Sweet Lorane Community News, July 13, 2017

July 13, 2017Newspaper ColumnsAlesong Brewing and Blending, Cinnabar moth, Farmin Creek, Janet Martin, Lorane Christian Church, Lorane Christina Church bake sale, Lorane Family Store, Montana, tansy ragwortpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
July 13, 2017
By Pat Edwards

I’m lovin’ these bearable summer days this year. The mid-to-high 70s and low 80s are perfect as far as I’m concerned… especially if there is a light breeze, which there has been.

On our trip to Montana before the 4th, the weather there was in the 70s and quite comfortable, but I received a note from our friends who we visited in Helena and they said that right after we left, the temps soared to “the high 90s and low 100s!” According to Connie, “it’s been 15 to 20 degrees above normal each day and looks like the rest of the month is going to follow suit. We had a 5.8 earthquake last week and aftershocks continue. It was definitely not one we could sleep through and was the biggest one in 18 years for Montana. The topping on the cake is the severe thunderstorms rolling thru each afternoon and lightning starting immediate fires. July is never fun but this year tops them all.”

The poor Montanans experienced not only a harsh winter this year, but now their summer sucks. I think I’ll stick in Oregon. I’m figuring that we must have brought the good weather back with us!

I reported most of the upcoming Lorane events last week, but here’s another item to put on your calendar…

The Lorane Christian Church is sponsoring its annual “Worship in the Park” at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 27, this year. It will once again be held at the Martin family’s, Farmin’ Creek event center on Siuslaw River Road. A potluck lunch will follow the church service, as well as horseshoes and swimming in the pond. This is something you don’t want to miss.

Matt Van Wyk and the owners of Alesong Brewery in Lorane just announced on the Lorane Facebook page that their doors are now open for business. “I just wanted everyone to know we are finally open! Regular hours are 12:00 to 8:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday. We’re planning a Grand Opening celebration on Saturday, July 22, with a food cart and a couple of live musicians. Stop by and say hello!”

Many residents in our area are working hard to rid their properties of Tansy Ragwort which seems to be enjoying a resurgence throughout Lane County. The bright yellow weed that is springing up in fields and pastures right now is poisonous to livestock, especially horses and cattle. It’s vital that whenever you see a plant, even in your yard, that you pull it out by the roots if at all possible (or at least cut it), and put the plants into a black garbage bag where they will be contained. One suggestion is to leave the bag full of tansy out in the sun for a few days to let them “cook”… ensuring that they can no longer germinate. If they are left lying on the ground, they will continue to fully seed.
If the tansy plants you encounter, however, have a number of yellow and black caterpillars on them, don’t disturb them. These caterpillars are the larvae of the Cinnabar moth which eat tansy exclusively and kill the plant they are working on before it goes to seed.

Cinnabar moth and larvae

Let’s all be good neighbors and bring this unwanted plant under control since it spreads quickly once it goes to seed.

I realized that I failed to give the date of this year’s Lorane Ice Cream Social in last week’s column. It is always held on the 2nd Sunday in August. This year it will be on August 13 and it usually begins at 1:00 p.m. Marissa McNutt Cooper is soliciting volunteers to help with the new booths and events that are being planned to celebrate the Lorane Fire Department’s 40th anniversary. Call her at 541-517-6608 for more information or to volunteer.

Don’t forget! The Lorane Christian Church is planning a bake sale in the parking lot of the Lorane Family Store on July 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I know only too well, from personal experience, what great things they have to offer.

