Gas Prices
Gas prices continue to plummet as the west coast sees the largest drops in the nation according to AAA. Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon says the national average tumbled 14 cents bringing it down to $3.38 a gallon. While Oregon’s average is at $4.16 it has gone down 26 cents in the last week. Here along the coast we are seeing numbers somewhere between the state average and the national average as the price dropped to an average $3.89 a gallon. 23 oil producing nations are continuing to cut production to try to stop the falling price of crude. Despite their efforts crude is still at its lowest price since December of last year. Dodds says the west coast prices are still the highest in the nation with the 3 coastal states, Alaska, Washington and Idaho taking the top 8 spots. Arizona comes in at 9th. Dodds believes that prices will likely continue to drop as demand has decreased.
Mapleton Christmas Festival
Kids in the Mapleton area will get a chance to visit with Santa Claus this weekend. The Mapleton Christmas Festival will be from ten to four Saturday and in addition to Santa it will feature live music from “Nyah and Sydney Crasper”; face painting, craft vendors, a firepit with S’mores, and even a Christmas Donkey. Attendees are also encouraged to bring their homemade entry for a chili cook-off. That will be judged by Mike Bones and Lane County Commissioner elect Ryan Ceniga. Santa arrives at eleven o’clock, chauffeured by a Lane County Sheriff’s Deputy. There’s no cost. The Mapleton Christmas Festival will be at the former Banner Bank next door to Mapleton Food Share.
Flags in Honor of Pearl Harbor
As they do on about a dozen holidays and special days in our community, members and friends of the Florence Kiwanis have put up approximately 500 American flags on highway 101 and other area streets. Today it is to honor and remember those who lost their lives in Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941. The club has maintained this tradition for nearly three decades, continuing what began in the 1950s by the local American Legion post with the help of the Boy Scout troop. The cost of buying and maintaining the flags is funded by an annual subscription from many local businesses and individuals in our community. Pearl Harbor day is the final “flag day” for Kiwanians in this calendar year. The next “flag day” will be on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Monday, January 16th.
