Lily the Anatolian shepherd lives a full life here in Central Oregon—chasing squirrels through the high desert, riding co-pilot for drives through the mountains and splashing in the cold water of the Deschutes River. It’s a life her dad/owner, Nigel Wade, is proud to offer her. He snaps photos of Lily playing with her friends, a pair of German shorthair pointers named Riley and Maevis, he films her bouncing through snow for her TikTok account and he posts her milestones on the popular Dogs of Bend Facebook group. “We love living here and exploring together,” said Wade, who fostered and then adopted Lily through Cascade Canine Rescue East and West, or CCREW, in 2018.
Lily the Anatolian Shepherd | Photo by Jill Rosell
Before moving to Bend in 2014, Wade said he tried to make life fun for his previous dogs while living in Portland. But he didn’t always feel like the dogs were having the best experiences. “Us dog owners were only able to rush home on our lunches and take our pooches for your typical boring leash walk around your neighborhood or maybe go to a tiny, fenced-in dog park to let them play with other dogs,” Wade said. After arriving in Bend and adopting Lily, Wade began to appreciate the dog utopia that is Central Oregon. “Being a dog parent here in Bend allows us to literally hike along a beautiful river with our dogs legally unleased. Sniffing so many smells. Chasing chipmunks. Swimming in the river. Climbing rocks. A dog can be so much more of a dog here in Bend.”
Wade is one of thousands of dog owners in Bend, with some estimates in the past that suggested there’s one dog for every three people in the city. As more dogs move in, the dog-friendly services and activities in Bend continue to grow. What does that mean, exactly? Well, it’s everything from dog-friendly menu items at restaurants to doggie acupuncture and mud baths to playgroups and daycare, and even a new dog-friendly beer (it is Bend, after all). Bend is truly a dog town like no other.
Licensed Dogs in the City of Bend: 11,197 | In Deschutes County: 16,882
Doggone Fun!
When pups arrive at the five-and-a-half acre Doggieville Ranch, they see far more than a grassy yard for training, dog daycare and boarding. The ranch, 20 miles north of Bend and just west of Redmond, is the archetype of dogs living the good life, with hiking trails, swimming and plenty of room for naps after a long day. Owner Trudy Gardner describes it as a doggie “amusement park,” welcoming a small number of pups each day for training, daycare or overnight boarding. “We wanted to create a wonderful, clean and green environment with water features, structures to play on, space to run and areas where your dog can be alone, if wanted,” said Gardner, who moved from California to Central Oregon in 2016. “I am the epitome of a Bend dog owner. It’s why I moved here,” Gardner said. The facility goes above and beyond a traditional dog kennel, and has seen so much demand from the region’s dog owners that she and co-owner Larry Johnson are opening a second location right in Redmond. “With so many people moving to Redmond and Bend, keeping up with the demand is becoming more and more difficult. This will give us an opportunity to entertain more dogs,” said Gardner, who loves offerings pups room to roam and have fun even when their owners are on vacation. “We have so many fun things to do at the ranch because just like kids, dogs get bored,” Gardner said.
The ability to roam free is one of the best parts about being a dog in Central Oregon, according to members of DogPAC, a local organization that works to expand off-leash access for dogs in the area. The group works with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bend Park and Recreation District to enhance off-leash offerings and push for more off-leash water access. Members helped create and maintain the area’s only off-leash ski and snowshoe trails and help with maintenance of the Deschutes River Trail and Rim Rock “Good Dog” Trail, both just outside of Bend off Century Drive.
In addition to miles of off-leash hiking trails in the nearby forests, Bend itself is home to eight off-leash dog parks, with a mix of fenced and unfenced options, and some with small dog areas or water access. Residents in Bend are enthusiastic about having dedicated areas and amenities for dogs and dog owners, according to Julie Brown, communications and community relations manager for the Bend Park and Recreation District. Brown said during regular community surveys about what the community wants from the district, offerings for dogs are always top of the list. “Amenities for dogs and dog owners are always really highly ranked, and so that’s one of the reasons we have prioritized that from our community,” Brown said. In 2022, Bend will debut its ninth off-leash dog park, a section of the planned Alpenglow Community Park in the southeast part of town.
Good Manners in Bend
While dogs are seemingly everywhere in Bend, not everyone is a “dog person” and many people are afraid, allergic or have other reasons for wanting to keep their distance. Don’t allow dogs, even friendly ones, to run up to strangers.
Dogs should always be on a leash in public, except when in a specific off-leash area.Even then, owners should carry a leash and keep dogs within sight and under voice control at all times.
Dog owners must clean up after their dogs. Bags and receptacles are available at most parks and along many trails in town.
If your dog is misbehaving or acting aggressively, immediately remove your dog from the area, and take responsibility for any damage or injury caused.
Licenses are required for all dogs living in Deschutes County, and can be obtained from the county and some veterinary offices, once dogs are at least six months old and vaccinated for rabies. Puppies in Bend must be through their first cycle of vaccinations before visiting city parks and trails.
Everest | Photo by Christian Murillo
Taking Care: Healthy Hounds
When humans move to a new place or gauge the quality of living in one city versus another, healthcare is often an important topic. And for many dog owners in Central Oregon, the area’s health and wellness offerings for pooches are of upmost importance. It’s another area in which Bend has gone above and beyond, offering top-notch veterinary care and some unique wellness offerings sure to leave any dog thriving, pampered and with a clean bill of health.
When Heather and Nick Downing-Barrier’s Saint Bernard mix Arwen was diagnosed with osteosarcoma — bone cancer — the family began a process to treat the disease. Arwen’s leg was amputated, and she underwent chemotherapy and physical therapy, all here in Bend. “I follow a lot of other osteosarcoma dogs in Instagram, and not everyone is so fortunate to live in areas that offer all these services,” said Heather Downing-Barrier. Arwen went to Stride Canine Rehabilitation and Fitness Center in southwest Bend, where she used an underwater treadmill and balance disks as part of her therapy. With successful treatment here in town, Arwen’s prognosis improved, and she continues to explore Central Oregon today — often via a paddleboard on a nearby lake.
Elsewhere in Bend, dogs are getting a mix of wellness and healthcare through services like canine acupuncture and chiropractic care, both of which are offered at Sage Veterinary Alternatives. Veterinarian Leslie McIntyre was one of only two providers offering acupuncture when she first moved to Central Oregon in 1990, but today she estimates there are as many as fifteen providing the service. McIntyre uses acupuncture and other Chinese medicines to treat everything from arthritis and joint pain to cancer and other chronic diseases. Among McIntyre’s patients are geriatric and injured dogs, as well as hardworking agility pups, mushers and other sporting dogs.
Healthy pooches can get clean and even indulge a bit at many of the grooming facilities in town. At Muddy Paws bath house on Century Drive, owners can drop off Fido for a bath, grooming or more extensive services, like a canine massage or mud bath. Dogs can soak in hydrating oils and vitamins for a deep clean or in peppermint and menthol oils to invigorate an athletic or arthritic body. The mud baths can help with shedding and leave the dogs with hydrated skin and a glossy coat, plus they’re massaged in, something that bath-loving dogs enjoy, said owner Kimberly Rafilson.
“They’re getting a little more of that hands on treatment than they would with a typical bath,” Rafilson said. “It really makes a huge different with the dog’s coat.” An a la carte menu offers more options for dogs, including a brush out, nail trim and polish or teeth brushing.
Jaxson loves to play in the Deschutes River in Bend, especially if there is a ball involved! | Photo Jill Rosell
Bend, Oregon is a Doggie Destination
Over the years, Bend has earned a dog-friendly reputation, and even accolades. The city was named the most dog-friendly place in the country by Dog Fancy magazine in 2012 and again by Dogster magazine (which merged with Dog Fancy) in 2017. These rankings recognize that Bend is not only a dog-friendly place for locals, but also a destination for those who prefer to travel with their four-legged companions.
Bringing a dog to Bend? Consider staying at the Oxford Hotel downtown, which offers a welcoming pet package at a cost of $59 per stay. Dogs are given an appropriately sized pet bed, two travel bowls (one to keep), organic dog treats and a map of local walking trails and parks. The hotel will even take care of the walk for you for an additional fee.
While out and about in Bend, it’s not uncommon to see dogs joining their owners at a growing number of restaurants that offer outdoor dining. At Worthy Brewing on the east side of town, dogs enjoy a spacious, shaded patio and, if they’re lucky, something from the dog menu. For $5, dogs can grab a Diggy Dog Scoop (chicken breast, carrots and cucumber) or an unseasoned burger, known as a Diggy Patty.
Speaking of breweries, some offer brews that support local animal causes, including Cascade Lakes Brewing Co., which debuted its new Pawsitive Pale Ale earlier this year. One dollar from each six pack sold at locations in Bend and Redmond support Central Oregon’s BrightSide Animal Shelter. Taking it a step further is 10 Barrel Brewing Company, which earlier this year released Good Sit Pup Ale, a non-alcoholic “beer” which is a glucosamine-enriched malt product safe for dogs to drink. All the net proceeds from the sale of the ale goes toward local shelters. If you ask your dog, they’ll tell you the ale is best enjoyed out in the sunshine, at the end of another dog-friendly Central Oregon adventure.
It’s been suggested that Central Oregon has more stand-up paddleboarders per capita than anywhere else in the country. While it may be more urban myth than statistically supported, the sport is certainly hard to miss—from the non-stop flow of paddleboarders on the Deschutes River to its presence on Cascade lakes. Rob McDonald, owner of Bend-based Stand on Liquid, a local retailer designing and selling paddleboards and paddling accessories since 2010, attributes the popularity to the number of athletic-minded people who live here and the proximity to dozens of bodies of water found in less than an hour’s drive from Bend. Where there’s water, there’s SUP. Photo above by Jared Mantzouranis.
Next-Level Action
Stand-up paddleboarding—SUP for short—is relatively new to the outdoor scene, and was popularized in the late ’90s. Gaining traction as production boards became available in the 2000s, the International Surfing Association, founded in 1964, calls it,”America’s fastest-growing water sport.” While flatwater paddling is the most familiar and accessible way to paddleboard, it might come as a surprise that this approach is a far cry from the sport’s origins in the breaking waves of Hawaii. Hawaiian paddleboarding pioneers such as big-wave surf legends Gerry Lopez and Laird Hamilton have tested Central Oregon waters, but paddling flat water on the Deschutes River or one of the Cascade Lakes is an entryway for most folks. If you’ve had visions of paddling through a wave train or setting off on a grand adventure, there’s good news—the sport has many more dimensions, including paddling for fitness, whitewater, competition or for multiday touring. Then of course, it’s always an adventure when you add a furry companion to the mix.
Core, and More, SUP Fitness
A major draw for SUP enthusiasts is outdoor fitness, and not just to work out arms, but the core, shoulders and legs. “Stand-up paddleboarding engages muscles throughout the entire body,” said physical therapist Jenny McAteer of Resolve Physical Therapy. “It raises your heart rate, improves your aerobic capacity, overall heart function, and blood pressure, and decreases your fat stores.” The effort of keeping the board stable while compensating for a current, wind, or waves requires, what Rob McDonald described as, “subconscious micro-adjustments, engaging otherwise neglected small muscle fibers.” At the shop, he often hears paddlers describe how they feel soreness in muscles they haven’t before. “It’s a good sore,” he said, jokingly. Paddleboarding is also low-impact on the joints, which is a big plus in contrast to most outdoor sports popular in Central Oregon. Correct paddling technique should build core strength and not stress your back. To paddle for fitness, learn correct form and get plenty of time on the water.
Jordan Bohnlein tackles whitewater, below Big Eddy | Photo by Arian Stevens
White-Knuckle Whitewater
Whitewater paddling is exactly what you might expect—paddling in rapids. Most whitewater paddlers enjoy class I-II rapids, with more advanced pros advancing to higher-grade water and even dropping into waterfalls. A paddler’s success in whitewater leans heavily on experience paddling the flats, exceptional balance and skills using the paddle, as well as an ability to read rivers to be alert to dangers, find good lines through the rapids, catch an eddy and, of course, safely fall in the midst of rapids.
While this might sound like a young person’s sport, Andy Worcester came to whitewater paddling a little later in life. At age 49, he’d skied and mountain-biked his whole life and first started playing in the waves and running the rapids on an SUP when the Bend Whitewater Park first opened—it was fun, and he was hooked.“If you run a class-two rapid on a paddleboard, there’s this insane rush,” he said.Worcester has been able to run bigger rapids incrementally, and there too is a feeling of accomplishment. Sue Fox is also a passionate whitewater paddleboarder. As manager at Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe, Fox supports others through the online community she created called Frisky Ripples. “I fell in love with ocean SUP surfing for the reasons so many surfers fall in love with it—you’re at one with the ocean, you’re present, and it’s just so damn fun,” adding, when she moved back to the mainland, whitewater SUPing was the closest thing to surfing she found to replicate those feelings. Outside of the physical rush, she points to the connection she feels to the river and forests, the camaraderie with fellow paddlers and the post-paddle feeling of accomplishment as highlights of the sport.
Competition Racing
Another way to add variety to an SUP repertoire is in competition. There are two basic styles of racing: Downwind racing involves racing with the wind at your back from point A to point B, with swells propelling you while surfing wave after wave. The other is SUP-obstacle paddle racing that involves paddling around buoys or other fixed points back to the starting point.
Bend’s Randall Barna was an early adopter of paddleboarding and a competitive paddler who has stood on the podium of almost every major paddleboard competition in the Northwest. While local paddleboard racing experienced a downswing following the pandemic, Barna is confident there will always be an opportunity to compete. “You get two paddlers together on any body of water and they start seeing who’s best, who’s fastest. It’s just kind of inherent in the sport,” he said. The International Surfing Association is hoping SUP will be included in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles 2028 or Brisbane 2032.
To race closer to home, the Odell Lake Pioneer Cup, a downwind race held each July, is a great first race for those new to the sport, Barna said. To see (or compete with) elite paddleboarders, go to the Gorge Challenge race, held in July at the Columbia River Gorge.
Adventure Touring
Likened to backpacking or backcountry touring, paddleboard touring involves exploration and getting away from it all. With more than 30 years working in the outdoor industry, adventurer Paul Clark has paddleboarded on more than 160 different rivers around the world, including rivers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile, Slovenia, New Zealand and Japan. “Oregon has the best rivers for multi-day SUP trips because of the variety, from deserts to forests. And they are numerous, including the Lower Deschutes, Rogue, Grand Ronde, John Day and the Owyhee,” he said. Paddleboard travel on rivers and lakes is very low-impact, with no need for a board ramp or a group campsite, he added. He equates this approach to light and fast backpacking. “Traveling with a small amount of gear is a wonderful way to get downriver—it’s just a small dry bag, a PFD and a backpack on a paddleboard, and off you go.”
Paul has explored Central Oregon by SUP, from 150 miles on the John Day River to all 100 miles of the Deschutes River—a trip that took 16 hours. But for a more entry-level adventure-travel experience, it doesn’t take much more than a board, paddle and a short drive up the Cascade Lakes Highway. Paddleboarding on Sparks Lake is an iconic, postcard-worthy Central Oregon moment accessible to all.
Pups on SUPS
It’s an endearing image: a lazy day of summer and a happy dog posted up at the bow of a paddleboard. J.D. Platt decided to help make this image a safe reality for SUP enthusiasts and their furry friends. Platt is a lifelong Central Oregonian and innovator of all things fun, from snowboards to SUP boards to canine entertainment. As the founder and host of J.D.’s K9 Kings Flying Dog Show. He saw an opportunity to merge his interests in pups and SUPs with an innovative paddleboard that includes improved traction and a perch for a pet. Platt created a stable, inflatable board featuring a grippy deck that covers nearly the entire surface of the board, allowing dogs to travel up and down the board. Up front, he engineered a paw perch platform, providing improved balance for a furry first mate. Having a pet companion on deck proves standup paddling isn’t limited to humans. The popularity of SUP in Bend shows there’s no coastline required either. Just add water.
Sup Safely
Whether on flatwater, ripples or rapids—paddle safely:
• Wear a lifejacket or personal floatation device (PFD).
• Dress appropriately for the weather and water temperature. Wear sunscreen.
• Bring a phone in a waterproof bag, and enable location services in case of an emergency.
Jump into whitewater paddling with tales of SUP told on The Circling Podcast. Listen at BendMagazine.com/podcast.
Oregon, Winter 2014: It had been unusually cold and windy for days at Imperial Stock Ranch near Shaniko, Oregon, where 50 square miles of sheep, cattle, grains and hay have been raised since 1871. With temperatures around zero and two feet of snow, ranch owners Jeanne Carver and her husband Dan, and their team were feeling the stress of long hours and nonstop demands, heightened by the harsh weather. Jeanne moved through the lambing grounds, worriedly looking for any ewes that might be birthing amid the falling snow. She spotted two newborns near a huge snow bank. One had no heartbeat and she tried to revive it, but it seemed she was too late. Picking up the second lamb, barely alive, she prayed while coaxing the mother to follow her into the shed. Immediately milking the ewe, she tubed the warm liquid into the lamb’s stomach. She nestled it under a heat lamp, wrapping it with hot towels, urgently drying it. She went back for the other sibling, picked it up and cradled it close, shielding it from the storm.
Retelling the story, her voice cracked, tears welling in her eyes, as she recalled placing it on a trailer load of straw. She was about to return to the other newborn when she saw a tiny movement of the lamb’s body. She touched its sides and put her finger in its mouth—a tiny gasp for air came, then another. Tucking the lamb inside her jacket, close to the warmth of her body, she sped on an all-terrain vehicle to her house. At the wood stove she worked for the next hour, repeating, “I won’t let you die.”
Then her phone rang. On the other side of the world, in Sochi, Russia, Team USA was about to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Following criticism that Team USA’s uniforms were being made in China, Polo Ralph Lauren discovered the Carvers’ fledgling wool company, which was working to revive United States wool production. The Carvers had worked with the fashion magnate for 18 months on sourcing Imperial Stock Ranch wool for the Olympic uniforms. The call was from the lead designer—the team was about to take the world stage and appear in the opening ceremony wearing uniforms made with yarn from the Carvers’ sheep.
