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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2018)
8A | SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS COMMUNITY from page 1A Henry continued, “This is what a small town is all about — and especially thanks to our community members for their support of our police depart- ment and the city.” Besides the Florence Police Department, which hosted and planned the event, other first response agencies also attend- ed, including the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians Police De- partment, Oregon State Police, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue, Western Lane Ambulance Dis- trict and U.S. Coast Guard Sta- tion Siuslaw River. In addition, Florence Community PTA, Siu- slaw School Board Bond Advi- sory Committee, Siuslaw Public Library, the Siuslaw Vision 2020, Siuslaw Outreach Services, Siu- slaw Youth Soccer Association, Kiwanis Club of Florence and more also led activities and shared information. “You had organizations like the Siuslaw Public Library and the Vision mixed in with a bounce house and a giant slide,” Gorder said. “You could target those families and talk to the parents about the organization while their kid was on the in- flatable. It gave a really good moment for local businesses and nonprofits to work with com- munity members.” The activities were spread out around Miller Park, with giant inflatables drawing youth and families to explore nearly every corner. This was partly to place the inflatables near power sources and away from irrigation lines. “We did do it a little bit on pur- pose, too, to give people those opportunities to go around to see everything,” Gorder said. Mixed in with the attendees were representatives from Flor- ence Police Department, includ- ing Commander John Pitcher, who could be seen trying sever- al of the games and competing against the kids. “I got beat at the soccer kick twice,” Pitcher said. “I’m very happy with the event. It turned out great.” “Our city and our police de- partment made sure that all of our officers were there — all of them, even dispatchers and our Police Employee Association,” Gorder said. PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN AND CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS Florence Police Department’s National Night Out on Aug. 7 brought together donors, volunteers and community mem- bers to celebrate police-neighbor- hood partnerships. It was a chance for residents to interact with the police in a pos- itive, community-focused event. Everyone ate the same meal. Ev- eryone got the same opportuni- ties. “When you have Rhody Days and the carnival, some people can’t go to that,” Pitcher said. “They can’t afford for their kids to go there and spend hours there. Here, everybody got ex- actly the same thing. They had access to everything, including face painting and all the bouncy houses. There was no discrim- ination or difference between what their parents had.” Gorder added, “It was just a level playing field and everyone was equal. We heard families talking to each other about that, and how nice it was because it felt like a carnival for their kids without them having to worry about the expense.” Expense could have been a concern for the police depart- ment, since Chief Tom Turner approved Florence’s involve- ment in National Night Out only a couple months ago. “We didn’t have this planned in the budget,” Gorder said. That wasn’t a problem for Florence. Pitcher said, “Our communi- ty steps up. When we first put out a request that we were go- ing to need some financial help and volunteers, they just started coming in.” The first donors approached the department just days after Turner presented the possibility of the event to the Florence City Council. According to Gorder, Dr. Charles Korando contacted her the first week. Along with Jon Thompson and a few others, they offered to pay the entirety of the cost for the hamburgers and hot dogs. “It was the people,” she said. “Altogether, we received over $4,500 in donations. … When word got out from the initial press release in the paper, it was just an outpour from communi- ty members who said, ‘If you’re doing this, what can we do to help?’ … It just took off from there.” People donated time, money and service to help launch the event, as well as to provide priz- es and raffles on the night. “They said, ‘I want to,’” Pitcher said. Gorder gave the example of community member Katie Prosser, who invited Peace- Health employees who work with anesthetics to join the vol- unteers. “There were five of them, and it wasn’t through PeaceHealth,” Gorder said. “It was Katie reach- ing out, saying, ‘My husband and his coworkers really want to help support this. What can they do?’ … It worked out that they knew Mayor Henry and RJ Food Backpack for Kids Extend Your Support We thank our donors for their ongoing fi nancial support. You make a diff erence now, but have you considered having your gift s continue aft er your lifetime? To help with the continuation of our important work, feeding children at-risk-for- hunger during the school-year weekends, consider remembering us in your will or living trust. Consider a gift of a life insurance policy naming us as the benefi ciary. You can choose several ways to coninue your generous fi nancial support in the future and create a lasting legacy with Food Backpack for Kids. For more information, at no charge to you, please call Linda at 541.997.6004 Oregon Pacifi c Bank - Sponsor-paid advertisement Pilcher and I could have eight of them help with food — four on the grill, and they could rotate out if they needed to.” Florence Police Department personnel and their families also helped. “Besides organizations, there were an additional 30 commu- nity members who said, ‘Here I am, here’s my name, put me where you need me,’” Gorder said. “For a community our size, it sounded like we were doing something right.” “Please say how much we ap- preciate and we thank the do- nors and the volunteers,” Pitcher emphasized. “It was huge. With- out them, we could not have done it.” Some people also donated during the event, even though the event was free to all. “People just kept handing us money to go toward this,” Gorder said. “It really goes to show how our community feels about our law enforcement, which is really positive.” Pitcher said, “It was very com- munity-, neighborhood- and friend-oriented. It was a blast.” The initial plans for Florence’s National Night Out involved ty- ing into another event, or pos- sibly being held indoors in case of weather. Through the plan- ning process and the immediate public support, the event trans- formed to include a larger space and more community involve- ment. “I know what Toledo does, and I know what the Newport area does, and I saw on TV what the Springfield and Eugene area does, and they didn’t compare to what we did,” Pitcher said. “We blew them away!” As the event organizer, Gorder had to communicate with Na- tional Association of Town Watch, the founders of National Night. “From talking with someone there, they felt that our effort, and what we were intending to do, was pretty remarkable for a community our size,” Gorder said. “We set the bar really high for ourselves, and that’s a good thing.” The “good things” continued throughout the week. “Whatever we had left over from what we as a department purchased, we donated to Siu- OREGON COAST slaw Outreach Services, Boys and Girls Club and Florence Food Share,” Gorder said. “We tried to spread the giving.” Besides police personnel, vol- unteers and city staff, Gorder also worked with City of Flor- ence Public Works to plan the event. “Truly, this would not have been possible without our Pub- lic Works Department. Hands down. If it was not for (Public Works Director) Mike Miller and those guys days in advance taking a radar to the field to make sure we didn’t stake an irrigation line, taking the extra time to run the electrical so there wasn’t a safety issue and bringing blocks … They took those extra steps, and they were there with us un- til 10 p.m. cleaning up,” Gorder said. “It was pretty phenomenal.” While it is still much too ear- ly to say what Florence will plan for next year, both Pitcher and Gorder are confident that the community engagement will continue. “I didn’t hear one bad thing,” Pitcher said. “All the kids I saw were having a blast and the par- ents enjoyed it. And there were no incidents. Everyone had fun and had a good time, and I just couldn’t be happier. This year turned out perfect.” The National Night Out came right on the heels of anoth- er city-sponsored community event, the City of Florence 125th anniversary Block Party, held on July 27. While some people were worried that the two events were so close, Pitcher said the events didn’t seem like too much for one community to participate in. “The Block Party was a great big success,” he said. “It was a lit- tle more for adults, and this was more for families and kids.” “Really, with what we’ve done recently, from hosting the Ore- gon Mayor’s Conference, having the Block Party and now Na- tional Night Out — we’ve done something good for our com- munity,” Gorder said. “But just look what they’ve done for us. So thank you.” STORM BE READY Expo READY Saturday, August 25, 2018 FLORENCE EVENTS CENTER FREE ADMISSION LIVE DEMOS, VENDORS, PRIZES! DOORS OPEN AT 10AM on NOW! g in o g n io t e Registra u g a e L g n li Bow Fall/ Winter ds e new frien ue! m o s h it w Team up join a bowling leag when you Monday Night - Scratch League Tuesday Night - Open League Wednesday Aft ernoon - Seniors Wednesday Night - Mixed Social Th ursday Night - Men’s League Friday Aft ernoon - Seniors Saturday Aft ernoon - Junior League Sunday Night - Mixed Social Holiday Bowl 27th and Highway 101. Florence 541-997-3332 We also have open bowling, fun for the whole family! Everyone is Welcome at Holiday Bowl FREE HOT DOG LUNCH SPONSORED BY KIWANIS PRESENTED BY: FIRST 300 GUESTS WILL RECEVE ONE 2.5 GALLON WATER CONTAINER Sponsored by: IDENTIFY • PREPARE • SURVIVE