Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
December 05, 2019
By Pat Edwards

I have a huge apology to make to my editors again this week. With the busy-ness of the days leading up to Thanksgiving, and the wonderful day, itself, I let the deadline for my column pass me by. A gentle reminder late on Saturday brought the realization that my ability to multi-task these days is definitely slipping. I quickly wrote a column and submitted it on Sunday morning (three days late), with the instructions to use it this week if it could not be squeezed into last week’s paper, in time. So, if you are reading this one, then you already know that Jim and I have been blessed with a beautiful new great-granddaughter, Calliope Jean Stevens, who was born on Thanksgiving Day. Her name is unusual and we’ve had many comments on it. Our grandson, Kevin, picked it out from the long list of baby names he and Jazmine scoured when they found out they were having a girl. I have no doubt that she will be called “Callie” or “C.J.” as she grows, but for now, she’s our little Calliope.

I want to quickly update you on my participation in the Fern Ridge Community Choir and our plans to do a holiday sing-along concert the week before Christmas. A few columns ago, I told you how difficult it was for me to learn choir parts of the beloved Christmas carols I have sung all of my life. I don’t read music and being an alto, the harmony parts don’t come very close to the melody. I vowed, though, that I was going to stick it out and make the most of this wonderful opportunity.

Well, I’m progressing and am really enjoying the experience of doing something out of my comfort zone. There are only a few songs that we are singing harmony on as our rehearsal time is limited, so I’ll be able to sing the melodies on most; but I’m catching on to learning the alto parts of harmony with the help of YouTube. I found I can sing along with one of the various alto samples of “Carol of the Bells” while sitting at my computer. It’s wonderful!

The choir will sing quite a few of the other beautiful, familiar carols and at the end, the audience will be invited to sing some of the rollicking favorites with us—“Jingle Bells,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” We’ll be holding the performances at the Applegate Regional Theater, 87230 Central Rd, Eugene, OR 97402 (the corner of Central and Fleck Roads) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, December 20 and 21, and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 22. I hope that we can fill the house. It will be so much fun!

The Angel Trees are now in place at the Lorane Family Store in Lorane and at the Crow Middle/High School in Crow for those who want to buy holiday gifts for local children of families in need. Be sure and stop by and select one or more ornaments that give ages and needs or wants of each child from the trees and bring back a new, unwrapped gift for that child. The gifts will be wrapped by volunteers and delivered to the families by Christmas.

The food boxes are also in place throughout Lorane… at the Grange, the Lorane Family Store, the Lorane Deli, and the Lorane Christian Church.

Let’s all be generous in our giving again this year so that each of us, no matter our circumstances, can enjoy this holiday season!