4 A
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❘ JULY 22, 2015
WEDNESDAY EDITION
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
Opinion
White crosses of Montana
For the Siuslaw News
F
or many years, two white crosses
affixed to the trunks of large trees,
marked the spot where two young
fellers perished in a tragic accident on a
sharp curve near the entrance to the old
Booth Road just north of Tahkenitch Lake.
Another similar flower-festooned memorial
to a fatal accident existed for years between
Reedsport and Winchester Bay.
These unsettling reminders of danger
that is ever lurking on our highways is fair-
ly uncommon in this area, maybe not so
much elsewhere.
Our good neighbors, Debbie and Sheldon
Glenzer, have just returned from a leisurely
road trip to visit her father back in
Minnesota, and they brought back an amaz-
ing story of seeing at eye-level, mile after
mile after mile of white, rebar-mounted
crosses, marking the location of vehicular
fatalities.
Poignant reminders in the state of
Montana, where in this Big Sky Country
the highways stretch for mile after mile,
sometimes without another vehicle in sight
in either direction — and it can become
mesmerizing, almost to the point of causing
what pilots on long, boring flights have
called “cockpit hypnosis.”
Sixty-two years ago, the Montana
Highway Commission approved the White
Cross Fatality Marker program, which was
created and is maintained by the American
Legion of Montana. The markers are placed
as close as is possible to the location of the
accident. Decorations are strongly discour-
aged. The crosses are not placed on private
roads or on federally funded interstate
highways.
Between Cut Bank and Browning on
Highway 2, there is nearly one cross every
mile — often there are even more. There
are more than 2,000 white crosses, though
nobody seems to know for sure the exact
amount.
They cost about $20 apiece to make.
These crashes occurred mostly on straight,
rural areas, where you could easily see far
ahead and what was behind. This brings to
mind an old adage: “Familiarity breeds
contempt.”
A somnolent, blase acceptance of danger
can lead to a dangerous lack of alertness. I
remember reading someplace that a dispro-
portionate number of fatal accidents occur
close to home (“We are almost home. Now
we can relax!”)
The crosses have not remained unchal-
lenged. A “kooky” organization called
Freedom From Religion, and the ACLU,
which I consider “rabble rousers,” want the
crosses removed, saying “it is almost like
driving through a graveyard.” I find that
roadside markers date back as far as the
roads themselves, even back to Rome and
Greece.
Along Highway 2, passing through
Glacier National Park, there are dozens of
identical white cross markers attached to
rebar. In one spot there is an eye-popping
memorial with nine crosses, where a tanker
semi-truck lost control and hit a bus full of
high school wrestlers. The bus caught fire
and burned completely.
Incidentally, Montana is reported as hav-
ing the highest rate of drunken driving
deaths — nearly twice the rate of the
national average.
An interesting note: Montana’s American
Legion members do annual repainting and
maintenance, and some Legionnaires carry
a can of white paint in their car — “Even if
we’re 800 miles from home, if we see a
cross, we stop and paint it!”
Now that is dedication.
LETTERS
Wrongful firing
Politics and legalities set
aside, the shameful manner in
which former fire chief Jim
Langborg was treated and then
terminated by the Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue board is just
plain wrong.
There has been a slogan used
around town lately: “Come See
What We See.” In this case, I
don’t think so.
Julie Goodman
Florence
A word of advice
To all the candidates running
against Donald Trump (or every-
one):
To be successful in a debate,
try to remember to not interrupt
your opponent while he is por-
traying himself to be an idiot.
Charlie Pennington
Florence
Elks appreciation
First of all, congratulations to
Julie Brown being installed as
district deputy to the Elks
national president for the lodges
in the Northwest District of the
Oregon State Elks Association.
I appreciated the content of
the article in the Siuslaw News
(“Brown Chosen to Lead Area
Elks,” July 11, page A3) to
inform the public of all that the
Elks organization accomplishes
in all the communities they exist
in. Even I had no idea the mag-
nitude of the contribution of dol-
lars not to mention the countless
hours of service.
My first introduction to the
Elks outreach in our community
came back in the late 1990s
when they paid for my grand-
daughter’s first pair of eye glass-
es. Since then I’ve become an
Elks member myself and see
first hand the charitable attitude
of a very decent group of men
and women. It’s pretty amazing!
Donna Dobson
Florence
Duck thanks
Many thanks to the mer-
chants, Kiwanis members, vol-
unteers and Mary McNulty and
her kayak team for helping make
the 18th annual Kiwanis Duck
Race on July 4 a success.
L ETTERS
Last year the Kiwanis
Foundation funded over $28,000
in grants and scholarships for
projects involving the local Boys
and Girls Club, Florence and
Mapleton Food Share, the free
Thanksgiving community turkey
dinner and the Free Lunch
Program.
All the money raised goes
toward local projects, and none
of it is used for Kiwanis Club
administrative costs.
