The INDEPENDENT, January 19, 2006
Page 3
Letters
Swift treatment was
answer to disease
To the Editor:
My 10 year old daughter,
Sarah Dahl, was treated for menin-
gococcal infection from Tues-
day morning at the local Provi-
dence Medical Clinic to Legacy
Emanuel Children’s Hospital
and released Wednesday after-
noon with a follow up visit
Thursday and antibiotics. Our
clan has been treated with a
strong one-time dose of antibi-
otics. Names of the children
that Sarah had spent time with
were given to the Columbia
County Health Department.
I want folks to know that we
love this town and appreciate
and understand the concerns
regarding this meningococcal
scare but urge everyone not to
feed into the big media hype.
Being aware, alert and taking
precautions is very prudent.
Sarah is friends with Mikila’s
older sister and was invited to a
birthday party at Skate World in
Hillsboro. The teenage boy that
was killed by the infection was
an avid skater. Was he at Skate
Between the Bookends
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
Remember the impres-
sions that people used to
have of libraries…musty
smell, librarian shushing
people to maintain voices
to no more than a whisper
and then hurrying them
out the door, shelves con-
taining only books which
were stamped when being
checked out? Times have certainly changed! Li-
braries are now mostly well-lit, airy spaces
where, in most cases, normal conversations are
carried on by patrons as they visit, choose mate-
rials to be checked out electronically, use com-
puters or attend library sponsored programs. Li-
braries have become true focal points—hearts of
communities. When reflecting on library activi-
ties of the past few years (especially since the
new library was built in 1999) and listing current
and upcoming activities, I am so impressed with,
and proud of, the Vernonia community whose
citizens support the library and its programs to
the extent that it is such a community focal point.
At its establishment in 1928, the library was
open from 1-5:00p.m. on a trial basis and Lois
Malmsten, the librarian, received a salary of
$4.00 a month. When the librarian requested a
leave of absence in 1932, the library board
members each worked one day a week…thus
saving enough for subscriptions to National Ge-
ographic and Good Housekeeping magazines.
At the end of 1932, the library contained 1,808
books, the number of registered patrons was list-
ed at 811 and circulation was 14,623 for that
year. (Isn’t that remarkable—very few books, but
high circulation. Each patron must have read
nearly everything in the library. Remember this
was before television, but Vernonia did have a
movie theater then.) These facts and figures
come from early handwritten library board min-
utes that contain a wealth of history relevant to
Vernonia and its library.
The library at present is open 37 hours a
week, contains 21,231physical units, has 1,888
registered patrons, had circulation totaling
26,288 last year, offered 90 programs for chil-
dren and 20 for adults with a total attendance of
1,700 at these programs, and 4,800 people
signed in to use computer time.
Upcoming events include: Coyote Tales , a
Chautauqua presentation by Curtis Yehnert on
Saturday, January 21st at 2:00 p.m.; Bedtime
Stories/Activities with Camrin Eyrrick on Thurs-
day, January 26th at 6:30; Family Movie Night
( The Parent Trap ) on Friday, January 27th at
6:30, as well as regular Preschool Story time at
10:30 a.m.; After School Reading/Activities at
3:30 on Monday afternoons and Chess on Fri-
day afternoons at 2:00. (Camrin’s Bedtime Sto-
ries are now on a regular schedule – the 2nd and
4th Thursday of the month at 6:30.) Book discus-
sion group will meet Monday, February 20th at
5:30 to discuss A Sudden Country by Karen
Fisher. Library hours will be extended any Tues-
day evening for youngsters wishing to do home-
work. Schoolwork will be the only activity taking
place in the library during that time and any
youngsters wishing to use the library for this pur-
pose must be at the library prior to the regular
7:00 p.m. closing time.
The book adoption was a great success this
year with nearly all of the books being adopted
(purchased as gifts) for the library. Of the total
cost of $330.00, all but $30.00 was paid by gen-
erous library patrons to the St. Helens Book
Shop to add these materials to the library’s col-
lection. This is a great selection including
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, 1776 by David
McCullough, The Children’s Blizzard by David
Laskin, Highest Tide by Jim Lynch , Jan Karon’s
Mitford Cookbook, Ordinary Wolves by Seth
Kantner, The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly
Black and The Beatles: The Biography: by
Robert Spitz. Thank you so much to everyone
who enabled us to add these items to the li-
brary’s collection.
