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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 2018)
8A | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS RODS from page 1A chief would have something to say about that, but cruising Main Street would be fun.” Dee Osborne nodded her head and smiled. “Those days were fun,” she said. “A little more carefree. I think we all like to visit our past, and our parent’s past. It’s just a lot of things that make good memories.” Cargill and Osborne were looking to define the cultural allure surrounding classic cars in the Siuslaw region. These classics are celebrated multi- ple times throughout the year through various events, such as Wings and Wheels and the Rho- dodendron Festival’s car show. The two sit on the board of the newly created Rods ’N Rhodies Inc, which is an out- growth of the annual Rods ’N Rhodies Invitational Car Show. Traditionally, Rods was simply an event, bringing in cars from around the country for the sec- ond weekend in September to allow classic car enthusiasts to show off their work, swap parts and reminisce about the days when cars were king. But now, the two and their committee are looking for part- nerships and funding to expand the reach of Rods ’N Rhodies, creating connections with local automotive retailers to initiate a year-round foundation that will help Siuslaw residents in need of car repair. “There’s a lot of people where the families both work, or sin- gle head of household, and they have to get to work with their car,” Osborne said. “One of the last things when you’re doing food, housing and healthcare is new tires, which are not cheap. In my career, I’ve had employees who couldn’t get to work: Their car couldn’t run, and it wasn’t in their budget.” The plan is to work with or- ganizations such as Siuslaw Outreach Services (SOS) to find people in need of car repairs and set up those repairs at plac- es like Les Schwab or Hoberg’s Complete Auto Repair. They’re also changing up the format of Rods, dropping the word “invitational” from their name, adding new cars to the lineup such as rat rods and making the annual event more family friendly. All of this to help support those in need of car repairs, and bolster classic car culture in the community, which has become something of a phenomenon over the years. “You would be surprised how many cars are in this area, es- pecially in the gated communi- ties,” Cargill said. “Look in their garages, there’s a lot of classic cars in there.” Why? “Guys like cars,” Osborne re- sponded. “This is a retirement town, and when men get older, they have the ability to follow their passion with cars.” Cargill agreed. “This is one of men’s pas- sions and dreams — to always want to have the allusive hot rod or dream car that they once wanted, or had, in high school,” he said. “But they want it on a different level. Now that they’re retired, they don’t have anything to do, now they come to the ta- ble and say, ‘I can do it now. I can get this dream car.’” Classic cars are a form of nos- talgia, a bygone era where the ti- tans of the past are resurrected, tuned and brought roaring back to life. “Myself, I have a ’66 Chev- elle Super Sport,” Cargill said. “The first car I ever owned was a ’66 Chevelle Malibu, which is the same thing; this one is just more hopped up. I’m go- ing back to my high school days when I had that Malibu. I got married with the car. So, that’s why, this year, I went and bought the ’66 Chevelle SS fig- uring, ‘This is going to be my last car.’” Osborn laughed. “I doubt it,” she said. It’s a tactile way to remem- ber and share those memories with other generations. “Most of the time you’ll hear, ‘Oh, my father had one of those when I was in high SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO A car enthusiast looks under the hood of one of dozens of classic automobiles on display during last September’s Rods 'N Rhodies event. school,’ or, ‘I took that car to the prom,’ or ‘My grandfather had one of those,’” Cargill said. Family stories about those times ensue. “It’s very infectious,” Osborne said. “Even my grandaughter, when we were walking around the flames and stuff on some of the cars, she was really into that. She could be a future car show girl.” Classic cars aren’t just toys for boys. “There are a lot of women getting into it more,” Osborne said. “Gary and I make a good partnership on this because he’s more on the car side, and I’m trying to make it more family friendly, so the families bring their cars and there’s more for the kids to do. But there are more women getting into it. It is not just a guys sport.” One woman, Carol Hood, regularly brings her ’57 T-Bird from the Albany area. “She brings it every year, and it’s a beautiful car,” Cargill said. “So, there are several female owners, and there’s a lot of them in the industry.” “And when you’re with a guy who’s in to it, it’s hard not to get into it also,” Osborne said. Car culture is different these days, more of a mode of trans- portation than a work of art. The kids don’t have the same type of culture. “I’ve talked to the high school,” Cargill said. “They’ve got a nice group of kids who are interested in automotive re- pair. They get involved with the show, but their culture nowa- days, their cars, it’s not like ours were. They’re more imports now. In this area, it’s all about the trucks and Jeeps. It fits the area; you have to take those out on the sand. But that’s okay, their interest is still there. By