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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ FEBRUARY 4, 2017 ❘
SECTION B
Siuslaw News
Coast Life
Special Programs Director wears many hats
Funding, student welfare and program oversite are just some of her responsibilities
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
L
See
UTZ 2B
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
isa Utz is a busy lady.
Her position at the
Siuslaw School District
as director of special programs
means she is responsible not
only for overseeing the day to
day needs of the students
under her care, but also for
obtaining much of the funding
needed to run her department.
Utz has a corner office at
the Siuslaw Elementary School
that has large windows and
upbeat floral décor that reflects
her attitude.
She has been working for
the district for over 10 years,
originally as a Special
Education teacher, then as a
case manager and now as the
head of her department.
Utz has had to get used to
dividing her attention since
taking over leadership of the
district’s Special Programs
department. And while she
spends a large part of her day
dealing with administrative
functions, she is quick to point
out that the kids are never far
from her thoughts.
“It’s all about the kids, they
are my number one priority,”
Utz said. “This is a pretty big
soapbox for me because my
roots are as a teacher and a
case manager. The other part
of it is as a parent. I’ve had
three children in the district, I
have two going through now
and one that has graduated and
is at the University of Oregon.
So I really have a vested
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Siuslaw School District Director of Special Programs Lisa Utz gets organized for another busy day
Churches offer Community Supper Program
Four local churhes will circulate the weekly free dinner series
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
Four local churches are
teaming up to provide their
neighbors with a weekly free
supper on Wednesdays. The
Florence Community Suppers
Program is a cooperative effort
of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church, the New Life Lutheran
Church, the Presbyterian
Church of the Siuslaw and the
Florence United Methodists
Church designed to provide an
opportunity to get to know
their neighbors.
The idea for the suppers,
according to Pastor Greg Wood
of the Presbyterian Church of
the Siuslaw, came from a meet-
ing attended by local church
groups.
“This began because a few
of us attended a Florence Area
Coordinating Council meeting
and we discussed how
Wednesday night suppers at
churches can be helpful to fam-
ilies living on the edge,” Wood
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Pastor Greg Wood, Laurie Gillespie, Gail McDivitt ,Dan
McDivitt and Beth Johnston are part of the team that pre-
pares and serves the food for the Community Suppers.
said, “The meeting sparked
something in us to talk together
and see if we could do this
cooperatively and this program
is the result.”
The plan for the suppers
moving forward is to rotate the
supper between the churches.
The first week of each month
the supper will be held at the
New Life Lutheran, the second
Wednesday the meal will be at
the Presbyterian Church of the
Siuslaw. Week three’s dinner
will be at the United Methodist
Church and the fourth week of
the month supper will be
served at St. Andrews
Episcopal Church.
“The first thing we hope is
that community members can
come and be friendly neigh-
bors. We’ve all met a lot of
people here that we didn’t
know and that’s been a good
thing,” Wood said. “There is no
religious programming, we
don’t want to intimidate any-
one, we just want to provide an
opportunity for people to get to
know one another.”
And while some may find
the idea of sharing a free meal
with people they don’t know
unusual, the churches involved
hope they can help to break
down some of the barriers that
separate people while they are
breaking bread together.
For more information on The
Community Supper Program,
call 541-902-6595.
FRAA announces ‘Call to Artists’
The Florence Regional Arts
Alliance (FRAA) is inviting all
artists to participate in the first
annual “Florence Fest” to be
held at the Florence Events
Center on March 31 and April.
This unique event, which
will feature two days of jazz,
art and wine, will be highlight-
ed by talented jazz musicians
and outstanding wine from
some of the best wineries in the
Willamette Valley.
The juried art section of the
event will provide maximum
exposure for creative artist's
work and significant prize
money will be awarded.
Selections for the exhibit
will be made by Robert
Canaga, who is an accom-
plished painter, photographer
and printmaker. He has been
the curator for numerous exhi-
bitions
throughout
the
Northwest; including the
Gallery at the Watershed, Peace
HealthHeadquarters and the
Coos Art Museum.
He is a former gallery owner
and has also exhibited in over
30 selected shows, most recent-
ly at a three-month show in the
State Capitol Building.
His work currently appears
in 14 public and private collec-
tions.
There is an exquisite sense
of style and strength in his own
work, and his tastes and prefer-
ences are eclectic and run
across a broad range of styles.
Cash prizes will also be
awarded and will be selected
by an awards committee of
three local artists and gallery
owners: SK Lindsey (Kenneth
B. Gallery), Marianne Brisbane
(Vardanian Gallery) and Steve
Dennis (Earthworks Gallery).
For more details and to sub-
mit an entry, visit the FRAA
website at www.fraaoregon.
org.
Deadline for entries is Feb.
12.
Fly over the moon with
‘Moon Over Buffalo’
The cast of Last Resort Players’ “Moon Over
Buffalo”
Last Resort Players (LRP) will present Ken Ludwig’s
“Moon Over Buffalo” on March 17 through 19 and 24 to
26 at Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St.
In the madcap comedy tradition of “Lend me a Tenor,”
the hilarious “Moon Over Buffalo” centers on George and
Charlotte Hay, played by John Bachman and Judy Adams,
fading stars of the 1950s. At the moment, the Hays are
playing two shows in rep in Buffalo, New York, with five
actors.
On the brink of a disastrous split-up caused by
George’s dalliance with a young ingenue, they receive
word that they might just have one last shot at stardom:
Frank Capra is coming to town to see their matinee, and if
he likes what he sees, he might cast them in his movie
remake of “The Scarlet Pimpernel.”
Unfortunately for George and Charlotte, everything
that could go wrong does go wrong, abetted by a visit
from their daughter’s clueless fiancé and hilarious uncer-
tainty about which play they are actually performing,
caused by Charlotte’s deaf old stage-manager mother who
hates every bone in George’s body.
Directed by Paula Lindekugel-Willis with Leah
Goodwin as assistant director, LRP’s strong ensemble cast
features eight actors in comedic roles.
Daphne John plays Ethel, Karylynn Keppol plays
Rosalind “Roz” Hay, Victoria Seitzinger plays Eileen,
Grant Hammond plays Howard, Jim Wellington plays
Paul and Chuck Knorr plays Richard.
For more information, go to lastresortplayers.org.
To purchase tickets, visit the FEC Box Office, call 541-
997-1994 or go to eventcenter.org.