The INDEPENDENT, December 17, 2009
Shop Vernonia for last minute gifts
Local gifts make a difference
in the Vernonia community.
This holiday season enjoy
shopping at local shops. Ver-
nonia can offer gifts for Tiny
Tim to even the “Scroogiest”
person on your list. If you can’t
find what you had in mind: Con-
sider gifts of labor, charity and
sponsorship. How about gift
certificates for massages, hair-
cuts, restaurants, a round of
golf, a night at a Bed & Break-
fast, a night in a cabin at Stub
Stewart State Park, flowers,
gym memberships, personal
training, Jazzercise, yoga or
hypnotherapy sessions, land-
scaping services or a portrait
session.
For children, consider a
scholarship for one of the activ-
ities at Larry Steele’s Cedar
Ridge, pay for next summer’s
swim lessons, rent a band in-
strument, support the local the-
ater, orchestra, ballet lessons,
or youth programs (such as
scouts).
Pet owners might enjoy pet
grooming, a donation to animal
rescue or a paid veterinary vis-
it.
Practical gifts for anyone on
your list might include stamps,
candles, flashlights, lamps or
other emergency preparedness
items, childcare or preschool
payments, auto repair or auto
detailing, counseling or health
care visits, or paying a month’s
utility bill.
Many community organiza-
tions can benefit from a dona-
tion in the name of your friend
or loved ones, or by gifts of
skilled labor. There are many
groups that could benefit by do-
nations: Boosters, Vernonia
Cares, Kiwanis, Lions, Senior
Center, Indigo Rescue, Ver-
nonia Pioneer Museum, radio
club, Head Start, Hands On Art,
or the Grange (to name just a
few).
All of these options can
make great gifts and help keep
local people working and busi-
nesses open.
Find something here in Ver-
nonia for even the person who
has everything.
Bits & Bites
By Jacqueline Ramsay
A chilly Good Day to
you all, wherever you may
be. I hope you all had a
pleasant Thanksgiving.
Kudos to the weatherman
– he was correct – it
rained all day. I guess he
has to be ‘on point’ once
in awhile.
There are now 13
shopping days till Christmas. My wish for Christ-
mas – that everyone (kids included) come to un-
derstand the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Love
should be the main gift, not electronics. O.K., I’ll
come off my personal soapbox.
I am finally free of the catheter in my neck.
Treatments going smoothly along and maybe af-
ter Christmas my “D” time can be cut 15 minutes.
Whooppeee (as a test of your sitability, sit with
one arm, hand palm up and not moving it, say for
10 minutes. You can flex your fingers if they get
stiff). Say, that may be a game you can play with
a ‘timeout’ for an errant child. (Just a thought.)
Saga of the forsythia. I think the cold weather
has caught up with it. The blossoms are, shall I
say, shriveled, today. I hope it comes to in Feb-
ruary when it’s supposed to.
The Vernonia Auto company
garage was burglarized apparently
between midnight and 2:00 a.m.
Tuesday morning. The break in
was discovered by Ace Lolley, city
marshal, in the early morning
hours.
Indications are that entry was
gained through a window. One
safe was opened and the contents
taken and another safe was carried
off in a new station wagon taken
from the shop. That safe was
found Tuesday near Treharne
where it had been blown and the
station wagon was found on Sun-
set highway.
Local, county and state police
were all working on the case here
Tuesday and are continuing work
in an effort to locate the culprits.
One lead is a loaded gun found
with the safe.
A follow-up story appeared
December 10, The Golden Oldies sounded
great. Sorry you weren’t all there though. The
braised beef and noodles hit the spot. It was 11°
when I left you all. It was 30° here in Milwaukie.
I didn’t get to the lake to check on the ducks,
they are probably skating on ice. Has anyone
taken them their cracked corn yet this year?
Now, I know troublemakers probably do not read
my column But. WHAT causes someone (or 2 or
3) to find pleasure in defacing any object set out
in a public or private place to honor a person. I
know I am IRKED (to put it mildly) that someone
is still defacing anything the townsfolk put
around the lake to honor and/or make the walk
more interesting for all who go there to enjoy a
“quiet time”. There is one thing they haven’t de-
stroyed yet but, then again, maybe they have –
it’s called determination – they will slip up one
day, I pray so anyhow. Bob Isted was a dedicat-
ed man about getting kids involved in music to
teach them – Enjoy life, get along, share, not de-
stroy. And, while I’m on the subject – School
Board: Get art, acting and music back in the
grade school – or it will cost you more than mon-
ey. Defacing property is one of the results of not
having anything else to occupy a kid’s time while
he or she is growing up.
Have a Merry Christmas. See you in 2010.
Jacqueline & Shadow
Man found dead after water pipe burst
Vernonia Police and Colum-
bia County Sheriff’s deputies
responded to a death in Ver-
50 Years Ago This Month
The December 24, 1959, is-
sue of the Vernonia Eagle in-
cluded the following news story
on the front page under the
headline, “Auto Company Bur-
glarized Early Tuesday”:
Page 11
in the December 31, 1959 is-
sue:
Two youth were picked up late
Tuesday of last week who have
confessed to taking part in the rob-
bery early that morning at the Ver-
nonia Auto company garage. John
Delbert Cornelius, aged 15, and
Dennis Raymond Colvin, 19, were
taken near The Dalles in a stolen
car which they apparently had tak-
en after abandoning the station
wagon which they took from the
Vernonia Auto garage.
The two youths are in the Co-
lumbia county jail at St. Helens
awaiting trial and are charged with
burglary not in a dwelling and lar-
cency of an auto. It is believe that
a third party was involved who has
not yet been caught.
The boys entered the Vernonia
Auto building in the early morning
hours of Tuesday of last week.
They opened one safe, and took
with them another one which was
broken open and left near Tre-
harne. They also took a new
Chevrolet station wagon from the
garage which they abandoned on
the Sunset highway beyond Sta-
ley’s. Both the safe and the car
were recovered last Tuesday.
However, only a small amount of
the money taken from the safe was
in their possession when they were
taken.
nonia in the early morning of
December 10. The initial call
was for a water problem, with
water coming out of the house.
This occurred during the recent
cold weather in Vernonia, with
temperatures in the single dig-
its the night before the call.
The Vernonia Fire Depart-
ment was first on the scene
and entered after knocking and
receiving no response, accord-
ing to the Columbia County
Safety Tip
Can’t get traction on snow,
ice, or mud? Try pulling out the
floor mats from your vehicle
and placing them in front of the
tires.
Tip provided by Pat Orlando
of Vernonia.
V ALLEY V ETERINARY C LINIC
R ABIES
S PECIAL
$ 50
Alley Auto Wrecking ✮
✮ Gasoline 503-429-7581
8
Most parts under warranty
Open Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
54372 Nehalem Hwy South, Vernonia, OR 97064
6 miles south of town on Hwy 47
Buying unwanted vehicles with clear title
Sheriff’s Office. In the utility
room of the house they found
Gordon Falkner, 71, deceased.
Water was on the floor, coming
from the ceiling. It appears Mr.
Falkner was trying to work on
the water problem at the time of
his death. He was reported to
have had medical issues, but
the exact cause of death has
not been released.
See obituary on page 26 for
more information.
Thursdays 9 am - 5 pm
Closed Christmas
Open New Years
Per vaccine, per animal
Through February 2010
1-503-556-3084
58376 Nehalem Hwy. S. Vernonia