Sweet Lorane Community News, August 9, 2018

August 9, 2018Newspaper ColumnsAlix Mosieur, Applegate Regional Theater, Art in the Country, Crow Chicken 'n Pickin, Farmin Creek, Karen Pidgeon, Kevin Stevens, Lorane Centennial, Lorane Community Association, Lorane Community Potluck, Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale, Lorane Deli, Lorane Family Store, Lorane Growers' Market, Lorane Ice Cream Social, Lorane Mural Project, Oregon Authors, Worship in the Parkpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
August 9, 2018
By Pat Edwards

Today, as I write this, one very busy weekend has ended and another is getting ready to happen.

Last weekend’s Art in the Country Festival that I helped to organize and promote is in the books as a definite success. It was a fundraiser for the Applegate Regional Theater (ART, Inc.) on the campus of their wonderful theater venue that was formerly the Central Elementary School. It was the first time any of us have taken on such a large undertaking… at least in the past several years. I guess I could claim that our 3-day Lorane Centennial Celebration that I worked on in 1987 was a similar success, but I was in my mid-40s then.

Anyway, we had a good attendance for this first year, especially in the early part of the day. The heat and direct sun on our Oregon Authors’ table got to me in the afternoon and I went home feeling the effects for the next two days, but it was a good feeling too, knowing that all of our hard work was appreciated by a lot of people.

I understand that the other two events that day in the neighborhood went really well, too. The Lorane Community-Wide Breakfast and Sale had a lot of shoppers and the Crow Grange Chicken ‘n Pickin’ BBQ hosted about 140 people. High-fives all around!
I’m looking forward this weekend, to the long-awaited unveiling of the beautiful Lorane mural painted jointly by Lorane artists, Karen Pidgeon and Alix Mosieur at 3:00 p.m. during the Lorane Picnic and Ice Cream Social celebrations. By the time you read this, it will have already been revealed and will be sitting proudly in front of the Lorane Family Store where our grandson, Kevin Stevens, built a structure worthy of the job it has of displaying this wonderful piece of artwork. If you stop by to see it, be sure to get a printed checklist of things—animals, plants, features, etc.—that are in the painting and see how many of them you can find. The lists will be inside the store. Be sure to read the back, too, which will help introduce you to the amazing artists. A table displaying mural souvenirs and other artwork done by Karen and Alix and a few of my books will also be set up.

If you haven’t already put “Worship in the Park” on your calendar, please be sure you do. The Lorane Christian Church is allowing Mother Nature to host its worship service at 10:30 a.m. on August 19, at the Farmin Creek event venue owned by the Martin family. It’s located on Siuslaw River Road, next to Chateau Lorane, about a half mile west of the Lorane Deli. Following the service, a community barbecue will be held at noon. All are invited. The church provides the hamburgers and hotdogs, and side dishes of salads and desserts are welcomed. There’s a pond for swimming and horseshoes for the competitive at Farmin Creek!

I haven’t mentioned the Lorane Growers’ Market at the Lorane Deli recently. There have been some wonderful produce and other items left there in the past couple of weeks, so don’t miss out. And, if you have some extra produce from your own garden you would like to share with others, be sure to drop it off so the proceeds of the sale can go into the coffers of the Lorane Community Association which has sponsored so many community projects in the past few years, including the Lorane mural.

Sweet Lorane Community News, June 28, 2018

June 28, 2018Newspaper ColumnsAlix Mosieur, Brent Haxby, Karen Pidgeon, Kevin Stevens, Lorane Mural Project, Matuchlatpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
June 28, 2018
By Pat Edwards

Where did June go? I’ve always held the theory that once the 4th of July is past, summer will soon be over. It seems to go so fast between July 4 and September 1.

I gave you a whole bunch of information on the closest upcoming events in Lorane in last week’s column, so I’m not going to repeat it in this one except for a couple of last-minute mentions.

There are still raffle tickets and memory bracelets available for the Amber and Michael Matchulat Fundraiser on July 7. Check out the Lorane and Crow Facebook pages for more information about the bracelets. As for the raffle, you don’t need to be present to win.

The beautiful Lorane mural will be ready for its unveiling on August 12. Lorane artists, Karen Pidgeon and Alix Mosieur have been working on it since last fall, and it’s going to be something that the whole community and those who visit can enjoy. They have been working on it inside the old Dew Drop Inn building next to the Lorane Family Store. Our grandsons, Kevin Stevens and Brent Haxby, just poured the foundation forms for the structure from which it will hang in front of the store, bordering Territorial Road. It will have its own support structure and lighting and will be under a wood-shake roof to help protect it from the weather. Karen and Alix are adding a fun “Where’s Waldo” feature to it where you are asked to find certain little animals and other hidden treasures in the painting. The plan is to have a fenced eating area near it, as well, but it will come a bit later when we figure out where it would best be placed. I hope that everyone will plan to stop by and see it “up close and personal” after it is finished.

I have to pass on a hilarious story to prove that “gettin’ old sure ain’t for sissies!”

