SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2018
Region
from 1A
“He’d been applying all over,
but all the companies in town
just weren’t hiring,” Campbell
continued. “He had to write a
letter that went to the board.
They had a lot of meetings.
Everybody within 200 miles
within where we live said, ‘Oh
you need a job, come work
here.’ But nobody ever came
through until he wrote this let-
ter to the board and said, ‘Look,
I tried but no one in town wants
me. They need employees, but
they don’t want me. I’m trying
my best.’”
Vanduch eventually found a
plumbing job in Eugene, but
that brought its own issues.
“He was working for a com-
pany in Eugene, and I just had a
baby. He would leave at 4:30 in
the morning and come home at
10 at night. By then I had three
kids and was working four days
a week at a restaurant,”
Campbell said. “That might
have been the hardest year. You
just know that you’re doing it
for … a better life. And that’s
just what kind of kept us
going.”
Soon, the two were able to
buy their own plumbing com-
pany.
“We’re localized. We own
our own company and we work
in Florence. We’re doing all
right,” Campbell said. “The
problem right now is that we’re
really, really busy. We have no
employees. And we have no
one who wants to stay. No one
wants to work. It’s impossible
to find employees.”
Like others in the Siuslaw
region, West Lane Plumbing
has a hard time finding reliable
workers, even when the compa-
ny has work lined up. For
Campbell, it means she does the
office work, but sometimes has
to help on calls. She regrets this
because West Lane Plumbing
was able to employ two
plumbers when it was just get-
ting started, but both employees
are gone now.
“Sometimes I’m setting toi-
lets or crawling under houses or
digging ditches. Between rais-
ing three kids and dealing with
plumbing, my own job, the
paperwork for the company,
answering the phone and doing
the billing … When he springs
it on me, ‘Oh, nobody showed
up today, can you help me dig
this ditch, it’s got to get done.’
It’s like, ‘Um, I have 15 loads
of laundry and a sink full of
dishes and 12 people to call
back.’ And that’s the biggest
struggle right now. Juggling
time.”
Now that the kids are grow-
ing up — they have a 17-year-
old daughter, an 11-year-old
son and a four-year-old son —
Campbell is getting another
view of the Siuslaw as the three
go through school and navigate
life in a small town.
“It’s not like our kids are
close in age and I can condense
my day around them,”
Campbell said. “The oldest is in
sports and she travels all over.
And she as a job and a driver’s
license. The middle boy just
kind of wants to take every-
thing he touches apart, and he’s
often covered in grease or dirt
or something. And the youngest
is hilarious and super active.
They kind of have me spread
out in different directions.”
However, she has noticed
that her kids have a hard time
staying interested in school.
“I loved all my teachers
growing up, which is what
drove me to do well. I don’t feel
like that’s necessarily the case
here. Not to say that the teach-
“Is Coastal Living
in Jeopardy?”
This series covers the current hous-
ing and employment crisis facing the
Siuslaw region. Through in-depth
interviews with government offi-
cials, volunteer organizations, prop-
erty managers and employers, the
series examines the problems facing
the region, the solutions that the
community is working on and what
the community can do to help.
ers are bad teachers. I just think
that my kids are not engaged in
the same way.”
Campbell is not sure why her
kids aren’t as engaged. Perhaps
it’s their personalities. Perhaps
it’s the lack of programs at the
school, cut by funding decreas-
es. Whatever the case may be,
getting her kids interested in
school will lead them on a pos-
itive track for the future,
Campbell believes. That may or
may not include college, and
may or not include the Siuslaw
region.
“Parents are the best exam-
ples for kids. Neither of us went
to college so they don’t feel like
that’s important. I just don’t
think my kids get the concept
that they can do whatever they
want. You’re always told that as
a kid. But only now that I’m
almost 40, I’m like, ‘Oh, I real-
ly could have done whatever I
wanted.’ And I could still, prob-
ably today, if I set my mind to
it.”
Campbell wants her kids to
at least look at options outside
the area, even if they eventually
move back home.
“The area definitely has its
own heartbeat,” she said. “Most
people I talk to that have lived
here move back. And I hear
from everyone that they love
Florence. They are moving
from California or wherever
and say, ‘We’ve driven all over
and we just like Florence.’
Which to me is always interest-
ing.”
FRAA ART CENTER
120 Maple Street
Phone: 541-997-4435
Hours Open: Wed-Fri noon-5pm,
Sat 10am-5pm, Sun. noon-5pm
Classes, Workshops & Events
Saturday, February 17th, 1:30-4:30 pm
Learn the art of felting making a coin
purse. Bring a shank button; other
material provided. Pre-registration
required at FRAA.
