Annual project set for Saturday
Donations of approximately $21-thousand will mean food boxes with the ingredients for a Christmas Dinner… including turkeys… will be handed out to an estimated 425 households Saturday morning in Florence.
Organizers with the Soroptimist club had been concerned that the price and availability of turkeys this year would mean they would have to substitute a lower cost protein like chickens. But a late rush of donations brought the total up and the club was able to find an adequate supply.
The food boxes, and a simultaneous gift distribution for children aged 12 and under will be held Saturday morning.
Gifts will be distributed at the Florence Nazarene Church beginning at nine AM; the food boxes at the Middle School beginning at ten. Parents are asked not to bring children to the gift distribution as they’ll be choosing age and gender appropriate unwrapped gifts.
The gifts and food boxes are intended for households that are struggling financially… There are no income or need verification required.
The Force Awakens… in Florence
The long awaited seventh installment in the Star Wars franchise… The Force Awakens… opens just about everywhere tonight… including City Lights Cinemas in Florence. Michael Falter said pre-sales of tickets for the seven pm premiere have been unprecedented.
Michael Falter – “That is technically sold out, kept a couple of seats back for, you know, in case Harrison Ford showed up, you know, something like that.”
Falter said the second showing of the night at 8:30 is a special one:
Michael Falter – “3-D and that has plenty of tickets and then the 10:15 we’re showing the 2D again and that has plenty of tickets left.”
The Force Awakens will be in Florence for at least the next four weeks. Falter says he expects it to continue to draw large audiences.
Florence Kiwanis Foundation Distributes 2015 Grants
Checks totaling nearly $20-thousand were handed out to seven different area organizations yesterday afternoon. The Florence Kiwanis Foundation awarded the 2015 distributions, ranging from $1,000 up to $5,000.
The largest amount, five-grand, went to the Emergency Department Expansion at Peace Harbor Medical Center. $3,500 was awarded to the Outdoor Adventures program for fifth and seventh graders at Siuslaw. The Boys and Girls Club received $3-thousand, 25-hundred was given to the Kids Concerts portion of the Winter Music Festival. Two-thousand dollars went to South Willamette Valley Honor Flights; 15-hundred to the Science Factory in Eugene to pay for local student groups transportation and admission; and $1,307 was given to Mapleton 4H for swimming lessons.
The Kiwanis Foundation also matched a one-thousand grant from the Kiwanis Club members for the Community Christmas Basket Program.
Yesterday’s awards, along with $5-thousand in college scholarships and $2,700 to pay for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner brought the Kiwanis Foundation total giving in 2015 to $27,500.
It’s still cheaper to fill up in Florence
For the first time since 2009 U.S. drivers are paying the lowest average price for regular gas. The national average price is $2.01 this week, down two cents in a week. Locally, the average cash price fell by four cents and is $2.02 a gallon.
That’s still considerably lower than the statewide average price as measured by Triple-A… that’s down two cents in the past week to $2.29 a gallon.
Heavy rains expected to cause flooding
Heavy rains today and overnight are likely to drive the Siuslaw River over its banks early tomorrow.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for much of northwestern Oregon.
Several rivers and streams in Oregon are listed as being of “most concern”. Six of those are in the Willamette Valley, but four, the Lower Nehalem, Wilson, Siletz, and the Siuslaw River are along the coast.
A flood watch means there is a potential for flooding based on current forecasts. Landslides and debris flows are possible as well.
Another five to seven inches of rain are expected to fall in the Coast Range by midday tomorrow.
Already saturated soils and full rivers mean levels are expected to rise sharply in response.
The Siuslaw River is expected to crest just after midnight a few inches below the minor flood stage of 18 feet.
