Honoring Vets; H1N1 vaccine; gas holds steady; Viking Volleyball players honored and local runners compete in State Junior Olympics

Honoring our Veterans…

It’s only been 55 years that Americans have officially called it Veterans Day, but members of the U.S. Armed Forces have been honored on the 11th Day of the 11th Month since the end of World War I. The custom of observing that date began with the surrender of Germany in 1918 on that date at the 11th hour. But it wasn’t officially known as Armistice Day until 1938. Then, in 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower, recognizing the sacrifices of veterans in World War II and Korea, made an official proclamation so that – quote – “a grateful nation might pay appropriate homage to the veterans of all its wars who have contributed so much to the preservation of this nation.” The occasion has continued to evolve over the year, expanding the recognition to all who took that solemn oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies’ as members of the armed forces. The Florence Community recognized many veterans last Saturday with the fourth annual Veterans Day Parade.

The Florence Elks Lodge will do the same at 11 AM this morning during a special ceremony.

Veterans also have free access to federal recreation areas today, they can get a free car wash at Car Wash and Shine; and partake of free golf this weekend at Ocean Dunes Golf Links.

John Neuman has put more than 84,000 miles on his pickup conducting ceremonies and setting up the Field of Honor all over the state as flag memorials for Oregon's veterans. Neuman is a dogged promoter, who has turned his private medal program -- the Oregon Honorable Service Medal – into a phenomenon among Oregon veterans. More than 9,000 veterans have received the gold medal since Veterans Day 2006. That includes Governor Ted Kulongoski and former President George W. Bush. The 62-year-old Neuman says he does it as a form of "self healing" from his time serving in Vietnam -- and the cold reception he received when he returned home.

Since September First more than 1,000 people have been hospitalized in Oregon with “influenza like” illness. 33 of those have died. To date, shipments of the H1N1 vaccine have come much slower than health officials have expected. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has allocated another 140-thousand doses to Oregon, enough to vaccinate about one-fourth of those in the ‘high risk’ categories. That additional vaccine is expected to be in the hands of county health directors. From there, it will be distributed to health care providers and shot clinics. In the Florence area, only Peace Health Medical Group is administering the vaccines. They’ve set up a special phone number for screening and scheduling, 902-6057.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline went down by about three cents this week to $2.66, but Oregon’s statewide average, as measured by Triple-A, held steady at $2.75. The local average price also held steady, 14-cents less than that at $2.61. Industry analysts say they don’t expect any dramatic price changes in the next several weeks.

Taking a look at Coast Radio Sports…

Prep Volleyball:

Several Siuslaw Vikings were selected for All-League Honors by Far West League coaches this week. Outside hitter Seabre Church and setter Leigh Aurich (ORR-ick) were named to the ‘first team’ while another outside hitter, Stacie Voogd and a middle blocker, Jenna Hanslits were selected for the ‘second team’. Honorable mention was given to middle blocker Kate Henry. Alexandra Mateski of North Bend was selected as the league’s Most Valuable Player. Coach of the year went to Les Willett, also of North Bend.

Cross Country:

Several runners from Siuslaw Middle School will be in action this weekend as members of the Bowerman Athletic Club Junior Olympic Team and will compete at the State Junior Olympics on Saturday at Sandy High School in Portland. Mitchell Butler, Mack Marbas, and Seth Campbell were in the top ten at recent district and state meets… Butler was the individual winner in both. The three will be joined by Siuslaw High School freshman Matt Campbell. The Junior Olympics meet is a qualifier for the regionals in Spokane later this month. From there, runners could qualify for nationals in Reno December 12th.