A8 •The Umpqua Post • Wednesday, November 20,2013
LOCAL Rowe FROM PAGE 1
He said family is one of the reasons he applied I just had to enter a different door.” Rowe, 49, is married and has two grown sons and a 9year-old daughter, who the couple adopted. “I love to talk to people about adoption,” he said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing. If you get to know me, it’s a topic that I’ll bring up at the drop of a hat. I think it’s just a fantastic thing to do for somebody.” Rowe met his wife while he was stationed in Great Falls, Mont. They’ve been married 28 years. “I’m contractually obligated to tell people that I do, indeed, listen to what she tells me,” he laughed. “My wife and daughter are very By Steve Lindsley, The Umpqua Post excited about the possibility It was a chance for the community to meet the three candidates for police chief of Reedsport at a “meet and greet” on Nov. 12 of a move.” Rowe said family is one of at the Umpqua Discovery Center. Candidates from California, Montana and Reedsport were interviewed for the position. the reasons he applied to Reedsport. “I have family in the area,” he said. “I have an FROM PAGE 1 aunt and uncle in Roseburg. I have two aunts and uncles Wisehart, 50, is married. expect a process like that for citizens. in Grants Pass.” a smaller community and I He and his wife, Tara, still “That community meet He applied to He also has family in have three children living at thought it was very good.” and greet was awesome,” he Reedsport for a He was also impressed home, two boys and a remembered, “plus, I got to Eugene and Eagle Point, near Medford. with the original written who is getting go see that Discovery better quality of life daughter He’s no stranger to application, which had essay Center, which is amazing. ready to graduate from high or the coast. Oregon questions. school. She plans to attend raising my kids in that area, We had a tour of that with “I grew up in Napa, “I thought that was pret- Jonathan. Jonathan actually Boise State. anymore, and I’ve had a Calif.,” he said. “The ty ingenious,” he said. He said the timing is career goal of being a chief drove each one of us around, Reedsport area — the dunes Then the candidates right because the cardioloof police.” in the afternoon, and — was the place that we faced three interview boards gist his wife works for is He said he’s attending showed us the city and would go to take vacations and the city manager for getting set to retire after career training at the “Postshowed us the sights.” when I was a kid. When I got individual interviews. Command College,” which is more than 40 years. He reiterated he applied married to my wife, Janet, “Each of (the boards) “We thought this would an 18-month advanced to Reedsport for a better asking different types of be a good time to look for a leadership course. quality of life. questions,” he said, “all of new place to live and finish “It kind of turned the “I might be the oldest a brain he said. your them rattling our kids,” raising light on for me to be a chief candidate, but I’m not ready little bit and getting a good Wisehart said the and I’m looking for a place to retire,” he said. “I’m look- FROM PAGE 1 Reedsport interview process sense of the person they’re that’s a good department, a ing to come there to work interviewing. I was really was not what he expected. good city and nice, wholeHe went through the impressed with the process, and raise my family and, “I actually enjoyed the some people,” he said. hopefully, be accepted into process,” he said. “I thought I really was.” “That’s the kind of city I same process as the community if I’m fortuHe also participated in a the process, itself was very wanted to look at.” nate enough to get that job.” the other candidates “meet and greet” with area well thought out. You don’t
Wisehart
we honeymooned through the area.” He said he wasn’t, necessarily, looking to make a job change, but saw the Reedsport opening and was very interested. “It just seemed like it was a good opportunity, a good fit for our family,” he said. Both the boys being out of the house and (my daughter) being at that age where she won’t freak out too much, at this age, rather than if we were to do it in high school.” Rowe said he was impressed with the interview process and the “meet and greet” with community members at the Umpqua Discovery Center. “As soon as I got back to the hotel room, I called my wife and said I couldn’t believe all the people that showed up,” he said. “They could not have been nicer to me. There was genuine concern for their community and the issues.” He said people where inquisitive and wanted to make sure he was a right fit for the community. “It thought it would be more stressful than it was,” he said. “The whole process felt very homey and everybody made me feel really at ease, even during the interviews.” He said people also wanted to know about his community involvement. “I’m very actively involved in the Glendive area,” he said. “I’m one of those guys that, whenever you go to a board meeting it’s the same six or eight or 10 people, that’s me.”
