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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2016)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ JUNE 8, 2016 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 RYAN CRONK , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion F LORENCE F LASHBACK 1890 ❙ T HE W EST F LORENCE T IMES T HE S IUSLAW O AR T HE S IUSLAW N EWS S IUSLAW N EWS ❙ 2016 SEA LION CAVES ADDS ELEVATOR com system to the main office. There is also an auxiliary power plant with automatic con- Keeping in step with the modern trend trols to operate the elevator in case of a toward efficiency and speed, and offering a power failure. The stairway is still in use, but great advantage to the aged or infirm and to with the new elevator, it will be discontinued small children, the Sea Lion Caves, 12 in the future. miles north of Florence, have installed an The intercom system is connected with elevator to carry people to the lower level the elevator, the cave platform, machine of the steep hillside that is the location of room and office. Electric lights in the cave the popular tourist attraction. and portions of the trail have been The 210-foot elevator is capable of carrying installed. 3,500 pounds, or about 24 people whose It was necessary to drill and blast a per- average weight is about 145 pounds. Instead pendicular tunnel through solid rock to of floor designations, there is a lighted panel accommodate the elevator. Operations for indicating in feet the distance traveled. It is this were begun in 1958 and costs for the self operating, and is connected by an inter- entire project came to about $175,000, O RIGINALLY P UBLISHED J UNE 8, 1961 T HE S IUSLAW N EWS , V OL . 1, N O . 24 according to the owners, C. S. Saubert, John C. Jacobson and Don Houghton. A 55-foot tunnel runs east from the observa- tion platform to the lower end of the eleva- tor; this, also, was cut through solid rock. A petrified skeleton of a sea lion was exposed in the cave, and is fenced off and can be viewed by the public. The Sea Lion Caves had 117,000 regis- tered visitors last year, and employs a per- sonnel of 10 in addition to the owners who work there. They are open all year, though they employ only one person in the winter season. In addition to the caves from which the sea lions are visible, they operate a cof- fee and gift shop. Remembering Muhammad Ali I met Muhammad Ali in 1986 when he expressed interest in a project I had undertaken to build a West Coast Olympic Training and Youth Center in Concord, Calif. The news had spread throughout the boxing club circuit since we were actively involved in a boxing training program at the Little C Athletic Club in Concord. Terry Lee, a sparring partner to Ali, was the coach there. The Little C was funded by the Kenneth Hofmann Foundation, of which I was the director. We invited Ali to Concord to take part in a kick-off fundraising event for the Youth Center. He not only agreed but sug- gested a three-round bout between he and Lee at the event. We advertised the event, including the Ali bout with Lee. We sold out in one day, at $200 a seat. We set up a ring in a gym surrounded by tables for an added dinner. Ali made the Youth Center a big deal in the media and greatly enhanced our fundraising effort. A couple of months later he called me and invited Lee and myself to Las Vegas to attend a big fight and a party with a lot of high rollers, many movie stars. We met Ali in GUEST VIEWPOINT B Y G ENE O LSON F LORENCE R ESIDENT COURTESY PHOTO Muhammad Ali and Gene Olson Hollywood and drove to Las Vegas in his fancy motorhome. He told us we could raise quite a bit of money there as long as we hung out with him. True enough, as we walked along the main street almost everyone would yell out “Ali! Ali!” Every restaurant and club we visited we were served free. I was beginning to feel important. The party was at Caesars Palace overlook- ing the boxing ring below. It was filled with movie stars and other boxers. Ali told me to stand next to him at all times because all the important people will come and ask to have their picture taken with him. He was certainly cor- rect about that. I was able to hand out our Youth Center flyer to most everyone. At the fight itself I was able to sit next to Ali at ringside. It was indeed an exciting day. Our fundraising effort, over the next couple of months, blossomed due to the car- ing and effort given to it by Muhammad Ali. Editor’s Note: Boxing legend Muhammad Ali died of septic shock June 3 at age 74 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Ali, who had suf- fered from Parkinson’s disease for the past 32 years, was a world cham- pion boxer and civil rights icon. USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News 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. 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 L ETTERS TO THE 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 let- ters 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, gram- mar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the vol- ume of letters received. Libelous and anonymous letters as well as poetry will not be pub- lished. All submissions become the property of Siuslaw News and will not be returned. Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com.
