Art takes the stage this weekend, flanked by wine and jazz
A lot of attention has been placed on the wine and jazz music aspects of this weekend’s inaugural Florence Fest ’17. But a very large part of the weekend will also include a juried art show. The Florence Regional Arts Alliance is one of the partners in the festival. Harlen Springer says there will be a broad selection.
Harlen Springer – “Two-D art which is water color, oil, photography, as well as some 3-D work, ceramics… pottery.”
It began weeks ago with a call to artists to submit potential entries. Eugene gallery owner and artist Robert Canaga reviewed all of the entries and selected what he determined to be the best.
Harlen Springer – “So he basically took the hundred entries which came from Seattle, Portland, all the way down to Bandon, Coos Bay, over to Bend. He took all those entries, there were a hundred, and he narrowed it down to 47.”
If for some reason you can’t get to the show this weekend… or you want a second look:
Harlen Springer – “Fortunately for us there was a cancellation in the show in the FEC for April and so we’ve asked our artists if they would like to display in Galleries one and five in the month of April and I would say about 90-percent of them will be there.”
Florence Fest runs Friday afternoon and evening at the Florence Events Center, then again Saturday. There are seven different jazz artists or ensembles on stage, along with 12 regional wineries.
No Up-Side for Sanctuary City says Mayor
Florence City Councilors reached a consensus last week that they would not consider a proposal to make Florence a sanctuary city. The move would have been largely symbolic; and says Mayor Joe Henry, it would not have accomplished much.
Joe Henry – “And… there’s no upside for the city. We already… we have already published our policy that says we will abide by what the executive order from the State of Oregon is. So there’s really no reason to stir this all up.”
One reason Henry and others cited for not wanting to take that stand was due to the possibility that by doing so it might make the city ineligible for federal law enforcement grants. U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions stopped short of any formal policy announcements this week. But he reiterated that state and local agencies failing to cooperate with federal immigration and border officials might forfeit federal funding. The City of Florence has received federal grants from the U.S. Justice Department in the past, including an ongoing grant that will help fund a school resource officer at Siuslaw Schools over the next three years.
Florence nominated for 10-best Northwestern Small Towns
We’ve all seen them on the internet… The 10-best places to retire; the 10-best vacation destinations; things like that.
USA Today puts up several of those lists each year and quite often, the Florence area winds up on them.
The latest is the 10-Best Northwestern Small Towns.
Bettina Hannigan, the Executive Director of the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce wants to get the word out that this area has been nominated and the list will be finalized in late April. The exposure by being listed can be immeasurable as people all over the country read the lists and they can influence where people go and spend money.
Online voting for the small town list is underway right now with the cutoff set for April 24th. Anyone and everyone can vote… but they’re limited to just once each day.
You can go to www-dot-10best-dot-com-slash-awards for information on how to vote for Florence.
Heceta birthday easy as 1-2-3
The people at Heceta Head Lightstation will be celebrating the 123rd birthday of that iconic fixture this Thursday.
There’s probably not a cake big enough to handle all of the candles, so they’ll be offering cupcakes instead.
And live music… and other food and fun.
Marty Adams, the Sea Strings and “High Tide” will perform at the keeper’s house from four to seven pm March 30th in celebration of the 123rd anniversary of the first time the lighthouse at Heceta Head was lit.
The celebration, and admission into the keeper’s house and grounds are free. But there is a $5 day-use fee to park in the nearby parking lot. A free shuttle will transport you from the parking area to the Keeper’s House… or you can walk the trail.
Coastal Fire Chiefs to meet in Florence
If you see a lot of emergency vehicles in Florence Thursday, don’t panic. It’s only because the Oregon Fire Chief’s Association will be hosting a “Coastal Fire Chief’s Round Table” at Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue.
Fire Chief Jim Langborg says the meeting is a chance for coastal chiefs to “network” and discuss things of common interest and mission.
Thursday’s discussion will include ocean rescue.
More than 40 people will be in attendance. The Round Table begins at one Thursday and then wraps up Friday morning. They’ll include a private dinner for participants Thursday evening at the Florence Events Center.
Langborg called it a “big honor” to be asked to host the event and he hopes it will become an annual function.
Library to host award winning writer
Oregon author and essayist Robert Leo Heilman will in Florence Thursday evening where he’ll share selected works from his recent collection of writings about life in Oregon.
The World Pool: A Literary Variety was published in 2016 and is a collection of short pieces written by Heilman over the past 30 years.
His writings are rooted in rural Oregon, specifically Myrtle Creek where he lives. Heilman has received the Andres Berger Award for nonfiction and a previous collection of his was a runner-up for a 1996 Oregon Book Award in the nonfiction category.
He will be at Siuslaw Public Library in Florence Thursday evening at six pm.