Sweet Lorane Community News, July 6, 2017

July 6, 2017Newspaper ColumnsAlesong Brewing and Blending, Alix Mosieur, Community Gardens, Crow Church of the Nazarene, Karen Pidgeon, Lorane Christian Church, Lorane Community Association, Lorane Country Cafe, Lorane Fire Department, Lorane Growers' Market, Lorane Ice Cream Social, Marissa McNutt Cooper, Matt Van Wyk, Misty Burris, Montana, Mural, Oregon Institute for a Better Way, Terrie Johnson Morris, vacation, Vacation Bible Schoolpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
July 6, 2017
By Pat Edwards

As I anticipated, the days last week while on vacation managed to just slip by (as they are supposed to do while vacationing) and I didn’t get a column written. As an “in-name-only” retiree, days blend quite easily for me anyway, but while on vacation, I’m able to immerse myself into each day without thinking about whether it’s a Monday, Thursday or a weekend.

Montana was beautiful, as was the newly-built home of our daughter and son-in-law, Kelly and Justin Fontaine, on Flathead Lake located near Glacier National Park. We spent the days kicking back, going out on the lake in Justin’s boat, having dinner in Big Fork, attending a Farmer’s Market in nearby Whitefish, walking our dogs and just enjoying being together.

Flathead Lake

Thankfully, there are a number of Lorane news items this week that I want to tell you about.

Lorane children who are interested in attending Vacation Bible School this year are encouraged to sign up with Heidi Rusten Langstraat (541-556-6223) at the Lorane Christian Church. The actual “Maker Fun Factory” Bible School will be held at the Crow Church of the Nazarene, but if enough Lorane kids are interested in participating, transportation will be provided. It is open to 4-year-olds through 6th grade students and will be held on July 16-20 from 6:00 to 8:15 p.m. each night. Activities include games, snacks, music and Bible Stories.

For those wanting an update on Lorane’s newest business-to-be, Matt Van Wyk, the brewmaster and one of the owners of the Alesong Brewing and Blending of Lorane, says that they hope to be open as early in July as possible. They are just waiting for Lane County, USDA, and OLCC to approve their permits. The plans are to have mainly a tasting room with cheeses and snacks available to compliment the beers. No meal menus are being planned at this time, but they will encourage people to bring their own foods so they can enjoy the experience “picnic-style,” if they wish.

The owners recently invited Lorane area residents to come and take dishes, silverware, syrup containers and other things from the former Lorane Country Café which shares the property with the new building. There are only a few items left and they expect to demolish or work out details with the Lorane Fire Department to burn the café in the fall.

It will be sad to see the old building go. Many of us have a lot of happy memories there, but the new owners of Alesong have been very gracious in extending a hand in friendship to the community and it appears that many locals are anxiously awaiting the opening.

The Lorane Christian Church is planning one of their yummy bake sales in the parking lot of the Lorane Family Store on July 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Recently, a group called the Oregon Institute for a Better Way became “the new stewards of the gardens that were formerly the Turnip the Beet Farm located at 79128 Territorial Road just about four miles south from the Old Lorane School.”

Misty Burris describes it as a non profit 501(c)3, based on her graduate study to promote community gathering and empowerment through free foods sharing. They are offering community garden space to local residents who want to gather, grow and process their foods together as a community. For more information, contact Misty at 541-530-3613 or
http://www.gatherandalign.org.

At the Lorane Community Association meeting this past week, I’m told that there are several new and enthusiastic members and plans are being made on several fronts.
First, the Lorane Grower’s Market table has now been set up at the Lorane Deli this year. It was completely refurbished by Terrie Johnson Morris and is very nice.

Be sure to stop by with your excess garden/orchard produce and trade for other items if you want. If you don’t have any of your own to share, you can take what you need. As always the purchase option is set up as donation only on the honor system. No prices are set on any of it. Proceeds go to the Lorane Community Association to be used for their various projects during the year including the Angel Tree, food baskets, the mural and some of the projects I’ll be talking about here in the coming weeks.

Something very exciting to me is the fact that Karen Pidgeon and Alix Mosieur have begun their work on the big mural that will be hung on the side of the Lorane Family Store. They are working on it in the Dew Drop Inn – the old tavern building that sits next to the store and it will be fun to see it take shape. The prototype of the mural is gorgeous, if you haven’t yet seen it.

