SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020 | 9A
BUSINESS BEAT
541-997-3128
290 Highway 101, Florence, OR 97439
www.FlorenceChamber.com
www.facebook.com/fl orenceoregon
www.twitter.com/FlorenceOrCoast
October 10, 2020
Welcome New Member!
NEW BUSINESS PARTNER
Sign Shop
1232 17th Place, Unit G
541-991-3909
Design, manufacture and installation
of temporary and permanent signage
both interior and exterior on a
variety of substrates.
Th e Florence Area Chamber of
Commerce is looking for the best amateur
or professional photos of the fun, frolic,
famous attractions, iconic buildings, and
beautiful scenery of Oregon’s Coastal
Playground.
Th e winner will collect a $250 cash
prize and have their submitted photo
featured in the Chamber’s resource guide
and other printed marketing pieces, on
their website, and in social media. A panel of
Chamber members will decide the winner.
Th e winner will be announced the week of
December 14th 2020. Deadline for entry
is November 30th 2020. For more contest
information, entry forms, and image
release waivers visit  FlorenceChamber.
com/2020PhotoContest,
call
541-
997-3128,
or
e-mail
Contest@
FlorenceChamber.com.
We call this place Oregon’s Coastal
Playground for a reasons, so we’re looking
for outstanding amateur or professional
photos that convey our coastal playground
theme. Download your best photos from
you smartphone or camera and send us
your highest resolution photos showing
the best of Oregon’s Coastal Playground
with you and your family having fun here.
Photos must be taken within 25
miles of Florence to be eligible. Th e contest
is open to Florence area residents and
visitors from all over the world. Amateurs
and professionals alike are encouraged to
enter. Portrait-oriented photos stand the
best chance of being used in print media,
though landscape-oriented photos are just
as encouraged. Ideal photos will be in .jpg
format, color, vertical in orientation (but
horizontal will be accepted). We prefer
1920×1080 pixels, and 8MP, if possible.
By entering the contest, contestants
state they have ownership and rights to
submit the photo, that the photo is free of
encumbrance by other entities, and give
the Chamber unlimited rights for the use
of photos in its publicity and marketing
materials. Entrants do not give up exclusive
rights for future use of the photos for their
own private use. Entrants must provide
signed waivers (photo release forms)
granting the Chamber permission to use
the image or likeness of anyone included
in the photo. Photos selected for use must
not have watermarks, and will require a
signed release by the photographer and
any recognizable persons in the photo.
Entrants under the age of 18 must have
written permission of a parent or guardian.
For more contest information,
entry forms, and image release
waivers
visit 
FlorenceChamber.
com/2020PhotoContest,
call
541-
997-3128,
or
e-mail
Contest@
FlorenceChamber.com.
2020-2021
Corporate Underwriters
Banner Bank
Drift wood Shores Resort
Th ree Rivers Casino Resort
TR Hunter Real Estate
Distinguished Sponsors
101 Th ings to Do Magazine
Bi-Mart
Burns’s Riverside Chapel
Christina Voogd, Principal Broker
Berkshire Hathaway
Coast Radio
Fred Meyer Stores
Korando Dental Group
Lofy Construction
Oregon Pacifi c Bank
PeaceHealth
Peace Harbor Medical Center
Sea Lion Caves
Spruce Point Assisted Living
Th e Siuslaw News
Torex ATV Rentals
Be sure to thank these members for
their investment in our community!
From the Director’s
Desk
By Bettina Hannigan
President CEO
I’m a control
freak. Th is isn’t
news
and
it’s
no
shocker.
I
think
most
entrepreneurs are,
it comes with the
territory. We like
to have things
done a certain way, primarily because we
have a vision. We’ve all heard enough
politicians sharing their vision we could
gag. Today, I’m going to talk about your
vision. Th is is key for business and it’s
also good advice for every individual, so
hang with me.
You all know I’m a proper prior
planner. Plans make me happy and secure.
We develop our plans to accomplish our
vision. Right now, we’re feeling like ship
at sea with no rudder, sails, or maps and
compasses to guide us. What do we do?
How do we stay engaged and energized?
Okay, I’m ready – fi ll me in! Th is is all
new and uncharted territory, and I don’t
have all the answers. I do, however,
Business Matters:
Post Election
Reconciliation
By Russ Pierson
Chamber Board Past President
Just a note,
dear reader: I am
literally
writing
this on Election
Day morning.
2020
has
been a year like no
other, so perhaps it
is no surprise our
election has been like no other, and it has
certainly been front and center in our
collective minds, even here in our quiet
little coastal burg. We’ve seen dueling
protests at the intersection of 101 and
126 multiple times this season.
Th e moment has come, post-
election, to refl ect, to pause and to think
through this past season, especially—
Mental Strength Is More
Than Mental – Staying
Strong
Jim Mitchell M.S., Owner,
Coastal Fitness and Aquatics—
Where we Build Armstrongs!
On one of the branches of my family
tree I fi nd the surname, “Armstrong”.
With a little genealogic horticulture I
found that belonging to that Scottish
clan meant one’s days were spent
stealing cattle and running from
the law. Th e Armstrongs were
an unruly bunch but were proud
and determined. So confi dent
in their abilities were they that
a family motto was established:
“Invictus Maneo.” Latin for, “I
remain
unvanquished!”
Th is
motto, although claimed by the
Armstrongs, refl ects an attitude that
we should all consider adopting.