The juxtaposition of the two scenes, both detailed in Carver’s book Stories of Fashion, Textiles, and Place: Evolving Sustainable Supply Chains, written with co-author Leslie Davis Burns, fueled her quest to revive American wool production. The book builds upon the ranch’s commitment since the 1980s to use sustainable and regenerative practices for the future health of the soil, water, grasslands and grazing animals. At age 70, Jeanne Carver continues to lead a “ranch-to-retail” movement. She reconnects people to the source of what they wear by delivering fully traceable, American-grown merino wool to fashion brands, and returns a net-positive value to nature.
Expanding Farming Practices To Promote Healthy Ecosystems And Biodiversity
In 2018, Carver established Shaniko Wool Company as a farm group to scale the economics of making certified United States wool widely available to apparel brands, and to expand farming practices that promote healthy ecosystems and preserve biodiversity. The company includes 10 United States sheep ranches, grazing more than 2.6 million acres in the West, and producing 500,000 pounds of merino wool annually. It supplied the wool for Team USA uniforms for the Winter Olympics in 2014, then again in 2018 and 2022.
Her unflagging commitment has brought local wool to runways around the world, and caught the attention of the British Royal Family. Carver and her company were featured in His Majesty at 75: The Leadership and Vision of King Charles III, a velvet-covered commemorative book detailing the causes Charles champions, including regenerative agriculture and Shaniko Wool’s role in it. Carver, whose flowing strawberry-blonde hair and Western style translates readily from ranch to runway, attended the King’s book launch party in London in November.
Heritage Meets the Future
Her focus on regenerative work began in 1999, when globalization and a focus on synthetics torpedoed the commodity market for wool. “It changed everything,” she said. “That required us to think differently in order to sell our harvest and survive. So we began this journey of taking our wool harvest and adding value to it, meaning, you clean it, comb it, spin it, dye it, you knit it, you weave it, and you create a finished product.”
She began instinctively, with no training, educating herself along the way. Even before working with local chefs to promote her lamb in a newly emerging farm-to-table movement, she took that approach to the wool. “I paired it with our history, our deep heritage, the story of our land and stewardship, because that’s the number one thing we do—manage the health of natural resources.”
“Wool was one of those fibers that I realized was supporting my energy, my life force.”
Those efforts made Imperial Stock Ranch the first in the world to receive a new third-party certification, the Responsible Wool Standard, which aims to improve the welfare of sheep and the land on which they graze. That certification for Shaniko wool is a game-changer in getting brands such as DeFeet sock company to use it, said Paul Willerton of Bend, partner in the North Carolina-based sock manufacturer since 1993. Willerton, a former professional bike racer, believes in wool as the ultimate fiber for comfort and durability. “Whatever the conditions are, you realize that some garments are kind of supporting your life force, while other garments seem like they’re trying to kill you,” he said. “Wool was one of those fibers that I realized was supporting my energy, my life force.”
Jeanne Carver’s wool (Imperial Stock Ranch/Shaniko Wool Company) was used for Team USA uniforms in three consecutive Winter Olympic games.
A Mission of Education
Consumer awareness is key to driving change within the industry, Willerton said. Once people understand the profound value of ethically sourced products—for themselves and the environment—it can help disrupt the status quo. DeFeet and similar companies aim to challenge larger brands to prioritize supply chain transparency and sustainability, and prompt ethical and environmentally astute choices to become the norm.
That mission is central to the work of Leslie Davis Burns, professor emerita at Oregon State University in Corvallis, who co-wrote Stories of Fashion, Textiles, and Place: Evolving Sustainable Supply Chains with Carver. The 2021 book profiles five fashion and textile companies around the world—from Phnom Penh and Peru to Scotland and Shaniko—with evolving sustainable supply chains. Burns chose each company based on their values and honor for the land, the culture, and the people of the place where they are deeply rooted, leading to their successes.
Burns recalled reading Carver’s early draft. “I got tears in my eyes,” she said. “It was so beautifully written, so passionate, you could just feel it.”
Carver knows she needs data as well as passion to tell the story fully. In 2020, she launched an initiative with Oregon State University to do ongoing research revealing the collective carbon footprint of all the wool company’s ranches, and by extension, its wool supply. “We’re a ‘carbon sink’—net-positive to nature. This is very valuable information for the companies who buy the fiber and for the customers at the retail market level who care,” Carver said. “And the greatest value is to us ranchers, who now have data and a new tool we never had before to help influence our ranch management practices.”
Carver’s story of strength and determination, amid the complexities of integrating sustainability into the fashion industry, seems to be fueled by a theme from her college days. “I was a hurdler,” she shared. To Carver, obstacles are motivation. In the area of sustainable ranching practices, overcoming barriers is key to a healthy planet and future.
With the swoop of a pen, poet William Blake inspired readers to, “See the world in a grain of sand,” and with their cameras, macro photographers similarly reveal what might otherwise go unnoticed. “There is so much beauty in the small world around us,” said Christian Heeb, founder and owner of Cascade School of Photography in Bend. “You make things visible that people overlook.”
The term macro photography may appear itself a misnomer. Macro is a prefix derived from the Greek word macro, meaning big. But macro photography is not the art of capturing large objects. Instead, it is the art of making small things look grand. To qualify as a true macro image, the subject will be magnified to a larger-than-life equivalent: a drop of water, flower petal or seed now resembles the cosmos or an extraterrestrial form.
To create their art, macro photographers work with dedicated lenses and an understanding of photography techniques. A 1:1 focal-length lens is used, allowing photographers to focus very close to a subject and create compositions at life-sized—or smaller—scales. Digital advances, such as high-resolution sensors and sophisticated post-processing tools, have opened doors to discovering minutiae. Microscope lenses allow vision to go even smaller, still. “It’s more technical than other genres in photography,” said Heeb. Besides a familiarity with issues such as depth of field, macro photographers need a good eye, sense of composition and framing, he said. While an understanding of the difference between visible, ultraviolet and infrared light isn’t required to be a successful macro photographer, this subset of photographers is often versed in the details of optical science as part of the thoughtful and contemplative area in which they work. On a smaller scale, art is revealed in commonly overlooked things. “Revealing something people are unable to see with bare eyes creates a sense of wonder,” said Heeb.
Plus, there’s no need to travel to faraway landscapes to find extraordinary subjects. All that is needed is patience. A backyard, trail or garden may become exotic when the commonplace is elevated through a lens. A drop of water reveals another planet. Spring flowers look like undersea creatures. The allure for many is the genre’s accessibility. To gain access to the miniature world, photographers look for hidden beauty in plain sight or take a class to guide them. The Cascade School of Photography offers workshops, including one on flowers of the Old Mill District this summer, taught by local photographer Barb Gonzalez.
Macro Obsessed in the Pacific Northwest
Photographer Megan Baker came to macro photography as a way to quiet the noise of the world. Having photographed more than 3,000 weddings as a professional based in Maui for almost 20 years, it was the beauty found in a single snowflake that brought her to discoveries through her lens. Nature’s symmetry, or a world that could be gracefully off-center, appealed to her, she explained.
Baker, who spent her early childhood in southern Oregon and had a camera in her hands by age 7, moved to Hawaii in middle school where her family ran a coffee plantation along the flank of Haleakalā Crater. There, her father kept bees, and her mother was versed in the arts of growing things from seed. An appreciation for watching these small miracles was coupled with an early introduction to photography. Baker’s uncle, Stephen Ashley, an aerial photographer, shared his own bird’s eye view by taking images from a plane. On land, a camera provided Baker with a similar “aerial” view of her natural surroundings.
Moving to Bend in 2017 with her husband and two sons, she brought her “dream chaser” spirit to the community. “As an idea person, everything comes down to seeds,” she said. Macro photography was a place for her creativity to grow using a learned economy of scale.
Her image “The Drop” began as a search to capture the microscopic architecture of a snowflake. The fast-melted snow provided something unexpected, though. “I thought I had failed, but in the drop I could see trees, and a bud forming in another world,” she said. In another photograph, a sunflower is less a complete symmetrical form as what she witnessed as an “unfolding.”
With decades of experience as a photographer, Baker is able to use a manual focus in low light to create her images. She prefers what is discovered in the shadows, focusing on the quiet of plants and nature to create art in miniature. With 109 houseplants of her own, she need not go far for natural subjects, though by going small “the lens picks up things your eyes don’t see,” she said.
Looking at worlds hidden by the eye can often appear otherworldly. “I’ve always been drawn to the abstract,” Baker said. “With macro photography I’m really able to express myself.”
See ccophoto.com, @chasing.indigo,mbphotographybend.com.
Juneteenth is an American day celebrating independence, though it’s not the 4th of July. Following in the footsteps of Juneteenth pioneers, The Father’s Group of Bend [click to read more about one of their programs, Ujima Youth Program] unites the community for what is now recognized as America’s “Second Independence Day.”
This year’s celebration, “Jubilee,” takes place at Drake Park on June 15-16. The festival is free to attend and features an immersive experience of African, Caribbean and African American culture. Attendees follow rhythmic ancestral drums with inviting music and tour the rich, colorful activities offered by community vendors and educational booths. Tents filled with Afrocentric art capture the heart and imagination.
Learning about Juneteenth
When more than 250,000 African Americans remained enslaved in Texas two years after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, U.S. General Gordon Granger led more than 2,000 troops into Galveston, Texas, to order and ensure that all enslaved Americans were freed. The last freed African Americans coined the holiday name—Juneteenth—in an amalgam of June and nineteen. While it took decades for the federal government to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday, Clara Peoples–aka “the Mother of Juneteenth”—started the first celebration in Portland, Oregon in 1972, where it is still an annual event.
It wasn’t until 2021, when President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, that Juneteenth became the eleventh holiday recognized by the federal government. The state of Oregon and City of Bend observe Juneteenth annually on June 19.
Drummer Fodé Sylla also teaches drumming throughout the year.
Bend’s Juneteenth Festival
The Father’s Group, a Bend nonprofit youth development program, has hosted a Juneteenth festival since 2020 to carry on the legacy in Central Oregon.
“It started as a small community cookout to celebrate the holiday, but then we realized people kept asking what Juneteenth was. We also realized this was an opportunity to educate the community,” said Kenny Adams, executive director of The Father’s Group.
Members of the group quickly realized that educational exhibits could familiarize the community with the significance of Juneteenth. “We want to celebrate the legacy of enslaved people by sharing their history and uniting our community,” said Adams. David Merritt, board vice president and a founding member of The Father’s Group, added, “I’m from the Bay Area, and I’ve been doing Juneteenth all my life; I brought what I’ve learned from attending Juneteenth in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles, and wanted to get a similar celebration culture going when I moved to Bend.”
Education and Influence
“While other cities focus only on entertainment, people choose our festival because we focus on everything, especially education. People want to learn their roots, which makes us different from other Juneteenth celebrations,” said Entertainment Manager Tashia James of The Father’s Group. Juneteenth Central Oregon features education classes in African American history, literature, art and inventors, with additional classes designed especially for youth.
David Merritt also mentioned Bend’s need for more African American representation as an influence. “I want Black youth to see a future here, connecting them with diverse businesses local and outside,” he said. “I make it a point to bring in Black-owned vendors from around Central Oregon.”
Since the event moved to Drake Park, it has attracted nearly 100 new businesses and participants, including Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity, Fodé Sylla Drum Dance, John John’s BBQ Sauce, Urban League of Portland and more.
The festival hopes to bring innovation and diversity to the city, while honoring an American legacy. Being educated about the past and participating in the community’s future is an important message woven into Bend’s Juneteenth celebration. When asked—“What would you like those last freed slaves of Galveston to feel, if they could attend the Bend festival?”—all three leaders of The Father’s Group concurred: they hoped they would be proud to have a legacy beyond slavery that unites communities. That’s why it’s important to Bend, they agreed.
One summer afternoon, Megan Nielsen and her family were canoeing on Suttle Lake when the Sisters artist felt the unmistakable zing of inspiration. “Just looking at the lake, I knew what I had to paint,” she said. Back in her studio, she sketched a bear and rabbit fishing that are oblivious to the bounty of fish swimming beneath their boat. A mountain resembling Black Butte rises above the scene.
Nielsen’s whimsical work embodies the solace and magic of Central Oregon’s surroundings. “I want to capture those moments that reset you and connect you to both the natural world and to the people you are sharing it with,” she said. Her artistic enterprise, Canyon & Cove, features original paintings, prints, cards and stickers.
The artist’s path toward becoming a full-time artist began when she was very young, tracing Disney images while dreaming of becoming an animator. An ardent animal lover, her work honors creatures because of “their simple, peaceful nature,” but she is drawn to some inparticular. “I’ve always been attracted to bears, compositionally. Though they appear ferocious, I love their big, peaceful spirits,” she said. Otters are another favorite.
Her goal is to hit a sweet spot: “Not too cute, but not too realistic either:” A bear catching lightning bugs in a jar, a dog paddleboarding on a river, a moose riding a ski lift. Her drawings invite a smile, but her adept brushwork, clever composition and sophisticated color palette reflect an artist with studied talent. During college, she focused on interior design. The architecture courses inspired her creatively, and the teaching faculty urged her to experiment conceptually.
The charm of Nielsen’s art reveals a fierce aesthetic curiosity; she continually pushes herself to learn new techniques. “I deconstruct paintings and illustrative styles I’m attracted to and then figure out how to uniquely apply those techniques to my work,” she said. While many artists of her generation work digitally, Nielsen prefers watercolor, pencil and acrylic gouache. “You gain so much when playing by hand.” The next stop on her artistic journey may be paintings that are “larger and looser.”
“Lazy Days”
Although she has a successful stationery and print business, Nielsen asserts she doesn’t relate to a production mindset. “I must feel something to follow an idea. The intention comes from the artwork, not from a deadline.” Her husband Jarred Nielsen joined the company in 2021, applying his business background. “Jarred’s dedication, focus, organization and faith in the artwork have allowed the business to grow and shine,” she added.
Megan was born in Alaska and raised outside of Seattle. Her move to Bend in 2015 came after a single visit. “I got that feeling that so many get when they visit Central Oregon,” she said. In 2022, she and her family sought closer access to nature and moved to Sisters where she feels a particular affinity to the sight of the mountains and forest. In 2023, she rebranded and named her business Canyon & Cove to reflect “the places of erosion where beauty is found.” See canyonandcoveart.com.
Farmer Jim Fields climbs down from his tractor, surveying his 10-acre Fields Farm off Pettigrew Road in Bend. For the past 35 years, he has grown everything from verdant arugula and deep purple beets to slender asparagus and juicy tomatoes. Buildings have sprouted up all around Fields, who launched Central Oregon’s first community supported agriculture, or CSA, program in 1989. A program where people pay for a weekly, monthly or yearly subscription for farm-fresh items, typically paying in advance, CSAs help farmers offset expenses, from equipment to seeds. Photo above by Amanda Photographic.
The model is integral to small farms, allowing the farmer to share the risks and the rewards of farming with the community. Although Fields Farm is the only remaining farm within city limits, other CSAs have blossomed throughout Central Oregon, with farmers relying on the model to make their businesses as sustainable as their agricultural practices.
“A lot of folks go the CSA route because it gives them that one-on-one interaction with a consumer where they can build a relationship, even beyond being at the farmers’ market, but sometimes it can be hard to get your name out there,” said Andrea Smith, agricultural support manager for High Desert Food & Farm Alliance, an organization that focuses on improving food security and access, while supporting farmers and ranchers who grow, raise, and craft good food. “To be a farmer, you have to not only be farming and executing a crop plan, but you also need to be your own mechanic, your own marketing expert. You need to know how to build a website, so there are a lot of pieces at play there,” she said.
Rainshadow Organics offers a program including vegetables, grains, meat, eggs and milk | Photo Amanda Photographic
Community-Supported Agriculture
Several farms have risen to the challenge and have been steadily attracting increasing numbers of CSA members. One of them is Boundless Farmstead in Alfalfa, a 20-acre mixed vegetable farm with nearly 100 CSA members, a number that has been steadily increasing since the farm began in 2017. The Boundless Farmstead CSA generates 20% of the farm’s annual revenue. About 45% of income is from wholesale-to-restaurant sales and farm stands, while 35% is generated at the downtown Bend Farmers Market, co-owner Megan Kellner-Rode explained. “Initially we thought we were going to simplify and not do the CSA,” she said. “But then we quickly realized we were out of money. CSAs are an amazing way to have upfront income, especially in Central Oregon, when you’re not getting the bulk of your income coming in until July.”
Like many local farmers, Kellner-Rode strives to find ways to make the cost accessible for a seasonal share, which at Boundless Farmstead ranges from $450 to $675 for four months of weekly shares of farm-fresh, nutrient dense, chemical-free produce from July through October. She offers a payment plan of four equal payments, the first due at signup and the following three in February, March and April.
David and Megan Kellner-Rode of Boundless Farms. | Photo Liam Pickhardt
Sliding Scales Make Farm-Fresh Foods Accessible
Last year, Boundless launched a new payment option to ensure all community members are able to access their CSA program by creating a sliding scale. The farm made it possible for customers to pay based on their annual household income. At Rainshadow Organics, a 200-acre farm in Terrebonne that also offers a CSA program, a payment plan is also available, and the farm is looking to offer a sliding scale option, said CSA Manager Alison Holland. Rainshadow’s CSA program is unique in Central Oregon because it includes multiple options, including a year-round “full diet” CSA of vegetables, whole grains and flours, meat, milk, honey and eggs.
Customers can buy the shares based on the number of adults and children in their household and how much meat they want to order. Before spring, the farm had 22 families enrolled in the full-diet CSA and Holland said it hopes to add about 20 more by July.
At Fibonacci Farm in northeast Bend, Lauren Rasmussen and Aaron Stubbs bring a non-farming background to cultivating organic vegetables and flowers on 1.65 acres. Stubbs has a law degree with a focus on environmental law and civil rights, and Rasmussen has 20 years of experience in customer service, retail sales, marketing and business management.