having a show like this here, it sparks their interest.” Even though the classics may not serve the utilitarian pur- poses of today’s young drivers, the cars have a certain allure as works of art. “They’re still taking cars out of yards and rebuilding them,” Cargill said. “Graveyard Carz is a tv show out of Springfield, where they take mutilated cars that you would never think could be fixed, and they put them back together again. And they’re beautiful when they’re done with it. “In order for someone to bring a car that’s been sitting for so many years and bring it back to the pristine condition it was in the factory, and spend that kind of money to do it … Yeah, the culture is still there.” “And you can build one from scratch,” Osborne said. “You can go out on Amazon, and some- body is going to have some- thing. A fender, a panel, a nob. An original speedometer off a ’68 Charger. You can put the whole car together by just go- ing out and finding people who have different parts. Piece by piece.” The finished products can become fortunes that can be passed down the generations. “The Copper Caddy we had two years ago was insured for $800,000. It was actually built by a professional builder. There was a show called Bitchin’ Rides and that car was built on that show over two episodes. I found out the the owner lived in Hill- sboro, and I tracked him down and talked to him. I asked him if he would bring the car to the show, and he said he would love to,” Cargill said. He added that the typical car featured on the show is worth around $45,000. But not everybody in town can afford such a hobby. In fact, they can’t even afford to take care of their own cars, and that’s something that Cargill and Os- borne hope Rods ’N Rhodies Inc. can help with. “People don’t think car prob- lems are life or death,” Osborne said. “You gotta eat, or you’re going to die. You have to have shelter, or you could freeze to death. I don’t think people know, especially in Florence and rural areas, how important transportation is. I don’t know. I think we’re too focused on the critical life issues to think about the smaller things. We have help with food, we have help with shelter, with electricity, sleep- ing bags, safehouses. But there is not a lot to offer for help with transportation.” Having a reliable car means being able to get to work on time in Florence, or dropping kids off at daycare, or going to the grocery store. But as families look to make ends meet in the region’s boom-and-bust vaca- tion economy, regular car main- tenance can go to the wayside. “It’s not so much that the ve- hicle is a big important part of their life,” Cargill said. “They’ll fix it, when they can afford it. That is, if they can afford it. ‘I gotta fix this car, but to do that, I can’t pay my mortgage this month.’ And they go without paying their mortgage or with- out fixing their car.” “Or food, so they put it off,” Osborne added. “And the car’s unsafe,” said DENTURE SERVICES INC. Open 4 days a week! Here to serve your denture needs: Monday-Thursday 10am - 2 pm 524 Laurel St. 541-997-6054 going to be dropped from ‘Rods ‘N Rhodies Invitational Car Show’ to just ‘Rods ‘N Rhodies Car Show.’ We’re still reviewing the vehicles, and the committee is still approving the vehicles…” “...But we’re expanding it,” Os- borne said. More cars will be allowed downtown for the event, and different types of cars as well. “We’re also including Rat Rods to this, looking for maybe 25 to start with so that we can have something different to see,” Cargill said. “They are neat to look at.” The usual staples of the show will remain: The Friday night DJ party, the classic car showcase in Old Town and, of course, the car cruise. Instead of an all-week- end event, as it usually was, the festival will end on Saturday night so downtown merchants can still get weekend summer business. “I’d like to see a few more ven- dor booths geared toward kids,” Osborne said. “You can almost bribe a kid to walk through a car show with you if there’s some- thing along the way that piques their interest. We want to make it so it’s not just a guys’ event.” Cargill agreed, saying, “More events, more things for families involved. We’re looking for any ideas that people have.” The goal is to reinvigorate, and organize, car culture in the region all year round. Plus, “I’m hoping Dee will get her own car,” Cargill said. “I just might,” Osborne said. “One day, a ’68 Charger.” City of Florence 2675 Kingwood Street Florence, Oregon 97439 INVITATION FOR BIDS th December 19 , 2018 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that sealed bids will be accepted by the City Public Works Director or Directors’ designee at the City of Florence, 2675 Kingwood Street, Florence, Oregon 97439; the time of the bid receipt will be recorded by either offi cial. Acceptance of bids will be offi cially closed at 2:00 PM Pacifi c Time: January 24 th , 2019 and immediately thereafter the bids will be publicly opened and read in the conference room of the Public Works Operations Center. The City of Florence is requesting qualifi ed Contractors to submit bids on the CITY OF FLORENCE HIGHWAY 101 SEWER IMPROVEMENTS. The project generally consists of the following work: 3,360 linear feet of 12-inch diameter PVC sanitary main pipe, ten 8-inch diameter PVC sanitary sewer laterals, ten 6-inch diameter sanitary sewer laterals, sixteen 48-inch diameter sanitary sewer manholes, and two connections to existing sanitary sew- er facilities. The