Sweet Lorane Community News, July 21, 2022

July 21, 2022Newspaper ColumnsBohemia Mining Days, Crow Grange "Joe's Barbecue", Lorane and Crow events, Lorane Community Potluck, Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale, Lorane Ice Cream Socialpaedwards Leave a comment

Fern Ridge-Tribune News
The Chronicle (Creswell)
Sweet Lorane Community News
July 21, 2022
By Pat Edwards

For the last couple of days, Jim and I are feeling that we are finally beginning to emerge from a long, dark tunnel that we’ve been in for almost a full month. I’m not going to dwell on a lot of specifics because I’m anxious to soak in the light and sunshine that lies ahead of us now. Suffice it to say that while in that tunnel, which we entered with Jim’s lumbar surgery on June 27, we encountered and handled—with the amazing help of our family—not only the surgery itself (which went very well), but complications that involved 3 runs to the ER (2 by ambulance) in two weeks time. The whole experience was then capped off, last week, by a positive diagnosis of Covid and the resulting quarantine for us both.

We began this past week feeling so much better and both of us are ready to take on something other than our health issues as much as possible. Jim is going to begin his physical therapy journey here at home through Home Health and we are hopeful that he will be able to regain the strength in his legs and back he needs to walk upright for short distances in order to do and see the things we are anxious to experience. Together we’ll take it day-by-day, as we have been doing, and work towards that goal. Thanks to all of you for your kind words and prayers.

In the meantime, while we’ve been focused on other things, the Lorane community has been busy participating in Cottage Grove’s Bohemia Mining Days celebration after a 2-year hiatus because of Covid restrictions. Loranian, Bruce McDonald, has been one of the main organizers and pancake turners of the “Breakfast on the Mountain” portion of the festival for years. It’s estimated that approximately 800 people drove up the hill this year to be served a delicious meal by “prospectors and golddiggers.” Now, that’s what I call the “light at the end of the tunnel.” Congratulations to all of the event organizers who have done such a wonderful job at this popular festival each year.

Coming up and closer to home is the busy weekend of August 13-14, where Lorane hosts first the Lorane Community Potluck on Saturday, August 13, held at the Lorane Grange. The doors open at 10:00 a.m. and lunch begins at noon. Bring your favorite dish and plan to kick back, spend some time eating what has, historically, been a delicious lunch, and get to know and visit with friends and neighbors.

The next day, Sunday, August 14, will be the popular Lorane Ice Cream Social hosted by the Lorane Fire Department. Come sample the wonderful ice cream and pies, participate in the many activities, including a dunk tank and rides on the fire truck, and enjoy local entertainment and more visiting with friends and neighbors.

The following weekend, Friday, August 19, and Saturday, August 20, plan on attending the Community-wide Yard Sale. The organizers are still signing up those who want to add their own sales at their homes to the map that will be available at each stop. Sign up at loranesale22@yahoo.com. Please include your name, phone number and the address where you will be holding your sale, plus hours and days of your sale.

For those who prefer, there will be outside spaces for rent in front of the grange for $10. This annual community event is sponsored by the Lorane Grange and the Lorane Community Association.

The Crow Grange’s annual “Joe’s BBQ” will be held on Saturday, August 6th, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. The popular dinner is $12 and includes a ½ chicken, potato salad, baked beans, roll, lemonade or coffee, and ice cream—unfortunately there will not be corn-on-the cob this year, as it will not be ready in time. According to Connie Suing (541-556-2609), “Classic Country will be playing music for us and we will have a few classic cars in our top lot for your viewing pleasure. Come join us as we celebrate our little community of Crow, Oregon.”

So, there are some fun things being planned and it will be nice for everyone to come out of their own tunnels and relearn what it is like to be social again. That’s all part of what constitutes the true meaning of “community.”

Sweet Lorane Community News, August 19, 2021

August 19, 2021Newspaper ColumnsCrow Chicken 'n Pickin, Groundwaters anthology, Lorane Bingo Night, Lorane Community Potluck, Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale, Lorane Ice Cream Socialpaedwards Leave a comment

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.

