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