FLORENCE CENTER STAGE by Siuslaw News

July 2021

FLORENCE CENTER STAGE e h t g n i t a r C eleb s t r a f o n r u re t o t s t n e v e and l a r t n e C e h t ! t s a o C n o g Ore

Featuring: Psychic Medium Daniel Monroe Cavy Show Acting Classes Florence Area Chamber of Commerce’s Siuslaw Awards Gallery Openings Stand-Up Comedy & many more events from the Florence area!

Featuring the Florence Events Center A publication of the Siuslaw News

2 • Arts & Entertainment • FLORENCE CENTER STAGE • July 2021

Psychic Medium hosts workshops at FEC

Introducing the new

FLORENCE CENTER STAGE This monthly guide — published by the Siuslaw News, Florence Events Center and area partners — contains information on the arts, entertainment and events on the Central Oregon Coast. To submit, email editor@thesiuslaw news.com

o you have a loved one that you would like to connect with? Would you like to receive validation that your loved ones are still a part of your life? Daniel Monroe is a young and extremely gifted international psychic medium from the Portland area with the ability to “hear” and “see” that which most cannot. Given this gift to be able to communicate with loved ones in spirit, Monroe has been able to share his gifts and relay messages full of love, laughter and healing to thousands of people from all over. Monroe will be at the Florence Events Center for two events on Saturday, Aug. 7. The first event is the “Empath Survival Guide” workshop at 1 p.m. Then, that evening will be the “Hello from Heaven” event. Tickets for both sessions are available now at

eventcenter.org and danielmon- mind so that they can heal your roelive.com. heart. HELLO FROM HEAVEN Monroe will bring closure and peace live and in-person during this extraordinary event full of messages from spirit. People should get ready to experience and witness the remarkable healing messages from their loved ones in heaven. As with any gallery reading, not everyone is guaranteed a direct reading; however, spirit does “piggy back,” meaning there can be messages encoded in the readings that at any moment you hear a message that rings true in your heart, that message can easily be for you as well. Attendees are encouraged to let Monroe help them understand and receive answers to the questions that may linger in your

EMPATH SURVIVAL GUIDE Are you constantly drained? Do you feel others emotions and energy? Do you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders? Being an empath means you are more connected to not only your feelings, but the energy behind emotions, words and thoughts. Join Monroe as a psychic medium and spiritual teacher for this enlightening workshop live in-person at the Florence Events Center and get ready to gain all the tools to live a grounded & balanced life as an empath. “As an empath, you feel and sense much deeper than others and begin to take on and absorb that energy as if it was your own. Without the proper tools and support, this becomes very

Daniel Monroe is a psychic medium and spiritual teacher

draining and cannot only make you emotional but can start to effect your physical body,” Monroe said. The workshop will include: clearing your aura and chakras, daily grounding techniques, setting boundaries, learning to use empathic gifts, how to deal with an energetic burn out and more.

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July 2021 • FLORENCE CENTER STAGE • Arts & Entertainment• 3

— Welcome Back to the Florence Events Center —

The Florence Events Center (FEC) is excited to welcome the community back to the facility! Since March 2020, the FEC has experienced several changes despite doors being closed for the majority of the time. As we reopen, we want to thank our partners at Lane County for helping to utilized the FEC to administer approximately 6,000 vaccination doses to our community members. At the end of 2020, FEC Director Kevin Rhodes retired after 24 years with the FEC. His retirement came during a time in the pandemic when the facility was shut down. With this major staffing change, Administrative Assistant II Aleia Bailey was able to step into the role of Acting in Capacity Manager of the FEC. Aleia will serve in that capacity, under the direction of the City Manager’s Office, while we work to reopen the facility, bring

back staff and volunteers, and reestablish our operations for the future. Our doors reopened to the public on June 14th and we held our first non-City related event in 2021 the same day. We have continued to book future events during the pandemic and we are excited to be able to hold in-person meetings, luncheons, theater events, and so much more. In 2020, before COVID impacted our daily lives, the FEC had initiated moving to a new ticketing provider for our events. After researching multiple options, it was decided that Afton Tickets would become the new ticketing company for the Florence Events Center. Afton Tickets is an independent company based out of Portland, Ore. The company was founded in 2012 by Ryan and Amelia Kintz, with the goal of pro-

viding a ticketing solution that met all of the needs of event organizers, without hidden or exorbitant fees, as well as providing the highest 1-on-1 services during all planning phases of an event.

