SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2015
New recruits pass summer fire academy Rhody
Alex
Bochum
Mathew
Schmader
Jerry
Ward
Skyler
Webb
Sadie
Wells
PHOTOS OF ROBERT PIDCOE AND SOPHAROTH ROS WERE UNAVAILABLE AT PRESS TIME.
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Siuslaw Valley Fire and
Rescue (SVFR) graduated
seven volunteers from its June
Fire Academy.
According to Fire Marshal
Sean Barrett, “They are a very
good group — very intelligent.”
The new volunteers who will
respond from SVFR’s main sta-
tion, at 2625 Highway 101, are
Alex Bochum, who works
at
McDonalds;
Mathew
Schmader, a member of the
U.S. Coast Guard; Sopharoth
Ros, who works at Three Rivers
Casino Resort; and Sadie Wells,
who works at AT&T.
Two of the new recruits —
Jerry Ward, who owns Coast
Heating, and Skyler Webb, who
works at NAPA — will respond
from the Sutton Lake Station, at
88973 Sutton Lake Road.
The last new volunteer,
Robert Pidcoe, who works at
Taco Bell, will respond from
the Old Town Station, 243
Laurel St.
“These are your recruits. You
see that anybody can do it,”
Barrett said.
SVFR’s biannual volunteer
training academies take place in
December and June. This class
was a nine-day commitment,
where 12 students started the
process. After the application
process, background check,
drug test and physical, only
seven students graduated.
“We make sure they’re
healthy, for their sakes and ours.
It’s an in-depth process,”
Barrett said. “In the end, we do
the same job as the paid depart-
ment, and their process is a lot
more stringent than this.”
The
entry-level
Fire
Academy gives the basics on
safety, fire management and
how to use the equipment.
“It was nine days in a row
and 32 hours of instruction on
fire behavior, safety, self con-
tained breathing apparatus
(SCBA), fire hoses and fire
streams,” Barrett said.
The training took place in the
classroom, at a controlled
“Burn to Learn” setting and on-
site at a real “four-alarm fire” at
Pacific Pines RV Park and
Storage on June 16.
“A couple of them were on
the storage fire with us before
their first ‘Burn to Learn.’ They
did an awesome job,” Barrett
said. “We’ve got a good group
of recruits this time.”
The graduated volunteers
will continue with their training
to be certified as a Firefighter I,
where they get more advanced
training on firefighting equip-
ment and operations.
“That should take about one
year and 80 more hours,”
Barrett added.
FlorenceGotTalent!
Auditions opened to ALL ages and Talents
Registration/Auditions dates
Friday, July 24 6pm & Sunday, July 26 2pm
At Three Rivers Casino Resort
Enter through South Entrance of Three Rivers Event Center
Final Competition at
Relay for Life on August 8, 2015
Great prizes to be awarded!!!!!
Acts will be allotted no more than Four (4) MINUTES to perform.
Participants may only perform ONE time during the show.
NO profanity or vulgar lyrics in any vocal performance or dance music. This is a family show!!!
Keep attire at a respectable and tasteful level.
NO alcohol, tobacco, or drug advertisements are to be shown on any clothing.
NO pyrotechnics, open flames or any other dangerous additions.
Sound system and microphones) will be provided.
You must provide your own CD music, instruments and props
All contestants under 18 years of age must complete the minors authorization form.
Minors must have an adult supervise them and must be identified to Florence Got Talent
Questions? Please email
ereinke@threeriverscasino.com
WORD
ON THE
STREET
from 1A
“The driving factor for any
paving project is oil prices.
With oil prices being very sta-
ble and being low, we’re get-
ting a very good deal right
now,” Miller said.
Wildish Construction will
begin the project in August and
conclude at the end of
September.
“I think that’s an excellent
outcome,” said Henry.
Sierra Santa Fe Corporation
won the bid for the second
Rhododendron Drive project, a
chip and fog seal from 35th
FEC
from 1A
Local businesses will be
able to sponsor a sea lion.
“Sea Lion Caves is very
excited about this project, as
you can imagine, and would
like to have one in front of the
business, too,” she said. “It
has been great throughout this
process.”
Cowpainters, a business in
Chicago, Ill., will cast the sea
lions and show how to mount
the statues after final approval
from the FEC.
They will resemble native
Stellar sea lions “with the lit-
tle ears and the whiskers,”
said Connor.
The committee is still work-
ing on a final design and
could make the decision by
Friday, July 17. According to
Connor, the current plan is to
have a “dancing” female sea
lion in a sweeping arc, with
the tail in the air.
“We are putting it ‘up on its
nose,’ so to speak,” Connor
said, and added that the pose
will show more motion than
previous designs.
“It goes well with
Florence’s ‘City in Motion’
theme this year,” she added.
The statue will be 7-1/2 feet
long from the nose to the tail,
or well within the average size
for a female Stellar sea lion.
A big discussion point for
the committee is making sure
the statues are stable and
resistant to damage and van-
dalism.
“We are confident with
Cowpainters’ expertise,”
Connor said. “They will lead
us in the right direction.”
In two months, the FEC
will receive its first sea lion
statue. Once the statue arrives,
artists will be able to view it
to get an idea of size, shape
and surface.
Then, the FEC will put out
a call to artists to submit their
designs and interpretations for
the full 20 sea lions.
