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, July 5, 2018

July 5, 2018Newspaper Columns4th of July, Art in the Country, Blue Rooster Inn, Chicken 'n Pickin, Crow Grange, Easy Acres Neighborhood group, Farmin Creek, Lorane Christian Church, Lorane Community Association, Lorane Growers' Market, Marissa McNutt Cooper, Rodney Liles, Worship in the Parkpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
July 5, 2018
By Pat Edwards

What a wonderful Independence Day this year! Our Easy Acres Neighborhood Group got together at the Blue Rooster Inn to celebrate being neighbors. Because there are not a lot of us and because our neighbors know that we (the Edwards/Kaus) have a big family, they extended their invitation to all of us—not just Jim and me—and most were able to come.

It was an afternoon of eating BBQ potluck—our grillmasters were our grandsons, Kevin and Brent—conversation and getting acquainted in the historic barn, and yard games played next to the pond on which its resident swan glided gracefully as a backdrop for the many photographs that were taken. The venue was generously provided by Nancy Pelton, the owner of the Blue Rooster and a member of the group. Good times.

The Lorane Community Association held its monthly meeting last week and there is a lot of discussion about the upcoming unveiling of the mural that I told you about last week. Along with the unveiling, the LCA is planning to have some t-shirts, bags and possibly other items printed with the image of the mural and they will be on-sale that day (Sunday, August 12) in the parking area of the Lorane Family Store.

In addition, the plans for the community-wide yard sale on Saturday, August 4, are progressing. In addition to the sale, itself, the Rebekah Lodge is planning a pancake breakfast from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. that day.

As a side note, the LCA will be collecting backpacks, pencils, glue sticks and other school supplies to hand out to kids also on that day. Please contact Marissa McNutt-Cooper if you’d like to donate a backpack.

I’ll include more information on this event as well as the Crow Chicken ‘n Pickin’ BBQ and the Art in the Country Festival that will all be happening on the same day—Saturday, August 4—in a column soon.

The Lorane Christian Church has scheduled its annual “Worship in the Park” on August 19th at Farmin Creek, on Siuslaw River Road about a half mile from the Lorane Deli. This is a church service held in the beautiful outdoors! The service starts at 10:30 a.m., followed by a barbeque lunch at noon. 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!

The Lorane Growers Market is just beginning to pick up steam now that our gardens are beginning to produce. Stop by frequently and check out what items of produce have been dropped off. Our area gardeners have been very generous with their donations in the past, and all proceeds go to the Lorane Community Association to be used for the many projects it takes on through the year.

Our condolences go out to the Liles family of Crow for the loss of Rodney Liles who was killed in a car accident on June 25. I didn’t know Rodney, but he was the father of Talisha who went to Crow High School with our granddaughters. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Talisha and her family.

Sweet Lorane Community News, May 24, 2018

May 24, 2018Newspaper ColumnsApplegate Regional Theater, Art in the Country, Bohemia Mining Days, Color Their World, Community Yard Sale, Crow Chicken 'n Pickin, Jared Conard Black, Lorane Community Association, Misty Burris, Pamela Conard Blackpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
May 24, 2018
By Pat Edwards

The Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale event has been scheduled for Saturday, August 4th this year. Those who want to participate are strongly encouraged to attend one of the Lorane Community Association meetings to get their sale registered so it can be included on the map that will be distributed and advertised.

You’re going to have a choice of several events in the area on August 4th. I’ll fill in details as we get closer, but here’s a suggestion:

Why not plan to hit the yard sales early to find the best treasurers, of course. Then head for the Crow Grange for a delicious lunch of barbecued chicken at their annual Chicken ‘n Pickin’ event while you enjoy some foot-stomping old-time fiddlers’ music. Then, plan on spending the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Applegate Regional Theater’s first annual “Art in the Country” festival that will be taking place a short ways away on Central Road, north of Crow. It will feature professional and amateur art displays, an Oregon Author table, two performance stages, author readings, live music, a beer and wine garden, craft and concession booths and a kids’ area among other features. Be sure to block out the whole day on your calendars!

While you’re adding that to your calendar, mark down another event which will be coming up shortly. Loranian, Misty Burris, has joined the Bohemia Mining Days board and on Friday, June 1, the board will be “facilitating a 7,000 square foot kids’ zone this year. They will be holding a public tie-dye event called ‘Color Their World,’ as the participants create a colorful border by dying retired hotel linens into wall tapestries.” The event will take place at Coiner Park from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. South Lane Mental Health, Mountain Rose Herbs and Parent Partnership are some of the sponsors so far. It sounds like fun!

Each of us is struggling with the tragedies that are becoming all too frequent in our society in the form of school shootings. The most recent one in Santa Fe, however, made the horror more personal. The son of one of our Crow High School graduates was a casualty.

Jared Conard Black was the son of Pamela Conard Black who graduated from Crow in about 1993. According to information provided on a GoFundMe page set up by his cousin, Jared had just turned 17 on Wednesday, May 16th.

“He was anxiously waiting to celebrate his birthday party that weekend and couldn’t wait for school to end on Friday. Unfortunately, this did not happen, because he was one of the victims of the Santa Fe shooting on May 18, 2017.

“Jared loved art, drawing, playing video games and people. He was a kind-hearted soul who would do anything for anyone. He was a great kid.

“Due to the family’s loss, they are going to have to pull together finances for additional expenses, travel expense, lodging, etc., for family members. They also will need to home-school his younger brother for the rest of his school years. It is just too unbearable to put another child in harm’s way in public schools.

“Instead of planning his birthday party, our family is now planning his funeral. Please help my family as they mourn the loss of our loved one and keep us in your prayers. He will be greatly missed and forever in our hearts.”

May we all keep these children and their teachers in our thoughts and work towards a solution that will once again provide them with schools that can be considered “safe places.”