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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2007)
The INDEPENDENT, January 18, 2007 Page 3 Letters School counselors appreciate donations To the Editor: Thank you to the Vernonia community for your generous donations in support of families in our community! Vernonia Schools were able to assist 16 families with holiday help. We couldn’t have done it without you. We wish to extend a special thank you to Sandy Welch and Vernonia Cares for their support. This truly is a community of caring people. We are so grate- ful to all of you for the many ways in which we receive your support throughout the years. Thanks again for your sup- port! Lorrie Webb, Adena Nelson and Anne Mason Vernonia School Counselors Fund raiser will help local organizations To the Editor: Every year, Columbia Coun- ty Citizens for Human Dignity work very hard to organize and produce their annual fundraiser dinner, “Kaleidoscope: The Winter Gala”. This year is no different. While last year’s din- ner focused on raising funds to assist survivors of Hurricane Katrina, this year’s theme is The People of Columbia Coun- ty; A Collective History. Proceeds from the Saturday, January 27, 2007, dinner will go to annual CCCHD grant pro- grams, which encourage or- ganizations with the mission to assist citizens of Columbia County. In addition to a dinner of Central American Cuisine with dessert by Mark’s on the Channel, the Gala will feature a return visit performance by the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. “I’m looking forward to the presentation of information re- garding the cultural roots of the Between the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library It’s gratifying to find that residents have been tak- ing advantage of library materials and services even more during this cold weather. Circulation for this past week has been higher than usual (averag- ing nearly 100 items a day) and patrons using the computers have been here from opening to closing, using all four computers much of the time. Keep in mind that it is a warm place to come and just read the paper or a magazine or visit a little if you’re starting to feel house-bound. The holiday book adoption went very well this year with all except three of the items being adopted (purchased) for the library and I would like to express thanks to all who helped add 24 new titles to the collection. This is a very nice se- lection of both fiction and non-fiction with books for children, young adults, and adults. These adopted books include Nature Girl by Carl Hi- aasen, From Baghdad with Love by Jay Kopel- man, Capital Crimes by Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, Shape Shifte r by Tony Hillerman, Shug by Jenny Han, The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights by David Ufer, and A Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz. If you would like a little controversy or some- thing to thoughtfully consider, you might want to read Mexifornia: A State of Becoming by Victor Davis Hanson or An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. The library now also owns the DVD of Gore’s book which will be shown as soon as a date can be arranged. Other new acquisitions include The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers by Lilian Jackson Braun, When Darkness Falls by James Grippando, Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle, Sliver of Truth by Lisa Unger, Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich, A Deeper Sleep by Dana Stabenow, and Web of Evil by J.A. Jance. I confess that I have not had a chance to read any of these novels yet, but am especially looking forward to reading Sliver of Truth and A Deeper Sleep because Dana Stabenow has been a favorite of mine for many years and Lisa Unger’s previous novel, Beautiful Lies , featuring freelance writer Ridley Jones, was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. One more new acquisition that I’m looking forward to read- ing is Tillamook 1952 by George Byron Wright. Nine months after being disfigured while fighting the infamous Tillamook Burn in 1933, Verlin Vic- tory Lundigun is dead from a gunshot. His death is accepted as accidental until his sister dies in 1952 and her youngest son makes a discovery that compels him to search for how and why his uncle died. Novels set in familiar locations al- ways intrigue me. Family movie night for January will be Fri- day, January 19 at 6:30 with Herbie Fully Loaded being the featured movie. Popcorn will again be provided. This movie lasts about an hour-and-a-half and everyone is invited to enjoy it in the library. Anyone who has read The Secret Life of Bees is invited to participate in an informal discussion of the book on Monday, January 22 at 5:30, in the library. Friday, February 2nd at 6:30, a musical pres- entation featuring Mark and Helena Greathouse, co-hosted by The Friends of the Library and The Vernonia Pioneer Museum, will be held at the li- brary. Mark Greathouse will be playing the ac- cordion while Helena interprets, sings, and dances to Czechoslovak folksongs, as well as to some more familiar melodies. Mark Greathouse is a descendent of the Malmsten family and he and his brothers have made some generous do- nations to the library and museum. This should be a pleasant, entertaining evening and all are invited to meet and enjoy the Greathouses. Bedtime stories will resume Thursday, Febru- ary 2nd at 6:00, and will be held the first Thurs- day of each month through May. This activity in- cludes some stories, an activity and usually cookies and milk for youngsters ages 3 and up. Vernonia Public Library: 701 Weed Ave. Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Tues., Thur. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:30 a.m., when school is in session. Phone: 503-429-1818 population of Columbia County. Having lived and worked here for some time, it’s important to learn more about the history of the land and people around me,” said Craig Frasier, CC- CHD board member. This year’s dinner honors the work and memory of the late Norma Olson, who commit- ted much of her efforts to the improvement of life in Columbia County. Norma’s family will be at the dinner to receive a spe- cial United Nations award on her behalf. CCCHD board member Marjorie Kundiger says of Norma, “She was in- strumental in making my life in Columbia County more mean- ingful. I had the opportunity to work with her on a number of occasions and she truly em- bodied the spirit and goals of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights for which she is being remem- bered.” Save the date of January 27 for the annual CCCHD Winter Gala. Ticket price is $25, and they can be obtained from Houlton’s Bakery, St. Helens Bowenwork Clinic, St. Helens Book Shop, or by calling 503- 543-8419. Tickets must be pur- chased in advance, as there are a limited number of tickets and they are selling quickly. We look forward to a great turnout and hope that you will join us! Sincerely, Gigi Gordon CCCHD Vice-Chair Leadership classes begin second round To the Editor: The Ford Family Founda- tion, in cooperation with Rural Development Initiatives (RDI), will be back in Vernonia. The second round of leadership training will take place starting January 26 and continue through May. This is a five year commitment by The Ford Fam- ily Foundation to help rural communities. They provide training and support to make communities more sustainable within their own community as well as to encourage network- ing and cooperation with outly- ing communities. The second round of classes is taught by RDI and graduating students from the first classes. The Ver- nonia Gateway Project is one of the results from this leader- ship training. Each class is to pick a project within the com- munity to complete. I wonder what the second class has in store for Vernonia? Donna Webb 1st class graduate 2nd class teacher Vernonia Vernonia: free wood and helping neighbors To the Editor: Little bundles of store bought wood provide a nice cozy fire for maybe three hours. Scott Stevens, Larry Cherney Jr. and Jia Johnston went though the good effort to provide seasoned firewood for free. They parked their truck in the Napa parking lot and handed out big bundles of firewood and welcomed folks to come back the next day if they needed more while the Red Cross, at Vernonia High School, did their thing. Some friends had generators that kept their freezers going and offered to save their friends’ ba- con. Others who had gas water heaters and gas stoves opened their homes up. Gas cans and propane tanks were rounded up and filled. When Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde, came over to shake Scott, Larry and Jia’s hand he said, “You’re good Americans” and Scott Stevens replied, “No, we’re Vernonians.” Amber Dahl Vernonia Out of My Mind… From page 2 The 435 members of Con- gress include 155 Catholics, 67 Baptists, 61 Methodists, 44 Presbyterians, 43 Jews, 15 Mormons, Adventists, Bud- dhists and others. Presidents who did not swear on the Bible include Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover, both Quakers, who af- firmed their oaths verbally. Theodore Roosevelt did not swear on a Bible in 1901, but did in 1905. John Quincy Adams was sworn in on a book of laws, in- cluding the U.S. Constitution. What could be more appro- priate?