The INDEPENDENT, May 21, 2009
Vernonia Pride picks Yard of the Month
by Janelle Thomas Cedergreen
Home or Commercial land-
scapes can be a “thing of beau-
ty”, “eye candy”, or a work of art
to those of us who enjoy what
nature’s seasonal changes can
produce. This month the
“Country Garden” fell of these
two properties absolutely melt-
ed my butter! I have added the
category of “Commercial” Yard
of the Month after touring
around Vernonia and seeing
the great efforts some of our
businesses put into the care
and presentation of their prop-
erties.
Vernonia Pride is happy to
announce the May 2009 Yard
of the Month winners:
• Residential: Steve and Su-
san Whiteman, 864 State Av-
enue. Beautiful!
• Commercial: Patty and
Gary Davis’ Rock Creek Bed &
Breakfast at 1162 State Ave.
Enchanting!
•
Honorable
Mention:
Howard and Barbara Ward,
2048 Bridge St. Just lovely!
Please remember to nomi-
nate a residential yard or busi-
ness. Ballot boxes are in place
at City Hall and Sentry Market.
Each month through Septem-
ber, look for new winners to be
announced.
See picture on page 24
50 Years Ago This Month
The May 7, 1959, issue of
the Vernonia Eagle included
the following news stories on
the front page:
School elections in Vernonia
Monday drew a record vote
with 226 casting votes for di-
rector in elementary district
No. 47 and 188 registering their
preference in the high school
election.
At the high school, Mary
Drips, candidate for the four
year term, received 179 votes
and Frank Serafin one for that
place. For the five year term,
David Brunsman received 105
votes and Frank Serafin 83.
In district 47, results were as
follows: Wilbur E. Wilson,
167; Edgar R. Hartzell, 21;
Louis G. Bowerman, 27 and
Richard Jensen, 11.
On exceeding the 6 per cent
limitation, the high school vote
was yes 142 and no 41 and in
district 47, yes 156, no 52.
In the rural district election,
Ralph Sturdevant received 161
votes for rural board member
from zone 5 and a smattering of
20 votes were cast for 13 write-
in candidates. For member-at-
large Griffin received 176 votes
and six write-ins, one each. In
this case, this vote and those
from other parts of the county
have to be tabulated at the
county school superintendent’s
office before an election is de-
clared. The rural budget was fa-
vored here 159 to 58.
Another story from page 1:
Two more houses on O.A.
hill were sold by action of the
city council Monday evening.
Resolutions approved the bid
of Harvey L. Redmond for
house number 12 and of Hiram
Wright for house number 114.
In other action of the coun-
cil Monday, the old 1928 Chev
truck was sold to Vernonia
Auto company for $25 and
permission was granted to a
group of dog owners to stage a
coon hunt on city owned prop-
erty between the airport and
the river.
Page 9
Bits & Bites
By Jacqueline Ramsay
Stuff
– What
is Stuff?
Accord-
ing
to
the Web-
ster’s
Ameri-
c a n
Family 1998, there are 23 ex-
amples of stuff. You can eat it,
talk it, wear it, collect it or be full
of it. Take your pick. Anyhow –
since it is Spring again, I got
the bug to clean out the sheds
behind my domicile.
That idea sparked cleaning
my craft room. Good grief, how
can one person hang on to so
much unused and no longer
needed stuff? I guess you can
call it the dregs of faze living.
(Dictionary – Faze: cause to be
disturbed or flustered.)
Accordingly,
I’ve
gone
through cooking, sewing, knit-
ting, crocheting, quilt making,
reading, writing, sketching, wa-
ter color, charcoal and chalk
bunka, quilling, rug hooking,
ceramics, from pouring to fin-
ishing. House repair, papering,
painting, light electrical work to
raising fish, flowers and veg-
gies, kids (human and animal).
Oh yes, throw in working
outside of the home off and on
for 20 years. Then retire and
keep on puttering around to
keep one’s self on track. Folks
– stop and take a look back at
your life (age has little to do
with it). Good and bad. Bitter or
best. Happy or sad. Keep dig-
ging, you may find a feeling of
accomplishment in the bottom
of the last box in the closet.
I’m too busy digging out to
write this week.
See you later – if I don’t
throw myself in the wrong pile.
Animal photo contest now open
The 2009 Fuzzy, Furry and
Feathered Friends Photo Con-
test, by the Oregon Humane
Society, is open now through
May 29.
Categories include Grand
Prize, Dog Photo, Cat Photo,
Other Animal Photo, Funniest
Photo, Child with Pet, Me & My
Pet, and Editor’s Choice. The
grand prize is a Canon Rebel
XSi Digital SLLLR Camera with
18-55mm lens. Other prizes
are gift cards.
There is a $5 entry fee for
the first five photos, then $1 for
each additional photo entered.
For entry form and other rules,
go to www.oregonhumane.org/
news/photo_contest.asp .
Home of
Northwest
Microbrews,Wines,
Sandwiches,
Coffees,
Smoothies
& More
™
LLC
Pater O’Leary from the Vernonia Post Office, along with oth-
er Letter Carriers, collected 1,061 pounds of food for the Ver-
nonia Cares Food Bank on May 9. Photo courtesy of Sandy
Welch of Vernonia Cares.
831 Bridge Street
Vernonia, Oregon
Open Daily
503-429-0214