Fibonacci Farm already had 78 CSA members signed up before spring had arrived, and developed its customer base by focusing on consumer needs and convenience, Rasmussen said. For example, customers can pick which items they want in their weekly or bi-weekly share. Growing diverse items not only offers customers choice, it protects the farmer from risk if a particular crop fails.
“From a business standpoint, a majority of small farms do some type of item that is a value-added product,” said Rasmussen. “We do flowers because it’s hard to make money on vegetables. So you have to find that item that’s going to be the higher price point to get you financially where you need to be. We also do it because we promote positive mental health [through flowers], as well as positive physical health with vegetables.”
For farmers, CSAs are part of a business plan that supports a greater vision—one offering food of the highest quality grown with practices that help improve the planet, while connecting people in the community. Alison Holland said, “As with most farming, you just hope that the business catches up with the dream.”
It’s hard to miss the beauty of the Deschutes River as it meanders through downtown, as a centerpiece of the city. Those who are lucky enough to live here or visit here have the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance (BPTA) to thank for helping sustain its beauty, while also creating unprecedented access. Photo above by Regina Nicolardi.
One of the founding board members of Bend Paddle Trail Alliance, Karl Koenig, age 76, recalls a grittier time when it was prohibited to recreate in the Deschutes River due to logging and mill operations, wastewater contaminants and their toxic over blooms, which gave the town of a Bend a “not so pleasant smell.”
“We’ve come a long way,” said Koenig, who, with his wife, JoAnn Weber-Koenig, has surveyed the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance’s more than 100 miles of accessible waterways from the Deschutes River to the many Central Oregon lakes. “We started out as a bunch of smelly boaters, then we got ourselves organized to become Bend Paddle Trail Alliance, which spawned The Deschutes Paddle Trail, to what you see today,” he said.
The mission of the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance is to promote and establish a navigable paddle trail within Deschutes County that enhances river and lake recreation.
A Path and Collaboration to Create Bend Whitewater Park
By all accounts, BPTA co-founders Geoff Frank and Jayson Bowerman, were the most passionate about making improvements to the local waterways, but their ultimate dream was to make the Bend Whitewater Park a reality.
“We heard ‘no’ for a solid decade,” said Frank, owner of Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe, who never stopped believing it could work. “We organized, raised money and were persistent as heck.”
Part of that persistence was convincing Bend Park & Recreation District (BPRD) to join forces with them in 2012 and get a $29 million dollar state bond passed to make major improvements to the Colorado Dam to not only make it safer for floaters and rafters, but to also create a year-round whitewater park for surfers and kayakers.
“At the time, it was the biggest public and private partnership in the county, and BPTA contributed $1.13 million to the project, or 12% of the cost,” said Frank, who recently stepped down from the BPTA board after more than a dozen years.
Fatalities and serious accidents at the Colorado Dam had also created public outcry to make that part of the river safer, as people were already floating the river in droves by 2006. Back then, floaters had to navigate getting out of the river before the threat of drifting into the dangerous dam spillway area, then scramble along the road with their flotation devices to get back into the river and continue their float to Drake Park.
By 2015, the Whitewater Park was completed with several channels: surfing and kayaking waves with four different levels, a safe channel for floaters that allows for a continuous paddle trail and also includes a fish ladder, and a channel that protects the natural habitat in the area. Bend Park & Recreation District’s Community Relations Manager, Julie Brown said the partnership with BPTA surpassed their expectations on every measure.
Photo courtesy of Tumalo Creek Kayak
Mapping the River
While the downtown stretch of the Deschutes River may be the most popular and accessible, Koenig said the abundance of waterway miles in the surrounding areas are also worth considering, because there are stretches of river or lake suited for every recreationist. “We created Bend Paddle Trail maps in conjunction with many park districts and the U.S. Forest Service,” he said.
Koenig was instrumental in getting the BPTA maps created along with the map signage along the river and lakes. “The most important part of the maps is to educate what is on that stretch of river; for example, you don’t want tubers to go into an area of class IV rapids, where only experienced whitewater kayakers should go. Our maps highlight what’s coming up in the next couple of miles and where a person can take out and put in.”
After seeing BPTA’s dream become a reality, co-founder Geoff Frank says the biggest milestone for him is witnessing the happy faces coming off the river.
“Well, I’ve kind of become a bus driver now. I help with the floater’s shuttles from Drake Park,” he said with a laugh, “But really I love hearing the visitors from all over the country enjoying the river and listening to them rave about it. It’s pretty cool that families can have access to this river that belongs to all of us.”
Come spring, the high desert beckons as Bend’s backyard playground. Head east from town and the landscape quickly changes. Massive Ponderosa pine trees and manzanita give way to old-growth juniper forests and fragrant sagebrush dotting the landscape. Clouds evaporate, revealing a wide-open and clear sky. The earth heats up quicker in the desert, where the atmosphere is arid and the soil is exposed. In May, when the cold of winter clings to Bend’s trails, and mornings may take a few long hours to warm, the desert sun rises early, calling visitors who seek endless exploration and a taste of the summer season to come.
Why Palm Desert when you can high desert?
Across the expanse of eastern Oregon are rimrock valleys, bubbling rivers and charming towns straight out of the Wild West. Yet tucked in the high desert closer to Bend, discover something surprising—a pair of luxury resorts. Fine dining, top-notch golf, outdoor adventure, spas and pool complexes to rival those found in the Coachella Valley are here under our own desert sun. These two resorts—Brasada Ranch and Juniper Preserve—are Bend’s version of an iconic sun-filled Southern California desert retreat, but without quite so much travel, so many people or Hollywood price tags. Who needs a plane ticket to Palm Springs? Instead, visit a luxe duo of Central Oregon desert destinations, for a daytrip, overnighter or an extended staycation.
Brasada Ranch
Brasada Ranch
This luxury ranch retreat sits on the slopes of Powell Butte, delivering a Western-modern vibe and sunsets featuring the expanse of the Cascade Range.
Golf
You’ll have to stay the night to enjoy the golf course, open to guests and members, but you won’t regret a night (or two) here. The longer you stay, the more time for the desert to perform its magic. Every hole at Brasada Canyons golf course offers a view, and a sense of having the course to yourself. Expect par 72 and 7,295 yards of happiness.
Wellness
Drawing inspiration from the surrounding landscape, Spa Brasada is the place to unwind with a nature-based mind-body treatment. Try the Brasada Essence massage or Serenity Rose CBD wrap for a luxurious escape.
Dining
Secure your spot on the dining deck at Range Restaurant & Bar to take in Brasada’s expansive sunsets while enjoying items from a seasonal menu inspired by the local terroir—think mushrooms, steelhead, Oregon apples and pears, accompanied by gourmet s’mores and a setting sun.
Outdoors
Try a heated, circular lazy river and a quick blast down a waterslide for that slice-of-summer preview. The Sundance pool is a place for family fun, or try the more serene adults-only Cascade Pool. Hike the trail up Outback Butte to Spirit Rock—bring a picnic and enjoy the hike’s payoff views with a laid-back snack under sunny skies. Brasada is a real ranch, after all, so don’t miss the chance to venture out onto 900 acres on a guided horseback ride. See brasada.com.
Juniper Preserve
Juniper Preserve
Formerly known as Pronghorn, this destination set in a juniper forest exudes an Old-World vibe with a contemporary health-and-wellness focus.
Golf
When the resort was created in 2002, two of golf’s finest bestowed their design talents, and their names, to the resort’s twin golf courses. The Jack Nicklaus course is a 7,460-yard, par 72 public course, considered the original “desert-style” golfing experience in the Northwest. The Tom Fazio course, 7,462 yards and par 72, open only to members and guests, winds through juniper trees and rocky outcroppings for another 18 holes of desert delight.
Wellness
Soak up peace and relaxation at Juniper Spa, where facials, massage and a signature treatment, the Desert Therapeutic, loosen up muscles tired from months spent bracing against the winter cold. Juniper Preserve offers a host of wellness classes and retreats, including some in breathwork, yoga and Synergy—a kava and cacao-enhanced sound-immersion experience.
Dining
Kick back on the outdoor patio at the Trailhead Grill. With your face tilted toward the sun, sip a fresh libation and snack on free-range buffalo wings. Juniper Preserve’s seasonal pop-up dining, KÉYA, offers a multisensory feast paying homage to rich Indigenous culinary traditions, incorporating historic and foraged foods.
Outdoors
This splashy desert retreat with poolside cocktail service exudes a vacation vibe. Juniper Preserve boasts no fewer than five pools and hot tubs. Take a cool pool dip or hot soak, find a lounge chair in the sun, then repeat. Don’t forget the waterslide! Follow pool time with a round of lawn games, or search out Juniper Preserve’s hidden ancient lava cave. See juniperpreserve.com.
The word vegan can conjure images of bitter kale and tasteless veggie burgers. Mushrooms masquerading as meat? Chickpea protein? Sunflower seeds impersonating cheese? We understand the hesitation. Despite having plenty of health and environmental benefits, veganism doesn’t always get the best rap, but the best chefs act as magicians to assuage any doubts.
Vegan Dishes: Plant-Based Palate Pleasers
Fortunately, a growing number of Central Oregon restaurants have changed the narrative to prove that a plant-based menu can be just as indulgent as a dairy or meat-filled counterpart. From rich biscuits and gravy to creamy mac ‘n’ cheese, plus hearty protein-filled lunches on the go, these local eateries prove vegan eating is anything but dull. Central Oregon’s best vegan dishes are bursting with flavor and satisfaction—and there’s not a kale leaf in sight.
The Big Country Combo Breakfast at A Broken Angel Food Truck in Bend
Breakfast Without Bacon
Reimagining a breakfast menu staple of biscuits and gravy from plants may seem daunting, but Chef Richard Hull at A Broken Angel food cart defied expectations when he took on the challenge. Hull developed his gravy recipe, considered one of Bend’s original vegan classics, using wild mushrooms. While some may raise eyebrows at the idea of using mushrooms in lieu of meat, Hull’s rich and indulgent gravy may silence any naysayers. With an earthy depth and umami richness, it delivers a flavor profile reminiscent of traditional gravy. Paired with their meat-like texture, mushrooms serve as a surprisingly satisfying substitute.
Taste for yourself with an order of A Broken Angel’s Big Country Combo, a plate stacked high with a generous portion of buttery, but butter-less biscuits, handmade by owner Barbara Troyer and smothered in Hull’s creamy wild mushroom gravy. Accompanied by the house scramble of organic tofu, cremini mushrooms, roasted chilis, squash and braised greens, this hearty dish is an example of a standalone vegan dish that is filling without needing to duplicate its traditional meat-based counterparts. That is exactly what Troyer and Hull hoped for, to show people that “eating plant-based is easier than you think–and it’s fun to explore new ways of cooking.” Troyer said.
Looking for a sweeter start? Head to NW Raw off of Century Boulevard for the Big Bear Waffle topped with whipped almond butter, whipped coconut cream, bananas and candied coconut, all drizzled in maple syrup.
The Spicy Falafel Wrap at Bo’s Falafels
Powerhouse Protein
For a Mediterranean-inspired meal, take a seat in Bo’s Falafels diner. For those worried that a vegan lunch means sacrificing protein, think again. Falafels, such as those served at Bo’s, are crafted with protein-packed, tiny, but mighty chickpeas—an excellent and healthy option for those wanting to forgo meat but still fuel up with a nutritionally valuable meal. Chickpeas not only boast impressive protein content, they also have plenty of fiber, essential vitamins and minerals. But it’s not just about the nutrition—Bo’s falafels satisfy the taste buds with a delicious blend of spices, and a perfectly crispy exterior that gives way to a tender and flavorful center.
While not a strictly vegan joint, the menu at Bo’s Falafel includes a variety of delicious plant-based options, thanks to owner Sierra Phillips’ past experiences with vegan eating. “I was vegan for five-plus years and raw vegan for one year,” she shared. “I remember the frustration of trying to find a vegan option back in the days before anyone had heard of almond milk or plant-based anything.” Her soft spot for vegans manifests with dishes such as The Spicy Falafel Wrap, a warm pita stuffed with Bo’s handmade, plant-based falafel topped with pickled onions, beets and cabbage, along with pepperoncinis, toum and housemade garden sauce.
For another lunchtime option, swing by The Podski food truck lot for a crowd-pleasing midday delight from Toasty, a vegan food truck founded in 2019 by Brooke Preim-Tobias. Her mission to veganize everyday comfort food paid off in spades, as Toasty’s Nacho Crunchwrap is a calling card for Bend’s vegan community. Wrapped within a crunchy tortilla is a mouthwatering stack of Beyond Beef, black beans, cashew-based cheddar queso, avocado, onion, lime crema and hot sauce. It’s all vegan, and it’s all delicious.
Vegan Mac and Cheese at Lively Up Yourself Food Truck in Bend and Sisters
Comfort Food Without Compromise
When late-night cravings hit, one eatery stands out: Lively Up Yourself food truck, with locations at both MidTown Yacht Club in Bend and Eurosports food truck lot in Sisters. Renowned for its creamy and indulgent vegan mac and cheese, at Lively Up Yourself, diners find themselves second-guessing everything they thought about plant-based eating, and sunflower seeds. That’s right, the secret ingredient behind the truck’s beloved “Cheeze” sauce are sunflower seeds. These tiny powerhouses impart a creamy texture and a nutty, cheesy flavor to the sauce. They also pack a serious nutritional punch. Loaded with essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, magnesium and selenium, sunflower seeds deliver health in every bite. Plus, the ingredient is allergy-friendly and doesn’t break the bank.
Owners Sarah McKay and Elliott Roloff launched the cart with a mission to provide vegan comfort food that evokes nostalgia and dazzles nonvegans with the potential of animal product-free dishes, they explained. “We want to show the world that vegan food is good,and not boring, for them, the animals and the planet,” shared McKay. While the Lively Up Yourself menu includes a variety of options such as burritos and appetizers, it’s the mac and cheese dishes that undoubtedly steal the spotlight. Featuring a diverse range of macs including buffalo, barbecue and the creative Krabby Mac, there’s something to please every palate. For those longing for a taste of simple nostalgia, the Classic Mac ‘N Cheeze is a must. With macaroni noodles coated in Lively’s signature OG Cheeze sauce, garnished with green onions and paprika, it shows that indulging in vegan fare doesn’t mean sacrificing the flavors diners adore.
Other savory meal options include soul-soothing noodles at Miyagi Ramen. Order a bowl of the Smoked Mushroom Hazelnut Ramen—a plant-based dish brimming with noodles in a robust and flavorful broth, topped with tomato oil, roasted tomatoes, bok choy, tangy pickled shiitake, scallions and spicy tofu.
Also, be sure to check out Dinky Dau when you are in downtown Bend – a food cart found in the Mirror Pond Plaza by the Commons Café. They offer a wide variety of vegan (also gluten-free and dairy-free) options. Their two Banh Mi specialties are peanut tofu and sweet and sour tempeh. Plus, many of their salads are vegan or can be made into delicious rice bowls with Asian-inspired flavors.
Plants are no longer stuck in roles as side dishes; instead, they prove their worth in the spotlight, with a tasty reminder people can eat well and feel good at the same time.
Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and Central Oregon is brimming with exciting ways to celebrate and show your appreciation for the special women in your life. From mouthwatering brunch experiences to outdoor adventures and artisan markets, there’s something for every mom’s taste and style. Here are some fun ways to celebrate Mother’s Day in Central Oregon this year.
Best Mother’s Day Brunch in Central Oregon
Central Oregon knows how to do a show-stopping brunch, sure to please all the foodie moms out there. Check out some of the Mother’s Day brunches and dining experiences happening around Central Oregon this weekend. Be sure to check availability, reservations are required for most.
Treat the special ladies in your life to a delicious Mother’s Day Brunch Buffet at Faith Hope & Charity Vineyards, nestled amidst picturesque vineyards with breathtaking views of the Three Sisters Mountains. Delight in a lavish spread catered by Cascade Catering Company. Tetherow hosts an annual Mother’s Day gathering with a curated menu of seasonal goods plus arts and crafts fun for the kids. Indulge in a seasonal feast at Juniper Preserve’s Chanterelle Ballroom, promising an unforgettable dining affair amid the vibrant beauty of spring. Or, hand out at Elixir Wine Group with Chef Ryen Schneringer’s specially crafted menu paired with premium sparkling wine.
Central Oregon Outdoor Adventures
If your mom is a nature enthusiast and loves the great outdoors, Central Oregon is the perfect destination to celebrate Mother’s Day. With its stunning landscapes and abundance of outdoor activities, the area offers something for every adventurous spirit.
Take a leisurely springtime stroll along Central Oregon’s picturesque hiking trails, immersing yourselves in the region’s natural beauty. Explore the iconic Misery Ridge Trail at Smith Rock State Park, renowned for its dramatic cliffs and breathtaking views of the Crooked River.
If temperatures are warm, opt for an aquatic adventure, embarking on a kayaking or paddle boarding excursion on the easily accessible waters of the Deschutes River. Paddle along with tranquil currents or through swifter whitewater surrounded by the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The river offers a variety of routes suitable for different skill levels, ensuring a memorable experience for both novice and experienced paddlers.
If cycling is more mom’s style, rent bicycles and explore Central Oregon’s scenic cycling routes. The region boasts a network of well-maintained trails that wind through picturesque forests, meadows, and alongside rushing rivers. Whether mom prefers leisurely rides or more challenging routes, Central Oregon has options to suit every preference.
Luckily for winter sports lovers, springtime skiing is still in full swing in Central Oregon. Hit the slopes with your mom and enjoy that fun springtime snow. After a day on the mountain, treat yourselves to some après-ski celebrations.
Artisan Markets and Gifts in Central Oregon
Still on the hunt for the perfect gift for Mom? Look no further! Central Oregon is bustling with Mother’s Day markets this week, offering an array of goodies waiting to be discovered. Alternatively, opt for a delightful afternoon celebrating Mom at one of the many exciting local events happening throughout the area.
