Rhododendron Festival
The full experience of the 117th Rhododendron festival gets underway. The Maple Street Vendor fair will be up and running today from 1-5 pm with events scattered all around the city. The Rhododendron Quilt Show if from 10:30 until 5pm and the Davis Shows Carnival will get underway at noon and run until 11pm. the annual Rhody Run registration begins at 7:30 Saturday morning with the race beginning at 9. The 28th annual Rhody Days Car Show and Shine begins at 9 am tomorrow at Siuslaw Middle School on Oak Street. The 11th annual Rhody Days Arts Festival will be at the FEC tomorrow from 10 until 5. And the Coast Radio Classic Car Cruise will be at 6pm. for more information go to rhodydays.net.
Public Art
Several pieces of public art have been installed recently along Highway 101 in the core downtown area. Economic Development and Communications Analyst Chantelle Meyer, with the City of Florence, says four are already up and the final two are coming in early June.
“We have six new pieces coming between May and June to the highway. They’ll be part of Art Exposed Revision Florence.”
One of the most recent additions went up Monday the 13th.
“At First Street in front of Old Town Inn and Coldwell Banker. It’s called Sea Dreams and it speaks to the Siuslaw River Bridge and the arches in that.”
Florence’s Art Exposed program is funded by the Florence Urban Renewal Agency and is overseen by city staff and the Public Arts Committee. A walking tour of the 101 installations will be held in Early June.
National Parks Day Coming
The first day of June will celebrate National Parks Day and several area parks will be participating in the celebration. Honeyman State Park and Carl G. Washburne State Park will have a hot dog bbq. Honeyman’s event will kick off at 11:30 until 1pm and the Washburne event will go from noon until 1pm. they are both free events. June first and second are also free fishing days sponsored by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. There is no license required. All catch limits will be in place.
101 Accident
Travel on Highway 101 was disrupted yesterday morning. A vehicle crashed just south of the Highway 38 intersection on 101 and damaged a power pole. Crews had to come in and work on shoring up lines along 101. The road was reopened at 10 am but there were still crews and flaggers on scene for several hours with some delays.
Gas Prices
Gasoline supplies continue to stockpile that along with stable oil prices and a low demand for fuel has brought the price of gas down another 4 cents in Oregon. According to Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon, the prices do not reflect the upcoming holiday weekend and prices could see a jump heading into Memorial Day Weekend. Here on the coast in Florence the price of a gallon of regular is averaging $4.29 a gallon. AAA estimates that about 600,000 Oregonians will travel this holiday and more than 43 million nationwide.
