4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ JULY 19, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News
Spreading ripples of hope
In the time it takes you to
reach the end of this sen-
tence, approximately 26 peo-
ple will have died from can-
cer.
Mothers and fathers, hus-
bands and wives, sons and
daughters, rich and poor,
Republicans and Democrats,
without regard to religious
affiliation, cancer will claim
the lives of more than
500,000 people before the
rest of us are ringing in the
new year — at which point
the tragic cycle begins again.
Considering that each of us
has a 39.6 percent chance of
being diagnosed with some
form of cancer in our life-
time, including nearly 16,000
children age 19 and younger,
we are all unwilling partici-
pants in the same game of
cancer roulette.
And the stakes couldn’t be
any higher.
Like many of you, my life
has been touched by cancer
more than once, including the
annual Relay For Life, a
fundraiser for the American
Cancer Society, which focus-
es on the research, informa-
tion and prevention of cancer
around the world.
But on a local level, it is
more than that.
In a small town, the ripple
From the Editor’s Desk
N ED H ICKSON
loss of my closest friend at
age 30, from ocular cancer
that had been in remission
before returning exponential-
ly a year later.
Between family and
friends, cancer has left 11
empty chairs around my life’s
dinner table in the last 20
years.
For 18 of those years,
Florence has been hosting the
effect of cancer — whether it
be in the fight against it, the
celebration of its defeat or
mourning in the wake of
those it has taken — reaches
everyone in some way, even
if indirectly through our
overall connection as a com-
munity.
Most recently, ripples have
spread through our communi-
ty in the form of support for
11-year-old Malakai Kirk,
with hundreds of residents
rallying to help raise funds
for a bone marrow transplant
for the fifth-grader.
While it’s true that the
money raised at this week-
end’s Relay For Life won’t
impact the Kirk family, the
research supported by the
ACS could some day elimi-
nate the need for future gen-
erations to experience the
ripple effect of cancer at all.
In the meantime, there is
hope.
According to the National
Cancer Institute, the number
of people living beyond their
cancer diagnosis is expected
to grow from 14.5 million in
2014 to 19 million by 2024.
Please join me and others
in our community as we
spread ripples of hope during
this Saturday’s Relay For
Life.
Siuslaw Jam has taken root in Florence
M
any years ago,
when I first
moved here, Jon
Thompson, Lis Farm and
Lynnette Wikstrom indoc-
trinated me into the
methodology needed for
putting on a community
event.
Helping organize
Chowder, Blues and Brews
was a trial by fire. More les-
sons came from volunteering
on the Rotary Auction in
addition to working with the
Rhody Pageant.
Years later, experiencing
the Siletz Bay Music
Festival and watching the
festival’s interaction with the
community and the schools
motivated me to take the les-
sons I learned and create the
Siuslaw Jam. The Jam, held
July 7 and 8 at the Florence
Events Center, was a huge
success, planting the seed for
future growth and something
I could never have accom-
plished without the support
of our sponsors, patrons and
community.
In particular, I want to
thank the following: Michael
Falter of City Lights
Cinemas for running promo-
tional slides and airing the
documentary film on the
Siletz Bay Festival; Jenna
Bartlett of the Siuslaw News
GUEST VIEWPOINT
J OSHUA G REENE
F LORENCE C ITY C OUNSELOR , S IUSLAW J AM COORDINATOR
for advising how best to uti-
lize her various publications
in the surrounding area with
press releases, advertising
and editorial coverage; arts
and entertainment reviewer
Burney Garelick, who sur-
prised me with her in-depth
knowledge of the American
Songbook; Jon Thompson,
who gave us substantial air-
time with interviews and
advertising on both KCST
and KCFM; Mark Sanders
and Yaakov Bergman, execu-
tive director and artistic
director of the Siletz Bay
Music Festival, as well as
their board, who embraced
our efforts as a sister festi-
val; and our performers, who
saw the opportunity our
community had to offer and
were fully engaged during
their stay.
The musicians were excit-
ed to see our theater and
environments created for
their performances, and they
were especially excited by
the connection and attentive-
ness of the audiences.
All the performers felt
welcome and enjoyed their
time spent visiting our com-
munity and said they look
forward to coming again.
