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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2011)
Page 10 The INDEPENDENT, July 6, 2011 Carpenter retired after 22 years with Col. County Sheriff’s Office From page 9 Captain Carpenter began his career with the Sheriff’s Of- fice under Sheriff Bruce Oester. He started as a part-time deputy after working for many years in muffler repairs. He owned Jim’s Muffler and More in Scappoose and was very ac- tive in the Scappoose City Club before Sheriff Oester hired him. In 1990, Carpenter became a full-time deputy in the Correc- tions Division, and in 1997, Sheriff Phil Derby promoted him to sergeant. Carpenter oversaw the planning and con- struction of the new jail facility in 1999 after the old jail be- came unusable. Carpenter spent an equal amount of time (11 years) in both facilities. He said that when the Sheriff’s Of- fice moved from the old facility at the courthouse, they had nearly twice the number of in- mates as they had authorized beds. “The old jail had a capac- ity of 38 beds,” Carpenter said, “but when we moved to the present facility in 2000, we moved with 75 inmates.” Prior to the move, Carpenter was instrumental in beginning the Sheriff’s work crew to help ease jail overcrowding at the old jail. Afterward, Sheriff Der- by put Carpenter in charge of jail programs, where he be- came well known for his ability to work with inmates and the community in finding jobs for inmates to help keep them out of jail. Sheriff Derby later promoted him to administrative First Sergeant, where Carpenter ex- panded his services to the Sheriff on both the Corrections and Enforcement side of the house. Sheriff Dickerson later promoted him to captain and made him the Jail Commander in 2009. Though he is retiring from the Sheriff’s Office, the sheriff says he still expects Carpenter to remain active in the commu- nity, where in recent years he has organized the “Cop Walk for Life”, benefitting the Ameri- can Cancer Society and other philanthropic events. He was instrumental years ago (as a member of the Scappoose City Club) in securing the property from the state and designing the Welcome to Scappoose sign and totem pole. He and Kelly also were the driving force behind the development of the Scappoose Sauerkraut Festival. “Jim Carpenter has been a mainstay for Columbia County for many years,” Sheriff Dicker- son said. “Sheriff Oester, Sher- iff Derby and I all recognized him for his talents and connec- tion to the community, and now he will have even more time to devote to his favorite causes. He will be greatly missed.” Ike Says… Run with Extra Confidence with Chevron DELO 400 ™ PLUS MOTOR OIL The name you trust for: • Gasoline • Diesel Fuel • Oils • Solvents • Additives • Greases See us for… D ECK O IL S HINGLE O IL CALL (503) 429-6606 WILCOX & FLEGEL 720 Rose Avenue • Vernonia From page 2 finicky way the crappie were taking the lure, most times you never felt a strike. The commercial fishermen were present again, fishing day and night trying to fill coolers with crappie. The fishing was tougher, though their numbers were greatly reduced from the near mob of people that we were told had de- scended upon the reservoir in May. This is real- ly becoming a several-pronged problem. First, it is illegal to sell wildlife in Oregon and most oth- er states; the law is clear, but enforcement is simply lacking. Other issues are more social in nature; commercial fishermen are trespassing on private property, getting these lands closed to locals, which in turn is making the locals mad. Being that these commercial fishermen are a mi- nority, rarely speak English, are abusing our fishery and are becoming more pushy and brazen, it will most likely end up with tragic re- sults. State officials seem unwilling to curtail this problem, which has only enraged the locals and will precipitate predictable results. Donna joined Dad and me for a day of fishing, catching her first crappie and a bunch more. Her motive for showing up though was not to go fish- ing, oh no, she had far better plans for me! We helped Dad pack up the camp and boat, then we headed to Moab, Utah. We spent two nights tent camping and a full day of hiking in Arches Na- tional Park. Definitely put this on your list of places to visit, the country in this region is beau- tiful and quite different than here at home. We hiked the primitive trail around Devils Garden and were glad that we did, that was a fun and exciting hike. The Colorado River was running high and muddy and we drove up the river for a long way as we headed to our next destination, Estes Park, Colorado. We flat landers are definitely at a disadvan- tage when we start getting so high up in the mountains. Donna and I camped at Elk Mead- ows RV Park, which sits at 7500 feet in eleva- tion. Oh, but that is nothing…the next day we drove up into Rocky Mountain National Park and attained an altitude of 12,200 feet! Later in the day we hiked in to a couple of lakes (with a few hundred other people), to an altitude of 9,900 feet, I believe that is the highest I have ever hiked. Donna, I believe. was starting to suffer from altitude sickness and as soon as we dropped back down to camp her headache went away. Donna for years has wanted to see a moose, and in several trips through Yellowstone Park has been disappointed. Well, we finally did it on this trip. While returning from Grand Lake on the western end of the Ridge Trail road in Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw the telltale clus- ter of vehicles along the shoulder of the road, and I saw a moose standing out in the willows as we drove by. A quick turn-around later, we were ringside to a cow moose with twin calves. We ended up driving down the road a couple hun- dred yards to a picnic site and ate our lunch while still watching the moose. Later, as we drove back up on the Ridge Trail road, we stopped on an overlook of the basin where we had seen the moose. I grabbed my binoculars and jokingly muttered whether I could find anoth- er moose. The first place I looked, there was a big old moose standing broadside! Taking the glasses down and even being at least a mile away, I could still see the moose. Soon I was playing park ranger pointing out the moose to the ever revolving people who stopped at the overlook. Soon though, I got the look, and it was time to leave! Our next destination was Milnor, North Dako- ta, where we had a family reunion with my rela- tives on my grandmother’s side of the family. We spent two wonderful days getting acquainted with relatives, some whom I had never met. The Costain brothers, of course, had to take us for a tour of the countryside they grew up in. We vis- ited all the old home sites and marveled along with the brothers at all the water that was flow- ing from the land. In recent years there has been so much water that some of the fields are better at growing muskrats than corn. In fact, the muskrat problem has become so huge that state trapping regulations have been suspended and it is open season on muskrats. Needless to say, we tried to help the cause as we drove around. Donna and I had a wonderful trip; we saw a beautifully diverse mixture of landscapes. For the most part, the countryside was lush and green and everywhere you looked there was wa- ter, lots and lots of water. Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call 503-429-7193 for location.
