Fire Out
Fire crews continued to mop up a 300-acre wildfire yesterday 10-miles southeast of Veneta. Firefighters with the Oregon Department of Forestry Western Lane District have been working around the clock since Friday to contain the blaze, burning in public and private forest land. Lane County’s Perkins Peninsula Park on Fern Ridge Reservoir was closed to the public over the Memorial Weekend holiday being used as base camp for the more than 300 wildland firefighters on scene. As of late Monday, fire line had been built surrounding blaze and hose lines completely encircled it. Crews spent the day Tuesday mopping up hot spots. Fire commanders have not released any information as to what may have started the fire, only saying that it is under investigation.
George Elliot Bass Tournament
It’s been a regular annual occurrence for nearly five decades, but since 1984 the Florence-Siuslaw Lions Club has organized and operated the annual George Elliot Bass Tournament. There will be two o’clock weigh-ins on Saturday and Sunday at Darling’s Resort with trophies handed out in several categories on Sunday. The public is invited to come out both days as the Lion’s Club will have their food wagon set up and serving hot dogs and hamburgers. The public is also invited to join in the drawings for merchandise that has been donated. The entire event, says Mark Meyers, is to raise money for the three $750 scholarships the club awards to area high school seniors.
“One is a general scholarship, one’s for somebody going into teaching or nursing, and then the third one is for somebody going into the trades. We try to cover all the bases.”
This year’s recipients were Mary Jo Fontenot, Kristen Wall and Ruby McKeown.
Reedsport Receives Main Street Grant
Oregon Heritage, a division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has released its recipients of the 2023 Main Street Grants. The closest recipient to Florence is Reedsport. The City of Reedsport will receive $200,000 to rehabilitate seven buildings. The rehabs will include new roofs, awnings, electrical and plumbing upgrades. The grant program was created in 2015 and is partially funded by lottery bonds. The grants are part of a $5 million dollar allocation 50% of which is required to be awarded to rural communities.
