Teen of the Month
Date Night in Columbia County
Page A3
Page A9-10
$1.50
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
thechronicleonline.com
Serving Columbia County since 1881
Local group makes pillowcases for ailing children JEREMY C. RUARK Country Media, Inc.
T
o mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, members of the St. Helens Lions Club have been working on a special project to brighten the time children must spend at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland. Lions Club member Kathy Syrstad said the group is assembling brightly colored handmade pillowcases for the children.
It gave all of us a wonderful feeling of doing something positive in a world that needs positive. ~ Kathy Syrstad, St. Helens Lions Club
This project was chosen because the St. Helens Lions Club supports Ronald McDonald House by saving tabs from beverage cans which they recycle for cash. One of Lions Clubs International focus areas is Childhood Cancer, and Ronald McDonald House hosts guests affected by cancer, among other illnesses. The Club delivers the accumulated tabs about once a year. Last fall when the 17 pounds of tabs were delivered, Kathy and Jim Syrstad had a tour of the facility and met one of the current guests who has spent a lot of time there in her young life.
The pillowcase makers from left to right, Lions Kim Karber, Rosemary Jeffrey, Kathy Syrstad, Niki Kirsch, Linda McCoy and Jim Syrstad.
“The guests receive a small blanket and stuffed animal when they arrive, but they really enjoy having bright pillowcases when they are available, Kathy said. “Meeting this positive, young guest personally gave us the idea of putting together a work party of members to construct pillowcases to donate.” Kathy said she asked the Club for a budget to buy fabric and shopped carefully to get the best
deals she could. “Hopefully this project will brighten the stay of children at Ronald McDonald House,” she said. “It gave all of us a wonderful feeling of doing something positive in a world that needs positive. With many hands, an afternoon’s work was a big accomplishment.” The Lions Club delivery of the pillowcases to the Ronald McDonald House is pending. Syrstad said more pillowcases may be
constructed in the future and the Club also plans to work on making dresses out of gently used pillowcases that will be sent to Africa. Members have also been working on knitting hats for cancer patients and for an anti-bullying group that does school presentations and gives all students a handmade hat. You can find St. Helens Lions members displaying flags in the community on national holidays,
Courtesy from the St. Helens Lions Club
picking up litter in parks and along roadways, helping to provide vision screening in local schools, among many other projects. The Lions provide help to local residents that can’t afford glasses and hearing aids. For more information about the St. Helens Lions Club, call 503397-624.
See PILLOWCASES Page A8
Central Waterfront Open Houses scheduled C
ommunity members are invited to two open houses to learn about the current St. Helens wastewater system, tour the wastewater facility, and hear an overview about the Central Waterfront project. The open houses are scheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 2, and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at the wastewater treatment facility, 451 Plymouth Street, in St. Helens. The same information is being presented at both open houses. The Central Waterfront Property is approximately 50 acres and the current location of the City’s 39-acre wastewater treatment plant facility. The facility’s secondary lagoon was built in 1972 as a partnership with Boise Cascade. Today, the facility is oversized, expensive to maintain, and is not the best use of a large stretch of Columbia River waterfront property. The 50-yearold lagoon also creates environmental permitting challenges due to its age and outdated technology, according to a release from the City of St. Helens. The City of St. Helens is currently exploring options to repur-
Opinion ..................... A4 Poll ............................ A4 Obituaries ................. A5 Classified Ads ......... A6 Legals ....................... A6 Crossword ............... A7
pose part or all of the wastewater treatment plant facility. By doing so, the City will be able to:
• Provide cohesive connection along the St. Helens waterfront, linking the historic St. Helens Riverfront District to the City’s Industrial Business Park, McCormick Park, and residential areas. This will unite two miles of waterfront property for additional public amenities. • Improve the St. Helens environment and health of the Columbia River by creating a properly sized wastewater treatment plant facility that uses modern technology to meet today’s environmental standards. • Promote the economic health of St. Helens by opening prime waterfront land for possible marine and industrial development, additional public amenities, and easier connection to Riverfront District businesses. • Help keep utility costs in check by creating an appropriately sized wastewater treatment facility with modern technological efficiencies. If repurposing the wastewater
Courtesy photo from the City of St. Helens
The St. Helens Central Waterfront property will be the focus of two community opens houses in March and April.
facility site can be done safely, St. Helens will be in a unique position to create a waterfront that attracts development, improves resiliency, generates tax revenue, creates jobs, and builds a community asset for residents and visitors alike, according to the release. In 2022, the City of St. Helens
was notified that it would receive $1.4 million in state and federal funding to assist with the Central Waterfront Project.
Open Houses 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. March 2 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 6 451 Plymouth St. St. Helens
Read a series of reports about the St. Helens Waterfront Development Projects at thechronicleonline. com.
Dockside out, Crooked Creek Brewery in WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
C
Community Calendar A8
Sports ..................... A8 Date Night ............ A9-10
Vol. 141, No. 6
Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.
The Dockside building at 343 S. First St. will house Crooked Creek Brewery. Crooked Creek Brewery is currently located at 1935 Columbia Blvd. in St. Helens.
rooked Creek Brewery will relocate to the building that has long housed Dockside Steak and Pasta in Old Town St. Helens. David Lauridsen opened Crooked Creek Brewery in St. Helens in 2021 but has always aimed to be in the historic Riverfront District. “We’ve always wanted to be in the waterfront area. It’s the heart and soul of St. Helens, and obviously, being on the waterfront is prettier than being uptown, so that’s been our goal from day one,” Lauridsen said. Lauridsen and Crooked Creek Brewery closed the sale of the building located at 343 S. First St. in December of 2022, and have been leasing to the Dockside owners month-by-month since its purchase. This month, the Dockside will close its doors, and Crooked Creek will begin renovations to hopefully have the location open this coming summer.
“We will be relocating down to that location, so we will be closing our uptown location and relocating to the downtown space. We are anticipating a few months’ worth of work because there’s a lot of renovations that need to be done on the building,” Lauridsen said. “So we are planning on working on the space for a few months and hopefully being in there sometime in the summertime, preferably early summer. You know how construction projects go; they seem to get delayed and delayed.” Until the renovations are complete, Crooked Creek Brewery’s current location at 1935 Columbia Blvd will remain operational. The move will give Crooked Creek Brewery more seating and expand the services it can provide. “It’s got more space; our current space only has about 40 seats and no kitchen, so we’re
See DOCKSIDE Page A6