The INDEPENDENT, February 16, 2006
Page 3
Letters
Here’s why Vernonia
is a great place to live
To the Editor:
I want our entire town to
know why I’m so grateful to live
and work in the town of Vernon-
ia. I recently had an opportunity
to ask for help from “OUR” den-
tist, Dr. Christopher M.
Scheuerman, D.M.D. The son
of one of my coworker’s has
leukemia and is in line for a
bone marrow transplant in Jan-
uary. There was only one BIG
problem…he had to have all of
his teeth removed before he
was able to receive the trans-
plant. The family had contacted
the “government agencies” that
are supposed to be there to
help when we need it. They re-
ceived NO HELP at all. This is
where “OUR DR.” came into
the picture.
Another school employee
and I went to Dr. Scheuerman
and asked if there was any way
he could help this young man. I
explained the situation and that
there was no money OR insur-
ance. The good Dr. did not
even blink an eye!! By the next
day arrangements had been
made to do all of the proce-
dures within the month. This
was a life saving effort on the
part of the Dr. and he was not
looking for what he would get
out of it. This is why I LOVE
LIVING IN VERNONIA. PEO-
PLE DO CARE.
I addressed the people that
were at the Vernonia Middle/
High School band concert, ex-
plaining Tim Dean’s dilemma.
Karen Roberts and I stood at
Between the Bookends
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
After having some pos-
itive feedback concerning
tidbits taken from old li-
brary board minutes which
were included in last
month’s article, I’ve decid-
ed to include a few more.
It appears that the librari-
an’s salary varied from
month to month during the 1930s—sometimes it
was $4.00 and sometimes $5.00. All of the ex-
penses and income were listed for each month.
For the month of May, 1935, expenses included:
$5.00 for librarian, Edna Owens’ salary; $1.01
for postage and $ .39 for postage. Income of
$2.24; $1.45 for rentals; $.08 for postage; $1.05
for a lost book and $4.52 from donations was re-
ported for that month. Money was very tight as
follows: When bills of $8.43 and $1.30 from J. K.
Gills were presented, the board voted to approve
the first of these and to pay the latter at a later
date and a motion was made to purchase some
children’s books, not to exceed $4.00. By Octo-
ber 1936, things were looking up financially
when $25.00 a month salary was approved for li-
brarian and $125.00 was approved to purchase
books for the year. In November of 1936, the li-
brary board voted to send $5.00 to Bandon to
help start a library to replace the one burned dur-
ing the fire that burned all but 16 of the 500 build-
ings in Bandon. (It is uncertain how the fire start-
ed, but it was kept going by the gorse—similar to
Scotch Broom—which had been planted by the
Scottish settlers as an ornamental shrub.)
Present library board minutes include the ap-
pointment of Tammy Jennings as a new board
member, discussion of the last Chautauqua pro-
gram (Coyote Tales) and the upcoming one enti-
tled, American Songs of Protest, to be held
March 15 at 7 p.m., Family Movie Night to fea-
ture Pete’s Dragon on Friday, February 24 at
6:30, the new computer made possible by
matching funds from the Bill and Melinda Gate-
way Foundation, and of course—money—be-
cause budget time is approaching.
With March being National Nutrition Month, li-
brary displays will feature appropriate materials
and a special after-school reading/activity will be
conducted by Cecelia Haack, Nutrition Educator
for OSU extension, on Monday March 20 at
3:30.
A varied and interesting shipment of books re-
cently arrived and will soon be available for
checking out. The Colony by John Tayman re-
veals the untold history of the infamous Ameri-
can leprosy settlement on the island of Molokai
and the exceptional people who survived under
the most awful circumstances. James Grippan-
do’s newest Jack Swyteck thriller, Got the Look,
promises to provide the twists and turns that
keep a reader on the edge of his seat. House
Poor by June Fletcher gives advice on surviving
the housing crisis. Haven Kimmel’s memoir, She
Got Up Off the Couch, rejoins the quirky and hi-
larious Jarvis family saga, with Zippy growing up
and with the spotlight shining on her remarkable
mother, Delonda. Other books in this shipment
include John Banville’s, The Sea; M.L. Mal-
colm’s Silent Lies; Paul Auster’s The Brooklyn
Follies; and J.D. Robb’s Memory in Death.
