2 August 2013
It’s billed as the Most Fun A Family Can Have on the Sand
Today is day three of the annual five-day Dune Fest on the sand south of Reedsport. A stretch of sand just below the Umpqua Lighthouse has been transformed into a small city with the addition of thousands of campers that began moving in as early as Wednesday.
The festival features a motorized “freestyle” show today and tomorrow. The rOtation team, some of which have competed in the X-Games will be performing… at one point this evening… the team will simultaneously jump a snowmobile, a side-by-side ATV, a motorcycle and a quad.
Dune Fest offers daily moto-cross racing, sand drags, treasure hunts and the latest machinery.
The latest 2014 Polaris Razor model has been held under tight wraps by the off-road manufacturer awaiting its release. The wraps come off tonight for the first ever viewing of the new model… on stage at Dune Fest.
Fire Death in the Cascades
Hundreds of lightning strikes along the east slope of the Cascades contributed to dozens of small fires and led to the death of one firefighter yesterday in Central Oregon.
60-year old John Hammack, of Madras, was killed while removing hazardous trees as he and another firefighter were working on containment of a small fire in the Mt. Washington Wilderness. The other firefighter was slightly injured. Hammack was the 28th wilderness firefighter killed in the line of duty this year.
Meanwhile, fears that more lightning and erratic winds in southern Douglas County would hamper efforts to control the many blazes there turned out to be unfounded.
Much of the storm system passed to the west of the four-part Douglas Complex. There are currently more than 4-thousand people actively engaged in fighting wildfire on more than 40-thousand acres right now in Oregon.
Got Talent?
The American Cancer Society Florence Relay for Life is just a week away. For the second year in a row, the Friday night entertainment on stage will feature some of the best talent in the Florence area.
It’s the second annual Florence Got Talent finals. Sixteen competitors of all ages will perform for bragging rights.
Hal Weiner, the show coordinator, says the talent includes some of the more traditional musical gifts like singing and dancing. But it will also feature a yo-yo master and a unicyclist as well.
The finalists were chosen from participants in two auditions earlier this year and will be on the Miller Park stage a week from tonight beginning at seven pm.
Weiner said the “Got Talent” finals are just a small part of the stage entertainment planned for Relay… it will include a variety of local acts as well as a sneak preview of one of the acts performing at next January’s Winter Folk Festival.
