4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ AUGUST 5, 2015
Siuslaw News
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
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. —Editor
Service members honored at party
O RIGINALLY P UBLISHED A UG . 2, 1946
T HE S IUSLAW O AR , V OL . 19, N O . 9
In honor of the returned service men and
women of Florence and the surrounding
Siuslaw country, the community gathering
sponsored by Heceta Lodge IOOF was held
Wednesday evening, July 31, in the lodge
hall and adjacent Rainbow Ballroom.
This community get-together was delayed
as long as possible to permit ex-service per-
sonnel to return to their former environs.
It began promptly at 9 p.m. and contin-
ued until midnight.
During the evening of cards, dancing and
a short program, 150 persons came to
express regards for all who helped in the
winning of the war.
Present were a score of the men and
women of the community who served in the
U.S. armed forces of the world conflict.
“Returned service men and women do
not want to be regarded as a special group,”
said Lee Weber in the address of the
evening. “Rather, they have come home to
be a member of the community. They do
not pose as heroes — the heroes are not
here.”
An overseas veteran of the war, Weber
commended the winning spirit American
forces carried from school games as a factor
in the allied victory.
Carl Dodge, new music instructor for
Siuslaw High School, played two selections
on the piano.
Norman Towne favored with a tap dance
and accompaniment by the Rainbow dance
orchestra, who provided music for the
evening’s dancing.
Repast of sandwiches, coffee and pickles
followed the program at intermission.
Another hour of dances and cards con-
cluded the observances.
There was no charge for the event and
no collections were asked for.
Those attending showed that they appre-
ciate the sacrifices made to keep the coun-
try the great nation all want it to be.
Paul V. Womer and George Albright
were on the committee, Towne arranged
entertainment and Mr. and Mrs. Christ
Strahm led the card room.
NEIGHBORS
The Old Whoopie
B OB J ACKSON
N EIGHBORHOOD C ORRESPONDENT
banged the proper set into the teeth as
he went, and the rakers would have
been filed correctly. But this was
Roger’s saw, and I could only hope
that it was reasonably sharp.
There were the knots, which were
like iron, and there were pitch pock-
ets which clung to the sides of the
saw and slowed the progress. This
required a healthy dose of kerosene,
or coal oil as we called it, to melt the
sticky pitch. About halfway through,
the log would begin to pinch the saw,
and then metal wedges would have to
be repeatedly pounded into the cut
with a sledgehammer.
Fast forward to the timeless Nen —
a common chainsaw is a marvelous
invention that we take for granted these
days. It would cut all the way through
this 30-inch log in less than 30 seconds,
and cut the 40-foot log into 16-inch
blocks before I had cut halfway
through the first cut with this old, man-
killing misery whip!
As the day wore on, I was deter-
mined to finish cutting up this log, no
matter how long it would take, for the
prize was something beyond this
young man’s wildest dreams — a car
of my very own.
For the Siuslaw News
T
his is of course an act of liter-
ary piracy, for I will be resur-
recting poignant memories
from a long out of print “early-days”
book that I wrote over 15 years ago.
Prosecution for plagiarism is no
threat, for the thoughts expressed
here-in are, of course, my own.
The ancient masters of Zen once
said: “The incalculable eons are but
one moment — and this moment is
no moment.” They called these ultra-
short fragments of time Nen, or time-
less thought moments.
In the book, I had transported
myself back to another time. For
myself it was a time of innocence,
stupidity and dogged determination.
***
I am in Westlake, 16 years old
again, kneeling in the sand alongside
a big “buckskin” log on the edge of
Siltcoos Lake. I ignore the sweat, the
aching arms and back, for this is a
great opportunity in my young life.
Only yesterday, a neighbor, Roger
Anderson, had offered to give me the
“old whoopie” if I would cut this
wood log into 16-inch blocks with a
cross-cut saw. (More about the Old
Whoopie later.)
I am soon to discover that cutting a
40-foot log into 16-inch firewood
lengths with a six-foot “misery whip”
would not be an easy task. I measured
my progress by watching the teeth
slowly bite into the cut. It is five
inches from the cutting teeth to the
top of the saw, and it would take near-
ly 10 minutes of hard work to bury it
in the log, and as the diameter
increases it seems the saw is not cut-
ting at all. There is no way to estimate
how long it will take to finish the cut,
as there are too many variables.
If the saw had just been sharpened
by someone like Paul Landwehr, an
old Westlake logger who had a filing
rack set up in his backyard, the job
would be easier. He would have
ILLUSTRATION BY BOB JACKSON
I had never seen this old car being
driven. It had previously been owned
by Jim Olsen, a skinny young timber
faller who nicknamed it the “Old
Whoopie.” At one time it had been a
1925 Chevy roadster before someone
customized it into an open-air pickup
truck. It was really open, for the can-
vas top and wood top bows had prob-
ably been missing for a very long
time.
When I went to claim my first car,
I discovered a pitiful sight. It had
been shoved back into the tall thim-
bleberry and salmonberry brush, and
had probably been there a long time,
for it was almost hidden from view
beneath some second growth trees. A
patina of green moss and the fallen
needles from those trees had almost
completely hidden it from view.
More to come...
LETTER
Gamble worth taking
The agreement with Iran leaves me with one
question: If not this deal, what deal? From all
that I’ve read and heard, it seems this was the
best that could be negotiated.
Opponents make much of the 24-day inspec-
tion waiting period that, they say, will allow
Iran to hide away evidence of agreement viola-
tions. I don’t have the technical standing to
speak to this assertion, but I have confidence in
assurances of Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz
(a nuclear physicist and MIT professor emeri-
tus) that this will not hamper the IAEA’s ability
to monitor Iranian nuclear activities.
More confidence than I have in unsubstanti-
ated rhetoric that a better deal could have been
negotiated or scurrilous profanity that it would
lead Israelis “to the oven.”
Critics’ contentions that no agreement with
continued sanctions would work better to dis-
suade Iran of its nuclear ambitions ignore the
reality that Iran was getting perilously close to a
bomb despite years of sanctions.
In fact, the sanctions did work; they achieved
their intended purpose of bringing a recalcitrant
Iran to the negotiating table with America and
L ETTERS
TO THE
five other nations.
I suspect that Israel, with its nuclear deter-
rent, is more concerned about the economic
effect of lifting sanctions. That would allow
Iran’s increased funding of Shia extremists. No
doubt a concern. But in terms of balancing
power, it potentially gives “moderate” Sunni
E DITOR P OLICY
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor concerning issues affecting the Florence area
and Lane County. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All
letters should be limited to about 300 words and must include the writer’s full name, address and
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Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not
guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Libelous and
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of Siuslaw News and will not be returned.
Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com
states common cause with Israel.
I believe that Obama sees the best chance for
a stable Middle East is an Iran that evolves over
the course of this agreement toward a more sec-
ular, less theocratic state. That process would be
stymied by continued sanctions that only frus-
trate an inclination toward a western orientation
in the 50 percent of the Iranian population that
is under 35.
As with the USSR and China before it, the
bet is that as the anti-modernity, seventh centu-
ry dogmatism of the old mullahs die off, it will
be replaced by a more secular, forward-looking
leadership with whom we will be able to
achieve a tolerable relationship.
The odds get better as our reliance on oil
lessens. Given the alternatives, it is a gamble
worth taking.
Arnold Buchman
Florence
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WHERE TO WRITE
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Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
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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