North Clark County and Woodland
Dole Valley: Volunteers from Millar’s Wood Roasted Coffee, a family owned and operated specialty coffee roaster, headed out early on Christmas Eve morning in their solar-powered, mobile espresso-coffee van to visit the Portland Rescue Mission. They served free coffee to people waiting in line for breakfast and also offered free knitted hats. More information about Millar’s can be found at http://millarscoffee.com.
Ridgefield and Fairgrounds
Ridgefield: Usually he takes an airborne sleigh, but on Dec. 23 Santa Claus arrived in downtown Ridgefield on a fire engine. He came to the Ridgefield Community Center on North Main Avenue to kick off the town’s annual Christmas celebration, hosted by the Clark County Fire & Rescue Firefighters Association. There were also refreshments and performances by the Detchman Family Brass Band.
Battle Ground, Meadow Glade and Hockinson
Battle Ground: It would be impossible to list all the charitable work undertaken by students, faculty and staff in the Battle Ground school district this holiday season, but here are a few examples: Battle Ground High School collected enough food to fill 247 Christmas boxes. Students at Maple Grove Primary School collected 2,708 food items in six days for the North County Community Food Bank; five classes at the school gathered some 55 stuffed animals to donate to the young patients at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. Faculty and staff at Summit View High School bought 60 pillows, sewed pillowcases and donated them to the hospital. Career guidance technician Kris Neal has led this project in past years, but said she’s never seen such participation. “It has really touched my heart and, I hope, the hearts of the children,” she said. CAM Junior High and Homelink students collected 1,174 pounds of food for the North County Community Food Bank, with the sixth-graders coming out on top by donating 448 pounds.
Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek
Salmon Creek: The third annual West Coast Bank Teddy Bear Drive netted 727 stuffed animals for the children at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center, Southwest Washington Medical Center, the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington, and the Arc of Clark County. The bears were delivered Dec. 21 by Justin Meyers, assistant vice president and manager of the east Vancouver branch, who also organized the event. The drive began in 2007 and brought in 208 bears and grew in 2008 when 453 were donated. The goal for this year’s drive was 500, but a donation of 450 new bears from Tim Hubbard, owner of A Better Glass Repair, helped organizers surpass that goal early on in the drive. Each of the bank’s four branches donated approximately 50 bears each and Vancouver Rotary donated 40.