FRAA February Display in the
Siuslaw Library
Bring a piece of your 2D and 3D (wired to
hang) artwork to the Library on Thursday,
February 1st, from 10 am - 12 noon.
Open Studio @ FRAA, Thursdays
No registration required. Drop-in, bring
your materials, and create. All artistic
mediums welcome.
Every Thursday, 1-4
Whimsical Hand Building
Ceramics w/ Alissa Clark
Wednesdays, 3-5 pm & Thursdays, 6-8 pm
Open Lab Ceramics on Saturdays
Drop in, work at own pace. Sat 12-5 pm
All ceramics classes held at Alissa’s
Studio. 180 Laurel Street. Call Alissa with
questions: 503-857-5222
Nov. 15: SOS
Nov. 22: State of housing
Nov. 29: How we got here
Dec. 6: Time to step up
Dec. 13: Volunteer economy
Dec. 27: Jobs and workforce
Jan. 3: Economic development
Jan. 10: Education
Jan. 17: Conclusion: Life in the
Siuslaw region
The series is available online at thesiuslawnews.com, or in print by request.
Its Own Heartbeat
One of those people who
moved away and came back is
Ellen
Huntingdon,
who
returned to Florence after
attending college abroad in
Tokyo. She has since estab-
lished herself as the marketing
coordinator at Oregon Pacific
Bank and as the chairwoman
for Florence Area Chamber of
Commerce’s
Downtown
Revitalization Team (DRT).
“I think the area has changed,
even in the almost five years
NEW! Beginning Felting with
Ginny Kliever
Series List
Writers on the River - Creative
Writing Workshop with
Catherine Rourke
2018 Annual Writers Boot Camp
Jump start your writing for the new year!
Sat., January 20, 2018 10 am - 12 noon
All writing levels and genres, $20/
members, $25/non-members. Contact:
CJReditor@gmail.com , 541-708-2120
Big Wave Poetry 1st Tuesday
Open Mic
February 6th at 6:30 pm. Admission is
free and refreshments will be available.
Next Art Change-Out Day
Monday, March 12th, 9-11 am
Please pick up your artwork and bring
something new to help keep the art at
FRAA fresh to our visitors.
I’ve been here since I finished
college,” Huntingdon said.
“When I first came back, I saw
a lot of kids who, after they
graduated high school, got jobs
in town, which was a great
option. Then, in the last couple
of years, students I went to
school with have been coming
back to Florence. I feel like
that’s almost an upward trend.
The hard part is finding housing
or decent jobs, which is what
this is all about. There’s defi-
nitely the desire for younger
people to move back to
Florence, we just need to make
sure there’s options for them to
be able to live and work here.”
Through her work on DRT,
Huntingdon has tried to bring
more focus to small businesses
and the City of Florence’s
upcoming work to revitalize the
Florence Urban Renewal
District, which encompasses
Old Town, Highway 101 from
the Siuslaw River Bridge to
Ninth Street, and Highway 126
from its intersection with
Highway 101 east to Spruce
Street. The main component of
this
is
the
ReVision
Streetscaping Project, which is
set to begin in earnest this
spring.
“I’m really hopeful for the
City of Florence,” Huntingdon
said. “We’re all moving in the
right direction. I think ReVision
is going to be a great opportuni-
ty that is going to make
Florence an even better attrac-
tion and increase the quality of
living for people who are
local.”
Huntingdon is uniquely posi-
tioned to see areas of growth
from serving on DRT and work-
ing at Oregon Pacific Bank,
which has a culture that pro-
motes volunteering and com-
munity service.
“I see a lot more young peo-
ple here,” she said. “I went
down to do the trick-or-treating
in Old Town this year, since I
have a niece now, and I was
amazed that there were so many
young people and families with
kids. The streets were just
packed. Then we went down for
the Christmas celebration and
to see Santa. … There are defi-
nitely people in town who want
to be here and enjoy living in
Florence. I think people are
gravitating toward places that
have quality of life, rather than
just having the best high-paying
job.
“It would be nice if we could
offer both.”
Florence City Councilor
Joshua Greene has worked with
the city and Florence Urban
Renewal on the upcoming
ReVision project. He also has a
small business, The Archives,
which restores and markets the
iconic work of photographer
Milton H. Greene, who is
famous for his photos of
Marilyn Monroe and other stars
of the Golden Age of
Hollywood.
