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 – January 26, 2017

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Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 26, 2017
By Pat Edwards

“Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows…” Well, maybe our days have not quite reached those particular sentiments expressed by Lesley Gore so many years ago, but this past week has certainly been an improvement over what we’ve been experiencing, weatherwise.

The Ukulele Club, sponsored by the Rural Art Center has resumed its lessons on Thursdays in the Crow Middle/High School music room. Age groups, 4th grade through adult, are invited to join them. Beginners meet from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. and the class for those who have already had some lessons is at 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. each Thursday afternoon. If you’re interested, plan on joining them. From what I understand, it’s a fun group.

With all the dissension over politics on a national level these days, many people are feeling helpless about not really having a say in what is happening in our country. Individuals frequently cannot see how their efforts leave any major impact. But one way that you can see result of your caring is by serving your community in some way. By doing so, you can feel a rewarding sense of pride and accomplishment. Here are some great opportunities for area residents to make a real difference in our community.

Three positions are opening on the Lorane Fire Board and they are asking for applications from local residents who are interested in having a say in how our Lorane Rural Fire Department is run. Please contact a member of the Lorane RFPD for more information. The Fire Chief is Tom Soward and the Assistant Fire Chief is Jim Bailor. Go to their website at https://loraneorfd.samariteam.com to send a message or call and/or leave a message by phone at 541-942-1233.

In addition, the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District #66 is seeking volunteer patrons to serve on the Budget Committee this year. They will hold 2-3 meetings in May and a meeting in June with the school board and administration. If you are interested, contact Lee Ann in the district office at 541-935-2100.

I hope that these positions fill rapidly. Help is needed and the time you spend in service to your community will bring rewards, not only to Lorane or Crow, but to yourself, as well.

Sweet Lorane Community News – January 12, 2017

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Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 12, 2017
By Pat Edwards

Fortunately, the predicted ice storm that I mentioned in last week’s column produced few power outages in our area… no more big limbs or trees came down at our place, but it did cause many of us to be homebound for several more days while we waited for the roads to clear of the ice-crusted snow that remained from the previous week. The roads were clear and even dry in most spots today (Thursday) when I made a 10:00 a.m. appointment in Eugene, but I still need to put my little Jeep Compass in 4WD just to get out of our driveway. Snow, snow, go away; Come again… next winter, please! I don’t know about

There’s some Lorane news to report, but not much. Most of us have been so intent on staying warm and staying on our feet when we venture outside that we’re not making many plans.

I missed getting the information on the David Doughty celebration of life into last week’s column. It will take place on Saturday, January 14 at the Deep Woods event center in Elmira, so it will already have passed by the time you read this. Knowing how much David was respected and loved by our community, I have no doubt that there will be a packed house for his funeral. He was a good man.

For those interested in becoming members, the Lorane Grange will meet on Thursday, January 19 at 7:00 p.m… a new time. Their next Spaghetti Dinner and Bingo night is scheduled for Saturday, January 28. Dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. and bingo for the whole family starts at 6:30 p.m. It’s a fun, raucous time and I hope to see a big crowd there. Proceeds go towards maintenance of the hall. Contact Lil Thompson (541-942-5701) if you have any questions about grange membership and/or the upcoming events.

Many of you know that somehow, over the years, I have gotten involved in researching, writing and publishing local history information… first, Lorane’s and then the history of U.S. Highway 99 through Oregon. I never was a history scholar in school, so it’s surprising that I’ve grown to love it so much in my later years.

I’ve written an open letter to the people of Lorane and Crow to try to interest you in establishing a written and pictorial history of our area extending beyond the boundaries that were in place for our research on Lorane for the 1987 and 2006 editions of Sawdust and Cider; A History of Lorane, Oregon and the Siuslaw Valley. I’d like to concentrate on families living in the area lying between Lorane and Crow and Crow, itself… i.e. Gillespie Corners, Simonsen Road, Powell Road, Hadleyville (Briggs Hill Road), Doane Road and on into Crow.

