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WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ MAY 25, 2016 ❘ $1.00
JUNE EVENTS
CALENDAR
TWO-TIME
CHAMPION
SPORTS — B
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 42
INSIDE — A10
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
R HODY R EUNION
PHOTOS BY SIUSLAW NEWS STAFF
Thousands of people attended this past weekend’s 109th annual Rhododendron Festival in Florence. Clockwise from top left: Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops (CROW)
wins the Grand Marshal award for its float; Siuslaw High School Class of 1966 members celebrate their 50th class reunion during the parade; youth ride a curious dragon at the
carnival; a woman shows off her colorful dress for the parade; and classic cars take a cruise along Bay Street. Below, the parade travels down Highway 101.
CATCHING WAVES
Florence welcomes thousands to its
109th annual Rhododendron Festival
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
R HODY F EST
C O M M E M O R AT I V E A L B U M
I N S I D E
The Davis family’s carnival has been coming to
Florence since 1950. Owner Pat Davis has spent all but
two of his 59 birthdays in Florence for Rhody Days.
“The chamber sold 1,084 presale tickets to the carni-
val,” said Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Executive
Director Bettina Hannigan. “We’ve never sold anywhere
near that many before.”
The Visitor’s Center fielded the influx of requests with
additional volunteers and help from new Events
Coordinator Nancy Pearson.
An estimated 20,000 people were expected to attend
this year’s festival.
The fifth annual Maple Street Vendor Fair brought 22
food, service and product vendors into the heart of Old
Town from Friday to Sunday. Visitors could taste samples
of fresh popped kettle corn and Face Rock Creamery
cheese curds.
On Saturday, Homegrown Public House featured live
music at its first Homegrown Underground event just up
the street from the Vendor Fair.
Saturday was a busy day citywide, starting with the
37th annual Rhody Run 5K and 10K and ending with the
Coast Radio Classic Car Cruise.
Siuslaw News
F
lorence’s 109th annual
Rhododendron Festival
splashed through the
weekend of May 20 to 22
with a theme of “Catch the Wave!”
Luckily, Saturday’s rainy conditions
subsided for the majority of
Sunday’s Grand Floral Parade.
The weekend featured the return of Davis Show
Northwest’s Amusement Carnival at the Port of Siuslaw
parking lot and many events in and around Old Town.
See
District seeks to hire School Resource Officer
Full-time position to promote student
relationships, improve attendance
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
During the May 11 Siuslaw
School Board meeting, mem-
bers voted to pursue hiring a
School Resource Officer
(SRO) in collaboration with
the City of Florence and the
Florence Police Department.
The SRO will be a uni-
formed Florence police offi-
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cer working full time at the
three Siuslaw schools.
Siuslaw School District
Superintendent Ethel Angal
said, “The right person can
really build relationships with
kids and parents. They can
support parents and help them
get their kids to school. It is
very different than sending
out a truant officer because it
is someone that is already
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known to our students and
families. They really become
part of the school staff.”
Angal has had prior experi-
ence working with an SRO
when she was middle school
principal for the Hillsboro
School District.
“He was able to build rela-
tionships with kids and really
support attendance,” she said.
“For some of our kids they
only see the police when there
is trouble. What we want them
to understand is that the police
can be a friend and a resource.
THIS WEEK ’ S
We are not looking for a
resource officer to be a police-
man in the school. For our part
that officer will be part of our
staff, part of our school com-
munity.”
According to Angal, the
goal is for the officer to be a
positive role model for stu-
dents, as well as to build rela-
tionships and work to reduce
absenteeism, a problem that
continues to plague the high
school and negatively impact
graduation rates.
“Attendance is certainly
one of the areas a resource
officer can help with, espe-
cially if it is a child and fami-
ly they have built a relation-
ship with,” Angal said. “The
officer may already know that
the parents are struggling to
get their high school student
to come to school.”
Whether the SRO will be an
existing Florence police officer
or someone hired by the depart-
ment specifically to fill the
position has not been decided.
See
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THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
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WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
SCHOOL 7A
FEST 7A
Early deadlines
for Memorial Day
Siuslaw News will join other
area businesses by being closed
Memorial Day, Monday, May 30.
Deadlines for the following
Wednesday’s issue, June 1, will
be advanced to accommodate the
shortened work week.
All display advertising and
legal publication deadlines move
to noon Thursday, May 26. By-
the-word classified deadlines
advance to 5 p.m. Friday, May 27.
Deadline for news articles and
press releases is noon Thursday.
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