The INDEPENDENT, July 5, 2012
New office set up to serve Oregon
military members and families
Bits & Bites
By Jacqueline Ramsay
PORTLAND, Ore. – The
U.S. military mission is chang-
ing, and Operation Homefront
is changing to prepare itself to
best serve military service
members and their families in
Oregon – now and beyond the
drawdown of U.S. forces in
Afghanistan. As part of its plan-
ning for the future, the organi-
zation is opening the Oregon
Field Office to serve military
families and Wounded Warriors
in the state.
Operation Homefront pro-
vides emergency financial and
other assistance to the families
of service members and
Wounded Warriors. Assistance
is in the form of grants to meet
the most basic of needs like
rent, utilities, and food.
“Like our military, Operation
Homefront has been asking
questions like ‘How will our
mission need to change?’ and
‘Where will the needs be?’ and
‘What resources will we have
and how should those re-
sources be best employed to
help the most families?’” said
Jim Knotts, Operation Home-
front’s president and chief ex-
ecutive officer. “These are
complicated questions, but it
would be irresponsible not to
take an active approach to
making the changes necessary
to continue supporting our
troops.”
The non-profit’s network of
staff and volunteers in the state
will be led by Portland-based
non-profit executive Kari Mc-
Clellan. “Military families al-
ready know that change is part
of the deal when serving our
country,” McClellan said. “This
is a new day for Operation
Homefront, but the families of
our service members in Ore-
gon can count on us to be there
for them, now and after the de-
ployments to Afghanistan end.”
“With these changes, we will
be able to leverage the
strength of national support
while serving our military fami-
lies on the local level,” McClel-
lan continued. “Our donors,
who have been so supportive,
will continue to have the option
of supporting our troops at the
local level or wherever the
need is greatest around the
country.”
“One of our benefits has al-
ways been our forward pres-
ence in communities around
the country, where we serve
our military families face-to-
face,” Knotts said. “The change
will eliminate some duplication
of efforts and costs around ad-
ministrative and management
tasks, which means more of
our donations go directly to
serving families.”
A national nonprofit, Opera-
tion Homefront leads more
than 4,500 volunteers with na-
tionwide presence, and has
met more than 590,000 needs
of military families since its in-
ception in 2002. A four-star rat-
ed charity by watchdog Charity
Navigator, nationally, 94 per-
cent of total revenue donated
to Operation Homefront goes
directly to assist service mem-
bers. For more information, go
to www.OperationHomefront.
net/Oregon.
What to do with tsunami debris
From page 7
gon State University and other
partners. The following best
practices are recommended to
anyone who discovers marine
debris – especially debris that
has living organisms on it.
If you find marine debris that
W IN
has living organisms attached:
Take a photo, if possible, and
send photo along with details
(location, county, date found,
description of item, what you
did with the item) to beach.de-
bris@state.or.us. This informa-
See debris on page 13
S HOP L OCAL
F IND W ALDO
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2017 Columbia Blvd., St. Helens Phone 503-366-9602
Page 9
Hello. Time is march-
ing on (or had you no-
ticed?). Too fast, I feel. In
my head, I just mailed off
the last article. Now, it’s
time for the 4th of July.
Where did June go?
What’s new with you?
Are you still knitting? I’ve
just started a Tuesday
night class. I’d forgotten just how much fun it is
to teach folks with two or three thumbs and not
enough fingers that know how do what you are
asking of them. One gal commented, “It looks so
easy when you do it.” My answer, “I hope so, I
started knitting when I was a teenager, about 70
years ago (more or less).” I can’t remember that
far back but I do know I taught myself out of a
Learn How To book, and it’s been quite a pleas-
ure trip.
All you need is a dose of Stick-to-a-tivity or
get mad enough at yourself for being a Dunder-
head, you can learn anything (I think).
How’s your hanging garden doing? My toma-
toes are praying for less rain and more sun, but
I do have 1-1/2 blossoms on one plant
sooo…maybe I’ll get 1-1/2 tomatoes, ho, ho, ho.
This seems to be the year of breakdowns
around my place. Last week my bathroom fan
said, “I quit”, and the complex replaced it. Two
days later the dryer said, “It’s too hot to work so
I’ll just run on cold air.” The complex put in a new
switch of some sort and replaced a wire. Last
spring it was the dishwasher, remember? Now I
think the only thing left to go KAPUT is the
washing machine, but I pray not. Jim and I have
decided we must have rented the oldest apart-
ment in the complex, as far as amenities go. Ho.
Ho. Anyhow – new is good, isn’t it?
I just heard from my Alma Mater. They are go-
ing to have our Last Class Reunion in August.
70 years. I hope I can go to this one. The last
one I attended was the 50th.
Seeing the picture of the Wood duck and ba-
bies makes me miss my walks around the lake.
More later.
50 Years Ago This Month
The July 19, 1962, issue of
the Vernonia Eagle included
the following news story on the
front page:
At the meeting of the Vernonia
city council Monday evening of
this week, members were in-
formed through a letter from I.J.
Weatherbee, district sanitary engi-
neer with the Oregon state board
of health, that some action must be
taken immediately to make the
sewage lagoon operable.
According to the letter, local
citizens had appealed to the au-
thority and as a result, R. E. Caine,
assistant sanitary engineer, came
here July 6 for an inspection of the
facility. He found two-thirds of the
lagoon bottom exposed and offen-
sive odors resulting.
In the letter, Weatherbee stated
that in such lagoons, a minimum
liquid depth of approximately
three feet must be maintained over
the entire bottom of the lagoon at
all times to prevent it being a pos-
sible health hazard and a nuisance.
The city council stated Monday
evening that action had already
Mariolino’s
721 Madison Ave., Vernonia
503-429-5018
been take to effect a correction of
the situation. A consultation had
been arranged for this week with
the consulting engineers who de-
signed the lagoon. Steps are being
outlined and will be undertaken to
make the lagoon effective.
The council authorized the is-
suance of a Friendship Jamboree
proclamation to be published next
week asking all citizens to partici-
pate in the event and help make it
a success.
Permission was given to the
Home Water association for use of
the city backhoe in rebuilding
their water line after consultation
with the city employees responsi-
ble for its use.
Scouting authorities asked for
clarification of the “reasonable
price” mentioned at the preceding
council meeting in arranging for
cutting of wood by the Scouts for
city use. The Scout spokesman
suggested a price of $10 per cord
and the council countered with an
offer of $8 per cord for him to sub-
mit for Scout consideration.
The Scout cabin committee
asked for information concerning
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a walk at the cabin and a decision
was reached to lay a crushed rock
walkway which might be black-
topped later.
The council voted to secure the
services of Gene Franklin of St.
Helens for the annual audit of the
city books at a cost of $550.
The ordinance providing for
salary increases for city employ-
ees was given its third reading and
passed. Also, the ordinance for the
vacation and replatting of “Lin-
wood Heights” in Second addition
was given its third reading and
was approved and signed. A third
resolution, a routine one authoriz-
ing signatures for banking transac-
tions also was approved.
A permit has been received by
the city from the county permit-
ting the placing of a fire hydrant as
previously approved in the Stoney
Point area.