Did You Know...

07-04-2005 I want to thank the St. Helens Wal-Mart store for their generous donation of $500 to the Vernonia Bicycle Safety Program. The money will be used to purchase more helmets, safety materials, and help to hold another bicycle rodeo. The response for helmets has been very good and I will need to place an order to replenish our supplies. If you want to purchase a helmet for $5 to $7 or obtain a free helmet stop by the police station or call 503-429-7335. On August 2nd, 2005 from 6pm to 8pm everyone is invited to Anderson Park for National Night Out (NNO) 2005. Vernonia will join 34 million people in 10,000 communities across the nation who are joining together to promote crime, drug, and violence prevention as well as neighborhood unity. This will be the 22nd Annual NNO in the United States and Vernonia will be one of thirty Oregon communities registered to participate. There will be FREE BBQ, free raffle prizes, music, Police, Fire, EMS equipment, and lots of information on keeping our community safe. All ages are welcome to come out to show that Vernonia is united against crime and is ready to join forces to help each other. No that the warmth of summer has arrived I want to touch on a couple of topics that were brought to my attention by citizens. The first has to deal with people swimming at the Hawkins Park swimming hole. There have been several drownings in the Pacific Northwest and many other near-drownings. Please use good judgment, watch children closely, never swim alone, and never swim under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The other topic is loud music from residences. The warmer weather mean windows and doors are open more often then any other season. Loud music and voices coming from residences can be heard much more clearly and therefore are more likely to disturb your neighbors and neighborhood. Under Vernonia City Ordinance 582 Sect. 5 deals with Unnecessary Noise and violators could be fined as much as $500. Be respectful to your neighbors and try to keep volume levels down or muffle noise by closing windows and doors. A little consideration makes for a much happier neighborhood.