Category: Newspaper Columns

Newspaper columns that I have written for the Fern Ridge Review in Veneta, Oregon and the Creswell Chronicle in Creswell, Oregon. I began writing them for the Fern Ridge Review on August 4, 2010; on December 6, 2012, the Creswell Chronicle began printing them, as well. I am still the Lorane columnist for both papers.

Sweet Lorane Community News – October 6, 2016

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Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
October 6, 2016
By Pat Edwards

Fall is finally upon us and there has been enough rain to end the fire season. LRAPA (Lane Regional Air Protection Agency) has even opened rural backyard burning of yard debris a week early. It has been allowed, providing weather conditions are acceptable, since last Saturday, October 8. Before lighting that match or igniter, you must call ahead (541-726-3976) or check the LRAPA website at http://www.lrapa.org to find out if burning is allowed on that particular day in our area, however.

The Crow-Applegate-Lorane Booster Club, which also includes the district’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is in dire need of new members. Marissa McNutt Cooper has recently posted a plea to area residents to become members.

“I am hoping to spread the word to people who have children at Crow who might be interested in joining (the Booster Club). If they don’t get some new members soon, they may have to close, which would be catastrophic for our district. They fund an astonishing amount (usually around $20,000-$30,000 annually) for the entire district. Last night alone (Thursday, October 6), they approved close to $5,000 in funds requested for supplies for Science Classes at the high school, new welders, welding hoods and welding jackets for the shop and automotive class, and supplies and materials for the drama club. They also provide sports scholarships, buy new curriculum for the elementary and they’ve purchased new projectors for all of the classrooms. The list is endless. They meet once a month, usually the first Thursday of the month.”

This is a vital organization in our community. The boosters sponsor large fundraising events throughout the year that enable our area’s students to get the best education possible from our small school district. Until the state legislature figures out a better system for school funding, we are all going to have to do what we can on a community level. We all get frustrated with national and state elections and feel that we have no voice. But we do have a voice at the community level and if each community takes care of its own, then we are making a difference that may extend even further. We are all busy these days, but we need to find the time for something as important as this. For information on how to join, contact Linda Lay, Crow-Applegate-Lorane Booster Club President (541-844-5840), or one of its members.

Mark October 15 on your calendar! Roberta Pietila Miller and Pam Kersgaard have organized a community apple cider pressing at Roberta’s house, across from the Lorane Grange, on Saturday, October 15 starting at 10:00 a.m. All you have to do is bring your own apples and containers. They’ll break for a potluck lunch and proceed until all of the apples have been processed. For questions or more info, contact Roberta (360-318-6028 or e-mail robertamiller77@yahoo.com) or Pam Kersgaard through the Lorane, Oregon Facebook page.

Another date to mark is Sunday, October 23. Groundwaters will be presenting a program, Groundwaters LIVE! at the Applegate Regional Theater, 87230 Central Road, Eugene, in the former Central School gymnasium, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. to launch our just-completed 2016 Groundwaters anthology. We will feature 11 of our 63 contributors who will each read 5-minute portions of their stories and poems that are included in the book. The readers list includes: Jeanette-Marie Mirich, Jo-Brew, Vicki Sourdry, Demetri Liontos, David Erickson, Karen Wickham, Sherry Hunter, Michael Foster, gael Doyle-Oroyan, Eunice Scruggs and Stanley Buck. Refreshments will be provided and books will be available to purchase before, during the break and afterwards. There’s no admission… it’s free! Please come join us!

Attention all female Crow High School alums who played basketball for the Cougars! A women’s alumni basketball tournament is in the planning stages in conjunction with the annual men’s tournament to be held on December 9 and 10. Four teams from all age groups are being formed. If you are interested in participating, please contact Marissa McNutt-Cooper (541-517-6608) or a booster club member. More information can be found on the Lorane, Oregon Facebook page.

Sweet Lorane Community News – September 29, 2016

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Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
September 29, 2016
By Pat Edwards

Approximately 30 people attended the community meeting, held this past Tuesday night (September 27) at the Lorane Grange, so that the owners of the Alesong Brewing and Blending (Brian & Doug Coombs and veteran brewer, Matt Van Wyk) could present their visions and plans for the new brewpub that is being built near Lorane. Ground has been broken behind the former Lorane Country Café on Territorial Road, next to the entrance to King Estate Winery. Rather than paraphrase the notes I have from Doug Coombs, I’m going to provide you with his comments directly:

“Thanks to everyone who came out last Tuesday night! It was great to meet some of the community! To give a quick recap of what we’re doing and cover some of the Q&A that came up for those who weren’t there…

“Alesong is a very small brewery run by three founder/employees. We’re focused on barrel-aged and farmhouse-style beers and our dream has been to have a farmhouse brewery in the country inspired by the French-Belgian brewing tradition. This is what we’re building in Lorane. Most of our beers are aged in oak (retired wine or spirits barrels) for 3-36 months before release, making what we do a bit unique as compared with most breweries that have a roughly 3-week production cycle. The majority of our initial brewing (and water usage) will happen in our Eugene facility, but the Lorane location will house most of our barrels that are maturing and a small tasting room.

