4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ NOVEMBER 25, 2017
Siuslaw News
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
A legacy of leading with levity and honesty
On my first day of the
SVFR firefighter academy in
2010, Battalion Chief Harry
Moore approached me as I
hurried to don my turnouts
and SCBA in the allotted 90
seconds. I clapped my gloved
hands, signalling that I was
done and stood sucking air
through my respirator.
Harry had stopped timing
me after I hit the two-minute
mark. With a smile on his
face, he patted my shoulder
and said, “The bad news is,
you went way over, Ned. But
the good news is, your time
probably won’t get any
worse.”
Harry always managed to
balance honesty and levity in
a way that reinforced stan-
dards and expectations with-
out ever making you feel
incapable. He had seen and
experienced enough in his
more than 40 years of fire-
fighting that he could relate
to anyone; anticipate the
needs of any situation; and
inspire confidence in every-
one around him.
Whenever we were on
scene, whether it be a house
fire, car accident, injury on
the dunes or brush fire,
knowing Harry was in com-
mand always added extra
confidence to responders
regardless of experience, the
task at hand or even which
emergency service they rep-
resented. Chances were,
Harry had been there and
done that before, in one way
or another, and was already
leaps ahead of the problem,
with plans “A,” “B” and “C”
worked out in his head.
Through his encourage-
ment, I became a qualified
ATV responder, learned to
drive and operate a water ten-
der and was certified as an
engineer for Station 2 —
things I had never imagined
myself doing as a then 44-
year-old firefighting newby.
Over the course of my next
five years as a volunteer, I
got to know Harry beyond
early-morning tapouts and
Tuesday night drills. Living
across the street from his
mother, I also saw the side of
Harry that was doting and
protective as he built things
in and around her home to
help with daily life.
His regular visits with
family were always filled
with warm laughter as
they sat outside, often-
times watching grandkids
in the sprinklers.
Because of the con-
stant energy and enthusi-
asm he had for every-
thing he did, mixed with
his wiry stature, I told
him once that he remind-
ed me of “The Lorax”
from Dr. Seuss — always
walking quickly, with
purpose and a goal in mind.
A smile broadening beneath
his beard and he laughed.
Then he told me to reload
the hose bed. He stopped me
as I leaped to the running
board.
He was just kidding.
But I would’ve done it
happily and without hesita-
tion.
Just because he was
Harry...
Write Siuslaw News editor Ned
Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslaw
news.com or P.O. Box 10, Florence,
Ore. 97439.
LETTERS
A T HANKSGIVING THANK YOU
Helping Hands Coalition sends a big
thank you to The New Life Lutheran
Church and its pastor, Rev. Lori Blake.
The church has opened its arms and has
welcomed us. A big thank you also to
Rev. Carol Thompson and The United
Methodist Church, who were so support-
ive of our work for over a year.
Three times a week, from 12:30 to
1:30 p.m., we serve a hot meal to the
homeless and those on the edge of home-
lessness. Food Share is our neighbor and
they send folks over to us and, in turn,
we let our clients know about the servic-
es of Food Share.
Our big Thanksgiving dinner was
served on Wednesday the 22.
Thank you to TR Hunter for providing
the turkeys.
We could not do this work without the
tremendous work of our volunteers who
are so faithful in giving of their time. In
our new home, we continue our other
services of laundry and shower vouch-
ers, hygiene parcels, mail service, utility
cut-off notices and other help on an indi-
vidual basis.
We are an all-volunteer organization
and encourage volunteers to join us. This
Christmas, we will also be providing a
holiday meal as well as stockings filled
with hygiene products and warm hats
and gloves.
Thank you, Florence, for your sup-
port.
—Lois M. Bass and Helping Hands
Coalition Board
Florence
N EWS STORY PAINTS FALSE ,
DIRE PICTURE
Regarding “Is Coastal Living in
Jeopardy?” Part I: SOS (Nov. 15), while
I appreciate the great deal of effort that
goes into a story of this magnitude, I do
believe that the initial installment pres-
ents a false and dire picture of our
delightful community.
For anyone considering relocating to
Florence this article alone could change
their decision.
We’ve subscribed to the Siuslaw
News for 17 years. Reading favorable
and positive articles in the Siuslaw News
helped convince us this was a great town
in which to spend the rest of our lives. It
was especially enjoyable to see articles
featuring student activities and the many
good things going on in Florence.
When we tell people about Florence,
one of the most important things we say
is that there is a real sense of communi-
ty. This town runs on volunteers, who by
the way are usually over the age of 65.
Having completed successful careers,
their talents are put to use to benefit all
the organizations that provide indispen-
sable services. In the last few months,
articles in the newspaper have focused
less on all the positive aspects of our
community.
