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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, MAY 13, 2017
VIEW FROM UPRIVER
What wonderful country
W ESLEY V OTH
For the Siuslaw News
This is another report from the road as we
travel in our camper van to the Gulf, the East
Coast and back. I’ve been reading newspapers
along the way; some of my favorites to date:
The Navajo-Hopi Observer in Arizona; Las
Cruces Sun-News in New Mexico; El Paso
Times, The Llano News (Deer Capital of
Texas, with its multiple statues of bucks deco-
rated like Florence’s sea lions), Wharton
Journal Spectator, the Bay City Sentinel in
Texas, and The New Iberian in Louisiana.
In all of them, local issues resound passion-
ately about things like like potholes and infra-
structure, schools and sports teams, city and
state government. And when the federal gov-
ernment is mentioned, it is in relation to a local
issue, like “Feds Limit Red Snapper Season”
(Bay City) or that Trump administration rules
have lowered the number of legal crossings
between El Paso and its sister city Juarez on
the Mexican side of the line.
In none of these papers I’ve seen has there
been the breadth of issues or balance as there
has been in the letters to the editor in the news-
paper you are reading at the moment.
How does a government keep people from
breaking its laws? One state uses the following
strategy with its speed laws: make the speed
limit the same for all vehicles; set the limit
really high, like 80 mph on freeways, and
where there’s signals and crossroads, lower this
to 75; and don’t spend enough on road mainte-
nance for anyone to actually be able to go that
speed.
Problem solved (Texas).
One more thing about Texas: If there were
as many “lone” stars in any smaller state, they
would be spilling out its borders.
We have mostly been avoiding the large
roads and following the small, winding, less
direct routes, and now along the Gulf Coast
where I have never been before. There is such
a variety of words used to describe what we
span with bridges, many of them regional:
river, creek, draw, gulley, wash, arroyo,
canyon, branch, gulch, hollow and — where I
am now — bayou, canal, ditch, causeway,
levee and waterway.
We have gone through the land of roadrun-
ners and sagebrush, prickly pear and alligator
juniper, where the roadkill is deer and jackrab-
bits and snakes. We’ve also seen country of
scissor-tailed flycatchers and black vultures,
where what is dead on the road is wild pigs
and ring-tailed cat; where there is mesquite and
every roadside flower is a colorful variation on
sunflower or daisy.
And now we’re in the land of cypress, pal-
metto and Spanish moss, where the roadkill is
armadillo and turtles; and the large animal
about to cross in front of us turns out to be an
alligator with a head the size of a horse.
What looks like our familiar cranberry bogs
are crawfish farms.
The Gulf Coast surprises me with its shal-
low warm water and fine sand, people driving
on the beaches, and vast coastal estuaries, all
of it teaming with a profusion of life.
Storks, cranes, rails, ibises and spoonbills,
brown pelicans in breeding plumage, and the
well named laughing gulls with their black
heads. The water swirls with fish, shrimp,
crabs, turtles and alligators. We have seen liter-
ally thousands of people over the last week
engaged in some form of procuring food from
this bounty. People of every age, ethnic back-
ground and economic or social class, from
every conceivable type of floating conveyance
to sitting or standing or wading along some
form of edge, using poles and bait and nets of
infinite variety.
The result is for sale everywhere, and we
buy from memorable people selling it straight
and plain to cook ourselves, and now in restau-
rants in New Orleans — a different memorable
experience.
We have seen plenty of evidence of both
Hurricane Katrina (2005, $108 Billion) and the
British Petroleum oil spill disaster (2010, BP
has paid out more than $40 billion to date).
There are new schools built of brick and
concrete and elevated on stilts, a lot of recent
housing construction on stilts like some of the
houses in Mapleton, and some services still in
what look like FEMA trailers, including a post
office in Cameron Parrish that looks much like
(what can I say?) the post office in our own
Deadwood, Ore.
Except it’s raised way up on blocks.
We have sure met a lot of kind, friendly and
abundantly helpful people along our way.
And we’ve seen beautiful, interesting coun-
try.
$500 REWARD FOR SAFE RETURN.
