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JUNE 5, 2014 Opinion ��������������Page 4 Community News ���Page 5
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Sports ���������������Page 7 Classifieds ���������� Page 13 Volume 82 No. 42
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Teaming for Resiliency wins big On May 21, three members of the Forks Community Coalition attended the Spring Youth Forum. At the forum, approximately 40 youth prevention teams from across Washington met at the Great Wolf Lodge to present their programs. The youth were then divided up into eight different rooms with five youth programs being presented in each room. In each room there was an overall winning youth team based on the following criteria: innovation, sustainability, impact, presentation and professionalism, and collaboration and partnerships. The Forks youth team consisted of Adan Almazon and Jeffrey Schumack with their adult advisor Phillip Sifuentes. Their presentation was in regards to part of the Forks Coalitions Strategic Plan and was titled Teaming For Resiliency. This program was the brainstorming idea of sev-
eral coalition members with a big influence from Mayor Byron Monohon. Teaming For Resiliency involves positive community bonding opportunities by having adult volunteers share skills with youth. The abovementioned youth are part of an advisory committee that has been working on the program components. Their presentation was in regards to the need for this program and the steps they are taking to promote positive community bonding. Once a room winner was selected, all teams met for a banquet where awards were given for: innovation, sustainability, impact, presentation and professionalism, collaboration and partnerships, and a grand champion team which received a $5,000 check to attend Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America National Conference in Washington, D.C. There the
Adan Almazon and Jeffrey Schumack with their big check that will help them get to Washington, D.C. Forum photo
team will meet with their local congressmen to promote prevention efforts. Almazon and Schumack won the best prevention program for their room of five teams, which is quite an accomplishment with
just two youth presenting (as most teams had eight or more youth presenting). What is even more exciting is that they also won the Grand Champion Award of $5,000! Many said their presentation had
people in tears. They have made great connections and several people want to come to Forks to be a part of the program, including Miss Washington and Russell Sherman from the Seahawks, to name just a few.
The fireworks show must go on! PRSRT STD US Postage Paid Permit No. 6 Forks, WA
move meant rearranging the completed Fourth schedule by changing Moonlight Madness to start at 6 p.m. and end at 10 p.m. with the fireworks show starting at around 10:20 p.m. in Tillicum Park. In a phone interview on Friday with Judy at “Entertainment Fireworks” in Olympia she was 90 percent sure she could locate someone for July 5 to do the show. She explained that their company is one of only two in the state that does big fireworks shows, and they had 80 shows and technicians scheduled for July 4. The company also promised to add some special extras to the fireworks package that will be displayed on July 5. By Monday morning, a pyro technician had been located to do the show in Forks. The pyro technician who had done the Forks shows for over 15 years, as well as Quileute Days fireworks shows, was Neil Turner of Hoodsport. He was born in Port Angeles and had a long career with WDFW. He died in March at the age of 50. The Forks Old-Fashioned Fourth of July decided to make a donation to the Hoodsport Volunteer Fire Department in Turner’s memory.
ECRWSS - BOXHOLDER
What would the Fourth of July be without its fireworks show? Well, Forks just about got to find out. A series of recent events sent Forks OldFashioned Fourth of July organizers scrambling for an answer. Last week Fourth of July president Mark Soderlind was informed by the company that has supplied the fireworks for the Fourth’s fireworks show for over 15 years that the pyro technician that was scheduled to do the show in Forks had died. Since the shows are booked months in advance and there is not a huge abundance of pyro technicians sitting around, the company told Soderlind that all the people they hire were busy and they were going to have to refund the money for the fireworks show. On Friday, Soderlind called an emergency meeting of members of the Fourth of July committee, the City of Forks, Forks Chamber and West End Business together to work out an alternate plan. Soderlind explained that there are strict licensing requirements and that licenses don’t cross state lines. Forks Old-Fashioned Fourth of July president Mark The group came to decide that the only thing to do was to move the fireworks to July 5 but this Soderlind. Forum photo