4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| MAY 19, 2018
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
The First Amendment
ongress shall make no law respecting an es-
tablishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Gov-
ernment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
Rhody Days: Defi ning Florence as
truly and utterly unique
a sleepy coastal town for three
days each year.
However, being a little
older (fine, a lot older) and
wiser, I've come to realize and
Admittedly, I wasn’t sure
what to make of my first
Rhody Days experience back
in 1981. I was 15 then and a
recent transplant from the Los
Angeles area. Naturally, I was
used to being around large
crowds of people. And thanks
to an older brother who had
been a member of the Hell’s
Angels, I was used to being
around bikers.
But rhododendrons?
I didn’t understand what
that was all about. Or how a
simple flower could be the
catalyst for drawing hundreds
of bikers and thousands of
others to what was essentially
contrasts that exist simultane-
ously and harmoniously for
the next 72 hours is a won-
derful reminder of how our
differences don’t necessarily
From the Editor’s Desk
Ned Hickson
deeply appreciate that strange
juxtaposition that, for a few
days each year, defines
Florence as truly and utterly
unique.
Harley riders and baby
strollers; screaming carnival
rides and quiet appreciation
of art and fauna; late-night
elephant ears and fine dining;
shiny hot rods and backroad
beaters; bands rocking the
house and those dancing to
their own beat — the many
have to divide us.
There’s a photo on my wall
in the office taken a few years
ago. In it, a woman biker clad
in leather and tattoos is hug-
ging a clown. She is beaming,
utterly unable to hide her
excitement over that hug. Her
expression is a mixture of ela-
tion and whimsy, with a touch
of childhood dream mixed in.
To me, it represents what
the Rhododendron Festival is
all about. Sure, it’s a celebra-
tion that distinguishes us as
the second-largest floral
parade on the West Coast,
next to the annual Rose
Parade.
And yes, it allows and
encourages us to particiate in
traditions that remind us of
our community’s history as
well as give us reason to pause
and celebrate the present.
But, perhaps just as impor-
tantly, it also serves as a
reminder of how, under the
right circumstances and a
mutual understanding of why
we’ve come here, we can revel
in the shared experience of
what makes each of us differ-
ent.
Write to Ned Hickson at
nhickson@thesiuslawnews or
c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St.,
Florence, Ore. 97439
LETTERS
We will prevail
“We the people are the rightful mas-
ters of both congress and the courts, not
to overthrow the Constitution but to
overthrow the men who would
pervert the Constitution.”
—Abraham Lincoln
We the people, the patriots, will fi ght
back. We are a republic of the Constitu-
tion and of laws.
Take heart.
We will prevail being led by President
Donald J. Trump.
—Pamela Richardson
Florence
Don’t minimalize
death of millions
Ian Eales’ Letter to the Editor (“Far
Left Is Debasing Good Americans,” May
16) is fi lled with inaccuracies and ques-
tionable statistics.
His letter goes on to make the off en-
sive and ludicrous comparison that NRA
members are suff ering the same vilifi ca-
tion as did the Jews under Hitler.
Really?
NRA members are not being forced
into concentration camps and slave la-
bor and starved to death. Nor are they
being tattooed or sent on death marches
or crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in live-
stock cars and taken to be gassed to death.
To compare the Jews to NRA mem-
bers is to minimize the deaths of millions.
I have no doubt that the majority of
the NRA members are good and loyal
Americans. I do vilify the leaders of the
NRA, who speak with hate and fear. Th ey
use fear to keep their members, while
spending millions to buy the silence of
members of Congress and the president,
and to prevent passage of sensible gun
laws.
Lastly, the letter contains this sentence:
“Th e corrupt media parroted a madman’s
ravings, even though they knew better.”
I found myself pondering whether
he was referring to Hitler or President
Trump and Fox News?
—Marybeth Marenco
Florence
Observe the speed limit
As we approach June and school being
out for the summer, I have some defi nite
concerns. I live on Mitchell Loop Road,
less than two miles south of the bridge.
Even though we live just a few minutes
from town, Mitchell Loop is more like a
“country lane” than the two-lane marked
roads that most drivers are familiar with.
In fact, Mitchell Loop Road dead-ends at
the Girl Scout Camp and Cleawox Lake.
Defi nitely a rural road.
Although we have a fenced in yard to
keep Ernie, our Golden Retriever, safe
and off the road, most folks out here
don’t. We have dogs, cats and many kids
who live out here. Th e kids ride scoot-
ers, skate boards, play with balls and walk
back and forth from one friend’s house to
another.
Th ere are young kids playing in the
road, especially on weekends, holidays
and during summer vacation.
Th e posted speed is clearly marked as
25 mph less about 500 feet aft er turning
onto Mitchell Loop.
My concern is that the biggest off end-
ers who defi nitely go much faster than
the posted speed are the people we love
most to see driving up our driveways: Th e
package delivery trucks. Keep in mind
that the big gravel trucks and small cars
are also guilty of driving that road much
too fast.
So I’m asking ... no pleading with all
drivers, especially of delivery vehicles, to
slow down and observe posted speeds ev-
erywhere. Th ey are there for a good rea-
son. It would be awful to hit someone’s
dog or cat, but much worse if you hit
someone’s child; the outcome could result
in a child’s death.
Could you live with that? Is it really
worth the minute or two you might save
by speeding?
Let’s all of us enjoy the upcoming
summer vacation months, as well as the
weekends and aft er school, and drive
whatever the posted speed is on any road.
Hopefully it will prevent a horrifi c ac-
cident.
—Gail Katz Hanson
Florence
Do something to keep
families together
I know that many people who fought
in World War II have died and a lot of us
have forgotten what they were fi ghting
for, or are too young to really have ever
known.
Th ey were fi ghting against something
like this: Th e separation of children from
their parents and the institutionalization
of both.
At Auschwitz, Buchenwald and
Dachau, three of Hitler’s more infamous
concentration camps, family members
were routinely separated from each oth-
er and atrocities perpetrated against
both groups. A common fate, slaughter
en masse, awaited most, whether by the
gas chamber, being shot over an open pit
grave or simply being shoved in and bur-
ied alive.
Now I hear that our president, as part
of his policy towards people fl eeing to
our country, is planning to separate the
children from the parents and house the
children at military bases. We as a nation,
if for no other reason than to honor those
World War II veterans who liberated the
camps but cannot speak for themselves
anymore, have got to do something to
stop this policy from ever being imple-
mented.
While I’m not sure what we should do,
I do know we need to start the conversa-
tion.
—Ivy Medow
Florence
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Ned H ickson
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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
Oregon 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
(4th 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@
oregonlegislature.gov
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