❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ THESIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION ALL-STAR BASEBALL ❘ JUNE 24, 2015 ❘ $1.00 CROW begins renovation INSIDE — A3 SPORTS — B SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON Quality Child Care of Florence to close HANGING HIGH First set of new banners encourages passersby to ‘Come See What We See’ June 30 marks last day for struggling facility that lost $35K since January B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News PHOTOS BY RYAN CRONK/SIUSLAW NEWS Members of the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Revitalization Team (DRT) stand underneath one of two canvas banners hung up last week on streetlight poles off Highway 126 and Quince Street to encourage travelers to stop and stay in the area. The DRT project includes a total of 21 banners — each 8 feet tall and 20 inches wide — that will be placed this summer along main thoroughfares into the city. Local graphic artist Susan Johnson created the banner design, which features a heron on a seaside backdrop and the chamber’s slogan, “Come See What We See.” Other phrases on future banners will include “Historic Old Town” and “Mainstreet District.” See C O O L P L A C ES Oregon Coast Military Museum TO VISIT THIS SUMMER 2145 Kingwood St., Florence ❘ 541-902-5160 INSIDE S PECIAL F EATURE : This summer we are highlighting unique spots that make the central Oregon coast one of the coolest places to live and play. A new location will be featured each week. Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A7 A5 A4 Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A9 Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 THIS WEEK ’ S S igns 3 & G R A P C H I 'ų 8 COURTESY PHOTO Festivities include a short ceremony, food and tours of the facility. Be sure to try some candy from the old-fashioned Candy Shoppe when the tour concludes. TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 65 54 68 55 70 55 68 53 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 USLAW SI S A T A GLANCE : The mission of the Oregon Coast Military Museum is to educate the com- munity about the role that military members (both past and present) have played in defending the freedoms we all enjoy; and to provide an avenue for veterans to display and share their personal artifacts, memorabilia and memoirs as a history of their honorable military service. Join the Grand Opening celebration Saturday, July 4, at noon for this building, which is a testa- ment to the generous support of this community. The museum has been built with donations of time and money, and is completely debt-free. Parents and staff members received written notice last week that Quality Child Care of Florence (QCCF) will cease opera- tion after June 30 due to lack of funds, according to Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County Vice President Chuck Trent, who announced the decision Monday. QCCF was established in JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS 2009 to offer local daycare for Boys and Girls Club children from 6 took over the Quality months to 6 years Child Care facility at old. The Boys 2355 Oak St. last year. and Girls Club assumed responsibility for operating the cash- strapped facility, including signing a five-year lease with Siuslaw School District, on whose property the building is situated, in May 2014. “When the Boys and Girls Club board took on QCCF it was absolutely the right thing to do for the community,” Trent said. “The heart, the pas- sion, the desire was there. Hindsight ever since that point has shown that it was absolutely the wrong thing to do for the Boys and Girls Club.” The club board of directors oversees three sepa- rate entities, Boys and Girls Club activities, ABC Preschool (ABC) and QCCF. The preschool and childcare facilities were acquired in 2014 under the aggressive leadership of newly selected Boys and Girls Club executive director Jonathan Hicks. All three entities have struggled financially since the acquisitions. In January, just prior to Hicks being placed on administrative leave, the board held a series of town hall-style meetings to receive community input as to how to cope with the looming financial crisis. “It goes back to what we said in January,” Trent explained. “Each entity has to pay its own way and be able to retire its own debt. If it doesn’t, we will not jeopardize the Boys and Girls Club.” CARE 7A INDOOR / OUTDOOR • • • • • • SIGNS & BANNERS VEHICLE GRAPHICS VINYL LETTERING STICKERS & CLINGS WINDOW GRAPHICS YARD SIGNS 997-8148 LOCATED AT: 7KH6KLSSLQ·6KDFN 2QWKHFRUQHURI th 6WUHHW+LJKZD\ S IUSLAW N EWS 125 TH Y EAR ❘ I SSUE N O . 50 C OPYRIGHT 2015 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM