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, November 14, 2019

November 14, 2019Newspaper Columns, , , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
November 14, 2019
By Pat Edwards

Me on swing on Orchard St EugeneIt’s amazing how fast the holidays are approaching. Each year, the time seems to go faster and faster. Thinking back to my youth, it seemed as though the days, weeks and years, kept at a leisurely pace. There was time to go to school, do chores, spend some fun time outdoors and still have time left over for lazing around in the sun on summer days or lying on the bed, reading a good book during the days of inclement weather. I don’t ever remember being bored, but life was unhurried and much simpler then.

These days, it’s easy to cram useless time into our days—on the computer or with cell phone in hand. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. A lot of my work is done on the computer, but when I need to take a break from reading and editing manuscripts or designing layouts for books, I begin scrolling through Facebook or getting current with email correspondence instead of giving my mind a rest.

With the decreased energy level brought on by advanced years, I’m not as inclined to go outside and provide my body with some much-needed exercise in the fresh air as I know that I should. Instead I pack my calendar with schedules and events and “things to do,” leaving little for leisure time that can stretch out my days a bit. Each day is filled with trips to town to do errands and go to appointments instead of taking a Sunday drive, just for the fun of it; or short overnight trips to the coast or mountains. I’m missing the quiet times when I can read the stack of books for pleasure-reading I have waiting for me. I take yoga classes instead of accomplishing the same goals by heading out to pull weeds and prepare my flower beds for winter or stacking the fallen limbs lying in our pasture on a burn-pile. I eventually get those chores done, anyway, but the jobs are usually much bigger than if I went out each day and did them a little at a time.

Entrance

Speaking of yardwork, those of you who drive past Easy Acres Drive on Territorial may notice that the flower beds at the entrance to the Easy Acres neighborhood have been tilled up and are awaiting new plantings. Our neighborhood group is joining together to once again make it into a welcoming entrance since I lost the battle with the weeds and grass a few years ago. We will soon have it ready to bloom next spring. We’re not going to put permanent plantings in right now, however. Once the Territorial Highway project begins on that section, most likely it will all be dug up and moved by the county. The plans are not concrete yet, but the county has warned us not to plant anything we are sentimentally attached to.

A lot of holiday bazaars are scheduled for the coming weeks. I usually share a booth with my author/colleague, Joe Blakely, each year at the Holiday Market at the Lane County Fairgrounds, but we have decided to forego it this year. So, I’ve signed up for the Fern Ridge Holiday Bazaar on Friday and Saturday, November 22 and 23. My table will be at the Elmira Elementary School and I’ll have all of my books and this year’s Groundwaters Anthology on display. I participated in one at the Creswell Grange a couple of weeks ago and it was fun talking to everyone. I hope that many of you will stop by and say “hi.”

Don’t forget to add your non-perishable foods to the food boxes that are provided at the area granges and stores for those in need during this holiday season. And, be sure to attend the community Thanksgiving dinners provided by the Lorane Christian Church at the Lorane Grange (Sunday, November 17 at 5:00 p.m.) and the potluck in Crow hosted by the Crow Grange (Thursday, November 21 at 6:30 p.m.). They are great ways to meet your new neighbors and catch up on what’s happening in your neighborhoods.

Sweet Lorane Community News, November 7, 2019

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Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
November 7, 2019
By Pat Edwards

What a wonderful event we had last Sunday at the Applegate Regional Theater. The Groundwaters LIVE! program was well-attended and much enjoyed, according to the feedback I have been receiving this week. Thanks to all of you who joined us as well as those who entertained our audience by reading their wonderful stories and poetry. In addition, we have received many compliments on the 2019 Groundwaters anthology that we launched at the event. Our hearts are smiling!

I stepped out of my comfort zone this last week. I’ve always loved music and whenever possible, I sing along with it… Jim and I are seasoned “car radio singers.” We know every word to the old country-western songs which Jim has always loved and the 80s and 90s country songs that our daughter played on the radio while at KUGN-FM. We frequently listen to them today as we make our way through town or on vacations.

As a teenager, I loved and appreciated classical and semi-classical music, too. One of my favorite classes in college at Linfield was my Music and Art Appreciation class, and I used to enjoy putting one of my semi-classical records on the record player while doing housework as a young housewife. I had several albums of them along with my beloved Ricky Nelson and Elvis records that kept me on task and made the drudgery of housework seem to fly by.

I can remember, about the time I was in junior high, singing “O Holy Night” over, and over, and over again for my mother, who accompanied me on the piano, while she recorded it into a tape recorder before one Christmas. I loved that song and never tired of singing it, but I never knew what happened to that tape or what she did with it after it was recorded. I think it was lost in one of our many moves. To this day, I love Christmas carols—the old ones especially—as they are so familiar to me.

As much as I loved to sing, however, I was only part of a choir for a short time. I participated in a 9th grade a cappella choir in Eureka, California for a partial year before our family moved to Portland where I finished out the year at Parkrose. I enjoyed being in that choir very much. As a very shy, newbie, freshman girl in Portland, I tried out for the school choir and nervously sang an audition with 2 other girls. I was told I had perfect pitch and was welcomed to the choir, but when we adjourned, the choir director sent us all home with sheet music to study before the choir met again. I did not have any background in reading music except for elementary piano lessons. I panicked and did not show up for the next practice… I quit the choir because I felt I was way out of my comfort zone. I’ve always regretted “chickening out” and have since, I hope, become much more responsible. We moved to Eugene shortly afterwards and I never tried out again for any type of choir.

So, it was with an admitted bit of trepidation that I agreed to join my two neighbors in attending the organizational meeting of the new Community Choir that is forming at the Applegate Regional Theater. My voice is not as strong as it once was and I can’t reach the higher notes as I used to. It also frustrates me that my voice breaks and wobbles a bit more than it did. Of course, I am 77 years of age, so I guess that’s to be expected.

Last Tuesday night, those of us who showed up for the first rehearsal were handed sheet music and were asked to sing “Carol of the Bells” as a group to show the director what we sounded like so we could be assigned our parts. Thankfully, there were no auditions, but I was suddenly back in the 9th grade, trying to figure out how to sing the alto parts that did not follow the melody in any way and were completely foreign to me because I was not able to read the music. I ended up stumbling through the rehearsal, thinking over and over again, “I can’t do this!”

Towards the end of the evening, I began to catch on a bit by listening to my neighbor, standing next to me, and allowing myself—for now—to sing the melody until I could gain a little more confidence and better understanding.

I’m not going to give up this time as I did almost 65 years ago… I’m going to give it my best shot.

For those interested in the choir, rehearsals are going to be every Tuesday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Applegate Regional Theater, 87230 Central Rd., Eugene, OR, north of Crow. Call Vicki Sourdry for more info: 541-935-3636.

Sweet Lorane Community News, October 31, 2019

October 31, 2019Newspaper Columns, , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
October 31, 2019
By Pat Edwards

I spent an enjoyable day last week participating in the Creswell Grange’s Holiday Bazaar. I reserved a table at the last minute and was pleasantly surprised to sell more books than I had hoped. A bonus was that I was able to spend the day with a group of nice people and visited with many who stopped by my table to chat. Thank you, Martin and Louise McClure and Patrick Dearth, especially, for your hospitality!

That same weekend, I volunteered to help with one of the game booths at the Applegate Harvest Festival in Crow. It’s been a long time since I’ve done something like that… the last similar event I attended was the Lorane Spring Fling which was held in the Lorane Elementary School during its final year in June 2011. The article I wrote about it can be found on my website at http://allthingslorane.com under “Writings” for those of you who would like to relive it.

Our granddaughter, Stephanie Furlong, and her husband, Chad, and daughters, Harper Lorane, Hayden Rae and Shiloh Kate all showed up at the Harvest Festival, dressed in Toy Story costumes that Steph had made. It brought back so many memories as I made my rounds in the cupcake walk with Harper and then went to visit the Fish Pond and bean bag throw with her after my shift ended. The gymnasium was filled with other family groups who were all In costume. What a fun evening!

In today’s column, I thought I’d tell you a bit about the new yoga group that I have recently joined in order to work on my core strength and balance following my recent surgery. My good friend and co-editor of Groundwaters, Jennifer Chambers, has obtained her certification as an adaptive yoga instructor and has been holding classes on Tuesday and Thursdays from noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Applegate Regional Theater, 87230 Central Rd., Eugene, north of Crow. The group is growing, so Jen has decided to offer another class on Wednesdays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Classes are varied, but include chair yoga, floor movements, meditation, and balance bar work. Balance bars are provided, but you’ll need to bring a yoga mat and dress comfortably. The classes are $4 per person, per class. It’s a relaxing, no-stress way of keeping at bay the aches and pains of those of us who don’t get as much exercise as we’d like. For more info, contact Jen at jenniferbyerschambers@yahoo.com.

Speaking of Jen, she’s rehearsing to portray one of the main characters in her most recent book, “Hesitate No Longer: Abigail Scott Duniway and Susan B. Anthony in Oregon,” in an exciting new play called “An Evening With Three Great Americans” taking place at the Applegate Regional Theater on Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17. Abigail Scott Duniway, the character that Jen portrays, was one of the main forces in obtaining women’s rights in Oregon. One of Abigail’s harshest critics in her fight for women’s voting rights was the editor of the Portland Oregonian newspaper, Harvey W. Scott—Abigail’s own brother.

Another of the great Americans being featured is Abraham Lincoln, who will be portrayed by Steve Holgate. Steve has professionally portrayed Lincoln on many occasions around Oregon and is said to do an excellent job. The third American will be Mark Twain, portrayed by Don Schmieding. I don’t know Don personally, but I’ve heard good things about his work. This should be a wonderful experience! You can order tickets on-line at http://www.art-inc.org.

The Lorane Movie Night for this month will be held on November 7th at the Lorane Grange. The scrambled title for this month’s feature is “Het Dogs Stum eb Zarcy” (PG, 1980). Hint: it’s an action Indie film. The Lorane Fire Department is this month’s sponsor. Check the Rural Art Center’s website for more details.

The Lorane Christian Church will be hosting the annual Lorane Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, November 17, at 5:00 p.m. at the Lorane Grange.
The Grange will be collecting not only non-perishable foods for the Holiday baskets, but they are also asking for donation of items for the U.S. soldier that they have “adopted” this holiday season. Contact Lil Thompson 541-942-5701 for suggestions for the items needed.