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Celebrating
125 Years
SEE PAGE 4A
H ISTORY • C OMMUNITY • H ERITAGE
Free Lunch
program
in jeopardy
of the
S TORY AND P HOTO BY J ACK D AVIS
new year
Siuslaw News
For 19 years, the Free Lunch pro-
gram, which has operated out of the
United Methodist Church kitchen, at
333 Kingwood St., has served hot
lunches every Tuesday and Thursday,
free of charge to anyone who showed
up. Now the program may have to cut
back or shut down.
Finances are not the problem. The
funds are there to keep food on the table.
Volunteers to prepare, serve and clean
up are what is in short supply.
Free Lunch program board member
and coordinator Suzanne Mann-Heintz
said, “Last year we served just over
2,400 lunches. This year we served
more than 3,800. That is more than
1,000 more lunches than we served the
year before. This points to the growing
need for this service in our community.”
The Free Lunch program and the
Helping Hands Coalition together offer
See
LUNCH 6A
Emergency
warming
center opens
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
During the recent bout of freezing
weather earlier this week, the Masonic
Lodge, south of Florence, opened its
doors to homeless individuals seeking
shelter from the cold.
The Masons voted in November to
make the lodge available as an emer-
gency warming shelter whenever tem-
peratures drop below 30 degrees, or a
combination of wind chill, wind and
rainfall make it necessary to provide
shelter from the elements.
The Florence emergency cold weath-
er shelter committee supplied cots, blan-
kets and pillows. They also coordinated
the volunteers who helped serve dinner,
remove the tables and chairs, set up the
cots and bedding and monitored the
premises throughout the night. In the
morning, a second shift of volunteers
removed the cots, set up tables and pre-
pared breakfast for the seven men who
stayed both Tuesday and Wednesday
nights.
Committee member Bob DuBose
said, “I think everything went very well
for our first two nights. We opened at 4
p.m. We had volunteers from several
churches that worked various shifts. The
See
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Tim Baldwin, Aurieannah Merrifield, April Merrifield and new arrival Jayce Merrifield
A
CENTER 6A
INSIDE
S AT U R D AY
Angling
Anniversary
Births
Classifieds
Community
PHOTO BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
Engagement A2
Opinion
A4
SideShow B4
Sports
B
Tides
B1
pril Merrifield, 25, rang in the New
Year by delivering the Florence area’s
first baby of the new year: Jayce
Merrifield, a 7 pound, 10 ounce boy measuring
21 inches, at 5:07 a.m., Jan. 1, 2015.
Both mother and baby are doing well, and
Your
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were tentatively scheduled to check out of
PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center
Friday, Dec. 2. Merrifield works as a beverage
server for Three Rivers Casino and Hotel. The
father, Tim Baldwin, 28, works for Laurel Bay
Gardens, Inc.
SPORTS — B
“I feel great, but it took forever,” Merrifield
said. “I didn’t want to know ahead of time if it
was a boy or girl, but I found out anyway.”
Merrifield, a Florence resident, has three
other children: a son, Matthew, 5, and daughters
Bailee, 8, and Aurieannah, 3.
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PAGE 3A
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First baby