Other new acquisitions include: On the Run
by Iris Johansen, Every Breath You Take by Ju-
dith McNaught, and Nothing but Trouble by
Michael McGarrity.
The library is now subscribing to The Oregon-
ian for anyone wishing to keep up with the daily
local and world news in written format.
Anyone wishing to donate books for the
Friends of the Library’s Spring Book Sale may
drop them off at the library anytime during library
hours. It is the time of the year to renew or start
a new membership in this organization whose
purpose is to supplement library projects and
materials.
What do you think? Have libraries and their
services changed and could they be considered
“hearts of the community”?
Vernonia Public Library: 701 Weed Ave.
Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.;
Tues., Thur. 2 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:30
a.m., when school is in session.
Phone: (503 ) 429-1818
World? The river water is high.
There’s the weather change
and the holiday stress and we
live in a house that had been
flooded. We trust in God. But
there were a lot of kids up at
Emanuel Hospital that have
their own troubles and are go-
ing to have a rough road ahead
of them that I’m sure trust in the
Lord. I felt kind of guilty seeing
Sarah happy, alert and looking
very well during her stay at the
hospital. If we weren’t in the
eye of the tornado it would
have been a treat. Because Dr.
Gilmore, in the Providence Ver-
nonia Clinic, was on the ball
and took action, Sarah re-
ceived immediate response.
The antibiotics she received
cured her so well I’m surprised
her freckles didn’t fall off.
We have decided to work
with Washington Grade School
and have Sarah’s school work
done at home till she runs
through her complete antibi-
otics. All should go well and she
will return to school January 23.
As for the rest of our clan, out
of consideration for others and
our peace of mind, we will take
extra precautions by washing
our hands before we go out and
not renting so many movies at
Sentry and getting those yum-
my jojos and cheese sauce at
the Mini Mart. It would be nice if
some computer savvy person
would make a website where
we all could share our stories.
Perhaps if the folks in the scary
movies said, “This is what I
saw, this is what I heard...” the
movie wouldn’t be so scary.
Take Care,
Amber Dahl
Vernonia
Pleased with school
district’s response
To the Editor:
I just want to write a few
words on how proud I am to live
in a small community like Ver-
nonia. With the recent scare
with meningococcal disease,
the community was getting the
word out.
I really want to thank the
Vernonia School District for do-
ing everything possible to make
sure our kids were safe when
they went back to school Mon-
day. They have sent out letters
to keep parents informed on
what was being done and infor-
mation about this disease. I feel
very grateful for having such a
dedicated and caring group of
people who have the safety
and well being of our children in
their hands.
Thanks to all the staff for a
job well done. Thank you Mrs.
Kingsley and Mr. Miller and all
the teachers for helping the
kids with this issue and making
our schools safe.
Marilyn Atkins Gardner
Vernonia
Great success with
special food boxes
To the Editor:
Success!
We did it! Thanks to the help
of numerous donors, 132 Ver-
nonia Christmas meal food
boxes were dispersed on De-
cember 20. These boxes con-
tained the basic groceries for a
Christmas meal for households
in and around Vernonia. This
project helped 429 people have
a brighter Christmas.
Birds (frozen turkeys) flew in
from as far away as Forest
Grove, thanks to the Marquis
and Vintage Care Centers. Lo-
cally, the Jazzercise group also
herded a fair sized flock of birds
our way. Many single wander-
ing birds found their way to us,
thanks to our faithful turkey
herder, Pat Stacklie. Thanks,
Pat (and Bob, her ever-faithful
assistant.)
A number of people donated
funds directly to Vernonia
Cares for this project. Others
gave through the check stands
at Vernonia Sentry. Food was
donated to Vernonia Cares,
canned food drives yielded
more canned and boxed foods
and many other ways of contri-
bution were enacted. Several
freezers were used to store the
turkeys until dispersal day. A
great number of volunteers
helped assemble the boxes.
Thank you, thank you, thank
you!
Thanks, each and every
one, for making this a totally
successful project. None of
Vernonia Cares Food Bank’s
general funds were spent to
carry out this project, due to the
numerous generous donors
(from business, private, and or-
ganizational sources). Each of
you demonstrate the compas-
sion behind our food bank’s
name, “Vernonia Cares.”
Gratefully,
Sandy Welch, Exec. Director
Vernonia Cares Food Bank