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, April 11, 2019

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
April 11, 2019
By Pat Edwards

I’m finally able to turn my attention to community news this week. Although the going is slow, Jim is healing from his falls of a couple of weeks ago. I’m still his chauffeur, cook and morning help at the store, but we’ve fallen into a routine that works for us both. Hopefully, the physical therapy that he’s going to begin next week will help build his strength and balance again.

Thank you to the Lorane Grange for the wonderful community service awards that Lil Thompson presented to not only Jim and I, but Tara Wigle, Larry and Donna Moore, Heidi Langstraat, and Josie Skeers. We were deeply touched by the presentation at last weekend’s Lorane Talent Show sponsored by the Grange and the Rural Art Center.
While there, Jim and I were entertained, along with about 30 others, by some exceptional talent from the community. It included the always popular Kyle and Jim singing duo who are so popular at our annual Ice Cream Social held every August.

Then, there was the amazing “almost-six-year-old,” Jillian McGladrey, who sang and danced to two songs while her dad accompanied her on the guitar. My favorite of her songs was “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Members of the audience… including me… were encouraged to sing along with her and I haven’t done that in years. What fun!
The next entrant, “Little Banjo” decided that this year wasn’t going to be her debut to perform her dance after all, so she gave us a rain check.

The program was rounded out by the very talented Crow High School Junior, Cooper Morris, who sang and played the guitar. It was an afternoon that we all enjoyed immensely. Thank you to all!

Lil Thompson announced that there will be no Spaghetti Dinner and Bingo Night held again until next fall. They usually hold it through the school year, but are finding that they won’t be able to do it in April and May this year. Mark your calendars for the next one to be held on the 4th Friday in September.

If you’ll be having withdrawals from bingo, you still have some options. The Crow Grange holds their dinner and bingo nights every 1st and 3rd Saturdays through the school year.

Then, the Applegate Elementary Booster Club will be playing bingo on May 10, I believe. It will be held in their gymnasium. I’ll try to get more details closer to the time.

The Creswell Grange will be having a bingo night on Wednesday, April 17, at the grange hall at 298 West Oregon Avenue in Creswell. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the games begin at 7:00 p.m.

The Lorane Christian Church will be holding its Easter “Sonrise” Service again this year on the King Estate terrace at 8:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday morning, April 21. Following the service, at 9:00 a.m., there will be a free breakfast at the church. The regular worship service will begin at 10:00 a.m. Everyone is invited to attend all of the services.

I wish to personally thank Crow High School teacher, Heather Hohnstein, the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District administration and the students of CHS for my invitation to participate as an interviewer in the Career Mock Interview Day for graduating seniors. It was a wonderful experience. Each of the four students that I interviewed were respectful, neat, articulate, and self-confident. Those I spoke to have goals for what they want to do after graduation and showed their excitement in moving forward. I wish that other community members who do not have the opportunity to interact with today’s youth often, would be able to meet with these young men and women one-on-one as I did. If they are representative of the calibre of today’s generation, I feel our country’s future is in good hands. Thank you, Gracie, Stephen, Emily and Joel! You are all treasures!

Sweet Lorane Community News, April 4, 2019

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
April 4, 2019
By Pat Edwards

As I sit here, staring at a blank computer screen because I have no idea what I’m going to talk about in this week’s column, I realize how focused I’ve become on living from day to day, doing what needs to be done. My world right now is centered on one special person who needs me and my full attention. Oh, don’t get me wrong… Jim is doing well in his healing process, and we’ve worked out a schedule of sorts for each day. But, this whole process has brought me back to those wedding vows spoken so many years ago… “in sickness and in health…” I doubt that any bride or groom really thinks about what they are pledging to do; after all, things like that happen to other people when they are old… right?… no need to worry about it.

Well, the years eventually catch up with us, but as long as we have our health, we can refer to them as our “golden years”… and they have been for Jim and me. We’ve done some traveling and experienced the birth, childhood and young adulthood of our children and grandchildren, and now we are making and sharing such beautiful memories with our great-grands. As I’ve said so often, Jim and I truly have been blessed.

Now, however, it’s time to pay the piper. It’s time to put aside my own wants and needs and fulfill those vows we took almost 55 years ago. After loving and living with someone for that long, we do tend to take our lives and each other for granted. I’ve always had my own interests and activities, and he’s had his, but we have always supported each other in whatever way we could. We never really envisioned or planned for the “in sickness and in health” part of our marriage, but I’ve found that, when we arrived at that point, there was no question about what I not only must do, but what I want to do for him. So we live each day, one at a time… together; and we’ll get through this healing process… together.

We’re both going to do everything possible to get Jim’s mobility back to where it once was, but if not, then in late May, we’re still planning the exciting trip that we have been planning for over a year with my sister and brother-in-law to Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area. We bought a portable mobility scooter that we will take with us on the trip, and we’re going to enjoy every day, week, month and year that we are allowed beyond that, because, with the fulfillment of our vows, we have rediscovered a closeness we had let slide while pursuing our own interests.

“In sickness and in health” is a commitment that should not be taken lightly. As with most of life’s lessons, you can usually find a bright light shining through the darkest of days and it’s worth the time and effort to look for it.

Sweet Lorane Community News, March 28, 2019

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
March 28, 2019
By Pat Edwards

Last week, I wrote about Jim’s and my lifestyle adjustments while we were forced to function with one car. During that time, he was working through some mobility issues caused by tendonitis in his hip, and those issues were compounded immensely last week when, unbeknownst to me, he fell at our store. The cortisone shot he had the day before had relieved the tendonitis pain considerably, but the next day, I noticed that he was limping again even worse than before. He assured me that he had just done too much and had pulled a muscle. By the weekend, however, I learned of his falls. Even though we went to have dinner and play bingo at the Lorane Grange as he wanted, I knew that we needed to get him checked out. The next morning, we made a trip to the RiverBend ER. Diagnosis: a broken rib and a fractured pelvis.

Let me tell those of you who don’t know him well a little bit about Jim. All of our almost-55 years of marriage, he has been a maverick and a Superman. I can count on one hand the number of times I remember him having a cold or flu. The only “down” times he’s had are due to injuries, which have been varied and many, and worn-out parts. Until he had his first hip replacement, he ran 8 miles a day in all kinds of weather, and even completed the Portland Marathon one year. For the past 41+ years, he has worked 7 days a week at our store—the Lorane Family Store—closing only on Christmas Day, although in recent years he has cut his hours considerably. He served the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School Board for over 10 years while our children were in school.

Harper and Grandpa

He is the most obstinate, loving, hard-working, proud man I have ever known. He fiercely loves his family and has provided for us well, but when he needs help, he is a challenge. These past two weeks have tested each of us as we work through negotiations about how we can get him healed without further falls and stress on the fractures which have both been declared stable and should heal on their own.

With the help of the rest of our family and the prayers from so many friends, we are working through this process of healing and I am so very proud of this man who is trying so hard to work with us. It’s definitely not an easy thing for him, but he will always be my Superman.

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Reminders of local calendar events:

  • Monday, April 1: Earl Ford’s Memorial Service at Lane Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home, 5300 W. 11th Ave, Eugene, beginning at 11:00 a.m.
  • Sunday, April 7: Rural Art Center/Lorane Grange-sponsored Community Talent Show, beginning at 3:00 p.m. at the Lorane Grange.
  • Sunday, April 14: “The Living Last Supper” beginning at 11:00 a.m. at the Lorane Christian Church