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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2020)
SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020 | 7A SWANSON’S PEST MANAGEMENT INSPECT – CORRECT – PROTECT SUSTAINED PEST MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR HOME AND BUSINESS SOME OF THE PESTS THAT WE TREAT: ANTS • COCKROACHES • FLEAS • RODENTS BIRDS • BEDBUGS • STORED PRODUCTS PESTS BEES/WASPS • GOPHERS 541-997-4027 1-800-622-8993 Visit our Website: www.swansonspm.com “Since 1983” Cel 70 ebrat + Y ing ear s! Hoberg’s Complete Auto Repair www.hobergsautorepair.com New Service d Offere FREE Taxi Ride via: River Cities Taxies Florence City Limits Only From our shop to your home or work Kevin McMullen 345 Hwy. 101 • P.O. Box 357 Florence, OR 97439-0012 3rd Generation Owner hobergsautorepair@gmail.com 541-997-2413 Serving Your Auto Needs Since 1945 LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTERS Tires • Brakes Shocks • Alignment 4325 Highway 101, Florence 541-997-7178 HOME OF THE BEST TIRE VALUE PROMISE Get Results...List With Richard. Richard Beaudro Principal Broker 541 991-6677 1918 17th St – Great loca- tion for this bungalow with good parking and fenced yard. Lots of potential in this property as a starter home or rental. $210,000. #3076- 20527814 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 HIT THAT LIKE BUTTON! F ACEBOOK . COM /S IUSLAW N EWS NOVELLI from page 1A “The helicopter crew lo- cated a second unrespon- sive person and hoisted them into the aircraft. They were brought to waiting EMS at Florence Municipal Airport,” USCG reported. “At approximately 7 a.m., the final person was located. With the assistance of the helicopter rescue swimmer, the unresponsive individual was brought aboard the Sta- tion Siuslaw River boat and then brought to awaiting EMS.” In a statement about the incident, Senior Chief Pet- MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS ty Officer Jay Nilles, Offi- Novelli’s Crab & Seafood now shows dozens of flowers, cards and other remem- cer-in-Charge of Station brances as the community honors the lives of Amber and Kyle Novelli, who crabbed Siuslaw River, said he was and fished in Florence for years. humbled by the citizens of Florence. carpenter by trade, though he always river meets the ocean. “Together with our partner agen- loved to fish. A year before she spoke, local retired cies, we strive to prevent the loss of life “I told him ‘If you love to fish and teacher and fisherman Bruce McKib- for those who go to sea. This commu- you can make money doing this, then bin was found unresponsive after his nity is a family that embraces us, as we let’s do it.’ He said yes, and so we did boat capsized near the North Jetty. embrace everyone who crosses the bar it,” Amber told Siuslaw News in a 2019 “A majority of the boating accidents for a living or to recreate on the ocean. interview. out here happen at the jetty tip, not out We are reminded during these times They would go up and down the in the ocean. We’ve been out before that the ocean is unforgiving and can coast fishing, driving to places like where I didn’t know if we were going be a treacherous place to work and Bend, Ore., to sell their catch. But in to make it back in,” she stated at the recreate. We will continue to support 2014, they decided to set their anchor time. our community and do all we can to in Florence, opening Novelli’s at the But it was their love of family and keep those safe who go to sea for their Port of Siuslaw. the business that kept the Novellis go- livelihood or pleasure.” “I’ll never forget the very first day ing out. He stated that the loss of Amber and that we opened here in Florence. Mike “We work shoulder to shoulder out Kyle, whose names had not been offi- Bones came down in his outfit from here. It’s a family thing,” Amber told cially released at the time, deeply sad- the casino and he had a group with Siuslaw News last July. dens the community. Kyle agreed, saying, “I love crabbing him. They were just so welcoming. “We continue to stand by you in this The whole town just started coming because it’s fast-paced and we all work time of need and healing. We could down and it was all these nice, nice together.” not continue to be strong and success- people,” Amber recalled in 2019. “It’s There is an active GoFundMe ful without our partnerships with Siu- like having a house on the water where fundraiser for the Novellis and their slaw Valley Fire Rescue and Western everyone just comes to visit and it’s family at www.gofundme.com/f/am- Lane