The Siuslaw news., July 25, 2018, WEDNESDAY EDITION, Page 7A, Image 7

SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018 | 7A
POWER from page 1A
“Wait till all the bubbles are on
the top, and then you flip ‘em,”
Rosie instructed. “But you don’t
flip ‘em before, because it falls
apart. You have to be patient.”
Just as the pancake got to the
right amount of fluff and gold-
en brown texture, she flipped the
pancake on a porcelain plate and
handed it out to those waiting to
begin their day of work for the
Power of FLorence.
Without a hint of dough inside,
it really was the perfect pancake.
Z EN W EEDING
Julie Rassmann and Karen Per-
ry have been at this for years. The
Power of Florence pros have been
beautifying the tennis courts and
surrounding park area on 35th
Street since the event began eight
years ago. This project is led by the
Delta Gamma organization.
The pair’s specialty has been the
weeds surrounding the parks sign.
“Each year, it’s been less and
less,” Julie said. “This year there
are far fewer weeds than there have
been in the past.”
The two had different approach-
es to getting rid of the weeds, Julie
by hand, Karen with a stand-up
weed zinger.
“It’s either standing or sitting
and scooting,” Julie said. “There’s
no middle ground.”
Karen’s approach is better for
the taller weeds, like dandelions,
they said.
“You just get right on top of a
weed like this, push down, and
it pulls it out,” she said. “And if it
doesn’t, you just go back and do it
again. And again. And again.”
Julie took a more aggressive ap-
proach.
“Some people wear gloves, but I
don’t because they just bother me,”
she explained. “I can’t feel. You
dig under, find the root and yank.
You’ve got to get the root. If you’re
going to do it, go for it.”
There’s no fast way to weed. If
there was, they would have found
it by now, the two suggested. Even
spraying won’t take care of them.
“Weeding is an ongoing thing,”
Julie said. “It’s sort of like house-
work. No end. The secret to weed-
ing is just being diligent, and en-
joying it.”
Karen added, “And doing it with
a friend helps.”
Generally, Julie weeds on her
own, at home in her yard. She stat-
ed there was just something about
weeding that she found enjoyable,
especially being outside and pay-
ing attention to detail.
“I’m a detail person anyway,” she
said. “And you are just kind of in
this calm, Zen zone. I don’t know
what else to call it. It’s just yourself
and nature. Zen weeding.”
“It’s just you versus the weeds,”
Karen said — and one of them
would go down by the end of the
day.
“You can really take out aggres-
sion on these weeds,” Julie added.
“You have to focus and get in
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Siuslaw Pioneer Museum
Presents
A Collection of Fabric Woven by
Alice Peckham of Swisshome
and a demonstration of the antique 4-harness fl oor
loom used in the Peckham family for 3 generations.
A 4-harness direct tie-up counterbalance 1951 Allen Loom,
built-in Milwaukie, Oregon, and woven on by three generations
of the Peckham family of Mapleton, was donated to the Pioneer
Museum by Peckham with the hope that “[real words involving
inspiring others to weave if I remember right].”
Th e warping process will continue every Saturday at the museum
(noon to four) until the job is done and weaving commences. All
weavers are welcome to come and help or share ideas, including (1)
what we could do next and (2) what commitment we can collectively
make to assure that the loom remains an active, interactive, part of
our community. Th at four-hour window off ers a good opportunity
for Florence area weavers to get to know each other.
Spinners, there is room on the same fl oor of the Pioneer Museum
to bring your spinning wheels to share your craft and maybe inspire
some new spinners too. Th e museum has a few spinning wheels,
none near operational.
278 Maple St, Florence, OR 97439
(541) 997-7884
have to deal with other humans.
It’s just you and your buddy, taking
a walk. It’s the best thing Florence
has to offer.”
For Brett, taking care of the area
is something that everyone needs
to volunteer to do. He looked at
the group of people surrounding
him, discovering for themselves
the secrets of the valleys hidden
in the dunes. Did they disturb the
peace and quiet of the land?
“I think that’s great,” he said.
PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON AND CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
“I’m happy to have them out in my
backyard. It’s all of our backyard.”
As for the location of the secret
valley? It’s some point north of
Joshua Lane and Nautilus Court,
somewhere beyond the east fence
and beyond the dunes.
If you do find yourself venturing
out into the dunes to find it, make
sure you take out some Scotch
the rhythm,” Karen explained. Delta Gamma,” Karen said. “They cut down or sheer off the invasive broom along the way.
“You’re just focusing on that at the would both come out and help weeds that have taken over the
moment and nothing else. Unless weed as well. So it’s fun, that tra- dunes over the decades.
L ONG D AY
Brett Madsen’s tool of choice
dition.”
we’re joking.”
Kale Jensen looked tired from a
And it’s a tradition that’s being was a lopper.
And they joke a lot. They don’t
long day’s work.
He was attacking a mature
share one-liners, as it isn’t standup. passed down from generation to
The fourth-grade going on
Generally, the jokes involve Julie generation, each one helping the Scotch broom. Loud cracks, snaps fifth-grader had been working
and creaks fill the air as Brett alongside a group of Siuslaw High
scooting around the ground awk- other keep going.
