4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ JULY 27, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
E XTRAORDINARY P EOPLE
Sue & Steve Saubert
C ATHERINE J. R OURKE
For the Siuslaw News
_____________
installing an elevator in 1961.
“Everybody thought they were
crazy,” Steve said. “But it was a
brave and visionary venture. Our
goal was and still is to never inhibit
the wildlife or let them know we’re
there. This is not a zoo but a protect-
ed marine wildlife reserve.”
When Steve left for college and
met Sue, his career goals didn’t
include the cave. Yet the couple
would follow a long and winding
road that would eventually lead them
back to Florence.
After graduation, Steve worked
for a company establishing college
and hospital food service operations
and was transferred out of state right
after the couple’s honeymoon — ski-
ing, of course. His fast-paced career
demanded constant relocation, which
kept the Sauberts packing and
unpacking in a series of whirlwind
moves through several Western
states while raising two young
daughters. Finally, they decided to
drop a permanent anchor in
Florence.
“We were never anywhere long
enough to form close ties,” Sue said.
“All those moves explain why we’ve
been in Florence for 36 years. We
hardly ever use our RV because it’s
so perfect here.”
I
t all began on a ski slope and
ended up in a grotto full of
Steller sea lions. When Sue and
Steve fell in love 50 years ago on
their first ski date at Mt. Ashland,
they never imagined a future manag-
ing America’s largest sea cave as a
wildlife sanctuary. The two students
at Southern Oregon University not
only had their sights set on each
other, but also on careers in business
administration in places far from
Florence.
Steve grew up “behind the counter”
of the family business at the Sea Lion
Caves, with a daily Discovery Channel
showcase before his very eyes. Back
then the viewing station consisted of “a
fence and a two-by-four” unlike the
present 300-foot enclosure. Steve will
never forget when, at age 6, a sea lion
sneezed right in his face, covering him
with goop.
“I’ve seen everything imaginable
there,” he said. “That includes the
wind gauge locked at 130 miles per
hour, with the glass plate windows
moving. It was unbelievable.”
Steve’s grandparents had part-
nered with
the Jacobson
“I learned that to serve people with
and Houghton
families when an open heart, without judgment and in
the Sea Lion
a loving way, was the most important
Caves opened
in 1932, long
daily goal in my life.”
before the
—SUE SAUBERT
highway and
bridges
appeared. Tourists paid 25 cents to
The prodigal son returned to the
lumber down a spiral staircase of
Sea Lion Caves in 1970 as general
135 steps as his grandmother led the
manager, continuing the three-family
way with a kerosene lantern. Steve’s
partnership until 2006, when the
dad and grandfather ran the opera-
Houghtons sold their share. The
tion with the other families for more
Sauberts and Jacobsons maintain the
than half a century, eventually
operation to this day.
“The caves became my pride and
passion,” Steve said. “The sea lions
would not be there had we not pre-
served their habitat. In a funny way,
we’ve ‘caged’ the visitors in an
enclosed viewing station while the
animals come and go as they please.
We’ve also brought in marine biolo-
gists to study them.”
The Sea Lion Caves will mark its
85th anniversary next year, and the
partners plan to install an entirely
new “green” electronic elevator sys-
tem at a cost of $500,000.
“Our goal is to constantly upgrade
while preserving the natural resource,”
Steve said. “This isn’t a rubber-tire
tourist trap or a Disneyland. It’s a
home and refuge for wildlife.”
Over the years, the Sauberts have
made an extraordinary impact on the
Florence community and economy,
with endeavors too long to list. From
supporting scholarships at Lane
Community College to promoting state
tourism and local cultural events like
the Winter Music Festival, they have
given much time, energy and resources
to various causes and organizations.
Sue served on the board of P.E.O.
International, a philanthropic women’s
educational organization, and as a full-
time administrator at The Shorewood,
a senior living facility the couple had
owned, in addition to operating
Florence Travel for many years.
Steve devoted his time to the
Oregon Tourism Council and the
Pacific Northwest Travel Association
boards and served as president of the
Oregon Coast Association and the
Florence Chamber of Commerce.
Despite a severe gas shortage one year,
he still found resourceful ways to
attract tourists to the Oregon coast.
The couple also supported the
development of PeaceHealth Peace
Harbor Medical Center. In 1987,
Steve worked with a group of com-
munity leaders in the “Partners in
Progress” campaign, raising $1.2
PHOTO BY CATHERINE ROURKE
Sue and Steve Saubert have enhanced the lives of sea lions as well as
those of many people in the community by supporting good causes.
million in just four months for the
building. Sue became a member of
the governing board and its first
female chairperson.
“I enjoyed every minute of the
responsibilities and new relation-
ships that were formed in that posi-
tion,” she said. “Working with the
board members, hospital administra-
tors and doctors was an experience
that I will never forget.”
