Fort Vancouver wins Gingerbread
House contest with Gingerline Lodge

Fort Vancouver High School Culinary Arts students took first place in this year’s Gingerbread Creations Contest, sponsored by Clark College and the Vancouver Rotary. Fort students’ replica of Timberline Lodge, Gingerline Lodge, was on displayed at the Westfield Mall and “Festival of Trees.” Vancouver architect Larry Swatosh, a Vancouver High School graduate, worked with the students to design and build the structure. Rebecca Angell supervised the project at Fort. The annual contest raises money for scholarships to the Clark College Culinary Arts Program.

48-star American flag returned
to Marshall Elementary School

Eugene Messer, right, returns 48-star flag to Marshall Elementary School. As a grade schooler in the 1940s, Messer helped raise and lower the flag each day.

A 48-star American flag flew over Marshall Elementary School for ten years after the school was built at the height of World War II in the McLoughlin Heights wartime housing settlement. The school was named for Gen. George C. Marshall, who had served at Vancouver Barracks and during the Second World War was Supreme Commander of Allied Armies.

Vancouver poet and writer Eugene Messer was one of the students during the early years of the grade school who daily raised and lowered the flag. The school was replaced in 1953, and Messer rescued the flag and stored it. At the 50th reunion last year of the first class at Hudson’s Bay High School, Messer and classmates remembered the old flag. Last month, Messer and nine classmates who began as first graders in 1994 at Marshall presented the flag to the school in a special ceremony.

Vancouver Firefighters selling calendars
to finance purchase of old fire engine

Vancouver Firefighters are offering one-of-a-kind 2007 calendars for $10 each as part of their fundraising effort to acquire one of the oldest fire engines left in the state of Washington. The antique piece of machinery was one of the first ever acquired by the Vancouver Fire Department and was in service in Vancouver for three decades until retired. It has since been restored and has been offered to the firefighters for $27,000.

The calendars feature full-color photographs of current and antique Vancouver fire apparatus. Calendars are on sale at the Bank of Clark County, Twin Star Credit Unions, Les Schwab outlets and at the downtown fire station, 900 W. Evergreen Boulevard, and the main fire station at 7110 NE 63rd Street.

Business improvement right now
is county chamber January topic

The Clark County Chamber of Commerce opens its 2007 networking speaker series with a presentation by Rudy Ramirez, Vancouver SCORE counselor, “You Can Improve Your Business--Right Now.”

The opening program is 7 to 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9, in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay. Refreshments will be provided. There is no charge and both members and nonmembers are invited. Reservations, however, are required and can be had by calling 258-1181.

Garbage pickups will be a day
late for the next two weeks

Garbage and recycling collections in Vancouver and Clark County, except for Camas, will be one day later than usual for the next two weeks, beginning Tuesday, Dec. 26. Monday pickups will be on Tuesday, and so forth, until Monday, Jan. 8, when the regular schedule is resumed.

In Camas the Monday pickup will be on Tuesday. But Tuesday’s collections will be made on Tuesday as the regular schedule resumes during each of the two weeks.

Calendar

The one-man musical Herringbone, starring Taylor Askman and directed by Llewellyn J. Rhoe, continues at the Arts Equity On Stage Main Street Theatre, 606 Main Street, with performances at 7:30 p.m. this evening, and Saturday, Dec. 23. Admission ranges from $8 to $24. For further information, call 695-3770. n A Taffeta Christmas, produced by Public Playhouse in association with Clark College, continues its December run in the Decker Theater in the Frost Arts Center at Clark College at 7:30 p.m. this evening , and Saturday, Dec. 23. There are no Sunday presentations. General admission is $16; $14 for students and seniors. For further information, call 573-4984.

Friday, Dec. 22 headlines

City Council sidesteps instant-runoff voting--Columbian, Jeffrey Mize

City postpones facelift on Main Street--Oregonian, Allan Brettman

Smoking violations tapering off--Columbian, Tom Vogt

Regional damages from wind storm exceed $500 million--Columbian, Courtney Sherwood

Vancouver's Isonics turns profitable--Columbian, Courtney Sherwood

Spokane mystery woman hops on buses shouting "Merry Christmas" and handing out cards with $50 inside--Seattle P-I, AP