Schilling’s Garden Market invites you to their weekend celebration with live music, local food trucks, cocktails and a variety of art vendors. At River’s Place, enjoy the lively Treat Yo’ Mama event featuring local vendors, live music, and rosé wine tasting. The Grove hosts the Pop Up Mother’s Day Maker’s Market, your go-to destination for artisanal gifts. Explore Tumalo Lavender Farm’s 10-acre expanse and take advantage of their annual Mother’s Day Sale. For unique experiences, Flights Wine Bar offers a ‘Rosé And Roses’ flight, while Boss Rambler Beer Club‘s ‘Celebrate Yo’ Mama’ promises savings and enjoyable activities. Don’t miss out on Oregon Spirit Distiller’s Mother’s Day Market, showcasing local vendors, food trucks, and a raffle giveaway.
Photo courtesy Second Sunday Market
Rest and Relax in Central Oregon
Treat your mom to a day of pure relaxation and indulgence at one of Central Oregon’s premier spa and wellness centers. Mom is sure to enjoy an afternoon at the Evoke Healing Space in Bend, the perfect destination for rejuvenation, where skilled therapists will provide a range of services such as massages and facials to melt away tension and restore balance.
Anjou Spa | Photo Natalie Puls Photography
Pamper your mom with one of the Mother’s Day specials at Anjou Spa in Bend, offering treatments such as the soothing Mama Relax massage and the revitalizing Mother’s Aqua Glow facial. If you’re looking for a tranquil retreat, head to Shibui Spa at the Five Pine Lodge in Sisters, where nourishing treatments and a dip in the soaking pool await.
For a natural healing experience, take your mom to Belknap Hot Springs, nestled in the breathtaking McKenzie River Valley. Indulge in its serene ambiance and unwind in the hot mineral pools surrounded by picturesque natural surroundings.
The news is out: backcountry touring has seeped into our vernacular. While it may have started with pandemic resort closures and a desire for distance, evidence of the uptick in backcountry exploration. This is illustrated in increased sales, empty shelves at ski shops, and the Dutchman Flat parking lot filling before sunrise. Fortunately, increased avalanche forecasting, educational programs and guidance from experts support the demand of the growing backcountry community in a boosted effort to keep everyone safe.
Photo by Pete Alport
What to Expect in the Central Cascades Backcountry
There are different types of avalanches and in the Central Cascades, many come from new snow forming either storm slabs or wind slabs. Storm slabs are soft, cohesive layers of snow that break off from the layer of snow beneath. Wind slabs are created when snow accumulated by wind forms a stiff layer prone to breaking off from the layer below.
Slabs are visible in the aftermath of an avalanche. | Photo by Gabriel Coler
The Central Cascades has a pretty forgiving snowpack, said Gabriel Coler, a forecaster for the Central Oregon Avalanche Center who has been with the nonprofit organization since 2014. According to Northwest Avalanche Center, between 1989 and 2019 there were 13 fatalities in Oregon due to avalanches. This is a significantly lower number than the 172 fatalities in Colorado, the leading state for avalanche deaths. One of the reasons? Oregon offers accessible low-angle terrain to ski on—safer because avalanches are much less likely to occur on terrain with less than 30 degrees of slope. Another benefit to the Central Cascades is the amount of tree skiing available. Avalanches may still occur in the trees but are less likely because storm slabs and wind slabs occur above the treeline, where snow has space to blow around. “I spend a lot of my days looking for avalanches at treeline,” Coler said. That being said, preparing for avalanches and other dangers is crucial to having fun in the backcountry.
As a first step, people should become familiar with ski touring gear and start skiing in non-avalanche terrain before jumping into a course. Some are those offered by the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, according to Allie Hartz. Hartz is a backcountry guide for Outdoor Ski Guides of Bend. She has more than 10 years of experience in Oregon’s backcountry and an American Mountain Guide Association ski guide with Pro 1 certifications.
“People think they need to get their gear and then immediately take an avalanche course, but they’re not really doing themselves any favors if they’re inexperienced and unfamiliar with their gear,” Allie says.
She recommends attending COAC’s “Know Before You Go Course”—an awareness series that introduces avalanche safety and simple ways to stay safe in the backcountry. It’s a benefit to ski with friends who have more experience and are willing to teach. Also, Outdoor Ski Guides offers a one-day ski touring introduction class as well. “We’ll practice with our beacons, and we’ll just go skiing with a little bit of a slower pace and a goal of learning,” Hartz said. “We’ll talk about the terrain, and the guide can share tips and tricks for keeping your skins warm and dry, how to store them when you’re skiing, how to de-ice bindings, and how to troubleshoot when you’re out there if you have a gear issue.” After gaining introductory experience, the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education offers a three-day course for more advanced skiers: the AIARE 1.
Avalanche Forecasting in the Central Cascades
For any level of backcountry exploration, forecasting provides potentially life-saving information. COAC is committed to making the backcountry a safer place, and will be offering daily forecasting during the 2022-2023 winter season—an increase from the four-day-a-week forecasting provided last season. This is also a significant development from the start of COAC in 2009 when submitted observations from the public were the only available avalanche forecasting information in the Central Cascades.
Marissa Krawczak and Forrest Shearer evaluate the snowpack. | Photo by Tyler Roemer
Daily forecasting means a forecaster is up in the mountains every day to make field observations as an official “observer,” and check on the snow, according to Gabriel Coler. Coler is both a forecaster and an observer this season. Using his education and experience in the backcountry, he is able to learn a lot about the conditions of the snow just by being out there. “You go out and do tests,” Coler said, “but sometimes just skiing through the terrain gives you what you need to know.”
“Every week, one of the forecasters digs a full profile six feet down, records and tests all of those layers so they have that baseline information about conditions,” Coler said. On days he is worried about weakness in old layers of snow, he’ll dig three or four pits daily. This allows him to see threatening layers of the snowpack that could lead to a slide. All this information is shared with other forecasters and the public. Back at home, Coler spends a few hours looking at what’s going to happen overnight in context to the observations he made that day and creates a forecast. The COAC also provides snow and weather data with its maintenance of the Moon Mountain weather station. And a new weather station at Paulina Peak donated by Jeff and Jennifer Heilman in honor of their son Tyler who passed away in 2015 during a climbing accident on Three Fingered Jack.
Learn From a Guide
While there’s a do-it-yourself ethos surrounding the backcountry, guides have the ability to improve both inexperienced and experienced skiers’ time in the mountains. They do so with safety, knowledge of great ski zones and new perspectives to share. “Your guide is up at four or four-thirty in the morning looking at weather models and writing their own avalanche forecast,” said Hartz. Guides look at different data to make a safe, and enjoyable plan for the day. “They’re also going to know where the best skiing is,” said Hartz. They’re out there day in and day out. They know in detail what the snow conditions are like; it’s sort of an underrated benefit of hiring a guide.”
Whether taking an avalanche course, checking forecasts or learning from a guide, a safe skier understands the mountain terrain and is always learning. Coler said, “Get out and ski, and you’ll learn—even if you don’t realize that you’re learning about the snow already.”
Learn more at coavalanche.org.
In a city that never hits the snooze button on breakfast, Bend emerges with a morning ritual that goes beyond mere sustenance. Here, breakfast isn’t just a meal; it’s a reboot, a delicious pact, a love language spoken through the dialect of food. And it’s totally worth getting up for. Eat some breakfast, and then change the world.
As Bend rises and shines, so does its breakfast scene, offering everything from good-for-you fuel-ups to indulgent delights and homestyle comforts.
Nourishing Nosh
Seize the day—and the spoon—with Fix & Repeat’s Acai Smoothie Bowl. This Maui-meets-Bend plant-powered energy boost is a symphony of superfoods conspiring for morning domination: sustainably sourced acai, almond milk, tart marionberries, banana, house made peanut butter and vanilla protein topped with goji granola, even more banana, berries, cacao nibs and coconut. “Fueled food heals your body faster so you can go out and repeat your life the next day,” said co-owner Leila Carter. “For us, it doesn’t get much better than knowing we’re providing something nutritious and good for people.”
Acai Bowl at Fix and Repeat
Dive into the Riverside Bowl at Active Culture for a gluten- and dairy-free ode to plant-forward nourishment. A blend of organic quinoa and housemade almond milk is topped with organic granola, walnuts, banana, blueberries, local honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Fresh, locally sourced ingredients take center stage in this cozy riverside hangout, where breakfast lasts all day.
Tucked away in downtown Bend, Salud is an oasis for delicious, nutritious and creative offerings. Toast isn’t just toast here; it’s a canvas. Using real, raw ingredients, Salud is the Michelangelo of gluten-free gastronomy. Whether adorned with sweet toppings such as peanut butter and fresh fruit or stacked high with savory delights like avocado, microgreens and garlicky vegan Caesar dressing, each creation promises a mouthwatering experience.
Delicious Decadence
Embark on a delectable journey at The Lemon Tree with its signature Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Benedict. This iconic dish features chunky East Coast crab mixed with herbs and finely diced vegetables from the restaurant’s small organic garden in Tumalo. Lightly seared for sublime caramelization, the crab cake rests atop a crisp toasted English muffin. Every ingredient reveals a world of flavor, from the perfectly grilled and seasoned tomato and microgreens to the creamy brown butter-infused Hollandaise sauce that adds depth and a subtle nuttiness to every sumptuous bite. The Lemon Tree’s commitment to fresh, locally sourced ingredients, coupled with the passion and professionalism of an eager staff, is a true celebration of hospitality. “This is a happy, nurturing place,” co-owner and chef Betsy McDonald emphasized. “Everything is made with love.”
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Benedict at Lemon Tree
Blissful Spoon’s French Connection Waffle is the ticket for those craving a rendezvous with their indulgent side. Served with fresh sous-vide poached eggs, jambon de Paris (French ham), buttery rich manchego cheese and organic maple syrup, it’s a breakfast affair that oozes European sophistication, minus the pretentious vibes.
Nestled in a white picket-fenced cottage in downtown Sisters, Cottonwood Cafe serves up a PNW twist on traditional breakfast with the famous Blackstone Benny. Fresh cornmeal-crusted tomatoes, sauteed spinach, smoked bacon, poached eggs and a luscious béarnaise sauce create an elevated eating experience, Central Oregon style—where indulgence comes with a side of laid-back vibes.
Heartfelt Homestyle
Enjoy the timeless charm of McKay Cottage’s classic, love-infused twist on traditional French toast. Using locally sourced cinnamon swirl bread from Big Ed’s, the magic of Mama’s Cinnamon Toast lies in the batter—a blend of brown sugar, real vanilla bean paste and warming spices. Topped with strawberries, bananas or berries and served with fresh butter and a petite pot of real maple syrup, every bite becomes a nostalgic journey to grandma’s cozy kitchen. Don’t miss McKay’s homemade scones, a beloved breakfast staple boasting a light and flaky texture thanks to the yogurt-infused recipe. Favorite flavors include marionberry and seasonal options such as cranberry orange.
French Toast at McKay’s Cottage
Sunriver’s Cafe Sintra pays homage to its Portuguese roots with the French Toast Trio. Chase that French toast high through soft, luscious layers of Portuguese sweet bread delicately dusted with powdered sugar. Inspired by the enchanting Portuguese town of Sintra, the menu offers fresh, homemade offerings that evoke the flavors of Europe at its downtown Bend location, too.
In the heart of Redmond, One Street Down beckons pancake enthusiasts with its love-at-first-bite Buttermilk Pancakes. This charming cottage cafe, celebrated for its artisan coffee, scratch-cooked meals and all-day breakfast menu, offers ample portions and impeccable service.
Sunrise Sips
Say “hey” to the start of a busy day with NW Raw’s Summit green smoothie—an invigorating tropical fusion of pineapple, banana, spinach, kale and coconut milk. The organic juice bar and restaurant passionately champions nutrient-rich, plant-based ingredients for a wildly delicious body and mind reset.
Enjoy sunshine in a glass with refreshing cold-pressed orange juice (representing up to 15 pieces of citrus) from Mother’s Juice Cafe. The cafe has been juicing to order for more than 20 years, offering customizable fresh-pressed blends with fruits and veggies representing the best from local farms.
Drinks at the Victorian Cafe, including the Proud Mary cocktail
For a sip with some zip, the Victorian Cafe’s Proud Mary is a legendary 24-ounce Bloody Mary cocktail and a breakfast adventure in itself. With a charbroiled smokey prawn, housemade andouille sausage, a cube of pepper jack cheese and other zesty fixings, it’s a bold answer to the question, “What about a second breakfast?”
Brunch at a brewery? Absolutely! Sunriver Brewing Company’s Eastside spot is now offering a delightful morning experience. Drop by the Eastside Coffee Bar on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. for a taste of Still Vibrato Coffee. On weekends, indulge in a full-service brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring classics like chicken and waffles, biscuits and gravy, and other breakfast favorites. Don’t overlook the impressive beverage selection, including beer and spirits perfectly paired with your morning coffee and eggs.
Central Oregon is a magical place that fills visitors with a sense of wonder and, sometimes, romance. There’s just something about a getaway, an escape from the everyday humdrum of life, that fuels love. Maybe it’s the sudden alleviation of stress upon leaving work responsibilities behind or the free time to be attentive to the relationship and spend fulfilling one-on-one time with your partner. Or, it could be the chance to indulge in plenty of wine, chocolate and local craft beer. Whatever it might be, there are some amazing places across Central Oregon where couples can connect in romantic getaways.
Located near the pristine waters of Suttle Lake, about forty-five minutes from Bend, The Suttle Lodge embraces rustic Pacific Northwest style without skimping on quality whatsoever. Nestled directly in the Deschutes National Forest, this getaway truly feels like an escape from all things urban. Outdoorsy couples will thrive with the opportunity to hike, snowshoe, stargaze, snowmobile, cross-country ski, and do pretty much any other activity one would do in a lakefront forest in the winter. From rustic, reasonably-priced cabins to luxurious premium cabins, couples will find a lodging option that fits their taste and their budget. Don’t forget to stop by SKIP, the cocktail lounge that features homemade, locally sourced drinks and meals.
Tetherow is perfectly situated near the edge of the Deschutes National Forest but still only minutes away from the heart of Bend. Seven minutes from the Old Mill District and twenty from Mt. Bachelor, Tetherow becomes the perfect home away from home for couples who love the best of both worlds: urban amenities and natural adventure.
Tetherow
Stay bundled up and lounge by the fireplace on the private decks and patios in the many rental options offered, or go for a nature walk on the miles of available trails. Couples who love to do it all will enjoy Tetherow’s proximity to Bend and the Deschutes National Forest, where they can shop and dine minutes away from skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and snowshoeing opportunities.
Nicknamed “The Ranch,” Brasada Ranch is a quick thirty-minute drive northeast of Bend. Guests here are encouraged to connect with nature and “find your wild” as they pursue adventure while hitting pause on life. Lovebirds should check out the Romance at The Ranch package, which includes a two-night stay in one of The Ranch’s luxury cabin accommodations featuring a private hot tub, wine with complimentary glasses to take home, locally made toffee and artisan bath bombs, all awaiting for guests prior to arrival. Brasada Ranch was named The Most Romantic Honeymoon Cabin in the US by Brides Magazine in 2021.
What was once a Catholic school for Bendites in the 20th century has since been renovated into a movie theater, pub, restaurant and hotel featuring unique rooms filled with old-school style. Couples can often be spotted in white bathrobes making their way from private accommodations to the soaking pool, a semi-enclosed pool room covered in turquoise tiles that depict images of St. Francis in a style reminiscent of Catholic churches.
McMenamins Old St. Francis School Soaking Pool | Photo by Steven Heinrichs, Courtesy of Visit Central Oregon
In fact, handmade tiles and stained glasswork are found across the entire property. Add some extra romance to any stay with the Add A Little Romance package, which adds sparkling wine, keepsake champagne flutes, chocolates and massage oil to any room.
Perhaps the most urban stay on our list, the Oxford Hotel puts couples right in the middle of Bend, with seemingly endless options for entertainment. The rooms utilize a modern style that celebrates natural materials, neutral tones, clean lines and geometric features. From enjoying the plentiful shopping and restaurant scene downtown and in the Old Mill to wine tasting, brewery hopping and even play watching at the Tower Theater, the Oxford Hotel provides a high-end sanctuary and becomes a great basecamp for a romantic Bend adventure.
An ever-popular destination for weddings in Central Oregon, Sunriver Resort rests in the shade of the Deschutes National Forest under towering ponderosa pines and overlooks plenty of sunny glades near the Deschutes River. The resort features forty miles of paved trails through idyllic nature scenes, ready to be explored on foot or by bike, and couples should consider special deals offered in the relaxing resort spa, such as couples massages and more. For a romantic night out, stop by the Oregon Observatory, a huge telescope sponsored by NASA, perfect for stargazing on clear nights. With 245 guestrooms and suites, along with many more fully furnished condos and vacation rentals, the resort is able to provide couples with any lodging they need.
With a claim to be the most romantic getaway in Central Oregon, couples can expect to be wowed while staying at the FivePine Lodge & Spa, located in Sisters, a small town with a cute Western-themed downtown strip, about thirty minutes away from Bend. Select either the Classic Romance package or the Ultimate Romance Package to cater the stay to personal tastes, and prepare for a two-night stay in a private, luxury cabin with wine, chocolate, bubble baths, couples massages, two tickets to the Sisters Movie House and much more. It’ll be tough to leave FivePine without feeling giddy about romance.
Mike Szabo was leaning against a wall near the bathroom at Tetherow Resort’s Event Pavilion in 2013, debating his next move. Having relocated to Bend from San Diego just five months before, he had decided to step back from his professional life as a landscape architect.
With a pregnant wife and young child, he briefly considered taking a job as a server in a restaurant until he realized that “this whole server thing wasn’t going to work—we needed to make more money to support the family.” He decided to go back to the profession he was trained in.
Before the move, Szabo had designed DIRECTV’s corporate campus in Los Angeles as well as a big pedestrian mall for the University of California San Diego. Yet, even with 12 years of experience, he was unable to find work as a landscape architect in Central Oregon. “I was cold calling architects and developers. No one seemed to want to give me a shot,” he recalled. “It was disheartening. We’d burned through all of our life savings.” With no design projects, he called a temp agency, who sent him on jobs pulling weeds and assembling office furniture.
Mike Szabo, right, enjoys a landscape of his design.
