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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2017)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 Van from 1A “We are blessed by the many Van Fans and drivers that we have,” Grove said. The members drive the patients to and from the medical facilities, hold fundraisers and assist clients with other issues. “However, we need new driv- ers on a regular basis and anyone wanting to get involved can call,” Grove said. Grove said although there are Millennials, from 6A Cont. Despite an area population of over 10,000 people, only 2,600 full-time workers were employed in the city. While the numbers would be traditionally considered stark, and all the millennials inter- viewed for this article believed more job opportunities were important, they weren’t panick- ing. 27-year-old Brynne Sapp, who works as a part time gym- nastics instructor for Coastal Fitness, believed the millenni- als were able to find their own way. “I feel like more and more young people are moving here as there are more options avail- no other members remaining from the group’s inception in 1985, the need for the friends’ services, as evidenced by the lat- est need for a new van. Van Fans work in small ways in the community year-round to collect the money needed to con- tinue offering trips. “The Friends of Florence is a local organization that exists solely for the purpose of raising funds to keep our buses run- ning. They hold card parties and ice cream socials every able for us to make a living. Working online is a big one. Who wouldn’t want to do that? Have your work at home, on your computer, and be able to live in this beautiful place in this sweet community,” she said. “I know people here who have jobs that are mostly online. I have one friend who writes for WebMd and National Geographic. My friend Kelly does a line of skin care prod- ucts out in Ada. She makes them all herself and does them online. I think to be successful in a place like this you have to be creative.” Many community leaders are looking at bringing back blue- collar work to the area, but gen- erally millennials haven’t warmed up to these types of Let me Showcase your property. Melody Beaudro Principal Broker 541 991-2151 Mercer Lake Road #2900 – Bare land located in the Enchanted Valley subdivision with potential lake view, and locked and gated Mercer Lake ac- cess to boat docks. 3 parcels totaling 6.2 acres. City water and power available. Seller terms pos- sible. $229,999. #2486-15601213 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 need of new members, as we are all getting older. Our oldest active member is 95 years young. ... New volunteers and new fund raising ideas are always welcome.” The friends meet once a month on the first Wednesday for lunch at the Shorewood to plan activities. For more information on the Friends of Florence, or to find out how to get involved, con- tact member Barbara Filiatreau at 541-902-0505. Van Fans have been driving cancer patients to treatment since 1985, racking up more than 1.5 million miles on these trips of mercy. year and have been doing this for around 25 years. To date, they have raised over $350,000 dollars and are very important to our continued operation,” Grove said. The forces of time and nature cannot be denied, even for those doing the admirable work of the friends. Grove is asking the commu- nity for help in continuing the impor- tant work done by his organization. “The Van Fans are presently in positions. “I think that physical labor is less and less the form of work we want,” Sapp said. Lokic believes that this may have to do with how millenni- als were raised. “I think part of it has to do with the idea that you have to go to college out of school and that’s something that has been ingrained in younger people’s minds the last 20 or 30 years. After high school, you go to college and get a degree. “Now we’ve seen this big push back to promoting these blue-collar opportunities with trade schools, but when all you hear is ‘Go to college, go to college,’ eventually you’re going to say, ‘Okay, I shouldn’t be doing this, I should be going to college,’” he said. Statistically, millennials are the most educated generation ever, with 40 percent of all 25 to 29-year-olds holding a bach- elor’s degree, compared to 26 percent of boomers at the same age, according to a 2016 Pew Research Center study. Lokic found a deep satisfac- tion in city planning and his degree, but if he wasn’t doing that, and his parents had pushed more blue-collar work, he would have become a carpen- ter. This is not to say that blue- collar millennials are perpetual- ly unhappy. Tanner Burnem, 19, doesn’t have his dream job, but he’s not deterred. Burnem, who grew up in Florence, works at the Florence Pharmacy as a technician. “My job is nice,” he said. “It’s really fun, actually. When I first pictured the job I thought, ‘Ugh, pharmacy technician. That’s going to be really lame and boring.’ I was just going to be one of those guys who is yelled at by angry customers. It turns out I am one of those who guys who gets yelled at by angry customers, but my coworkers are nice and we have fun and a good laugh.” When asked if he could make pharmacies a career, he wasn’t sure. “I guess I’m not passionate about it, but I certainly could. I could decide to heck with it, this is what I want to do. Options are open. If something else crashes through the door, I might take it.” The “up for anything” atti- tude regarding work is preva- lent throughout the generation. In some instances, there’s almost too much opportunity. While Sapp is currently working at Coastal Fitness, she’s had a wide variety of jobs and volunteer opportunities throughout her life. “I think millennials have been raised in a different reali- ty. I think we’ve been given a lot of options. Times are chang- ing. There is a lot of pressure to be successful and everyone wants to be, but there’s so many options laid before us. In older generations, success may mean getting married, having kids, raising family, buying a house and having a good job with good pay, but success means something different to this gen- eration.” For Sapp, success is finding something she loves doing. “There are lots of things I love and am passionate about and would want to pursue. It MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS just depends on what comes first. There are too many things I want to do to stick with just one. To love life is to love many things. I think at this age I’ve been given the luxury of having some freedom in find- ing what it is I really want to do,” she said. Sapp is getting to the point where she feels she needs to start making more stable career choices, using her past experi- ence as a roadmap. “Personally, working with kids and doing gymnastics, I don’t do it for the money, I do it because I love it,” she said. “It gives me a sense of purpose. I’ve considered options like physical therapy. Just learning about the body or getting into that area because I want to learn. I would be excited for that, absolutely. It’s a goal I would consider.” One of Sapp’s biggest con- cerns in Florence, and the U.S. as a whole, is wages. “It can be hard to make that happen and succeed and not just be paddling to stay above water,” she said. Burnem is having difficulties with this as well. At 19 years old, he’s already married with one child. His wife, Hanna, is the co-owner of Lovejoy’s Restaurant and Tearoom in Historic Old Town, but only pulls in an average of $500 a month. Burnem only makes $1,300 a month at the pharma- cy. While this low paycheck may be adequate if he was liv- ing with family, he opted for his own place because he felt it was important to raise their son, Harvey, in their own home. The rent is $850 a month, near- ly half their monthly salary. This discrepancy isn’t new in Florence, which is currently in a housing crisis. “Rentals are a big problem right now,” Sapp said. “People Burns’s Riverside Chapel Florence Funeral Home Your Community Friend- Compassionate Care for you and your loved ones. 2765 Kingwood St. Florence, OR 7 A 24 Hours 541-997-3416 burnsriversidechapel.com are having a hard time finding prices that are reasonable.” The City of Florence is look- ing into ways of fixing this issue (see Siuslaw News Sept. 30, “City Works to Bring ‘Hope for Housing’ to Florence”), but development can take time. Burnem’s spirits weren’t dampened, despite his tough economic outlook. Burnem, like so many other millennials, has learned from the mistakes of the baby boomers. A 2016 study by Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress founds that 58 percent of millennials consider themselves “highly disci- plined” or “disciplined” finan- cial planners. They are saving more than any other generation, either through 401(k)’s or put- ting money aside on their own. Burnem buys nothing with credit cards, instead putting away cash in envelopes for emergencies, a practice his wife started. “If an emergency happens, we have savings and an emer- gency folder. If something hap- pens, we have enough money to solve it or fix it.” And, like most millennials, he’s optimistic about the future. In a 2014 Pew Research Center survey, seven in 10 of all Americans felt millennials have it harder than previous generations in starting out, but millennials aren’t deterred. In a 2016 study by Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress, 86 percent of millennials are confident they will achieve their financial goals. Even during the Great Recession, a 2013 Gallup poll found that 80 percent of mil- lennials believe their standard of living was getting better. It’s not the size of his house or the amount of possessions he owns that makes Burnem happy, a sentiment held by every millennial interviewed for this article. It’s what you do with your life that counts. “We’re still happy,” Burnem said. “We don’t need much. We don’t have Wi-Fi, but we just go to the library, rent something, and come back,” he said. “I mean, how can we not be happy?” In the final part of this series on millennials, the Siuslaw News will look at community spaces, relationships and social factors surrounding this unique age group. To all of our dedicated front-line staff: You Are Awesome! Thank you for being the heart and soul of our organization. We wouldn’t be a community bank without you! 1355 Highway 101 • www.opbc.com • (541) 997-7121 member
