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.
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