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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2021)
SN WEDNESDAY EDITION | APRIL 14, 2021 | $1.00 THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM YOUR #1 LOCAL YARD, GARDEN, AND LANDSCAPE EXPERTS! WE’RE GLAD TO GET YOU GROWING! 32 YEARS 88493 Hwy. 101 Florence Open 7 days a week Senior Discount Every Tuesday Siuslaw News 997-5973 90 BY 30 BEGINS CAMPAIGN I NSIDE — A9 Siuslaw News City plans reverse Rhododendron Festival Grand Floral Parade NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY The City of Florence and its part- ner organizations are excited to an- nounce that they will host the 114th Rhododendron Festival Grand Floral Pa- rade in reverse! In a fun twist, the icon- ic floats from Florence’s iconic parade will be sta- tionary and the commu- nity will be able to drive through them. “Our community is committed to continuing our long-standing tradition of the Rhody Days Parade,” said Assistant City Manager Megan Messmer. The parade will open to drive through guests at noon on Sunday, Those wanting to participate can details and guidelines provided for May 16, starting at the main en- register their float beginning today entrants. City staff will provide additional information in a presentation to the Florence City Council on Monday, April 19, at their regularly scheduled meet- ing via GoToWebinar be- ginning at 5:30 p.m. Florence to celebrate Earth Day for a whole week Bringing green to the screen VOL. 131, NO. 30 A PRIL 14, 2021 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Sunny with a high of 61 and a low of 42. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY trance to Miller Park at 18th Street. More details on what to expect as a viewer will be provided, along with maps, as the event draws nearer. through Monday, May 3, at www. ci.florence.or.us/community/re- verse-2021-rhody-parade. That is also where people can read the full What is a Reverse Parade? The City of Florence is working with community partners to host a COVID-19 safe reverse parade this year to continue the See PARADE page 6A Week to include beach cleanups, porch parade Graduate receives PEO Scholarship INSIDE — A3 SPORTS Siuslaw XC wins state INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & response logs Inside — A2 TV GUIDE Inside — B3-B4 KIDS CORNER Activities for kids Inside — A7 CLASSIFIEDS Listings & notices Inside — B6 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2021 Earth Day will be adapted to fit in with county- and state-man- dated restrictions and limitations put in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a Florence Earth Day Group coordinating opportunities for participation in safe activities in the local area. Using the theme, “Restore Our Earth,” Florence’s events will include a week-long Earth Day Porch Parade, where people can decorate their homes and busi- nesses for display from April 15 to 22. Community members can use their imagination in decorating, with themes of recycling, climate, tree planting, green energy, beach clean-up and more encouraged. “At the heart of Earth Day’s 2021 theme is optimism, a criti- cally needed sentiment in a world ravaged by both climate change and the pandemic,” said Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers. “Restoring our earth is about solving climate change through the world’s natural sys- tems, such as regenerative agricul- ture practices and reforestation, as well as through existing and safe technologies.” Unlike past Earth Days, there will be no local central gathering place for residents to visit for in- formation or for networking, but there will be other non-contact opportunities for recognizing the importance of maintaining a clean environment. Florence will honor this year’s Earth Day theme with the effort to engage people in cleaning, repairing and restoring natural ar- eas locally. Part of the celebrations are a virtual tour of Earth Day art made from repurposed, recycled and discarded items. Certificate awards will be presented for a See EARTH page 6A PHOTOS BY NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS I n honor of Earth Day, Siuslaw News and City Lights Cinemas is continuing their Green Movie series this week with a screening of “The Story of Plastic” at the cinema, 1930 Highway 101. Limited tickets are available for each of three community showings on Thursday, April 22, at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. People can secure their free ticket by going to www.citylightscin- emas.com. Masks are required at all times except when people are eating and drinking. More than 50 Siuslaw Middle School students got to preview the film during a field trip on Tuesday. By staggering arrivals and split- ting students into three theaters, City Lights was able to accommo- date the stu- dents while maintaining C O V I D - 1 9 Siuslaw Middle School students attended a safety mea- Green Movie at City Lights Cinemas on April 13 thanks to community partners. sures. Each class was able to watch the struction Coastal Home Services. film before returning to school to fill The Green Movie series is out activity books based on infor- sponsored by County Transfer & mation from the film. This special Recycling, the Master Recycling screening was sponsored by Michael Program and Central Coast Dis- Roe Construction and Lofy Con- posal. Council holds special work session to finalize Workplan Florence City Council will cast formal vote next Monday By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News The Florence City Council met for a work session on April 12, with an agenda that included a review and final discussion of the city’s official goals and workplan for the 2021-2023 biennium. The process to update the plan began after the November 2020 election and has continued as new city councilors, along with newly appointed committee and commission members, have par- ticipated in formulating future municipal goals. On Monday, City Manager Erin Reynolds guided councilors through the information that has been gathered, vetted and com- piled from work sessions held in recent months by multiple city entities, from public art to envi- ronmental management and city planning. The submissions from each committee and agency was collated and presented in the form of bullet points for councilors to consider, with senior staff in at- tendance to answer any questions. The final suggestions for inclu- sion in the workplan were includ- ed in a presentation which listed the recommendations for each of a number of city objectives. The majority have been discussed or reviewed prior to this step in the process and discussions sur- rounding individual items was more in the nature of clarification rather than debate. There were areas where coun- cilors disagreed on the inclusion of an objective, perhaps most no- ticeably in the area of a review of Florence’s City Charter. Councilor Sally Wantz, since taking her seat in January, has consistently urged councilors to consider alternate issues and per- spectives regarding housing ini- tiatives and other topics. Among these is her support for including concerns from constituents with lower income levels and different perspectives than those held by a majority of council members. An example of the divergence of opinion was Wantz’s sugges- tion that council members re- view the Florence City Charter, approved in May 1988, with an eye to considering changes to the code. 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