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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2012)
The INDEPENDENT, May 16, 2012 Page 9 Bits & Bites By Jacqueline Ramsay Hello, all you Sun worship- pers. From 45° Saturday, the 5th, to 75° Saturday, the 12th. No wonder people are having the 5-day grippe or a new dose of pollen fever. As you know, life is never dull in the Jungle if you go along with your head, while it is somewhere else. Last Satur- day of April a group of us church folk go out for a No Host dinner. Lots of food and friendship and since it is a No Host dinner, we eat whatever we want. We all ordered our taste bud’s de- sire and were munching on stuffed mushrooms when our salads came. Delicious, munch munch, ahhh- hh…when suddenly my granddaughter, with a mouth- ful of salad, and stirring up her next forkful, let’s out a Eeeek Ohoooo Ahhhh UGH, “There’s a lady bug in my salad!!” We all top chewing to gape at her. She say’s, “It’s alive, swimming in ranch dressing.” “Well, pick it out, no leave it there and call the waitress,” someone said. Apparently, other tables had taken notice of us and the waitress was at hand. She was shocked at what she saw, said, “I’ll get the Manager,” and off she went. He, too, was mortified, apologized all over the place, asking, “Do you wish another salad? No, forget it. I don’t know how it could happen, we wash all of our salad stuff before we use it.” We all went back to eat- ing, laughing and talking of times something dumb had happened to us while eating out. Our dinners finally came, we ate and enjoyed our respective meals – Mine was Cajun Catfish. Ahhhh. I shall not mention the name of the eating house as those things can happen to anyone and I shall return for another order of Cajun Catfish sometime in the fu- ture. I imagine the manager went to the vegetable cook and had quite a talk with him or her. The evening ended quite peacefully and my son did not have to pay the $19 whatever for the dinner. Chapter 2 – The entire saga of the Red Devil vac- uum cleaner. It seems there was a flood in a “little lost town” in the hills of Oregon, called Vernonia. The year was 1996. The flood made a mess of everything. One lady decided to vacuum up a mess of scattered wet cat litter!! Long story cut short – Unable to dump it out so the Red Devil wound up at the Senior Center. Geeee, what a find (we thought) until we found out why we had been blessed with it. Throw it in the garbage, said one of the disgruntled workers. No, said I, I’ll take it home and play with it. So, I drug it home and found the cat litter was practically cement in the bag, the tube, and all other places it had gotten into. I played with it for three or four weeks and finally plugged it in. It ran like a new vacuum should. Yes, I kept it and I have used it ever since, only replacing fan belts. Ladies: That is 15-1/2 years. On May 5, it gave up the ghost. A few Bakelite pieces just gave up and broke so I gave it a burial in the court garbage contain- er, went out and bought me a Bissel. Farewell, my friend, the Devil, you’ll be missed. So, I’m now saying, “Thank you”, to someone who made a big goof (in the trauma of the flood 15 years ago.) Can any of you folks top that? Now, I saw the picture of what used to be a very necessary building at the lake. It seems to me that Vernonia has a few folks in town that can’t stand to have a place for folks to go, sit and relax, fish, or walk to get out in the fresh air. You would be surprised at the number of folks I’ve met in the past 2-1/2 years that go to Vernonia to fish the lake, walk the trails, and go to join in the fun of Jamboree, Salmon Festival, the 4th of July, or just to visit the town and the people. There is one fellow I see almost every week, that asks, “How’s the new school complex coming?” I met him when I worked at the food bank. There was no work there for him so he had to move out, but he would love to have a place there. The Mrs. Brown building, as I referred to it, was a very necessary place for Shadow and me every time we picked blackberries or just walked the lake or sat down at the campground and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a spell. Nuff said for this time. 24 Years Ago This Month The May 26, 1988, issue of The Independent included the following news story on page 6: Festive occasions in Ver- nonia may soon be enhanced by the presence of colorful ban- ners hung from utility poles along Bridge Street and Rose Avenue, the Jamboree commit- tee has announced. The project, conceived of two years ago, has material- ized largely through the efforts of committee member Robin Traylor. Traylor, a local artist, is fabricating three feet by five feet banners of bright blue, green and red awning fabric, which will display a nature de- sign featuring wild life forms characteristic of our area. Prototypes of the banners drew praise and support from Jamboree committee members and from the Chamber of Com- merce board of directors. An endorsement by the Health Fair committee persons is an- ticipated. T-shirts for the 32nd annual Jamboree are now on sale at Brunsman Hardware, Vernonia Video Express and Sunnyside Market. Coffee cups and base- ball type hats with a logger logo are also available at these outlets. Made in Vernonia The public is invited to join us in honoring those who have served, given their lives or are still missing. Memorial Day Ceremonies Monday, May 28, 2012 11:00 a.m. Vernonia Memorial Cemetery 2080 Bridge Street • Vernonia Please plan to arrive early • Limited seating available G UEST S PEAKER Veterans Administration Ed Van Dyke M ASTER OF C EREMONIES Detachment Commander Del White T HE N ATIONAL A NTHEM and other songs Performed by Dianna Stoffer B ENEDICTION & C LOSING P RAYER Richard Keeling P RESENTATION OF C OLORS AND 21 G UN S ALUTE American Legion Post #104 Aloha, OR Bit of something handmade for everyone! 805 Bridge Street 503-429-0111 Open Tue., Thu. & Sat. 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Sunday 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm Ceremonies sponsored by City of Vernonia VERNONIA MEMORIAL CEMETERY 2080 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064 This space courtesy of Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home • Forest Grove & Vernonia