A Tetherow Resort Introduction
Nearly out of hope, he continued to attend professional networking events, including one that fateful day at Tetherow Resort where Bend architect Darren Thomas was receiving an award. After the presentation, Szabo sought Thomas out, but was disappointed when he couldn’t find him. About to head home, he saw Thomas walking out of the bathroom. “I introduced myself, and he said, ‘Oh, you are on my to-do list to call, and I actually have a couple of projects I want to talk with you about. Come to my office tomorrow.’”
“That was it. He gave me one residence in Tetherow and a new retail and office building in NorthWest Crossing where Washington [Kitchen and Cocktails] is located. He also introduced me to Tetherow’s owners, Erin and Chris van der Velde, who asked me to do some projects for them, including a new sports center and swimming pool for the resort,” he said.
SZABO Landscape Architecture Launches
In 2014, SZABO Landscape Architecture opened as a design firm primarily focused on work in Central Oregon, though the team takes on a diverse range of projects. “We do everything beyond the building footprint—from hardscapes, site lighting, planting design, irrigation design, grading and drainage design, to site amenities like pools, spas, decks, firepits and outdoor kitchens,” explained Szabo, emphasizing that the firm is a landscape architectural design firm, not a contractor.
Just two years after its inception, the firm had more work than Szabo could handle, prompting him to seek support from former colleague Brian Nierman. Nierman soon moved his family from Denver to Bend to join SZABO. The firm currently occupies an upstairs studio space in downtown Bend and has four additional team members with backgrounds in landscape architecture or design, along with marketing assistance from Elizabeth Hanley Szabo.
In new home construction, Szabo emphasizes the importance of including the firm as part of the design process from the outset. “Our whole goal is to make the site and architecture complementary and harmonious,” he said. “We rarely take projects where everything is already designed and completed, and we’re just putting the lipstick on,” he explained. “We want to be involved early to consider the site, what the architecture calls for, and how the clients will be using the space. The design is always better when we’re there in the beginning.”
Spring Landscape Renovations in Central Oregon
For spring landscape renovations, it’s best to start the design phase in the fall, Szabo advises. If a homeowner starts in the spring, Szabo says it would be “a big hope to get it installed in the fall, which has more to do with how busy landscape contractors are in this town and less to do with how long our design process takes.”
One change Szabo has noticed in recent years is that people are paying much more attention to their outdoor spaces. “The designs are becoming bigger and more elaborate, with clients saving more of their budget for outdoor spaces,” he said. “To be worth it in Central Oregon, homeowners need to factor in heat and shade to manage our hot summers and cool shoulder seasons.”
After a decade of building a successful landscape architecture firm, Szabo said, ”We’re in the sweet spot of where we want to be. We love Bend and don’t have to drive hours away to projects tucked into faraway neighborhoods or cities,” he said, referring to his practice in California. “The fact that we get to live in this town and create in this town, driving past our projects, taking our families to parks we designed, eating in restaurants and sitting on patios we’ve worked on and getting to be part of shaping what this city looks like is incredibly satisfying,” Szabo continued. “We’ll probably never leave. We love that we see our work come to fruition on a daily basis.”
Tucked into the historic Bakery Building on the bustling Galveston Avenue in Bend, Oregon, find BOSA Food & Drink. Inaugurated in 2021, BOSA has captivated the community with its menu of Italian and French cuisines. A reservation can be hard to snag, but for good reason. BOSA consistently delights patrons with its superb dishes, exceptional service and inviting ambiance.
The design is simple, bright and beautiful. Velvet bar seats, snug booths, tasteful blue accents and playful tile elements collectively contribute to an upscale yet inviting neighborhood bistro vibe. Whether you opt to belly up to the bar or settle into one of the cozy booths, get ready for an evening of dining you won’t soon forget.
Service at BOSA exceeds expectations. The kind and attentive waitstaff adds a personal touch to your evening, attending to your needs and offering knowledgeable recommendations with a genuine desire to enhance your evening. If you make BOSA a habit, you’re sure to become familiar with the staff members who are always delighted to welcome you back.
The Menu at BOSA Food & Drink
As you peruse the menu, it’s difficult to make a wrong choice, but there are some standout dishes that should be on everyone’s tab. One is the housemade focaccia, a divine creation with a perfectly crisp exterior and a fluffy interior, served with whipped butter and herbs. The Gem Lettuce salad, featuring Caesar dressing, savory herb croutons and Parmigiano, offers a simple, light and refreshing starter.
For the main course, indulge in handmade pasta crafted daily. The Bigoli, BOSA’s rendition of the classic Cacio e Pepe, is a mouthwatering dish of bucatini pasta, beurre monté, cracked black pepper, Parmigiano and pecorino, all topped with toasted breadcrumbs and parsley. Alternatively, savor the Fusilli pasta with housemade fennel sausage, rapini, kale and pecorino sardo.
If you crave something besides pasta, explore the diverse menu, ranging from meatballs and Tuscan chickpea stew to bone-in ribeye steak or branzino. Also, be sure to take a peek at the specials menu for a taste of something novel.
To complement your feast, the bar offers a selection of house cocktails, such as “This Paloma Hits The Marche,” featuring Espolòn Reposado, grapefruit, Meletti Amaro, lime and grapefruit bitters. Alternatively, seek a wine recommendation from your server to perfectly pair with your meal. Conclude your night with a sweet finale, choosing from options such as mousse au chocolat or Basque-style ricotta cheesecake.
A European-Inspired Neighborhood Bistro
With its inviting atmosphere, top-notch service and delicious dishes, BOSA Food & Drink is a standout choice. BOSA’s palpable commitment to ensuring each guest experience is a memorable one is evident whether you’re a regular or a newcomer. Buon appetito!
It’s been nearly two years since chefs Nate King and Bill Dockter announced the launch of their new Italian eatery, BOSA Food and Drink, just outside of downtown Bend. The fact that the doors finally opened just this past summer says it all—the road to opening BOSA was far from smooth.
King and Dockter first met in Aspen, Colorado, at Cache Cache restaurant. King spent 17 years in various positions at the classical French cuisine restaurant, while Dockter worked as their sous chef. Over the past six years, the two discussed the idea of operating an Italian restaurant together. In 2019, the pair reconnected in Bend, resurrecting their collective dream of opening their own eatery.
Nate King (left) and Bill Dockter (right)
King and Dockter were relishing in excitement after signing the lease for a vacant space on Galveston Avenue, next door to Sunriver Brewing’s pub, in February of 2020—only to face an array of challenges just weeks later. The two chefs had to make a choice; move forward and open their dream restaurant during uncertain times or take the offer to withdraw from their commercial lease. Lucky for Central Oregon, the two chose the former. “We definitely went through a roller coaster of emotions and had to dig deep into whether to stick it out,” said Jenny King, BOSA’s manager and wife of Nate King. “Our landlord gave us the option to walk away from the lease, but after discussing how much we wanted to make the BOSA concept a reality, we also knew that we wanted it to be in that location as well.”
After endless delays and many pivots, the King and Dockter families opened the doors to their own restaurant in July of 2021. The restaurant’s namesake, a town in the Sardinia region of Italy, bears a striking resemblance to Bend. “We came up with the name Bosa first and then found that the town of Bosa in Sardinia had such a great comparison to Bend, with the river bending through the town and the colors of the architecture resembling the colors of the Bend trees in autumn,” King reflected. “Though the name comes from a town in Sardinia, the menu itself isn’t based on Sardinian cuisine, but more on the regions of Italy as a whole.” On a mostly Italian-inspired menu, diners also find many influences from France and the Mediterranean.
BOSA’s menu follows the trajectory of a traditional Italian dinner. All of BOSA’s plates are served family-style and intended to be shared. Starters include a variety of seasonal “cold” and “hot” appetizers; burrata is a permanent staple on the antipasti menu, served with focaccia croutons and heirloom tomatoes. Patrons who enjoy a shared plate of calamari will love BOSA’s grilled calamari spiedini. Tubes of calamari are slightly charred and skewered and served over a potato-olive-tomato salad, which is dressed in a garlic cream and warm sherry vinaigrette.
The Pasta at BOSA
Per the recommendations of the chefs and Italian tradition, pasta is served as a shared dish between the antipasti and main courses. A popular and comforting course during the cooler season is their tagliatelle pasta, hand-made fresh every day and cooked al dente. It’s tossed in a rich beef and pork ragù and dusted with parmesan cheese, chili flakes, and parsley. BOSA’s tagliatelle is so perfectly prepared that it maintains its texture and consistency from the first bite to the last. Shared main courses include a half-rotisserie chicken, pork Milanese and a hearty bone-in ribeye steak. All courses and side dishes are offered a la carte, which allows guests to choose from whipped potatoes, creamed corn and pommes frites—to name a few—to pair with the meal.
While the menus will change with the seasons, there’s one thing that will stay the same: BOSA’s commitment to sourcing its ingredients both locally and seasonally. “We currently work with many local companies, including getting produce directly from farms like Windflower [Farm], Boundless [Farmstead] and Sungrounded [Farm], to name a few. We always love when new farms or artisans reach out to discuss working together,” King said. “We also love to represent Bontà for our gelato and sorbet, Metolius Teas, Lone Pine Coffee and Village Baker for some of our artisan bread.”
Along with a full bar, BOSA offers a diverse wine list that’s likely to rotate throughout the year. “In addition, we also have great personal relationships with wineries in Oregon, California and Italy,” King shared. “We love to keep the wine list super fun and represent some of these great producers and the fruits of their hard work.” And, of course, the wine list will always feature Oregon-grown Pinot Noir to sip alongside your pasta of choice.
In Central Oregon, pizza might be said to be a melting pot. Bend may not be known for any particular style of pizza, but locals and transplants have brought a variety of techniques from their travels across the U.S. and beyond. Do you prefer your pizza ‘party cut’ (round pizza cut into squares) or served in an ‘isosceles’ (the perfect slice from a perfectly round pizza)? Maybe you seek a slice with the ideal ‘cheese pull’ (the tantalizing stretch of cheese when pulling two slices apart), or a piece that won’t ‘avalanche’ (when all of the toppings fall off as you pick up the slice). After scouring peaks and buttes, we think we’ve found some seriously noteworthy pies.
BEND PIZZA:
Abe Capana’s Detroit Pan Pizza + Italian | Bend
Abe Cappana’s serves up delicious Detroit-style pizza, proudly upholding a 70-year-old tradition of pie perfection in Central Oregon. Parked at Crosscut Warming Hut in Bend’s Old Mill District, this food cart crafts masterful pies with homemade red sauce and dough. The Max, a crowd favorite, boasts a flavorful medley of pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, roasted bell peppers, onions and black olives—all harmonizing with their signature red sauce. Another star on the menu is the Something About Olivia pie, featuring prosciutto, pear, mozzarella, arugula, lemon, balsamic and crumbled gorgonzola over a luscious white sauce. Click here for more information.
Bruno’s 6th Street Market | Bend
Bruno’s is not just a pizza stop, it’s a community market that caters to a wide-range of community cravings. Beyond pizzas, this neighborhood gem offers beer, wine, snacks, candies, calzones, sandwiches, salads and breakfast items—a one-stop-shop for quality and convenience. The pizza is a standout, though and here are some recommendations: The Meatza Pizza is a hearty delight, laden with ham, sausage, pepperoni, salami and roasted garlic; The Taco Pizza features refried beans, taco meat, red onions, pickled jalapenos and cheese, crowned with lettuce, tomatoes and crumbled tortilla chips for those wanting a south of the border adventure. Click here for more information.
Cibellis | Various Locations in Central Oregon
Cibellis brings the taste of a New York slice to the heart of Oregon, thanks to the vision of NYC native Frank Cibelli. With more than two decades of dough-spinning expertise, Cibellis has become synonymous with exceptional customer service and the finest, freshest ingredients. The simple menu pays homage to classic pizza, offering everything from plain cheese and pepperoni to Hawaiian and combos. Pizza lovers can craft their own pizzas, customizing bases, cheeses, meats and veggie options. With six locations around Central Oregon, Cibellis taste of the Big Apple right in the heart of Central Oregon. Click here for more information.
God of Pizza! | Bend
God of Pizza might seem like an impossible name to live up to, but the reviews are in and it seems as though this Bend food truck serves heaven-sent pies. Located off Century Drive at Powderhouse, this spot crafts thin-crust pizza topped with flavorful and fresh ingredients. Pies to tempt your palate include Apollo’s Sunburst with yellow heirloom tomato sauce, a house cheese blend, sun-dried tomatoes, prosciutto, basil oil and aged pecorino cheese. Another tempting option is Garuda’s Flight, which has a base of house red sauce and cheese topped with duck sausage, caramelized onion, sheep’s milk cheese, basil oil and aged pecorino cheese. Click here for more information.
Jackson’s Corner | Bend
What started as a weekly special—the Honey Pie— has become a permanent fixture on its menu. Jackson’s Corner uses locally sourced ingredients and naturally leavened dough for their pizza. For over 24 hours or more, the sourdough is left to rise using a generation starter created more than five years ago, allowing the dough to rise without commercial yeast additives and accounting for its remarkable flavor. This sweet-meets-savory pie is made using Home Farm Foods pork sausage, mascarpone cheese, sliced jalapeños, wildflower honey from Bend and house-made marinara. The omission of mozzarella for creamy mascarpone allows the house-seasoned sausage to bring a briny, salty element. The sweetness from local honey, drizzled over each slice, harmoniously balances out the heat from fresh jalapeños. Click here for more information.
Old Towne Pizza Company | Bend
Remember those hometown pizzerias with red and white checkered tablecloths, neon signs, a fresh salad bar and a jukebox? They were for go-to Friday nights and when Mom didn’t want to cook. For twenty years, Olde Towne Pizza Company has been serving family favorites at their Greenwood location. The Stromboli is arguably the best pie on their menu, loaded with classic pepperoni, thinly sliced white onion, green bell peppers and Italian sausage.
A robust crust, made with hand-thrown dough, holds up the weight of each slice, packed with traditional marinara and hot, gooey cheese. Terry Parker, owner, operator and full-time pizza maker, believes in consistent quality and service for his dedicated customer base. Crust lovers, choose from Original, Chicago, New York (thin), or New York City (extra thin) when ordering your pie. Click here for more information.
Pacific Pizza and Brew | Bend
Driving down the mountain after a day of adventure? Pacific Pizza and Brew is the ideal spot to fill up with pizza. Serving up ‘za since 2013, the vibrant and family-friendly ambiance also makes it a perfect place for weekend lunches or relaxed weeknight dinners. And the pizza doesn’t disappoint. The Greek Sausage Pizza, a flavor-packed creation featuring marinara sauce, mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and feta cheese, is sure to hit the spot. Or, for something a little more elevated, try the Bacon & Fig Pizza with a garlic olive oil base, mozzarella, bacon, figs and roasted red onions, topped with arugula and a balsamic vinegar reduction. Click here for more information.
Pizza Mondo | Bend
An iconic Central Oregon eatery, Pizza Mondo has been a downtown fixture for more than 25 years, welcoming guests with slices and whole pies to calzones, salads, breadsticks and garlic knots. For a rewarding post-adventure treat, indulge in the “After Mountain Special,” which is a carb-laden take on the idea of happy hour–get two slices with bottomless soda for $8, or swap in a pint for an additional $2. Click here for more information.
Raganelli’s Pizza | Bend
Named after the founder’s grandfather, Raganelli’s Pizza has been a family affair since 2011. Committed to fresh, local ingredients, and with the owner’s kids often lending a hand in the kitchen, Raganelli makes its signature dough from scratch daily and crafts pizzas and Italian sub sandwiches that hit the mark on quality and flavor. Try Vito’s Supreme, built on a bed of red sauce, layered with pepperoni, Italian sausage and veggies, or opt for the Mediterranean Veggie, a savory blend of fresh spinach, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and feta cheese. Click here for more information.
SISTERS + TUMALO PIZZA:
Boone Dog | Sisters
For the mother of all prestigiously decorated pizza pies, head north to Sisters. Boone Dog Pizza, a food cart on Hood Avenue, has created the Quattro Formaggi, a garlic-and-cream-based pizza loaded up with every kind of specialty cheese you could imagine. Cascadia Creamery’s finest are showcased, including their Sleeping Beauty, Glacier Blue, the milder Sawtooth or a Bellweather Farms ricotta. Apprehensive about the distinctive blue cheese aroma? Fret not. Cascadia Creamery describes its Glacier Blue as the “gateway blue.” Buttery Sleeping Beauty is a fantastic complement to its cream-based sauce, while the ricotta offers a balance to toppings of sliced red onions, Castel Vetrano olives and fresh thyme. Balsamic reduction drizzle completes the acidity slice of the pie, curating umami with each savory bite. Flock to their cart early in the day, as they tend to sell out before 6 p.m. Click here for more information.
Pisano’s | Tumalo
When you want a pizza that can pass for a salad, go for the Proscuitto e Pomodorini. This pie starts out as a classico wood-fired pizza; the hand-tossed dough is covered in crushed San Marzano tomatoes and topped with fresh mozzarella slices. After this beauty is pulled from the oven, it’s loaded with prosciutto slices, heaps of arugula, cherry tomatoes and hearty shavings of parmesan cheese. We’re fairly certain this counts as your serving of greens for the day. Pisano’s, located in the heart of Tumalo, is stacked full of cut lumber for fueling their stone oven. Aside from a multitude of fifteen-inch blanco and rosso pies, the roadside pizzeria offers Italian favorites such as Zeppoli (fried pizza dough tossed in cinnamon and sugar), “insanely good” cheesecake, as well as clever beer and wine idioms scribbled in chalkboard pen. Click here for more information.
REDMOND PIZZA:
Grace & Hammer | Redmond
The pizzaioli (AKA pizza makers) of Grace & Hammer (read our restaurant review of Grace & Hammer here) elevate the white pizza sauce game with their bechamel-based pie, Propriety. French butter sauce delivers a slightly more sophisticated spin on the classic Alfredo sauce and is most often used for blanco pies. Propriety starts with a housemade bechamel, topped with fresh mozzarella and goat’s milk feta cheese. Chefs Pio Valensin and Adam Valentine chose button mushrooms to grace this pie atop the cheese and sourdough crust. After the pie emerges from their monstrous steel oven, it’s dressed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. For a pop of color and peppery bite, it’s finished with a handful of fresh arugula. For a match made in non-denominational heaven, pair this pie with signature cocktail Three Finger Jack—Maker’s Mark whiskey, local smoked honey, orange bitters and Oregon cherry. Click here for more information.
