The INDEPENDENT, March 7, 2012
CCSWA Tree Sale coming this Saturday
Need trees? Trees, trees,
and more trees will on sale dur-
ing the 14th Annual Tree and
Ornamental Sale sponsored by
Columbia County Small Wood-
lands Association (CCSWA).
This year’s event will be held
on Saturday, March 10, be-
tween 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
at the Pacific Pride (Lawrence
Oil) parking lot in St. Helens.
The address is 845 N. Colum-
bia River Hwy (Hwy 30).
According to CCSWA Presi-
dent Scott Russell, the Associ-
ation has been altering the Co-
lumbia County landscape by
providing more than 1.5 million
trees to members, forestland
owners, and others over the
past fourteen years. Although
“Elite” Douglas fir and western
red cedar dominate the sales,
the ornamental tree sales are
contributing to the scenery
throughout the county.
There are 23 species of
seedlings available at a cost
ranging from $1.00 to $3.50.
These are mostly bareroot de-
ciduous and evergreen seed-
lings which can be bought indi-
vidually while some can be pur-
chased in bag quantities.
Available species include Im-
proved “Elite” Douglas fir, Col-
orado spruce, Sugar maple,
Dawn redwood, Oregon ash,
Coastal redwood, Oregon
white oak, Port Orford cedar,
Red flowering currant, Grand
fir, Scouler willow*, Red Japan-
ese maple, Noble fir, Quaking
aspen, Ponderosa pine, East-
ern redbud*, Western red
cedar, Chinese dogwood, Pa-
cific madrone*, Indian plum*,
Pacific yew, Bald cypress*, and
Giant sequoia. (*new for 2012)
“Be sure to arrive early for
the best selections,” President
Scott Russell advises, “Some
species were exhausted by
10:00 a.m. last year.”
A portion of the income from
this sale provides admission
fees for all Columbia County
public school fifth graders to at-
tend the World Forestry Center
in Portland. Transportation
costs are provided by Oregon
Forest Resources Institute.
Another educational pro-
gram provides grants to Co-
lumbia County public schools
and teachers. For this school
year, three grants were ap-
proved.
For more information, call
Paul Nys at 503-556-8800 or
Scott Russell at 503-543-2434.
Life & Times in Vernonia
Terry Schaumburg shared a
memory of recently deceased
Vernonia community member
Derl Roberts. Schaumburg be-
lieves the story clearly gives
testimony to Robert’s charac-
ter. He added that if he left any-
body out who was involved in
this episode, he apologizes,
but it was a while ago.
In 1966, when Schaumburg
was twelve, he, Tom Evans,
Carl Schaumburg and Randy
Schaumburg, were out on Tim-
ber Road at the Schaumburg
place (where Arcadia Park
used to be). All summer differ-
ent groups of kids had been
building rafts, and this group
had just completed a raft of
green 1x4s that was about 12
ft. long and 3 ft. wide.
One boy on the raft would
just float around, but three or
four boys was, “perfect, it sank
the raft 4 or 5 inches so you
could paddle it with your hands
and look at the bottom.” They
were running the raft down to
the golf course, taking it out,
and carrying it back up, then
doing it all over, again and
again.
They all agreed the only
thing that would make it better
would be a motor. Then the raft
would be just like Seaview on
the television show Voyage to
the Bottom of the Sea. Lo and
behold, on one of the trips back
to the house, near where Derl
Roberts had just starting clear-
ing property, they came across
a big motor with blower in the
bushes. They carried it back to
the house, taking turns be-
cause it was so heavy. They
were going to attach it to the
raft and run it down river.
Just after arriving back with
the raft and motor, Roberts
drove up in a truck. He got out
and introduced himself, “Hi, I’m
Derl Roberts and I lost a motor,
have you guys seen anything
like that?” The kids replied,
“Yes, we found something in
the woods,” to which Roberts
added, “Give you $20 to show
me.” They showed him, he rec-
ognized it, gave them $20 and
took his motor home.
Schaumburg said that meet-
ing could have gone many
ways, but the way Roberts han-
dled it “goes to the character of
Derl Roberts,” not getting them
all in trouble but just getting his
motor back and staying on
friendly terms with the kids and
neighbors.
