Did You Know...

12-21-06 I never realized what a beautiful site it is to look down from OA Hill and see the glow of all of the street lights until you go a few days in total darkness. It was quite an experience going through the power outages and our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who is still without power. If you know someone who is still without power be sure to check on them and let them know they can call Vernonia Fire, Mist/Birkenfeld Fire, or the Vernonia Police Department so we can attempt to get them some type of assistance. Remember it does not have to be during an event, if you or someone you know needs assistance call and we can help or at least point you in the right direction. I want to thank Marc Farmer and all of his employees at West Oregon Electric Co. for their diligent work during the storm and the subsequent work they are continuing to do. I am amazed, knowing the widespread damage and destruction caused by the storm, that we were able to get power back in the city in such a short amount of time. Kudos to the women in the WOEC front office for being a reassuring voice to the thousands of callers. I know there are so many people who volunteered their time to help each other out during this event, but I want to say a special recognition to following people or groups: Chief Paul Epler for being incident commander and guiding us through, all of the fire and EMS personnel who put in numerous hours, Helen Johnston for manning the phone lines and logistics desk, Michelle Kay from Metro/West Ambulance for numerous hours of service, Vernonia CERT, American Red Cross for helping set up the shelter, Sgt. Mike Kay for the numerous hours in Incident Command as the police representative, Vernonia School District and Superintendent Ken Cox for the use of the Middle School as a shelter, Gretchen Lindauer and her family for cooking/serving the thousands of meals in shelter, John Lewis for his logistical support at the school, the student volunteers from the school who distributed thousands of flyers, the Vernonia Senior Center for opening your doors and helping people out, Grant Williams and the Vernonia Community Church for being a second shelter location, Mike Pihl for offering fuel for vehicles and generators, and everyone else (too numerous to mention) who volunteered their time and energy to help others. Though we don't have a lot of resources in this community we continue to give freely to others to help in time of need. I would like to end by reminding everyone that events like this remind us that we need to be prepared in advance. Everyone should have a 72-hour emergency kit large enough for everyone in your family. You can go to the American Red Cross website <http://www.redcross.org/> to see a list of suggested items that should be in your 72-hour kits. There is also a link to the Red Cross website on the VPD website. Thank you again to everyone who volunteered during the event and to all Vernonians for being so caring for each other.