When  Nancy O’Hearn, Marna Hing and I researched the Lorane history in the 1980s, we were able to conduct interviews of the people whose ancestors were some of its earliest settlers. We were told first-hand stories of the early part of the 1900s and were given access to vintage pictures from personal family albums. Most of those people we interviewed who had grown up in the early 1900s – my generation’s parents and grandparents – have passed on. In fact, those in my generation, born in the 1940s and 1950s, are now the “old timers.”

There is a lot of interest in the stories, pictures and information shared by those who lived in the early-to-mid 1900s. I’ve seen the interest first-hand and I worry that area histories that have not yet been documented might be lost.

I would like to set up a depository of stories, photos, letters, diaries and other documents so that they can be recorded and published and can be shared for generations. I can donate my time in organizing the information, editing, doing the layout and publishing everything as a book, but I no longer have the time or energy level to take on the info-gathering portion of such a project.

If this is something the community wants to do, then I would love to see it happen as a community project. Proceeds for book sales could go towards community needs and events.

If you’re interested in participating in this project, please read the full letter for more information. It’s posted on the Lorane, Oregon Facebook page. You can also contact me at edwards@groundwaterspublishing.com for a copy of the letter and/or for the guidelines for submitting photos and other material.

It’s up to you whether or not it happens.

Sweet Lorane Community News – January 5, 2017

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Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 5, 2017
By Pat Edwards

It hasn’t escaped anyone’s attention that Mother Nature has decided to issue a very strong proclamation that winter is taking place here in Lane County. First, we’ve learned, once again, how to cope without electricity for days at a time during the ice storm; then after a couple of weeks’ reprieve, we dug out our heavy-treaded shoes and boots, coats, scarves and gloves to go out into the snow to warm up our cars if we had no choice but to be somewhere other than home. The lucky ones were those who were able to stay home and off of the treacherous roads.

Unfortunately, I had to be out in it both Wednesday and Thursday. There was a long-awaited doctor’s appointment which I couldn’t afford to reschedule, and the next day, Jim and I needed to accompany our son to an equally long-awaited and essential medical procedure so that we could drive him home to Cottage Grove afterwards.

I’m a good snow driver on the country roads where there is little traffic. My 4-wheel-drive SUV navigated the hills and curves really well when I kept it at a steady 30 mph and a bit faster approaching and climbing hills, but the worry about what other drivers were going to do was a bit nerve-wracking. Some, I felt, traveled a bit too fast and other oncoming drivers insisted on taking their half of the road out of the middle when going around curves, especially. When I got to Eugene on Wednesday, it was downright scary. Cars and small pickups were fishtailing all over the place; and I saw a couple of them doing 180’s and 360’s in the middle of the street. Getting back home both days felt really good.

I’m writing this on Friday and the ominous forecast is calling for another equally devastating ice storm with strong possibilities of power outages like we had before Christmas. Hopefully, that storm will pass us by. We have not even gotten the tree destruction of the first one cleaned up yet, although I would be grateful if some of the tenuous ones in our front pasture come down on their own rather than having to be cut down. I worry about those who have them near their homes, though.

Lorane is reeling from the recent death of one of our own this past week. David Doughty who, along with his twin brother Duane and other siblings, was born and grew up in Lorane, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday morning with what I’ve heard was untreated pneumonia. I don’t have information on services yet, but when the family releases them, they will be posted on the Lorane Facebook page.

David was loved by so many in the community and his death at such a young age is a blow to all who knew him. He was the son of Delwin and Beth Doughty. His grandparents, James Albert and Rosa Lee Doughty settled in the Lorane area in 1943, and his father and uncle set up a logging business at that time. Later, Delwin and Beth established D.A. Doughty and Sons, a sand and gravel business in partnership with their sons.

Our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to David’s wife Jeannie and daughters Christie and Carrie, as well as the rest of their family, for their loss.

Hopefully, by the time that this column is read, we will have returned to our normal complaints of too much winter rain and chances of mild flooding… that’s so much better than the sub-freezing temps and icy road conditions. I think we can put this winter into our own personal record books as one of the worst we’ve had in a long time.

Happy 2017, everyone!