SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2019 | 7A
Wings & Wheels from page 1A
Local car clubs and individ-
ual car owners were parked
on the tarmac just a few yards
from the collection of locally
owned aircraft from different
eras in the history of flight.
Groshong had been a mem-
ber of the Florence-Siuslaw
Lions Club for years and was
often the public face of the or-
ganization’s charitable efforts.
His particular passion was
the Wings and Wheels event,
which he had been coordinat-
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ing for the past six years.
Groshong’s good nature,
commitment and dedication
to service were spoken of of-
ten during the day by his many
friends and colleagues.
The new coordinator of the
event, Ross Kroenert, worked
with Groshong on the Wings
and Wheels show for the past
few years. Kroenert, who has
been involved with the man-
agement of large-scale car
shows, was pleased with both
the turnout of vendors and vis-
itors at the airport and the nice
weather.
“It went great and went bet-
ter than I had hoped,” he said.
“It just went really smooth.
All of the vendors and volun-
teers were here when the gates
opened up and the airport
gave us a little more space, so
instead of 125 cars, we ended
up with about 140. We had cars
that were waiting to get in, so
we were able to accommodate
them.”
The unexpected loss of
Groshong did add a somber
element to this year’s event but
also inspired the volunteers.
Kroenert said, “I met Mike
five years ago when we moved
here and I was attending the
show. At that time, I told him
that I had a lot of experience
putting on car shows down in
Southern California and I’d
like to help him out in any way
that I could, so I’ve been on
his committee for the last four
years.”
Earlier in 2019, he had a con-
versation with Groshong, who
was staying at PeaceHealth Sa-
cred Heart Medical Center at
RiverBend in Springfield
“He said, ‘Ross, I don’t think
I can do the show this year. Can
you jump in and take it?’ ... So
I said OK,” Kroenert said. “His
last comment to me was, ‘We
need to get together so I can
talk to you about all of this,’ …
and three days later he passed
away.”
The sudden loss of the
event’s coordinator a few
months before a show that
combined cars and airplanes,
with little guidance from oth-
ers, presented a challenge to the
committee.
Kroenert said he realized
that his best course of action
was to adhere to the old axiom,
“If it’s not broke don’t fix it.”
“We on the committee didn’t
change that much from what
Mike did. We tweaked it a lit-
tle bit here and there, and we
brought in a few more vendors
in the past, but this was Mike’s
baby. We are just adding to it
and pushing it forward,” he
said.
The overall goal of the
Wings and Wheels event is
to raise money for the Flor-
ence-Siuslaw Lions Club and
the charities it supports. Two of
the main areas Lions members
across the country and across
the world have attempted to
positively impact is vision and
hearing.
Internationally, the Lions
Club was formed in Chicago
in 1917 and currently has 1.7
million members in 46,000
local clubs working to help
disadvantaged individuals see
and hear. The group’s motto is
simple — “We serve.”
This service most often takes
place because of financial sup-
port from local businesses.
Kroenert found the good
will engendered by Groshong
over the years made the finan-
cial aspect of his new job easier.
“It really is a tribute to Mike
how the businesses in the city
turned out in support of the
event this year,” he said. “As
soon as the business people un-
derstood this year is in mem-
ory of Mike, the support was
overwhelming and a lot of that
FIRES from page 1A
The owners, an older cou-
ple, were hosting their son,
who had two children, and
daughter, who had three. The
Red Cross was asked to pro-
vide temporary lodging for
the family. No injuries were
reported, and the cause of the
blaze is still undetermined.
“It could have been much
worse, but we got called
quick which is always help-
ful,” Schick said. “The sooner
we get there, the more we can
save.”
Booth Island, which is lo-
cated in Siltcoos Lake, had
a fire that appeared to have
started on Sunday night. SVFR
was notified of the blaze Mon-
day morning, after an SVFR
volunteer who was fishing on
the lake reported a column of
smoke coming from the is-
land.
Responders went by boat to
the lake, finding that a vaca-
tion home had burned down
the night before with no 911
calls received.
Fire Marshal Tony Miller
evaluated the scene to ensure
all hot spots were extinguished
to prevent rekindling.
“It’s still a mystery why that
occurred. We’re not exact-
ly sure what happened,” said
Schick, who stated that they
were able to contact the own-
ers of the home.
Finally, on Monday evening
at approximately 6:30 p.m.,
smoke was reported north of
Florence along Taylor Road,
Schick continued, “We had
more than enough people
showing up. After this long
holiday weekend and have
them still ready to go on Mon-
day was very nice.”
The Greentrees fire started
early Monday afternoon, as
SVFR responded to a struc-
ture fire in a manufactured
home. Crews confined the fire
to an attached garage. The ga-
rage and contents, as well as a
pickup truck parked in front
of the garage, were destroyed
in the blaze, though the fire
was stopped from entering the
home. However, the home did
suffer some smoke and water
damage.
Mike Groshong
is because people just loved
him.”
One special moment ded-
icated to the memory of Gro-
shong took place on Saturday
afternoon, which was initiated
by a family member.
“Mike’s brother Bill Grosho-
ng is a pilot and he coordinated
with two other pilots from Eu-
gene to do the ‘Missing Man’
flyover as a tribute to Mike,”
Kroenert said. “Mike was just a
great guy. If you talked to him
you’d think the guy never had
a bad day. He was always smil-
ing, generous and he loved the
Lions and his car guys and gals
and they loved him. We sure
will miss him.”
