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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ FEBRUARY 24, 2016 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 RYAN CRONK , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion E XTRAORDINARY P EOPLE Maude Brunette C ATHERINE J. R OURKE For the Siuslaw News _____________ Or the joy of taking a pot of tea in the English countryside.” Maude’s list of intriguing experi- ences includes studying Nigerian art at Dartmouth, attending six commu- nity colleges, riding show horses around the world and immersing in art history for six months in Florence, Italy. The enterprising powerhouse has also run airports, tended bar, designed her own cloth- ing line and launched her own book- keeping service. “My mother gave me the self-con- fidence that I could do anything, go anywhere and be whatever I want- ed,” she said. “I always believed in keeping active and learning new things. My education never stops.” Her education was disrupted, however, at age 16 when World War II broke, dramatically changing the lives of her family. That’s when another kind of education began. “As a young girl, I saw how war brings people together and tears them apart,” she said. “It exposes human kindness in the face of calamity.” Maude remembers the first air raids in the spring of 1940 as Britain evacuated children to rural areas. Her younger sister was sent to live with a relative in Canada but her ship was torpedoed. Devastated by the loss, Maude remained the only sibling at home as her brothers went off to war. L Then she went to live with an aunt near Wales so she “could sleep in a bed instead of a chair.” At age 18, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). “The Royal Air Force needed young women with good math and science skills to serve as radar oper- ators and map the bombers. I said, ‘That’s me! This is what I can do.’” Maude describes how it took “thousands of people” to operate the radar stations posi- tioned every 25 miles along the British coast. Stationed as a radar operator in Devon and Cornwall in southwest England, she served in the WAAF from 1941 to 1944 “My job consisted of tracking radar PHOTO BY CATHERINE ROURKE lines, discerning the number of planes and Maude Brunette now (above) and in her Women’s Auxiliary their direction, calcu- Air Force uniform in 1941 at age 18 (left) COURTESY PHOTO lating their height to Morocco, where Maude learned to ering Florence on a road trip in and distance,” she said. “We had ride Arabian stallions while raising 1989. hundreds of people tracking planes her two children. “The moment I arrived here I within a 200-mile radius. We shared “Riding became the family pas- knew this was it,” she said. a great sense of pride and a wonder- time,” she said. Maude purchased a historic home ful camaraderie.” The Brunettes lived in Dallas in in Old Town and dropped anchor, According to Maude, England sur- the ’60s and Maude joined the spec- creating a clothing line of tweed and vived the Battle of Britain due to this tators watching the Kennedy motor- Scotch plaid capes, jackets and strategic communications system. cade in 1963. shawls crafted from Pendleton wool. “We knew where every plane was “I saw JFK just two minutes Maude’s sparkling eyes and in the sky at any given time,” she before he was shot,” she said. “I’ll serene smile remain unchanged from said. “But it meant working all kinds never forget it.” her WAAF portrait at age 18. of shifts. We were always in a daze.” Bill passed away suddenly while “I’ve had a fabulous and fascinat- It was during one of those shifts they were stationed in Arizona in the ing life,” she said. “But family is that Maude met an American elec- ’70s. As a woman who never looked what matters most. Stay active, do tronic technician sent to her station. back, Maude focused on her strength what you love and appreciate life.” She and Bill Brunette were married instead of her grief. She ran a pri- ______________________ shortly after and went to his home in vate airport in Tucson with 110 California when the war ended. hangars and then worked as a live Catherine J. Rourke is an award- “Moving to Hollywood felt like model at the Dartmouth art school. winning writer, journalist and book going to Mars,” she said. “It was a “The hardest job of all in life is to editor who teaches creative writing reverse culture shock.” remain perfectly still,” she said. at the Florence Regional Arts Bill’s career in the Department of One other thing brought the Alliance. She may be contacted at Defense took the Brunettes all over unstoppable Maude to a halt: discov- CJReditor@gmail.com. the globe, from Paris and Germany ife’s exhilarating waltz began nearly a century ago for Maude Brunette. The spry adventurer recalls twirling around her parents’ ballroom dancing studio at age 3 in Liverpool, England, dur- ing the Roaring Twenties. That same year she learned to knit, followed by reading at age 4. “TV didn’t exist, so we focused on books, sports and crafts,” she said. “Boys also learned to knit because it enhances manual dexteri- ty. Crafts engage your mind and require skill.” Maude fondly reminisces on those earlier years “focused on family instead of gadgetry.” “Children didn’t have adult headaches and complex toys like they do today,” she said. “Technology is a good thing but so is making things with your own hands. There’s nothing like the satis- faction of knitting a sweater.” By age 5, Maude had already devoured “Gulliver’s Travels.” Now, 88 years later, the native Brit remains a voracious reader with travel tales of her own. “Reading was and still is the joy of my life,” she