Tag: Rural Art Center

Sweet Lorane Community News, March 9, 2023

The Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
March 9, 2023
By Pat Edwards

Marna and Bob Hing

Sadly, the community of Lorane is having to say goodbye to another one of our much-loved and long-time residents. Bob Hing quietly passed away on the morning of March 8, 2023. He and his wife, Marna, with their children, moved to Lorane in 1971. For years, Bob worked for Sears Roebuck in Eugene where he met and became best friends and fishing buddies with Loranian, Charles Drullinger, and the two spent many happy times enjoying all that Mother Nature has to offer.

Bob and Marna were active Grange members where he served as Master for 3 years, and they both played major roles in the forming and development of the Lorane Volunteer Fire Department—Bob as a responder and board member, and Marna as a responder and, later, an EMT.

Marna worked with me at the Lorane Family Store during the “early years.” She became one of my very best friends and through our alliance with each other and Nancy O’Hearn, who was an equally good friend and our first employee, together we researched and wrote Sawdust and Cider; A History of Lorane, Oregon and the Siuslaw Valley in 1987 for the Lorane Centennial.

Bob and Marna farmed their property which they purchased on South Territorial. After his retirement from Sears, Bob formed his own company, Bob Hing Construction, specializing in roofing, fencing and gutters, and in 1995, they purchased the Lorane General Store.
Throughout our friendship, the Hings and Edwards spent many evenings together cheering on our Crow Cougars and/or volunteering at the local schools. Socially, we got together occasionally for pinochle games, barbecues or community get-togethers. Their daughter, Kandi, worked at our store, as well, helping to form the tradition that made it truly a “family” store.

We lost Marna in 2010. She and Bob were married in 1964. It was her second marriage, but they had known each other since their high school years at Tigard, Oregon, where they were classmates. They even shared the same birthdate—March 19, 1941—and celebrated it together each year. With the marriage, Bob welcomed her children as his own. He was her life’s companion and soulmate who was by her side every step of the way throughout their marriage. Bob missed her terribly through the years after she passed, as he did his fishing buddy, Charles, who died in 2020.

So many of us who knew them feel comforted by the hope that they are now reunited in a better place, but Bob will definitely be missed. He will always be remembered for his warmth, friendliness and his generosity in providing whatever he could for his family and the community. Jim and I send our deepest condolences, with love, to all of his family and friends.
*****
Upcoming Lorane events to mark on your calendars are:

On Saturday, March 18, the Lorane Grange will hold its Dessert and Bingo Night at 7:00 p.m.
The raffle for the pretty yellow and white shed that was built by the Crow High School’s Construction Class will take place on Friday, March 24. Tickets will continue to be sold for $50 each until March 23. It is sitting in front of the school for those who are interested in viewing it until the lucky winner takes it home.

On April 16, the annual Rural Art Center/Lorane Grange Talent Show and the Grange Open House will take place. Admission is free and it begins at 3:00 p.m.; talent participants should plan to be there by 2:45 p.m. Artistic talent displays will be set up in the kitchen area. Call Lil Thompson, 541-942-5701, or Lisa Livelybrooks for more info or to register as a participant. Light refreshments will be served following the show.

Sweet Lorane Community News, February 2, 2023

The Chronicle (Creswell)
Sweet Lorane Community News
February 2, 2023
By Pat Edwards

According to Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District teacher, Michele Kau…

“The new Crow Middle/High School construction class has been busy building an awesome storage shed which will soon be raffled off to the public. What makes me most proud is the craftsmanship that these students have demonstrated in building this structure—and another one like it—earlier this year. Our awesome shop teacher, Kyle Kishen, is doing a fantastic job of arming these kids with some life-long, incredibly valuable skills, that they will be able to take with them when they leave us at the end of their high school years… and that’s pretty great!!”

This past week, the school has launched the sale of the tickets for anyone who wants to be eligible to win the shed. Two hundred tickets are being offered for $50 each. The drawing will take place as soon as they are sold. Proceeds will be used to help fund future construction projects. Contact the Crow Middle/High School office if you want to buy raffle tickets at 541-935-2227.

I also recently read a write-up about one of the construction projects undertaken by Eugene 4-J School District called “Future Build House.” For it, students work half days to finish construction of low income housing by learning such skills as cutting and attaching siding, installing windows and using the tools of the trade. By doing so, they can also earn College Now credit through Lane Community College.