We are excited to finally have the opportunity to debut the new ticketing system and tickets are now on sale for multiple events. We hope that our patrons find the process of purchasing tickets more user-friendly. In addition to in-person meetings, the FEC has invested in new camera equipment that will allow for a hybrid option during meet-

REAL DEDICATION

ings, luncheons, auctions, etc. Event organizers can choose to have both in-person and virtual options for attendees. The cameras can also be used to live stream theater events, as well as other types of performances. Afton Tickets has made it possible for performances to be viewed in person and virtually by simply selecting the ticket option preferred by the purchaser. We can’t wait to reach more people this way and allow for our local theater productions to reach their fans near and far! For those events who chose to utilize the live streaming option, patrons will be able to select the live stream ticket and will be able to view the event from anywhere of their choosing. The Florence Events Center is working towards fully reopening with all of our previous services,

including catering. In late 2019, the FEC brought catering in-house to provide a better customer and patron experience. Our catering will be back ready to serve our event attendees with the same level of quality and professionalism as before beginning in August. We are actively seeking people to join our kitchen and event hosting team. If you are interested, please visit cardinal-services.com/ to apply. Throughout the entire pandemic we have made it our goal to keep the safety of our patrons, volunteers, staff, and community in mind when making plans to hold events. We will continue to make the FEC a safe place for events to take place and we look forward to welcoming you back! For questions about the FEC or to schedule your event, visit www. eventcenter.org or call 541-9971994.

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4 • Arts & Entertainment • FLORENCE CENTER STAGE • July 2021

FEC Gallery to show work from kids with ‘heart & soul’

his summer, students attending the Siuslaw Elementary School Summer Program will participate in building their own kid-sized city with a bank, city hall, animal shelter, restaurant, garden, theater, store, gym, observatory, library, art gallery and fire station. Students will create the walls, floors, and functions of the city, and no city is complete without an art gallery! Throughout the summer students will create, explore, and complete art that will fill our city with joy, imagination, and creativity. A display of their creations will be available for viewing at the Florence Events Center in August. The Florence Event Center’s Gallery Committee, housed under the new FACE (Florence Arts, Culture & Entertainment) non-profit that

supports the efforts of the Florence Events Center, formerly known as the Friends of the Florence Events Center, will be helping celebrate the participating students’ show and reception. This summer school program is led by Siuslaw Elementary Music Teacher Amanda Sarles. The summer school team

is comprised of 11 elementary school teachers and staff who, after this pandemic year, were excited to keep the school doors open for students to grow in decision making, inventiveness, language and math concepts in action, as well as positive self-esteem development. Visual arts course instruc-

tion is being headed by Artist and Siuslaw School educator, Kassy Keppol. Keppol studied at Hollins University receiving her master’s degree in Children’s Illustration and is the owner and creative behind the local arts organization, Dragon Art. Through this program, Keppol brings her professional art and education expertise to our local youth. The students’ works will be for sale, with proceeds going to the students. If you would like to help continue this program to make it more robust for the futures of our local youth, please contact the Siuslaw School District. Opportunities for contributions will be made available at the event. More information about the show will be available shortly by contacting the Florence Events Center, 541-997-1994.

CAVY SHOW On Saturday, July 17, from 9 a.m. to 4

p.m., the Oregon Cavy Breeders Society will be hosting its annual cavy (guinea pig) show. Local and state breeders will be bringing their favorite cavies to be judged and assessed for their best qualities. The winners will be awarded prizes. The public is invited to see 13 breeds of cavies and talk to the exhibitors, as well as ask questions.

Stand-Up 4 America

On Saturday, July 31, at 8 p.m., “StandUp 4 America: Comedy for the Patriots” will take place at the Florence Events Center. Tickets are just $25 and are available at eventcenter.org. Stand-Up 4 America is a multimedia stage show featuring two of the most successful stand-up comedians in the country, Chris Warren and Alex Elkin. Both performed in Iraq for American troops and in top comedy clubs around North America. There are several elements to the special show, including audience interaction, making it completely unique in the world of stand-up comedy.

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July 2021 • FLORENCE CENTER STAGE • Arts & Entertainment• 5

How to be the FACE of Florence arts, culture & entertainment at the FEC

FACE.

The label says it all — Florence Arts, Culture & Entertainment. It’s what we love, what we support, what we value, and what we strive to provide to the greater Florence area. Maybe you do too. If so, we’d love you to join us. Our goals are to enrich lives, advance culture, entertain audiences, raise funds for capital improvements and sustained maintenance, provide grants for local nonprofit performing arts groups, and to host engaging events that raise money to keep the fabulous Florence Events Center fabulous. We’re an all-volunteer 501(c)3 nonprofit formerly known as Friends of the Florence Events Center. Maybe you’ve heard about some of our events: the Florence Festival of Books, Art Gallery Galas, everyone’s favorite Indoor Yard Sale, Dancing with Sea Lions, and the famous Florence Winter Music Festival, featuring the Kiwanis Kids Concerts for area elementary school students. When you join FACE, you will have insider access

to many FEC events and the opportunity to work with everyone from internationally touring performers to area kindergartners. In addition, you have voting rights to help shape the future of Florence’s Arts, Culture & Entertainment at the Florence Events Center. If you are interested in making these fantastic

and fun events happen, or if you just value the local treasure known as the FEC, please join us. You will gain the deep satisfaction that comes from providing meaningful work towards advancing Arts, Culture & Entertainment in Florence, and will be a hero to the thousands of people who use the facility each year.