Beck
Sorting salmon, life lessons BY CHELSEA DAVIS The Umpqua Post
COOS BAY — North Bend middleschoolers jumped into the salmon life cycle last week, helping sort, slice and squeeze the native fish. North Bend fifth-graders suited up Wednesday morning at Morgan Creek fish hatchery east of Coos Bay. After securing their waders and coats, the students climbed down into the chestdeep water armed with nets. Salmon thunked against their legs as they waded through the water before plunging their nets to the bottom of the pond. Some struggled as their nets emerged with one, two — once in a great while, five, as one boy boasted — salmon that they handed to Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program volunteers. The workers clubbed the salmon over the head and threw them onto the deck. “Female! I’ve got a female!” one boy shouted, unfazed as workers lined up the salmon and sliced their tails. Other students lugged the male salmon over to workers who squeezed their milt into plastic bags, which will later fertilize the females’ eggs. Five years ago, every kindergartner received a salmon egg, which they
named and followed as it grew. By the time they’re in fifth grade, it’s time to go to the fish hatchery to see the grown salmon and begin sorting them. This is the 32nd year the hatchery has done the program and now, said ODFW fish biologist Tom Rumreich, parents are volunteering who had participated in the same activity when they were in fifth grade. “If you guys remember, for the last four years you’ve had a living, breathing, growing salmon at your desk,” Rumreich told the room of squirming fifth-graders. But he gave a warning, asking them to repeat after him: “All salmon die after they spawn.” The kids needed to be prepared to see the salmon clubbed over the head before they were tossed onto the deck and sliced open. “It seems cruel but they’re at the end of their life,” he said. “It might sound sad, but it’s not the end of the story, it’s the beginning of another one. They put nutrients into the river system.” The salmon’s carcasses provide food for others, one boy said. They feed the insects which in turn feed young salmon, creating a circle of life. Those salmon that were not ready to
spawn were thrown over the crowder. “You’re an incredibly important part of this community project,” Rumreich told the students. “These salmon are caught in the ocean ... which pumps millions of dollars into the community.” A boy in the back row raised his hand: “How long do fish live?” Salmon can live up to seven or eight years and at that point weigh around 50 pounds, Rumreich said. Other salmon range from 2 years old (“jacks”) to 5 years old. But rockfish, Rumreich noted, can live up to 150 years. “Wow...” the boy whispered, wideeyed. A few students were hesitant after listening to Rumreich’s instructions. One soft-spoken boy asked if he had to get in the water. “You don’t have to get in the water, but you’ll want to get in the water,” Rumreich said. By the time the kids began putting on their waders and grabbing fish, no one was shy. They dove right into their assigned tasks and worked hard until it was time for lunch. Wednesday was the hatchery’s third day trying to find the bottom of the pond “and we still haven’t found it,” Rumreich said.
my hometown. I have a real sense of duty to this city. I just felt that this was the next step in my career.” Beck has worked for five police chiefs in his Reedsport career. He says he’s learned from each of them. Beck, 47, is married and he and his wife, Mary, have three grown children and two grandchildren. Even though he was a known quantity for the three interview committees and the city manager, who also conducted an interview, Beck went through the same process as the other two candidates for chief. He says he thought a lot about his answers. “I was thinking, at first, it was going to be a little easier for me because I knew everybody,” he said. “The different boards that we spoke to, I knew everybody
but, in the same respect, I was pretty nervous because you don’t know much to answer a question when it’s asked, because you’re making assumptions that people know about your history, since I’ve been part of this community for so long. You’re afraid you won’t answer a question completely because you’re making assumptions that people already know your background.” He says he answered the questions as if he was new to the area. “Making sure that I formulated good answers and took the expectation that people knew about me out,” he said. He said he enjoyed the “meet and greet” at the Umpqua Discovery Center on Nov. 12. “Shaking hands and talking with people is kind of a no-brainer for me,” he said. “You don’t have the ‘where are you from, how long have you worked in your other job?’ People have seen me in the community for so long it was a little easier for me.”
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