
Vernonia's Turkey Herders
Thanks for the great
music from students
To the Editor:
I wanted to give music
teacher, Mrs. Holce, a round of
applause and a note of appreci-
ation for all the beautiful singing
and music from all the students
at Christmas time. All perform-
ances were spectacular and
the great opera singing at the
high school was magnificent.
Very delighted,
Virginia Kepner
Vernonia
Work of many made
a festive downtown
To the Editor:
Downtown had a very festive
atmosphere for the tree lighting
and truck parade.
Although there weren’t as
many trucks as we anticipated,
those that participated were lit
to the hilt and looked great. We
want to thank all of you who
participated and helped in any
way. Lee Siebert provided the
Christmas tree and the Jr. High
class made the decorations.
Here are a few people we
owe a big thanks to: Vernonia
Realty for allowing us to use
their lot year after year and fur-
nishing our electricity, The High
School band and Hands on Art
for the music, Bill Sword for
transporting Mr. and Mrs. San-
ta, and finally, Larry Snethen
and Robyn Bassett for being
our Santas.
The truckers in the parade
were Bob Baker, Weller and
Sons, City of Vernonia, Curls’
Transportation, and a group
from Jazzercise.
On another note, Vernonia
Pride is seeking new members
and ideas. Our goal in the be-
ginning was downtown beautifi-
cation. We feel the improve-
ments made by the City and
Vernonia Pride have accom-
plished our goal. We would
now like to focus on the rest of
our city and would welcome
suggestions on how we could
encourage our residents to
take more pride in their homes
and neighborhoods.
We would also like to thank
Donna Webb for acting as our
president for several years. We
welcome back Genny Fisher as
our new president, who was the
founder of Vernonia Pride. We
meet the third Thursday of
every month at 1:00 p.m. at
City Hall. We hope to see many
new faces at our next meeting
on January 19.
Happy Holidays and a great
New Year,
Deloris Webb,
Treasurer
Vernonia Pride
PEO says “Thanks”
for buying wreaths
To the Editor:
Vernonia Chapter BS of
PEO wishes to thank The Inde-
pendent and Vernonia citizens
as well as patrons of the Ver-
nonia Christmas Bazaar for
their generous support of our
annual Christmas Wreath Sale.
This sale is the basis for our
local group’s ability to offer a
scholarship to a VHS graduat-
ing senior girl each year, as
well as to make contributions to
other loan and scholarship pro-
grams sponsored by the state
PEO organization. Considering
the present cost of higher edu-
cation, many young ladies are
the beneficiaries of your wreath
purchases. Thank You!
Carol Davis,
Chapter BS President
Barbara Sturdevant,
Press Representative
Yes, we still have a
“Christmas” program
To the Editor:
In the past few weeks I have
been talking with many people
who live outside of Vernonia
about the WGS Christmas pro-
gram. Most people seem to re-
spond by asking, “Christmas
program? You can still call it
that? You don’t have to call it a
holiday or winter program?”
And I cheerfully reply, “Yes, we
live in Vernonia!” It is so nice to
live in a community where we
can still do things like have a
Christmas program, decorate
Please see page 17