With proceeds from the last Study Club tea, a
selection of DVDs has been purchased. These
include 30 Years of National Geographic Spe-
cials, When Cowboys Were King, Underground
Railroad, Anatomy of a Shark Bite, Egyptian
Pyramids, Creepy Creatures, and Discovering
Alaska.
Recommendations for books to include in the
library’s collection are always given thoughtful
consideration and purchased if possible. The
goal is to provide materials that the citizens of
the area most desire and that fall within the lim-
its of the budget. (It is now considerably more
than $125.00 a year, thanks to economy
changes for the better and to a supportive budg-
et committee.)
During the month of March, the library will be
accepting nonperishable foods in place of fines
for overdue materials. One item of food will be
accepted for Vernonia Cares in lieu of each
$1.00 that patrons owe in fines. It’s the perfect
time to round up those overdue items and return
them while helping someone less fortunate.
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
the door to collect any donation
that people could give. It was
amazing!!! Both of our cans
were full in 20 minutes. Over
$800.00 was donated that night
by people who thought they
were coming to a “free” band
concert. Next I spoke to the
WGS audience of the “free”
Christmas Program. Jennifer
Boren and I stood at the exits
with our donation cans and
again they filled up. I was blown
away again because there was
over $800.00 given on that
night. Two Providence workers
immediately started thinking of
contacts they might have to
help the Dean family with the
problem of housing for the 100
days after the transplant. An
account was set up at Wauna
Federal Credit Union for tax de-
ductible donations. Pam Weller
at Wauna contacted me with
the great news that about
$5,000.00 total had been do-
nated. The removal of the teeth
started.
Everyone is not financially
able to help, but one thing you
could do is to give Dr. Scheuer-
man your business. We need to
let him know how much our
town values him so that he will
want to stay in our community.
Dr. Scheuerman’s and Vernon-
ia residents’ instantaneous help
is what small towns and the
Christmas spirit is all about.
Thanks to all that have offered
help! Kudos to you, Dr.
Scheuerman, you will have my
business!!
Tim is waiting for his mouth
to heal and is in the final stages
of preparations before the
transplant. Everything had to
be pushed back a little but he is
still on the schedule to receive
the transplant! Thanks to all of
you that gave and all of you
that have kept the family in their
prayers. I will try to update Ver-
nonians after the transplant is
complete to let you all know
how it went. Vernonia IS a
great place to live!
Cathy Ward
Vernonia
Long range planning
will help community
To the Editor:
Something exciting is hap-
pening at the Vernonia School
District. A group of dedicated
community-minded individuals
and staff have been working to-
gether to set goals and visions
for the future of our children’s
education.
Schools are the life blood of
our community. A successful
school can be the link between
parents, staff, community mem-
bers and businesses. Taking
this to heart, the Long Range
Planning Committee, working
in conjunction with the school
board, is looking to the future to
assure that our children have
adequate schools to aide in
their academic success.
I became involved because I
am a strong believer that edu-
cating our children is one of the
most important roles as a par-
ent and community that we
have. I want our children to
have available all the learning
opportunities
that
bigger
schools offer but in the security
and safety of our small town. I
am looking forward to having a
voice in this process and I invite
you to share your ideas, con-
cerns and enthusiasm with the
committee.
Whether your are a student,
parent, grandparent, senior citi-
zen, community individual, edu-
cator, and/or a business, I en-
courage you to be proactive in
assisting the long range plan-
ning committee. The work that
we do together will significantly
affect the success of our stu-
dents, our schools, and our
community.
Our next meeting is sched-
uled for Tuesday, February 21,
at 5:15 p.m. at the district of-
fice. Hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Liz White
Vernonia
Internet use can be
dangerously unsafe
To the Editor:
It has come to my attention
recently that we have a growing
number of our students using
their computers, or someone
else’s computer, to communi-
cate with large chat groups.
One of the most popular of
these sites is MySpace.com.
The technology explosion
has made it very easy for us to
share information and commu-
nicate with our friends. My wife
and I have a MySpace account
that allows us to share pictures
and communicate with family
and friends who are scattered
throughout the United States.
However convenient this is,
Please see page 25