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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
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CHAMBER 7A
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