4 A
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ongress shall make no law respecting an
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free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
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people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com
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WEDNESDAY
APRIL
22
•
2015
1 2 5 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y F L A S H B A C K
1890 ❙
T
T HE W EST
F LORENCE T IMES
T HE S IUSLAW O AR
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS
S IUSLAW N EWS
❙ 2015
his year marks Siuslaw News’ quasquicentennial, our 125th anniversary, a remarkable achievement for any business in a small
community like Florence. To commemorate this milestone, throughout the year we’ll feature some of the town’s history as origi-
nally published in the newspaper, including historic articles and photos from more than a century ago.
Siuslaw searches for native rhododendrons
O RIGINALLY P UBLISHED A PRIL 20, 2005
S IUSLAW N EWS , V OL . 115, N O . 31
The Siuslaw Chapter of the American
Rhododendron Society is searching for the
rhododendron native to the Oregon coast.
These beautiful rhododendrons, officially
known as R. macrophyllum, grow abundantly
along the coast and give Florence the nick-
name, “The City of Rhododendrons.”
Some of the best habitat of this wonderful
species is rapidly being destroyed, and some of
the better forms of the plant are being lost
forever as the area expands with more homes,
businesses and roads, according to Everett
Hall, chapter president.
“Development encompasses land where R.
macrophyllum grows naturally,” Hall said,
“and the Siuslaw Chapter wants to locate
these plants, collect their seeds or take cut-
tings, and plant the seedlings in local parks
and public places.”
With the help of the public, the chapter has
identified more than 40 outstanding plants
from Bandon in Southern Oregon to Newport
in the north.
“We discovered one of the whitest whites
and one of the reddest reds I have ever seen,”
said Gene Cockeram, project chairman.
“Everyone traveling along the Oregon coast is
asked to help with the search for superior R.
macrophyllum. Each plant that is successfully
propagated will be given a name. If it is one
you find, you will have the opportunity to
name it.”
A superior rhododendron should have large
foliage and a truss composed of at least 20
flowers in the pink form.
The chapter would like to look at every
white form and light red form that is found,
regardless of how many flowers are in the
truss.
Along the coast, most of these plants bloom
in April and some still bloom in July.
The chapter is interested in these early and
late bloomers, too.
Even though the Florence area is the center
of the search, the collecting area will be the
Oregon coast from Lincoln City to Brookings.
The chapter requests that every rhododen-
dron lover help save the native flower. It is an
extensive project for the Siuslaw Chapter to
undertake and it will take several years to
accomplish.
The project was initiated in 2002 and it is
the goal of the chapter to have the project
completed by 2007, the 100th anniversary of
“The City of Rhododendrons” festival,
although newly discovered R. macrophyllum
can always be added to the list.
NEIGHBORS
Ghosts of Florence past
B OB J ACKSON
N EIGHBORHOOD C ORRESPONDENT
For the Siuslaw News
A
heavy dose of disclaimers is
necessary, because we are
delving into a subjective
realm that is both whimsical and
apocryphal. And there surely will be
misspelled names.
The tale of a ghostly apparition
inhabiting
the
Heceta
Head
Lighthouse keeper’s house is well
known. This goes back a few years,
and as close as I can remember, it
seems that Jim Alexander, a Florence
handyman, carpenter and painter, was
on a ladder repairing a window in the
old building when a wispy, ethereal,
nearly transparent figure of a young
woman all dressed in white appeared
for a fleeting moment inside the
building. He was so startled that he
dropped his hammer and quit work
for the rest of the day.
As Robert Ripley would have said
in his long-ago syndicated strip,
“Believe it or not!”
Whether the “dearly departed”
luminaries and ordinary folk from
other times still linger amongst us is
— and always will be — rife with
speculation. Being sort of a day-
dreamer and “spook,” I recall that
when we visited Washington, D.C., I
could not shake the feeling that his-
toric figures from the past were hov-
ering near all the hallowed memorials
that surrounded us wherever we went.
And, there was the U.S.S. Arizona
memorial experience. I stood before
the wall inscribed with the names of
the sailors still entombed down in the
old battleship’s hull and then sudden-
ly, without any warning, I could hear
in my head the anguished cries of all
those boys, frozen in their youth for
all eternity. I ran outside, back into
the bright sunlight with tears forming
in my eyes and running down my
cheeks.
Over the years, many generations
of Florence residents have come and
gone, even back to a time when the
streets consisted of rough planks that
rattled and squeaked from the passing
wagons, and of tall sailing ships
loaded with lumber, waiting for the
next tide.
