10A | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS
CHAMBER from page 1A
For Hannigan, the chamber
is all about “making the circle
bigger” and “moving forward to-
gether.” By partnering with other
communities, organizations and
chamber members, the chamber
leverages the maximum amount
of resources to support local busi-
nesses, grow the economy and
bring in outside money. In the
past year, tourism revenue has
brought $136.9 million into the
Siuslaw region.
“Our community really does an
amazing job — and the chamber
is part of that, our city is part of
that and our people are the big-
gest part of that. People come to
vacation here because they want
an authentic experience. They get
that in Florence, and they meet
the nicest people they’ve ever
met,” Hannigan said.
The event’s special guest was
Springfield Area Chamber of
Commerce President and CEO
Vonnie Mikkelsen.
“My favorite people are cham-
ber community folks,” Mikkelsen
said. “We’re hardworking, solu-
tion seeking, problem solving and
change making. Most important
of all, we’re just darn good people
doing pretty remarkable things.”
“We can do hard things” is one
of her favorite sayings, so she in-
vented the term “Can-Do-Hard-
Thingers” to describe the people
who help communities such as
Florence.
“Chambers of commerce are
the go-to pool for communities,”
Mikkelsen said. “You are action
seeking, game changing, solution
seeking, champions of commu-
nity development. You can do,
because you are Can-Do-Hard-
Thingers.”
Mikkelsen, Hannigan and
2017-18 Chamber Board Presi-
dent Bobby Jensen gave parting
gifts to outgoing members of the
chamber board: Jenna Bartlett,
Tom Basset, Jennifer Connor,
CELEBRATION from page 1A
There will also be activities
to “draw in families,” Waggon-
er said, such as kid activities,
live music, entertainment and
an art table to create designs
with a local painted rocks art
project.
“We’re hoping to have BJ’s
ice cream and cake — because
that makes a party,” Waggoner
said.
Florence Mayor Joe Henry
said, “This is an exciting pre-
sentation on our 125th birth-
day as a city. … But we also
get to talk about the Oregon
Mayor’s Conference, which,
through a lot of hard work on
the part of our staff, we were
able to bid on and get to come
to Florence this year.”
The Oregon Mayors Asso-
ciation Summer Conference
will be held July 26 to 28 in
Florence, with events at the
Florence Events Center and
Driftwood Shores Resort. The
League of Oregon Cities es-
timates about 60 mayors and
their spouses come to this an-
nual event.
“The mayors will be here
that week for the Oregon May-
or’s Conference, and they will
be invited to our block par-
ty,” Messmer said. “You’ll see
representatives from cities all
across Oregon there, and we
are very excited to have them
all at this event.”
She added that “the coast is
a very good draw” for the con-
ference, and that the confer-
ence room block at Driftwood
Shores already has a good
amount of reservations.
Moving forward, Florence
City Council will vote to ap-
prove the street closure at the
next council meeting in July.
“It’s a Friday night, and there
are some businesses down
there that will be in operation
and have clients and custom-
ers coming, so we are creating
some literature to take to them
to work to preserve access,”
Messmer said.
Through it all, the City of
Florence hopes to keep the
event positive as it reflects on
the history of the area and its
people and plans for the fu-
ture.
“We’re excited,” Messmer af-
firmed. “125 years is a lot.”
Dee Osborne and Robbie Wright.
The board members have
served on the board for anywhere
from less than a term to eight
years for Bartlett.
“Jenna has been the one to walk
me through the whole entire ex-
perience of being on the board
and my presidency,” Jensen said.
“She is such a special person to
this community, and we need to
give her a very big round of ap-
plause.”
The evening also signaled the
end of Jensen’s term as president.
He will now serve on the board as
past president while Russ Pierson
fills the role of president.
The Florence Area Chamber of
Commerce Board of Directors for
2018-19 consists of:
• President Russ Pierson
• Past President Bobby Jensen Jr.