We are very fortunate to
have the Florence Events
Center (FEC) team. The
work that Kevin Rhodes,
Jennifer Connor and Sandi
Anderson did to accommo-
date us as a client was pro-
fessional, both in marketing
the event through social
media, placing posters
around town and whatever
other needs we had with
staging.
Lighting Director
Margaret McDiarmid shares
my fondness for dramatic
lighting and led the charge.
Stage Manager Leah
Goodwin and her stage-
hands, the “Women in
Black+1,” made the experi-
ence with the FEC flawless.
Weeks before the event,
Brynne Sapp and I started
creating our fantasy environ-
ments. With the help of
items from Pat Sapp’s
Vintage Blue Warehouse and
Annie Schmidt’s famous
slipper chair, our fantasy
became reality.
The free concert for
young people was critical to
the Jam being successful and
embraced by our community.
Not only did three kids play
on stage with an extraordi-
nary backup band, the musi-
cians themselves were all
touched by participating in
the experience.
Those in attendance saw
the magic being created on
stage.
The discussions for next
year’s festival have already
begun. Our focus is on
building a team of volunteers
to help make next year’s fes-
tival an even greater success,
in addition to working closer
with the pool of young musi-
cians and adding new enter-
tainment to expanding the
variety of performances.
Anyone interested getting
involved in the next Siuslaw
Jam can contact us by email-
ing satchmo@siuslawjam.
com.
The community is encour-
aged to participate, share
ideas and make recommen-
dations that will help this
musical event that jas taken
root continue to grow in the
years ahead.
LETTERS
N O ‘ PLAUSIBLE DENIAL ’
In response to Mr. Cavarno’s state-
ment in his Letter to the Editor “Dirt for
Dirt” (July 15) that Hillary Clinton and
the Democrats wouldn’t have hesitated
to go to the Russians for dirt on Donald
Trump, Al Gore was handed hacked
emails from George Bush’s campaign
and turned them over to the FBI.
Lets say the Dems did get an offer
from the Russians — I would hope that
Hillary would be smart enough not to
send Bill, Chelsea or other high ranking
staff or family members to such a meet-
ing.
Apparently, President Trump’s people
have never heard of “plausible denial,”
which is a bit hard to do when you are
caught in the act.
— Frank Keavy
Florence
support exhibited recently in our bid to
open a new facility on Highway 101.
In declining to appeal the decision of
the Planning Commission, we have reaf-
firmed our commitment to serving food
to the insecure population of Florence
and Western Lane County.
We are extremely thankful to the
Florence United Methodist Church for
its continued partnership in helping us
provide a nutritious hot lunch three days
per week.
The church has graciously extended
the use of its facilities until we can work
out other accommodations.
We look forward to continuing our
work and sharing in the building of a
stronger Florence.
— Greg Wood
Helping Hands Coalition
Florence
H ELPING HANDS
N O HARM , NO FOUL ?
N O WAY .
CONTINUES
I and the rest of the board of The
Helping Hands Coalition would like to
thank the Florence Community for the
Mr. Cavarno’s Letter to the Editor
(“Dirt for Dirt,” July 15) asked, “Is there
anyone out there who believes if the
Kremlin, during the election campaign,
had notified Hillary, Bernie, Pelosi,
Schumer or any other Democrat that
they had ‘dirt’ on Donald J. Trump — or
any of his team — they would have had
any qualms and not have stumbled all
over themselves to obtain such informa-
tion?”
I don’t believe any Democratic (listed
above or otherwise) or most Republican
party members would have taken a
meeting with the Kremlin.
First and foremost, it’s illegal under
campaign finance laws to accept assis-
tance from a foreign government.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
If I steal a car, I’ll go to jail whether
or not I know stealing a car is illegal.
Donald Trump Jr.’s position that noth-
ing was gained from the meeting, so no
harm/no foul is also ridiculous on it’s
face.
If I steal the car because I thought
there was a million dollars in the trunk,
but the trunk turned out to be empty, I’ll
still go to jail for stealing the car.
— Marybeth Marenco
Florence
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L ETTERS
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor
as part of a community discussion of issues on the
local, state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or
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Libelous, argumentative and anonymous letters
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Send letters to:
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WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-
228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
( Dist. 5 )
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy
McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us