Hot Rods and a Movie Star Car…
The 9th annual Rods and Rhodies invitational car show is shaping up for the weekend of September 10th… that’s when about 120 “high-line” hot rods and custom cruisers will converge on Old Town Florence. Bay Street will be closed all day the 10th and through early afternoon the 11th to facilitate the show.
Also coming to town that week: The star of a movie that Hot Rod Magazine calls the – quote – “best hot rod film since American Graffitti”.
The film is The Deuce of Spades. It’s about a woman retracing the history of her car. The Deuce of Spades is a classic hot rod and it will be on display all that weekend in Old Town Florence.
The movie itself, along with a documentary about the making of the film, will be on the screen at City Lights Cinemas. Producer and Director Faith Grainger will introduce both beginning at 7:30, Saturday the 10th.
CROW’s continuous fund raisers
Melanie Heard is almost apologetic. She says it seems as if the Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshop is always engaged in some sort of fund raiser.
It’s true. She says for the past 18-months, as soon as one wraps up, another one gets underway.
There’s a simple explanation according to the Artistic Director. She says the group took on a mortgage for the purchase and remodeling of their Center for the Performing Arts last year. And, she adds, local children and families aren’t charged to participate in Main Stage Productions.
In many other children’s theater programs it can cost upwards of $300 per child. That is the main source of revenue for those other groups.
Despite production costs can exceed $30-thousand for a production, Heard and other volunteer board members at CROW believe it’s important to eliminate financial hurdles to participation.
The CROW Center for the Performing Arts grand opening is set for September 10th. Heard says, yes, it will also be a fund raiser. But, she insists, it will also be highly entertaining and fun.
Non profit board training in Florence
Volunteer directors of community non-profit groups can benefit from a free training work shop coming to the Florence Events Center November 12th.
The Center for Nonprofit Stewardship, based in Philomath, has joined with Siuslaw Outreach Services to provide the interactive workshop. It’s also sponsored by the Ford Family Foundation.
SOS Director David Wiegan says the class will “lay the groundwork” for new as well as veteran board and staff members. Topics include the rights and responsibilities of board members; managing organizational risk; understanding financial information; and Board roles and responsibilities.
Registration can be done at non-profit-steward-org. Or you can call Wiegan at SOS.
Steelhead returns below predictions
The number of steelhead making their way up Northwest rivers and streams has fallen far below predictions this season. According to counts on the Columbia River, it’s at about half of the ten-year average so far. But, it is still early in the season and shortages could be made up by a late-season surge.
Bob Rees, the head of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders says he believes the low numbers are due to poor water conditions such as a pocket of unusually warm water that lingered off the Pacific Coast last summer; along with a low amount of runoff from snowmelt this summer.
Bob Rees – “We kind of call them our canary in the coal mine. These are fish that have very broad home ranges, both in fresh water and in salt water, and their health is really an indication about how our environment is faring over time.”
He says keeping an eye on fish such as steelhead in the Northwest can provide a picture of the health of the environment.