Our most recent generation is
mostly gone now. Is Bill
Karnowsky’s spirit aware that a cof-
fee shop occupies what used to be
Bill’s Auto and Evinrude outboard
dealership? How about Werner
Pinkney, the World War II P-38 fight-
er pilot; is he doing slow rolls over his
beloved Sportsman store, where he
sold Mercury outboards, hunting
rifles and fishing gear?
The ghosts are everywhere.
Gordon Andreason: I remember the
leather leggings and the black greasy
cap. He ran the Front Street garage
and repair, which also had a wreck-
er/tow truck service. I have been told,
his wife Molly loaned out books from
a small building. I believe this may
have been before a public library
even existed in Florence.
Gone is Hans Peterson and his
Chevrolet dealership, along with all
his boys. There was Ed Johnston; his
Johnston Ford dealership still exists.
There was druggist Dick Carrol
(“Pills for ills, more pills for ills”).
Walt Brynd smoked a curved stem
meerschaum pipe that always rested
on his chin. Walt owned the Shell sta-
tion on 101 and his wife Eleanor
owned the Oceanaire restaurant next
door. And of course, the prolific oil
painter, reputed to have once crewed
on sailing ships, he signed his name
Osterhoff on all his beautifully realis-
tic seagoing paintings that once hung
in every Florence restaurant.
Although we reject any thought
that any of these souls of departed
generations may occasionally be hov-
ering around, it could also be com-
forting to entertain the possibility of a
permanent spiritual existence.
And so, as attested by their fierce
defense of ancient burial grounds, it
seems the indigenous Native
American Indians are more closely
attuned to a belief in a spiritual exis-
tence than the supposedly “enlight-
ened” Europeans whose inflexible
views refuse to consider any unusual,
unproven supernatural occurrence.
LETTERS
Celebrate laboratory professionals
Vote for Nancy
Medical laboratory teams are the cornerstone of accurate diag-
noses for patients. In fact, test results comprise approximately 70
percent of a patient’s medical record today. Whether it’s a routine
health screen, cancer diagnosis or blood donation, medical labo-
ratory professionals care for patients in small communities and
metropolitan areas across the nation.
April 19 through 25 is National Medical Laboratory
Professionals Week. The week is dedicated to celebrate the life-
saving contributions of more than 300,000 medical laboratory
professionals.
We care for patients every day, performing and interpreting
tests that save lives and keep people healthy. Laboratory test
results drive a significant portion of clinical decisions, from diag-
nosis to therapy, with the ultimate goal of providing excellent
patient care. Using state-of-the-art technology and instrumenta-
tion, laboratory professionals perform and supervise tests that
lead to the detection of potential health problems; the sooner a
disease is caught, the better the outcome. Also, laboratory profes-
sionals are part of the team to guide and assess patients’ ongoing
treatment and care.
One way that Americans can celebrate this week is to renew
their commitment to good health and schedule a health screening
test or blood donation. As a pathologist, the physician leading
Ballots will soon be in the mail for us to elect two Port of
Siuslaw commissioners. The Port of Siuslaw was established in
1909 and includes the entire geographic region of the Siuslaw
River and its watershed, reaching eastward almost to Cottage
Grove. Over the years, the port has been stewarded by many fine
commissioners, including most recently Nancy Rickard.
Nancy has lived in Florence with her family for over 30 years.
She served on the school board for 14 of those years. Through
her church, she devotes much of her time striving to make better
the lives of local people especially in need of help. She knows the
community. She cares.
Equally important, she is conscientious. She is accustomed to
hard work. Elected a port commissioner in 2013, she acquired
rapidly a clear understanding of what a port commissioner’s
duties entail. She visits Mapleton regularly to learn from the
Siuslaw Watershed Council. She has represented the port at
coastal events in other counties.
You can trust Nancy to make wise decisions that will benefit
the public of the entire Siuslaw watershed, both in the short term
and for generations to come. Please cast your vote to re-elect
Nancy Rickard as Port of Siuslaw commissioner.
Karin Radtke
Chairwoman, Florence Area Democratic Club
USPS# 497-660
laboratory medicine, I know that these simple and often routine
tests and procedures save lives.
PeaceHealth Laboratories celebrates our 900 laboratory pro-
fessionals in three states who perform more than 6 million tests
annually and play a vital role in patient care.
Terry A. Welch
PeaceHealth Laboratories
Florence
Copyright 2015 © Siuslaw News
John Bartlett
Jenna Bartlett
Ryan Cronk
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
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Editor, ext. 313
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WHERE TO WRITE
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National
Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore.
Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439. Phone (541) 997-3441 (See
extension numbers below). FAX (541) 997-7979.
Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us