All financial contributions made to FACE are tax-deductible to the allowable extent of IRS regulations. We are grateful for every contribution and will send you a receipt with a letter from a board member for each financial gift you make to support live Arts, Culture & Entertainment events in Florence.

One very specific way you can invest in the successful future of Arts, Culture & Entertainment in Florence is by contributing to our performance grant program. The performance grant program helps underwrite live events at the FEC for local nonprofit performance groups. Here is a partial list of

local groups who have benefitted from FACE Performance Grants: Local school districts’ bands and choirs, Florence Regional Arts Alliance (FRAA), Florence Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshop (CROW), Last Resort Players, SEAcoast Entertainment Association, and the Florence Community PTA. If your nonprofit Arts, Cultural, or Entertainment group wants to use the FEC, we can help by providing art grants. For a venue of this caliber, there are fees involved to administer, clean and maintain the FEC. FACE raises funds to grant to your performing nonprofit organization to help you afford the rental fees and market your event and help ensure excellent attendance. So, you can see how essential FACE is to Florence’s Arts, Culture & Entertainment community. If you would like to join or assist us in our support of these and other nonprofits in their use of the facility, please call FACE at 541997-1994, or mail or drop off a check at the FEC, 715 Quince St. in Florence.

Peace Harbor Foundation partners with art galleries for ‘Art from the Heart’ to raise funds to improve cardiac care on the coast

Help improve heart health on the coast by participating in the first-ever “Art from the Heart Walk.” This fun, community fundraising event will launch on Friday evening, July 23, at 5 p.m. next to the heart sculpture on Bay Street in Historic Old Town Florence. Between July 23 and Sunday, Aug. 1, community members

are invited to go to a participating local gallery to obtain a free passport to begin their art walk. They will receive a stamp at each location visited and when they’re finished, they may turn in their passport at Siuslaw News at 148 Maple St. to be entered into a raffle for a Legacy Portrait (valued at over $450) by local photographer Rodger Bennett.

The “Art from the Heart Walk” is a great way to get exercise this summer, support the local arts community and raise funds for improved cardiac care equipment and services at PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center. Artists also will be donating their work for a silent auction. More information about the virtual auction is available at

https://phhfheart21.ggo.bid/. All net proceeds from the auction and from the art walk’s sponsors will benefit the Cardiac Program Support Fund. PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a not-for-profit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth has approximately 16,000

caregivers, a group practice with more than 900 providers and 10 medical centers serving both urban and rural communities throughout the Northwest. Today, PeaceHealth is the legacy of the founding Sisters and continues with a spirit of respect, stewardship, collaboration and social justice in fulfilling its mission. Visit online at peacehealth.org.

6 • Arts & Entertainment • FLORENCE CENTER STAGE • July 2021

Van Fans bring back annual Ice Cream Social

The Friends of Florence Van Fans Ice Cream Social fundraiser will be held Saturday, July 17, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St. The event will take place on the front patio.Tickets are $5 and available at the door. Van Fan volunteers will be serving BJ’s ice cream along with delicious cookies. The Friends of Florence is a nonprofit organization with the sole purpose of transporting cancer patients free of charge to and from radiation treatments in Eugene five days a week. For more info, call Sharon Gelmstedt at 541-991-3209.

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Rotary Club of Florence returns to FEC

With Lane County COVID risk levels reducing, the Rotary Club of Florence is ready to return to its normal activity of weekly in-person meetings. The club has been meeting virtually on Zoom since the lockdown in March of 2020. Starting Tuesday, July 6, incoming President Karen Skulley announced that the club will return to weekly in-person/hybrid virtual meetings at the Florence Events Center. What this means is that those who are ready to return to in-person meetings will be welcome to come and those who are not quite ready can still have the option to join via Zoom. This is also a great option for Rotary members who might be traveling out of area during the summer to ‘Zoom’ into the club meeting and join. “The FEC is such a great partner and they are working diligently to make a safe and comfortable meeting experience for all of us,” Skulley said. The FEC has the equipment and technical capability to make it all happen.

Rotary will follow all state and local guidelines for maximum occupancy, masking, monitoring and social distancing and will spread out to a larger area in order to accommodate its members. “The FEC and our club are prepared to make sure this works for all concerned. We are so happy to be getting back to a new normal and see our fellow Rotarians in person as we greet this new Rotary year,” Skulley said. The FEC is working on a catering arrangement and hopes to offer catering services in August. at least for July, Rotary will be brown-bagging lunch with the room divided for eating and non-eating sections. The club has remained active during this past year online. This year, Rotary is conducting an online virtual auction through July 18. The auction proceeds benefit the local community by providing more than $50,000 in scholarships to local youth. The hope is that next year the auction will be held as usual at the Florence Event Center.

