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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2017
SIUSLAW VALLEY
FIRE & RESCUE
hy do people join the fire
department? Maybe they
have pulled over to the side
of the road to let a fire engine pass
and wondered where it was going?
Or maybe it could be that they have
witnessed, first-hand, emergency
responders huddled over a person,
struggling to maintain a life?
Maybe
they have
driven past
a car with a
rescue team
using the
“Jaws-of-
Life,” as
they are
B Y P ETE “B OA ” W ARREN actively
Recruitment & Retention
inserting the
Coordinator for SVFR
spreaders
into a badly
mangled vehicle to gain access to a
victim?
There are multitudes of reasons
people are stepping forward and tak-
W
Why join the fire department?
ing time away from family, friends
and other volunteer opportunities to
join our local fire department.
By volunteering, they not only con-
tribute to emergency services in our
area, but they also help save valuable
community resources by reducing
costs for payroll, benefits and so on
that would be passed on to the taxpay-
ers.
As a result, that leaves more money
for local improvements.
There are also a lot of personal side
benefits to volunteering. Certainly,
they gain physical fitness, thus feel
better physically and mentally — ben-
efits that promote personal growth
and self-esteem.
This acts as a wonderful stress
reliever.
Other side benefits include bringing
people together and promoting cama-
raderie and teamwork. Volunteering
unites people from diverse back-
grounds to work together towards a
common goal.
W ELCOMING
BLOOM
Volunteers may not even realize it
at the time, but they are gaining pro-
fessional experience and may possibly
find a new career. For example, every
one of our fulltime firefighters were
once volunteers.
It’s also a great learning experience
as volunteers gain knowledge about
various functions and operations of
our local government. As a matter of
fact, some of our previous firefighters
are now running for public office.
A sense of civic responsibility
increases with volunteerism in our
community as each volunteer invests
their time and energy amongst those
who reside here.
Finally, our volunteers make a dif-
ference in our community every day.
Every single volunteer counts.
______________________
Pete “Boa” Warren can be contact-
ed at 541-997-3212, or the main SVFR
station, 2625 Highway 101, or email
Boa@svfr.org.
PHOTO BY MIKE BONES
G
allagher Park, at the east entrance into
Florence, shows the red rhododendron
‘Cornubia’ in full bloom, one of the first rho-
dodendrons to bloom each year. This is a welcom-
ing sight for drivers on Highway 126.
The theme for the January
meeting of the Siuslaw
Viewfinders Camera Club was
“Flight.”
It was judged at the February
meeting because of the special
guest presentation in January.
Jane Pittenger took first
place with her composite of a
lady feeding seagulls that was
titled “Seagull Whisperer.”
Third place went to Ed
Wilent with a well-composed
picture of a U.S. Army bi-plane
during takeoff.
The second-place winner
was not available at press time.
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COURTESY IMAGES
Winning photographs by Jane Pittenger (left), who won first place, and Ed Wilent
BRIA SKONBERG AND ALL THAT JAZZ
Review
B Y V ICKIE K ENNEDY
A bit of jazz trivia: In 1917,
exactly 100 years to the day that
Seacoast Entertainment Asso-
ciation introduced jazz musician
Bria Skonberg to Florence, The
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
made the first Jazz recording of
“Livery Stable Blues,” a compo-
sition copyrighted by Ray Lopez.
There was nothing trivial
about the Feb. 26 concert and tea
dance, featuring Bria Skonberg
on trumpet, Darrin Douglass on
percussion, Sean Cronine on
bass and Matisse Picard — a
recent Julliard graduate — on
piano.
Presented on the flat floor at
the Florence Events Center, there
were dance “floors” on either
side of the band stand.
Skonberg and her band pre-
sented some jazz classics during
the first half of the show. Pieces
made famous by Louis
Armstrong, Anita O’ Day and
Nat King Cole received appre-
ciative rounds of applause. In
recognition of all things New
Orleans and Mardi Gras, the
band played “Swing That
Music,” one of Armstrong’s clas-
sics. The band also performed a
song of revenge about he who
left and she who waited (not!),
made famous by Nat King Cole’s
Trio.
Skonberg was proud of the
fact that she was from the Jazz
Capitol of the Great White
North, Chilliwack, British
Columbia. She explained the
unwritten rule in Canada that
states a certain percentage of
every concert must reflect some-
thing Canadian, so she sang “Je
Suis Seul Ce Soir,” written and
composed by Rose Noel, Jean
Casanova and Paul Durand. This
is a love song, expressing a
young woman’s feelings of being
alone, as her soldier boyfriend is
far away.
This was a very soft, romantic
selection that pulled on the heart
strings. Picard made the key-
board talk in this piece.
During intermission, a mem-
ber of the audience commented
that Douglass, the percussionist,
Phone: 541-997-8233
Florence, OR 97439
Bria Skonberg (second from left) with her band members fol-
lowing their concert at the FEC. (photo by Vickie Kennedy)
was well trained. He played soft-
ly, not overwhelming the other
musicians. He also stated that
this music reminded him of a
popular sound of the ‘60s labeled
“tasty jazz.” His musical expert-
ise labeled the arrangements as
“Amazing” and “Masterful.”
Audience members did get up
and dance in the second half,
starting with a song written by
Skonberg, “Down in the Deep,”
a bluesy instrumental. Cronine
joined his writing talents with
Skonberg’s in the second selec-
tion called “Wear and Tear,” a
great song about relationships.
A favorite tune of the night
was “You’re Getting To Be A
Habit With Me,” where every
band member shone. Picard
played perfect runs and trills
throughout this piece. Douglass
used brushes with precision on
the drums.
Skonberg has great jazz skills,
both on the trumpet and with her
voice. In her vocal jazz, she uti-
lized scatting. This is a vocal
improvisation with wordless
vocables, nonsense syllables or
without words at all. Scatting is a
difficult technique that requires
vocalizing improvised melodies
and rhythms using the voice as
an instrument rather than words
that are sung.
In her rendition of “St. Louis
Blues,” a popular American song
composed by W.C. Handy, she
used her voice as an instrument,
adding to the blues style of this
piece.
The concert closed with an
audience favorite, “The Tiger
Rag.” Every instrument had a
solo section in this piece, show-
ing that while the audience
enjoyed the band’s music, each
one of the musicians had a talent
that could stand alone.
After the concert, a comment
was made to Skonberg that she
must have been ready to put her
feet up after such an energetic
performance. She replied that
she just reflects the energy that
the audience sends her way. She
could have performed for a cou-
ple of more hours.
How we wish she would have.
Seacoast
Entertainment
Association’s next production
will be the Dallas Brass on
Wednesday, March 29, at 7 p.m.
at the Florence Events Center.
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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Siuslaw Viewfinders announce January contest winners