PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 26, No. 3
THE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
Merkley meeting set in St. Helens
Rummage sale, car
wash for band tour
The Vernonia High/Middle
School Band is holding a rum-
mage sale and, weather permit-
ting, car wash on Saturday,
February 5, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00
p.m. in the school cafeteria.
All proceeds will go to sup-
port the band for their Spring
Break 2001 tour. During Spring
Break, 33 middle and high
school students will be on a
three-stop, charter bus, concert
tour in California. The Vernonia
band will be joined by 11 stu-
dents and the band director
from Molalla High School. The
Vernonia Community PTA is
one of the tour sponsors.
February 3, 2011
G-P grant adds $50,000 to
Vernonia school project
Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill Manager Mike Tomkins, State Senator Betsy Johnson, Vernonia
school principal Aaron Miller, Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde and G-P Public Af-
fairs Manager Kristi Ward at the January 31 presentation of a $50,000 “check” to the Vernon-
ia school project.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley
will hold town halls in Lincoln,
Tillamook, Clatsop and Colum-
bia Counties this week.
He will update constituents
on his work in Washington,
D.C., and answer their ques-
tions and invite their sugges-
tions about how to tackle the
FREE
challenges facing Oregon and
America.
“Traveling across Oregon
and meeting with residents in
every county is crucial to help-
ing me advocate for all Orego-
nians,” Merkley said. “I invite all
residents of Lincoln, Tillamook,
Clatsop and Columbia Coun-
ties to come and discuss how
we can create jobs, strengthen
Oregon, and put America on
the right track.”
In 2008, Merkley pledged to
hold town halls in each of Ore-
See Merkley on page 4
A $50,000 Georgia-Pacific
community investment grant
was presented, January 31, to
the Vernonia school district to
help with construction of the
new school. This grant brings
the fundraising effort to over 80
percent of the funds needed to
complete the $38.2 project to
replace three flood-damaged
schools with one building out of
the flood zone. That building
will house
kindergarten
through high school students.
The announcement of the
grant took place at Georgia-Pa-
cific’s Wauna mill in Clatskanie.
Grade school principal Aaron
Miller accepted the check on
behalf of the Vernonia School
District. Columbia County Com-
missioner and Vernonia resi-
dent Tony Hyde, and State
Senator Betsy Johnson, among
others, attended the event,
which also included a tour of
the mill’s biomass boiler.
“We are a timber community,
and it is rewarding to see a tim-
ber-based organization like
Georgia-Pacific step up,” noted
Hyde. “Their investment in the
future of Vernonia demon-
strates the best of our commu-
nity, and of our neighbors’ spirit
of compassion.”
Five Georgia-Pacific facili-
ties contributed to the $50,000
grant: Wauna Consumer Prod-
ucts Mill in Clatskanie; Camas
Consumer Products Mill in Ca-
mas, Washington; Toledo Con-
tainerboard Mill; Coos Bay
Lumber Mill; and the Philomath
Lumber Mill. “This is our most
significant donation ever,” said
Kristi Ward, G-P Public Affairs
Manager.
A New Tool for
Job Seekers
V ERNONIA S CHOOL D ISTRICT E DUCATIONAL P ROGRAMS
See Page 4
Thursday, Feb. 10 • 6:30-8:00 p.m. • Middle School Bldg.
T OWN H ALL M EETING
Clothing drive to
aid VHS students
An effort is underway to start
a clothing closet at Vernonia
High School. Bring clothes to
the covered playshed on Satur-
day, February 12, from 11:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or call 503-
429-3521 by Feb. 11 for pick-
up. Like-new clothing and for-
mal wear for both girls and boys
is requested.
An OOOPS! moment occurred January 23 when this house stuck on the green bridge while it
was being moved. Bridge St./Hwy. 47 was closed briefly, until the problem was solved.