In your neighborhood

North Clark County and Woodland

La Center: The eighth-annual Miss Teen La Center Scholarship Pageant was July 17 at Sternwheeler Park Amphitheater. Kelsey Morrison, a member of last year’s court, was crowned Miss Teen La Center. Hanna Golliher, Makayla Chord, Jessica Carder and Ashley Fleck were chosen as her court. The girls act as ambassadors for La Center in parades and festivals including the Portland Rose Festival Starlight Parade.

Battle Ground, Meadow Glade and Hockinson

Battle Ground: Officer Kim Armstrong, who has served with the Battle Ground Police Department since 2004, was promoted to sergeant July 15. Armstrong, a 12-year veteran of police work, is also president of the Battle Ground Police Officers Association. She has worked in both the patrol and detective units, and has served as a school resource officer. In 2009, she received the Unit Meritorious Service Medal for work on an attempted kidnapping case and a Commendation Medal for her service to the detective unit from 2006 to 2009.

Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek

Salmon Creek: The Harley H. Hall chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America celebrated its 20th anniversary with a July 17 dinner at the American Legion post in Salmon Creek. The chapter has performed service activities, including building wheelchair ramps, and conducting stuffed toy drives for firefighters and police to give children at incident scenes, said longtime member Bill Frederick. The chapter has about 70 members and is named for Hall, a Vancouver Navy pilot whose jet was shot down just hours before the end of the Vietnam War.

West Hazel Dell: For more local representation, information sharing and distribution of responsibilities, the West Hazel Dell Neighborhood Association is considering dividing into sections. “Our neighborhood association includes about 4,650 homes or over 13,500 individuals,” the latest issues of the neighborhood newsletter said. “Providing services for and information to a diverse group that large is a daunting task.” Four people currently make up the association board. Slicing the group into zones “has been very successful in the North Salmon Creek Neighborhood Association, and I’d like to take a page from their book,” West Hazel Dell association president Ila Stanek wrote. She said she envisions eight sections for West Hazel Dell, with a representative from each attending bimonthly association meetings.

Felida: A year of automotive bad luck has given way to good karma for the Brown family and 15-year-old Sean Brown: Sean recently won a car from Dick Hannah Honda after two family cars were totalled in accidents. The first incident involved a teen who hadn’t noticed slowing traffic and hit the Browns car from behind; the second was someone who failed to stop at a red light, smashing into the car ahead, which slammed into the Browns’ car. Greg Brown, Sean’s father, escaped both mishaps with minor injuries. (Sean’s younger brother, Quinn, had been counting on getting one of their parents’ used cars as his own.) Sean entered the Dick Hannah Honda giveaway contest, open to high school students with a GPA of 3.6 or better. (Sean’s is 4.0.) His family collected his prize — a 2010 Honda Civic — last week. Now, Sean just needs to work on getting a license to drive it. “It is amazing news for us because last year was a car disaster,” his mother, Kathleen, said.

Salmon Creek: Luz María Gordillo, assistant professor of women’s studies at WSU Vancouver, has published a book on immigration, transnational communities and women’s studies. “Mexican Woman and the Other Side of Immigration: Engendering Transnational Ties” traces the development of a unique community created when Mexican immigrants moved from a small western town in Mexico to Detroit.

Northeast Hazel Dell: The Hazel Dell School and Community Garden was one of 11 gardens featured in the Earth-Friendly Garden Tour on July 10. Twenty-five Clark College students pulled weeds, spread wood chips and pruned native plants to prepare for the event.

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

Fairway/164th: More than 1,800 people showed up to look at 160 or so classic cars at the third-annual Waterford at Fairway Village Car Show in June.

West Vancouver and Downtown

Esther Short: The Kamikazes car club collected 1,600 pounds of food for Share House on July 17 at the Cruisin’ the Gut event. The food and $470 from T-shirt sales were delivered to Share House on July 18.

Fruit Valley: Rough weather and infrastructure needs have slowed the installation of a playground on West 31st Street, just off Fruit Valley Road. The property, which belongs to the Vancouver Housing Authority, will inherit a playground built at Dozer Day, a community fundraiser held in Camas in May. The site has been cleared, but heavy rains held off the work for weeks, according to Syble Crow of the VHA. Now, Nutter Foundation is getting ready to install the necessary infrastructure — fencing, lighting, sod and irrigation, and a picnic bench —in the next few weeks, Crow said.

Fruit Valley: The Autism Society of Southwest Washington hosted its first summer picnic July 18 at Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park. About 100 people attended for the barbecue and to listen to live music by local band “Brother Elf,” said Vicki Fitzsimmons, spokeswoman for the society. “We were pleased with the turnout and hope to have an even bigger event next year,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Central Vancouver, Minnehaha and The Heights

Bagley Downs: Luis Munoz, a Vancouver artist known for his detailed renderings of local architecture, has donated a pencil sketch to an agency for which he loves to volunteer: the Vancouver Police Department. His drawing of the West Precinct building was unveiled at a dedication ceremony July 13 and will be on display in the West Precinct lobby, 2800 N.E. Stapleton Road. Munoz and his wife, Juanita, are both volunteers for Neighbors On Watch, a police auxiliary group.

Central Park: The Clark College Foundation was a winner of the CASE 2010 WeathEngine Award for Educational Fundraising. The foundation was chosen for the award based on judges’ analysis of three years of fundraising data.

Central Park: First Independent Bank and the Firstenburg family have donated $25,000 to the Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation for the 2010 Summer Reading program, which awards children 12 and younger for every five hours of reading, and 13- to 19-year-olds for every 10 hours of reading.