Foglio; Waiss; Bartlett; and others honored
A family owned company that traces its roots to 1947 in Florence was named the Stu Johnston Business of the Year at last night’s annual Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Siuslaw Awards.
Gary Foglio, of Gary Foglio Trucking accepted the top business award along with his granddaughter who told him someday she would run the business that was started by Gary’s dad Al 69 years ago. The other nominee for that award; Homegrown Public House; is also a family owned and operated venture. Kelsey Terry and her crew catered the dinner for 300 people at the Florence Events Center.
Gayle Waiss was announced as Florence’s First Citizen for 2015 and received a standing ovation for her efforts in the community. Her youthful counterpart… the Future First Citizen… was Siuslaw High School senior Hannah Bartlett.
Other awards handed out last night: Community Caring went to Oregon Pacific Bank; Florence Kiwanis received the Non-Profit Achievement; Hoagland Properties was recognized for excellence in customer service; Sand Master Park for Innovation in Business; and the City of Florence’s Siuslaw River Bridge Interpretive Center on Bay Street was awarded the “Curb Appeal” award.
State of the City
For the second year in a row, Florence Mayor Joe Henry will present a formal “State of the City” address. He’ll do it tonight at the Florence Events Center as part of a special Chamber of Commerce “Business After Hours”.
City Manager Erin Reynolds has the schedule…
Erin Reynolds – “We’re doing a back stage Events Center tour at five and then at 5:30 we’ll start the program and shortly after that the Mayor will give the State of the City Address.”
Reynolds says Henry will talk about the accomplishments of the “City in Motion” in 2015 as well as look ahead to 2016.
Gas below $2 a gallon
The average cash price for a gallon of regular gas in Florence dropped below the two-dollar mark this week. As of this morning it is at $1.99. That’s the first time since January of last year that fuel prices have been this low.
It’s down 99-cents a gallon since August.
Marie Dodds with Triple-A says wholesale crude oil prices… which fell below $30 a barrel this week… are down from a high of $107 a barrel in June of 2014.
Oregon’s average posted price fell ten cents this week and is at $2.17. The national average price is $1.88.
Indian Creek Rehab Comments Sought
Comments on a U.S. Forest Service proposal to thin forests, reverse decades of agricultural development, and restore wildlife habitat on about 30-thousand acres in the Indian Creek Watershed north of Mapleton will be taken at a special meeting this evening.
That meeting is slated from six to 7:30 at the Mapleton Grange on East Mapleton Road.
The Forest Service is planning on thinning trees and placing wood in streams to provide for salmon habitat. Two other similar projects have been undertaken in recent years.
Pertussis on the rise in Lane County
Health officials in Lane County are concerned about the doubling of reported cases of Whooping Cough last year. Dr. Patrick Luedtke, Lane County Public Health Chief Health Officer said the lung infection starts out looking like a common cold…
Patrick Luedtke – “But then around two weeks you start getting this nasty cough. In adults, we don’t typically whoop, hence the name whooping cough. Little kids with very small airways they get that high pitched sound as the air rushes through. But adults don’t get the whoop. We just get this hundred day chronic cough.”
It can be serious, even deadly, for infants and small children.
Patrick Leudtke – “The baby is counting on all of the family around them to keep them safe. And the best way to do that is for uncles and aunts, and mothers and fathers, and grandmas and grandpas, and brothers and sisters to be immune.”
The bacterial infection is totally preventable he says. Childhood vaccinations routinely include the initial Whooping Cough vaccine, but often a final “booster” is forgotten.
Patrick Leudtke – “Many many many adults have not had the T-DaP booster it’s called… T-D-a-P. They should get it, a T-DaP booster once in their life and now would be a great time to get it.”
Dr. Leudtke says the shots are covered by most health insurance plans and are readily available through your doctor or pharmacy.