See page 10A for more
photos
off of Highway 101. The fire
was located on a Central Lin-
coln Public Utility District
(PUD) access road, and it ap-
pears that a homeless camp
had ignited and caught fire
near the PUD station.
“It was a little grass fire,”
Schick said. “It was reported
quickly, and we had a good
turnout.”
SVFR crews arrived quick-
ly to the scene, establishing
fire break trenches and extin-
guishing the fire. The area was
cleared out and the surround-
ing brush and soil was soaked
to prevent rekindling. No in-
juries were reported, and the
area was vacant when SVFR
arrived at the scene.
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“The weather here today
is just another indication of
how this project has gone well
from the beginning.”
State Sen. John Brenneman
delivered the keynote ad-
dress, saying that access to
health care would continue to
be a major concern through-
out the decade.
“You are shaping health
care in the 1990s,” he said.
“Rural hospitals that sur-
vive in the 1990s will be the
ones affiliated with one, two
or four other hospitals who
share their technologies and
technologists, whose position
is compatible and supportive
of one another and whose
economic future is tied to-
gether in a mutually benefi-
cial manner.”
Sister Monica Heeran, ad-
ministrator of Sacred Heart
General Hospital said, “This
hospital can be seen as a sym-
bol of the future. It will serve
the community well into the
21st Century.”
Voters in the hospital dis-
trict twice rejected a $6 mil-
lion levy to replace the exist-
ing 31-year-old hospital in
1983, forcing the Lane Hos-
pital Board to turn to private
hospital corporations for as-
sistance.
On March 1, 1989, the
naming of the hospital made
front page news. “Peace Har-
bor” was selected by the steer-
ing committee for its coastal
theme, its connotation of
care and its association with
its parent organization, the
Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.
The committee had received
hospital employees, members
of the medical staff and by the
general public.
“‘Everything is on track’ for
this week’s formal dedication
of Florence’s new Peace Har-
bor Hospital, according to
hospital Administrator Jim
Barnhart,” the Siuslaw News
reported on Monday, July 3.
Landscapers were prepar-
ing the grounds and, on July
5, the hospital’s architecture
and facility building were in-
spected.
Barnhart said that the move
from Western Lane Hospi-
tal to Peace Harbor would
not create any disruption of
service, and that the hospital
would be fully operational on
July 14 when the actual trans-
fer of patients occurred.
The dedication itself oc-
curred without a hitch as dig-
nitaries cut the ribbon on July
8. The following is the Siuslaw
News article on the event:
Several hundred spectators
cheered as a ribbon stretched
before the main entry was cut
and the $5.2 million facility
was officially dedicated.
The dedication followed
more than an hour of pub-
lic thanks to the community
leaders, businesses and vol-
unteers who helped to make
the project a reality.
“The people of Florence
and the Western Lane Dis-
trict can be proud of meeting
the challenge of the future
with vision and foresight,”
said Monica Heeran, for-
mer administrator of Sacred
Heart Hospital Eugene and
now president of St. Joseph
of Peace, Health and Hospital
The new hospital is owned
and managed by HHS of Bel-
levue, Wash., a non-profit
Catholic health care corpora-
tion controlled by the Sisters
of St. Joseph of Peace, which
also operates Sacred Heart
General Hospital in Eugene.
… The 21-bed facility will
replace the aging Western
Lane Hospital, which was
dedicated more than 30 years
ago.
At the time when many
small rural hospital are dying,
Florence is taking the lead
into the ‘90s with a first class
health care system, said key-
note speaker State Sen. John
Brenneman, who outlined
future changes in the state’s
health care system which are
expected to enhance Flor-
ence’s ability to provide quali-
ty health care.
Following the ribbon cut-
ting, visitors explored the
new hospital, munching
homemade cookies and be-
ing greeted by “the ladies in
pink,” members of the hos-
pital auxiliary. The 21 sin-
gle-occupancy rooms, the
operating rooms, special care
rooms and lab areas were all
investigated as visitors circu-
lated through the one-story
brick building, designed and
built by Hospital Building
and Equipment Co. of St.
Louis, Mo.
All 21 rooms of the new
facility are private, and oth-
er improvements include an
expanded emergency room,
a radiology department with
both ultrasound and mam-
mography services, and a
number of design changes to
enhance patient care.
Also given special atten-
tion by visitors was a wall of
plaques listing about 450 do-
nors, small plaques for those
who gave at least $1,000 and
large ones commemorating
gifts of at least $100,000.
Patient rooms also sported
individual plaques honor-
ing those who gave at least
$10,000.
In all, $1 million in private
funds were donated for the
hospital, as well as the 20-acre
hospital site.
On a facing wall memora-
bilia was displayed, tracing
the history of Western Lane
Hospital and Peace Harbor.
Special recognition was
given by master of ceremo-
nies and a member of the new
hospital’s governing board
Tom Grove to Don-Lee Da-
vidson, who donated the 20-
acre site for the hospital, and
to members of the hospital
steering committee.
Also recognized were the
Sacred Heart Hospital Board
of Directors, The Sacred
Heart Hospital Foundation,
Sacred Heart Administrator
Sister Barbara Haas, elected
officials, Hospital Adminis-
trator Jim Barnhard, mem-
bers of the HHS staff and
more than a dozen sisters
from Sisters of St. Joseph of
Peace.
Western Lane Hospital, a
public facility operated for
more than 30 years by the
Western Lane Hospital Dis-
trict, closed July 14, 1989,
when Peace Harbor Hospital
officially opened and patients
were moved into the new fa-
cility.
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