A few days ago, Jim and I decided to buy a nice lawn swing with reclining seats. They were on sale, and I’ve been needing a place to go outside in the sunshine to kick back and relax with a good book and a cold drink while the weather is nice. We didn’t take into account the fact that once we got it home, we’d have to put it together.

All done!

Well, that afternoon we got the upright structure done fairly easily, but then came the framework on which the recliners would rest. That had to be done on the ground.

For any of you who have entered your seventh decade, you know that getting down is easy, but getting back up is not only not easy—it can be downright embarrassing if anyone is watching. For Jim it was especially hard since he has had both hips replaced.

Well, we were down on our hands and knees on our blacktop driveway, bolting all the many places that needed it, scooting along on our seats or crawling if we had to move to another portion to find the right-size nut or bolt. Suddenly, our dogs started barking and I looked up to see a car at the end of our rather long driveway with a woman standing at the gate, not wanting to come in because of the dogs.

I struggled to my feet and went to see what she needed. When I got to the gate, she said with a worried look, “Is everything ok? I was driving by and saw you and your husband crawling on the ground and wanted to make sure you were both all right.”

I was mortified, but so grateful to her. I began thanking her profusely for her concern and she seemed quite relieved that we were ok. We must have been a sight. I felt a warm glow to know that our neighbors and even strangers are willing to look out for those of us who may be having difficulty. It’s a story that we will laugh and tell frequently as we picture what we must have looked like.

Thank you, thank you to our guardian angel. Your concern meant so very much to both of us.

Sweet Lorane Community News – December 22, 2016

December 22, 2016Newspaper ColumnsHawaiian cruise, Ice storm, Kevin Stevens, Kona, Maui, Mt. Kilauea, power outage, Road to Hana, Thanksgiving, Volcano National Parkpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
December 22, 2016
By Pat Edwards

I’m hoping for a quiet week this week. With the holidays and the after-effects of the ice storm which left many of us without power for days, and for some, a week or more, it will be good to find a sense of normalcy. At our house, we were without power for three full days, but as I mentioned last week, at least we had a small generator that helped get us through the outage without too much discomfort. Then, unfortunately, there were those whose lines leading to their homes were some of the last to be fixed and were literally in the dark for over a week.

Despite everything, though, most of us were aware of the heroic efforts of the crews that were out in the freezing and dangerous conditions of trees and branches falling indiscriminately while they worked to get warmth and light back into our homes. For me, these men and women are heroes who deserve our thanks and appreciation. Thanks to all of you who worked long hours in difficult conditions to provide us with some of the things we so often take for granted. You are very much appreciated!

Since there’s not a lot of events planned in the coming weeks, I thought I would tell you a little about the Edwards’ family’s Hawaiian trip, as promised. We had many adventures on the cruise. Some were great tours like the one that we took to the Volcano National Park on the big island of Hawaii where we saw red molten lava bubbling up to the surface of the Mt. Kilauea crater.

Some were fun like the day we spent on a beautiful beach in Maui where many of the family played in the surf on boogie boards and others swam out to snorkle with turtles while Jim laid on a lounge chair, under an umbrella, watching everyone and I waded out to get a closer look at all of the shenanigans.

There were some stressful times, too… like when our daughter, Michele, and her family drove up the Road to Hana on Maui and got detained behind a landslide for hours. Fortunately, they got back just in time to board the ship before it was ready to sail.

The most memorable time we had wasn’t a lot of fun, other family members will agree, but it will probably be the one we talk about the most whenever we are bringing up family memories.

When we got to Kona on the island of Hawaii, we booked 6 two-person kayaks for a snorkling adventure. At first, the plan was for Jim and I to be in one together, but I said that it wasn’t a good idea as neither of us were experienced in kayaking. (It turned out to be a wise decision.) So, Michele offered to be in one with Jim and they assigned me to our grandson, Kevin. We all figured that we’d be kayaking in a bay or a tributary, but when we got there, we found out how very mistaken we were. We were to kayak in the ocean, about 50 yards out from the shoreline… and it was windy that day… and there were waves. I was petrified the whole time we were out on the water, but Kev kept me focused and on course, instructing me to steer INTO the waves and not allow them to broadside us. He assured me with words like, “It’s ok, Grandma. I’ve got’cha!” and he did. His calm assurance gave me the opportunity to go out of my comfort zone and do something that I’ll never want to do again, but I was able to conquer my fear enough to say afterwards, “I did it!”

As you read this, we are all looking in our rearview mirror at Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holiday celebrations as the road ahead is disappearing over the 2017 horizon. Where it will lead us is anyone’s guess, but I’m hoping that, as we travel along, we’ll find some sunshine… sunshine for the soul, and peace within our hearts. 2016 was a rather strange year; To me, it seemed unsettled and the path through it was rocky and hard to navigate. My prayer and wish for 2017 is that it brings healing and harmony to our troubled nation… that we find more common bonds to join us than disparities to divide us.

Happy New Year to each of you!