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WEDNESDAY EDITION
CROWN
HOLDERS
New School
Resource Officer
SPORTS — B
INSIDE — A3
127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 21
Relay for Life
changes date,
format for 2017
❘ MARCH 15, 2017 ❘ $1.00
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
Moving Florence forward
The 2017 12-hour American Cancer Society
(ACS) Relay for Life of Florence fundraiser will
be July 22 at the Florence Events Center.
Until last year, the 16-year-old Florence event
was a 24-hour campout
B Y J ACK D AVIS
held at Miller Park dur-
Siuslaw News
ing the first part of
August.
Another change, according to Relay for Life
Community Manager Amy Bickleman, was the
resignation of the three Florence Relay chairper-
sons, Bobby Harris, Rae Henry and Harold
Kinney.
According to Bickleman, all three announced
at the Feb. 20 monthly meeting that they would
be resigning because of “personal reasons.”
“I can only tell you what they told us, which
was it was just all too much for them. That could
mean they have other things going on in their per-
sonal life. I don’t know and I’m not going to
assume specifics,” Bickleman said.
She added, “This wasn’t the right fit for them.
A couple of them have told me they are still very
interested in being involved in charities within the
community. They are wonderful community
minded people, but if it’s not the right fit, it’s not
the right fit.
“We have a strong committee of folks who
have been around for quite a while,” Bickleman
said. “There are certain pieces that are really solid
in place. I can help fill in gaps in places that
aren’t.”
Bickleman has managed Relay For Life events
See
RELAY 7A
Saturday’s annual
Powwow abruptly
cancelled
No explanation given for
cancellation of decades-old
Native American celebration.
INSIDE
On Tuesday, the Siuslaw School District con-
firmed the cancellation of the 24th annual
Siuslaw Indian Education
B Y M ARK B RENNAN Program Powwow, original-
ly scheduled for this
Siuslaw News
Saturday, March 18.
The Powwow, which last
year had more than 500 attendees representing
350 federally-recognized Indian Nations, had
been slated to take place at Siuslaw Middle
School as late as Monday.
Lynn Anderson, Director of the Indian
Education Program for the school district, made a
brief statement regarding the cancellation.
“Due to circumstances beyond Indian
Education Parent Committee control, the upcom-
ing Powwow has been cancelled,” she said.
Reasons for the cancellation of one of the
largest Powwows on the West Coast remains
unclear.
Lisa Utz, Special Programs Director for the
Siuslaw School District, could only say that, “At
this time we do not have adequate information
from the Parents Organizing Committee on what
is happening.”
Requests by Siuslaw News for additional infor-
mation from the organizations involved with the
Powwow regarding the decision to cancel the
long-standing event remained unanswered as of
press time.
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
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A3
B7
A5
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Annual event to have new
location, new month, new
agenda and new leadership
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
Florence Mayor Joe Henry (left) greets Oregon Governor Kate Brown (center) during a visit to Florence Tuesday to meet
with area representatives and community partners (below) and discuss economic vitality in Florence and the state.
Gov. Brown visits Historic Old Town, new businesses in economic development tour
gainst the backdrop of the Siuslaw
River Bridge, Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown received a warm — though
rainy — welcome
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
from western Lane
Siuslaw News
County representa-
tives during her
visit to Florence yesterday.
More than 35 people joined Brown to hear
about the area’s economic vitality and recent
efforts to increase development, create part-
nerships with regional organizations, improve
infrastructure and more.
“I’m certainly committed to moving
Oregon forward,” Brown said. “We’ve made
incredible progress over the past couple years,
A
and I want to make sure we continue that for-
ward march. Oregon is a place where every-
one can thrive.”
The City of Florence, Oregon Department
of Transportation, Port of Siuslaw and Oregon
Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network
See
BROWN 7A
Boys and Girls
Club ‘gets game’
Youth teams network with pro, college
teams under the guidance of Teen Center
and Athletics Director Tracy Aaron
T
he Boys and Girls Club of
Western Lane County has
announced that Tracy
Aaron has accepted the position of
Teen Center and Athletic Director
on a permanent basis. Aaron has
been involved at the club for the
past few years, originally as a vol-
unteer, and then as a part time staff
person.
Aaron said that her new respon-
sibilities with the club are varied,
but the focus of her work is sim-
ple.
“First and foremost is child safe-
ty at all times when participating in
club events,” she said. “I will also
be responsible for the development
and implementation of procedures
and rules for each sport. And I will
be developing and implementing
relationships with sponsors, col-
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
COURTESY PHOTO
leges and other leagues.”
Recently, Aaron has been
focused on activities for the young
people that participate in the club’s
after school program. She has also
become the point person for the
club’s athletic outreach and net-
working efforts.
“I hope to build the relationships
between the middle and high
school level athletic and music
programs, so that when the
younger kids that are involved in
our programs reach the more com-
petitive levels, they are ready,” she
said.
One of Aaron’s recent attempts
at reaching out produced unexpect-
ed results, with an invitation for
Members of the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County attend a
softball game at the University of Oregon last Saturday as part of the
club’s efforts to partner with area teams.
club members to attend a women’s
softball game at the University of
Oregon (U of O).
Aaron first approached the soft-
ball team inquiring about opportu-
nities to network, and she was
pleasantly surprised by the
response.
“A few weeks ago, I emailed a
contact at U of O softball and
asked if they had any special pro-
grams or anything else they could
do for the team,” Aaron said.
The university responded by
inviting Aaron and the club’s soft-
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WEATHER
ball team to campus to attend a
softball game free of charge and to
meet the team.
“We took a group of 26 of our
softball girls and some of their
families to the U of O softball
game versus Idaho. It was a great
game and the Ducks won it in the
fifth inning with a two-run home
run,” Aaron said. “After the game,
we took the kids down to the field
to meet the team and take some
pictures. One of our club kids even
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NETWORK 7A