As Sue and Steve approach their
49th wedding anniversary, they
share some advice for a long and
happy marriage, chalking it up to
compromise and communication.
“We have weathered many ups
and downs,” Sue noted. “But we
both have learned patience and
understanding with each other.”
Together, their legacy of half a cen-
tury remains pretty impressive for a
couple of former college ski bums.
Understanding the true meaning of courage
I
was going to present this
viewpoint with lots of
facts and illustrations
about homelessness. But since
I have become older, I realize
that there is nothing more
compelling than the real-life
stories of people.
So I am going to start at the
beginning. Four years ago I
walked into the small front
room of the Helping Hands
Coalition for the homeless in
search of a sleeping bag for
my granddaughter’s boyfriend.
Two weeks later I was in
the back kitchen cooking
stroganoff for 25 people. I was
scared but optimistic. The
sauce was runny and there
were too many noodles, but I
had never seen people who
stared at their plates with such
joy and delight on their faces.
When a professional cook
volunteered, I began to serve
in the dining room. On my
first day, five young men
showed up who had all grown
GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y S UE T HORNTON
V OLUNTEER C OORDINATOR , H ELPING H ANDS C OALITION
up with my son. I hadn’t seen
them in at least 10 years. They
recognized me right away. I
told them that Luke was serv-
ing in Afghanistan.
I noticed that when the
kitchen crew would joke
around, the people in the din-
ing room became very relaxed
and started conversations with
their tablemates.
I remember summers when
little children would run down
the hall because they heard
that we were giving out cook-
ies in the back room. Their
clothes never did match up,
but they didn’t seem to worry
about it.
One of our dishwashers had
to leave to care for her hus-
band who had cancer, so I
stepped in to help out. I could
see into the clothing room
from my sink, and I remember
a young woman sinking to her
knees in the corner by the
coats, sobbing and sobbing.
They wrapped her in a blanket
and sat there with her for a
long time.
One day I went out to drive
home, and my tire was flat. A
young couple in a camper
truck found my spare but it
was bald so they gave me
theirs instead.
It puts a smile on my face to
remember a Fourth of July
barbecue when one of our vet-
erans showed up in a Civil
War uniform. Another vet got
down under the sink when the
pipes broke and rigged every-
thing together until someone
could get to the store.
Another year went by, and
we noticed that our vistors
were getting to know one
another and they would stop to
visit in the parking lot. People
would run in at lunchtime and
announce that they had found
a job. Then it was time to look
for work clothes in the cloth-
ing room. One morning when
I was making chilidogs, a
group of guys knocked on the
back door. The carnival had
just hired them, so they found
fresh shirts, boots and pants to
wear.
I have so many stories, so
many memories.
We are leaving our little
building and moving to a larg-
er space. I know that it will be
different, but I will be so glad
to see all of those delighted
faces again. They make me cry
and they make me laugh and I
did not understand the true
meaning of courage until I had
to find a sleeping bag for my
granddaughter’s boyfriend.
“Early on in my life I learned that
to serve people with an open heart,
without judgment and in a loving
way, was the most important daily
goal in my life,” Sue said. “I feel
that it is important to recognize and
appreciate everyone in general, not
just our family or friends.”
For Steve and Sue, that apprecia-
tion includes wildlife too.
“I will always have a special place
in my heart for the whales and sea
lions,” Steve said. “Working at the
Sea Lion Caves has made me under-
stand and appreciate them all.”
______________________
Catherine J. Rourke is an award-
winning writer, journalist and book
editor who teaches creative writing
at the Florence Regional Arts
Alliance. She may be contacted at
CJReditor@gmail.com.
LETTERS
Being responsible
I fully support Madelyne Barnett’s recent letter (“Assault
Weapons,” July 13) stating that we do not need a purveyor of
assault weapons in our peaceful, beautiful town.
I was curious to know if this was a corporate mandate or if
the owners of the Florence True Value had made this profit-
based decision on their own. I called Farr’s True Value stores
in Coos Bay and Coquille and was told that they do not sell
assault weapons.
Responsible hunters do not use such weapons. The sole pur-
pose of these guns is to kill as many living beings in the short-
est possible time.
I have been a loyal True Value shopper wherever I have
lived in the past. No more.
Until the day that I read that True Value has stopped the sale
of these weapons that have caused such carnage and grief
around our country, I will find what I need elsewhere.
Lisa Readel
Florence
Happy faces
Thank you for printing a pleasant face on your TV Guide
(July 20). I’ve been depressed every time your guide has such
terrible, horrid faces on the TV Guide cover.
Please, keep printing happy faces on the cover.
B.W. Fowle
Florence
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