50 Years Ago This Month
The March 8, 1962. issue of
the Vernonia Eagle included
the following news story on the
front page:
At the meeting of the Vernonia
city council held Monday evening
of this week, plans were made for
adding a rear exit from the down-
stairs part of the city hall where
the jail is located. This has been
the recommendation of the grand
juries inspecting jail facilities fro
the past several years. City em-
ployees will dig the approach from
the parking lot level to floor level,
install steps and make the opening
in the wall for the door and a car-
penter will be employed to frame
and hang the door.
Plans also were made for re-
pairing the sidewalk at fire truck
and parking lot entrance which is
breaking down.
The public hearing was held on
the second addition plat vacation
previously petitioned by Robert C.
Lindsay. Since no one appeared to
protest it, an ordinance is to be
prepared for consideration at the
next meeting. March 19.
A complaint was received from
the school superintendent, J. W.
Acaiturri concerning sand in water
system. The water superintendent
explained that about two years ago
there was a break in the water
plant sand filter which allowed
sand to escape into the mains. It
apparently has settled in pockets
which break loose periodically,
causing interference with valve
action. The same letter contained a
complaint about odor from the
sewage lagoon when water is low.
The council voted to purchase
paint for the Scout cabin with the
Scout committee to arrange for its
use.
A number of minor matters
concluded the business of the
evening and the council adjourned
at 9:45 p.m.
Page 9
Bits & Bites
By Jacqueline Ramsay
Greetings to all you folks that have
been waiting with bated breath to wel-
come back Spring. Here in the concrete
jungle it is windy, raining (in sheets some
of the time) and 37 degrees.
In and out, up and down, I can, I can’t,
maybe yes, maybe no, put it on, take it off,
listen, don’t listen, yes, no, get up, no don’t
get up, put on your jammies, no get
dressed – it makes your brain weary,
doesn’t it? How was your week?
Someone was telling me the Vernonia school complex was
built with a flat roof. I sure hope not. Maybe it has a slope that you
can’t see. Hearing that has brought back memories of when I was
helping out at the senior center (‘95 to, I think, ‘04). Under a flat
roof, and of all the fun problems Willie and I had before ‘96. It
seems things went along okay. They added a new Colco (now
CCRider) office at some time before me and people forgot about
rain and snow. Along came the rains and snow for a time, then
some smart kids tossed a (bigger than small) ball onto the roof
and it rolled into the downspout on the roof. Time passed (more
rain, etc.) and a leak developed in the sorting room of the gift
shop, sooo…Willie and I got someone up on the roof to take a
look. Shakes were curling up and there was water (a wading
pool) on the roof. Ball removed and Vernonia had it’s own water-
fall for a few hours. Needless to say, shakes were nailed down
and tarred and the whole roof was retarred. I believe that solved
the problems until 1996 hit. Do you recall when the jewelry was
on the back wall of the dining room? The book shelves were in
the dining room inside the wall from where they are today? The
office was a storeroom and office for the Senior Advocate (who
had cases of disposable diapers on hand). The center isle in the
thrift shop was the paper rolling station. Most of us took a turn at
mostly reading then rolling. The money from the sales went to
OHSU for cancer research. Then the rains came along with snow
and the problems told us lots about our old home. The flood was
over, under and all about and still is. Then clean up, throw out.
The fire hall got the pool table before the flood, thank a bunch of
words for that. I could go on but ‘07 and ‘08 will be for another
time and person to recall. But I could tell of all the little set-tos
some of us shared updating, such as carpet, painting and dispos-
ing of ideas. It was an interesting and growing time for all of us.
We learn and grow and move on to the next phase of our journey
of life. I’ll stop rambling now.
You can help shape the County
Fair by attending work sessions
Would you like to help with
this year’s Columbia County
Fair? Work sessions with the
Fair’s board of directors are
open to the public and will be
held every Saturday from now
until Fair, at 8:30 a.m. at the
Fair Office on the Columbia
County Fairgrounds.
The regular monthly meet-
ings of the fair board are on the
2nd Monday of each month at
6:00 p.m. in the 4-H Building on
the fairgrounds.
Help us raise a pot of gold
at a Benefit Dinner for
Ryan Roberts Kidney Fund
At the Learning Center
March 17 from12 P.M. to 5 P.M.
Featuring Corned Beef & Cabbage
Mariolino’s
503-429-5018