Sweet Lorane Community News, March 11, 2021
Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
March 11, 2021
By Pat Edwards
Sweet Lorane Community News, March 4, 2021
Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
March 4, 2021
By Pat Edwards
With the sunshine of the past week and temperatures tickling the 60-degree mark, I have begun to feel a special awareness that spring is just around the corner. A certain energy and revitalization is slowly creeping into this 78-year-old body that has sought the languid warmth and coziness of home all winter. I actually cleared off my large, covered front porch yesterday in preparation for the power-washing that will precede this spring’s new coat of paint that the whole house is scheduled to get. It really needs it, but selecting the new color is proving a bit difficult. Fortunately, we have three daughters who have an eye for that sort of thing who are more than willing to help me decide. Our son Rob would help, too, if not for the color-blindness he was born with… a trait he inherited from my maternal grandfather, I have no doubt.
New growth is also showing up in my flower beds. I welcome the early tulips, daffodils, jonquils, crocuses, bluebells and other spring flowers that are reaching for the sunshine and beginning to “bud-up”—but not-so-much the weeds that are also trying to establish their places among the beds. As our days warm up and the sun makes more appearances, I will need to begin to spend short spurts of time outside, pulling weeds to make way for the flowers, despite a back that complains loudly if I bend over for more than five minutes at a time. I usually find myself sitting on a rolling cart or scooting along on the ground to get the job done. Once the first attacks on weeds are accomplished, I can usually keep up with the chore fairly easily. The work is well-worth it to me. I so enjoy the flowers that I care for and encourage each year!
March is bringing a further opening of the Crow-Applegate-Lorane schools, too. For the past month or so, the district’s K-6 grades have been operating under hybrid, in-school classes called “cohorts” that also include some on-line instruction. Beginning March 15, the Crow Middle/High School will be split into two cohorts that will allow students to begin in-school instruction once again, along with the established on-line instruction. Those who wish to continue with just the on-line classes will also have that option.
Parents of Crow High School seniors are being asked to provide to the school, close-up senior pictures as well as baby pictures of their graduating sons and daughters by April 1. These photos, which will be used for the yearbook and the senior night celebration, can be dropped off at the school or sent as email attachments to crowhighschool2020@gmail.com or cglazier@cal.k12.or.us.
The Lorane Grange is continuing to meet each month while social distancing and wearing masks. Anyone interested in becoming a member should contact Lil Thompson at lilyhillthompson@gmail.com, or any grange member for information and meeting dates.
The Lorane Christian Church is also offering Sunday services each week at 10:00 a.m. Those attending can either join other members inside the chapel or sit inside their cars in the parking lot to listen to the sermon that is broadcast simultaneously on the radio. The sermons are also being offered on Facebook until the pandemic protocols have been lifted for those who cannot attend.
Before long, I hope to be providing info on other local, scheduled celebrations and events as our world begins to awaken from this pandemic that has taken so much joy out of our lives this past year. Let’s all continue to do what we must to allow our lives to take on some semblance of “normalcy” again.
Happy soon-to-be Spring!
Sweet Lorane Community News, February 25, 2021
Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
February 25, 2021
By Pat Edwards
Yeah! Jim and I were able to get our first COVID-19 vaccine shots last Sunday. We pre-registered with the Lane County Public Health department and once our age groups became eligible, we watched my email account for invitations to schedule our appointments. Jim was eligible a week before I was, and two days after I became eligible, the invitation arrived. It was an easy process. We were allowed to select the time(s) we wanted to get the shot the following Sunday. A pop-up list appeared with available times and how many shots were available for each. I selected 10:45 a.m. for both of us and noticed that there were 33 injections available at that time. We were to report to a large parking area above Lane Community College.
That morning, we left an hour early, although the drive to LCC usually only takes us a little over a half hour. I wanted to make sure that if we were delayed in any manner along the way, that we wouldn’t be late. With almost a half hour to spare, we decided to park in the Albertson’s parking lot at the bottom of the hill for about 15 minutes so we could again read the instructions showing us where we needed to go once we got to LCC, in order to kill some time. We noticed that people in a couple of other cars in the lot seemed to be doing the same thing. With 15 minutes to go, we pulled out and headed up 30th to LCC, thinking that they might have us wait a little longer at one of their lower parking areas until 10:45 rolled around. But, we masked up and proceeded up the hill once we arrived on campus and followed the cars ahead of us to the top where there were several white tents set up and quite a few parking attendants, in orange vests, telling us what line to get into. After our reservations had been verified with the authorization codes that had been issued to us, a felt-tip marker was used to put two marks on our car’s windshield to indicate that both of us were authorized to get the vaccine.
Then, we were each given a clipboard with paperwork to be filled out. Unfortunately, I only had one pen in my purse, so at the next stop, I asked to borrow another pen so I wouldn’t be holding up the line by filling out both of our forms myself. By then, we were under one of the white tents and were cheerfully greeted by the volunteer who would be administering our shots to us through the car windows. Even though we had been asked to list any severe reactions we have had to vaccinations on the paperwork, she checked with us about any allergies to medication we may have had in the past. I told her about two meds that I am allergic to, and she asked me about my reactions to each (hives for one and swelling of my lips for another). She explained that because of this, after the shot was administered, we would have to pull into a small parking area reserved for those who must remain for another 30 minutes to be watched for possible reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine. It was a price I was more than willing to pay.
Once she was sure that we were ready to get our shots, as the driver of the car, I was given mine in my left arm and Jim, as passenger, got his in his right bicep. It was a wonderful feeling as she pulled the needle from my arm. I felt freer at that moment than I have felt for over a year. We were then handed our cards showing the date, time and identifying number of the Pfizer vaccine lot we had been given. The volunteer then looked at her watch and recorded the time on my windshield so that my 30-minute quarantine could begin from that point; then, she pointed out where we needed to park and informed us that we would be notified in 3 weeks about the booster shot. Within a half hour, we were on our way back home. We have had no adverse reactions to the vaccine other than the usual, very mild, and hardly noticeable soreness at the vaccine site.
The whole process was so well-organized that we have nothing but praise for the LCPH employees and volunteers who planned it. Thank you!
I encourage everyone as they become eligible and who have not had their first vaccination yet, to pre-register with the Lane County Public Health department on-line or, for those who do not have internet access, by phone at 541-682-1380. More venues are becoming available, but this one through LCPH seems to be the main source of the vaccinations currently.
We can do this! We just might be able to resume “life” again by this summer. Fingers crossed!
All Things Lorane 