schedule for the work is time-sensitive and the Contractor is expected to be prepared to begin construction by February 18 th , 2019. The work shall be substantially complete by June 28, 2019 (130 calendar days). The bid proposal shall be submitted under sealed cover and marked with the Contractor’s name and following project: CITY OF FLORENCE HIGHWAY 101 SEWER IMPROVEMENTS CITY PROJECT NO. WW 17-03 All proposals must be submitted on the regular forms furnished and shall be accompanied by an unconditional certifi ed check or bidder’s bond in an amount equivalent to fi ve (5) percent of the total amount of the bid. The award will be made to the lowest responsible bidder who will be asked to furnish a separate 100% Corporate Surety Performance Bond and a separate 100% Payment Bond for the faithful performance of the contract. The Contractors may be asked to have their Surety furnish a letter certifying they have currently reviewed the Contractor’s fi nancial statement and that the Contractor is fi nancially sound prior to award. Complete digital contract documents are available at http://www.rh2.com under the Bidding tab. The complete digital contract documents may be downloaded for a $15.00 non-refundable fee by inputting the QuestCDN project #6051833 on the website. Please contact QuestCDN.com at 952-233-1632 or info@questcdn.com for assistance in free membership registration, downloading, and working with this digital project information. An informational copy of the contract documents is on fi le for inspection at the City of Florence offi ce. All prospective bidders must provide a valid e-mail address and be added to the Plan Holders List by downloading the documents from www.questcdn.com. Notifi - cation of Addenda issuance will be issued via e-mail to the addresses listed on the Plan Holders List. Bid results will be made available on the city’s website. Technical questions regarding the project should be directed to Tyler Duncan, PE at 541-665-5233 ext. 5413, tduncan@rh2.com. This is for public work and therefore subject to prevailing wage requirements of ORS 279C.800 thru 279C.870. A subcontractor listing is required and shall be submitted with the bid. If the subcontractor listing is not submitted with the bid, it must be received within two (2) hours after the bid closing time and date at the City of Florence, 2675 Kingwood Street, Florence, OR 97439 to the attention of Mike Miller (facsimile is acceptable) at 541- 590-4017. Failure to supply a correct subcontractor listing will result in bid rejection. Request for specifi cation changes must be made a minimum of ten (10) days prior to the proposal receipt date. Protests of bid results must be in writing, must be made within fi ve (5) days of the posted award date, and must otherwise be in accor- dance with City Public Contracting Rule 137-049-0260. LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED Dentures Partial Dentures Immediate Dentures Implant Dentures Relines & Repairs Same Day Cargill. “Let’s say a side window breaks, now it’s cold. You’ve got black plastic up there. That’s making the vehicle unsafe, but you can get by. People do it all the time. Tires. One that doesn’t hold air very well. You keep putting air into it. It’s not safe, but you can get by. By repairing those kinds of items, it makes it easier for the family to get by on a day-to-day basis.” Rods ’N Rhodies Inc. has al- ready received partnership let- ters from Hoberg’s Complete Auto Repair, Shervin’s Tire and Automotive and NAPA Auto Parts to help those who are put- ting off car repairs “just a little longer.” “If somebody says, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do, I have a flat tire and I can’t afford to get it fixed,’ we hope at some point they’ll say, ‘Call Rods ’N Rhodies because they have funds available for that,’” Os- borne said. She stated they already have partnerships with agencies such as SOS and Caring Pregnan- cy Center to help get them in touch with people in need. “There are companies in town that we would like to reach out to and say, ‘We have a person or a family who needs a windshield for their car, can you do it at a discounted rate?’” Car- gill said. “If we have the money for it, we can send that person to them, repair the windshield, and we’ll float the bill. We’ll send the check directly to the repair shop.” The organization is also look- ing to to get vouchers go give to cab companies, in case some- one’s car breaks down and they need a lift somewhere. None of this is funded at this point: they’re still applying for their 501(c)(3). But they’re reaching out to any group or in- dividual that would be willing to help build up the program. “We’re hoping this program to be a year-round program, not just part of the car show,” Cargill said. As for the car show itself, they’re already working on making changes. “We’re trying to keep the same feeling of the show, trying to keep it going,” Cargill said. “It’s William Foster LD Sherry, Offi ce Manager “As a denture wearer myself, I can answer your questions and address your denture concerns.” ~ William Foster, LD Financing: Citi Health Card 12 Month no Interest The City may reject any bid not in compliance with all prescribed public bidding proce- dures and requirements, and may, for good cause, reject all bids upon a fi nding by the City of Florence if it is in the public interest to do so in accordance with ORS 279C.395. Published Date: December 19 th , 2018 By Mike Miller, Public Works Director
