Tag: Crow High School

Sweet Lorane Community News, May 28, 2020

May 28, 2020Newspaper Columns, , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
May 28, 2020
By Pat Edwards

I spent the morning outside, working in my flower beds today. The early morning sun was strong and it felt so good on my back as I worked. It obviously will be hitting 85 degrees, as predicted, this afternoon, so I’m now enjoying the coolness of our house until I go out to water in the evening. I can remember my younger years when I was outside all day in the hot sun on top of our tractor while helping Jim with the hay harvest, but we both had to give that up several years ago. Unfortunately, the heat and a bad back gets the best of me these days.

There has been a good news announcement from Crow High School this week. It will be holding its graduation on June 5 at 7:00 p.m. on the high school football field. The gates will open at 6:00 p.m. Graduates will be seated in chairs on the field, six feet apart, facing the grandstand. All seniors and speakers will be required to wear masks. Those who will be attending the graduation will park around the outside of the track and are asked to remain in their cars at all times. Carpooling is encouraged to limit the number of vehicles present.

During the ceremony, the stadium speakers will be used, but there will also be a short-distance broadcast over the radio that will probably not reach much farther than the school’s ground perimeters. In addition, they plan to broadcast the ceremony via live stream over Facebook or YouTube so some can watch it from home.
Graduates will be asked to get in their vehicles immediately following the ceremony, take a lap around the track with their families, and immediately leave the school grounds afterwards. Once the graduates have left the track, the high school staff will direct attendees to exit the school’s grounds.

A plan is also in place to hold an 8th Grade Recognition drive-thru ceremony for that group of students on June 9, beginning at 6:00 p.m. As the students and their families drive their cars along the bus ramp in front of the high school, the staff will hand out certificates and awards to the 8th graders. Cars can also pause as they pass specific staff members that the students want to speak to. This process will be open for an hour and families can arrive any time during the 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. period.

Contact Crow Middle/High School for more detailed information on these events at 541-935-2227.

The Lorane Christian Church is continuing to hold their Sunday morning drive-in services at 10:00 a.m. The services are set up to broadcast on a dedicated frequency, FM 89.1, over the car radios of those attending. The parking lot is frequently full and it’s considered a successful way to attend church while following the COVID-19 protocols.

It’s really amazing to see how we adapt to new lifestyles during this pandemic. It’s certainly not easy… we are all so much more comfortable with the familiar, but finding new ways of doing things during this time has allowed all of us to keep in touch with each other while staying safe. Hopefully, we can slowly make our way out of this by not allowing the virus to flair back up again in new “hotspot” areas—including our own.

Sweet Lorane Community News, October 3, 2019

October 3, 2019Newspaper Columns, , , , 2 Comments

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
October 3, 2019
By Pat Edwards

The Rural Arts Center has announced its 2019-2020 lineup of movies for the Lorane Movie Night series. Just one thing, though… Their new licensing agreement won’t let them advertise the movies to be shown by name. This presents a quandry… how can you get people to come if you can’t tell them what’s playing? The answer is to “keep them guessing.”

The first movie is scheduled for Saturday, October 12. The title, “Bbea” is scrambled, but most of you will be able to figure it out. The description is listed as “Coming to you on little hooves from Australia, this family film follows the growing bond between a pig and his farmer… featuring talking animals, singing mice and James Cromwell.”

The once-a-month event is held on the second Saturday between October and March and each is sponsored by a non-profit group in the area who benefit from the suggested donations paid for admission and dinner. These suggested donations are listed as $7 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Season tickets can be bought for $35. The October host organization is the Lorane Community Association which has asked that the donations to be waived that night.

A homemade soup and bread dinner accompanies the social hour beginning at 6:00 p.m. The group sponsor also provides a dessert. Antics and games, including the famous doorprize giveaway, will be held at 6:45 p.m. and the movie begins at about 7:30 p.m.

Just to give you a headstart on figuring out the upcoming movies, here are their scrambled titles: November – “Het Dogs Stum eb Zarcy” (PG, 1980); December – “Kynbloor” (PG13, 2015); January – “Vyereginth si Demaintulli” (PG13, 2005); February – “Clothaloc” (PG13, 2000); March – “Vincisut” (PG13, 2009).

Come out and enjoy the fun-filled evening.

I just heard that Crow High School is joining with Elmira High School in sponsoring an Oregon High School Equestrian Team. Interested 8th graders may join as groomers.

This is a first, that I know of, for Crow High School, and I hope it will attract a large group of young horse-lovers. How I would have loved to participate in something like that when I was at Lebanon Union High School where I graduated in 1960. My horse Rocket and I were best friends during that time and I spent almost all of my free time during summers and on weekends on his back. I always rode bareback and remember galloping full-throttle along the trails we rode. In those days, none of us thought to use helmets and it’s a wonder I lived through my teen years, although in those days, I could stick like a burr to Rocket’s back and only remember falling off one time. Fortunately, I landed on a spot much less sensitive than my head.