We live in an extraordinary
time in history.
We face
unprecedented challenges every
day. We have persevered through
several months of a pandemic,
we have encountered social
and political upheaval and have
witnessed fi res, hurricanes and
other calamities. And yet, we
remain unvanquished. Pundits
may predict what the future holds
and meteorologists may measure
atmospheric aberrations, but in the
end we are subject to the whims
of forces beyond our own. All we
can do is to prepare ourselves—
do everything we can to be as
strong mentally, physically and
emotionally as possible.
All of us, there are no
exceptions, need to be doing
something to buttress ourselves
against the physical challenges
we will undoubtedly face. Each
of us need to be doing intentional
exercise every day. Do something
more than you normally would. If
all you have the capacity to do is lift
a fi nger, then lift the fi nger! You
don’t have to circle the parking lot
at the local store for 20 minutes
have some survival ideas that I’ll “fl oat.”
Consider making short term visions,
a week or month out not years. Vision
this – your desk is tidy, you’ve cleaned
up your bookkeeping, updated those
policies that have been sitting on your
desk for a year (I’m busted!), developed
a gift certifi cate strategy for the holidays
or even fi gured out how to use Facebook
Marketplace and Google Locations.
I recently reached out to each
Chamber member requesting a simple
sentence or two about what is most
important right now. I received excellent
responses and one of the most popular
answers was “staying positive.” Th is is no
easy feat! Th ere are lots of tips on how to
stay positive, blah blah blah. How about
a vision of positivity? Napoleon Hill
wrote “Whatever the mind of man can
conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Let’s
conceive and believe we can be positive
even in these diffi cult times. Positivity
is generous. Th at’s worth repeating,
POSITIVITY IS GENEROUS. Positivity
is contagious. Are you catching it, or
even better, are you sharing it? Positivity
is kind. It invites hope and shares a
vision of inclusivity. It says “join me.”
Th is is a vision we can achieve daily, and
achievement is a powerful motivator.
If you’ve been reading my articles for
the last few years, you may remember
my Imagination Hat story. Here it is
again for you newbies, and a reminder
for you faithful readers. Are you wearing
your Imagination Hat? Years ago, I took
my nephew to Disneyland for the fi rst
time (he was eight), and in the fi rst few
hours he told me time and again, “Th at’s
not real Aunt B.” It didn’t impact me at
fi rst, but then I squatted down to his eye
level and said to him, “Robert, when we
come into Disneyland we have to put
on our Imagination Hats. If it weren’t
for imagination, we wouldn’t have cell
phones, video games, television, internet,
cars. So even though we “see” it’s not real,
let’s let our minds imagine.” Years later we
brought my brother (Robert’s dad) and
my husband with us to Disneyland. Th ey
ran off all over the place not following
Robert’s and my routine. At the end of
the day Robert said, “Aunt B let’s not have
them come with us again, they didn’t
even put on their Imagination Hats.” And
he was right! It was their loss, too.
Florence, let’s join together and use
our Imagination Hats to vision our
community #TOGETHER #KIND
#GENEROUS #FORGIVING and most
importantly right now…. #POSITIVE.
We can do hard things!
with my Chamber specs on—as we
consider the economic impact of this
level of divisiveness on our community’s
businesses. I don’t know about you, but
I can not stand the incredible sense of
polarization any longer. I am weary of
reading stories and seeing news that is
only about demonizing the other side,
the other candidate, the other party.
Some of us with gray hair well-
remember when it wasn’t a crime to
befriend someone from the other team.
Democrats and Republicans could serve
together in offi ce and actually get things
done! We could worship in the same faith
communities, visit the same restaurants,
root for the same sports team. But by
the end of this election cycle, you could
sense the side-taking on the editorial
pages of the paper, on Facebook, with
people “unfriending” others or refusing
to visit businesses they might associate
with the “other side”.
How can we unwind this toxic
culture of civic engagement? As always,
the fi rst step is becoming self-aware
and understanding how we got here.
Sociologists agree that part of the problem
is something called “confi rmation bias”,
that is, our human tendency to fi nd
media outlets, social media platforms, or
friendship circles that echo and amplify
our existing values and beliefs.
Long gone are the days of three
networks that provided the nation’s
news. Instead, we fracture into ever fi ner
sources and dig ever deeper into our
chosen information holes.
Here’s my counsel to our Chamber
members, civic leaders and residents: are
you a Fox- or MSNBC-only consumer?
Change the channel and listen to learn,
not to refute. Take some time to avoid
posting, liking, or reposting angry
political memes. Go to a coff ee with a
friend you know holds diff erent views
from you—and focus on where you
agree in conversation. You just might be
surprised how we can once again live and
work arm-in-arm.
waiting for a “good” parking place. Park
as far away as possible so you have the
chance to walk a little further than you
normally would. Whatever it is, do
some intentional exercising every day.
“Intentional,” in this context, means
going out of your way to do something
physical. Designate a time to devote to
your personal care. By doing so, you are
improving your chances of overcoming
or at least coping with serious physical
challenges. If you need guidance, call the
gym and make an appointment for some
pointers on getting started.
Th e benefi ts of exercise extend
beyond the physical realm. People who
exercise regularly are better able to face
emotional and mental challenges as
they arise. In our day of extraordinary
challenges, we need to be extraordinary
to successfully survive. Let us all commit,
like the Armstrongs of old, “Remain
Unvanquished.”