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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ DECEMBER 23, 2015 ❘ $1.00
Letters
to Santa
PIRATES
SINK SAILORS
SPORTS — B
SPECIAL SECTION — C
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
Soroptimist of Florence continues Christmas Basket tradition
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
oroptimist
International of
Florence completed
another year of its
annual Christmas Basket and
Toy Giveaway on Saturday.
Donations from the commu-
nity helped the club provide
holiday dinners to 400 families.
Extra food was donated to
Florence Food Share.
“It’s a lot of hard work
leading up to the events each
S
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
Siuslaw High School Rotary Interact students
volunteer with Soroptimist International of Florence
and other community members Saturday to load up
baskets of food for about 400 local families.
year, but the end result is so
gratifying,” said Michelle
Fraley, one of the toy drive
chairwomen.
Each Christmas Basket
included the ingredients to
make a holiday dinner: fresh
and canned vegetables, fruit,
stuffing mix, cranberry sauce
and either a turkey or chick-
en, depending on family size.
The baskets also contained
crackers, peanut butter, milk,
eggs and other staples.
Cars lined Siuslaw Middle
School’s driveway before the
event.
Volunteers from communi-
ty groups worked with the
Soroptimist members.
See
BASKETS 7A
Area preps for
continued flood,
landslide threats
Siuslaw News
wishes you a
COURTESY PHOTO
Two landslides closed an eight-mile segment
of Big Creek Road, north of Florence, Monday.
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
While the rain continues to fall, bringing record-
breaking precipitation in some places, the central
Oregon coast is experiencing a continued threat of
landslides and flooding.
A landslide last week on Mercer Lake Road that
killed a 70-year-old woman and her dog prompted
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR), Lane
County Sheriff’s Office and Lane County Public
Works to educate the community about the continu-
ing danger of landslides in the area.
The
Siuslaw News
office will close at noon
on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24,
and New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31.
The office will be closed
Christmas Day, Dec. 25, and
New Year’s Day, Jan. 1. All
news items are due Monday,
Dec. 28, by noon for the
Dec. 30 and Jan. 2
issues.
See
Elks to host free
Christmas dinner
H AVE A S AFE &
H APPY H OLIDAY !
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
Florence Elks Lodge No. 1858 will hold its
eighth annual Elks Community Appreciation
Dinner on Friday, Dec. 25, from 12 to 3 p.m. at the
lodge, 1686 12th St.
According to Elks spokesman Howard Ziebell,
the Elks served more than 800 dinners to local resi-
dents last year and are preparing to serve at least
that many this year.
INSIDE
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Ambulance . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A2
B8
A5
A4
Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
STORM 7A
THIS WEEK ’ S
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
49 39
47 37
48 36
48 41
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
S IUSLAW N EWS
125 TH Y EAR ❘ I SSUE N O . 102
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DINNER 6A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Bringing the
holidays home