Tag: Jennifer Chambers

Sweet Lorane Community News, March 29, 2018

March 29, 2018Newspaper Columns, , , , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
March 29, 2018
By Pat Edwards

For the past month (and a little more), I’ve pretty much stayed at home. I had a virus that held on for much too long. I still am dealing with residual symptoms of it as well a painful shoulder that I injured last August, and, most of all, the loss of my friend and colleague, Jo-Brew. I’ve been quietly occupied much of the time, working on writing projects, painting our guest bathroom and taking a lot of naps, but I haven’t tried to get out much.

Contributing to my general ennui, we rehomed one of our sweet Blue Heeler dogs because I realized that Nora really needed to be the only dog in the family. She is now with a couple without children who absolutely worship and spoil her rotten, playing her favorite game of fetch several times each day. We both love and miss her, but we knew that we were being selfish to continue to keep her with Toby who has declared his ownership of Jim and me and resented the attention I, especially, paid to her.

All of this adds up to what I feel was a minor bout of depression. I feel, however, that I’m beginning to step out of the fog I’ve been in and I’m ready to experience more of life again.

It’s time to make plans and to get outside more. I’m making a list of the plants I need to get in the ground soon and to fill two petunia planting boxes I made a couple of years ago for our daughter, Michele, and me. I’ve begun taking notice of all of the small limbs that need to be picked up from this winter’s brush clearing that we had done and the fact that the grass is growing a lot right now. I want to take Toby on some more walks and let the still-crisp air fill me with new energy and life.

Yesterday, I was sent information on a writer’s “summit” that is taking place at Sunriver over Memorial Day weekend. I don’t usually participate in these types of things, but it is offering classes and topics on things that really interest me as a writer and I’m hoping that I can work out a way to go… hopefully, with another good friend and colleague, Jen Chambers.

I’ve also decided to take on a new book project about Capt. John O’Brien that I’ve been hoping to write for quite a few years as part of my Early Lorane Settlers series. I published one on the Bailey family of Bailey Hill last year, so this will be the 2nd in the series. I have already gathered a great deal of information on this fascinating Civil War veteran, newspaper publisher and long-time union organizer. All I’ve needed was an incentive to begin it. I’m finally feeling it! It’s time.

This column is supposed to be about Lorane events and people, but there’s little news to share right now and I feel that by talking about my own experiences occasionally, I am able to let others, who are experiencing the same types of things, know that they are not alone. We all have our bouts of the doldrums occasionally and I’ve learned that it’s ok… it’s part of life. We need to learn to deal with the downs in our lives as well as the joy. Each balances out the other and makes life much more interesting!

And just to make sure this column isn’t totally about me this week, I need to remind everyone about the upcoming annual RAC/Lorane Grange-sponsored Talent Show that will be held on Sunday, April 8 at 3:00 p.m. If you want to participate, give Lil Thompson a call at 541-952-5701.

Happy Spring everyone!

Sweet Lorane Community News, January 4, 2018

January 4, 2018Newspaper Columns, , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 4, 2018
By Pat Edwards

Well, it’s time we leave behind “holiday mode” and return to some kind of normalcy. Our family had a busy-but-great Thanksgiving and Christmas together, but there’s something about settling back into a routine within our comfort zone following the holidays that always appeals to me.

The November and December weekends spent in the company of Joe and Saundra Blakely and Jen Chambers in our Holiday Market booth was very special. We’ve become good friends as well as “Oregon Author” colleagues and we met a lot of people and sold a lot of books, to boot! I was amazed at how much demand there was for my new The Baileys of Bailey Hill book and I ran out of them at the end. I’m trying to get them distributed to local bookstores and libraries now.

The bad part of this holiday season was that so many of us came down with some type of cold, flu or other bug. I was one of them who was a bit quiet on Christmas day. I managed to get the house in order for company, but thank goodness I had a huge volunteer crew of cooks and “bottle washers” on hand to allow me to kick back and watch the dinner and celebration unfold.

I’ve finally got a few things to tell you about that are coming up this month in Lorane, so let’s take a look.

On Saturday, January 13, the Lorane Movie Night, sponsored by the Rural Art Center, will be showing the movie,”Sita Sings the Blues” (2009). It is an animated film which has “received rave critical reviews.” It’s been described as “a tale of truth, justice, and a woman’s cry for equal treatment” created by Nina Paley. It’s the story of Sita, an Indian goddess, combined with parallel scenes from Paley’s own life and features music by jazz singer, Annette Hanshaw.

For times, prices and program events, go to the RAC website at https://www.ruralartcenter.org/movie-night

The Lorane Grange’s Dinner and Bingo Night will resume on Saturday, January 27. Dinner usually begins at 5:30 p.m. and bingo follows at 6:30 p.m. It’s a fun evening for the whole family.

Jim and I have been observing the recent 40th anniversary of the Lorane Family Store by providing a history of not only it, but of the Lorane Service Station, aka The Mitchell Store, that preceded it. There have only been two owners of the grocery store—the Mitchell family and the Edwards family—through its history. We purchased the store in December 1977 from the Mitchells who established it in 1934.

I have included a couple of stories about the history of the store on my website. The first is a story of the Mitchell Store written in 2008 by Bill Mitchell’s great-grandson, William Olsen. It is followed by the history that I included in From Sawdust and Cider to Wine which I have updated a bit for this purpose.

They can be found on my website at https://allthingslorane.com/lorane-interests/. Also, there are several old pictures of the store posted on the Lorane, Oregon Facebook page for those who enjoy the nostalgia.

Happy New Year, All!

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!