PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 22, No. 15
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Logging show brings look
from film production crew
Lest we forget
Boots lined up in front of Vernonia High School were accompanied by the names of Ore-
gon soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Eyes Wide Open illustrates cost of war
“Eyes Wide Open”, a power-
ful exhibit on the human and
economic cost of the Iraq War
was in Vernonia on July 27 as
part of a tour through Columbia
County between July 26-29.
The exhibit features boots to
honor the fallen soldiers from
Oregon and over 100 pairs of
shoes to represent the more
than 100,000 Iraqis who have
died in the war. Blue hardhats
represent the civilian contrac-
tors from Oregon who have lost
their lives in Iraq.
Visitors could become par-
ticipants by making prayer
flags, reading the names and
participating in a memorial vig-
il. The exhibit has proven to be
a very powerful symbol of the
war.
The Columbia County Citi-
C AUTION N EEDED
The annual MS Bike Ride
will be on Hwy. 47 between
U.S. 26 and Vernonia on Sat-
urday, August 4. Please drive
carefully.
August 2, 2007
zens for Human Dignity (CC-
CHD) hosted the exhibit which
was originally created in Chica-
go by the American Friends
Service Committee (AFSC), a
branch of the Quakers. The ex-
hibit in Oregon was a modified
state version created by AFSC
in Portland, and launched in
August of 2006. The Oregon
exhibit sponsors include AFSC,
Military Families Speak Out-
Oregon, Rural Organizing Pro-
ject and Veterans for Peace
Chapter 72.
Jeff Hunter, the AFSC repre-
sentative, said that regardless
of issues surrounding the be-
ginning of the war, the exhibit
hopes to get people to look and
consider where we are now. He
Please see page 4
Fire takes lives of Manning couple
The cause of an early Sun-
day morning fire near Manning
that left two people dead has
not yet been determined, ac-
cording to Banks Fire District
No. 13 Capt. Levi Eckhardt
Violet Brown, 82, and Don-
ald Benedict, 75, were identi-
fied by the state medical exam-
iner’s office Monday.
Eckhardt said that firefight-
ers were originally dispatched
at about 3:00 a.m. Sunday to a
brush fire at 46189 NW Sell Rd.
That quickly changed when
crews arrived to find a single-
wide and double-wide trailer
fully involved, with a third home
partially involved.
It took about 40 firefighters
from five different agencies
about 20 minutes to extinguish
the blazes. The two fully-in-
volved trailers were destroyed.
Reports indicate the couple
lived in the double-wide with
several dogs, which also died
in the fire. Both people were
discovered in the same room.
Investigators don’t believe any-
one was living in the other two
trailers.
Original Productions, pro-
ducers of the Emmy-nominated
“Deadliest Catch” and The His-
tory Channel’s “Ice Road
Truckers”, is continuing its ex-
ploration of the world of high
stakes, hard work and adven-
ture – and the rugged Ameri-
cans who make their livings
working on the edge – with a
new project.
“Timber Country,” a new se-
ries about the men who make
their living in the woods, will fol-
low the logging process from
falling to yarding to hauling and
milling. Viewers will see the
hard work that produces the
lumber that builds this country.
To maintain the quality-driv-
en work that they are known
for, producer Brandon Killion
and his team will be looking for
fallers, equipment operators,
mill workers, truck drivers, etc.,
during the Jamboree Logging
Show in Vernonia on Sunday,
August 5.
To tell the story right, ex-
plained Killion, “We’re looking
for both the seasoned veter-
ans who’ve seen it all and have
the scars to prove it, and the
brash young choker setters
and whistle punks who think
they know it all. When viewers
experience a greenhorn’s first
day, they’ll see just how hard it
can be trying to make a living in
the woods.
“By focusing on Oregon and
Washington, we’ll see how far
the industry has come from the
old lumberjack days. The audi-
ence will learn that sustainable
forestry supplies the timber
needs of the country while tak-
ing care to preserve the
forests.”
The 8-10 part series will be
there for it all – the fallers head-
ing into a new stand, the yard-
ing crew setting up the tower,
the timber being hauled to the
landing, logging trucks rolling
out of the woods, and the final
product being manufactured at
the mill. The series will show
tough men doing their jobs
while contending with their sur-
roundings and the elements,
including scorching heat, threat
of fire, torrential rain and even
brutal cold.
“Timber Country” will begin
production in Fall 2007.
Crash seriously injures VHS grad
Rhiannon Meyer, who grad-
uated in June from Vernonia
High School, was seriously in-
jured in a motor vehicle acci-
dent on Pebble Creek Road
early Sunday morning, July
29th. She was taken by Life-
flight to Oregon Health Sci-
ences University Hospital,
where she is being treated for
head trauma and a lumbar frac-
ture.
She will be kept in a drug-in-
duced coma until the swelling
in her head is reduced. Even in
the coma, however, she was
responsive to friends and fami-
ly in the room, Because this
created a negative effect on
her progress, and to maintain
minimal brain stimulation while
she recovers, visitors have
been limited to immediate fam-
ily only. Rhiannon’s parents are
Roger and Debi Meyer.
A website, www.rhiannonup-
date.blogspot.com, will have
daily updates on Rhiannon’s
condition.
Additionally, an account in
Rhiannon’s name has been set
up at Wauna Federal Credit
Union to help with medical and
family expenses during her re-
covery. Flowers and balloons
aren’t allowed in the ICU but
donations of any size would be
greatly appreciated.