said. “But my real idea of fun is going to “My mother gave me the self-confidence Paris for New Year’s, that I could do anything, go anywhere roaming and be whatever I wanted.” through book —MAUDE BRUNETTE shops on the Left Bank or riding Arabian stallions across the “We spent the nights in an air raid Moroccan desert. I also enjoy hop- shelter sitting in a big armchair under ping on local buses in San Miguel de the stairs listening to the sirens,” she Allende, Mexico; staying in youth said. Maude tuned out the bombers fly- hostels in Wiesbaden, Germany; and ing in every 20 minutes by reading touring Portugal on foot for a month. “Gone with the Wind.” LETTERS Civics with a French accent “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. ...” This First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom takes organized religion out of govern- ment and government out of an individual’s religious practice. Nevertheless, the primary campaigns in Iowa and South Carolina suggest that religious conservatives have a dispropor- tionate control over the Republican process of nominating the head of our government. While they are only 25 percent of GOP-pri- mary voters in New Hampshire, evangelicals are estimated to be over 65 percent of the GOP- primary voters in South Carolina and were over 60 percent in Iowa. The Pew Research Center has found that there is a growing public uneasiness with this mixing of religion and politics. The number of people saying there has been too much religious talk by political leaders stands at an all-time high since Pew began asking the question more than a decade ago. Nearly 40 percent say there has been too much expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders (30 percent say there has been too little). In France, laïcité, the notion of separation of church and state, goes a step further than the First Amendment. The French look to shut reli- gion and its sway over French politics and pol- icy entirely out of the public arena. Laïcité arises out of a centuries-long domina- tion of the Catholic Church that left post-revo- lution French republicanism suspicious of any expression of faith in the political or govern- mental spheres. No matter how benign, such speech is seen as potentially exclusionary to people of one denomination or another and inherently exclusionary to people of no faith. As former Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun noted, “A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are creat- ed equal when it asserts that God prefers some.” Laïcité’s solution is to exclude religious lan- guage from all such speech in the public sphere. Laïcité says nothing about religious belief in the L ETTERS TO THE private sphere. It does not attempt to define common secular values. Rather, it would have French citizenship defined without reference or regard to ethnic, racial or cultural identities or sectarian affiliations. In America, rather than abstaining from reli- gious speech as prescribed by laïcité, lacing pri- mary campaigns with sectarian religious invoca- tions has become de rigueur. Doing so serves to narrow the eventual choices of the greater, non- sectarian electorate not targeted by the candidates. Of course, prohibiting religious language in the public sphere would run smack up against the First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantee. Nevertheless, James Madison, “Father of the Constitution” and author of the First Amendment, taught that “religion and govern- ment will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.” 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 phone number for verification. 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 anonymous letters as well as poetry will not be published. All submissions become the property of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com Perhaps Madison believed that mixing religion into campaigning would be equated in the public’s mind with the profane divisiveness it could engen- der. Then, politicians might be discouraged from equating it with votes. A lesson and a hope those aspiring to high office would serve us well to learn. Arnold Buchman Florence Thanks for history lessons I attended the free talk that Mike Allan gave titled, “A Union Soldier’s Story.” Mike explained the history of U.S. flags and Civil War prisons. It was a very nice slideshow and wonderful explanation of the conditions Civil War prisoners had to live in. Mike gave an interesting look into the Civil War and even had a medal to share. He had lots of tips to share on finding Civil War records. He volunteers at the library to help others and is a member of the Siuslaw Genealogy Society. This was the second talk on Civil War — January’s talk was given by JoAnn Garlington and titled, “Prisoners of War — A Confederate Soldier’s Story.” JoAnn was enthralling. My thanks to both of these people. Pat Rongey Florence USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News John Bartlett Jenna Bartlett Ryan Cronk Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Publisher, ext. 327 General Manager, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Advertising Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $71; 10-weeks subscription, $18; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $94; 10-weeks subscription, $24; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $120; Out of United States — 1-year subscription, $200; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: www.TheSiuslawNews.com WHERE TO WRITE Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. 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