SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2015
3 A
Ballots arriving now Florence PTA nominees win top honors
for May elections
Lane County Elections has
mailed ballots for the May 19
Special Election. Voters can
expect to receive ballots as
early today.
Voters who do not receive a
ballot for the Special Election
can check the status of
their registration and bal-
lot at www.lanecounty.org/
elections.
Voters can also call Lane
County Elections at 541-682-
4234 to determine if they need
to update their voter registra-
tion to receive a ballot.
Lane County Elections
office hours are 9 a.m. to noon,
and 1 to 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
On Election Day, May 19,
Lane County Elections will
have extended hours and will
be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voters can drop off their
ballots at one of many official
drop box locations listed on
page 20-27 of the Lane County
Voters’ Pamphlet.
Drop boxes are now open
and will remain open until 8
p.m. election day.
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On April 17 and 18, five
local PTA delegates attended
the Oregon State PTA conven-
tion held this year in
Wilsonville. The overall con-
vention theme was “Our
Children — Our Future.”
Convention activities includ-
ed the annual business meeting,
election of state officers, work-
shops on a variety topics
around education and the well-
being of children, awards and
leadership dinners, and the
annual Reflections Art Awards
luncheon.
A slate of fun activities
throughout the weekend kept
the atmosphere light.
This year’s special keynote
speaker was Congresswoman
Suzanne Bonamici, who spoke
about her involvement on the
Education and the Workforce
Committee, as well as the
Committee on Science, Space
and Technology.
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Two Florence nominees
were chosen to receive state
awards above all other nomi-
nees around the state, and a
local middle school student
received an award in the PTA
art program.
Lynn Anderson was chosen
to receive the Oregon State
PTA Champion for Children
Award, which is presented to
an individual who has done
exceptional work advocating
for children.
Anderson has been a part of
the Florence Native Indian
Education Program for 24
years, and director of it for the
past 14 years. The local pro-
gram is a model for Lane
County, and serves not only
children, but their families as
well. Alongside this program,
Anderson is the site coordina-
tor for the 21st Century
Community Learning Center
grant and the Twilight pro-
gram. She also coordinates the
popular local Pow-Wow held
each year in March.
She works with students in
and outside of the school set-
ting. She is an important mem-
ber of the Child Study Team
and the District Data Team in
the Siuslaw School District.
Anderson is also co-chair-
man of the 90by30 Initiative in
Western Lane County, whose
goal is to reduce child abuse
and neglect by 90 percent in
our community by the year
2030. Anderson sits on three
State Boards: the Indian
Education Board, the OEIB
(Oregon Education Investment
Board), and the Equity
Committee of the OEIB.
Kaylee Graham received the
Oregon State PTA High School
Student Service Award for her
dedication to volunteering and
giving back to the Florence
community.
When Graham was 10 years
old (in 2010), she attended a
meeting of the Florence
Community PTA with her
mom, where a foster care coor-
dinator was the guest speaker.
Graham was inspired by the
talk to help foster kids in some
way, so she started a project
that she called “Buddy
Backpacks.”
She scheduled a garage sale,
advertised it, collected dona-
tions of items and raised
$2,000. With those funds,
Graham purchased 150 back-
packs and items to go in them:
blankets, stuffed animals, small
photo albums, snacks, tooth-
brushes and other small com-
forts.
Through a local agency,
Graham’s backpacks were dis-
tributed to children as they
went into foster care.
In 2011, Graham came up
with a plan for a community-
wide volunteer project, called
The Power of Florence, which
has now become a regular
Florence event. In 2012, the
City Council proclaimed the
third Saturday in July each year
to be the “Power of Florence
Day.” The day is set aside for
people to come out and work
on community improvement
projects, raise money for non-
profits, donate food, and many
other volunteer activities.
During the Power of
Florence day, Graham travels
around town and puts time in at
many of the projects going on.
The day ends with a party in
the park, with food and enter-
tainment — all planned by
Graham.
By the end of the 2014
Power of Florence Day, it was
Left: PTA award recipients
Lynn Anderson and Kaylee
Graham with PTA members
following the convention
in Wilsonville; PTA Reflec-
tions Arts program award
winner Layla Blakely of
Siuslaw Middle School.
determined that approximately
3,000 people participated, there
were 48 service projects, more
than $32,000 was raised for
community causes, and more
than 10,000 pounds of food
was collected for the local
Food Share and the Humane
Society.
The third Florence award
winner was through the PTA
Reflections Arts Program.
Layla Blakely, a seventh grader
at Siuslaw Middle School took
an honorable mention for her
drawing, “Choose Cloth.”
The 2014-15 Reflections
Arts theme was “The world
would be a better place if…”,
and Blakely “was trying to
show the world would be a bet-
ter place if we used cloth bags
instead of plastic ones.”
She was unable to attend the
Oregon PTA reflections lunch-
eon.
The Florence Community
PTA will be hosting a congrat-
ulations reception for the three
award recipients in the near
future. The date and time is yet
to be determined.
The May meeting of the
Florence Community PTA will
be May 12, at 5:30 p.m., in the
Siuslaw Elementary School
library. A very short business
meeting will take place, and
members will be electing offi-
cers for the 2015-16 school
year.
The public is invited to
attend. Childcare and refresh-
ments will be provided.
Visit the Florence PTA web-
site at www.florencepta.org.
Florence Community PTA is
parents, teachers and commu-
nity working together to
improve the education, health,
safety and well-being of local
children and youth.
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