Florence hotelier and philanthropist Loretta Hoagland will be recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution’s (DAR) Newport chapter on Monday, March 18, at 11:30 a.m., at the Agate Beach Best Western in Newport.
According to DAR, “Women chosen for this recognition are women who have made a contribution or a difference in their communities. They are, or have been, intellectual, educational, social, religious, political, scientific, or cultural innovators…women who have made a difference in the history of our local communities.”
A little more than twenty years ago, Hoagland, seated on her front porch on a beautiful afternoon, observed several young teens walking by her home and up the hill above the harbor at Depoe Bay. As she tells it, “they looked like good kids, dressed nicely, full of enthusiasm, probably just got out of school. They were approaching another home up the hill.” To her dismay, Loretta observed the kids completing a drug buy.
Shocked and angry, she immediately called a meeting at her home with neighbors. That evening almost 20 of her neighbors showed up and demanded to know what the emergency was all about.
Almost single-handedly, Loretta harnessed her community’s energy and inspired the town of 1200 to provide a place where children, especially teens, could go after school if they weren’t involved in sports, music, or arts. Neighbors Against Drugs and Alcohol, later known as Neighbors for Kids and Kids Zone, was born that evening when residents decided to make a stand against the increasing use of drugs and alcohol by the youth in Depoe Bay.
Hoagland, through her company Hoagland Properties, Inc., owner/operators of the River House Inn and Old Town Inn in Florence, continues to support programs that help youth, education, and the arts in Florence and Depoe Bay.
To attend, or send notes of congratulations to be read at the event, contact Andrea Summerlin, Chapter Regent 541-252-0515 or asummerlin@yahoo.com by March 13.