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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, December 21, 2011 Vernonia sports have a great season by Gordon Jarman Vernonia’s fall sports teams enjoyed their most successful season in many years. The Vol- leyball team made the state play-offs, the Boys Cross Country team placed first in several meets and the Football team tied for second in the con- ference. Volleyball – The Vernonia Volleyball team started their summer program with the goal of making the state play-offs. The team consisted of 22 girls on Varsity and JV. The JV team, coached by Brandi Everett, won several dual meets and some tournaments. The Varsity team, coached by Teresa Williams, finished third in the conference and won the league play-off game, putting them in the state tournament. In that league play-off game, the girls had to defeat Knappa, a team that beat them earlier in the year, at Knappa. The Ver- nonia team played extremely well and won the match placing them in the state play-offs. In their state play-off appearance, they traveled to Days Creek, near Canyonville, but ended up losing that contest and finishing their season. Days Creek went on to win the 2A state title. Two girls, Sara McMahon and Kelsey Brown, made the All- League team. Cross Country – The cross country team consisted of 27 athletes on the boys and girls teams. The boys had a little better record for the year and finished second in the league meet. The team’s most consis- tent performer, and the athlete who finished first for the Log- gers in most meets, was Nathan Fleck. Nathan is an outstanding runner and fin- ished high in the Special Dis- trict 1 meet, as well. He was awarded All-League and All- District honors for his efforts this year. Rowan Cheney earned All-League honors for the girl’s team. The team was coached by Byron Brown, who was named the Boy’s Team Coach of the Year at the Dis- trict 1 meet. Football – The Loggers had one of the largest turn-outs in years, with 40 players starting the season and ending with 38. This enabled the program to field both JV and Varsity teams. The JVs played very well, com- peting in five games and losing only one of those contests. The Varsity team accomplished a feat that has eluded the football program here for the past two years – this is to obtain a victo- ry over another opponent. They had not only one victory, but won three games in league, fin- ishing with a tie for second place in the final league stand- ings. They did not make it to the state play-offs due to the application of the AZZI points system, which is used to re- solve ties in the Northwest League. Overall, this was a successful season, with sever- al Loggers being named All- League. Those named were Joe Benes, Jake Titus, Jacob Stevens, and Kristian Wred- stroem as a running back and kicker making second team All- League; while Sean Solberg and Kanan Olsen were first team All-League players. I led the Loggers brand new coach- ing staff this year, with Willie Hansen and John Murray as assistants. Volunteers Tyson Westby and Tyler Smith were integral parts of the coaching staff as well. Vernonia School Board approves superintendent to seek financing The Vernonia School District Board of Directors held their December meeting on Decem- ber 8. The board authorized Su- perintendent Dr. Ken Cox to negotiate and prepare bridge fi- nancing options for board ap- proval. The district has long known that there would be a gap between the fundraising efforts for the new school and the construction. This bridge fi- nancing will allow the district to stay on schedule with construc- tion. The board also authorized Cox to manage cash flow for the construction, up to $2 mil- lion, providing that bridge fi- nancing is imminent. In other business, the board held the first reading of district policies on goals, safety pro- gram, pest management, food services and staff religious dress. The schools are now on win- ter break until January 3. The next board meeting will be Jan- uary 12, at 6:00 p.m., at the district office. Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia schools. This column was provided by Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox. Christmas Break is here, finally. On one hand it couldn’t come soon enough, but as I think about the year so far, I wonder where the time has gone. It is amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun! I want to let you know that things are going well with the new school. We have made significant progress in the past few months, with the drywall in the west classrooms wings being taped as we speak. Much of the landscaping has been installed, as well as most of the windows. We continue to work on the bridge financing that we will need to complete construction while we continue our fundraising campaign. Since I am a grandpa many times over, perhaps I can share some advice. Now that you have two weeks with your children or grandchildren home, I hope you enjoy them. If possible, please make sure they get a chance to do some reading, perhaps a Christmas story or the children’s page here in The Independent. Hopefully, through the activities you choose to do during this time away from school, you will be able to establish a new fami- ly tradition, or simply make some memories with your children. If you can, take lots of pictures and share them with your children in the spring to remind them of the fun they had (this helps trans- fer those memories from their short term to long term memory). And finally, don’t forget to let them know how much you love them every chance you get. And if any of you kids out there read this, don’t forget to make your bed and tell your parents and/or grandparents thank you for all they do for you, and how much you love them. No matter what our circumstances, if we think about it, we can always find some- one to thank for something. Go ahead, make someone’s day by simply telling them you are thinking about them and, if appropri- ate, that you love them. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a safe, successful New Year! Young Sports Pac buyers may get refund Anyone who purchased a Juvenile Sports Pac between Dec. 1, 2009, and May 26, 2011, was accidentally over- charged by $3 and may seek a refund from the Oregon De- partment of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW). For the refund, email Dean- na Erickson, or fax 503-947- 6117 with your Hunter/Angler ID# (ODFW ID#), which is printed on all licenses and tags. Be sure to include the address where the $3 check should be mailed. Unfortunately, ODFW is unable to credit a hunter’s account $3 for a future pur- chase. The error was discovered during a routine audit. Legisla- tion that created the Juvenile Sports Pack during the 2009 session did not provide ODFW with the regulatory authority to charge a $5 agent fee, the amount charged for the adult Sports Pac. Since the error was discov- ered, ODFW has reduced the agent fee to $2, the same amount charged for all other li- censes and tags. A Juvenile Sports Pac now costs $52, not $55. ODFW introduced the Juve- nile Sports Pac, for resident hunters age 17 and under, in 2010. The regular version of this tag (for adults) costs $164.75. A Sports Pac has a Combination Angling/Hunt- ing/Shellfish License, Com- bined Angling Harvest Tag, Val- idation for Upland Bird and Wa- terfowl hunting, General or Controlled Buck Deer or Con- trolled Antlerless Deer, General or Controlled Elk, General Cougar, General or Controlled Bear and Spring Turkey Tag. 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