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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2021)
SN THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM | WEDNESDAY EDITION | OCTOBER 27, 2021 | $1.00 VETERANS AND SPOUSES FREE DENTAL DAY KORANDO DENTAL GROUP FRIDAY NOVEMBER 12TH 2021 0900-1500 CALL TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT BEGINNING OCTOBER 15TH, 541-991-7920 WE ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY Siuslaw News Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY VOL. 131, NO. 86 O CT . 27, 2021 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER Evening rain with a high of 59 and a low of 55. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Sheriff’s Office seeks missing man INSIDE — A10 SPORTS Giving cheerleaders a cheer at SHS INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & response logs Inside — A2 TV GUIDE Inside — B3-B4 KIDS CORNER Activities for kids Inside — B5 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 IN THE CARDS T he Florence Regional Art Alliance (FRAA) is a unique space for artists of all types. The FRAA Art Cen- ter, 120 Maple St. in Historic Old Town, provides a venue for exhibi- tion of work but also holds classes, workshops and social gatherings designed to enhance the creativity of its members. FRAA also takes an active role in creating and sharing art with peo- ple in the community who might be isolated, mobility challenged or who are suffering cognitive de- cline. One of the artist groups has been meeting regularly to not only cre- ate art, but share it with seniors in our community in a simple but personal way, with greeting cards. Christine Santiago is a FRAA artist and the project manager for Art CARE (Community Artists Reaching the Elderly), a program designed to reach out to senior cit- izens living in local assisted living facilities. The informal group meets Tues- days at noon and welcome anyone who wants to assist. Santiago and FRAA President Kristin Anderson have been coor- Mapleton supports students’ success in cyber session By Zac Burtt Siuslaw News S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2021 On Oct. 20, the Mapleton School District Board of Directors met for its sec- ond meeting of the 2021-22 school year. The meeting was conducted via Zoom. People were able to watch the meet- ing via YouTube. Mapleton High School Principal Brenda Moyer opened the meeting and talked about the volleyball team and how it would be traveling to Alsea on Oct. 21 for a play-in game to earn a spot in the Mountain West Conference playoffs. This prompted Director Michelle Holman to voice concern, because there have been previous issues with Alsea School District not enforcing mask rules. Moyer said she had con- tacted the Oregon School Athletic Association (OSAA) regarding the issue and they told her to contact Occu- pational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Though Moyer said she would not be calling OSHA, she assured the board that she and Athletic Director Carrie Dean would travel to See MAPLETON page 7A Artists gather to create greetings for area seniors Story & Photos By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News dinating the card making effort. “We were motivated to reach out to seniors because we both had re- cently lost parents who were in as- sisted living facilities out of state,” Santiago said. “I worked in nurs- ing homes as a teen and knew that some residents had no family left or no family close by to visit. We wanted to help combat isolation and loneliness. Since I make greet- ing cards from my photographs, we thought that would be a good place to start.” She began giving cards to seniors at Spruce Point Assisted Living and Regency Florence in August 2020. “Kristin and I put out the word to the art community and soon I was joined by five other artists,” Members of FRAA’s card mak- ing club, Art CARE, meet weekly to create unique greeting cards for area senior citizens. All ma- terials and a great deal of fun are supplied by the group. Santiago added. The members of Art CARE are all accomplished artists and use their particular techniques and materials to create cards which not only capture their style but also re- sult in a wide variety of cards. “We make 110 cards each month by hand. We use watercolors, alco- hol ink, mixed media and collage techniques, to name a few,” Santi- ago said. “Each card we make is as unique and as varied as it’s recipi- ent. Karen Mohr makes hand-cal- ligraphed greetings for the inside. FRAA donates the card stock. We also received a ton of mixed media donations such as pens, paper for collage, stamps, stickers and rib- bons. We have even gotten some already-made cards from other generous card artists.” One of the artists spending time as a Art CARE card creator is Pa- tricia Ball. See CARDS page 7A Mowbray Gardens showcases rhododendron hybrids locally By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News One of the most unique lo- cations nearby to learn about plants and trees is Mowbray Gardens near Florence, where the focus is not just on selling plants but on developing new and unusual varieties of famil- iar trees, shrubbery and espe- cially rhododendrons. Chris Trautmann is the owner and plant breeder at Mowbray Gardens, an arbore- tum with an extensive selec- tion of trees and shrubs. He is primarily focused on produc- ing regionally specific plants MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS and trees which thrive on the Chris Trautmann is now working on his Central Oregon Coast. third local arboretum, this one called “First, I’m basically retired, Mowbray Gardens, where he develops but my place keeps me going new strains of local greenery. to primarily share a common interest with other master gardeners According to Trautmann, his life and supply new and exciting plant ma- has always revolved around plants and terial for local collectors,” Trautmann the development of specific varietals. said. “My passion for new and excit- His family roots are in agriculture and ing rhododendrons keeps me making he has continued in that family tradi- crosses and producing new and excit- tion. ing plants that have sizzle and allure.” “My grandfather, Andrew, was the There are rows of trees of all shapes “Onion King” of Texas in the 1940s and sizes on Trautmann’s property, and ‘50s, owning and operating Green filling the spaces between and under Top Farms in two locations in Texas, trees. There are also dozens of rhodo- consisting of over 300 acres of pota- dendrons with different leaf sizes and toes, carrots, lettuce and, of course, flower formations. Vadalia sweet onions,” Trautmann “My breeding goals are rhodies said. “My father, Charley, was presi- with peachy-orange-yellow colors, dent of the farm and was assisted by along with ones with dark red and his four brothers.” black-purple flowers to fill the void of Trautmann has spent the past few these tones. Plants with good foliage, decades working with plants and has leaf retention and heavy indumenta shifted locations as his space filled (the felty fuzzy bottom of some leaves) with growing things. He now has his and colorful conifers in the dwarf and third large scale garden here in Flor- golden realm, which are also a big part ence. of my plant community,” he said. See GARDEN page 7A Bi-Mart Pharmacy in Florence to close by Nov. 3 By Mark Brennan & Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News At the end of September, the Bi-Mart Corporation announced that it was exit- ing the pharmacy business and transitioning pharmacy services to Walgreens. Florence Bi-Mart, 4310 Highway 101, will contin- ue to operate for its usual hours, just without the pharmacy. According to Don Leber, Vice President of Marketing for Bi-Mart Corporation, no decision has yet been made regarding the specif- ics of providing service in Florence. “Walgreens has not confirmed with Bi-Mart the final arrangements for pro- viding service to Florence residents. We are still dis- cussing future relationships with local merchants. We expect to hear from Wal- greens soon, perhaps in the next 24 to 48 hours, with an announcement of the plan moving forward. We realize there is confusion at this time, and we are working with Walgreens to finalize arrangements,” Lieber said. See PHARMACY page 10A