Tag: Jennifer Chambers

Sweet Lorane Community News, January 27, 2022

January 27, 2022Newspaper Columns, , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge-Tribune News
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 27, 2022
By Pat Edwards

I’ll wager that some of you may remember picking up free copies of a colorful 32-page magazine called Groundwaters at your local library, organization or community store every three months for quite a few years. They featured wonderful family-friendly stories—fiction, memoirs, nostalgia, essays—and lots of poetry that stirred the heart, all written by local talent. Veneta resident, Judy Hays-Eberts, started the publication in the Fall of 2004 and produced a new issue quarterly—every three months. She distributed it to the communities of Veneta, Elmira, Noti, Cheshire, Lorane, Crow and other nearby areas. After a few years, however, health issues caused her and her husband, Sonny Hays-Eberts, to make the decision to shut it down. Four of us who were helping her at the time—Jennifer Chambers, Pat Broome, Jim Burnett Sr. and I—offered to take it over and continue this publication that we had come to love. We set it up as Groundwaters Publishing LLC and in June 2008, it was signed over to us by Judy and Sonny.

We negotiated an arrangement with the Applegate Regional Theater (ART, Inc.) to operate under their non-profit umbrella and began producing 700 copies of each quarterly issue. I printed those copies at home on 11″ x 17″ paper on our dependable HP workhorse printer and we all got together the first part of every January, April, July and October for the next 7 years to fold and hand-staple all 700 copies. We expanded our distribution to Alvadore, Junction City, Creswell, Cottage Grove and Eugene, thanks to some generous donors, and under the 501c3 license, we were able to sponsor some writing projects at the local grade schools with grant monies we were awarded.

We stopped publishing the quarterlies after the April 2015 issue was distributed due to the increased cost of printing and the fact that there were only two of us remaining to produce it. Pat Broome and my brother Jim Burnett, aka “Jimminy Cricket,” were no longer able to continue. Since then, Jen and I gave up our 501c3 status and began producing annual paperback anthologies that were the equivalent of 3 issues of the magazine.

Why am I giving you this bit of personal history? Because I have been storing multiple copies of those 32 issues in file cabinets and boxes all these years and I’ll no longer have the storage space for them. We’ve been putting together sets of the issues to give to area libraries that don’t already have them, senior centers, and individuals who have asked for them. We still have quite a few copies left that we really don’t want to dispose of if we don’t have to.

Pat Barons, who organizes the annual book sale for the Friends of the Fern Ridge Library in Veneta, has agreed to distribute them at their sale this year on February 11 and 12, and on their “every day” book/magazine sale cart.

There are also quite a few issues in the free box at the Lorane Family Store, too. We are not charging for any of these.

For people who want certain issues that they cannot find, I will be happy to provide pdf files so that they can be read on-line or printed off individually. Just contact me via email at edwards@groundwaterspublishing.com. These stories and poems by many of your friends and neighbors need to live on and be enjoyed by as many as possible. These timeless issues have already provided readers with many hours of enjoyment over the years and can continue doing so. We offer our thanks to you and all of the authors and poets who have shared their talents with us over the years.

Sweet Lorane Community News, November 21, 2019

November 21, 2019Newspaper Columns, , , , , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
November 21, 2019
By Pat Edwards

Thank you to Nanette Bordner, the Lifestyle Director for the Junction City Retirement and Assisted Living Center, for inviting me to give a talk on the history of the Pacific Highway, U.S. Highway 99, through Oregon last week. It’s one of the first solo talks I have made since my co-author, Jo-Brew passed away over a year ago. The audience was quite impressive and very interested in the stories I told and those memories they evoked were shared with the group.

Public speaking is not easy for me. I usually read much of my material so that I won’t leave out some of the important information I want to impart. I intersperse my reading, however, with side stories to support the history and we all seem to relate to each other—not as a speaker and an audience, but as a group of friends sharing our stories and memories. That’s what makes it so special to me. I miss being able to share these wonderful experiences with Jo, but this was fun to do again.

Jen as AbigailI was able to attend the play, “An Evening With Three Great Americans” at the Applegate Regional Theater recently and I am so glad that I did. It was an enjoyable way to be immersed in history and “meet” some of the history-makers. Jennifer Chambers portrayed Abigail Scott Duniway who was a prominent suffragist, advocating for women’s rights to vote in Oregon and the Northwest. Jen is the author of “Hesitate No Longer” about Abigail and Susan B. Anthony who joined together to garner support for the cause, and her presentation was very enlightening and professional.

Dan Schmieding then came on stage as Samuel Clemens, more widely known as Mark Twain, to talk about how the cultures of his time were so different than they are now, adding a humorous touch to the program… “Wha’ ya mean that I can’t smoke my cigar in public?”… “You’re citing me when I throw my line in the water to catch tonight’s dinner because I don’t have a… what?… fishing license?”

