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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2017)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 Recognition from 1A Plus, it was really hot there. As her parents settled on Florence to retire, she happily fol- lowed. She didn’t come without a job, however. Since 1994 she’s been the features editor of the print publica- tion International Travel News, a job she did online. In fact, she still does that, working days at LCC and journeying home to get right back on the computer to edit stories. “I don’t sleep much,” said admit- ted. Habian first started at LCC to break up her at-home work routine, manning the front office phones one day a week. The administrative specialist position opened just a short time afterward, which she filled in as an interim. Soon, she took over the job officially and has stayed there ever since. “I really like working here. It’s stressful, but in a good way. It’s nice to be able to help the students to succeed. Everybody here is on the same team, keeping the students in mind,” Habian said Because Florence is a rural loca- tion, Habian believes LCC is vital to opening options to higher education that would otherwise be limited. “I’m surprised at just how much this campus means to people in this area, more-so than a big city. I’m always surprised at how many times students come in and say, ‘Thank you for the encouragement,’ or ‘Thank you for helping and answer- ing the questions,’ because they don’t have outside support,” she said. That, Habian believes, is what makes working at LCC worthwhile, despite the little sleep she receives. “I remember one student coming in and talk to another employee, saying, ‘Thank you so much for telling me I can do this, because nobody in my family told me I could.’ So many people don’t have outside support sometimes. It breaks my heart, but (education) completely changes somebody’s life. That’s what I enjoy about being here,” she said. PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON/ SIUSLAW NEWS LCC Florence facul- ty, staff and stu- dents work togeth- er to surprise Beth Habian with an award recognizing her years of service. Reporter 2066 Highway 101, Florence 541-997-0343 Woody Woodbury Independent Owner/Operator Florence Grocery Outlet 1SPEVDFt%BJSZ%FMJ )FBMUI#FBVUZ 'SP[FO'PPETt'SFTI.FBU )PVTFXBSFTt#FFS8JOF 0SHBOJD/BUVSBM'PPET BOENVDINPSF We have ample RV parking! from 1A including the Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts, Dunes City Council and local clubs and organizations. “I consider myself extraor- dinarily lucky to get this job at Siuslaw News,” Anderson said. “In this job, I get to interview, write stories and take photographs to visually represent those stories. It’s everything I trained for and always wanted to do.” At the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Anderson studied film and theater with an emphasis on playwriting. Since then, he has worked in a variety of fields, including as the officer in charge of the Deadwood Post Office, as an instructor at Lane Community College Florence Center and as the education director at City Lights Cinemas. “I still plan on doing edu- cation shows at City Lights every once in a while,” Anderson said. Film and video may also continue to be part of his cov- erage of people and events in the area. “The primary goal of video media is to look at the basic story and to tell that visually. It will help in my writing in finding the story. It’s pretty much the same medium, which is storytelling; it’s just a different way of doing it,” Anderson said. Throughout his childhood, when his father moved the family several times while in the U.S. Coast Guard, Anderson kept up his passion of storytelling. “I was writing stories when I was 6 years old. When I was 16, I was chosen to be a Sundance playwright and got into playwriting and theater,” he said. NO N-PROFIT SPOTLIGHT Food Backpack for Kids (FB4K) Q: Describe your organization. A: FB4K began in 2012 and is a 501-c-3 non-profi t food program, unique to Florence/Mapleton, created and designed to feed local students at risk for w/e hunger. We provide three meals for each w/e day that are nutritious, shelf stable and easily accessible for little hands. Our program volunteers partner with local school districts in a blind trust for distribution to the most food challenged students, to protect their privacy. All operational expenses are underwritten, there is no paid staff . 100 % of public donations are spent to purchase products placed in food bags. Q: What are your greatest accomplishments so far, this year? A: Since 2012, our only purpose remains the same today…to feed every local, hungry child on school year w/e’s as long as the need exists. To facilitate that going forward this year: We partnered with the Florence Chamber of Commerce, Florence PTA, and Siuslaw News. FB4K intention is to participate in and become part of this amazing community, especially where it helps our future leaders. We strengthened and refi ned our marketing and operational infrastructure for perpetuity. Entered a FB4K “Th ank you for FIVE years!” fl oat in the Always Ready to Rhody parade…and, to our amazement, won two awards! Q: Do you have a personal story that describes the impact your organization has had in the community? A: Yes! As a representative of our Volunteers, I rode on FB4K Rhody Parade fl oat. From the very beginning to the end, huge crowds of adults and children cheered loudly in recognition, saying “Th ank You” in so many ways. I was overwhelmed, humbled and close to tears…our purpose for the fl oat was to thank them…our friends, donors and generous partners, for their support. Q: What is your current greatest need? A: We need a grant writer and someone to operate our new www.backpackimpact.com website. All need to be volunteers… of course! Q: Describe your organizations personality in three words. A: “Compassionate, focused, dedicated Food Backpack for Kids (FB4K) 1380 Tenth Street/P.O. Box 3347 • Florence, OR 541-997-2497 He began to pursue docu- mentary playwriting by con- ducting interviews with diverse people. “I would take those inter- views, take the broad sub- jects, and distill it down into the basic core concepts of a cohesive hour and a half story,” he said. Over time, Anderson found less and less time to focus on story — until now. In his three years in Florence, Anderson has set- tled into life far different from Salt Lake City or the “big cities” of his youth. “What I started to find out is that you can do things in a small town you could never dream of in a big city. I’ve been able to teach film, work for a movie theater, write for a newspaper and do all these things you could only do in a very limited capacity in a big city, since there’s so much competition,” he said. “Here, it’s amazing the things you can do if you have a good knowledge base and are moti- vated. “The community has been very open and receptive to a lot of things that I’ve done. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people here, and it’s been so much fun. I’ve just fallen in love with it here.” Anderson joins the editori- al team of Hickson; Chantelle Meyer, features editor; and Mark Brennan, city reporter. City from 1A In the coming weeks, the city will present the official Coast Guard City announce- ment in a press conference at Oregon Oregon Coast Military Museum. Then, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, there will be a Coast Guard City Celebration at the Florence Events Center. “The program is in the planning stage, but it will be an awesome event with the possibility of many digni- taries form outside our com- munity,” Henry said. “We are all pretty excited.” HARDWARE UN G l a t To ION T A D I LIQU LE SA ! NOW All Creation’s Construction Florence Pharmacy Chad Clement, D.D.S., P.C County Transfer & Recycling First Baptist Church SPONSORED BY: Jack Mobley Construction Inc. Oregon Pacifi c Bank Swanson Pest Management Florence Heating & Sheet Metal, Inc 7 A Siuslaw News + off % 0 2 arms all fi re Dunes Village Shopping Center Highway 126 at Highway 101 Florence 541-997-8024 www.shoppelocal.biz