Sweet Lorane Community News, August 8, 2018

August 8, 2019Newspaper ColumnsArt in the Country, Bigfoot Festival, Creswell parade, Crow Car Show, Crow Chicken 'n Pickin, Fern Ridge Barbecue, Joe Blakely, Lane County Fair, Lorane Community Potluck, Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale, Lorane Ice Cream Social, Rose Garden, Ruth Ward, Sasquatch!paedwards 2 Comments

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
August 8, 2019
By Pat Edwards

My apologies… I asked to be excused from writing my column this past week. I could feel my “overload” alarm getting ready to ring, and I knew that I needed to take some R&R time for myself and Jim.

Besides dealing with health issues for both of us, I had taken on a lot of responsibility this summer in participating in community events, attending Oregon Author tables and working to help make our second annual, two-day Art in the Country Fine Art and Author Festival a huge success. It was a success! We signed up 25 wonderful authors for the 2-day event and the art and music that others had lined up were fantastic! The only problem is that our Saturday attendance took a nosedive at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, however, turned out to be everything that we had hoped, and I thank all of you who came out to join us.

A lot of local community events in and around Lorane and Crow were planned and held already, seemingly one right after another (and some, on top of each other)—the Creswell 4th of July Celebration, the Crow Car Show, the Lane County Fair, Art in the Country, the Fern Ridge Barbecue, the Lorane Community-Wide Yard Sale, the Crow Grange’s Chicken ‘n Pickin’, and the Lorane Community Potluck and Ice Cream Social which will have taken place by the time you read this. We are so lucky to have such a variety of quality events to choose from these days.

Front cover I’m supposed to attend the August 17 “Bigfoot Festival” in Troutdale with my author-colleague, Joe Blakely to promote the new book we published called “Sasquatch!” It was written by Ken Coon who, for 13 years in the 1960s and 1970s, researched all of the supposed sightings of Bigfoot around the country. He was a former sheriff’s deputy for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and wrote in detail about all of the research he did during those years. Sadly, he passed away before he could see his book in print, so after lying dormant for almost 50 years, Joe and I were given the opportunity to publish the manuscript at his family’s request. This year’s festival, however, is probably going to have to happen without me, but Joe will be there to experience our first time as “Bigfoot Hunters.”

Speaking of Joe, he wrote me an email this morning mentioning that he will be turning 80 years of age in the next few weeks and the impact that the event is having on him. It seems to be a major turning point in many lives. My husband Jim turns 80 in September, too, and I’m only 3 years behind.

Birthday girl Whenever I hear of anyone turning 80, memories flood back about the huge surprise birthday party my sister, brother and I gave for our mother’s 80th. She lived in Redmond with my stepfather at the time and we decided to hold it at Sunriver. Many of her friends and literally all of her family showed up to celebrate it with us. I had put together a large book of memories that included letters and photos that so many people she had known through those 80 years had sent me.

Mama was so surprised and touched by the celebration and opened that book to read over and over again through the following years, but she told me after the party that she felt it was a wonderful “goodbye” to her. She didn’t feel that she would live much past that 80 mark. Each year afterwards, she commented on how surprised she was to be celebrating another birthday.

Our visit to the Rose Garden along the Willamette River in Eugene.

She really didn’t want to live beyond her ability to enjoy life. She hated the limitations that were put on her by her physical health, but she stayed the beautiful, vibrant lady I have always known through her 96th year. Her limitations were imposed on her by her body, but her mind was always sharp. My sister Barbara (B.J.) and I were fortunate to have her come live with us for her last year of life in order to provide her with the care she needed. She lived at B.J.’s home on Cottage Grove Lake for part of each week and B.J. took her to doctor’s appointments and provided her personal care. When she was at our house for 3 days each week, I became her activities director. We took drives to places she wanted to see… up and down area streets and roads she’d never traveled including the top of City View in Eugene, and out and around the countryside around our homes in Lorane and Cottage Grove. She got so much joy out of seeing new things. She loved bingo and we went to the Cottage Grove Senior Center each week to play and we made a few trips to the coast to one of the casinos so she could do the same.

If I make it past 80, I want to follow her lead if I can.