Rhody preparations underway; Port to talk plan and budget; Gas prices dip; Students learn Edison’s lessons

Coast Radio News
Local News

17 April 2013

Preparations for annual festival underway

You can meet the 106th Rhododendron Festival Junior and Senior Courts tomorrow during the monthly Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Noon Forum at Three Rivers Casino.

You can also submit your entry for the May 19th Grand Floral parade this week without having to pay a fee.

Chamber Executive Director Cal Applebee says parade entry fees are waived for all applications through this Friday.  He’s already received several, including entries for car clubs, equestrian groups and five out-of-area marching bands.

Entry forms are available online at the chamber’s website and can be faxed, mailed or hand-delivered to the visitor center.

Applebee says this year’s Grand Marshall is Puddles the Duck… the Oregon Duck Mascot… who will ride in the parade in a local “duck-mobile”.

Signups for the ever popular parade banner carrier and pooper scoopers are being taken at the chamber office.

This year’s theme is “Come see what we see.”

17 April 2013

Preparations for annual festival underway

You can meet the 106th Rhododendron Festival Junior and Senior Courts tomorrow during the monthly Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Noon Forum at Three Rivers Casino.

You can also submit your entry for the May 19th Grand Floral parade this week without having to pay a fee.

Chamber Executive Director Cal Applebee says parade entry fees are waived for all applications through this Friday.  He’s already received several, including entries for car clubs, equestrian groups and five out-of-area marching bands.

Entry forms are available online at the chamber’s website and can be faxed, mailed or hand-delivered to the visitor center.

Applebee says this year’s Grand Marshall is Puddles the Duck… the Oregon Duck Mascot… who will ride in the parade in a local “duck-mobile”.

Signups for the ever popular parade banner carrier and pooper scoopers are being taken at the chamber office.

This year’s theme is “Come see what we see.”

Gas Prices Dip Again

The price for regular gasoline in Florence dropped by six cents a gallon on average this past week to $3.56.  That’s down 15 cents from the high recorded in February of this year… but 31 cents a gallon higher than it was in mid January.

Marie Dodds with Triple-A Oregon says the national average price fell by the same amount to $3.52 a gallon and Oregon’s statewide average price is at $3.67; down two cents from last week.

Dodds says increased supply, reduced demand and lower crude oil prices are combining to make things more favorable for drivers.

Port to talk planning, budget and real estate

Port of Siuslaw Commissioners will meet this evening and part of their work will include updating the schedule for progress on a five-year strategic business plan.

Also on the agenda:  appointments to the budget committee and reviewing the budget committee schedule.

During the meeting the panel will also conduct a private executive session to discuss real property transactions.

The meeting begins at seven pm at the Port office on Harbor Street.

Edison’s lessons explained to local students

Quick… who invented the light bulb and nearly 11-hundred other things ranging from the phonograph and moving pictures to a better way to make concrete?

Who started with nothing, then went broke two more times on the way to becoming one of the most influential inventors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

Who said it’s ok to make a mistake… as long as you learn from it?

New Jersey actor and lecturer Patrick Garner in character as the Wizard of Menlo Park talks to local elementary students about life lessons and inventions.
New Jersey actor and lecturer Patrick Garner in character as the Wizard of Menlo Park talks to local elementary students about life lessons and inventions.

Thomas Edison.

Edison’s inventions and perhaps more importantly his lessons in life were presented to Siuslaw Elementary School Students yesterday in a graphic way.  New Jersey actor and lecturer Patrick Garner enthralled students and teachers alike with a 45-minute presentation about Edison and his four rules… work hard; play hard; look at problems from a different angle; and find something you’re good at, then do it.

Garner, in character as Thomas Edison, explained several of his inventions, but more importantly talked about life and how to learn from it.  The assemblies were sponsored and paid for by SeaCoast Entertainment Association.