Crab Crack Returns
Another victim of the Covid pandemic is making a return next month. Florence Food Share will be hosting their annual Crab-Crack Saturday, February 4th at the Florence Events Center. Food Share director Colin Morgan says tickets are available only at Food Share.
“For the ticket they get assortment of pasta dishes, and salad, and there’ll be silent auction going on and there’ll be all you can eat crab.”
The price is $75 per person. Morgan says this fund raiser differs from others they have during the year because it is used to fund the operations of the non-profit emergency food pantry.
“This is what allows the garden to grow, because it’s getting the dirt in there, and getting the supplies to maintain the garden, the seeds and stuff. You know, making sure that the truck can go pick up from the stores and making sure that folks when they come in it’s well-lit and the freezers are running properly.”
Morgan says they’re encouraging groups to purchase tables of 6 or more and make it a party.
Rhododendron Court
The announcement of the Rhododendron Royal Court came down Friday morning at an assembly at Siuslaw High School. This year’s senior princesses are Gilliam Norton, Eryn Morgan, Mary Jo Fontenot, Sunshine Armer and Michaela Butchart. The princes are seniors Tristan Stewart, Caleb Lewis, Lucian Murphey, Ian Sissel and Alex Goss. 8 of the seniors are Siuslaw students and Lewis and Stewart are Mapleton students. Rhododendron Court organizer Wendy Kraus says it’s going to be a great run up to the festival.
“I love it, it’s going to be such a wonderful experience, they’ve got different personalities, they’re fun.
This year the Rhododendron Coronation will be a little earlier than in the past, the event will be the Saturday before the Festival on May 13th.
Flu Report
Seasonal Flu rates continue to decline sharply the trend is downward quicker than in previous seasons with the exception of the 2020/2021 season where the virus was nearly undetectable. There were still some 562 positive results for the state, but the rate of positive tests was averaging about 7.1% less than half of what it was in the previous week. Emergency room visits are also down and hospitalizations have dropped. According to the OHA outbreaks have been limited to Long Term Care Facilities but even that rate has diminished greatly.
