Tag: Ice storm

Sweet Lorane Community News – January 19, 2017

January 19, 2017Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , 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 – January 12, 2017

January 12, 2017Newspaper Columns, , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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

January 5, 2017Newspaper Columns, , , , , , , Leave a comment

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!