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127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 61
❘ AUGUST 2, 2017 ❘ $1.00
A&E — INSIDE
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
Mapleton resident earns diploma decades later
Leona May Walton receives her Mapleton High School diploma on her 92nd birthday
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
I
t was the history class that
broke the camel’s back.
“I despised history,” Leona May
Walton said as she celebrated her
92nd birthday.
“Why do we have to learn all
about this stuff way, way back?”
she asked
That’s partly why Walton didn’t
graduate from high school in
1944. It just so happens she was
also too busy making history to
finish up that last course.
It was a warm and sunny day
on the riverbank in Mapleton
Saturday. Walton was celebrating
a family reunion with her chil-
dren, her grandchildren and her
great-grandchildren. Several
members of the family have
birthdays in August — Walton
was born on Aug. 25, 1925 — so
they celebrate everyone in one
fell swoop.
This party was different, how-
ever, with a special surprise for
Walton: A high school diploma.
It was all planned by Connie
Walton, Leona’s daughter-in-law.
Knowing that Leona had never
graduated, she went to Mapleton
High School and asked them to
issue a diploma. Instead of histo-
ry, her last credit would be “life
experience of history.”
Connie started the graduation
ceremony speaking about her
mother-in-law.
When Leona was a freshmen in
high school, she fell in love with
Dwight Walton.
See
GRADUATE 7A
JARED ANDERSON /SIUSLAW NEWS
Leona May Walton receives
her diploma from Mapleton
High School on July 29 at the
age of 92.
B r in gi n g ar t t o t h e s t re et s of F l o re nc e
HIGH HEAT ALERT
Fire threat Public Art Committee seeks to establish art experiences, increase community engagement
level rises M
to ‘extreme’
to stay in a community. Recreation,
parks, arts — all those things some peo-
ple consider ‘fluffy’ are a big part of
what makes people want to stay and
move here.”
PAC Vice Chair Susan Tive agreed.
“We want arts to have an impact on
everyone who lives in Florence and the
community. It’s as essential as the roads
PAC, made up of seven members and
being safe and the water being good to
two city ex-officio members, has been
drink. We want people to know it’s for
working since
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
them,” she said. “Public art is for
July
2015
to
Siuslaw News
Florence, not just the people who are vis-
bring art to the
iting.”
streets and cre-
PAC volunteers have spent the past
ate a cohesive public art plan for the City
two years gathering data from successful
of Florence.
art destination cities in Oregon, research-
The
committee’s
tagline
is,
ing mural codes and creating five action
“Experience Florence — where every
items.
day is a celebration of the arts.”
“All of us love the arts, we love our
“Most cities in Oregon already have
community and we want the City of
public art and a public art committee,”
Florence and our area to prosper,” said
said PAC Chairman Harlen Springer. “A
Committee Member Jo Beaudreau. “The
lot of cities do this, and do it very suc-
main projects we have picked will make
cessfully. We’re kind of late to the game.”
a nice groundwork for future projects
Since PAC is funded through the
and future generations.”
Florence Urban Renewal Area, which
The first project has already been par-
budgeted $250,000 for PAC, most of its
tially rolled out: Creating art from the
efforts are centered around Historic
COURTESY PHOTO
Old Town Florence, though members “Totem Pole” was made by Steve Benson and donat- utilities on Bay Street.
In May, PAC members Jennifer
hope additional funding sources will ed to the City of Florence Public Art Committee by
allow for public art to spread throughout Gerald Curran. It is now located in Gallagher Park on French and Ron Hildenbrand coordinat-
ed with the art programs in Siuslaw
the area.
Highway 126.
School District to invite youth to paint
“We want Florence to be known for
the covers of 15 trash receptacles. Plaques
more than sand dunes,” Springer said. “We need arts are very much a part of the city’s fabric.
to expand the economy here to the arts and for
“It ties into the city’s objectives of livability showing the students’ names and the titles are
people to interact with the arts.”
and quality of life and economic development,” now included.
Florence City Recorder Kelli Weese said the she said. “It’s one of the reasons people to want
See PUBLIC ART 7A
embers of the Florence
Public Art Committee
(PAC) want to bring the “wow
factor” to Florence through
increased visibility of murals,
sculptures and other artwork.
High temps, unstable weather
conditions lead to ‘Red Flag
Warning’ for Lane County
On July 31, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
(SVFR) responded to a brushfire that spread
quickly, due to the dan-
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
gerous conditions creat-
Siuslaw News
ed by high winds and
heat, and posing a much
a more difficult situation for firefighters.
This set of factors is precisely the reason the
National Weather Service (NWS) has recently
issued two important warnings to the public.
The first is an Excessive Heat Warning, which
alerts the public to the possibility of dangerous-
ly high temperatures.
The Excessive Heat warning took effect at 2
p.m. on Tuesday and extends through 11 p.m. on
Friday, Aug. 5.
The second warning is a Red Flag Warning,
issued to alert first responders and citizens to the
unique challenges presented when dealing with
a fire under “unstable” conditions that combine
high winds and high heat.
This was the situation that first responders
faced Monday evening, according to SVFR Fire
Marshal Sean Barrett.
“The weather was a critical factor of the fire
start and spread. The warm dry weather with the
north wind caused the fire to burn intensely and
move quickly,” Barrett said.
He added, “We are going to an extreme fire
danger level this week and several restrictions
will be in place.”
NWS predicts western Lane County will
reach highs in the triple digits this week, with
many areas experiencing potentially record set-
ting high temperatures.
The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF)
also warned the public of significantly unstable
See
HEAT 5A
T EXAS
MAN DROWNS WHILE KAYAKING ON
Body of Nicholas Wayne Lewoczko recovered Sunday after a multi-agency search
B Y N ED H ICKSON
Siuslaw News
The body of a 31-year-old
Houston, Texas, man who went
missing last Friday evening on
Cleawox Lake was discovered by
Lane County Sheriffs Sunday
afternoon.
Nicholas Wayne Lewoczko was
camping at Honeyman State Park
over the weekend when his older
brother, Matthew, left the camp-
ground to pick up dinner for the
two of them in Florence.
Nicholas, who stayed behind to
go fishing on the lake in a kayak,
told his brother he would be back
C O O L P L A C ES
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The rental company features individ-
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INSIDE
S PECIAL F EATURE :
This summer we are
highlighting unique
spots that make the
central Oregon coast
one of the coolest
places to live and play.
New locations will be
featured each month.
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
B4
A3
B3
A5
C LEAWOX L AKE
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
by dusk.
When Nicholas hadn't returned
by nightfall, Matthew went look-
ing for his brother before calling
911 just before 9:30 p.m.
Lane County Sheriffs were noti-
fied, along with personnel from
Oregon State Parks, Oregon State
Police, Siuslaw Valley Fire and
See
SEARCH 7A
Don’t want to walk
to the beach?
COURTESY PHOTO
4 miles south of Florence
(541) 997-5363
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To reserve online or for additional informa-
tion, visit TorexATVRentals.com.
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
92 59
75 57
71 55
68 56
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
Rescue and Lane County Sheriff’s
Search and Rescue, all of which
responded.
At approximately 1:25 a.m. on
Saturday, Lewoczko’s kayak
was discovered mostly submerged
and floating in the lake, with
Located at Sand Dunes Frontier
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS ❘ 14 P AGES
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