Steven HolgateThe last half of the program was taken up by a mesmerizing conversation with Abraham Lincoln who was portrayed by Steve Holgate, a retired career U.S. diplomat, who has perfected his Abraham Lincoln persona so well over the past 20 years that all of us in the audience felt we were really in the presence of greatness. The emotions were raw as he talked about his struggles to end slavery and about his and Mary’s loss of their child. He talked and looked the part exactly as I would have pictured Abe.

A friend, Sandy Diess, who attended the matinee performance on Sunday commented afterwards that she had seen Hal Holbrook’s portrayal of our 16th president, but she felt that Steve Holgate’s was just as good if not better.

I just wish that some of our school children and more of the community would have been able to witness this exceptional program. Thank you to the board of the Applegate Regional Theater for providing us with the opportunity.

Here’s a message from Marissa McNutt Cooper of the Lorane Community Association:
“Its that time of year again. We are gearing up for our annual Angel Tree and holiday food boxes. If you or someone you know is in need of assistance this holiday season, and you live in the Lorane/Crow area, please contact me. Looking forward to another successful year! My goal is to get the trees up the week of Thanksgiving.” Contact her at 541-517-6608.

Sweet Lorane Community News, October 31, 2019

October 31, 2019Newspaper Columns, , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
October 31, 2019
By Pat Edwards

I spent an enjoyable day last week participating in the Creswell Grange’s Holiday Bazaar. I reserved a table at the last minute and was pleasantly surprised to sell more books than I had hoped. A bonus was that I was able to spend the day with a group of nice people and visited with many who stopped by my table to chat. Thank you, Martin and Louise McClure and Patrick Dearth, especially, for your hospitality!

That same weekend, I volunteered to help with one of the game booths at the Applegate Harvest Festival in Crow. It’s been a long time since I’ve done something like that… the last similar event I attended was the Lorane Spring Fling which was held in the Lorane Elementary School during its final year in June 2011. The article I wrote about it can be found on my website at http://allthingslorane.com under “Writings” for those of you who would like to relive it.

Our granddaughter, Stephanie Furlong, and her husband, Chad, and daughters, Harper Lorane, Hayden Rae and Shiloh Kate all showed up at the Harvest Festival, dressed in Toy Story costumes that Steph had made. It brought back so many memories as I made my rounds in the cupcake walk with Harper and then went to visit the Fish Pond and bean bag throw with her after my shift ended. The gymnasium was filled with other family groups who were all In costume. What a fun evening!

In today’s column, I thought I’d tell you a bit about the new yoga group that I have recently joined in order to work on my core strength and balance following my recent surgery. My good friend and co-editor of Groundwaters, Jennifer Chambers, has obtained her certification as an adaptive yoga instructor and has been holding classes on Tuesday and Thursdays from noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Applegate Regional Theater, 87230 Central Rd., Eugene, north of Crow. The group is growing, so Jen has decided to offer another class on Wednesdays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Classes are varied, but include chair yoga, floor movements, meditation, and balance bar work. Balance bars are provided, but you’ll need to bring a yoga mat and dress comfortably. The classes are $4 per person, per class. It’s a relaxing, no-stress way of keeping at bay the aches and pains of those of us who don’t get as much exercise as we’d like. For more info, contact Jen at jenniferbyerschambers@yahoo.com.

Speaking of Jen, she’s rehearsing to portray one of the main characters in her most recent book, “Hesitate No Longer: Abigail Scott Duniway and Susan B. Anthony in Oregon,” in an exciting new play called “An Evening With Three Great Americans” taking place at the Applegate Regional Theater on Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17. Abigail Scott Duniway, the character that Jen portrays, was one of the main forces in obtaining women’s rights in Oregon. One of Abigail’s harshest critics in her fight for women’s voting rights was the editor of the Portland Oregonian newspaper, Harvey W. Scott—Abigail’s own brother.

Another of the great Americans being featured is Abraham Lincoln, who will be portrayed by Steve Holgate. Steve has professionally portrayed Lincoln on many occasions around Oregon and is said to do an excellent job. The third American will be Mark Twain, portrayed by Don Schmieding. I don’t know Don personally, but I’ve heard good things about his work. This should be a wonderful experience! You can order tickets on-line at http://www.art-inc.org.

The Lorane Movie Night for this month will be held on November 7th at the Lorane Grange. The scrambled title for this month’s feature is “Het Dogs Stum eb Zarcy” (PG, 1980). Hint: it’s an action Indie film. The Lorane Fire Department is this month’s sponsor. Check the Rural Art Center’s website for more details.

The Lorane Christian Church will be hosting the annual Lorane Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, November 17, at 5:00 p.m. at the Lorane Grange.
The Grange will be collecting not only non-perishable foods for the Holiday baskets, but they are also asking for donation of items for the U.S. soldier that they have “adopted” this holiday season. Contact Lil Thompson 541-942-5701 for suggestions for the items needed.