SUNRIVER PIZZA:
The Fold Craft Pizza + Kitchen | Sunriver
The Fold is a must-stop for anyone on the hunt for a good slice in a bright atmosphere. While the pizza is the star of the show, the diverse menu offers something for everyone. Find salads, sandwiches, appetizers and a full bar alongside signature pizzas. But if you are craving a cheesy slice of pizza pie, check out the Bee Sting with house tomato sauce, homemade sausage, mama’s lil’ peppers, onion, provolone, parmesan, and spicy honey. Alternatively, try the Sweet Cheesus, featuring house tomato sauce, burrata, basil, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and parmesan. Click here for more information.
Across the high desert, skiers and snowboarders eagerly await Mt. Bachelor’s opening day announcement. Hoping for the sight of snow-covered peaks isn’t enough for many hardcore winter devotees, who are called to action at the first signs of snow. Increasing impatience leads them to check weather apps and text friends to see if their favorite preseason spot has enough snow for some short runs before the ski area begins its chairlift operations.
For those anxious to test their ski or snowboard legs and get a jump on the season, early November is the time to head out and earn some turns before the lifts open. Just don’t forget to prepare mentally and physically to keep that childlike enthusiasm strong for all of winter and the better part of spring.
Photo by Christian Murillo
Train for the Season
One essential component to making the whole season as enjoyable as possible lies in the mental and physical preparation. Boss Sports Performance Director of Performance Erik Jorgensen recommends single leg exercises and working on dynamic core strength to ward against early season injuries, such as knee ligament and hip flexor strains. “People should take their time building up to more intense ski sessions and longer days of skiing,” said Jorgensen. “It’s a long season and the snow only gets better.” For support, find winter sports conditioning classes at gyms throughout town or work with trainers to reach individual strength goals.
Upgrade Your Gear
Each year, manufacturers introduce new products to enhance the winter experience. Preseason is a great time to research new products and test existing gear for the upcoming season. When sticking with a trusty pair of skis or snowboard, make sure to get gear tuned and pack a backpack with the 10 essentials: navigation, light, sun protection, first aid kit, knife, fire starter, shelter, food, water and clothes.
“Without a doubt, the most important gear to carry in the backcountry, especially in avalanche terrain, is the snow safety trifecta of a beacon, probe, and shovel,” said Kevin Ganey, general manager and buyer at the Bend-based gear shop Mountain Supply. “Get the gear, get the knowledge through a course, and then get out into the backcountry!”
Many local shops have annual fall parties with discounted, past-season winter gear and new arrivals. Check out Pine Mountain Sports Powderhound Preview and Fundraiser in November. In addition, gear shops begin their rental programs ahead of opening day at the mountain.
First Tracks and Cone Laps
By far, the most popular spot for preseason runs lies on Mt. Bachelor’s Cinder Cone with a hike that takes about 45 minutes to reach the top. The cone is located on Mt. Bachelor’s northern flank with parking available in the West Village Parking Area. The Cinder Cone’s approximately 180 acres of terrain include 715 feet of vertical drop, though preseason means finding the best snow and routes possible. Be careful with your line so as not to end up too far north, thus resulting in a longer hike back for your second lap. Also, take heed of preseason obstacles such as downed trees and rocks not fully covered by the new snow. Remember, all snow riders must obey Mt. Bachelor Ski Area’s uphill travel policy and the cone is not patrolled so no emergency assistance is available.
After tackling Mt. Bachelor’s Cone, explore other preseason options by heading across the street to Tumalo Mountain. This 7,775-foot butte is approachable for skinning or hiking up its 1,400 feet from the Dutchman Flat Sno-Park. Probably the area’s most accessible backcountry spot, Tumalo Mountain allows backcountry enthusiasts to spend the day doing full laps up and down the south side, or dropping into the bowl and hiking back around. Go-getters wake early and take a few laps before work from the time snow hits until it melts in late spring.
When the snow is particularly good, and for some nostalgia, drive Skyliner Road west of Bend and park in the Skyliner Sno-Park. Before the days of Mt. Bachelor Ski Area, the Norwegians built a ski jump on the hill that is directly in front of the parking area. People now use it for sledding in the winter.
Before Meissner, Wanoga or Swampy Lakes sno-parks have enough coverage, nordic skiers looking for early season fun can drive up the Cascade Lakes Highway, park at Dutchman Flat Sno-Park and head west into the more level Deschutes National Forest area.
To watch and learn from the masters of winter sports, Bend’s Tower Theatre kicks off the preseason with a screening of ALL TIME, Warren Miller’s 74th annual film featuring greats such as Olympian Jonny Moseley, “Maine’s finest athlete” Donny Pelletier and an exploration of the birth of the country’s most iconic ski towns.
Perhaps the local’s choice to prepare for the coming of the winter ski season is grabbing a friend and heading to one of the many winter beer release parties. The parties usually include music, gear giveaways, ski and snowboard waxing, and of course, beer. The 10 Barrel Pray for Snow Party has become an annual tradition for more than a decade. Bend Brewing Company partners with Oregon Adaptive Sports each year for their “Sno’d In” Winter Ale release party. Locals have looked forward to the yearly release of Deschutes Brewery’s Jubelale Festive Winter Ale and its accompanying artwork since 1988. So, check the forecast, finish a leg workout, grab a beer, and above all else, pray for snow!
Once a month, Rose Archer’s cozy house on Bend’s east side is magically transformed into an intimate restaurant. Over three evenings, she welcomes 60 strangers into her home for a dinner party. It’s a dream come true for the professional chef who took an 11-year break from the food business. “I wanted to be in food again. I wanted it to be a part of my life, and I wanted to throw the most amazing dinner parties ever once a month,” Archer stated emphatically before hosting one of her dinners.
Rose Archer of Luscious Supper Club
After years of dreaming about it, Chef Archer’s Luscious Supper Club was born in December 2022. From that very first dinner party of 14 hand-selected guests, the club has expanded to three gatherings of 20 people each over one weekend a month–with a waitlist of more than 1,100.
Archer and her small team work hard to create an “energetic feeling that’s different from going to a restaurant.” Before anyone arrives for what’s typically a seven- or eight-course supper club meal, the chef and her crew, who’ve been prepping for days beforehand, huddle together and set their intention. “We are here to make each night special and magical. I want people to feel so lit up when they leave that they bring that light back to their own dinner tables, to their own communities, to their own neighbors and that ripples out,” Archer said. That connection starts in Archer’s kitchen where she’s focused on creating something as good for the staff as for the customer. “There’s no front of the house, no back of the house, we’re one team who puts love and energy and light into the food.” In her words, “It’s fun, fine dining.”
She strives for a direct connection with each person attending. Everyone is greeted at the door. If it’s wintertime, they’re shown to the dining room area for welcome drinks and a half hour of socializing. If it’s warmer weather, the happy half-hour takes place in Archer’s beautiful outdoor garden area.
Being invited into someone’s personal space, amongst their plants and books and belongings, has a tendency to open people up. It’s not long before lively conversation ensues and soon, everyone is beckoned indoors to take their seats at two impeccably set long tables. With gorgeous fresh flowers as centerpieces, just-right mood music and ambient lighting, guests are drawn in, getting their first glimpse at the evening’s menu. That’s right, supper club tickets are bought without even knowing what food will be served.
Archer doesn’t divulge the menu until the night of the dinner because she might not decide on what to cook until a few days beforehand, depending on what’s in season or what she finds at the market. “I am inspired by what’s freshest and most amazing right now in this moment.” No matter what month it is, the entire menu screams the season, thanks in part to time spent cooking in Paris, Italy and the Bavarian Alps. Archer explains her style as “very seasonal with a Western European aesthetic, featuring lots of herbs and lots of fresh.”
Whether it’s heirloom tomato gazpacho and salmon tartare in the summer, or hot baby rose potato filled with gruyere puree in the fall, each seasonal offering and each plate invites a collective gasp of awe. With the effusive chef making timely appearances tableside to gush over ingredients or relate an engaging, personal story, guests get to know her and each other over the likes of savory blue cheese tart with golden raisin verjus or perhaps butter-poached spot prawn with Sungold tomatoes. The conversation is lively, engaging, relaxed and connected.
Guests can see Archer and her team at work in the nearby kitchen to appreciate the attention to every detail. Most don’t want the night to end. It’s not unusual for Luscious guests to bond over the delicious meal and end up exchanging numbers and getting together post-Luscious. That is the connection that Chef Rose Archer was hoping for all along.See eatluscious.com.
Creating well-designed metal fabrications for homes, businesses and public spaces requires a clear artistic vision and refined technical skills. That’s exactly what Doug Wagner, owner of MODERNFAB, brings to the table. Wagner brought his business from Missouri to Central Oregon more than a decade ago and builds everything from fireplace facades to hand railings, furniture, cabinets, sculptures and all types of custom projects. He shared with us some of the stories behind his craftsmanship.
Q: How did you first become interested in fabrication?
A: I started out building with Legos, which gave me problem- solving skills early on. Growing up in Missouri, I had access to my dad’s shop and metal-working tools, and also enjoyed sketching everyday objects, which taught me to have a trained eye. I found that working with my hands and using materials that I could get quick, visual results with was satisfying.
How did your artistic pursuits lead you to starting your business, MODERNFAB?
After high school, I attended the Kansas City Art Institute, graduating with a degree in fine arts. A couple years later, I came back to the Art Institute as a staff member in the metal shop and taught a few elective classes. I started working on my own projects between classes. Before long, I was taking custom orders for metal fabrication projects, and the business was born.
How did you end up in Central Oregon?
In 1999, my wife Shelly and I took a road trip through the Pacific Northwest. While we really blazed through Bend at the time, we had heard “Bend is the new Boulder, Colorado.” We kicked around the idea of moving to Oregon for years, and finally in the summer of 2010 made the leap, along with our daughter, who was 6 at the time. Once we were settled, I focused on rebuilding my business with local clients.
How would you describe your design style?
Clean, minimal and modern details make me happy, hence [the name] MODERNFAB.
Walk us through the process of creating something start to finish.
The process usually starts with a meet and greet with a client to define the parameters of the project. Collaboration happens among all parties involved to start understanding the design intent, materials, finishes and budget. I start with renderings to create a visual reference for approval, and then the project can be built and installed.
What is it like running your own business and working with clients?
I treat every project like it’s for my own home. This creates a sense of pride, ownership and gratitude, knowing I am building a project that will get visual attention or be used daily as a functional part of someone’s life. A lot of my work is about building trust with clients, which means making them feel comfortable and educating them about the process.
Do you have any favorite projects?
I build so much, it’s really difficult to have a favorite, but a few projects stand out in my memory. One of my favorite pieces was a permanent sculpture for Central Oregon clients who wanted the piece for their home in San Francisco. They gave me a desired size, a budget and a bit of inspiration, and I started designing. Logistical considerations included transporting the piece to California and installing it on the rooftop garden of a garage, so it couldn’t be too heavy. The finished piece was made of 3/8-inch thick aluminum, cut with a water jet and then triple-powder coated in a shiny bright orange color.
Do you have any projects on public display in Central Oregon?
Several. A fun spot to check out is Stoller Wine in the Box Factory, which has some of my furniture, benches, a large facade cooler wall and drink taps. While at the Box Factory, also check out Modern Games where there are a couple large-scale tables and benches that I built. Then swing by Lone Pine Coffee Roasters downtown; I built the large steel- and-glass window front system that separates the sitting area from the coffee-roasting and bagging space.
What’s next for the company and your future?
I’d like to work toward more art-based sculpture work, in addition to keeping up with the architectural demand. I recently designed and built my own home, as well as a work studio on property on the outskirts of Bend. I won’t have to hustle quite as hard to pay rent on a shop since I can now work from home. I’m looking forward to spending more time on projects that inspire me creatively and artistically.
Norman Built: Making it Just Right For a Family of Builders
When two custom home builders come together–one to create a home and the other to live in it–symbiosis happens. Tami and Bill Taylor of Anchorage, Alaska, were thinking of having a home built in Central Oregon and stopped by Norman Building & Design’s Bend headquarters to see their son Patrick, an architectural designer, who was working for the company at the time. The Norman business model of providing all services under one roof–from architectural concept to construction, interior design and furnishings–appealed to the couple as an efficient way to move through the process with a respected local company.
The idea to build a home started with a golf game. Patrick was standing near a tee box when he noticed an empty lot nearby and thought to himself, “I’m going to build my mom a house there.” His parents had made several unsuccessful offers on resale properties in the city. As a residential real estate agent in Anchorage, Tami knew how to craft an offer with good terms, but other buyers offered more. Meanwhile, Patrick mentioned the lot to his dad, a builder himself, who took the idea to the next step. During Christmas dinner in 2020, Bill told Tami, “I bought a lot for you.”
Patrick said that in 40 years of building custom houses, his parents never built a dream home for themselves. “We were so excited to have Patrick design our home and have Norman build it,” Tami recalled. “With the talent they have in-house, I was wowed by every Norman home Patrick took me through. I wanted our Bend house to be welcoming and serene, with a touch of awe.”
Jim Norman, founder of Norman Building & Design, started out in 1977 and over the years built a reputation in the luxury home market for classic Northwest lodge styles. The Taylor house would represent Norman’s entry into the contemporary housing market.
Creating a Prairie-Style Home with Mid-Century Modern Touches
For the past 31 years, the Taylor family had lived in a Craftsman-style home with what Tami calls “heavy interiors.” A second family home in Kona, Hawaii, nudged the Taylors closer to a modern, lighter aesthetic. The Bend home would carry the modern theme further by incorporating elements from Prairie-style architecture–a distinctly American design from the early 20th century founded by Frank Lloyd Wright–and mid-century modern elements.The fusion of both designs creates a dwelling that blends with its surroundings, has open and airy spaces, large windows, horizontal lines and simple, unfussy finishes.
Patrick designed the house, and Norman’s senior interior designer, Selah Ewert, worked closely with Tami, who has 37 years of experience in the design world as owner of an interior design company in Alaska along with her real estate career. “I have the exterior architecture brain, and Mom has the interior design brain,” Patrick said.
“It was a high honor to be trusted with another builder’s project,” said Brittany Grogan, another interior designer with Norman. “We all tried to keep a modern and minimalistic, design-forward look with clean lines. It reflects more of what [Norman] is doing, with a brighter take on a traditional Northwest home.”
The New Home Details
Completed in late 2022, the 2,500-square-foot residence includes three bedrooms, three baths and a three-car garage. The floor plan interconnects the kitchen, dining and living spaces, and facilitates a seamless flow into outdoor spaces, such as the southwest-facing covered courtyard. “All the public areas are staggered to look down the fairway onto the lake,” Patrick said. The design purposely blocks the view of nearby homes by opening up to the golf course.
A shed roof created a 12-foot ceiling over the kitchen, bringing in the morning light from the east and sloping downward over the west-facing dining room, giving it a more intimate feeling that welcomes the last splash of the day’s rays. Patrick notes that the shed roof is metal, the first of its kind allowed by the architecture review committee in the home’s golf community.
The fireplace in the living room, built of black stone and hemlock panels, is reminiscent of lava rock and ponderosa pine hearths from Central Oregon’s past, and takes the chill off a wintery night. Ewert designed both the front door and fireplace, with Norman’s in-house woodworking and cabinetry professionals making and installing them.
The Norman design team selected round, oversized wooden pendant lights handmade in Bend, to hang over the kitchen island. Delicate vertical pendants were chosen for the foyer and the dining room table, to contrast with the round pendants.
Norman’s project managers oversaw the construction of the home with Bill’s practiced eye in the background. Since the couple was living in Alaska at the time, Bill touched base with David Norman, project manager, several times during the build-out. “Designing a home a thousand miles away could be difficult, but Norman’s team handled it exceptionally well,” Bill said.
“A home tells your story. It’s uniquely you and communicates something about the people who live there,” interior designer Grogan said. The Taylors brought their vast experience and personal preferences to the task, and Norman Building & Design supplied its full-service expertise.
“Team Norman exceeded my expectations,” Tami said. “I felt I was home the minute I opened the door. It’s exactly what I envisioned.”
Every Thursday evening, a race course is set on the grounds ofThe Athletic Club of Bend. Tires are squeezed by thumbs to check air pressure, riders line up and a starting whistle blows. There are battles among friends and between strangers. Crashes happen. The beer tent erupts in cheers. Somebody wins. Six-packs of IPA are handed out as prizes. High fives are slapped. Then the course markings are gone before the dust even settles. Each September, the Thrilla Cyclocross Series has been the heart of casual bike racing here in Bend for 20 years.
Deschutes Brewery fields one of the largest teams at the local events. Some of their racers are serious athletes. Some are serious beer experts. Some aren’t serious at all—and that’s the point. Their spirit is core to local ‘cross, where it’s more about community than about rankings. Sure, some come to win. But more show up for sunset beers in a makeshift beer garden, to reconnect with dusty-faced friends at the close of a too-busy summer. Here, the efforts of racing are like dues to a social club.
Cyclocross is as fun as ever, but field numbers in America aren’t what they used to be. Portland’s Cross Crusade, the largest CX series in the world in terms of participation, has seen numbers decline from the 1,400-rider start lists at their peak to about half of that during the past several years. There are half as many UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) level races in the United States today as there were five years ago.
Oscar Guevara (left) and Jeremy Gomez (right)
What happened to the juggernaut that was American Cyclocross?
In a word, gravel.Gravel is—to borrow a refrain from Zoolander’s Mugatu—”so hot right now.”
And there are plenty of reasons why: once quiet road rides feel choked with distracted drivers, and vast improvements in gravel equipment have made soft-roading easier than ever. Not to mention the collective aging-out of a generation of mountain bike riders who are losing their desire to “get gnarly” and finding a desire to just “get out there.” Of course, the global pandemic didn’t hurt the gravel movement either. With moratoriums on events and a sudden aversion to groups, we had more need than ever to escape the crowd, and gravel helped satisfy that urge for many. The wide open spaces of America—and of Central Oregon, in particular—had never been so attractive as from a bicycle during COVID.