The plans for this year’s Lorane Ice Cream Social were discussed. It will honor the 40th anniversary of the Lorane Fire Department which is a major sponsor of the event. The LCA is planning to add more carnival booths, water games and events this year and Marissa McNutt Cooper is asking for volunteers to help man them. She can be contacted at 541-517-6608.

Sweet Lorane Community News – April 27, 2017

April 27, 2017Newspaper ColumnsCrow Booster Club, Dew Drop Inn, Lorane Christian Church, Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale, Lorane Family Store, Lorane Ladies' Tea, Lorane Library, Terrie Johnson Morris, Toby and Norapaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
April 27, 2017
By Pat Edwards

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am so ready for an extended period of sunshine! Enough, already with the constant rain! I sometimes wonder what drivers think as they drive past our house at a little before 7:00 a.m. and see me standing in the driveway… in my jammies and raincoat, throwing tennis balls for Toby and Nora to fetch before I get the R-G and head back in to have my morning coffee. 20170428_121639

After a long night of inactivity, my two, wonderful, sweet… and lively… blue heeler rescue dogs are ready to play and work off some of their pent-up energy. Oh, Jim lets them out into our little fenced backyard area for an hour or two before he heads for the store so that I can sleep in a bit, but we’ve gotten into the habit of fetching balls down the full length of our driveway each morning. It’s a deal that I’ve made with them. We’ll fetch balls for at least 10 minutes, rain or shine, and they agree to lie quietly for the rest of the morning while I’m working at my computer. My right arm has not had this much exercise in years! They patiently await Jim’s return home shortly after noon so they can hang outside with him… if it isn’t pouring down rain. Unfortunately we no longer have cows that they can help work.

Yes, we knew what we were getting into with the heeler breed when we got them. We’ve had two others over the years and we both love their quirky personalities, extreme intelligence and total loyalty, but, I was hoping that none of us would have to be housebound quite this much this spring.

Now for some Lorane news.

Be sure you sign up if you are planning to have a yard sale on the weekend of May 20, when the Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale is scheduled, so that you can take advantage of the advertising and maps of where the yard sales will be. Give Terrie Johnson Morris a call at 541-913-3825 if you are planning to have your own sale at home. If you wish to rent a table at the Lorane Grange, contact Pam Kersgaard, 541-214-0261.

I have decided that I’m going to organize our former tavern building, the Dew Drop Inn, that I used as the Groundwaters office for a few years, and find homes for many of the books that I’ve put away for a Lorane Community Library. With the former school building no longer an option, that’s not going to happen, I’m afraid. The little self-help library at the Lorane Family Store is quite popular, but they have more books already than they can display, so for the community yard sale, I will be offering a bunch of paperback books free and selling many of the hardcover novels and cookbooks I have on hand with proceeds dedicated to the Lorane Community Association. Be sure to make it one of your stops on May 20.

The Crow Booster Club is planning the Spring Arts Festival, a fun evening to support the arts in the Crow-Applegate-Lorane schools. It will be taking place on Tuesday, May 16 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Crow Middle/High School. Admission is $5/person. There will be a Silent Auction and you will be entertained by Crow students with drama and music performances. Exhibits of their art, photography and woodshop projects will be offered for sale, as well. All the proceeds for this event support the arts program throughout the district. If you have items to donate for the silent auction, please contact Ali Cheers or leave a message with the Crow High School office for her at 541-935-2227.

Remember… The Lorane Christian Church is holding its Lorane Ladies’ Tea at the Grange this year. It’s scheduled for Sunday, May 7, at 3:00 p.m. They really encourage ladies of all ages to come who want to meet their neighbors or reacquaint themselves with those they don’t often get to visit with. It’s an especially good time to meet some of those we’ve been talking to for quite awhile on the Lorane Facebook page… to put a face to the names we know so well.