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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2019)
SN THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM TH Siuslaw News CHAMBER BUSINESS BEAT I NSIDE — A8 SATURDAY EDITION | APRIL 6, 2019 | $1.00 R EVIEW : CROW’ S “T HE W IZ ” I NSIDE — A10 VOL. 129, NO. 28 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Rains and wind with a high of 53 and a low tonight of 50. Full forecast on A3 Veterans Memorial Wall offers ‘hands on’ history lesson COMMUNITY DAR celebrates 11 years in Florence INSIDE — A3 SPORTS Viks land top marks INSIDE — SPORTS RECORDS Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 SIDE SHOW Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B5 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B6 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM Story & Photos By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Replica of ‘Wall That Heals’ arrives in Florence H istory lessons can come in many forms. One way is to read a book or watch a film that depicts events from an earlier time. The most common way that students learn about history is by listening to a lecture from a teacher or reading pages from a textbook. For many students, it isn’t always a compelling com- bination for learning, but that presenta- tion of facts was replaced this week by a thought-provoking granite tribute to those who died in a war that took place half a century ago and half a world away — a tribute that students could see, touch and experience for themselves. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., draws millions of visi- tors a year to look at its polished granite surface, covered with the names of those that died during the controversial conflict. A three-quarter scale replica of the memo- rial wall currently stands in the field be- hind Siuslaw Middle School, offering an up close and personal history lesson to anyone Students from Siuslaw School District get the chance this week interested to stop there until it closes Sun- to explore the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall at its location day afternoon, April 7. at Siuslaw Middle School. The wall is open to the public See WALL page 7A through the closing ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday. Restoration of the Siuslaw Siuslaw Watershed Council looks to past to build up watershed for future By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2019 “People have different ties to this region for dif- ferent reasons and lengths of time, but we’re all work- ing together toward this common goal of restoring the Siuslaw,” said Siuslaw Watershed Council Exec- utive Director Eli Tome. “One reason I love working in watershed restoration and health is because rivers connect us, and we’re all downstream of someone else. Water is just a really important part of being a human.” Tome was speaking at “Stories of Restoring the Siuslaw” on March 27 at City Lights Cinemas as the watershed council de- buted its series of eight short films explaining res- toration efforts through- out the Siuslaw and coastal lakes watershed. The films are part of the council’s process to update its web- site, logo and newsletter and introduce the Siuslaw to the digital world. “Part of our mission as a watershed council is to build community, a really cool part of our mission that is abstract and some- times hard to do. We’re out there doing a lot of resto- ration projects with heavy equipment, or out in the woods by ourselves a lot, and that’s not really com- munity building,” Tome said. “We have a great part- nership here in the Siuslaw with the diverse amount of people and organizations who are working together to make us a strong fish- ery again in the future. We wanted to tell that story.” munications strategies,” Tome said. “I had this idea to make like a 20-minute documentary about the Siuslaw. Luckily, Brian had the wisdom to tell me that nobody would want to watch that. … He steered us in a different vision and a different direction. That’s how we chose to tell the story of restoring the Siu- slaw and the coastal lakes through a character-driven narrative.” The first video was re- leased on Feb. 11 and fea- tured Jesse Beers, cultural director for the Confed- erated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siu- slaw Indians. The next six videos — featuring Johnny Sundstrom, local rancher and conservationist; Seth Mead, watershed conserva- tionist at Siuslaw Soil and Water Conservation Dis- trict; Bob Bateman from Bateman Forestry Man- agement; Kyle Terry, pro- gram manager with Siu- slaw Watershed Council; Working with dozens of partners and funding from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion, the council created the films with videogra- pher Brian Kelly and pho- tographers Sean Gutierrez and Morgan Heim. The films were made in the course of one week last September as a “snapshot” of the many projects hap- pening concurrently in the watershed. “My background is in geology, geography and community planning, so I’ve never learned any- thing about film or com- See WATERSHED page 9A Emergency Shelter gives end-of-season report Number of nights open increased, usage decreased & community gave support By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News The Florence Emergency Cold Weather Shelter gave its end of the year report this week, detailing the numbers of people they served, giving an overview of the patron demographics and providing an update on two clients that were featured in a Siuslaw News series about the shelter, which was pub- lished in February. “It was a good year,” said Pastor Greg Wood, who is also president of the shelter program. “We did what we were supposed to do. We were open on the coldest nights and we provided good food and a safe place to be. That’s our mis- sion, and that’s what we did.” See SHELTER page 5A Interior and Exterior House Painting Florence, OR CCB#195304 • Deck and Railing Staining • General Repairs • Pressure Washing • Mossy Roof Treatment • Gutter Cleaning
