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Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
VOL. 131, NO. 90
N OV . 10, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
Rain with a high of
53 and a low of 52.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
Veterans Day
Cruise Info
INSIDE — A8
SPORTS
Siuslaw XC Teams
win state
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
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FEMA Mobile Vaccination Unit provides
a boost to Florence vaccinations this week
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
A unique partnership between the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) and Oregon Health
Authority (OHA) has brought a
FEMA Mobile Vaccination Unit
to Florence this week. The drive-
through vaccination clinic will be at
Florence Events Center, 715 Quince
St., from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day
through Sunday, Nov. 14, to provide
COVID-19 testing and initial and
booster doses of the Pfizer, Moder-
na and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
The clinic is for ages 12 and up and
is provided at no cost.
The site director is Kevin
McVeigh, with OHA, who is work-
ing with a team of clinical and non-
clinical personnel provided through
FEMA.
“This is a FEMA mission assign-
ment. The State of Oregon requested
FEMA to provide a mobile vaccina-
tion unit (MVU), and we’ve been
working with FEMA since March in
Oregon,” he said.
The first MVU arrived right after
Labor Day in September, with the
next two arriving Oct. 18.
“All three were soon operation-
al, and this particular unit started
working in Curry County,” McVeigh
said.
The three buses are provided by
Yankee Line, based in Boston, Mass.,
to operate as a mobile pharmacy.
Yankee is providing buses through-
out the country, including in Colo-
rado, where MVUs are administer-
Florence
woman
dies in
fire Nov. 7
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
At approximately 2
p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6,
responders from Western
Lane Ambulance District,
Siuslaw Valley Fire &
Rescue and Florence Police
Department were notified
of smoke in a residence
in the 1900 block of 23rd
Street, along with a report
of a possible victim.
Emergency personnel lo-
cated an 80-year-old female
who was found deceased in
a bedroom. Fire and smoke
damage was isolated to the
bedroom and the deceased
was the only occupant of
the home.
The identity of the vic-
tim has not been released
and circumstances sur-
rounding this incident are
undetermined at this time.
Investigation of the fire
and fatality will be handled
by Siuslaw Valley, Flor-
ence Police and the Lane
County Medical Examin-
er’s Office.
FEMA and Oregon Health Authority worked with the City of Florence to bring a Mobile Vaccination Unit
to Florence this week. The agencies are offering a free drive-through clinic at the Florence Events Center
for people seeking initial and booster doses of the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
ing 3,000 shots a day.
“Since September in Oregon,
we’ve surpassed 10,000 total doses.
This unit alone has done 2,500 in
three weeks,” McVeigh said. “The
bus allows us to move from one
place to another within a day.
FEMA provides the bus and most
of the personnel from all around the
country.
This MVU had stops in Brookings
and Port Orford before some of the
booster shots were approved for the
public. By Oct. 22, “we got extreme-
ly busy,” McVeigh said. “First of all,
our numbers jumped from about 10
a day up to about 150 a day. We’ve
been about there or higher ever
since. Our average daily has been
about 150 to 200.”
See FEMA page 6A
Central coast sees first king tides of season
By Zac Burtt
Siuslaw News
The Florence area saw a late
season influx of tourists last
weekend as people came from
all around to see the first king
tides of fall/winter 2021-22.
The beach parking lots and
turn-offs on Highway 101 from
Brookings to Astoria were
filled with people hoping to
catch a glimpse of the ex-
tra-large waves that these
higher than normal tides
bring. The tide reached a re-
markable 9.3 feet at Alsea Bay
in Waldport on Nov. 7, though
Heceta Head State Park and
Devils Elbow State Park still
showed a slice of beach.
Market event fills people’s pantries
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
The second annual “Fill your Pan-
try” event sponsored by the Florence
Farmers Market took place on Sun-
day, Nov. 7, despite the stormy con-
ditions.
Upon arrival, shoppers made their
way to the covered area beneath the
Siuslaw Middle School to collect their
pre-paid order from the market vol-
unteers.
Mary Shaw, one of the founding
members of the market, said, “The
weather did not dampen the spirits of
the dozen volunteers who worked for
four hours setting up, delivering or-
ders and cleaning up at the end of the
event. Volunteers delivered food to
shoppers, directed traffic, answered
questions, helped vendors set up, and
provided lunch and hot beverages for
the volunteer team and vendors.”
The farmers market’s Fill your Pan-
try event is intended to give the com-
munity a final opportunity to stock
up on locally grown and produced
foods now that the seasonal market
has concluded.
The variety of food offered at the
event included storage produce —
such as potatoes, onions, winter
squash, turnips and parsnips — eggs,
poultry, fish, beef, pork, lamb, beans,
See MARKET page 5A
C elebrating Over 30 Years
in Real Estate
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
JIM HOBERG
Broker/Owner
1870 Hwy. 126, Suite A • PO Box 3040, Florence, OR