When the worst of the pandemic was over, and bicycle racing began to reappear, racers were eager to return to competition but had only been doing long, solitary days in the saddle. Gravel races—generally long, scenic, soft-road affairs—quickly assumed the mantle of “new normal” competition for many. And the more epic (read: longer) they were, the hungrier racers were for them. A 205-mile gravel race in Kansas, Unbound Gravel, quickly rose to become the most important bicycle race in America today.
Gravel racing is awesome. (Read more about some gravel biking routes in Central Oregon.) It’s hard to deny the beauty in covering 50 to 100 miles of new terrain in a day, especially with the help of a pack of riders chasing a finish line. But does it have to be so damn long? At what point does more become less? Finishing a monument like Unbound Gravel, at 205 miles (the mid-length course, mind you) may be the ultimate challenge for some. But what happens next? Ride the 350-mile Unbound XL? When is enough, enough?
Marcel Russenburger, 1981
Marcel
Everybody knows his name.
A soft haze of late September dust lingers at a rutted corner in the farthest reaches of a cyclocross track. With half of the hour-long race over, the gaps between riders are largely established, but Marcel Russenburger stands alone here, barking encouragement to riders in his Swiss-German accent nevertheless. Pinot, his half-wild, blue-and-brown-eyed dog pulls unrelentingly at a too-long leash. Sixty-four years old, Marcel wears the clothes of a carpenter just done with a project, a few specs of sawdust in his bushy gray hair. Complementing his well-used denim work pants might be a purple fleece vest from some race he won in 1990. Because before he was a carpenter and a father and a spectator, he was a Cyclocross star. A man who finished fifth at the 1985 CX World Championships, representing Switzerland.
“Go Kalle, you can get him!” he shouts, emphatically. I doubt he is right, but I momentarily try harder. The least I can do is try a little harder. A few moments later I’ll hear a similar spur from Marcel to the rider chasing me. I might be one of his favorites, but he has a lot of favorites. His daughter, Sophie, is near the front of the women’s race tonight, but Marcel would have shown up to walk his dog and watch the races unfold regardless. Everybody knows Marcel. We are his people. And he is ours.
It’s time for a return to Cyclocross.
Where winning is winning, but losing might also be winning. Where ephemeral courses crop up in a park, or a pocket of fallow land around town. Where there are no personal bests, or course records, no awards ceremonies to wait for. Just people trying hard or not very hard at all on their bicycles for a little while. Trying in hopes of being first, or being proudly last, or just being better at something that’s difficult.
Several categories on course all at once ensure that casual spectators can’t really tell who’s winning or losing. That you’ve been lapped by the leaders (okay, twice) might hurt your ego at first, but nobody notices or cares. The crowd is enthusiastic and vocal, encouraging riders with light hearted heckling. Many of the spectators were racing an hour or two ago, and after a post-race recovery beer, they’re full of advice—good or bad. And they’re eager to share it.
A ‘cross race is the least intimidating introduction to bike racing there is. Aside from foot-tall wooden planks across the track, barriers to entry are few. Anybody over age 12 can compete at the Thrillas, and any bicycle will suffice. The races are short, and there’s no risk of getting lost or dying of exposure. You don’t have to be a nervous parent or a first-timer to appreciate these conveniences. Even as a pro, I’ve enjoyed spectating the final laps of races I’ve started—when equipment fails or the legs say, “maybe next week.” It’s a far cry from other disciplines that can leave you isolated for hours, riding for survival.
‘Cross is as shiny and relevant and authentic as ever. With the awkward return from COVID behind us, and diminishing returns from over-long gravel races looming, let’s look forward to what could be a Renaissance of cyclocross in coming years. If you like bikes or beer or people, maybe you’ll even decide to join the ranks. Your old gravel bike would work just fine.
Innovative companies help work and play hit the road with style.
Drive through Bend, into the Cascade Range or down a National Forest road these days, and it’s impossible not to spot the adventure van lifestyle. Sprinter, Transit, ProMaster—the tall, boxy delivery-type vans look similar on the outside. Yet the interiors of these tiny apartments-on-wheels are as varied and personalized as a home. Central Oregon entrepreneurs customize new and used vans like never before, and they’re establishing Bend as a hub for the new “van life.” And it’s big business.
According to a study by Research and Markets, the United States market for van and minivan conversions totaled an estimated $1.8 billion in 2022. While numbers for the Bend area don’t exist, other figures for Bend do. From two or three van conversion companies pre-COVID, Central Oregon now hosts a dozen. Some fully customize vans inside and out, others provide DIY install kits, and a few more make only the accessories necessary for an off-grid experience. Add to this list the adventure van rental market and it’s clear that Bend has a well-built, growing van conversion industry.
Cascade Van Owners Alexa and Bryan Walker with their labrador retrievers, Hagen and Harper.
Van Conversion Growth
“It’s been loose and fast, a Wild West kind of thing,” said Bryan Walker of Cascade Van, which converts stock vans into $200,000 custom overlander rigs. During the pandemic, Cascade Van saw a 98% growth rate and has already outgrown two industrial spaces. Walker and his wife, Alexa, an Oregon native, founded Cascade Van in Colorado and brought it to Bend because of the outdoorsy lifestyle and the thriving economy. “Bend is a good spot for young entrepreneurs, and it represents the same values and demographics as our target market,” Alexa Walker said.
A clutch of van conversion businesses have recently relocated to Central Oregon for the benefits the area has to offer. Besides the business-friendly economy, Central Oregon also provides the lifestyle these brands promote and sell, meaning the business owners can pursue outdoor adventure just like their clients. Community remains a sacred element of Bend life, and the informal get-together of van conversion enthusiasts, Builders and Brews, offers living proof. A different Bend-area brewery hosts the gathering each month, welcoming professionals and DIYers alike.
Van Camaraderie
Seth Caldwell, Swell Van Co. owner and designer, shows up at Builders and Brews to talk shop and enjoy the camaraderie. He said other van industry towns have a more competitive vibe, another reason for anchoring his business in Bend. Caldwell caters to the van owners who prefer to do much of the work themselves, designing and selling install-ready kits for the van’s interior: bed, cabinets, kitchen, etc. Nationwide clients account for more than half of his business.
“DIY kits are why we got into this business,” Caldwell said, noting the recent steep incline of prices in today’s van conversion industry. “Not everyone knows how to build great cabinets, so can we empower them to do that on their own. The model for us has always been Ikea for van conversions.” As Aaron Smith of Ready Vans puts it, “Cutting into a brand new Sprinter van is never as fun as it sounds.”
Not all of Central Oregon’s van conversion business deals with floor plans, storage and sleeping. A few companies, such as Redmond-based Tiny Watts, specialize in the components that make van life attractive in the first place.” The electrical system is the main ingredient to a van build,” said Wes Watts, whose company makes solar storage and power kits, including a DIY-ready electrical and plumbing system. “People understand we’re power hogs in our homes, and they realize that they need electricity to live the lifestyle they’re used to.”
Modern-day van life offers the luxuries people take for granted at home: heating and air conditioning, hot water, electrical outlets, lights, refrigerator and freezer. Whether for a weekend-warrior mission, a mobile or very remote office or an interstate retirement cruiser, these amenities all require off-grid power.
A Ready Vans interior design. | Photo Mike West
Modified for every situation
Troy Holland started Van Life Tech five years ago to provide all of the creature comforts in one smart system. Last year, he moved the business from Portland to Bend. His proprietary hydronic heating system warms the floor, air and water in a van’s cozy living space. Van Life Tech now sells its products to about 40 companies nationally and is opening production in the United Kingdom.
“Great things came from COVID,” Holland said. “People woke up to the fact that they don’t have to be glued to a desk from 9 to 5. The pinch point now is getting vans, not getting people who want to buy them.”
While Van Life Tech manufactures much of its equipment in-house, builders such as Cascade Van rely on only a few companies nationwide to source items such as windows and roof vents. The van conversion industry as a whole has stabilized since the COVID spike, but supply chain issues persist. Companies such as Tiny Watts have streamlined their process as a result, to detour around inventory dead ends.
While the price and availability of industrial space can be a challenge for these businesses, there are also challenges inherent in creating custom builds. “The biggest challenge can be to create what the client is envisioning, getting the functionality to match their expectations,” said Kevin Marquardt, who converted his first van in 2015 while living in Germany. Marquardt returned to his hometown of Sisters, founding his company, Dirtbag Conversions, to specialize in upfitting vans, truck campers and trailers. Other van life difficulties pull at Marquardt. “I’ve got a problem. I’m a dedicated rock climber, so I have to balance that with work.”
More Central Oregon Van Companies
The popularity of van life only continues to grow, with more and more companies popping up to fill the need. Some other Central Oregon van conversion companies that you can turn to to make your van life dreams a reality include…
Esplori:
Brian and Colin, bonded by their love for the outdoors, founded Esplori after envisioning ways to enhance outdoor experiences for families. Their Sprinter van interior kit prioritizes quality, safety and the environment, offering a practical and comfortable design for endless adventures with family and friends.
Sentinel Vans:
John and Kristin, a woodworker and artist duo, bring innovation and craftsmanship to Sentinel Vans, crafting one-of-a-kind, functional overland vans. With meticulous attention to detail and a passion for outdoor activities, their custom builds stand out for their quality and design aesthetic, reflecting their commitment to excellence.
Oxbow Van Conversions:
Greg and Chris, with backgrounds in building and construction trades, founded Oxbow Van Conversions to fulfill their dream of creating custom builds tailored to each customer’s needs. Offering custom layouts and expert installations, Oxbow ensures that every van is equipped for the ultimate adventure, whether it’s a DIY project or a fully customized build.
Kon Tiki Conversions:
Kon Tiki Conversions specializes in full-service vehicle conversions using the versatile Adventure Wagon RUV kit. Their modular approach allows for maximum versatility, catering to each client’s specific needs for their individual adventures. Their van can easily adapt based on the season or activity.
Life and work become travel companions in a van that offers all the comforts of home and office. Central Oregon provides the perfect base camp for high desert or Cascade Range adventures, whether it’s after work or replaces work as a way of life. The van conversion industry runs full throttle in Bend these days because van life makes sense in a Zoom town surrounded by rivers, trails and roads that lead in all directions. And what’s good for van life is good for Central Oregon’s economy and well-being.
The words of John Muir—“The mountains are calling and I must go”—echo with every footfall and inspire the goal of reaching a mountain summit. Fortunately, Central Oregon offers numerous opportunities to bag a peak. It takes some effort and energy, but training on the smaller peaks will pay dividends on the taller ones.
So, get inspired to perspire on this quartet of hikes and gear up to undertake the ultimate Central Oregon ascent—South Sister.
Photo Howard Lipin
Pilot Butte: The Warm-Up
A volcanic cone rising to 4,142 feet, Pilot Butte is a notable landmark on the Central Oregon skyline. The name’s origin comes from wagon trains using the prominent peak to guide or “pilot” emigrant’s wagons to and from the crossing on the Deschutes River. It also makes Bend one of six municipalities in the United States with a volcano in its city limits.
From the trailhead parking, a dirt trail spirals up and around this ancient cinder cone past gnarled junipers and fragrant sagebrush. The trail gains about 500 feet in elevation, but offers an excellent training trail to get legs ready for steeper climbs. The mountain finder at the summit’s Summer Plaza provides identification to a tantalizing array of surrounding peaks. This is a great warm-up hike that can be done, up and down, multiple times and can be combined with the 1.7-mile hike around the butte’s base to increase mileage.
Trail distance: 1.8 mile round trip; 3.5 miles with base trail.
Elevation gain: 500 feet.
Difficulty: Easy
Tumalo Mountain: The Training Peak
Located 21 miles west of Bend along the Cascade Lakes Highway, Tumalo Mountain is a popular hike that starts at the Dutchman Flat Sno-Park. The trail begins and passes through a forest of hemlocks, pine and fir, and does not stop climbing until reaching the summit.
Beyond the start of the trailhead, several switchbacks provide some relief from an uphill grind. Soon the trail begins to wind through mountain meadows with late vestiges of wildflowers such as lupine, Newberry knotweed and catspaw. The stunted or “krummholz” trees have been shaped by the fierce winter conditions that hammer this peak.
On the broad 7,755-foot summit that historically housed a Forest Service fire lookout, the trees thin out to reveal exceptional views of Mount Bachelor, especially the glacial cirque carved into the mountain’s northeast slope and the string of scattered cinder cones associated with its eruption. A clear day reveals Mount Thielsen, the “Lightning Rod of the Cascades,” to the south. Continue the hike to the summit’s north end for well-earned views of South Sister, Middle Sister, Broken Top and the surrounding region.
Trail length: 4.0 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 1,425 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Photo by Adam McKibben
Mount Bachelor: The Workout Peak
Mount Bachelor is the 15th highest peak in Oregon with a summit at 9,065 feet. Though the ski resort’s chairlift operates in summer, hikers can bag this overlooked peak via a well-marked trail that starts at the resort’s West Village Lodge (note: download the trail map from the resort’s website).
The trail skirts across the mountain’s base through a forest of old-growth mountain hemlocks, home to pine martens and the elusive Sierra Nevada red fox.
Geologically, Mount Bachelor is the youngest prominent stratovolcano in the Three Sisters area, formed between 18,000 and 8,000 years ago.
Eventually, the trail leaves the forest and begins an exposed, steady climb up the volcano, passing over and around volcanic rock and loose soil above the timberline, so remember to pause before looking up!
Once on the summit, the 360° views of lakes and peaks in the Cascade Range are incredible.
Trail length: 7.1 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 2,750 feet
Difficulty: Moderate to difficult
Photo by Christian Murillo
South Sister: The Ultimate Ascent
The tallest of the Three Sisters and third highest peak in Oregon (10,358 feet), bagging this massive volcano is a real challenge but well worth the effort.
The South Sisters Climber Trail starts out at Devils Lake, a turquoise-colored shallow body of water along the Cascade Lakes Highway.
The trail starts as a steady uphill through a dense hemlock forest, giving way to a sandy, open plain composed of volcanic ash and pumice. After this section, the trail climbs in earnest and encounters sections with loose cinders and pumice, so careful footing is advised. Plus, multiple trails near the top make it challenging to navigate; pick the “trail most traveled” and aim for the top.
From the peak, hikers are rewarded with exceptional views of the other Sisters, Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood. The summit crater is filled with crystal-blue water—the highest lake in Oregon, called Teardrop Pool. High fives all around to those who reach the summit.
Just six years ago, Bend’s Steve Tague knew nothing of the world of competitive indoor rowing. While he’d tried rowing machines in gyms over the years, it wasn’t until his mid-50s that Tague became obsessed with the sport. Today, Tague has three consecutive world championships and a world record under his belt, and he is building a coaching business to train others as indoor rowers as well.
Finding His Potential
A slower pace of life for his growing family led Tague to move to Central Oregon in 1996, after years spent in New York City building a professional photography business and a stint in New Jersey as a helicopter news reporter. In Bend, Tague raised two sons, Max and Dakota, now 27 and 28, and met his wife, Mary, while continuing to pursue photography.
Tague stayed active over the years, but it wasn’t until 2017 that a random discovery pushed his athletic pursuits forward. A trip to an allergist revealed that Tague had been allergic to peanuts, wheat, soy and corn all along. When he cleaned up his diet, Tague said he suddenly felt like Superman.
While he was excited to push himself with this new-found energy, his body wasn’t ready for it. A sore back, and arthritis affecting his hip and knee, were exacerbated by workouts in a gym. To prevent further damage, Tague was advised to stick to low-impact exercises—biking, swimming or rowing. The first two options didn’t interest him, but rowing? He kind of liked that.
Indoor rowing has led me into a world of coaching and helping others, which is something I truly enjoy.”
The Competition Begins
As Tague learned more about indoor rowing, he discovered a lively community of athletes worldwide competing virtually—and in person—in simulated rowing races. “Not a lot of people in the United States are aware that competitive indoor rowing is even a thing,” Tague said. “But around the world it’s a very popular sport.” Tague bought a Concept2 Row Erg machine, a piece of equipment used by indoor rowers globally, and soon realized he may have a shot at breaking into the top 100 rankings for his weight class (lightweight) and age (then the 50 to 59 age bracket). After he broke the top 100, he eyed the top 50, top 25, then the top 10. In 2020, Tague headed to Paris for the World Indoor Rowing Championships, where he earned a silver medal in the 500 meter. “I was thrilled,” said Tague, who was able to meet his virtual competitors in person for the first time.
By the fall of 2022, Tague had his eye on the upcoming U.S. Rowing Indoor Championships and World Rowing Indoor Championships, both scheduled for the following February. He told his wife it would be the “last crazy year” of competitions and training before he allowed his body to rest. Then, in late December, Tague slipped outside one icy morning, landing on his side and tearing the tendons of his shoulder. “Not being able to move my arm, I was planning on withdrawing from both the national and world championships,” Tague said. “With the help of doctors from The Center, a local physical therapist, local acupuncturist and a local massage therapist, I was able to rehab within a month to be able to compete.”
At the national competition, Tague swept his age bracket, with gold medals in the 500-meter and 2,000-meter races. At the world championships, he hoped to do the same and wrap up his professional career. He won gold in the 500 meter, but in the 2,000-meter race, a virtual competitor from the Netherlands overcame Tague at the end of the race, beating him by four-tenths of a second. “I was extremely disappointed,” Tague said. “And I think my wife knew how disappointed I was. She looked at me and said, ‘I guess we’re going to Prague.’”
The Future of Tague
As he trains for one last world competition, being held in Prague this coming February, Tague is also training others through his business Rowed to Fitness. There, he serves as a personal trainer, certified rowing coach and sports nutrition coach, offering clients certified metabolic testing and analysis. Tague said he’ll continue indoor rowing himself as long as possible and coach forever as a way to share the sport with others. “This is something that I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life,” Tague said. “Indoor rowing has led me into a world of coaching and helping others, which is something I truly enjoy.”
