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McCornacks kick off folk festival
Chamber business
award finalists
announced
Eugene artists bring more than 40 years of folk music history to local elementary students.
Annual Siuslaw Awards to be
presented Jan. 21.
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce has
released the nominees for the eighth annual
Siuslaw Business Awards. This year’s businesses
are vying for recognition in five categories.
The Community Caring award is presented to
a business that supports nonprofit organizations
and projects that enhance the community. This
year’s nominees are the Beachcomber Pub;
Coast Broadcasting and KCST Radio, and Mo’s
Restaurant.
The Curb Appeal award acknowledges a busi-
ness that strives to maintain a physically attrac-
tive business. The Chicken Coop and
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower
Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians are this year’s
nominees.
The Excellence in Customer Service award
honors a business that has demonstrated dedica-
tion to outstanding customer service and satis-
faction in all aspects of sales and service.
Siuslaw Broadband is the only nominee for this
category.
The Nonprofit Achievement award is present-
ed to a nonprofit organization that demonstrates
good stewardship of donor dollars and sound
business practices while meeting its commitment
to its organization mission. KXCR Radio
Partners, Rotary Club of Florence and Western
Lane Community Foundation are the three nom-
inees.
The final award is the Stu Johnston Business
of the Year award, acknowledging a business that
has demonstrated long-term or significant busi-
ness success and has shown strong and active
community involvement. This year there are five
nominees for this coveted award: Hoagland
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRAAMANS PHOTOGRAPHY
Every year, a weekend of folk music starts off with a day just for young people. The annual Kids’ Koncerts signal the
of the Winter Folk Festival, now a Florence tradition in its 13th year. (courtesy photo)
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
M
ore than 900 students
from area elementary
schools were treated to a
free concert at the Florence Events
Center (FEC) Thursday, Jan. 15.
Two concerts, at 10 a.m. and 1
p.m., featured the husband and
wife guitar duo of Mike and
Carleen McCornack, accompa-
nied by Kevin McCornack on bas-
soon and concertina and Dale
Bradley on bass and cello.
The concert featured original
AWARDS 8A
New reporter joins
Siuslaw News
S TORY AND P HOTO BY J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
This past sum-
mer,
Chantelle
Meyer took an
intern
position
with the Siuslaw
News editorial
department.
At the time,
Editor Theresa
Baer
said,
“Chantelle
is
smart
and
focused.
She
Chantelle Meyer
started picking up
news skills instantly.”
When the Siuslaw News began looking for a
reporter at the end of last year, Meyer’s applica-
tion was well received. Monday, Jan. 12, was her
first day as reporter for the Siuslaw News.
Meyer, 25, a native of the Eugene area, has a
strong journalism background. In high school
she was one of the editors of the Elmira Falconer
school newspaper. While attending Concordia
University in Portland, she worked on the
Concordia Chronicle.
Among other beats, Meyer will be covering
city government, the police department, the fire
department and social media.
“I’m excited,” Meyer said. “I feel like I can
really connect to Florence as a community now
that I have a professional role. I love writing and
photography, so this is a fun, new challenge
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The McCornacks played at last
year’s Winter Folk Festival.
“We support the fact that the
Winter Folk Festival exists and
supports music education in the
schools,” McCornack said. “Mike
is a retired chorale music teacher.
Children’s music is a topic near
and dear to our hearts.”
Tickets for the Winter Folk
Festival, which runs all day
Saturday and into Sunday after-
noon, are available at the FEC box
office. An artisans’ fair also is
open free to the public throughout
the weekend.
Council offers position to current finance director
S TORY AND P HOTO
C HANTELLE M EYER
BY
Siuslaw News
Florence’s new city council has
offered the position of city manag-
er to Erin Reynolds, who has
served as the city’s finance direc-
tor for 3-1/2 years. Pending nego-
tiations with the contract, the new
city manager could take office on
March 1.
Filling the city manager posi-
tion was a primary goal for the
incoming city council.
In January’s “Focus on
Florence” newsletter, Mayor Joe
Henry wrote, “It must be our No.
1 priority to hire a new city man-
ager followed by a new police
chief. We have gone much too
long without those two critical
positions being filled.”
Councilor Joshua Greene
echoed this viewpoint in the same
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recording and it ended up winning
a Parent’s Choice Gold award in
1989. Sesame Street got a hold of
it. We did two more children’s
recordings.”
The popular Eugene artists will
offer an adult-focused perform-
ance at 2 p.m. today as part of the
Winter Folk Festival at the FEC.
“We will be playing quite a lot
of music we have written our-
selves,” McCornack said. “We
also have a Tom Paxton song on
the program. We have done songs
of his from the very beginning. We
love his music very much.”
New year, new Florence city manager?
REPORTER 8A
INSIDE
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compositions by the McCornacks
along with popular children’s
music from the past and present.
“Mike and I started playing
together in 1971,” Carleen
McCornack said. “The band
joined us when we released our
first children’s recording in 1989.
That was supposed to be just a fun
thing. We certainly love playing
and writing children’s music.
“We had children of our own
and there really wasn’t a lot of
children’s music out there,”
McCornack explained. “So we
thought, let’s just do a children’s
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Florence City Manager Pro-Tem Larry Patterson is drafting a
contract with Finance Director Erin Reynolds. If approved,
the Florence City Council will vote to appoint Reynolds as city
manager.
newsletter.
Finding a qualified applicant so
early in 2015 shows a strong start
for the city council in the new
year.
“Over the last six months,”
Reynolds said, “I’ve been feeling
SPORTS — B
the calling to public service even
more, and that’s what led me to
make the decision to apply to be
the city manager.”
The council met Jan. 13 to
interview Reynolds as a candidate.
“I took it very seriously,”
Reynolds said. “It’s an interview
with people you already know and
respect and desire their accept-
ance.”
The
council
interviewed
Reynolds for more than an hour
before breaking for an executive
session.
“They came out of the execu-
tive discussion and directed City
Manager Larry Patterson to enter
into negotiations with me for the
position to be the city manager,”
Reynolds said.
“So that’s what we’ve been
doing. The last two days has been
talking about negotiations and
what was going to be in the con-
tract. The intention is there for the
job to be mine.”
City Manager Pro-Tem Larry
Patterson is working with
Reynolds on the contract until the
See
CITY 8A