EMMA ROUTLEY/CHRONICLE PHOTO
“Santa” Patrick Dearth, left, and “Witch” Vickie Weathers helped welcome guests to the grange’s all-season holiday event.
Santa Claus paid the Creswell Grange an extra visit this year after the pandemic’s mass cancellations left the locals lacking holiday cheer — and brought all the other holidays along with him.
On Easter weekend, the grange hosted a “Holidays Revisited” open house on the ground floor consisting of decked-out holiday-themed booths for traditional favorites such as Halloween, Fourth of July and Valentine’s Day. Each table had treats or activities to match, such as turkey coloring pages, Halloween goody bags and Easter eggs.
Carolin Pettit, left, and Loreen Huffman handled the Easter booth at the Creswell Grange.
The building still has yet to fully recover from last year’s flooding, an incident that occurred while making other upgrades. A roofing oversight that resulted in 900 gallons of water drenching the second floor of the range, grange president Patrick Dearth said $6,000 is needed to repair 1,500-square-feet of damaged floor.
“We’re looking for people that come to our events and donate money to the cause. In any case, we need to replace that floor upstairs for sure,” said Dearth, who played Santa Claus and ran the Christmas booth on April 3. “We’ll put donation buckets up at all our events. Before it gets worse and worse.”
Eileen Yearous overseeing the Thanksgiving booth.
There may be setbacks but the ball is still rolling, and the grange staff are working to provide event opportunities for the community such as a ticket-purchase spaghetti dinner on April 17, and doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for bingo on April 21.
And for the city-wide Mother’s Day Yard Sale, the Creswell Grange is also offering indoor tables for purchase to those interested in selling their wares inside.
Priscilla Phillips at the Valentine’s Day booth.
“The grange has always been kind of a fun place to go because they do kind of fun little things,” Dearth said. “We offer things and people come. Between 50-60 people came for the ‘Holidays Revisited’ event.”
To become a member of the Creswell Grange, purchase a table for the city-wide Mother’s Day yard sale, or inquire about events, contact Patrick Dearth at 541-520-5383.
