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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2019)
SN Siuslaw News VOL. 129, NO. 39 NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER WEDNESDAY EDITION | MAY 15, 2019 | $1.00 THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM TH GRAM AYS P RO D Y D O R H SIDE P RINTED I N 112th annual Rhododendron Festival Court Coronation to ‘paint the town’ Festival begins with Rhody Court Coronation tonight 2019 Senior Court Senior Princess Falon Borgnino 90% chance of rain with a high of 56 and a low tonight of 51. Full forecast on A3 Senior Princess Hope Garcia Senior Princess Heaven Lewis Senior Prince Tim Lowder COMMUNITY Senior Princess Madison Reynolds Rhody History INSIDE — A9 Senior Prince Patrick Rowley Senior Princess Ella Stidham Senior Princess Aylenne Vazquez 2019 Junior Court 1st-Grade Princess 1st-Grade Princess 2nd-Grade Princess 3rd-Grade Princess KayDee Butler Adrienna Sneddon Addison Ott Payton Halverson SPORTS 3rd-Grade Princess 4th-Grade Princess 5th-Grade Princess 5th-Grade Princess Noah Williams Abigail Stevenson Daisy Robledo Cheyanne Wiesner Siuslaw Seven 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 Senior Princess Marissa Wells T he area’s late-blooming rhodo- dendrons are in full color this week, right on schedule for Florence’s 112th annual Rhododen- By Chantelle Meyer dron Festi- val, which Siuslaw News starts today. The flowers have inspired many things over the years, including Florence’s nickname as the City of Rhododendrons, and even Rhody Days’ theme of “Coastal Canvas.” According to Bettina Hannigan, ex- ecutive director of the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the festival on the third weekend in May each year, “With ‘Coastal Can- vas’ as the theme for the 2019 Rho- dodendron Festival, it highlights our arts community and opens the door to showing off the area’s natural beauty 2019 Committee: Jenna Bartlett Jo Beaudreau Nancy Boskett Wendy Krause Dee Osborne and the beauty crafted by local artists.” To kick off the festival, the 2019 Rhododendron Court Coronation is tonight, when the Junior and Senior Rhody Courts will show their talents on the main stage of the Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St., at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $13 for adults, $9 for students and free for children 2 years old and younger. See RHODY page 7A Dunes City finds possible solution City still faces upcoming legal issues, financial troubles By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News Dunes City’s fear of los- ing state shared revenue ap- peared to be tempered last Wednesday, as city staff and councilors discussed and passed a resolution to cer- tify five official services the city offers its residents. The issue of shared reve- nue has been a topic of de- bate in Dunes City over the past year, as city officials feared that the city would See DUNES CITY page 8A Special Election ballots due By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Completed ballots for the May 21 Special Election should be mailed to the county as soon as possible, or dropped off directly, to assure they are included in the results of next Tuesday’s vote. This month’s Special Election asks for voters to choose directors for Lane Community College (LCC), Lane Education Service District (LESD), the Mapleton School Dis- trict and the Siuslaw School District Board of Direc- tors, among other openings across the county. See BALLOTS page 8A Hug-a-Tree and Survive Nationwide safety program, inspired by local mom, to be presented at Siuslaw Elementary S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2019 Sometimes a terrible trage- dy can indirectly produce some good. Occasionally, that good takes root, grows and flourishes. Fortunately, sadness and grief have a way of diminishing over time, allowing those impacted by death or loss to take the experi- ence and use it to educate, inform and inspire others. That is certainly the case when considering the life and work of Florence resident Jacquie Beve- ridge, who has turned a personal tragedy into a life-saving education template for search and rescue or- ganizations across the country. Beveridge, a retired law enforce- ment officer, is known for volun- teerism and her long-standing commitment to support first re- sponders, service personnel, vet- erans and students. She has spent a great deal of time raising aware- ness on a variety of issues related to children’s safety and education, in addition to being a leader in the Oregon Dunes Chapter of the Na- tional Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Beveridge is also a mother who has experienced the pain of losing a young child. One of the most meaningful causes that Beveridge has em- braced is a program called “Hug- A-Tree and Survive, which stems from a personal tragedy that struck her family in 1981. See HUG-A-TREE page 6A Story & Photo By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Florence resident Jacquie Beveridge helped create the Hug-a-Tree and Survive program in the wake of the tragic death of her son in 1981.