“Although we fall under the county’s definition of a “brewpub,” our tasting room will operate more similarly to a winery tasting room, with limited – mostly daylight – hours and a family-friendly atmosphere where people can come to enjoy a drink responsibly in a beautiful setting. The facility we are building is at the back of the property, behind the old café, which we aren’t using. We haven’t yet decided what we will do with it.

“Our hope is to be open by the end of the year, although with construction, you never know…” http://www.alesongbrewing.com/

Some of the concerns that were discussed concern the additional use of water since several families in the Territorial North area are experiencing their wells going dry after two dry summers. Also, some residents have expressed concerns about more intoxicated drivers on the local road. I believe that these issues have been addressed in the statement above.

There is also evidence of a great deal of support for the new business and many residents are looking forward to having it in our area.

The return of both the Lorane and Crow Granges’ dinner and bingo nights were well attended at each this past month. Lorane Grange has changed its dinner offering to tacos which seemed to be a very popular choice with those attending, so tacos will be on the menu again at the next event on Saturday, October 15.

The Crow Grange’s dinner and bingo night was well attended, too, but there was a definite feeling that “someone was missing.” That someone was Joe Canaday, the long-time Master of the Crow Grange who was under hospice care. Sadly, Joe passed away three days later. His passing is a huge loss for the Crow community. Joe was an icon . He descended from a pioneer family in the Crow area and was a logger most of his life, although he also enjoyed reading, music and art. I remember him personally as a kind and generous friend with a welcoming smile. Our love and condolences go out to his wife Leah and the Canaday family. A memorial service will be held at the Crow Grange on Sunday, October 9 at 2:00 p.m. Godspeed and God Bless, Joe! Your smile and friendship will stay with us always.

The Crow dinner and bingo nights are held every first and third Saturday of each month.

Remember the Rural Art Center movie night at the Lorane Grange on Saturday, October 8, too!

Sweet Lorane Community News – September 22, 2016

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Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
September 22, 2016
By Pat Edwards

By the time you read this, Jim and I will have returned from our 3-night inaugural trip to the coast to see if we’re cut out to be RV’ers. Since I’m writing this before we leave, you can just pretend that you’re in the same time zone as I am now.

This afternoon (Tuesday, September 20), we are heading to Honeyman State Park near Florence to spend three nights in our “new to us” motorhome. We will join my sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Dwight Isborn, and their good friends, Sherry and Mike McCall, who are all experienced at this sort of thing. We’re hoping that they can teach us the ropes before we attempt a longer trip on our own. I didn’t realize that there were so many “ropes” to think about, but we’re both excited about venturing into this new life-journey. We probably won’t plan any longer trips until this coming spring because the fall and winter are pretty-well booked up for me, especially. Our motorhome will spend the winter days snug under a new RV canopy at our son’s house in Cottage Grove, so we have to learn about the wintering as well as the “using” aspects of RV-ownership in short order.

I do have some Lorane news to report this week. One of the popular annual events that is held in Lorane is the big Hunter’s Breakfast put on by the Lorane Rebekah’s at the lodge hall. It will be held from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 1, the first day of the Cascade and Coast buck deer seasons. On the menu are eggs, pancakes, ham and beverage for $7 per person.

Whenever I am able, I like to promote some of the activities and events that are going on in our district’s schools and there are a few important notices that need to be shared.

Each year Crow High School students are invited to enter their artwork and photography into the (Eugene) Mayor’s Teen Art Show, sponsored by and held at the Maude Kerns Art Center. Four of our Crow students received awards from the 46 entries. All of the pieces of artwork will on exhibit from September 9-30, 2016.

The Crow-Applegate-Lorane district has been a strong advocate for hosting exchange students for many years. We hosted a young woman from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico when our own kids were in school in the 1980s. Because of that connection, members of our family have visited her family on a couple of occasions in Mexico.

The friendship that developed between our granddaughter, Hayley Kau, and Kim, a German exchange student at Crow has culminated in Hayley making two trips to Europe to visit and Kim has been back to visit here, too. It’s a wonderful experience for all concerned.

This year, host families are needed for several exchange students who want to come to Crow this year. These exceptionally bright students are a girl from Egypt,  and another girl from Kazakhstan. If interested, please contact Tressa Miller at Tressamiller@lanefite.org or text 541-606-4412. If you call, there is no voicemail available. Two boys are seeking to be placed with host families through AYUSA. More information can be obtained on them by calling or emailing Lisa Livelybrooks at 541-935-9502 or llivelyb@gmail.com.

Lane County Bond measure #20-264 will be on the ballot in November. This will fund C-A-L School District facility improvements.  These include improvements for student and staff security, updates for energy efficiency and access improvements. For more information, visit the district website at http://cal.k12.or.us or call the district office at 541-935-2100.

The week of September 26 through September 30 is Homecoming Week at CMHS and Open House is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Don’t forget: The Rural Arts Center movie night season opens on Saturday, October 8 at the Lorane Grange with soup and salad dinner at 6:00 p.m. and the feature film, “The Little Shop of Horrors,” following at 7:30 p.m. The short film called “Tears of the Red Oni,” that was made during the RAC Movie Camp this summer, will also be shown.

Movie nights will take place every second Saturday of the  month, October through March. http://www.ruralartcenter.org/movie-night