Sweet Lorane Community News – February 16, 2017
Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
February 16, 2017
By Pat Edwards
The Lorane Community Association is rekindling after a hiatus of a year or more. As I write this, a meeting has been scheduled for this weekend to elect officers and begin planning for future community service projects. Some possible projects that have been suggested are: organizing a welcoming committee for new residents; creating local neighborhood committees for disaster preparedness and/or Neighborhood Watch; providing Wii Games at the Lorane Grange for fun and recreation; hosting “Yard Sale Poker” events; planning and developing an area map or mural incorporating the early settlement of the area and its Native footpath; hosting yoga sessions and coffee socials. On-going projects established by the previous group will continue. These include the Lorane Growers’ Market, the free little library at the Lorane Family Store, the Holiday Angel Tree project and the upkeep of the Lorane Reader Board. These have all been successful for the past several years.
I’m sure that there are other ideas that will spring from the renewed interest in the group. Some will build interest and become reality; others will likely fade away, but the important thing is for community members to have common interests and goals to enrich our community. Working together is the best way of getting things done and I hope that there’s a large turnout at the meeting scheduled for Saturday, February 18. It will have already happened by the time you read this, but that doesn’t mean that if you weren’t able to attend, you’ve missed the boat. I’ll try to post future meeting notices so that membership can continue to grow. These same notices will also be posted on the Lorane, Oregon Facebook page and most likely the bulletin board. So, watch for them and consider donating some of your time and resources to working with your neighbors to make a difference in Lorane.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 25. It will be time for the Lorane Grange’s Spaghetti Dinner and Family Bingo Night again. For those of you who haven’t yet gotten the information memorized, dinner of spaghetti, caesar salad, garlic bread, drinks and dessert begins at 5:30 p.m. Bingo for the whole family starts at 6:30 p.m. It’s a fun evening that no one takes very seriously and for those who think that bingo is boring, you haven’t tried it at the Lorane Grange. Come out and join us.
I’d like to round out the column this week with some school news from the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District that was generously supplied to me by Lil Thompson.
The Crow Middle/High School is taking part in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) “Pennies for Patients” program from February 13 to 27. Students across the country are collecting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and the class collecting the most change in each school receives a pizza party. Prizes such as computers, electronics and sports equipment are presented to the top schools in each area. All money collected by the students goes to help find cures and ensure treatments for blood cancer patients! For more information or to donate, call the high school office at 541-935-2227.
Dr. Seuss week is coming soon to the Applegate Elementary and adult volunteers are being sought to read with the students. If you can volunteer from February 27 to March 2, call 541-935-2100 or email Megan Leturno at mleturno@cal.k12.or.us.
The school district is still looking for patrons to volunteer for the Budget Committee. Contact Lee Ann at the district office, 541-935-2100, if you are interested.
For any of you who are contemplating having cataract surgery in the near future but are hesitant, I wanted to share that I just completed the removal of cataracts from both eyes over the past month and I am so glad that I did. The actual surgeries were pain-free with a bit of occasional scratchiness. After wearing glasses through my waking hours for 35 years, I now am facing the probability that I will no longer need them except, possibly, for reading. My biggest problem is the fact that if this is so, I now have to get reacquainted with the stranger that looks back at me from the mirror each day.
This past week has been a very difficult one for me, personally. It’s been a week of changes, both heartbreaking and renewal. Jim and I lost our Shortie who, for 16 and a half years, was my constant, loyal companion, walking buddy and devoted friend. His quiet presence was always there for me when I felt the need get away from a turbulent world for a short while, at least. I’ve known for a long time that his time would be coming soon, but I always felt that when that time came, he would let me know. He let me know last Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Jim was already asleep and had an early day the next morning, so I called Gloria shortly after midnight; she called her sister, Michele, and the three of us made that trip to the emergency vet with Shortie. Everyone who has pets can identify with the pain one feels about making a decision to say goodbye to a special member of our families, so I won’t go into detail, but as each of you know, it was incredibly hard. Thank you, my sweet, wonderful daughters for helping me through the ordeal. It was such a special gift to not only Shortie, but to me, as well.
Remarkably, two weeks before, I had found a young, 8-month-old rescue puppy on-line that we applied to adopt so that he could join our family in time to pick up some pointers from Shortie. He was to be shipped from San Diego where he had been abandoned and taken to a high-kill shelter before being rescued by an Oregon rescue group. Six hours after saying goodbye to Shortie, with little sleep, my bloodshot, swollen eyes and a raging headache Gloria and I picked up our little Toby.
All Things Lorane 