Please continue to purchase
Duck Race tickets next year
TO THE
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
DEAR READERS:
125th Anniversary
O
ur 125th Anniversary Flashback series
will return next week. In the meantime,
let us know what’s on your mind. —Editor
CHILD CARE
IN FLORENCE
NEIGHBORS
B OB J ACKSON
N EIGHBORHOOD C ORRESPONDENT
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
when they become available and
support the local merchants who
generously donate gift certifi-
cates for prizes.
Florence Kiwanis Club is
always looking for active citi-
zens who might be interested in
visiting or joining the club to
participate in their many com-
munity activities.
If you are interested, call me
at 541-999-8804.
Bill Craig
Kiwanis Duck Race Coordinator
Florence
E DITOR P OLICY
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GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y R OB S POONER
P AST K IWANIS C LUB P RESIDENT & P AST Q UALITY C HILD
C ARE OF F LORENCE B OARD M EMBER
F
lorence needs a state-certified child care center
serving infants and toddlers. For a while, Quality
Child Care of Florence, acting independently and
later under the aegis of Boys and Girls Club, provided
this care, but infant care ended in the winter and recently
QCCF was shuttered entirely. We now face the daunting
task of reviving it or losing an essential service in our
community.
Before I get to the how, let’s review the why. Child
care is an issue on several levels. One is economic. For
young professionals considering a move to Florence, the
availability of reliable and high quality child care may be
the deciding factor on whether they come here. At the
other end of the spectrum, Florence has a lot of low-pay-
ing jobs and many young families need both parents
working just to make ends meet. If child care is not avail-
able, some mothers may find themselves cut off from
employment.
Also, there’s the safety of the child to consider. Child
care centers follow 70 pages of regulations in order to be
certified. Baby sitters are completely unregulated, putting
the health and wellbeing of the child at risk. This is not to
suggest that all baby sitters do a bad job, but there is no
certainty without the level of evaluation that goes on con-
tinually in a state-certified center.
Finally, research has shown that intensive interaction
between babies and adults produces long term benefits.
Studies have shown that babies from low-income families
have heard 30 million fewer words by the age of four
than those from high-income families. The results last a
lifetime. High quality child care can compensate for some
of this, with positive outcomes that can be tracked into
adulthood.
I could go into more detail, but I’ve found very few
people who question the need for infant and toddler child
care. The problem is that too many people have decided
that it can’t be achieved with the resources we have avail-
able here. There have been enough missteps over the
years that this is a reasonable attitude, but it’s wrong.
The proof I believe is the Cedar Creek Child Care
Center in Hebo. It serves the Nestucca School District in
south Tillamook County, which has about a third as many
students and a quarter of the population that we have in
west Lane County. Yet they have been in operation for
several years and appear to be stable. There are three keys
to their success.
First, they do local fundraising at around $3,000 per
year. That would translate to $10,000 in Florence. It
makes the second step easier, which is grant writing.
There are many organizations who are willing to help
communities that have shown that they are helping them-
selves. Cedar Creek gets more than five times as much in
outside grants as they raise locally, which suggests that
the diligent pursuit of grants will pay off.
The third key is an aggressive hourly pricing. Most
child care centers set fairly low rates for full-time care, or
part-time care that meets a strict set of conditions. This
may work for a few working professionals, but many jobs
for young mothers in Florence are both part-time and
irregular. There is no reason to penalize them for this.
Both Cedar Creek and Tillamook Bay centers take this
approach and it is very effective.
Kiwanis is an international organization, serving the
needs of children. When QCCF was just getting organized
and through its capital campaign, Florence Kiwanis mem-
bers served on its board. As president of the Florence
Kiwanis club at the time, I was the first Kiwanis represen-
tative. The club will soon consider whether it should
acquire the QCCF building in order to take up the mission
of infant and toddler care. Some decisions will need to be
made by both the Kiwanis club and the Boys and Girls
club for this to happen.
However, launching is one thing and becoming sustain-
able is another. A better strategy for fundraising and oper-
ations will go a long way, but the community needs to
show that it believes in this. One thing is absolutely
essential. Families with very young children must be will-
ing to pay for their care. The state of Oregon has a pro-
gram to assist low-income working families, so this
should be achievable if we put the word out.
Volunteer help would be of great value. At times, state
regulations will require us to bring in an extra person to
look after just one additional infant. If two dozen people
would give an hour each week, basically playing with one
baby, we would both save significant costs and improve
the experience for the kids.
I’m working on a business plan based on $5 an hour
for infants under 2 and $4.25 between 2 and 3 years old.
If you are interested in sending a child at those rates, or
would be willing to volunteer a few hours, let me know at
rwspooner@gmail.com. It will help me make the case.
USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2015 © Siuslaw News
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
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Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
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Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
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Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
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Washington, DC 20510
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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