SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020 | 7A
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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.
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