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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2016)
❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION VIKS DOWN DOUGLAS M OTHER ’ S D AY LETTERS OF LOVE SPECIAL SECTION — C SPORTS — B 126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 37 ❘ MAY 7, 2016 ❘ $1.00 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON STRIKE UP THE BAND Siuslaw one of 11 chosen to compete at state championships City preps annual budget of $34.5M New Public Works facility, possible City Hall remodel included for 2016-17 B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS Siuslaw High School band members, under the guidance of Band Director Chris Rowbotham (far left), practice for the upcoming OSAA 2016 Band/Orchestra State Championships being held May 11 at Oregon State University. or the first time in nine years, Siuslaw High School band has been invited to compete in the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) 2016 Band/Orchestra State Championships next week. F B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News Under the guidance of Director of Bands Chris Rowbotham, the Siuslaw band will compete with 10 other bands for the 4A OSAA state championship Wednesday, May 11, at noon at Oregon State University’s LaSells Stewart Center. “We haven’t been to state in nine years,” Rowbotham said. “This is my fifth year of building up the program. I’m really proud of the students because we have done this the right way. We started at the beginning and built up the musical skills to get them to where they can compete and get to state.” Rowbotham is especially pleased that this year’s graduating seniors will get to compete at the state level. When he took over the pro- gram five years ago, they were in eighth grade. “Because of the previous directors staying for two years and then leaving, and staying for two years and leaving, there was a lack of confidence in the program,” Rowbotham said. “Students didn’t want to work really hard for somebody knowing that they might take off and leave after a couple of years. “The students finally saw that I wasn’t going anywhere.” The band will face some serious challenges at the competition. Most of the competing 4A bands are made up of juniors and seniors, while the Siuslaw band has freshmen and sophomores as well. In addition, many of the other bands are much larger. “Unfortunately, at this time we don’t have the ability to have two ensembles,” Rowbotham said. See BAND 7A It’s budget season for the City of Florence, and the start of public comment about fiscal year 2016-17’s proposed budget of $34.5 million. City Manager Erin Reynolds presented the budget message at the Budget Committee presentation at Florence City Hall on May 2. “The annual budget is the single most important policy document of the city,” said Reynolds. “It sets standards and establishes an action, operational and financial plan for the delivery of city services. It has been pre- pared to provide a comprehensive overview of all city funds and services and to give res- idents a better understanding of the city’s operating and fiscal programs.” The budget was prepared pursuant to Oregon Local Budget Law by the budget committee, consisting of Chairperson Robert Forsythe, Hugh Guinn, Leonard Larson, Joel Marks, Sally Wantz and the five members of the Florence City Council. “The budget consists of $34.5 million and is balanced,” Reynolds said. “Citywide net spending totals $24.3 million.” See BUDGET 7A Chamber hires new events coordinator Nancy Pearson steps in to planning role B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News Florence ready to ‘catch the wave’ City Council meets Rhododendron Court, approves Vendor Fair site for festival B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News INSIDE Florence is gearing up for the 109th annual Rhododendron Festival, coming to town May 20 to 22 with the theme “Catch the Wave!” On May 2, the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Rhody Days Committee presented the 13 members of the Rhododendron Court and an appli- cation for the Vendor Fair to the city council. The royal court opened the city council meeting by saying the Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coastal Events . . . . . . . . . . . Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B9 A8 A2 A4 Pledge of Allegiance in front of the audience. Chamber President Jenna Bartlett said, “It is my great honor to introduce you to the 2016 Rhododendron Court. We have a small but mighty senior court, with two Siuslaw High School juniors and one senior as our sen- ior court.” Two of the princesses, juniors Hanna Anderson and Taylor Coolidge, attended the meeting, but Princess Lyndsey Keppol was absent. “We also have five junior Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 SideShow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Word on the Street . . . . . . . B5 CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS The 2016 Rhododendron Court is introduced to the Florence City Council during its meeting Monday night. princesses and, new this year, our five junior princes,” Bartlett said. Court members came forward to tell the city council their names and sponsors. Roman Meadows, a second- grader at Siuslaw Elementary THIS WEEK ’ S School, said, “I’m happy to be in the Rhody Court.” The youth then presented “Kindness: It’s the New Cool” T- shirts to the council. See FESTIVAL 7A TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 65 52 59 46 62 48 71 52 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 On Friday, the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce announced the hiring of Nancy Pearson as the new part-time events coordinator, just in time for the 109th annual Rhododendron Festival from May 20 to 22. “It’s so much fun being in the Nancy Pearson chamber office,” Pearson said. “You can’t believe what kind of questions people ask. It’s fun — really fun — and I get to be organized.” The events coordinator works with Executive Director Bettina Hannigan to plan and implement annual Florence Area Chamber of Commerce events, such as Rods ’n’ Rhodies, Fourth of July festivities and the Old Town Holiday Tree Lighting, as well as monthly events, such as the Chamber Luncheon and Business After Hours. S IUSLAW N EWS 3 S ECTIONS ❘ 28 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2016 See CHAMBER 7A CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM