Fern Ridge-Tribune News
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
December 30, 2021
By Pat Edwards
Happy New Year, all!
Depending on how much each of us views a serious snowfall, Mother Nature has either given us a beautiful and wondrous ending to 2021, or she wanted to make a final statement to the difficult year that has just ended. Fortunately, thanks to our caring family and employees at the Lorane Family Store, Jim and I were able to stay at home where we were warm and dry for the week between Christmas and New Years. We were able to appreciate the beauty that surrounded us, but we know that others were not quite as fortunate or forgiving.
We are so grateful to our daughter and son-in-law, Michele and Brian Kau, for coming over the morning after Christmas when the snowfall had accumulated to about 10 inches, to check our home generator and make sure it was ready to go to work if the power went out. Unfortunately, it refused to start, despite Brian’s best efforts. They brought over their own working generator for us to have on hand, and took ours to their house to work on it there. (They found out it had a defective part and both of us are all set now… just in case.)
At our store in Lorane, only two of our employees, Tracie DeBoer and Quentin Harris, were able to make it through the snow to open on that day. Between them, they pumped gas and propane and sold groceries until they closed at 5:00 p.m. We are so thankful to both of these very important members of our LFS team as well as the others who wanted to be there, but couldn’t!
The next morning, the power was out in “downtown” Lorane and we made the decision to keep the store closed until it was resolved—which turned out to be the full day. Our daughter, Gloria, was able to use the time to take Tracie into town to stock up on groceries and provisions for the store while the power was out in Lorane.
On Tuesday, Tracie once again opened and Donald Davis was able to make it there to help her. Thanks to both of them and although we were once again short-handed, the store had a record-setting day, despite closing early.
Others, on the other hand, were able to fully enjoy the winter wonderland that Mother Nature provided. In our family, our granddaughter, Stephanie, and her husband, Chad Furlong, who recently purchased an 80-acre Century Farm near Roseburg, were able to prep a perfect sledding hill for their four little girls on their new property. They were able to repeatedly ride up the hill with their dad on one of the family’s quads and sled down the slope. The photos they posted showed lots of happy smiles and red cheeks. Knowing Steph, they probably all went back to the house and had hot chocolate with marshmallows afterwards. Those pictures brought back so many happy memories of winters with our young family.
Hayden Rae Furlong (aka “Pink Cheeks”)
The Furlong family — Chad and Stephanie and their 4 girls, Harper, Hayden, Shiloh and Cora
Whether or not Mother Nature provides difficulties or opportunities the week after Christmas, it is one of my favorite times. In our house for that week, there are seldom appointments to go to or schedules to meet and it allows us to be able to take a few deep breaths, kick back with a good book or a favorite tv show and enjoy a kind of serenity that is frequently missing once our “batteries” are once again recharged.
With the new year, we are looking forward to more time with family and friends and hoping to see more peace and goodwill within the hearts of all.
Happy New Year for 2022!
All Things Lorane 