SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015
9 A
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Become a new member of
Friends of the Library (FOL)
during October through the end
of December and you will have
a one-in-25 chance to win a
prize. Each new member’s regis-
tration form will be saved in a
“hat” from which 25 will be
drawn at the end of the year.
Each person drawn will be
awarded a free pass to City
Lights Cinemas in Florence.
Annual membership dues
help the FOL to financially sup-
port the Florence and Mapleton
libraries.
The Friends strive to enhance
the standard of excellence of
these libraries by funding pro-
grams and services beyond what
is allocated in their operating
budget.
Membership applications can
be found at the library front desk
or on the Friends’ Book Sale
shelf to the left of the library
entrance door.
To learn more about the FOL,
join us for the 2015 Friends of
the Library Day on Wednesday,
Oct. 21, at the Siuslaw Library.
Cookies, punch and informa-
tion will be provided.
The Friends Board of
Directors will meet Thursday,
Oct. 22, at 11 a.m., in the
Bromley Room. This is another
opportunity for interested parties
to attend and learn more about
the Library Friends.
Florence City Council lis-
tened to a report from the Ford
Family Foundation Pathways
Vision Action Team at its Sept.
21 meeting.
Ford
Fellow
Becky
Goehring and team member
Meg Spencer addressed the
council about growth opportu-
nities and the vision process.
“Ford wanted to get back
involved in the Florence area,
and the region,” Goehring
said. “The team chose
Pathways, which was a guided
look at how we can move our
community forward.”
The team’s goal is to create
vitality and identify “things
that make rural communities
succeed,” said Spencer.
“We identified visioning as
the key, and decided to look at
Siuslaw as the region,”
Goehring said. “We really felt
that we should include upriver,
down through Florence and
Dunes City. We’re all in this
together.”
The team targeted both eco-
Court
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from 1A
Even though Forsythe is
retiring from the court, she
remains active in other areas
of the Florence community.
“My grandparents moved
here in the 1920s,” Forsythe
said. “I try not to be super
political, but I really do
believe in supporting families
and supporting children.”
Tom Bassett, with Western
Lane Community Foundation
(WLCF), said, “During her
tenure as president, things
have really blossomed for the
foundation. Under her leader-
ship, the foundation is grow-
ing. We hope it continues at
the pace that it is.”
Forsythe has been president
nomic and social factors with a
survey they conducted.
Using the 630 responses to
the survey, the Vision Action
Team was able to find
strengths and areas of
improvement.
Spencer said, “This is truly
the reflection of our communi-
ty. It’s hundreds of local resi-
dents.”
The survey shows that
strengths include natural beau-
ty and clean air and water;
small town rural atmosphere;
and friendly people.
“We were looking for some
guidance for where to go, but
we also wanted a chance to get
the larger community involved
in the process,” Spencer said.
She noted that increased
communication could help the
community see strengths in
areas that the demographics
saw as a weakness: schools,
can-do attitudes and a good
place to raise kids.
“It was amazing to see these
results came out of the work-
shop, forum, the initial meet-
ings of the team and out of the
survey. People feel like we’re
missing the feeling of a shared
vision. We have lots of great
organizations, and lots of great
leaders, but how do we get
them paddling in the same
direction?” Spencer asked.
“Visioning is something that
is on the minds of a lot of peo-
ple,” Goehring agreed.
Goehring next brought up
historic initiatives that helped
the community recover despite
the decline in the fishing and
timber industries.
“There was a movement that
said, ‘We’ve got to move it or
lose it. Change it or lose it.’ A
group of community leaders
got together and advised shift-
ing the focus and making this a
place where retirees want to
come,” she said.
Building homes provided
jobs, and then tourism became
an economic driver.
“We’re kind of in that spot
in the cycle where tourism is
doing well, but we’re asking,
‘Where do we go from here?’”
Goehring said.
She listed some of the active
groups currently driving devel-
opment: Florence — the “City
in Motion,” the Economic
Development
Committee,
Florence Urban Renewal
Agency,
the
Downtown
Revitalization Team and the
increased emphasis on public
arts.
She added that Mapleton’s
movement to reopen its pool is
an important factor.
“There’s a level of engage-
ment that is almost palpable. I
think that is so cool. I think it’s
being led by the city, by a lot of
community leaders and by the
citizens,” Goering said.
Now, the Pathways program
will develop ways to tie these
resources together.
“We’re very committed to
Florence and the Siuslaw
region. The opportunity for
collaboration, working togeth-
er and not duplicating efforts is
the important way to go,”
Goehring said. “It’s a dynamic
time. ... Vision will ignite the
fire of passion that fuels our
commitment to do whatever it
takes to achieve excellence.”
For more information on the
Ford Family Foundation, go to
www.tfff.org.
of WLCF for two years. In
that time, they have given 100
grants and more than 80 schol-
arships.
“This community founda-
tion just celebrated its 40th
year last year. She actually
applied for one of the very
first grants that WLCF ever
processed,” Bassett said. “It
allowed her to go to
Washington, D.C., for six
weeks. During that period of
time, it must have had some
connection to her future.”
The final speaker was Eric
Tanikawa, former board presi-
dent of Boys and Girls Club of
Western Lane County.
“You can see her accolades
up here. A lot of them are
from Boys and Girls Club,”
Tanikawa said. “Cindy wanted
something that was balanced.
She wanted to help kids,
youth. What do they do after
school? Where do they go?
Are they safe? Do they eat?
Do they do their homework?
That’s because Cindy cares.
She cares about kids, she cares
about the community.”
He cited her thousands of
hours of service.
“Her heart is always in it for
the youth. She was born here,
she was raised here, she is part
of WLCF. You can tell that
money invested in her is going
to come back around to the
kids,” Tanikawa said.
He finished with,
“Congratulations on your
retirement — and hey, I got a
fundraiser for you to help me
with.”
Forsythe was the last to
speak.
She thanked many people,
saying she felt like it was the
Academy Awards, and hon-
ored her court clerks of the
present and past and all the
people who work together to
make justice work in Lane
County.
“I would like to say thank
you to the men and women
who wear a badge and those
who are in the background of
their service,” Forsythe said.
“Personnel from the Lane
County Sheriff’s Office and all
the dispatchers and officers
from the Florence Police
Department — You all have
my thanks for doing a tough
job and doing it well.”
She brought up additional
memories, including one
young man who told her that
she changed his life.
“I told him that he changed
his life. I was just there at the
right moment with the right
words,” Forsythe said.
Forsythe concluded the
open house with, “With these
comments, I’m ending my
career. I’m very appreciative
that I had an opportunity to
serve this community.”
Now that she is retired,
Forsythe is looking forward to
her husband Bob Forsythe’s
retirement as Port of Siuslaw
Manager in December.
They plan to build a home
near Siltcoos Lake and remain
an active part of the Florence
community.
“We just love the communi-
ty too much to not be
involved,” she said.
__________
Marijuana
juana cannot be used in public.
For more information about
marijuana in Oregon, go to
whatslegaloregon.com.
__________
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Adults 21 and older can
possess up to eight ounces of
usable marijuana in their home
and carry up to one ounce in
public.
However, recreational mari-
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