In your neighborhood, March 24

Battle Ground, Meadow Glade & Hockinson

Hockinson: Baby dwarfs have the run of the 10-acre Vinsonhaler farm in Hockinson — Nigerian dwarf goats, that is. Mary Vinsonhaler said the farm started raising the registered Nigerian dwarf goats last summer and officially named the herd “Seven Dwarfs.” Twins were born in November, she reported, and on March 10 the doe, Olivia, gave birth to six more kids — five of them weighing 2 to 2½ pounds, and one big bog weighing in at 4 pounds. All are well, Vinsonhaler said.

Hazel Dell, Felida & Salmon Creek

Hazel Dell: More than 30 Clark College students worked in the Hazel Dell School and Community Garden to prepare the community beds for spring planting. WSU master gardeners Bobbi Bellomy and Barbara Nordstrom assisted students in compost beds, planting raspberries, transplanting strawberries, weeding and pruning.

Salmon Creek: The Salmon Creek Fred Meyer store on Tenney Road is getting ready to adapt to the big construction project that will widen 139th Street (its back entrance) and extend the road across Interstate 5. Fred Meyer has won permission from county planners to build an additional entrance on Tenney, close two driveways on 139th and build a new central driveway there too, between the old ones. A median on 139th will prevent left turns from that driveway onto the street. A rain garden will be installed along Tenney Road, too.

Orchards, Sifton & Brush Prairie

Heritage: More than 50 youth members and adult volunteers from the Mt. Hood and Portland Councils of Camp Fire USA packed more than 2,200 boxes of donated Camp Fire candy. The boxes, which were assembled and packed on March 6 at the Washington Grange, will be shipped to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Central Vancouver, Minnehaha & The Heights

Meadow Homes: The Fort Vancouver High School sophomore class council hosted a luncheon for senior citizens on Feb. 26. The 30-member council, headed by Yaneli Valle, Romi Chandra and Taylor Richey, raised money, decorated, planned the luncheon and invited guests. Students learned proper dining etiquette, how to properly set a table and how to serve their guests before the event. Students in the culinary arts program prepared the meal. The luncheon, which is a Fort Vancouver sophomore class tradition, was canceled last year due to lack of funding.

Rose Village: Pedestrian safety improvements are headed for St. Johns Boulevard, from R to V streets. Missing sections of sidewalk will be installed along with new curb cuts, and barriers will be removed to increase access for elderly and disabled people. Community Development Block Grant money for the project comes via federal stimulus funds. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

Edgewood Park: Food service employees from Ridgefield, Vancouver and the Washington School for the Deaf raised $1,900 at a St. Patrick’s Day dinner March 12 at Harney Elementary School. Proceeds will go the Share House backpack program, which provides 650 Clark County children who qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch with 5 to 10 pounds of nonperishable food to share with their families on the weekends. Almost 300 people showed up at the benefit dinner for a potato bar, fruit, salad, bread, beverages and cookies — setting a highest attendance in the event’s five-year history. Connie Vowels, food service director of Ridgefield School District, said the community, vendor and merchant response has been positive the past five years. Vendors donate food for the event, and each year 50 to 75 more people have attended than the previous year, she said. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will match 50 cents for each dollar raised during the event, bringing the total to $2,850.

Pearson Field: Several hundred model airplane enthusiasts turned out March 13 at Vancouver’s historic air museum for the annual Aviation Modelers’ Annual Show — dubbed “The Joy of Modeling” — hosted by the Pearson Modelers club. There was plenty of shop talk about airplanes — the large-as-life kind as well as the miniature representations so lovingly created and displayed upon 15 tables in the museum. “Some were from plastic kits, some were made from scratch,” said museum manager and curator Bill Alley. The Pearson Modelers usually meet at 7 p.m. the second Thursday each month at the museum; to learn more, contact Alley at 360-694-7026.

Edgewood Park: Archery World held its sixth annual “Charity Shoot” on March 13 and 14. Forty-two archery enthusiasts ages 11 to 70 showed up to support this year’s charity, America’s Fallen Hero’s Fund, which supports the families of the service men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. A little more than $6,500 was donated to the charity in memory of Vancouver soldier Pfc. Ian Walz, who was killed in Afghanistan in October 2009. Victoria Walz, Ian’s mother, was present and said events like the charity shoot help bring closure, Archery World co-owner Joe Mallicoat said in an e-mail.

East Vancouver, Cascade Park, Fisher’s Landing & Evergreen

Bella Vista: When Rylee Butler, 9, gave a speech to her church in February, she inspired action. She said, “Everybody has loose change lying around their house. Why not give it to Haiti?” Real Life Church responded by collecting donations raised from selling baked goods, a rummage sale and numerous other ways. The church held a community rummage sale March 6 and raised more than $5,500.

Burnt Bridge Creek: Heritage Safeway presented Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary with a check for $3,538 on March 12. The check represented 10 percent of sales from Burnt Bridge Creek families at the nearby Safeway store during August and September of last year. Parents dumped their receipts in collection bins, which were then wrangled by Burnt Bridge Creek and entered on Safeway’s Web site. The money will be evenly distributed among the staff to use for classroom materials.

Burton-Evergreen: A walk to work turned dangerous for Veronika Glessner on March 5 when a loose pit bull charged her along Northeast 18th Street. Lucky for Glessner, a Clark College student, Evergreen English teacher Anne Rogge was on her noon Starbucks run. Rogge saw the dog clamp down on the 19-year-old’s visor and immediately pulled to the side of the road, honked her horn and started yelling. The distracted dog let go of Glessner’s visor. Rogge quickly identified herself as a teacher from Evergreen and got Glessner into the her car and dropped her off at work.

East Clark County: Camas & Washougal

Camas: Call it “take ‘n’ bake for a cause.” On March 16, customers of the two Papa Murphy’s locations in Camas were able to fill their stomachs while all proceeds from pizza purchases went to the Trautman Family Support Fund. Tom Trautman, a Camas resident, almost died late last year when he caught the H1N1 virus. He now faces a year away from work and daunting medical bills. Jessica Burns, spokesman for the two pizza stores, said the turnout was four times the typical Tuesday. Although the pizza chain declined to release any specific donation amount, they were glad to share that Canadian bacon and pineapple were the toppings of choice, and wanted to thank customers for their support.