4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ SEPTEMBER 7, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
E XTRAORDINARY K IDS
Nyah Vollmar
C ATHERINE J. R OURKE
For the Siuslaw News
_____________
“Music makes it easier for me to
remember the words. I had to prac-
tice a lot but it was also fun and I
got to wear some fun costumes.”
Nyah bravely began entering audi-
tions and won a spot singing the
National Anthem publicly for the
first time at age 11 before hundreds
of people at an Oregon Ducks bas-
ketball game.
“I was really nervous,” she said.
“I still get nervous when singing in
front of anyone.”
Her favorite song to perform at
auditions is “Applause” by Lady Gaga.
As proof of her talent, Nyah has won
numerous talent competitions. She
received First Place for three consecu-
tive years in “Florence’s Got Talent,”
where she sang “I’m Like a Bird” by
Nelly Furtado.
With so many singing engage-
ments since then, including the
Eugene Emeralds and NCAA athlet-
ic events, does Nyah feel more con-
fident now? Her reply is honest and
straightforward, as would be expect-
ed from any girl her age: “Nope!”
Still, she gains a sense of accom-
plishment from every event.
“I feel totally relieved afterward,”
she said with a laugh. “But I really
love doing it and always feel great
when I sing.”
S
“We always knew we wanted to
live on the Oregon coast,” Scott
said. “We love the dunes, ocean and
lakes.”
Scott began posting Nyah’s profile
on talent sites with great response
but keeps her education as the top
priority. The stay-at-home dad serves
as her manager and closely monitors
Nyah’s schoolwork so her grades
don’t suffer. Despite an agency
booking auditions, print modeling
and acting gigs, none of it has gone
to her pretty little head. Instead,
Nyah takes it all in stride and even
shares her “worst moment” when
she lost her voice during a perform-
ance due to a cold.
“My voice came out like a screech
on high notes,” she said with a
laugh. “It was so apparent and very
embarrassing.”
Asked if she plans to audition for
TV talent shows, Nyah replied, “I
want more experience behind me
first.”
And she’s getting plenty of it.
Nyah just expanded her repertoire to
include an online commercial
launched last week for a new app-
enabled BB-8 toy from the “Star
Wars: The Force Awakens” movie.
The ad shows her using the wearable
Star Wars Force Band to control the
BB-8 droid’s movements.
Despite such talent and a voice
that sounds like someone way
beyond her years, Nyah is still a just
a kid with a great sense of humor
who likes sand dune rides, eating
crab puffs and telling jokes. While
still too young to define her future
career, she hopes it will combine
singing, acting and dancing. Her
dream is to perform musical theater
for Broadway-style shows.
“I don’t know exactly what I will
do for my profession, but I will defi-
nitely go to college for performing
arts because it opens up more
doors,” Nyah said. “I can see myself
becoming a professional singer,
though not quite like Lady Gaga.
he’s only 12, but her voice has
the power to move crowds to
tears and rousing applause.
With a voice as big as the arenas in
which she performs, Nyah Vollmar’s
rendition of the National Anthem
evokes gasps and goosebumps wher-
ever she goes. Listening to her deliv-
er the high notes during a recent
Oregon Ducks basketball game in
Eugene, it’s hard to believe the voice
comes from a kid instead of some
sophisticated diva.
Nyah looks like any ordinary
schoolgirl with her shy smile and
unassuming demeanor. But when she
opens her mouth to sing a melody,
this amazing voice rises from her
depths to dazzle audiences with
wonder and admiration.
“I’ve always loved singing,” said
Nyah, who started belting out tunes
at age 7. “I like Disney movies and
just started singing along to them.”
Nyah discovered her natural
singing voice at an early age. Since
then, the Siuslaw Middle School
seventh-grader has developed an
impressive
repertoire of
“I’ve always loved singing.
skills, includ-
ing acting and
I like Disney movies and just started
modeling.
singing along to them.”
Nyah never
—NYAH VOLLMAR, 12 YEARS OLD
had any for-
mal singing
instruction until recently.
Nyah was born in Tualatin, Ore.,
“I joined the school choir in
and remembers living “in the shad-
fourth grade, but that’s about it,” she
ow of the Eiffel Tower” as a toddler
said. “I never even thought about it;
when her family moved to Paris. The
singing has always been my hobby.”
daughter of Scott, a former financial
That hobby inspired her to join
executive, and Marijo, a physical
the Children’s Repertory of Oregon
therapist at PeaceHealth, Nyah has
Workshops (CROW) and develop
two brothers ages 6 and 14, as well
her skills further.
as a 21-month-old sister. The
“It’s harder to memorize lines for
Vollmars moved to Florence in 2011
plays than for songs,” she said.
for its natural beauty.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT VOLLMAR
Nyah will perform on Sept. 10 at the new CROW Center for the
Performing Arts and on Sept. 14 at City Lights Cinemas.
