SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2015
Great Pumpkin Giveaway features chainsaw sculptor
Have you ever seen what
happens to a pumpkin when a
rapidly accelerating chainsaw
tears into it? The effects on the
flesh of the gourd can be quite
devastating.
That’s why award-winning
chainsaw
sculptor
Ryan
Anderson will use traditional
carving tools when he sculpts a
pair of giant pumpkins during
Coast Radio’s annual Original
Great Pumpkin Giveaway on
Thursday, Oct. 22.
One of the two carved pump-
kins will be given away to a
lucky entrant between 3 and 5
p.m. The other will go on dis-
play at Florence True Value.
That is, if it survives.
This year’s giveaway will
once again be in the parking lot
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Street, just off Highway 101.
More than 3,000 pounds of
pumpkins will be given away at
4 p.m. to youth under 17 on a
first-come, first-served basis.
KCST FM 106.9 has used
the annual event since 1989 to
mark the station’s anniversary.
The locally owned and oper-
ated station became a part of
the Florence community Oct.
30, 1988.
“I was looking for a unique
way to celebrate our first
anniversary,” said station
owner and general manager Jon
Thompson. “I was able to team
up with another locally owned
business, RC Electronics,
owned by Ray and Lois
Combest, for that first anniver-
sary in 1989. Together, we set
the pattern to what has now
become a nearly three-decade
tradition that combines family,
community and fun.”
Another local, family-owned
business got involved in 2008,
when Tim, Pat and Mike
Lemhouse at Florence True
Value agreed to underwrite the
pumpkins and host the annual
party. The following year, they
opted to move it to a different
location.
Since 2009, the pumpkins
have been distributed from the
parking lot of The Saw Shop
and Old School Furniture.
“We look forward to it all
year long,” said family member
and True Value spokesperson
Angela Hufford. “The looks on
the kids’ faces when they get
their own pumpkin is exciting.”
Hufford, along with her hus-
band Mark and her brother
Mitchell Lemhouse have also
created some new games this
year that will be available to
play while kids bide their time
for the “big moment.”
Volunteers
from 1A
Special Recognition Awards
were given to Cindy Orstead,
www.shoppelocal.biz
COURTESY PHOTOS
KCST Coast Radio and other
sponsors plan to give away
more than 3,000 pumpkins to
area youth at this year’s 27th
annual
Great
Pumpkin
Giveaway on Thursday, Oct.
22. Chainsaw artist Ryan
Anderson will display his carv-
ing skills on two giant pump-
kins during the event.
Florence-Siuslaw
Lions
Club will serve hot dogs at 3
p.m. Games and free treat bags
filled with candy provided by
Mo’s and Grocery Outlet will
also be available.
Local volunteer firefighters
distribute the pumpkins right at
4 p.m.
“Most of the pumpkins are
distributed in the first 15 min-
utes,” said Hufford. “I’m
amazed how quickly they can
be handed out.”
Thompson says the event is
truly one of community.
“We couldn’t do it without
the Lemhouse family at True
Value. The firefighters and the
Lions help out, and we also
have two-dozen local sponsors
who get in on the fun,” he said.
Ryan Anderson will tackle
the two large pumpkins. He and
his partner Shauna Hermanson
own
and
operate
the
Windswept Gallery just south
of Florence.
“Ryan is very talented,” said
Thompson. “He was selected as
the People’s Choice winner at
June’s Divisional Chainsaw
Sculpting Championships in
Reedsport.”
Anderson has also won sev-
eral other honors at the many
events he and Hermanson fre-
quent all over the Western
United States and Canada.
Station news director Bob
Sneddon will broadcast live
before, during and after the
event from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Sneddon will be joined by
afternoon personality George
Henry. KCST personalities
Wayne
Sharpe,
Harley
Youngblood and Calista Cates
will also stop by.
—Submitted by Bob Sneddon
Sandy Kuhlman, Dusty and
Trish Rhodes, Lita Edwards,
Walter and Bonnie Kunsek,
Margaret McDiarmid, Mary
Lou Brown and Patricia
Olmstead. These volunteers
donate their time ushering,
selling tickets, working back-
stage and in the office, among
many other important tasks.
