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❘ SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 ❘ $1.00
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SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
Port
manager
resigns
FOGHORN
LIFTS OFF
Forsythe says 37 of 41
goals accomplished as he
heads into retirement
Coast Guard removes signal due to
severity of winter storms
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
PHOTO BY DEBORAH HELDT CORDONE
The U.S. Coast Guard removed the North Jetty sound signal earlier this week. The foghorn will be returned in the spring.
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
F
rom late spring to early
fall each year, residents
near the Siuslaw River
can hear the sound of a
foghorn near the North Jetty.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast
Guard (USCG) Aids to
Navigation Team (ANT) Coos
Bay removed the foghorn
sound signal.
“I found out this was happening when I
watched the foghorn fly by my office window,”
said Senior Chief Tim Tregoning of the USCG
Station Siuslaw River.
Deborah Heldt Cordone, an area resident, has
observed the yearly removal as long as she has
lived on Siuslaw River.
“I find the river activity so fascinating,” she
said. She photographed the event and added, “I’m
so proud of our local ‘Coasties.’”
Tregoning said that the Siuslaw River North
Jetty Sound Signal is maintained by ANT Coos
Bay. It is one of four sound signals that the team
services in 250 miles of coast line from
Brookings to Depoe Bay.
Besides maintaining sound signals, ANT Coos
Bay is also responsible for ensuring channels are
properly marked to promote safe navigation for
commercial and recreational boating. ANT Coos
Bay collaborates with USCG Air Station North
Bend to air lift sound signals along the coast.
Boatswain’s Mate First Class Joshua Williams,
ANT Coos Bay executive petty officer, said,
“The Siuslaw River North Jetty Sound Signal is a
seasonal aid because of the treacherous condi-
tions we encounter during the winters here. A
permanently installed aid would not hold up to
the abuse of breaking waves during the winter,
and would be too dangerous for the technicians to
service to keep it operational.”
According to Williams, ANT Coos Bay puts
the signal into service around May 20 and takes it
out of service around Oct. 1 of each year.
“We have a window of about 20 days around
Oct. 1 to do the light lift,” Williams said.
He added that ANT Coos Bay broadcasts when
they do the lifts and will make sure people know
when the signal is returned in May.
Port of Siuslaw Manager Bob
Forsythe submitted his resignation letter
Sept. 23 to port
board President
Ron Caputo.
Forsythe, 65,
has been port
manager
since
March 2012. At
the time he accept-
ed the position, he
agreed to serve as
manager for three
Bob Forsythe
to five years.
“Bob was a great manager,” Caputo
said. “He saved the port a lot of money
with his conscientious business prac-
tices. He will be missed.”
“I’ve been telling the board president
that I wanted to leave before the end of
the year and our personnel policy says
that I have to give 90 days notice,”
Forsythe said. “The 90 days is today, if I
want to be out of here by Christmas,” he
said Wednesday.
When Forsythe took over the manage-
ment of the port, he and the board devel-
oped a list of 41 goals to accomplish.
“We have accomplished 37 of them,”
Forsythe said. “The last four are not
financially ready to be done until we get
more money, or sell some property.”
According to Forsythe, the port needs
new, larger restrooms and showers locat-
ed toward the center of the campground.
It needs a new bulkhead to prevent ero-
sion along the river. And the port needs
to tear down the two blue indoor storage
buildings and create a large pull-through
space to accommodate RVs.
See
PORT 9A
Real Food Co-op faces financial crisis
Co-op needs more members, volunteers to stay viable in the community
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
Members of Real Food Co-
op of Florence received a plea
for help earlier this month from
volunteer Joann Henderson,
calling for volunteer support
and additional participation in
order to keep the doors open.
“We need to bypass larger
chain stores and give our busi-
ness to the co-op whenever
possible,” Henderson wrote.
“All of us have worked hard to
have a co-op in Florence, and
we thank you for the time you
have given in the past.
“If we can co-operate to
meet this present challenge, we
will carry our store through to a
new, more vibrant existence
and we truly will have made it
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Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
a co-operative.”
Real Food Co-op, at 1379
Rhododendron Drive, is a
member-owned food coopera-
tive that has operated in
Florence for the past seven
years.
“Even though there is
expanding interest, there are
many new places to get natural
and organic food,” newly
appointed interim manager Ian
Crosby explained. “The chal-
lenge is declining sales. This is
an industry-wide issue right
now. The Kroger’s, Whole
Foods and Costcos all want a
piece of the co-op natural and
organic market.”
Real Food Co-op currently
has almost 200 members who
pay a one-time $25 equity
investment buy-in fee and a
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$25 annual fee to become
co-op members/owners. In
exchange, members receive an
average 10 percent discount on
all purchases.
Volunteers currently work
up to nine hours per month and
receive from 5 to 15 percent
additional food discounts,
depending on how many hours
per month they work.
Co-op members account for
approximately 75 percent of
the co-op’s revenues. The other
25 percent are drop-in shop-
pers.
The co-op depends on vol-
unteers to man the cash register
and help with things like inven-
tory in order to keep overhead
down.
“It is difficult for the smaller
stores like Real Food Co-op to
THIS WEEK ’ S
be competitive with the larger
chain stores,” Crosby said.
Many chain store “organic”
products meet the minimum
standards for the label.
“In the higher-end organic
produce and meats, we don’t
have the same products as the
chain stores. Price-wise, we are
comparing apples to oranges,”
Cosby said. “Our pasture-
raised beef, pork, lamb and
chicken comes from Knee
Deep farms and Deck Family
Farms.”
See
FOOD 9A
Real Food Co-op interim
manager Ian Crosby
seeks to avert closure by
recruiting more co-op
members and volunteers.
TODAY
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
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