Rocket and me

Rocket and me overlooking the Santiam slough that ran through our bean and berry farm outside of Lebanon

I do remember one time when my sister and I rode Rocket and Rocky the several miles to town from our bean and berry ranch. A rodeo was in town and we heard they were going to have a horse-mounted serpentine as part of the opener and anyone could join in. We got in line outside the arena with dozens of others. The plan was to lope in line and follow the leader through the pattern that the “leader” designed before exiting the arena.

I should mention… and it should have occurred to us… that neither of our horses were used to crowds of people or other horses. We barely got started when both horse shied out of line and messed up the whole works before we were able—shame-faced—to take them out so the others could perform the serpentine as it was intended. That was the closest I ever got to being on an equestrian team, but I’ve loved horses all my life.

Go Falcon/Cougar Equestrian team! Have fun and make memories!

Tommy and me

My pal Tommy and me in later years

Sweet Lorane Community News, September 26, 2019

September 26, 2019Newspaper Columns, , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
September 26, 2019
By Pat Edwards

This past week was the beginning of fall, and it certainly feels as though it’s earlier than usual, weather-wise. I’ve always enjoyed the cooler, sunny days of fall that we usually have through September and into October, but Mother Nature is keeping us guessing on what each of our tomorrows is to bring this year.

With fall comes the beginning of football, volleyball and cross-country seasons at the area schools. How I miss having a son, daughter or grandchildren in high school or middle school who participate in athletics. I’ve packed away Jim’s and my red and white Crow High School jackets with the names and uniform numbers of our grandkids on the sleeves. We cheered on so many of their games, both at home and away and I miss that. Our daughter, Michele Kau, and her daughter—our granddaughter—Stephanie Furlong, have gone on to coach volleyball. Michele stepped down as the head coach at Crow last year, but Stephanie has taken on the head coaching job for Glide High School east of Roseburg. We still try to make it to at least one of their games each season, although those bleachers are getting harder to sit on as well as climb. At least our one granddaughter, Natalie, who attends Creswell High School, participates in music and drama events that we can attend and so enjoy.

Along with school sports, fall brings harvest festivals and Halloween events. Trick or treating has morphed into the much safer “trunk or treating” where parent and community members park their cars In the Lorane Church parking lot and decorate their cars’ trunks with orange and black and provide treats for the ghosts and goblins who come to fill their jack-o-lanterns. The adults and children are also treated to hot chocolate, spiced cider, coffee and other goodies while standing around outdoor heaters (and under canopies, if it rains) while visiting.

How I remember when the Lorane Elementary School hosted its annual carnival in the gymnasium. It was so popular and usually filled to capacity while young and old alike would gather to watch the children run to the various booths to fish for prizes and do the ring toss and bean bag throw. Some tried shooting basketball free throws for tickets; others had their faces painted with unicorns and rainbows. And then there was the annual lollipop tree which sported hundreds of Dum-Dum suckers. One of the biggest events was the cake walk. Cakes and cupcakes of all flavors and sizes were won if you were on the magic number when the music stopped. Bingo, too, was a popular event for the adults, especially.

While the Lorane Carnival is no more, Crow’s Applegate Elementary is planning a Harvest Festival on October 25 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. this year. They are advertising it as a fun evening of carnival games (some are from Lorane’s carnival), trick-or-treating, costume contests and a haunted house.

And did I mention bingo? Yes, our three local granges—Lorane, Crow and Creswell—will be offering cash prizes and lots of fun for all ages this fall as they sponsor dinners and bingo games as fundraisers.

The Lorane Grange will have their Spaghetti Dinner and Bingo nights beginning October 18—a Friday night—with dinner beginning at 5:30 and bingo at 6:30 p.m. They charge $5 for a “2-on” pack or $10 for a “4-on” pack plus $1 or $2 a sheet for the blackout game. The jackpot was won last spring, so it will be starting again with $100-plus for the featured blackout game.

The Crow Grange starts again with dinner and bingo on Saturday, October 5. They serve a delicious dinner, usually provided by Dan and Connie Suing or Ruth Teafatiller, beginning at 6:00 p.m. and bingo starts at 7:00. The cost is $17 for a buy-in. Their jackpot was not won last spring, so it has built to over $500.

The Creswell Grange sponsors a bingo night every third Wednesday of each month. The doors open at 6:00 p.m. and games start at 7:00. The cost is $15 for 14 regular games and a blackout game. Their blackout pot is up to $300. They don’t have dinner, but they provide free coffee, tea and popcorn.

Good times are ahead! So, let’s support our schools, granges and other community organizations in any way we can to maintain our strong communities.