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The INDEPENDENT, May 21, 2009
The right life jacket for your child
Between the Bookends
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
Some of the most re-
cent acquisitions at the li-
brary include The Fade
Away, Breaks of the
Game, The Yankee Years,
Pastime, Bang the Drum
Slowly, Perfect Game and
Major League. Do you see
a theme here? Just enter
“Baseball” on the search
and titles such as Jackie Robinson and the Sto-
ry of All-Black Baseball, Chicken Soup for the
Baseball Fan’s Soul, Shoeless Joe and Ragtime
Baseball, The Natural, The Sweetheart Season,
and A League of their Own are just a few of the
129 titles that may found in the library. This
month’s movie nights will feature The Bad News
Bears on May 28 at 7:00 p.m. and Air Bud: Sev-
enth Inning Fetch on May 30 at 6:00 p.m.
It was a pleasure to have a team of young
baseball players and their coaches view an in-
structional DVD on baseball fundamentals re-
cently in the library. Maybe May should be de-
clared Baseball Month at the library.
Other new acquisitions (with no connection to
baseball) include Starvation Lake, Bryan Gru-
ley’s debut novel of suspense and violence set
on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; Borderline,
Nevada Barr’s latest Anna Pigeon mystery set in
Big Bend National Park in Texas; and Jennifer
Chiaverini’s 14th installment in her Elm Creek
Quilters series entitled The Lost Quilter.
Book discussion will take place Tuesday, May
26 at 5:30 p.m. The Reader, by Bernard Schlink,
is the book chosen for this month.
Plans are being finalized for the upcoming
Summer Reading Program, Be Creative @
Your Library, with complete schedules to be
available soon. Jennifer Moloney, Linda John-
ston and Kelli Martinez have an activity-packed,
fun-filled six weeks planned for youngsters of the
community beginning June 30th.
Although the budget for the upcoming fiscal
year isn’t finalized yet, it appears that the library
will be able to provide the same level of service
to patrons as it has for the past several years.
For this we can all be thankful as our library and
libraries throughout the country are filling more
and more needs as communities suffer econom-
ically. If there are services or materials that you
would like to see implemented, please let us
know and we’ll see what can be done.
Books may be donated for the Friends of the
Library Jamboree Book Sale beginning in June
during library hours. Items that cannot be ac-
cepted are Reader’s Digest Condensed Books,
text books, and materials that are torn or dirty.
πππ
Do you know why Cinderella got kicked off the
baseball team? (Because she ran away from the
ball.)
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
Summer will soon be here
and for many parents, this may
be the first time your family
goes boating. To make sure
everyone is ready, the non-
profit BoatU.S. Foundation for
Boating Safety and Clean Wa-
ter has three free online re-
sources at www.BoatUS.com/
foundation/LJLP/fit_video to
make sure the kids are safe.
How to properly fit a kid’s life
jacket: Having a child wear an
adult or incorrectly sized life
jacket could be as dangerous
as having no life jacket at all,
giving parents a false sense of
security. A short online video
explains how to fit a right-sized
life jacket to your child.
How to borrow a kid’s life
jacket if you don’t have one:
Boaters don’t always have
every kid-sized life jacket
aboard. However, the BoatU.S.
Foundation has over 500 loca-
tions across the country – local
marinas, fire departments and
other waterfront businesses –
where parents can borrow a
kid’s life jacket (in various
sizes) for the day or weekend,
absolutely free. The Web site
allows parents to searocation
near them. The program
loaned out over 90,000 life
jackets last year, and three
lives have been saved to date.
Know your state’s life jacket
laws: Confused about who
needs a life jacket? The Web
site has a state-by-state listing
of life jacket regulations.
For more information on
boating water safety and the
BoatU.S. Foundation for Boat-
ing Safety and Clean Water go
to www.BoatUS.com/founda
tion .
Founded in 1981, the
BoatU.S. Foundation for Boat-
ing Safety and Clean Water is a
national 501(c)(3) nonprofit ed-
ucation and research organiza-
tion primarily funded by the vol-
untary contributions of the
600,000 members of BoatU.S.
It excels in providing safe,
smart and clean boating re-
sources for boat owners na-
tionwide.
Do you know what to do to avoid problems if you meet a bear?
Spring is a time of renewal in
Oregon and around the Pacific
Northwest. It is also the time of
year when bears wake up from
their long winter naps and
come out of their dens to look
for food.
Unfortunately, many of these
animals get themselves into
trouble by looking for meals in
all the wrong places – porches,
sheds, garages, garbage cans,
barbecues, kennels and bird
feeders, where they can be-
Midway
Veterinary
Clinic
Senior
Discounts
Open in Vernonia
Wednesdays and Saturdays
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Call for appointments
503-429-1612
805 Bridge Street
Vernonia
Small and Large Animals
come a nuisance…or worse.
Not only do these incidents
pose a threat to the bear, which
may have to be destroyed if the
behavior continues, they can
also pose a threat to humans
who may have a run-in with one
of Oregon’s largest wildlife
species.
Every spring, the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife
responds to calls from individu-
als from all over the state con-
cerned about some kind of en-
counter they have had with a
black bear.
Oregon is home to about
25,000 to 30,000 bears. While
sightings are not unusual, bear
attacks on humans are ex-
tremely rare. Even so, any con-
tact with a bear, or any other
wild animal for that matter,
should be considered potential-
ly dangerous and be avoided if
at all possible.
A few precautions can pre-
vent most of the problems that
people have with bears, ac-
cording to Dave Bostick, assis-
tant district wildlife biologist for
the North Willamette Water-
shed District.
“The fixes are pretty simple,”
said Bostick. “Don’t feed the
bears – intentionally or uninten-
tionally.”
Unsecured garbage is one of
the leading causes of conflicts
between bears and humans,
according to Bostick, who rec-
ommends keeping garbage
cans inside a garage or shed
until the morning of pick-up
service.
“Don’t put it out the night be-
fore or you’re asking for prob-
lems,” said Bostick.
Pet food bowls left out side
and bird feeders improperly
hung are the other primary
sources of problems, he said.
Pets should be fed inside, and
bird feeders should be hung
away from the side of a building
or trunk of a tree so bears can-
not get to them. Store extra bird
seed in a secured location, and
keep the area under bird feed-
ers clean. Compost piles
should be covered and outdoor
barbecues kept clean.
The object is to take away
any incentive for bears to come
around, and it usually boils
down to food. These precau-
tions are much more effective if
everybody in the neighborhood
follows them.
“If you follow these tips but
the person down the street
doesn’t, they could still cause
bear problems for you and your
neighbors,” Bostick said. He
suggested that, if bears are
found venturing into a neigh-
borhood, that people work co-
operatively with each other and
ODFW to resolve the problem.
All of these precautions are
aimed at keeping bears from
habituating themselves to hu-
mans because, if they lose their
fear of people, it can become a
potentially dangerous situation.
ODFW recommends that in
the unlikely event a person en-
counters a bear they react as
follows:
· Give the bear a way to es-
cape
· Steer clear of bear cubs
· Stay calm and do not run or
make sudden movements
· Back away slowly as you
See Bear on page 14