“We’d like to do a call to
artists locally, especially ones
who have been involved with
FEC. ... We have enough
artists and enough talent here
HAVE A QUESTION WE SHOULD ASK?
E MAIL : E DITOR @T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM
What is your favorite summer activity?
“Salmon fishing on the
Siuslaw River.”
—A RMANDO C ARIAS , 27
F LORENCE
“I love to go to the beach
and walk. I love to see the
cool wildlife out there and
see what’s new every day.”
—R OBYN S MITH , 43
F LORENCE
“I like to work in my veg-
etable garden.”
—R ONNIE B LEVINS , 70
M ADERA , C ALIF .
“Walking on the beach. I
just love the ocean and the
fresh air and finding treas-
ures.”
—D EBORAH M ANTHE , 57
F LORENCE
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed above are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Siuslaw News or its advertisers.
G OLF A T S ANDPINES
Coast Real Estate
100 Hwy. 101, Florence, OR 97439
CCB# 10894
$95,000
Cell: 541-999-7317
diana@cbcoast.com
7 A
Street to Lighthouse Way.
“The road is very fractured,
but we don’t have the amount
of money to go in and actually
do the repairs,” Miller said.
“This section requires total
rehabilitation, which would
probably cost in the range of
$500,000 to $750,000. This
will buy us time.”
The seal should last three to
five years, when Miller hopes
that a full rehabilitation can be
done.
The main goal is to seal and
protect Rhododendron Drive’s
sub-grade from water intru-
sion. The single shot chip seal
consists of an application of
emulsified asphalt and a layer
of fine aggregate. It will be
performed by Sierra Santa Fe,
a private company that special-
izes in chip and fog seals.
The chip and fog seal is
scheduled for July and August.
Both projects are included in
the 2016 fiscal budget and are
fully funded.
The Rhododendron Drive
Shoulder Extension Project,
which will add six-foot shoul-
ders with permeable pavement
for the use of pedestrians and
bicyclists, will go to bid in the
spring of next year, with con-
struction slated to be complet-
ed by March 2017.
to generate the ideas. That’s
where we’re going to start,”
Connor said.
She added, “The ones in
Newport might make a call to
artists in their area. I think that
makes sense on a lot of lev-
els.”
Once artists complete the
work in April, the FEC will
hold a “Splash Off” event to
unveil the entire group before
placing each sculpture in the
community.
The sea lions will be on dis-
play from April to October,
when all 20 sculptures will
return to the FEC.
“They will find permanent
homes at the ‘Migration Gala’
and auction,” Connor said.
The project will cost
approximately $50,000, but
will generate anywhere from
$25,000 to $100,000.
She noted, “We’re looking
way ahead, but this takes a lot
of planning. This project is
going to involve a lot of
hours, help and assistance
from everybody.”
The whole process will take
12 months to plan, implement
and complete.
“It’s a project in motion,
just like this is a ‘City in
Motion,’” Connor said to the
councilors.
“I can just visualize all the
things you can do,” said
Mayor Joe Henry.
Florence recently commis-
sioned a public arts commit-
tee, which had its first meeting
this month.
Connor said, “We like to
think of it as the ripple effect
of the arts across the Oregon
coast. This gives an opportuni-
ty to put out in the community
that the FEC is here with the
performing arts and with com-
munity events.”
She added, “This is an
opportunity to really give
local artists the notoriety and
respect they deserve. The FEC
has been a visual arts gallery
all 20 years. We’ve had visual
artists there, and they’ve
worked very hard. We’re
happy to embrace the art com-
munity.”
Besides business sponsors,
the nonprofit group Friends of
the Florence Events Center
will write grants.
Connor said the Sea Lion
Foundation in Newport and
Oregon Pacific Bank have
already shown interest in the
project.
“It’s an extra enhancement
for our community,” she said.
Even Rogue Ales, based in
Ashland, might get involved
with a special edition label or
porter.
“There’s a great opportunity
for education about sea lions
and the love-hate relationship
we have with sea lions,”
Connor said.
“Almost everybody likes
sea lions. I love sea lions,”
Henry said. “Though I sup-
pose commercial fishermen
don’t like them.”
A design is in the works for
a geocaching coin to help
bring people along the full
trail of sea lions.
Other opportunities could
include trivia or games linked
to each of the sculptures and
even a Twitter, Facebook or
Instagram campaign, all
designed to get people to visit.
The FEC has a timeline and
a plan to keep moving forward
with the project.
“City Manager Erin
Reynolds said to talk to some-
body else (who’s done the
project) and find out how they
did it, as that would save us
time,” Connor said. “That was
great advice, for the more
research we did, we found out
people were willing to share
their secrets about how it was
done.
“All of the research has
shown that it has been done
before in many communities
and it is successful.”
She listed that local com-
merce, artists, businesses, gov-
ernment and communities will
benefit, along with state and
local tourism.
“The excitement is really
building. I’ve talked to so
many people who are on
board, excited and saying yes,
include them. Especially the
arts community and the City
of Florence. I’ve had some
really great response,” Connor
said.
Port
understood financials and that
the board needed someone
with those qualifications.
“It was a tough decision,”
he said.
Buckwald will be sworn in
as commissioner during the
July 15 board meeting.
from 1A
“Every one of the candidates
fully impressed me,” Commis-
sioner Terry Duman said.
Commission president Ron
Caputo said that Buckwald
Power-washing and Moss Solutions