SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018 | 9A
Lighthouse to host Christmas open house
Heceta Head Lightstation is celebrating
23 years of the Annual Victorian Christmas
Open House on Dec. 8 and 9, 15 and 16
from 4 to 7 p.m. each day.
The Queen Anne style Keeper’s House
will be decorated inside and out with fes-
tive Victorian holiday decorations Dec. 6
through Jan. 2.
Open house sponsors will be providing
warm drinks and treats.
Each evening, local performers will be
play holiday favorites at the historic Keep-
er’s House. Even Santa will be visiting to
welcome children of all ages.
Guests are encouraged to take a night
time walk to the lighthouse, which provides
an opportunity to watch the lighthouse
beams rotate overhead. Guests are encour-
aged to bring a flashlight.
Entry to the Keeper’s House is free, but
PLAQUE from page 1A
The heavy brass plaque was
taken just prior to Veteran’s
Day last month. Once it was
discovered missing, Cavarno
headed up plans to start rais-
ing money to replace the sign.
That effort will no longer be
necessary, much to the relief of
Cavarno and his compatriots.
What will be needed, how-
ever, is a more permanent way
to attach the plaque to the Me-
morial Wall to prevent a future
theft.
The veterans talked about
the work that went into creat-
donations are gladly accepted. Parking is
available at the Heceta Head Lighthouse
State Scenic View Point, just below the
Keeper’s House, for $5 per vehicle.
A free shuttle bus offered by NW Ad-
ventures Quest and Carnahan Construc-
tion will take visitors from the park right
to the front door. For more information,
contact the Heceta B&B at 866-547-3696 or
keepers@hecetalighthouse.com.
ing the park, based on a dis-
cussion, more than a decade
ago, that took place at The Old
Town Coffee Shop, a regular
meeting place for the group.
Together, the veterans agreed
that there was a need for a
long-term tribute to service
members that lived in Florence
— and the idea for the park
was born. The park has since
become Florence’s central pub-
lic location for tributes and
ceremonies related to veteran
affairs and patriotic holidays.
In November, Cavarno took
the lead in reporting to the po-
lice and to the community the
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Help contribute by serving on a city committee
Would you like to see more public
involvement in the City of Florence to
make sure your voice is heard? Would
you like to make a difference and help
contribute to the goals and objectives
of the City as a whole?
At the Nov. 5 Florence City Coun-
cil meeting, the council elected to
amend its committee structures to
allow for more opportunities for cit-
izens to get engaged in projects that
interest them.
“City committees work tirelessly to
provide much needed volunteer time
to keep many of the City’s programs
functioning at a level that would be
impossible without their services,”
states City Recorder/Economic De-
velopment Coordinator Kelli Weese.
City Committees generally meet
once per month as a group.
loss of the dedication plaque.
His police report, along with
a story published in the Siu-
slaw News and social media
alerts, were shared across the
state. These reports may have
played a part in the return of
the plaque.
“I think whoever did this
may have seen this on Face-
book and thought, ‘I better get
rid of this thing before I get ar-
rested,’” Cavarno said.
The second part of this sto-
ry takes place in Brookings, a
small town in Curry County,
Ore., near the California bor-
der. It is similar in many as-
pects to Florence in a number
of meaningful ways, including
population size, history as a
timber town and strong ties to
the military and the first re-
sponder communities. Perhaps
most importantly, there is a
small-town ethos that infuses
the manner in which people
treat one another.
This is a case where that type
of small-town concern allowed
for the return of a piece of met-
al that was much more than a
sign on a wall.
One of Brookings neigh-
borhood parks, Azalea Park,
is where an observant city
employee, Jay Trost, noticed
an unattended backpack. He
People
interested
in
po-
sitions should expect to at-
tend recurring meetings and
devote time for study of issues and
performance above and beyond
meeting attendance.
Volunteer time is vital in working
towards solutions to local govern-
ment issues.
If you are interested in serving your
city and getting involved, consider
applying for one of the open positions
on one of the City’s committees.
The following boards and commit-
tees are currently filling vacancies for
varying term lengths, with positions
set to begin on February 1, 2019.
• Planning Commission
• Budget Committee
• Community & Economic Devel-
opment Committee
• Environmental Management Ad-
visory Committee
• Public Arts Committee
• Transportation Committee
• Audit Ad-Hoc Committee
The deadline for applications is
Dec. 31.
Applying for a position is easy. Ap-
plications can be downloaded from
the City’s website at www.ci.florence.
or.us and are available at the Florence
Public Works Facility (2675 King-
wood Street) during regular business
hours.
For
details
regarding
the
duties and responsibilities of
these bodies, residency require-
ments of applicants, term lengths,
or any other questions, contact
Weese at 541-997-3437 or via email
at kelli.weese@ci.florence.or.us.
PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
These five veterans were part of the original Veteran's
Memorial Park Commission, helping to realize Florence's
goal to have a park set aside to honor area veterans. In
the past month, they sought to raise funds to replace the
brass dedication plaque, which was discovered missing
on Veterans Day. Now, they can use the funds to secure it
more permanently to the Memorial Wall.
checked out the contents of
the backpack, read the plaque
discovered inside and quickly
contacted the Brookings Police
Department.
Officer Rob Johnson was as-
signed to the case of the plaque
in the backpack and he im-
mediately knew he had found
something that needed some
closer attention.
“We got a call of a suspicious
package sitting in Azalea Park
and we knew after looking at
the plaque and reading it, that
we had found something that
would be important to return,”
Johnson said. “So, when I got
back to the station, I gave the
Florence Police Department a
call and I talked with the case
officer there. We started figur-
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ing out the best way to return
it.
“It is heavy, so the cost to
ship was a consideration, but
we just wanted to make sure it
got returned as cheaply and as
quickly as possible.”
Brookings is 156 miles south
of Florence, or about a 3.5-
hour drive.
It turned out that Johnson
had a friend that was going to
North Bend later that week,
and he had a friend that was
going to Florence, and so they
coordinated a handoff near
Coos Bay. As quick as you
please, the plaque was at the
Florence Police Department.
The department then called
Cavarno, giving him the news
the plaque had been recovered
and was waiting for pickup.
The next to last step in the
journey of the missing plaque
required a call to West Coast
Autobody and its owner Rick
Ruede.
Cavarno updated Ruede on
the plaque’s journey and ex-
pressed his concerns about the
shape the plaque was in.
“It’s been up there for nine
years and it’s starting to show
signs of wear,” Cavarno said.
“Over the years, especially
with the weather outside there
at the park, it was starting to
weather.”
Once he had been brought
up to speed, Ruede agreed to
clean, polish and reseal the
plaque free of charge.
“Basically, it was scratched
up and the brass wasn’t shiny
anymore, so we cleaned that
up and we polished it up, so
the brass was showing through
again and it shined up nice,”
Ruede said. “I’ve dealt a lot
with these vets and I know
so many of them personally. I
just wanted to help if I could. I
really like to support the local
service groups and these guys
in particular.”
Cavarno is clear what the
last step in the process of re-
covering the plaque will be.
“The next step we are go-
ing to take is we are going to
procure some one-way screws
and drill lead shields into the
block walls and mount it that
way, so this doesn’t happen
again,” he said.
The Florence Veteran’s Me-
morial Park is at 1200 Bay St. It
has views of the Siuslaw River,
dunes, wildlife and the Siuslaw
River Bridge. It is open during
daylight hours year-round.