“I would like to see more
small businesses in Florence
like ours, quite frankly,”
Greene said. “I think the gener-
al reason why we don’t attract
younger people who do things
online, which is what I really
am, is we don’t have that demo-
graphic here. I’m 63. I fit into
the retirement scenario. But 20,
30 or 40-year-olds who want to
have their business online, they
want a hipper area. They’re not
here, and we’re trying to attract
those people. I believe that’s the
wave of the next generation.”
Successes such as Siuslaw
Broadband and Hyak’s fiber-
optic network project could
make online businesses more
attractive and more viable in
the Siuslaw region.
“They are going to need fiber
and online capability for their
functionality,” Greene said.
“There’s a call for these types
of businesses, whether it’s pho-
tography, graphics or gaming.
All those things can be done
from remote locations. I think
we’re going to attract those
businesses here.”
Huntingdon said, “The main
thing to focus on for young
Florence Food Share
would like to thank the
Cow Creek Umpqua Indian
Foundation for granting
funds toward the purchase
of toilet paper and personal
hygiene products for our
clients. We are so grateful
that Cow Creek recognized
this essential need and so
happy that we will be able
to provide these products to
our clients for the next year.
Thank you CCUIF!!!
Painting with John Leasure
Saturdays 9 am - 12 pm
Contact: jnleasure@hotmail.com or
541-991-2754 for details and fees.
Oil Painting with Michael Wood
Wednesdays 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Contact: fmwood@msn.com for fees and
more information.
For more information about classes, visit fraaoregon.org. To register for
these classes, please call or visit FRAA at our art center on Maple Street.
www.TheSiuslawNews.com
7 A
people is getting more busi-
nesses that stay open a little
later. We’re already seeing that
with things that Homegrown is
doing, or with City Lights
Cinemas. There are businesses
that are catering to a younger
crowd.”
“As we get more and more
younger people moving here,
more and more services will be
catering to them,” Greene
added. “More restaurants will
have different food menus.”
These elements work to
make the area “hipper,” as
Greene said, or at least more
accessible to people who keep
odd hours or who want to
socialize in a setting that fits
their demographic.
“Now more than ever, there
is a place to have small busi-
nesses here,” Greene said.
“Whether it’s a product-driven
business or a service business, I
think that online is going to be a
key factor, just like having a
thriving highway. With the
rebuild of Highway 101, I’m
optimistic we’re going to attract
new investment and develop-
ment, and Florence is going to
grow up a little bit in a positive
way. It’s coming. I sense it
coming more and more now.”
Huntingdon agreed.
“I’m hopeful about the future
and I think we’re in a good path
for growth and development,”
she said.
Growing Up In A
Positive Way
A lot of the area’s drive for
future growth comes from the
residents themselves. In addi-
tion, those people created the
Siuslaw Vision — which came,
in its entirety, out of communi-
ty support and interest.
Siuslaw Vision 2025 Co-
Chair Meg Spencer said, “One
thing that stood out again and
again within the region was the
level of agreement around
needing a vision. I’ve never
been part of a visioning process
like this, even from doing the
strategic plan for the library.
Something like this is so unusu-
al. I think that’s part of why this
got so much momentum. There
happened to be a lot of need,
and need tends to drive action.
It was a time of transition, a
time of change.”
The Ford Institute held an
alumni celebration in 2014 to
commemorate a rural leader-
ship training it had held in the
past. It reunited nonprofit and
governmental leaders, volun-
teers and engaged community
members from throughout
western Lane County, who real-
ized it was time for a shared
vision to bring together the
community.
“At the time, there was new
leadership in town and new
leadership at The Ford Institute,
but there were also people who
had been here and already had
seen how far the region had
come. I think it was just a real
synergy,” Spencer said.
Susy Lacer, a grant profes-
sional and Florence City
Councilor, currently serves as a
part-time coordinator for the
Siuslaw Vision.
“There’s power in the Vision.
It was a grassroots effort from
the beginning and remains
grassroots. It is entirely com-
munity-led work,” she said.
“The things that are happening
now are because they are
important to the community
members, who are willing to
step up. We provide enough of a
framework, a little bit of sup-
port, encouragement, validation
and those things, but it’s entire-
ly community led.”
This grassroots group formed
from 1,200 community mem-
bers realizing that the Siuslaw
region needed one common,
unifying theme as it moved for-
ward into the next 10 years. Of
course, there are things
Florence struggles with that
Dunes City doesn’t; Mapleton
and Siuslaw school districts
have separate needs; Upriver
communities like Deadwood
may not have a lot in common
with Old Town Florence. But
the 18,000 people who make up
the region have more similari-
ties than differences, especially
in regard to
See
REGION 8A