Ambulance, who both assisted us like everyone ends up turning into ber-amp-kyle-novellis-fundraiser. As in safely recovering one survivor from your personal friend. of Tuesday, the amount raised had sur- the tragic incident at sea, and getting “The people here are just the nicest passed the $20,000 goal. him to a higher level of medical care at I’ve ever met.” On the page, Amber’s son D.J. Reyn- a rapid pace,” Nilles said. Both Amber and Kyle had previous- olds posted, “Thank you everyone for For six years, the Novellis had been ly spoke of the dangers in navigating keeping our family in thoughts and serving up fresh seafood at their small the bar. prayers. It just shows us how impactful business located along the public “The bar here is the worst bar I’ve Kyle and Amber were to our tiny com- docks of the Port of Siuslaw. Before ever experienced,” Amber said last munity. We can’t express how much it’s they got into the industry, Kyle was a year, talking about the point where the meant to us.” Transport from page 1A However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the relatively simple act of driving a small group to medical appointments has required alteration. Service was ultimately halted ear- ly this spring while board members determined the safest way to reintroduce the service, if that was even possible, once the guide- lines and protocols for transportation of ill indi- viduals had been codified and released to the public by the Oregon Health Au- thority. “Because of the virus, we had to cease operations both for the safety of the passengers and our volun- teer drivers,” Grove said. Friends of Florence trans- ports, free of charge, can- cer patients who may have weakened immune systems or other medical issues that compromise their ability to fight off infections and disease. These underlying conditions make restarting service in the medical sup- port area more critical than opening other businesses that have been shut down, such as restaurants and motels. The nonprofit will re- sume service on Monday, July 6, with several neces- sary changes in practice. Under the plan, devised by Friends of Florence Op- erations Chief Bart Mealer, the five-day-a-week bus trips will differ markedly from those in the past. The changes include lim- iting the number of riders to four per trip to allow for physical distancing, the taking of temperatures of all riders and prohibiting eating or drinking while in the vehicle. Friends of Florence will provide hand sanitizer and disposable face masks for all riders, as well as clean and sanitize the bus at the end of every trip. However, the transporta- tion is also limiting its trips. Instead of taking patients for radiation treatment to both the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute in Eugene and the Oregon Urology Institute in Springfield, the bus will go only to the Cancer Institute in Eugene, which will coordinate with the Friends of Florence to schedule the riders. According to Grove, donations to support the Friends of Florence have dwindled during the pan- demic. “Right now, what we are really needing is to increase the donations coming in from the community. Since we stopped operating, do- nations have tapered off, which is very understand- able given the current cir- cumstances,” he said. “The Florence community has been very supportive over the years and we are sure that once we start running again, they will step up to help us, as they have for 35 years.” More than 30,000 area residents have been the re- cipients of the generosity and dedication of those that have accepted the responsi- bility of driving, as trips are made five days a week and average 160 miles per day. The drivers have totaled more than 1.4 million miles transporting others to much needed medical treatments and examina- tions. Grove is hoping that as the pandemic wanes in Or- egon, and the restrictions regarding physical dis- tancing continue to relax, Friends of Florence will be able to increase the number of individuals it can assist. “One of the things we re- ally want to do is increase our passenger load. We are starting to get more re- quests than we have seats for, so as soon as we can, we want to help more people get to their appointments,” Grove said. For more information about riding the bus, volun- teering to drive or making donations, contact Grove at 541-997-8629 or Mealer at 541-997-8663, or go to friendsofflorence.net. DENTURE SERVICES INC. LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED Open 4 days a week! 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