Acting in movies and learning how
to do animation would also be pretty
fun, but singing is the main thing.”
Earlier this summer, Nyah sang a
rendition of “Almost There” from
the Disney movie “The Princess and
the Frog” for a CROW fundraiser
that, in a prophetic way, echoes her
bright future: “I know exactly where
I’m goin’… gettin’ closer and closer
every day… there ain’t nothin’
gonna stop me now ‘cause I’m
almost there…”
Don’t miss the chance to see this
rising star perform in Florence. With
a voice like that, she may soon take
off for “America’s Got Talent” and
the big stage. Nyah will appear Sept.
10 at the grand opening of the new
CROW Center for the Performing
Arts at 3120 Highway 101. She will
also sing a duet with CROW musical
director Maree Beers and the Miles
to Go Quartet at the Siuslaw
Outreach Services benefit on Sept.
14 at City Lights Cinemas.
______________________
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
Anti-Trump vandalism
Unacceptable act
Monday morning, Labor Day, Duke and
Trish Wells, owners of Old Cedar Tree
Woodworking, came to work to find yet anoth-
er act of vandalism against their support of
Donald Trump.
This time, instead of just throwing their
Trump signs in the street and driving over them,
it appears a slingshot was used to break the win-
dow holding the large Trump sign. This large, 4
feet by 6 feet bay window in the front of the
store has been in their shop with its matching
windows for 30 years. The hole is in the upper
left and the entire window will have to be
replaced.
There are reports of Republican signs being
stolen from Glenada Road and other streets
around Florence.
I heard that an anti-Hillary person made a
ruckus at the Democratic Office north of Fred
Meyer — this is also bad. We need to get along
and love each other no matter who wins the
election; we will still be neighbors.
Florence is better than this.
Sherry Harvey
Florence
Today is a sad period of time in our nation
when private property destruction is the accept-
able form of political expression. Whether or
not you think a candidate/political ideology is
unacceptable does not give anyone the right to
punish someone for their beliefs.
Does destroying property persuade a voter to
choose the culprit’s preference or does it help to
elect the one they oppose? Let us all join hands
as Americans to show our disdain for this act
and others like it.
Help Old Cedar Tree Woodworking repair its
window, which was smashed by someone
opposed to their political choice. Stop by and
offer to help them replace the window.
Show us what America is all about as in the
old days when people joined forces to rebuild
their neighbor’s barn.
Ralph and Karen Nichols
Florence
Tax revenue, cuts
Believe it or not, according to usdebtclock.org,
using CBO data, in 2008, the total income tax rev-
enue was $1,158,715,224,700 the year of Obama’s
election. After he served his first four years,
the total income tax, revenue totaled
$1,128,357,496,540 in 2012. That is a difference of
$30,357,728,160 less, after higher taxes and regu-
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR P OLICY
Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor concerning issues affecting the Florence area and
Lane County. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed.
All letters should be limited to about 300 words and must include the writer’s full name, address
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missions become the property of Siuslaw News and will not be returned.
Write to: Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com.
lations — and, of course, there were a lot less peo-
ple in the work force.
In that same period, the total federal tax rev-
enue totaled $2,527,909,189,049 in 2008, and
in 2012, the federal tax revenue total was
$2,436,940,962,376,
a
difference
of
$90,968,226,673 less than in 2008.
Perhaps some of the difference has to do with
a 33 percent drop in manufacturing jobs, which
has produced the lowest work force participa-
tion rate since the 1970s.
Which party controlled the hill then?
In 1980, probably before many were born, tax
revenues were $956 billion (in 1996 dollars). This
was before Reagan cut taxes. Those tax cuts in the
following 10 years with the exception of two, rev-
enues averaged $102 billion above their 1980 level
in 1996 dollars, according to heritage.org/
research/reports/2002/10/issues-2002-tax-reform-
for-economic-growth.
There it is, only took me 10 minutes to find.
The 33 percent loss in manufacturing jobs is
largely due to the increased cost of doing busi-
ness. Those costs to business are for the most
part increased taxes and regulations.
Jim Selby
Florence
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us