Editorial: Roses & thorns

Rose

Break out the popcorn! Strike up the band!

There will be free movies in Roseburg this summer on the big screen at Stewart Park.

U.S. Cellular worked out a deal with the city of Roseburg to host family-oriented movies on an inflatable screen. The monthlong promotion begins June 6. Pre-show activities will begin at 7:30 p.m. and they are expected to include activities for children as well as live performances. The movies start at dusk.

Thanks to U.S. Cellular for the movies, the city of Roseburg for the use of the park and electricity, and our local Pepsi distributor for donating Pepsi products.

Add this to Music on the Half Shell, Riverbend Live!, the Sutherlin Stampede, the Douglas County Fair, Graffiti Weekend, the Umpqua Valley Arts Festival, the wine festivals, Fourth of July fireworks and, well, many, many more programs. This summer will be great, and it’s not far off.

See you there.

Thorn

There are slobs out there. You know who we mean. They leave their trash on the road. They empty their ashtrays in the parking lot. They leave old, nasty food in the company refrigerator. They treat Oregon like it is their own private trash can.

The members of the Myrtle Creek Youth Litter Patrol have seen firsthand the evidence of the transgressions. As reporter Cara Pallone followed them around the beach at Winchester Bay, patrollers were picking up cigarette butts, plastic bags and beverage bottles, and generally making the place nicer to visit.

It was the Great Oregon Spring Beach Cleanup.

Way to go, kids and adult volunteers. Maybe next year you’ll find that people have been a little more considerate of their home and neighbors.

Thorn

We have no use for people who poach our wildlife. Even more aggravating are people who visit our fair county for the express purpose of illegally depriving us of our wildlife.

While the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife takes its fair share of abuse from some of the locals, the department should be recognized for citing three Springfield men and a juvenile for killing three elk northwest of Roseburg.

Rose

A number of people wondered what the heck Roseburg’s Marchello Folino was doing on the second floor at Fitness First.

The 27-year-old Roseburg man would pull on his turnouts and strap on heavy firefighting equipment. Then he would begin his turn with a device that is the bane of fitness buffs (drum roll, please): the stair-climber.

Not just for a few minutes but for a long time. Sometimes working out four hours per day in pursuit of a good finish in the Firefighters Stairclimb in Seattle.

With 60 pounds of gear he raced up 1,311 steps — 69 floors — in 14 minutes and 5 seconds, beating out 1,359 competitors for a 26th place finish.

Marchello, you rock.