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?