Florence Festival of Books celebrates 10th anniversary The Florence Festival of Books (FFOB) will be happening from Sept. 17 to 18 at the Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St, one week earlier than it normally takes place. This popular event celebrates its 10th anniversary with an impressive lineup of speakers on Friday. All festival activities are open to the public and are free. Popular and greatly admired Oregon authors Bob Welch and William Sullivan provide the star power for the Friday afternoon panel discussion held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. And that evening, Keynote Speaker Melody Carlson takes the stage at 7 p.m. She is one of America’s most prolific and beloved romance authors, with more than 250 books to her

credit and more than one Hallmark Channel movie. All three will be at the book fair the next day. The book fair takes place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and is open to participation by authors and publishers. Applications will be accessible online beginning July 12. For the public, this is an opportunity to speak with the authors who wrote the books. Expect to see many genres during the event: fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, history, mystery, fantasy, romance, memoir. And for wannabe authors, it’s a chance to pitch your idea or show your manuscript to a publisher. For more information, visit www.florence festivalofbooks.com or www.eventcenter.org.

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Florence Area Chamber of Commerce — presents the Siuslaw Awards —

With the theme “Phoenix Rising,” Florence Area Chamber of Commerce will hold the annual Siuslaw Awards on Thursday, July 22, at Three Rivers Casino Resort, 5647 Highway 126. “Together our business community has risen from the ashes, while we keep moving upward,” said Chamber staff members Bettina Hannigan and Mitzi Hathaway. The Chamber community is looking towards brighter days ahead, while it prepares to recognize those who inspired the community during the past 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. People in the community were invited to submit

nominations for people and businesses who not only survived, but thrived. “We cannot forget the business owners and employees who worked on the front lines providing basic needs, so The Florence chamber invites people to find their smiles in Florence with a new sticker campaign. our commuLearn more at https://bit.ly/SandyTheSticker. nity could stay safe in our homes. These Chamber members their people stood out as going time in the sun. In addition, the chamber above and beyond,” the will announce this year’s chamber executives said. At this year’s summer First Citizen of Florence. For more informaedition of the Siuslaw Awards, it is the chamber’s tion, visit https://bit.ly/ goal to give these special PhoenixRising2021.

July 2021 • FLORENCE CENTER STAGE • Arts & Entertainment• 7

CROW opens acting classes for adults

CROW (Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops) Artistic Director Melanie Heard will be offering a five-session Adult Acting workshop this summer. Classes will take place July 16 to Aug. 13 on Fridays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the CROW Center for the Performing Arts, 3120 Highway 101. During this enriching course, students will explore characterization, motivation, diction and stage presence. Participants will learn how to deal with stage fright and how to audition like a pro all while uncovering individual strengths and discovering how to overcome habits and weaknesses. Through the use of games and activities, participants will be exposed to a wide

range of theatre terminology and tips, tricks and traps for actors. “Everyone is welcome!” Heard said. “If you’ve never acted in your life, or if you have always wanted to. If you have taken my class before, but want to brush up your skills. If you have a tendency to become shy in public, and want to build confidence. Or if you’re outgoing, and have always wondered what it might feel like to become another character. I’d love to work with you. Let’s see what you can do.” Heard is a director/choreographer, actress and credentialed teacher with over 25 years of experience in the professional theatre world. She is the artistic director of CROW and has directed many adult and youth pro-

ductions. Originally from Los Angeles, Heard has studied acting with the well-known South Coast Repertory Professional Conservatory, has performed in over 50 plays and musicals, holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Cal State Fullerton, and has an MA in Education. “This class is going to be focused on fun, so that we can laugh at the foibles of humanity, learn from one another, and get our groove back,” she said. “I hope you’ll join us.” Signups are online at www.crowkids.com/classes. The cost is $100 for the fiveclass series, and all materials are included. Questions? Email Heard at crowtheatrekids@yahoo. com.

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8 • Arts & Entertainment • FLORENCE CENTER STAGE • July 2021

KICK-OFF EVENT @ THE HEART ON BAY STREET FRIDAY, JULY 23RD 5:00-8:00 P.M. Help improve access to heart health on the Oregon coast by participating in PHMCF's first ever "Art from the Heart" walk & virtual auction. Join us downtown to pick up an Art Walk Passport, enjoy wonderful food and drinks, and check out the art auction in person.

Visit https://phhfheart21.ggo.bid to register for the auction in advance! Thank you to our sponsors!