• President Elect Nancy Bosket
• Secretary Shauna Robbers
• Director Martin Alletson –
returning
• Director Lynda Colter-Bergh
– new
• Director Rich Colton –
appointed by the board in May
2018
• Director Neil Ecker – new
• Director Janet Engel – new
• Director Susy Lacer – new
• Director Dan Lofy – returning
“Being on the board, you get to
work with Florence’s finest,” Jen-
sen said. “Those are the people
who make the chamber great.”
As Mikkelsen welcomed the
new board members to the stage,
Hannigan presented them with a
special gift, a small plant.
“To thrive, one needs water,
a balance of life and nutrients,”
Mikkelsen said. “You need to
tend, prune and enjoy to grow. …
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
We are so blessed that you choose
to serve on our board.”
Each board member got a dif-
ferent plant with a variety of puns
and jokes included.
“Russ, you are a sup-herb
choice as the new president of
our board,” Mikkelsen read. “A
sincere thank you for your lead-
ership and service.”
Pierson made a small presenta-
tion to end the evening.
“We need to work together to
ensure that when we gather next
year, we have found ways to not
just survive, but thrive. The best
way to do that is together. …
Most any chamber focuses on
parties, parades and pageants. …
But we want to do more,” he said.
He offered the words “catalyst,
convener and champion” as new
things to focus on.
“Each of our members are the
winners, and we’re your cham-
pions. The chamber staff, volun-
teers and boards are your cham-
pions. We’re the ones aiding you
along the way and highlighting
your successes,” he said. “We are
champions not only of individual
businesses ... but as we champion
our entire community to make
the Siuslaw region a community
we can all be proud of.”
Both Hannigan and Pierson
talked of one challenge for busi-
nesses in the year ahead, as the
ReVision Florence Streetscap-
ing Project begins in August and
completely changes the Highway
101 corridor from Highway 126
south to the Siuslaw River Bridge.
“It’s a little bit of good news
and a little bit of lemonade as this
streetscaping project starts here
in August,” Hannigan said, refer-
encing the “When life gives you
lemons, make lemonade” prov-
erb. “It’s going to be difficult, but
we can do hard things. If we can
do it together, we’ll get through it
together.”
Pierson echoed this.
“All of us are better when we’re
doing things together,” he said.
“Your chamber of commerce is
up to the challenge. We can come
out of this year having enhanced
our brand as Oregon’s Coastal
Playground. We can have stron-
ger member businesses and
more businesses than ever com-
mitted to our common purposes
as chamber members reaching
across every business sector and
reaching every age group, from
millennials and their children on
up to the greatest generation. …
“We’re all collaborators in
building the local economy and
constructing the destiny of Flor-
ence and the entire Siuslaw re-
gion. Thank you, all of you Can-
Do-Hard-Thingers.”
During the meeting, Hannigan
also shared some good news
about the chamber’s upcoming
Fourth of July Fireworks. The
show will again be in Histor-
ic Old Town Florence, with the
fireworks launched from a barge
on the Siuslaw River.
Thanks to a generous dona-
tion from Banner Bank, Han-
nigan said the fireworks display
would be “better than ever” as it
will be synchronized to music.
Banner Bank Branch Manager
Dee Osborne said the bank’s re-
cent remodel to include a com-
munity room led to the dona-
tion.
Central Lincoln PUD is cur-
rently occupying the space as
an office, and offered a rent of
$5,000. Banner Bank accepted
the money in order to pay it back
into the community.
“Thank you PUD for paying
rent to us so we were able to do-
nate it,” Osborne said.
“What an amazing commu-
nity that we live in,” Hannigan
agreed.
The Chamber Annual Report
event was sponsored by Dar-
ci Clark – Keller Williams Real
Estate and Windermere Real Es-
tate/Lane County.
In addition, the chamber rec-
ognized its corporate and dis-
tinguished sponsors, volunteers,
Chamber Ambassadors and gui-
tarist Denny Weaver.
“We couldn’t do this without
our team,” Hannigan said.