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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
School
www.shoppelocal.biz
from 1A
The Mapleton meeting will
include a self-guided tour of
the high school, with questions
being answered by school staff
and board members.
“The goal of the first round
of community meeting is to lis-
ten to what the community has
to say and make the appropriate
adjustments,” Wilson said.
He added, “The fact that it is
a one-campus school district is
unique and important. There
are similarities in the building
architecture that are worth pre-
serving.”
Photos
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His unique shots were used
for the studio’s publicity, and
he was able to keep more than
250 sheets of the negatives.
From the “Steve Allen
Show,” Richard went to work
for the “Della Reese Show”
and “Queen for a Day Show.”
He was also hired by the stu-
dios to shoot events, celebrities
and politicians around the
greater area of Los Angeles.
The 40 photographs at
Siuslaw Public Library include
familiar faces like John
Wayne, Vanessa Redgrave,
Carol Burnett, Ronald Reagan,
Regis Philbin and more.
“It’s a real trip down memo-
ry lane for a lot of us,” Alice
said.
Colgan-Bennetts said, “The
LaFonds have all these won-
derful Hollywood stories.
Richard can talk about what it
was like with each of the folks
that he photographed.”
Her favorite story was one
Richard told about comedian
Bob Hope after Richard took
his picture.
“He held out his hand to
say, ‘Come on, you have to
pay me now,’” Colgan-
Bennetts said. “Richard has all
Mapleton School District
Superintendent Jodi O’Mara
said, “We don’t want to lose the
fact that this is the Mapleton
School District. We want this to
look like the Mapleton School,
not a school from a different
district or city. We want to
maintain that character.”
In addition to the $4 million
state grant and the $4 million to
$5 million proposed bond
measure, the district may also
be eligible for up to $1.5 mil-
lion in seismic upgrades for
each of the two school build-
ings eligible for the state grant
program.
The district’s aquatic build-
ing and old middle school
building do not qualify for any
of the funds.
The last Mapleton school
bond measure expired March 1,
1961. Mapleton has no operat-
ing levee or construction excise
tax and has depended on state
funding and grants to support
the district.
The board will determine the
amount of the general bond
after the three community
meetings.
“I feel like a $4 million or $5
million grant would best serve
the community,” O’Mara said.
The board will decide on the
improvements to be included in
both grant figures at a Feb. 22
special meeting.
The board hopes to have
bond goals and final figures
determined after the second
round of community meetings,
to be scheduled for March or
April.
The May 17 election may
also include a bond measure
from Siuslaw School District,
which announced last week
that it too was selected to
receive a $4 million state grant
through the same program.
Both school districts must
have voters approve the bonds
to receive the state grants.
In other business, O’Mara
reported that Mapleton had
received two additional grants,
including one from Peace-
Health Peace Harbor Medical
Center to pay for a medical
professional to travel to
Mapleton one day per week.
“Now it is just a matter of
time before we can provide
those services on campus,” she
said.
Mapleton also received a
$15,000 Advancement Via
Individual
Determination
(AVID) grant from Nike. The
funds will be used to send
Mapleton teachers to AVID
training centers during the
summer.
kinds of stories.”
As the LaFonds put up the
photographs with Colgan-
Bennetts, they remembered
what it was like in Hollywood
then.
“He’s showing nothing but
the classics,” Colgan-Bennett
said. “I think of many of these
stars as heroes from my child-
hood.”
Alice said, “There was a lot
of history going on then. It was
a combination of luminaries.”
Alice had come to
Hollywood to find work as a
short-hand typist. Her agency
directed her to Arwin
Productions, where she got a
job with Martin Melcher, hus-
band to Doris Day, after
impressing him with her spunk
and typing skills.
“I worked for Doris Day for
four and a half years as a typist
and answering fan mail,” she
said.
Richard, meanwhile, worked
with trucks, stunts, lithography
and “a lot of adventurous
things,” Alice said.
He got his original job at the
“Steve Allen Show” when his
friend, who worked on set, got
sick. Richard filled in and soon
was a permanent member of
the production team.
“He was just 26 at the time,
but they loved his work and
hired him,” Alice said.
Richard’s work at the studio
launched him into some of his
other endeavors. However, it
wasn’t until he grew a beard
that people started referring to
him as “Mr. LaFond,” instead
of “Hey, kid.”
Now, the LaFonds spend
time on their individual art
projects as they slow down,
though they are still involved
with various clubs and gal-
leries along the coast.
“We’re content to be in our
house with our pets,” Alice
said.
Colgan-Bennetts hopes peo-
ple head to the library to see
the hanging portraits through-
out the main room.
“It is a really rather impres-
sive ‘snapshot’ of the golden
age of television,” she said.
“Everybody has fun in their
lives. How we draw on our
experiences and the people we
know really shapes us,” Alice
said.
For the LaFonds, it is their
love that keeps them together,
and their memories of days
past.
For more information about
Richard LaFond’s work, go to
www.lafondphotography.com.
Woody Woodbury
Bridge
Siuslaw
News
+
from 1A
The noisiest activities are
sandblasting and applying
the zinc.
Residents have reported
hearing loud popping noises
coming from the construc-
tion zone. ODOT said the
popping noise comes from
reversing air through the fil-
ters that circulate and filter
air for worker safety and
environmental protection.
The construction crew is
working early in the morn-
ing and continuing late at
night in a nearly continuous
operation of long shifts of
preparation work, directly
followed by long shifts of
spraying zinc.
“Once the surface has
been sandblasted clean, it is
important to apply the zinc
as soon as possible, before
the surface becomes contam-
inated by particles landing
on the clean concrete. This is
crucial to ensuring the
longevity of the zinc coat-
ing,” said ODOT’s public
information officers.
The zinc coating is a
cathodic protection system
that relies on an electrical
current that flows between
the zinc coating and the steel
within the bridge itself.
The report also said that
construction crews are
remaining on Bay Street
longer than initially anticipat-
ed to ensure that the repair is
done properly on the bridge,
“a treasured icon of the cen-
tral Oregon coast and a vital
transportation link.”
“ODOT is working hard
to have Bay Street open to
concurrent two-way traffic
and with a very reduced con-
tractor presence during the
prime tourist season,” the
report said.
After this spring, work
will move out onto the water
and construction impacts to
Bay Street will be signifi-
cantly less.
To learn more about the
Siuslaw Bridge Protection
Project, go to www.siuslaw
bridge.com.
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