“Having the community getting twisted and pulled of the branches. School Interact Club members, the
wardly, and Karen breaking out
“We just need to get to the mid- youth branch of the Rotary Club
out and working for the better-
into laughter.
“It’s just a funny moment that ment of the whole community is dle of this plant, so I just plan to of Florence, digging up weeds and
you’re sharing with each other,” very special,” Julie said. “You don’t work my way in,” he said. “It’s actu- laying down bark at the school’s
see that in every city, even small ally fairly tough stuff, which is why driveway entrance on Oak Street.
Julie said.
it does so well.”
The pair have found that discov- ones.”
It was just before noon; the sun
Brett explained that Scotch was out. The wind had been kick-
It’s kind of Zen.
ering friends and good humor is
broom seeds last 20 years, and the ing in quite a bit and gave Kale a
easy when everyone gets together
real goal is to cut down the seed whiplash of bursts of cold wind
S ECRET V ALLEY
to volunteer.
“Watch out for bee hives,” said production as much as possible.
“We get the occasional help-
mixed with the hot sun.
“We have to take these grandfa-
er that we don’t know, and they Bill Blackwell from Travel Lane
Kale had been doing a lot of rak-
just come to help us,” Karen said. Oregon. “They’re underneath the thers out, and pull out the young ing.
“Which is fun, getting to know ground and it’s not worth getting seeds,” he said.
“Well, we’re doing Power of
After lopping off the branches, Florence where we’re making the
somebody else in the community. stung.”
Bill was talking to a diverse all that’s left is a small stub of ex- place better and fixing it,” was how
They saw us working and came
group of volunteers just outside posed wood, but he doesn’t bother he described his mission.
and join us.”
It’s that spirit of camaraderie the Heceta Dunes that included digging out the entire shrub. It will
Right now, he was working on
that’s made the Power of Florence people from Eugene, Portland and die on its own, he said.
spreading the bark.
Brett comes out to these dunes
such an important part of the Mapleton. There was even one fel-
The day had been winding
low from Wales.
four or five times a week, some- down, and now it was time to
community.
The crowd held a large variety times to get rid of the invasive make sure all the bark was even.
“The person who started it,
Kaylee Graham, her mom is a of heavy cutting tools: shovels, weeds, but mostly to enjoy the Kale took his rake, smoothed out
member of Delta Gamma, and her bush axes, pruning saws and grass splendor.
the bark and then used his foot to
“I’m out here today because this pound it into the ground.
grandmother was a member of shears. They were there to dig up,
is literally our backyard,” he said.
“You have to make it level,” he
“Watching the scotch broom eat said. “You push and pull until it
the dunes slowly is too sad for me, makes it level, so it looks flat.”
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so I need to step in. If you look
This wasn’t Kale’s first go-
back what was here 50 years ago, around with yardwork. He spoke
We are now ACCEPTING PATIENTS!
all of this was sand. And to look at of a time when he moved into his
the pictures today, at that change, new house in Florence, where the
I would just like to get it back to front yard was nothing but sand
what it used to be and what it al- and trees.
ways did.”
“We just dug up trees and the
To Brett, removing Scotch roots, and put them into a pile,”
broom was very personal. If you he said. “Then we burned the trees
had a bunch of weeds in your back and stuff, and got the sand, leveled
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yard, wouldn’t you go out to re- it all out and planted the grass.”
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His favorite time spent outside
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“We explore all the back trails, teering. It gives him a chance to
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and all the byways and highways work with his hands.
that nobody else finds,” he said.
“I love things like that,” he said.
His favorite place is an area he “Just like making birdhouses and
calls the secret valley, a deep valley structures. My brother made a
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at the high school.”
When asked where the exact lo-
Kale is looking forward to get-
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cation of the valley, he said, “Well, ting to high school himself, even-
it wouldn’t be secret, would it?”
Dentures
tually. He’s a bit apprehensive
“Good answer!” another volun- about middle school, but high
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Of course, he’s not there yet, but
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Monday-Thursday
gems is what makes Florence spe- he’s preparing the place for when
~ William Foster, LD
cial to Brett.
he finally arrives.
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When asked if he was having
fun, he held the rake tightly and
looked at the mounds of bark he
had in front of him. He sighed,
smiled, and simply said, “Yes.”
Kale Jensen was tired.
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A PPLE P IE
The west end of the Florence
Events Center was packed full
of people, sitting and conversing
while digging into freshly made
pies and chilled ice cream.
They were there for the annual
Ice Cream Social, held by the Van
Fans, in what has become the de
facto end of the Power of Florence.
Weary volunteers from a hard
day’s work, along with those who
were just looking for a tasty treat,
lined up patiently to pick out their
favorite pie from the many volun-
teers who handed out the sweet
confections.
One of those volunteers is San-
di Hennig. It’s her job to cut and
hand out the multiple variety of
available pies.
“A lot of cherry is going right
now,” Sandi said, looking down
the multiple empty pie pans. “And
many people, bless their hearts,
made pecan pies. We also have
some blueberry, but it’s mostly pe-
can pies.”
See POWER page 8A