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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2017)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017 www.TheSiuslawNews.com in Our Community. Thank You. www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC Celebrate Th anksgiving Day with us!! Serving until 2:00pm Take Home Dinners Available Menu includes: Roasted Turkey breast garlic mashed potatoes creamy gravy sausage and sage stuffi ng sweet potato gratin casserole winter vegetables cranberry sauce dinner rolls and fruit cobbler. Th anksgiving Dinner $20 per person Legacy from 1A he was closely involved with over the past decade was the Siuslaw Watershed Council (SWC). Voth was a longtime board member, retiring in 2016 from the board, but still will- ing to assist in any way possi- ble. Dan Carpenter, Executive Director of SWC, felt Voth’s contributions to his organiza- tion could not be over empha- sized. “Wesley was a prime mover on the board. He had great insight and knew a lot about the watershed. He also knew a lot of people and, most importantly, how to con- nect with them and get them involved,” Carpenter said. “He was instrumental in our decision-making process and in the development and reach of the SWC.” Voth spent years working in the Upriver communities of Mapleton and Deadwood, delivering mail to his neigh- bors. But Voth was not a typical mail carrier. He knew most of the residents who lived on his route and became friends with many of them. His work brought him into daily contact with the Siuslaw River, as his customers live up and down the waterway. His familiarity with the river and its inhabitants, both above and below the water, was extensive. Voth cared as much about the fish as he did about the birds and the trees. His will- VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS HANDMADE CRAFTS SALE! Please join us in this fun holiday celebration! Saturday Nov. 11th 9 am - 3 pm. 37th Street One block west of Highway 101 (behind the old Windward Inn building) (Gratuity not included) Please reserve “take home” by Monday 11/20 1201 35th St. Florence, Or. 97439 541-997-1940 Pick up times: Wednesday from 2-5pm and Th ursday before 2 Reservations required at 541-997-1940 Ex. 5 Find that special something’ for that special ‘someone’. ingness to share his observa- tions, and the ideas generated by those observations, was something he grew more comfortable with as time passed. Voth’s column was an hom- age to earlier environmental- ists, taking his field observa- tions and translating them into a format that others could easily understand and relate too. His “View from Upriver” column in the Siuslaw News often felt like the reader was reading an excerpt from Thoreau’s “Walden” or John Muir’s “Steep Trails,” both cornerstones of modern envi- ronmental philosophy. These are books that speak to humankind’s connectivity to the planet and highlight the importance of the smallest plant or lichen. They take the position that men and women are tasked with the steward- ship of Planet Earth, not its exploitation. Voth was the local, modern version of these pioneering environmentalists. On his route, Voth would often meet with customers and spend a few minutes dis- cussing the heron by the neighbor’s dock that was limping, or share his observa- tions on the rushing stormwa- ter that was causing changes in fish behavior, making it more difficult to catch the elusive creatures. His participation with local environmental groups was long standing and his impact on others in those groups was profound. Voth’s belief in the impor- tance of continuing to focus on the struggle to safeguard the fragile eco-systems in the Siuslaw Watershed never ended. Carpenter remembers Voth’s interest in a program the SWC participates in each year, in partnership with the U.S. Forest service. “He was very interested in our native plant distribution program, which is one of our core programs. We give away free trees and shrubs to landowners with land along local waterways. And Wesley would monitor the trees and the shrubs, after they were planted by the new owners, to see how they were doing.” Voth was also a man of faith, often referring in his writings to his Quaker roots as a primary source for his concern for others. Issues of social justice were also important to him. A column from last year referred to a speech given by one of Wesley’s heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr. The speech touches on Wesley’s social concerns and his sense of his own mortality: “The most moving speech I came across, and the one I find the most relevant to me, as an old white man near the end of his life, is the one he gave to a group of junior high students in 1967. 