Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 7, 2016
By Pat Edwards

I’m baack!! I didn’t intend to abandon you for 2 weeks, but I guess that’s what I did. The holiday season is so packed full of “busy” that I am always glad to get back to a normal – or what’s “normal” for me – routine.

I hope that each of you had a joyous season and are looking forward to a positive and eventful New Year. It’s fun to start off with a relatively clean calendar. Oh, there are the dental and eye appointments that were made months ago, but it’s a luxury to look at whole weeks where nothing is planned other than what catches my fancy each day. I’m working on an interesting book project right now, but that will be completed within the next two weeks. I’ve got others waiting in the wings as soon as I complete that, but my goal this year is to begin traveling with my husband… nothing lengthy or major until fall, but we both want to take time to visit some of the places in our beautiful country that we haven’t seen together.

Jim will officially be out of the cattle business next week and I’ll have to do some creative thinking to keep him occupied with things we both enjoy. We have plans to fly down to Arizona for a week to visit our youngest daughter and son-in-law, and hopefully take a car trip to Missouri this summer to visit Jim’s namesake nephew and his family with some side trips to some of Jim’s childhood homes in Nebraska. Then, this fall, our whole extended family is hoping to gather for a group Hawaiian cruise.

Our grandson Kevin is back in the area and he will keep an eye on the store and home front when we are away. Oh! It’s good to have him home. We’ve missed him these past few years while he’s been in Klamath Falls.

I hope to continue my columns each week… maybe giving you a bit of a travelogue on our adventures, but always to share the activities and news of our wonderful hometown of Lorane.

Now on to some of that news… The Lorane Grange’s monthly Spaghetti Dinner and Bingo nights will resume on Saturday, January 23 at 5:30 p.m. If you haven’t been to one of these, I strongly recommend it. It’s good food and fun for the whole family. The dinner always includes a large helping of spaghetti, garlic bread, Caesar salad, beverages and a variety of desserts. Bingo games for the whole family begin at about 6:30. Our entertaining caller is Randy Eschleman and his sidekick Marty. The prizes alternate between items from the prize table and increasing amounts of cash as the evening proceeds. The last blackout game, if won within a specified amount of numbers, is over $100 with a guaranteed payout of $25, I believe. The biggest payoffs, though, are the laughs and camaraderie that we all enjoy. Come join us!

Crow Grange hosts a similar evening each 1st and 3rd Saturdays beginning with dinner at 6:15 p.m. (…and throughout the evening.) They also offer two choices of dinner entrees as well as a wonderful selection of pies and beverages. Dan and Connie Suing are the bingo hosts/callers. The bingo games are also a lot of fun and families are welcome. Both granges depend on the proceeds of these offerings to help maintain their buildings and activities. It’s a fun way to help support them.

The Lorane Rebekah’s are still accepting and collecting scrap metal.  There is a container at the Lodge or call  Sande Maxwell (541-942-5083 or sandemaxwell@wildblue.net) if you want to schedule a pick up.

Local Lane County deputy-on-medical leave, Michael Matchulat, spent some time in the hospital this past week with an infection. He’s had some major surgeries to try and stem the spread of cancer and he continues to need our positive thoughts and prayers. His Facebook account is under the name of Mychel Matchy and I know that he enjoys hearing from all of his friends. He has been posting updates on his battle with this horrendous disease and I hope that you’ll send him your special wishes and prayers.