‘Fresh Impressions’ winners announced
The Gallery Committee, as
part of the non-profit Friends
of the Florence Event Center
(FEC), recently put on an Artist
Reception for the students who
participated in the high school
art exhibit, “Fresh
Impressions.”
Financial
awards were
given by the Friends of the
FEC for first, second and third
place, and City Lights Cinema
donated movie tickets to all
honorable mention award win-
ners. 2-D artwork was matted
by Frames of Florence.
Award winners are as fol-
lows: First place for 2-D art
went to Ben Cahoon for his
scratchboard “Beauty of the
Abyss”; 3-D first place went to
Maci Wells for her Monet
inspired Teapot.
COURTESY PHOTO
Friends of the FEC and artists recently attended a recep-
tion for winners of the “Fresh Impressions” show. From
L, Jo Beaudreau, Ben Cahoon, Caesar Castillo, Jane
Connelley, John Leasure, Patti Williams, Claudia Ignatieff,
and Liz Johnson.
second place went to Elissa
Hurley for her scratchboard
“Friendly Fox; third place went
to Hanna Anderson for her
mixed media “Little Red
Riding Hood.”
Four Honorable Mention
awards were given to: Kaitlin
Snook, “It’s Been a Really
Weird Week; Caesar Castillo
for “Moonlit Lake”; Abby
Watkins for “Snap Trap Turtle
Teapot”; and Ethan Hack for
“King.”
This exhibit will be at the
FEC through the month of
May, and it is of exceptional
quality.
Special thanks go to Siuslaw
High School art instructor Kim
Pickell for assisting with this
exhibit.
Piano Chameleons to tickle ivories at FEC
Jazzlab, to name only a few.
Roney’s versatility as a per-
former, composer and even as
an arrangement artist granted
him access to the best places in
the world of music.
Tickets are $32 for adults or
$10 for ages 18 and under.
Pianists Matt Herskowitz (left) and John Roney will perform
at the Florence Events Center May 24.
Two grand pianos facing
each other while classical
music and jazz merge in a burst
of virtuosity — it’s a night to
remember, and a night that
SEAcoast Entertainment will
bring The Piano Chameleons to
the FEC on May 24 at 7 p.m.
The stage will come alive
with two grand pianos as
pianists Matt Herskowitz and
John Roney perform as one.
Undisputed masters of
improvisation, these two virtu-
osos take pleasure in revisiting
jazz standards and great classic
pieces to create new musical
A versatile pianist by nature,
Herskovitz brings a unique per-
spective to every single style
he plays. The virtuose has
played in various festivals and
concerts across the world.
Among
other
things,
Herskovitz has played at
Carnegie Hall, the International
Jazz Festival in Montreal and
many European festivals.
Throughout his carreer,
Herskovitz has been playing
with a wide variety of artists
including: Andrea Griminelli,
Lara St. John, David Gotay,
Coral Egan, Charles Papasoff
and many others.
Playing opposite Herskovitz,
Roney has become one of the
most respected and talked
about names in the Piano Jazz
scene. He has played with an
impressive list of well-known
artists such as Alain Caron,
Bernard Primeau, Ginette
Reno, Remi Bolduc, Michel
Donato and Effendi Records
theshedd.org/JazzKings
My Lucky Star
Saturday , May 20, 2 pm matinee
Saturday,
Florence Events Center 541.997.1994
Free Jazz tickets for Students program
MOLLY is Missing
Blonde long-haired
dachshund, white on face.
She’s deaf and usually
responds to clapping hands. She
has on a red collar with ID tag.
We live on Davis Way just off
Clear Lake Rd. in Dunes City.
Missing since Fri., 2/10.
If you find her please call
541-997-3134(hm)
or 541-999-5885(cell).
The Florence Organic Farmers’ Market
will start its 21st season on May 20
and continuing through October 28.
The market is open SATURDAYS, 10am – 2pm
at 310 Highway 101 (Pro Lumber)
The market accepts WIC
and Farm Direct Nutrition vouchers.
For more information, call Maria at 541-902-8815.