Sweet Lorane Community News – January 19, 2017

January 19, 2017Uncategorizedcataract surgery, Crow Bingo, Highway 99, Ice storm, Jennifer Chambers, Lorane Christian Church, Lorane Dinner and Bingo Night, Magdalina Ware, Oregon's Main Street, Willamalanepaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 19, 2017
By Pat Edwards

WooHoo! The snow and ice are gone and – I thought I’d never say this in January – our rain is back! So far, it doesn’t look like there is much flooding in this area, if any. Hopefully, now I can find something to talk about besides weather this week

One bit of Lorane news connected to the weather, however… Magdalina Ware, one of Lorane’s long-time residents, was helping a neighbor last week during the icy conditions and fell and broke her leg. When her granddaughter alerted us via the Facebook page, an outpouring of meals and love were sent Mag’s way and Jerol, who is not known for his cooking skills, apparently, is now able to heat up a variety of dishes to get them through until Mag is able to be up and around again. I’m sure that Mag is champing at the bit to be able to get down to Seven Feathers to play a game of bingo again. I know that I’ve earned somewhat of a reputation as a bingo fan, but Mag has me beat. Jerol… not so much. He tags along with her and plays the slots, but he almost always has a Zane Grey or other western novel on hand to immerse himself in while she is playing, if need be. Get well soon, Mag!

Speaking of bingo, the Lorane and Crow granges are resuming their dinner and bingo nights. Lorane’s will be on Saturday, January 28… the 4th Saturday of the month. Crow’s started theirs again last Saturday and will continue until summer on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays. They are both fun events for the whole family and help to support the individual granges.

Dinner will begin at the Lorane event at 5:30 p.m. and bingo for the whole family starts at 6:30 p.m. At Crow, dinner starts at 6:00 p.m. and bingo is at 7:00 p.m. Both are fun, raucous times and I hope to see big crowds there this spring. For Lorane, contact Lil Thompson (541-942-5701 for information; for Crow, the contact person is Connie Suing. I don’t have Connie’s contact information, but she can be reach via Facebook and or the newly activated Crow Community Facebook page.

Members of the Lorane Christian Church invites the community to join them on January 21st for the film, “Miracle From Heaven” that they will be showing at 5:30 p.m.

Jo-Brew and I have some talks lined up this month and next on the history of Pacific Highway/U.S. Highway 99 through Oregon. This month it will be Albany; next month, Junction City and Willamalane in Springfield. I’ve decided to do my introductory portion as a PowerPoint presentation so I can show vintage photos while I talk. Jo is the storyteller of our duo and loves to relate some of the stories told to her in the course of her extensive research of “Oregon’s Main Street.” We’d love to give some more local talks if any of the service clubs are looking for program speakers.

In addition, Jennifer Chambers and I have put together a talk on self-publishing if any of the writing groups in the area are interested. The one we gave to the Willamette Writers turned out really well. We’ve learned quite a few ins and outs about self-publishing over the years and we’d love to share our experiences. We don’t charge for either talk.

I’m in the process of preparing for two cataract surgeries in the coming weeks. I always thought I would be nervous if I ever had to have any type of eye surgery, but I’ve heard so many stories of how easy the surgery is, that I’m really looking forward to being able to see without eyestrain and blurry vision. It’s a bummer when reading comprises a good portion of your life. I’m not going to opt for the correction of my astigmatism at the same time, so I’ll continue to wear glasses. Besides, when the DMV insisted that I have my drivers’ license photo taken without my glasses, it gives me a shock now whenever I have to show ID… I look at that and say to myself… “Who IS that person?” I’ve worn glasses for the past 35 years and the out-of-pocket cost is more than I want to pay for what I understand would be a rather short term correction since I’d end up wearing reading and computer glasses most of the time, anyway.

Enjoy the rain!

Sweet Lorane Community News – September 29, 2016

September 29, 2016Newspaper Columns, UncategorizedAlesong Brewing and Blending, Brian Coombs, Crow Bingo, Doug Coombs, Joe Canaday, Lorane Dinner and Bingo Night, Matt Van Wykpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
September 29, 2016
By Pat Edwards

Approximately 30 people attended the community meeting, held this past Tuesday night (September 27) at the Lorane Grange, so that the owners of the Alesong Brewing and Blending (Brian & Doug Coombs and veteran brewer, Matt Van Wyk) could present their visions and plans for the new brewpub that is being built near Lorane. Ground has been broken behind the former Lorane Country Café on Territorial Road, next to the entrance to King Estate Winery. Rather than paraphrase the notes I have from Doug Coombs, I’m going to provide you with his comments directly:

“Thanks to everyone who came out last Tuesday night! It was great to meet some of the community! To give a quick recap of what we’re doing and cover some of the Q&A that came up for those who weren’t there…

“Alesong is a very small brewery run by three founder/employees. We’re focused on barrel-aged and farmhouse-style beers and our dream has been to have a farmhouse brewery in the country inspired by the French-Belgian brewing tradition. This is what we’re building in Lorane. Most of our beers are aged in oak (retired wine or spirits barrels) for 3-36 months before release, making what we do a bit unique as compared with most breweries that have a roughly 3-week production cycle. The majority of our initial brewing (and water usage) will happen in our Eugene facility, but the Lorane location will house most of our barrels that are maturing and a small tasting room.

“Although we fall under the county’s definition of a “brewpub,” our tasting room will operate more similarly to a winery tasting room, with limited – mostly daylight – hours and a family-friendly atmosphere where people can come to enjoy a drink responsibly in a beautiful setting. The facility we are building is at the back of the property, behind the old café, which we aren’t using. We haven’t yet decided what we will do with it.

“Our hope is to be open by the end of the year, although with construction, you never know…” http://www.alesongbrewing.com/

Some of the concerns that were discussed concern the additional use of water since several families in the Territorial North area are experiencing their wells going dry after two dry summers. Also, some residents have expressed concerns about more intoxicated drivers on the local road. I believe that these issues have been addressed in the statement above.

There is also evidence of a great deal of support for the new business and many residents are looking forward to having it in our area.

The return of both the Lorane and Crow Granges’ dinner and bingo nights were well attended at each this past month. Lorane Grange has changed its dinner offering to tacos which seemed to be a very popular choice with those attending, so tacos will be on the menu again at the next event on Saturday, October 15.

The Crow Grange’s dinner and bingo night was well attended, too, but there was a definite feeling that “someone was missing.” That someone was Joe Canaday, the long-time Master of the Crow Grange who was under hospice care. Sadly, Joe passed away three days later. His passing is a huge loss for the Crow community. Joe was an icon . He descended from a pioneer family in the Crow area and was a logger most of his life, although he also enjoyed reading, music and art. I remember him personally as a kind and generous friend with a welcoming smile. Our love and condolences go out to his wife Leah and the Canaday family. A memorial service will be held at the Crow Grange on Sunday, October 9 at 2:00 p.m. Godspeed and God Bless, Joe! Your smile and friendship will stay with us always.

The Crow dinner and bingo nights are held every first and third Saturday of each month.

Remember the Rural Art Center movie night at the Lorane Grange on Saturday, October 8, too!