The Overachievers Award
was a new appreciation that
was created this year to bring
special notice to the many
accomplishments of the
extraordinary volunteers, Bob
and Bonnie MacDuffee.
The MacDuffees donate
their time on the board of
directors for the Friends of the
Florence Events Center, assist
in the office operations and
recently organized a large
clean-up of storage areas
throughout the FEC. In the
process, they built custom
shelving and cabinets to store
various equipment.
Mayor Joe Henry was on
hand to thank the volunteers
for their more than 5,000
hours of effort recorded last
year.
Rhodes reported over
90,000 total hours are on
record, having been con-
tributed every year since the
FEC’s opening in 1996.
There were 397 events held
at the facility in the past year
and 7,233 events in the past
19 years.
In 2016, the Florence
Events Center will celebrate
its 20th anniversary with a
public art project, “Dancing
with Sea Lions,” and special
events are planned throughout
the year.
Local businesses con-
tributed prizes and gift certifi-
cates to the tea party event,
including KCST Coast Radio,
Florence in Bloom, Seacoast
Entertainment, Best for
Hearing, Grocery Outlet,
Florence Festival of Books,
Last Resort Players, City of
Florence, and It’s About Time
Productions.
Oregon Box Lunch catered
the Madhatter party with hot
tea, traditional watercress
sandwiches, petit fours and
lemon tarts, including themed
tags reading, “Eat Me” and
“Drink Me.”
New volunteers are always
needed in many capacities to
help with events. Contact
Sandi Anderson at 541-997-
1994 for more information on
volunteer opportunities.
Family Owned
BUSINESS
SPOTLIGHT
Shawn Fleming Construction
541-999-8727 – Shawn and Polly Fleming
area.
For professional builder and
“Th ere’s so much more to
woodworker Shawn Fleming, it’s all
about the details. From basic fram-
construction than meets the eye,”
by Catherine J. Rourke
ing to fi ne-fi nish carpentry, his all-
Shawn said. “Building projects
inclusive construction company has
need a general contractor to look
developed a reputation for precision,
at the entire scope, see the big pic-
unparalleled craft smanship and longstanding relationships.
ture, and evenly distribute the budget.”
A fi ft h-generation Florence resident, Shawn began honing
According to Shawn, that includes building permits, envi-
his woodworking skills at 19 while still in college, working nights ronmental impact studies, core drilling, land use applications,
as a cabinetmaker under the direction of “seasoned carpenters.”
county regulations and “a myriad of other details.” It also means
“I learned how to do fi nish work with a handsaw instead of “fi nding ways to save money for homeowners without sacrifi cing
a router,” he said. “Th at keeps the integrity and the beauty of the quality,” he said.
wood.”
While building houses from foundation to frame, Shawn
Shawn opened notes that it’s the interior details that make the home. Custom
his own business four decks, doors, cabinets, closets, crown molding, fl ooring, mantels
years later as a fi n- and staircases all enhance its beauty and value.
ish carpenter, build-
“People oft en spend so much on the exterior construction of
ing everything from a house and then end up with pre-fi nish details on the inside,” he
custom cabinets and said. “It’s the inside details that count.”
fi ne furniture to resi-
Shawn values his employees and credits his success to a
dential homes from longtime crew of highly skilled craft smen.
the ground up. Now,
“I pay my guys a living wage,” he said.
Despite “seven-day weeks,” Shawn found the time to build a
over a decade later,
he has become one family while building the community. He and his wife, Polly, have
of the most trusted four children and take an active role in the Children’s Repertory
commercial and resi- of Oregon Workshops, aka CROW. Polly designs the costumes
dential construction while Shawn – naturally – builds the sets “in his spare time.”
companies in the
Flawless Details
Shawn Fleming Construction
5
201 rs’
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e
R oice
Ch st
Be man
dy
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H
Light Commercial & Residential
20+ years experience
- Bonded & Insured -
541-999-8727
woodworking927@gmail.com
Florence, Oregon
CCB#127088
7 A