Yes, there are homeless people, many
of whom I believe are there by choice.
Many have dogs, smoke cigarettes and
drink alcohol. I personally witnessed a
homeless person, who had just received
a free meal from someone I know, feed-
ing part of it to birds while drinking a
beer.
“Right now, 72 percent of the popula-
tion is above the age of 55,” he (Bob
Teter of SOS) was quoted as saying in
the article, adding, “Economically, a
community cannot sustain on that. You
need a younger generation workforce to
sustain things.”
According to the City of Florence
website, here’s the data: Under age 14:
11.6 percent age 15 to 24 is 8.2 percent;
age 25 to 44 is 15.5 percent; age 45 to 64
is 28.4 percent; age 65 to 75 is 17.2 per-
cent; and age 75 and older is 19.2 per-
cent.
The article also states: “Online real
estate website Trulia showed only seven
properties available for rent in the
Florence area at press time.”
Trulia may be a way to search for
homes for sale, but I certainly don’t think
it’s the best place to find rentals.
The article also mentioned that Teter
and Huenergardt believe, “The vast
majority of individuals in the Siuslaw
region are just one step away from
becoming homeless.”
Stating the vast majority are one step
away from becoming homeless seems
highly exaggerated.
I hope the rest of this continuing series
will include substantiated facts and
praise for the hundreds of volunteers that
make our community great.
—Jacquie Beveridge
Florence
E NCOUNTER WITH A GREAT
HORNED OWL
Last Saturday I had an encounter with
a Great Horned Owl that left me shaken
and has disturbed my sleep.
My grandson and I were headed out to
get him a milkshake at a local drive-
through. I was following him into the
garage and, as I came to the entry door, I
heard a disturbance off to my left.
Turning to look down the breezeway, to
my horror I saw an owl’s face, large
body and talons — which were all com-
ing at me. It took me a minute to react,
and I quickly proceeded into the garage
entry door while screaming at the top of
my lungs.
My screaming scared my daughter,
who was in the house. She opened the
front door to find out what had hap-
pened. I told her to go back in the house
and that I would explain when I returned.
My grandson and I closed the entry door
and got into the car.
When we returned, we quickly went
into the house and my grandson looked
at the tape on our security camera. The
owl was the largest Great Horned Owl I
had ever seen. The only reason that the
owl did not proceed after me was that it
had hit its head on the roof of our breeze-
way and wound up on the walkway next
to the lawn chairs.
Fortunately, the owl left before we
returned from our errand.
My reason for writing this is to warn
others who believe, as I did, that the
predators in this area are ones that move
on the ground. To find a predator that
flies around our area is really pretty
scary.
—Sandra Allison
Florence
F ELIZ NAVIDOG
In my quest for peace and kindness
admist the swirling frenzy of the holi-
day season, I’d like to step away from
the criticisms being directed by some
against our local Humane Society and
say a mighty “thank you” to all who’ve
worked tirelessly over the past weeks
and months and throughout the year to
create the magical, welcoming, beauti-
fully-organized, wonderfully-successful
Humane Society Christmas Store.
I adore dogs and very much appreci-
ate all they have to teach us about love
and tolerance and gratitude. If only we
could learn to treat each other with the
heart of a dog, in spite of our disagree-
ments, what a softer, gentler, more-com-
passionate world it would be.
—Allie LeCaux
Florence
D EBT MORE COMPLICATED
THAN TAX REFORM
It is overly simplistic to attribute job
growth to a particular president and tax
rate adjustments. One would do well to
look at the prior administration, the state
of the economy at inauguration, party in
control of Congress and global factors —
all of which impact the national job cre-
ation rate.
Hoover raised taxes in 1932 and the
economy tanked; Roosevelt raised taxes
in 1937 and the economy tanked; Clinton
raised taxes in 1993 and the economy
performed well coming out of the Bush
recession.
Congress passed a tax cut in 1997 and
the economy grew a full percentage
point faster in Clinton’s second term than
the first.
Fiscal policy is more complicated than
can be explained in a left-media sound
bite.
Congress passes laws.
The President signs them into effect.
During the Reagan administration,
federal receipts grew from $618 billion
to $991 billion (an increase of 60 per-
cent) while outlays grew from $746 bil-
lion to $1144 billion (an increase of 53
percent).
Short version: Lower taxes raised
government revenue.
Our “I want it now” culture has
skewed wealth ratios. The bottom 90
percent hold over 70 percent of all debt.
Growing up, my grandfather counseled
“In God We Trust. All others pay cash.”
—Ian Eales
Florence
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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