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THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM | SATURDAY EDITION | JULY 24, 2021 | $1.00
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Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
VOL. 131, NO. 59
J ULY 24, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
Sun and wind
with a high of 70
and a low of 53.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
Habitat builds
new board
INSIDE — A3
SPORTS
Explore the tide
pools with tour
INSIDE — B
RECORDS
Obituaries &
emergency
response logs
Inside — A2
SIDE SHOW
Activities and
comics every
Saturday
Inside — B4
CLASSIFIEDS
Listings and public
notices
Inside — B5
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And
still
they
rise
Florence Chamber announces 2020 Siuslaw Award Winners
By Scott Steward
Creative Wave Marketing
T
he Florence Area Chamber
of Commerce held its pres-
tigious Siuslaw Awards:
Phoenix Rising event Thursday
night at Three Rivers Casino Re-
sort and presented awards to nine
businesses, two individuals and an
entire industry.
The awards celebrate excellence
during 2020 in the local business
community.
“This year’s slate was an amazing
representation of our community’s
best assets, our businesses, and in-
dividuals who made a difference,”
said Chamber President/CEO Bet-
tina Hannigan. “We recognized
and celebrated those who inspired
us during the past 18 months.”
The event was attended by Flor-
ence’s mayor Joe Henry, Florence
city council members, Travel Lane
County President/CEO Kari West-
land and several hundred business
and civic leaders. Proceedings
included Hannigan’s State of the
Chamber presentation, installa-
tion of new board members and
retiring of outgoing board mem-
bers.
“All who attended heard the sto-
ries of those businesses, nonprof-
its, civic groups and individuals
who not only survived but thrived
through hard work, creativity, col-
laboration and compassion,” Han-
nigan said. “There were inspiring
tales of businesses helping busi-
nesses, churches helping churches
and nonprofit organizations work-
ing together to see the Florence
area through all we faced during
the height of the pandemic”
In her welcoming remarks, Han-
nigan said “Each person here has
First council
meeting in
person covers
full agenda
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
The Florence City Council met
in person at Florence City Hall
By Mark Brennan for a reg-
ular ses-
Siuslaw News
sion meet-
ing
for
the first time in more than a year
on Monday, July 19. Councilor
Woody Woodbury was excused
as he was traveling, but Mayor Joe
Henry and councilors Bill Meyer,
Sally Wantz and Maggie Wisniews-
ki were on the dais as the meeting
was gaveled to order.
Henry began by welcoming the
full house of attendees and staff,
“It is my great pleasure to call the
July 19 meeting of the Florence
City Council to order, especially
since it happens to be in person
again, and we have three new
councilors with us this evening,
Councilor Bill Meyer, Councilor
Sally Wantz and Councilor Mag-
gie Wisniewski. They have been
See AGENDA page 5A
Longtime
Mason supports
children’s library
$500,000+ donated
to Siuslaw Public
Library’s program
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
The Phoenix Rising Siuslaw
Awards saw winners in the
Florence First Citizen, Steve
Olienyk (above), the Stu
Johnston Business of the Year,
Boys and Girls Club of Western
Lane County and many more.
sacrificed through this pandemic,
many of us lost friends and mem-
bers of our family. We were unable
to mourn with our loved ones.
Our lives, lifestyles, jobs and social
worlds were all challenged in ways
unimaginable two years ago. Who
would have ever thought we’d hear
the word pivot so much, how about
‘I like your mask?’ Really? Our lives
will never be the same and, like the
phoenix, we will rise above. We
have proven we can change and
many of the pivots we all made
were actually innovative and will
improve our future.”
In addition, two outstanding in-
dividuals in the community were
honored with the First Citizen
Award and the Future First Citizen
Award. Steve Olienyk was named
First Citizen, which recognizes an
individual who has given selflessly
to the community based on com-
munity involvement, leadership
and overall community impact. At
age 94, Olienyk may be best known
for leading the Kiwanis Flag Pro-
gram, which places American flags
along Highway 101 and other main
streets on patriotic holidays and
special occasions. Others nomi-
nated were Jodi O’Mara, Bob Teter
and Lori Gates.
The Future First Citizen Award
recipient was Siuslaw High senior
Jessica South for her academic
leadership and success as well as
civic involvement and contribu-
tions to the community.
See AWARDS page 7A
On Wednesday, July 21, officers
from the Florence Masonic Lodge
presented
a check to
the Siuslaw
Public Li-
brary and
its
Chil-
dren’s Sec-
tion. The
amount,
totalling
more than
Paul Kindsvater
$500,000,
1932-2020
was
just
one way that longtime Mason Paul
Robert Kindsvater left a legacy for
children.
Kindsvater, 1932-2020, loved chil-
dren and was a teacher for over 34
years. He spent many years on the
local Masonic Lodge Scholarship
Committee.
“Sometimes he would even pro-
vide an extra scholarship when he
thought it was necessary,” said local
Mason Dick Tooley. “He always sup-
ported our Dictionary Give Away
program, Child ID, students abroad,
as well as our teacher training pro-
gram.”
Kindsvater was a Mason for 65
years. In 1955, like his father in
1948, he joined Medford Lodge
Number 77 and, in 1994 after
See DONATION page 5A
Bike Adventure ‘builds community’ – Part II
On rides, cyclists raise money for homebuilding
By Zeahna Young
Siuslaw News
The Fuller Center Bike Ad-
venture’s West Coast tour came
through Florence last week and
was hosted by the Presbyterian
Church of the Siuslaw overnight.
On Friday, they continued their
ride down Highway 101 with their
next stop being in North Bend and
their final destination being in San
Diego, where they will arrive on
August 8.
The Fuller Center builds homes
for impoverished families, and
Ryan Iafigliola started the Bike Ad-
venture 14 years ago as a means to
raise funds for homebuilding. Rid-
ers collect donations before their
tour, then team up with various
Fuller Center Covenant Partners
across the country to build and re-
model homes along the way.
“The Fuller Center for hous-
ing was started by Millard Fuller,
who was the same gentleman that
started Habitat for Humanity,”
explained Gary Schroeder, a rid-
er from California. “In 2005, the
Board of Directors fired him be-
cause they had a different vision
Come Join Tracy Markley Personal Trainer for her Book Signing
Saturday July 31st 2pm to 4pm at the Bodega Wine Parlor, 180 Laurel Street in Old Town
Five Brand New Books added to her Collection!
Cyclists with the Fuller Center Bike Adventure’s West Coast tour
raised funds to benefit homebuilding programs across the country.
of where Habitat should go — the
board of directors was getting very
corporate.”
At that point, it was important to
Fuller to continue with his hous-
ing ministry based on the original
biblical principles and grass-roots
methods he used to begin Habitat
for Humanity.
“Millard wasn’t done with pover-
ty housing, so he started the Fuller
Center,” said Schroeder. “Americus,
Georgia, is the [location of the] cor-
porate umbrella, but there are now
about 80 local covenant partners.”
Covenant partners are the local
organizations that sign an agree-
ment with the Fuller Center to
build or renovate houses for fam-
ilies in need in a particular area.
The Fuller Center helps local or-
ganizations by providing expertise,
training, funding, name recogni-
tion and providing for information
sharing.
See BIKES page 6A
Through the rough Covid pandemic local and world
known Author Tracy Markley made the most of her
time publishing 5 new books.
Her kids book even won a literary book award. Pictured
here are her five newest books she published this past
year. She is the author of 9 books total. You can visit
Tracy’s websites at www.tracyspersonaltraining.com
and www.tracymarkley.com to learn more about the
work she does to help people live better healthier lives
physically and with her books.