Fern Ridge-Tribune News
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
August 19, 2021
By Pat Edwards

The recent Lorane events were quite successful this past month. It seems that everyone was ready to get out and socialize a bit after our long period of social distancing during the pandemic. The Lorane Community Potluck, the Ice Cream Social, the Lorane Grange’s Bingo and Dessert Night, and the Community-Wide Yard Sale events were all well-attended. Unfortunately, the potluck, which was changed a year ago to be held on the day before the Ice Cream Social (held on the 2nd Sunday in August) fell on the 1st Saturday—the same day as Crow Grange’s “Joe’s BBQ (aka Chicken ‘n Pickin’ BBQ), and there was a conflict. Next year’s potluck will fall on the 2nd Saturday, as it normally will, on August 13th. Thankfully, both had a good attendance this year. The organizers apologize to our neighbors in Crow for the overlap, though.

The next Bingo and Dessert Family Night at the Lorane Grange will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, August 27. We’ll all need to wear masks, but come and join in the fun if you’re able.

Plans for school in the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District are revving up. August 24-26 has been set for the Crow Middle/High School registration. The first day of school is September 7. For more information on what students and parents can expect from the 2021-2022 school year, check out their website at http://cal.k12.or.us or call the district office at 541-935-2100 or the high school at 541-935-2227.

Fall football practices and conditioning are underway. The middle school is in need of more students to sign up before they can field a team, however.

On Wednesday, September 1, the C-A-L School District will be hosting a “Welcome Back Hotdog BBQ.” It will take place from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Applegate Elementary parking lot followed by Ice Cream Sundaes served between 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Crow Middle/High School. Everyone is invited to meet our new superintendent, Heidi Brown, tour the new classrooms, and find out more about the athletic teams that are forming. I understand that there will be a bounce house and giant slide at the elementary school for the younger kids’ enjoyment, too.

I, personally, have begun work on what is supposed to be my last year of publication of the Groundwaters anthology. It’s been a labor of love that I’ve participated in for the past 10-plus years, but the process of juggling personal commitments with the labor-intensive job of showcasing the writing talents of over 60 ‘mostly-local’ authors and poets each year is beginning to take its toll, and I feel the need to put the publication to rest before it’s quality begins to diminish.

Right now, my colleague, Jennifer Chambers, and I are in the midst of reading, reviewing and editing over 200 submissions sent by 58 contributors. The short stories, essays, memoirs, nostalgia, poetry and photography submitted each year are truly amazing. Many of our contributors have been participating for a long time, but each year, we get new ones—some of whom are already published authors. Others, are frequently those who have never seen their work in published form before now. All of them are talented people we want to honor in print. If you haven’t read one of our anthologies before, please look for them on-line (our local bookstores do not sell anthologies, unfortunately), or in your local libraries. We have donated these books and quarterlies to the Fern Ridge and Creswell Libraries over the years, but I need to update them with the latest issues and will try to do that this week.

This has never been a “for profit” endeavor for us. Most of Jen’s and my labor is donated and the proceeds are used to cover our business license, taxes and website fees. As I said above, it’s a labor of love that I will truly miss.