1. Have a deep belief in your own worth; in your own significance and that you mat- ter. 2. Determine to achieve excellence; find your life’s working be ready to go through the doors that open for you. 3. When you decide what you are going to do, do it well. 4. Be committed to the eternal principles of Beauty, Love and Justice. Don’t allow anyone to pull you so low that you hate them. Don’t let any- one cause you to so lose your self-respect that you do not struggle for justice. 5. You have a responsibili- ty to make your nation a bet- ter nation in which to live, to make life better for everyone. 6. You must be involved in the struggle for freedom and justice. Do not give yourself to things that that will not solve our problems. These work for me as my resolutions as I turn 65, because another thing I share with Martin Luther King, Jr., is a birthday,” Voth wrote. The unexpected loss of Voth, a friend and colleague, was a shock to the newsroom at Siuslaw News. However, Voth’s passing has given all of his friends and co-workers the opportu- nity to reflect on the wisdom, kindness and insights that he inspired. His love for the natural world was a passion and a vocation that he shared with any and all that were interest- ed. His concern for the less fortunate among us was real and he gave freely of his wis- dom and insights. The passing of Voth was a major loss for the community, on many levels, but the posi- tive impact he made, through his work and his words, will last forever. Neighbor his shy little creeks. Wesley came to writing nat- urally and learned and grew as a writer over the years. Like an artist who chooses his colors carefully, Wesley savored every word as he painted his stories. One time he gently took me to task for changing the spelling of the word “grey” in one of his columns. He was personally hurt, telling me he had always spelled it that way and it was a favorite word. I was following the Associated Press stylebook, I told him, but apologized and said I would respect his wishes and never change the spelling again. (To this day, I use Wesley’s spelling of “grey.”) Wesley was not political in the classic sense of the word, but he was closely in touch with political matters that went against his natural ethics. He gently wove those issues into his stories to make points about how we should treat other peo- ple and all of life. — and how we have an obligation to pro- tect and steward the natural state for us now and for our children and future genera- tions. Wesley, through his columns, was a spokesman for our communities and for our times. This kind and gentle and quiet man loved everyone and everything. He was our Neighbor in every positive sense of the word. I’ll be reminded of him and of his stories and of his good- ness when I see the first per- fectly formed salmonberry of spring. from 1A community in that special world at the head of tide of the Siuslaw, the muscular river that forms the backbone of the one-time timber and mill com- munities. As a contract mail delivery- man for the postal service, Wesley was especially suited to hear and, in turn, to tell the stories of the people along his mail route. On the other hand, and per- haps more to his liking, he was a naturalist who loved to detail all forms of life as they appeared and carried on around him. He wrote of the change of seasons and of the birds and animals and fishes and trees and plants that are peculiar to those hills and that river and PORT HOLE PUBLISHING 179 Laurel Street, Suite D FLORENCE LET US PUBLISH YOUR BOOK PORT HOLE BOOKS 77567 Hwy. 101 • GARDINER Glass for Every Purpose 1780 Kingwood St. / P.O. Box 144 Florence, OR 97439 541-997-8526 Fax 541-997-9132 ccb#55030 NEW-USED-RARE! WE HAVE IT ALL! Best-Selling Author, Ellen Traylor, Owner/Publisher 541-999-5725 Sotheby’s, eBay Master Dealer and Appraiser for Discovery.com portholebooks.com • portholepublications.com DONATE NOW! Maximize your donation by donating to Cars for a Cause by Dec. 31st. We accept cars, trucks, RVs, boats & motorcycles CALL NOW! Looking for a unique gift this holiday season? Gift Certificates for the Florence Events Center To purchase – simply drop by the box office Monday to Friday between 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM 715 Quince St * Florence, OR * 541-997-1994 Gift Certificates are good for redeption for any ticketed show at the FEC for one year from purchase. •Helps those in need in Lane County • Charitable donation •We do all the paperwork St. Vincent de Paul 2315 Hwy. 101 • Florence • 541-997-8460 Always the perfect gift! 7 A Christmas Gift List Toys • Books Clothing Houseware Furniture Gift Certifi cates St. Vincent DePaul’s 2315 Hwy 101 541-997-8460 Open Daily
