Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010
CURRY COASTAL
PILOT
Charting the Coast CHARLES KOCHER
Breakdowns bring new opportunities There are lots of moving parts in putting together a newspaper, and when any of them go awry, it can create real havoc for us. Several of those major parts have broken down in the past few weeks, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we fix them. Since every good crisis comes with opportunities, I can report that several good things have been happening in the background. Newspapers are one of the last businesses still operating that manufacture a new product with every edition, and still offer home delivery. Our readers come to expect that product — in print and online — as a regular part of their routine. Both those systems have suffered trouble in recent weeks. The late delivery of the Pilot’s print edition has been caused by several challenges. There isn’t enough room here for the entire list, which ranges from election returns to broken vacuum pumps. One of the changes, however, is exciting. Our parent company, Western Communications, has expanded the press capacity at the Smith River Printing Plant. The result is increased capacity for printing more pages in color, as well as new printing press units that should improve the overall quality of our reproduction. As a result, we’ve moved the normal position of our sports pages so they can routinely feature color photos. We’re also trying a new pricing system for color advertising so our clients can use more color. The new press units come on top of a huge investment earlier this year in new technology both at our office and at the printing plant. Combined, the improvements — and the disruptions — have been considerable. The second major problem came when the equipment hosting our website failed last weekend. The outage came just as the Pilot’s website had attracted record traffic — more than 13,000 visitor sessions in one day — because of the sinkhole near city hall. It has taken all week to retrieve data for the eight newspapers involved, recreate some of the materials that were lost, restore it all in a new system, and get it back online. In the meantime, we learned from many, many phone calls how much some people rely on our website for information. We sent out a Pilot News Alert by e-mail to 1,900 readers, but that did not begin to touch the 37,300 people who visited our website in the past month. To work around the outage, we also learned some new ways to put news and information from the Pilot online. We have been posting the pages of the main news pages, in their original form, at www.issuu.com. Once at that website, search for Curry Coastal Pilot and then choose the date or section you want to see. Some of our special sections are there, too. We have also launched an official Curry Coastal Pilot page on Facebook, where we can post information on a regular basis. How much and how often remains to be seen. In the meantime, as always, thanks for your patience and your patronage.
BILL SCHLICHTING, FEATURES EDITOR – 541-469-3123 – NEWS@CURRYPILOT.COM
Bringing warmth for the holidays
Emblem Club begins collecting coats By Marjorie Woodfin Pilot staff writer Members of Brookings Emblem Club 265 gathered at McDonald’s on Thursday, Nov. 18, to announce the beginning of the club’s 2010 Coats for Kids program. The women placed a red plastic barrel in the restaurant to collect donations of jackets to keep children warm this winter. Emblem Club president Carolene Archuleta said additional barrels will be placed in banks and stores to collect jackets for children of all sizes and ages until Dec. 31. She said she thinks this is the fifth year the club has been providing coats for kids. “We deliver them, as needed, to all schools in Curry County and Smith River,” Archuleta said. “We also work with Oasis women’s shelter, Community Action, the Outreach Gospel Mission and other groups to make sure children in this area don’t suffer in the cold winter weather. “We also work with the Head Start program to provide hats and gloves to the younger children if needed.” Emblem Club Coats for Kids chair, Cleo Curtis, said Kerr’s Ace Hardware donated the barrels. Archuleta said the program continues to grow; this year’s goal is to collect and distribute 400 coats. “The first time we did this, we distributed 38 coats,” she said. Curtis urged all residents and visitors to look for the red barrels at U.S Bank, Evergreen Federal, Chetco Federal Credit Union, the Elks Club, McDonald’s and Fred Meyer. “Please donate as many good, warm, clean jackets as possible to help keep the children warm,” she said. The Emblem Club’s other community action programs include
The Pilot/Marjorie Woodfin
Standing behind Baby Nellie Fox is her mother, Laura Fox, left, and Emblem Club members Sharon Westbury, Cleo Curtiss, Wally Burnett and Carolene Archuleta. Brookings Emblem Club 265 will be gathering coats in red collection barrels through the end of the year. support of the Red Shirts, Community Food Share, Outreach Gospel Mission, Oasis Shelter, Elks Christmas Baskets, Safety City, Drug Awareness programs, Literacy, Americanism and South Coast Animal Shelter. They also provide prostheses for those unable to afford them. For additional information about the Coats for Kids program, or the Emblem Club, contact Archuleta at 541-412-7098.
‘We also work with Oasis women’s shelter, Community Action, the Outreach Gospel Mission and other groups to make sure that children in this area do not suffer in the cold winter weather.’
Upcoming fashion show benefits activities for Sea View residents By Marjorie Woodfin Pilot staff writer A “Dress Up for the Holidays” fashion show and lunch, sponsored by the residents council at Sea View Senior Living Community and CC’s Clothes for Cancer, will be Thursday, Dec. 2. Models will strut down the aisle displaying fashions for all ages and sizes, beginning at 12:30 p.m., at Sea View. It will be the first fundraiser for the newly formed residents council that was started by Sea View residents to support social and entertainment activities. Council member Maggie Graham is coordinating the fashion show with Teresa Wentzel, manager of CC’s. “It’s going to be an exciting show,” Wentzel said as she was helping to fit models last week. Attendees will have the opportunity while they dine to “feel the goods” as the models stop at tables to allow close-up inspection of their garments. A special meal will be prepared under the supervision of Sea View’s food service director and chef, Rob Krebs. Two grand prizes will be awarded: a fishing trip for four, and a catered dinner for eight at Sea View. “Dress for the Holidays” tickets cost $10 and are available at CC’s and Sea View in Harbor, and Words and Pictures and Chetco Pharmacy and Gifts in Brookings. Wentzel and Graham say
— Carolene Archuleta
Mission seeks donations for food baskets By Marjorie Woodfin Pilot staff writer Most Brookings-Harbor residents will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday, Nov. 25, with festive, abundant meals. But some may not, unless the community heeds an urgent SOS sent out by Outreach Gospel Mission (OGM). OGM has traditionally provided Thanksgiving baskets filled with turkey and trimmings for those in need, but this year, the pickings are slim, according to OGM board member Don Sparlin. Speaking on behalf of the board, Sparlin said the need for donations is urgent and immediate. Although he wasnt on the board last year, he estimates about 400 baskets were given out. The need is even greater this year because donations are down due to the econ-
The Pilot/Marjorie Woodfin
Linda Broderson, left, Carol Jennie and Judy Schapley will model clothes from CC’s Clothes for Cancer during fashion show set Dec. 2. the place to be at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, for fashion, food and fun is Sea
View Senior Living Community, 98059 Gerlach Lane, just off Highway 101.
omy. With Thanksgiving just days away, additional donations are still needed to fill the gap. All donations are welcome, whether food or cash, Sparlin said, but at this late date, money will make it easier for the mission to buy the most needed items. He asks that donations be delivered to OGM at 15701 Highway 101. He said the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts are having a food drive today (Nov. 20). Everything they collect will be delivered directly to OGM. With time running out, he asks that generous donations be made when the scouts come by. Food appropriate for Thanksgiving dinners is desperately needed, and the scouts will also accept checks made out to Outreach Gospel Mission. Sparlin said donors may enjoy the holiday meal more knowing theyve made life a little sweeter for others.
Corrections On Page 1B of the Wednesday issue of the Curry Coastal Pilot, two people were misidentified in caption. In the garden club photo, the man looking at plants is Jim Benson. In the chili cookoff photo, although the name tag says Bonnie Bremer, the person is Kathy Lupo. The Pilot regrets the errors.