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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2020)
E BR RS 2020 EA CEL SN S SIU WEDNESDAY EDITION | JULY 15, 2020 | $1.00 THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM W 1890 AW NE L S AT I N G 1 30 Y SIUSLAW NEWS: A LOOK B ACK AT 130 Y EARS POWER OF FLORENCE C OMMEMORATIVE P HOTOS INSIDE — A8 INSIDE — A9 The real ‘power’ of Florence Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY 2013 2011 VOL. 130, NO. 56 2012 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Celebrating 10 years of the Power of Florence T ake a 10-year-old’s dream, add in community support and watch the Power of Florence unfold. That’s what hap- pened in the City of Florence 10 years ago as Kaylee Graham real- ized her vision of an annual day of service. “My goal with starting the Pow- er of Florence originally blos- somed from wanting to have a volunteer camp where we could teach kids my age and younger 2015 By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News that it’s cool to volunteer,” Kaylee, now 20, said. “We live in a re- tirement community, so a lot of the people who volunteer are older. My goal was to get kids in- volved.” With tutelage from her volun- teer-minded parents Shannon and Todd Graham, as well as her brother Taylor, who was also a student leader, Kaylee planned the first Power of Florence in 2011. See POWER page 5A 2014 Sunny with a high of 72 and a low tonight of 54. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY 2015 (Clockwise from top left) One photo for each year from 2011 to 2019 shows the Power of Florence and many of the people who made it possible, including a 2015 photo of organizers Kaylee Graham and Ava Glowacki. 2019 2018 2017 Elks under new leadership INSIDE — A3 2016 Health officials Former mayor passes in Portland urge people to Remembering Nola Xavier, Florence mayor from 2012 to 2014 ‘stay home’ By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Florence COVID spike raises concern By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News Going on an Oregon Coast Quest INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & response logs Inside — A2 SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO Nola Xavier NEW: TV GUIDE Inside — B3-B4 Local mask ‘crusaders’ deliver to first responders KIDS CORNER Activities for kids Inside — B5 Oregon Gov. Kate Brown an- being considered the safest way to nounced a change to the state’s protect oneself. mask policy, mandating them to This, along with a growing ac- One of the most vexing problems be worn in all outdoor situations ceptance among the public that the posed by the COVID-19 Pandem- where physical distancing is not wearing of a face mask is a matter ic has been ensuring the safety of possible. of personnel safety rather than a medical personnel and first political statement, has responders from becoming added to the demand for infected while treating oth- “We delivered patriotic masks to all of what is already an overbur- ers. One of the best ways to the employees of the Florence Police De- dened supply system. keep these essential work- One of the ways in which partment, Siuslaw Valley Fire Depart- communities like Florence ers healthy is with the use of personnel protection ment, first responders and all of U.S. Coast have been dealing with the equipment (PPE), which Guard Station Siuslaw River.” limited availability of PPE includes gloves, gowns and — Carol Slaugh, Minutes of Gold founder is through sewing them masks. by hand or on sewing ma- Guidance from the Cen- chines. ters for Disease Control (CDC) In the months since the begin- Locally, a number of different names mask wearing as the single ning of the pandemic here in the groups and people are current- most effective way to deter con- U.S., guidance from the Oregon ly engaged in the production of tinued spread of the virus from Health Authority and the CDC re- masks. But one of them, Minutes person to person, along with face garding mask usage has evolved, of Gold, has turned its prodigious shields and other facial coverings. shifting from being described as sewing skills to the challenge. In addition, this past Monday, primarily protection for others, to See MASKS page 6A By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News IT’S HERE Florence Area FOODIES B I N G O CLASSIFIEDS Listings and notices Inside — B6 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2020 “The best thing to do is try and stay home as much as you can,” said Lane County Public Health (LCPH) Public Information Offi- cer Jason Davis when asked what Florence residents should do to combat the rapidly growing spread of COVID-19 in Oregon. “This virus, for it to succeed, has to have close contact between people,” Davis continued. “We are directly contributable to its success. If we take close contact out of the equation, and essentially cut the gas lines for the disease, we make it so it can’t do its job. Stay home. Don’t be the person that contracts it.” The advice comes just days after Florence recorded a spike in COVID-19 cases, which now sits at 12. Along with the cases came the first known cluster in the Siuslaw Region. The cluster began after a resident traveled to Marion County, caught the virus, brought it back and infected five people. “Good news is that we believe that the transmission really stayed between social contacts,” Davis said. “These are cases that are transmitting between relatives or acquaintances.” The cases did not come through community spread. See COVID page 7A Past Florence mayor Nola Xavi- er passed away on June 28, in Portland, Ore. Many individuals over the last decades have contributed to the development of Florence area, and Xavier was certainly one of those people. She left a legacy of good wishes and thoughtful contribu- tions to her adopted coastal home. Xavier and her husband, Joe, moved to “The City of Roses” in 2016, after spending the previous decade in Florence, “The City of Rhododendrons.” Health issues had forced the move in order to be closer to family. The two were married for 55 years before Joe passed away in January of this year; less than six months later, Xavier followed him, passing in her sleep. During the decade they spent living in Florence, Xavier served as chairperson of the Florence Urban Renewal Agency, Florence City Councilor and as mayor from 2012-14. She was also an integral mem- ber of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Rotary Club of Florence, Welcome Wag- on and the Florence Community PTA. 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