These projects are life-changing for some students and it’s the kind of thing that has been absent from many of our schools in recent years when so much emphasis was put on college advanced placement courses and preparation for 4-year colleges, while discontinuing the trades classes that have been so popular in the past. I have long believed that both options are vitally important in today’s high school education—even in middle school. Not all students choose to go to a 4-year college whether it be due to finances, academic status or a desire to train at either a trade school or the school of hard knocks. Don’t get me wrong—a higher education benefits all students—even those interested in working in construction, retail sales, auto mechanics, farming, the hospitality industry, computer technology, and so many other occupations that keep the cogs in the wheel of our daily lives working, if they are able to attend. But, it’s important to expose all students to the many and varied choices available to them and not downplay or denigrate the vital role that being a tradesman or, in today’s jargon, “blue-collar worker” play in all of our lives. Kudos to the return of trades classes in a lot of our schools!

The Rural Art Center’s Lorane Movie Night will be presenting another unnamed family-appropriate movie at the Lorane Grange on Saturday, February 11. Dinner,which includes a selection of homemade soups and bread,will be served at 6:00 p.m. Before the movie begins at 7:00 p.m., RAC’s current community ukelele group will perform for the enjoyment of those attending. The last Movie Night of the season will be held on Saturday, March 11.

RAC partners with the Lorane Grange to provide another fun community event on Sunday, April 16, at 3:00 p.m. The annual Community Talent Show organizers are seeking people with all kinds of talented acts and displays—both formal and funny—to sign up for this year’s events. All of the various acts will be performed on stage at the grange, and display talent—artwork, books, crafts, etc.—will be displayed in the grange kitchen for everyone to view. Contact either Lisa Livelybrooks of RAC (ruralartcenter@gmail.com), or Lil Thompson of the Lorane Grange (541-942-3401; lilyhillthompson@gmail.com) for more information or to sign up.

Sweet Lorane Community News, January 6, 2023

The Chronicle (Creswell)
Sweet Lorane Community News
January 5, 2023
By Pat Edwards

Jim and I received the very best New Year’s gift we could have wished for yesterday (January 4). We were able to greet our newest great-grandson, Teagen James Stevens. Teagen is the son of our grandson, Kevin and our granddaughter-in-heart, Jazmine. Teagen weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 9 oz, and was 21.5″ long. Best of all, he was born on his grandma, Gloria Edwards’, birthday. This wonderful, sweet boy was also greeted with lots of hugs and kisses by his adoring 3-year-old sister, Calliope, and joins a cadre of cousins who are going to welcome him into their midst. Welcome to the world, Teagen!

The community of Lorane is beginning to pick up where it left off in 2022. The Rural Art Center’s popular Lorane Movie Night will resume on Saturday, January 14, at the Lorane Grange in theater seating. Under an odd arrangement with the company that provides their movies, they are not allowed to publicize the name of the upcoming show, but all are well-planned and family-friendly. A half-hour before each movie, which begin showing at 7:00 p.m., a dinner of homemade soup and freshly-baked bread is served and doorprize drawings are held. RAC has been sponsoring the Lorane Movie Night for many years and it is quite popular with local residents.

This month, the Lorane Grange will be meeting on Thursday, January 19, at 7:00 p.m. instead of its usual “first-Thursday” meeting schedule which will resume in February. They welcome new membership and encourage anyone interested in checking out this strong community group to join them at any of their meetings. They will be hosting their very popular community dinner and bingo night later this month, but a definite date has not yet been set.

As I rush to complete my column today—January 6, 2023—I know that I cannot help but comment on the 2nd anniversary of an event that will continue to tear at my heart forever. I was born and raised a patriot who loved my country unconditionally, knowing that it was not perfect, but it represented “home” and “family” and the pride I felt to be an American. I never put labels on my patriotism… it has just always been part of me. Even though I was registered with one political party, I voted for whomever and whatever felt “right” to me among the choices regardless of which party was represented, and I still do. The extremes at either end of the political spectrum scare the daylights out of me and the events of two years ago have proven to me how much we all need to put aside the hatred, jealousy and desire to have everything done our own way without considering the views of others. We are a diverse nation, more so than when I was a child, but the United States has always been a melting pot of many cultures, religions and customs. My generation needs to step back enough to allow the younger generations to guide their own future. Jim and I trust our own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to carry on the values we have tried to instill in them through the years. I’ve seen so much good in these younger generations who were raised to respect home, family, country and each other. I just pray that their values will prevail, but it will be up to them and their counterparts to guide and determine their own future. I’ve had a good life… one that I can be proud, but I’m glad that I am at this end of it. Our generation is leaving our posterity a huge burden to try and rectify, and that saddens me a great deal.

May God Bless America! Our country needs all of the help we can get right now.