Home to not only world-class athletes and performers but experienced coaches ready to support them in reaching their goals, it’s no wonder Bend sees so many of its own on the main stage. Mentors, armed with empathy, good listening skills, and positive attitudes, guide competitors on and off the field. Whether they’re teaching safety or excellence, life lessons or state championships, coaches sacrifice for their students. Here, we highlight a handful of local coaches who have dedicated their lives to helping kids—and kids-at-heart—reach their full potential, in sport and life.
Equestrian: Tara Brothers
Tara Brothers grew up caring for horses on her family’s Tumalo ranch and had a very successful junior and collegiate riding career. Her skills in a saddle led her across the country, to Europe and eventually to showing horses for acclaimed trainer Tom Wright at All Seasons Farm in Ohio. In 2017, Brothers opened Sage Equestrian near her childhood home where she teaches Central Oregonians how to ride in the English tradition. Brothers believes safety and enjoyment are the most important goals for coaches and students. She advises others to learn from the best, try to work jobs outside of their comfort zone, and always be capable of completing every task you ask someone else to do. “It is so fun for me to look at kids that I worked with for years accomplishing all their equestrian goals,” explained Brothers.
Martial Arts: JianFeng Chen & Ryan Clark
Shifu JianFeng Chen and Ryan Clark took two different paths to teach martial arts in Central Oregon. Clark, who instructs Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, began learning with his friends as teenagers in Salem after watching Bruce Lee movies and wanting to emulate him. He has trained throughout the United States, as well as Japan, Brazil and Thailand, opening his first studio in Eugene before moving to Bend in 2013, where he started Clark’s University of Martial Arts. “I love the training and teaching the strategy behind Jiu Jitsu,” said Clark. Chen, of Oregon Tai Chi Wushu, began coaching in 2000 as a competitor on the Fujian State Athletic Wushu Unit, where he was expected to help coach and mentor his less experienced teammates. He traveled the world competing before coming to the United States to teach, opening his Bend studio in 2012. “I recognized teaching is a skill that helps me express myself and grow, as well as connect people to this art and culture that I love,” said Chen. “I believe it has many benefits for health and life.” Both goal-oriented coaches believe in lifelong learning for the student and the master, as evidenced by Clark’s tattoo which reads, “Always be a student.” Chen explained his passion for coaching, “I want to use my experience to nurture each student and my ability to be a bridge or translator to this art and my culture with kindness and a sense of humor.”
Music: Jimena Shepherd & Meshem Jackson
Cascade School of Music (CSM) has been connecting aspiring Central Oregon musicians with quality music instructors for more than two decades. Two of their most popular teachers, Percussion Department Chair Meshem Jackson and vocal coach Jimena Shepherd, have seen just about every level of student since they began introducing melody, keys, and timing to kids. Both believe in patience, but they stress experience and understanding as crucial to student success in the lifelong learning of music. They believe each child is different and should be taught to his or her talent or skill. Shepherd tries to interact with students in an authentic way and advises aspiring teachers to trust in the process and always be open to learning from their experiences. “I love being able to see the different personalities and the types of art each child brings to class,” said Shepherd. Jackson agreed, “I simply enjoy talking with people about drums and music. Showing someone how to play is just part of the conversation.” With both coaches having more than a decade of experience, they have witnessed many proud moments with their students. Jackson enjoys seeing his kids work hard and perform in high-pressure situations, such as local public musicals, or continuing with music in college. Shepherd likes to root for the underdogs. Jackson concurs and said, “Doing something that makes you happy, content, and relaxed will make you better at it.”
Soccer and Ski: Nils Eriksson
Mount Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF) Alpine Director and Bend High boys soccer coach Nils Eriksson grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, where coaching is a volunteer activity rather than a job. Excelling at both skiing and hockey, Eriksson chose to focus on skiing in his teens and ended up getting a scholarship to race for the University of Wyoming where he also studied business. After college, Eriksson moved to Bend with his wife and took a seasonal job as an alpine ski coach with MBSEF, a role that would change his trajectory away from finance and toward working with athletes. A year later, at a friend’s request, Eriksson agreed to coach the newly-formed freshman soccer squad at Bend High School. Though he’d never coached soccer before, he had played on intramural teams in college and developed a true appreciation for the sport while attending a few World Cup games. “You don’t need to be elite in your sport [to coach], but it helps in demonstrations and the mental aspects,” said Eriksson. On the field, Eriksson believes coaches need patience and an understanding of their athletes, and they must be able to convey to the kids in a fun way that it’s a long process, so they can focus on short-term goals. He stresses that age is different from maturity, and coaches need to understand where each athlete lies in their development, in order to connect with them at their level. For Eriksson, money is not the benefit of a successful coaching career. “Feeling good is the reward,” he said, “being happy with other rewards, such as interactions with the athletes and seeing mental and tactical improvements they make.”
Skateboarding: Gabe Triplette
Gabe Triplette began his career as a skateboarding coach as a kid simply so he would have people to skate within his hometown of Boone, North Carolina. Though he competed in many sports growing up, Triplette gravitated to the camaraderie he felt with his fellow competitors skating for his Burton-sponsored East Coast Skates team. After moving to Bend and being asked to help teach a skateboarding camp at the former Local 50 Skate Shop, he became hooked on being a skateboarding coach. “It’s divine enlightenment to see my students’ smiles light up,” he said. “The energy you get from them is priceless.” Triplette has refined his unique coaching system over his 23 years of experience by figuring out what’s important for all skaters. He teaches six fundamentals (stance, vision, posture, turning, speed, and commitment) on his Central Oregon skatepark visits he has affectionately named Booger Tours. Triplette explained that the seventh fundamental is a drive to get better, and it applies to both coaches and students. “The best coaches are super passionate about learning, both for themselves and their students,” he said. He believes coaches should be empathetic, have a good attitude and communication skills, and the understanding of when to tell your students to push themselves. Though he loved seeing one of his skaters pictured in The Bulletin, these days he’s proudest watching his own daughter become a better skater and develop into a strong skateboarding coach herself.
Sport Climbing: Mike Rougeaux & Cate Beebe
In 2011, Mike Rougeaux pitched the idea of adding climbing to the Bend Endurance Academy roster of sports programs. Today, as the nonprofit’s executive director, he still works with climbers in town and at out-of-town competitions. “It’s really impactful to know the athletes in front of you are putting trust in you and that they hold you in high regard,” said Rougeaux, “so it makes me want to be at my best for them.” Bend Endurance Academy Climbing Director Cate Beebe started out rowing in middle school and high school. She explained that she was lucky enough to have welcoming role models within the coaching staff and the team. Beebe hopes for her students to have success both in the climbing world and within their community. “I started coaching because I wanted to make sports a place where kids feel powerful, heard, and accepted,” Beebe said. Both coaches take empathetic approaches to teaching, in the gym and at competitions. They focus on building relationships with the kids and on the fun side of learning. With their athletes ranging from middle schoolers to the Oregon State University climbing team, both Rougeaux and Beebe try to pinpoint the individual needs of each of their athletes. “It makes me so happy to see my team grow, whether through mental strength, climbing technique or attaining a goal,” said Beebe. “I love climbing and helping athletes to become the best people they can be. Coaching them is an absolute joy.”
Tennis: Kevin Collier & Josh Cordell
Few names are as synonymous with Bend area high school tennis over the last two decades as Josh Cordell (pictured on right) and Kevin Collier (seated), and both have the hardware to prove it. Cordell coached the Summit High School boys tennis team for 17 years, where his Storm Tennis won the Oregon State Boys Tennis Team Championships eight times in a 10-year span. Collier’s 37-year coaching career includes 24 years of leading the Bend High School girls tennis team where he coached three different champion girls doubles teams, including one with his own daughter. “I have had many proud moments, but coaching my daughter and watching her win a state championship is something I will never forget,” said Collier. Today, Collier runs the tennis program at Bend Golf and Country Club as well as the Caldera High School girls team. He believes his greatest asset as a coach lies in his passion for the sport and his ability to relate to each student’s needs. Cordell also deflects away from results, claiming his proudest moment came from a group of seniors on his team requesting one last practice, even though the state championships and the season had already ended. Cordell now runs Prep Success Coach, which specializes in life coaching, mental coaching, and athlete mentoring. For athletes and coaches alike, he recommends keeping it fun. Cordell points to all of his past tennis coaches, including Collier, as integral to his own coaching accomplishments. His goals are to see the students succeed, create opportunities, and make the most of their success. “If it stays fun, everyone keeps coming back,” Cordell said, “and if they keep coming back, you have the opportunity to be as good as you can possibly be.”
Swimming: Mary McCool
If your child took swimming lessons in the past five decades, there’s a good chance you drove them five minutes east of Bend to Mary McCool’s house. Locally born and raised, McCool grew up spending the winters skiing and the summers swimming, like most Central Oregonians. Ironically, she didn’t enjoy taking swimming lessons as a child, but as a teenager, she immediately liked teaching swimming to the kids she would babysit. After 50 years of coaching, McCool has refined her technique, grounded in safety and developing confidence in the water. “Patience is necessary,” explained McCool. “It’s good to have them learn to work hard in the pool and in life,” said McCool. “It’s not going to happen right away, but if you work at it, it’s all doable.” Her teaching style centers around not being afraid of making her athletes work hard. She doesn’t overprotect them and tries to show how the effort pays off in the end. Perhaps most importantly for children, McCool knows how to say the same thing in many different ways to adapt to her students’ varied learning styles. “I’m most proud when a kid, who was scared to death in the beginning, by the third lesson, [is] confident and believes in themself,” said McCool. “I know those lessons will translate into life as well.”
Tracey Seslen and her two children slowly walk along the weathered boardwalk outside the Sage Saloon. They study a placard affixed to the building that explains part of this city’s colorful history, yet they can’t escape the sound of the Beastie Boys booming from speakers a block away.
This is the paradox of Shaniko, Oregon. The historically recognized ghost town is anything but silent. The thumping music blasts from its very own radio station—KDFM, 99.9. With a reach of just five miles in any direction from the center of town, it plays an eclectic mix of ‘90s hip hop to contemporary country music and ‘70s greatest hits, and the sound overflows through the streets. In October, a ragtime music festival will bring in two days of live music that harkens back more than 100 years to the town’s heyday. Shaniko is a ghost town alive with music, accompanied by the revival of a long-dormant hotel in its center.
Wander downtown for history and pick up lunch, or ice cream, in the hotel’s cafe. | Photo Christian Heeb
From Wool Capital of the World to Official Ghost Town
Shaniko, 80 miles north of Bend on Highway 97, once had its claim to fame. It was considered the wool capital of the world from 1901 to 1911, when Oregon’s largest wool warehouse moved more than four million pounds a year on the Columbia Southern Railway. Business was so strong in 1901 that the railroad built and operated accommodations in what is now simply known as the Shaniko Hotel.
The demise of the railroad began in 1911 when a new line bypassed the town for Bend. Passenger service died in the early 1930s, and all operations ceased by 1966. Times were so stark that the Oregon Centennial Commission officially designated Shaniko a ghost town in 1959.
Capturing the story of Shaniko’s highs and lows falls to Debra Holbrook and the Shaniko Preservation Guild, keeper of the historical record. It dates back to 1879 and the first postmaster, August Scherneckau, whose phonetically-pronounced name became “Shaniko.” While there have been hard times, Holbrook said things are looking up. Today, she sits on a bench outside the hotel to recount the city’s story. She points to different buildings and riffs on each historical chronology. Many of the small, wood-framed units have been moved from land plot to land plot over the decades. Shaniko has survived three major fires, the collapse of its wool industry and the departure of the railroad.
But there are signs that Shaniko is less of a ghost town these days. A reliable flow of recreational vehicles detour from the highway for a slow, three-block drive on 4th and E streets, roads once part of old Highway 97 before the state realigned the roadway. Some travelers, such as the Seslen family, explore old buildings. Others stop at Seven Directions cafe for lunch or ice cream. “I’m used to seeing places that are reconstructed for tourists’ eyes.” Seslen said. “There’s much greater authenticity here.”
The Shaniko Hotel Welcomes Visitors Again
Across the street, the long-vacant Shaniko Hotel, built in 1902, has undergone renovations and now welcomes guests after sitting dormant for 15 years. South Wasco Fire & Rescue recently leased it from Portland-based R.B. Pamplin Corporation then made much-needed renovations and reopened the doors August 1. Net proceeds from the hotel go to the local fire department.
Travelers enter the front lobby of what was originally called the Columbia Southern Hotel and step up to the historic front desk. After checking in, they climb the original staircase to rooms decorated in an early 1900s motif. Once there were 44 rooms in this hotel; currently, 18 rooms have been renovated. There are no TVs but to meet guests’ expectations, there is Wi-Fi. Work on other spaces, including a dining room remodel, continues. Full completion is still years away.
An aged piano harkens to times when music played in many of the city saloons | Photo Ben Eastman
Music Festival in the Desert
It may not be Coachella, but the 21st annual Shaniko Ragtime and Vintage Music Festival, October 6-8, honors the ragtime genre that challenged the musical norms of its time, much like the Beastie Boys did in the ‘80s. The festival tradition was born in 2001 when piano tuner Keith Taylor came to work on the old Columbia Southern Hotel piano, Holbrook said. Once the keyboard sounded the right notes, Taylor gave an impromptu ragtime music performance past midnight and the idea for a music festival was born. “That honky-tonk sound used to waft in the air from every place in town, in every saloon,” Holbrook said. Today, chords from a Beastie Boys song echo down the street. While Shaniko qualifies as a ghost town, because it’s still a shadow of its former self, today the musical notes sound like the fight for the right to revive.
It can come at any time—a call for help from someone stranded, injured, scared and in desperate need of wilderness rescue. These incoming 911 calls are transferred to Deschutes County Search & Rescue (SAR), which then issues an alert out to the network of 135 highly trained volunteers who drop what they’re doing and selflessly respond.
“Deschutes County is fortunate to have one of the most robust Search and Rescue teams,” said Sergeant Nathan Garibay, the emergency manager with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re really blessed by the dedication and quality of our volunteers.”
Of those 135 volunteers, 35 are women, all with a range of backgrounds and skill sets that make their contributions invaluable. These women don’t fit into any one type—they’re in different stages of life and their careers, with young families or retired; whether new to town or longtime residents.
Volunteering with SAR is a commitment not to be taken lightly, volunteers must complete a month-long academy with frequent training sessions; the average member logs more than 200 hours per year, with the requirement of participating in a minimum of six missions per year. The reality is that most volunteers contribute well beyond that expectation. In addition to wilderness medical training, many volunteers are trained EMTs and paramedics, and many have amplified training for specialty teams which include swift water rescue, mountain rescue, winter search, water operations and canine search, to name a few. The women of SAR are not just stepping up as volunteers, more and more often they’re the ones leading these complicated missions.
Christa Nash-Webber
Christa Nash-Webber joined SAR as a mom with two young children. Nash-Webber brings technical outdoor skills gleaned through a 20-year career in outdoor education. She volunteers on the medical team and the formerly male-dominated Mountain Rescue Team, where she serves as an assistant team coordinator. She joined in 2019 upon moving to Bend. “Joining SAR felt like a really nice next step, knowing I have a skill set that can be put to good use with people who are injured and lost, and I can make a real difference and help save lives,” she said. Nash-Webber shared that the most rewarding missions for her are the “epics,” the rescues that involve lengthy approach times and complicated transport. She recalled one such mission, a successful “epic” mission as part of a “hasty team,” which is a highly skilled group tasked with immediately deploying to jump start the search process. The mission took place in the Three Sisters Wilderness and began at midnight and didn’t end until 6:30 p.m. the following day. Nash-Webber has been part of intense backcountry missions and tragic, yet meaningful recovery missions. She explained, “Being outside fuels my soul. The ability to truly make a difference in the worst day of someone’s life, whether it’s bringing someone who’s sadly passed back to their family, or rescuing someone who’s been lost for a long time, the impact is very direct and very immediate.”
Nash-Webber is the event coordinator with SheJumps, an organization focused on increasing the participation of women and girls in outdoor activities. Until recently, she also headed up SAR recruiting, a role that had her sharing the opportunity to volunteer in presentations all around town. A thread that runs through the experiences of these dedicated volunteers is the benefit of being a member of the SAR community and the opportunity to keep learning. “There are so many different ways to grow within the organization,” she said. “You can join a different team or become a field team leader, you can grow and stretch and challenge yourself in different ways throughout the years.” She gave a thoughtful look and said, “I think I’m going to be able to do SAR into my 70s.”
Roseanne Alwen
One of the women stepping into a leadership role at SAR is Roseanne Alwen. Alwen joined SAR after retirement, volunteering on five different teams, most notably the Canine Team with her six-year-old labrador retriever, Sherman. Alwen and Sherman are called in for searches on land and in water; impressively, “Sherman is capable of searching an area of up to 500 acres in a day, logging 20 to 25 miles,” Alwen said. She is in the process of training her next search and rescue protege, an eight-month-old black lab, Porter. She trains with her dogs two to three days a week to maintain certification, dedicating an incredible amount of time and money. Explaining why she enjoys working with SAR, she said, “I’m out in the wilderness, I have my dog, I get to train him, and I get to help people.” Roseanne shared that her role with the dogs is often that of recovery, but even those are fulfilling, “It may be that we are only able to bring closure one time in the whole lifetime of each dog, but that’s one time that a family gets closure.” For Alwen, that’s enough to make it all worthwhile.
Taylor Bacci
Taylor Bacci joined SAR in 2020. As a volunteer with the medical and snowmobile teams, Bacci said she values the experience of navigating in the outdoors and the constant problem-solving skills required while responding to missions ranging from injured climbers, lost hikers, heat-exhausted runners, bike crashes, stuck snowmobiles and recoveries. She shared, “Bend has been my home for over 15 years, and this town is packed with outdoorsy, active, risk-taking individuals. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. It fulfills me to provide first-responder efforts to help those who are in need.”
Patti Lynch
Patti Lynch has been a volunteer since 2015, joining SAR after retiring from a career in law enforcement. Her retirement plan was to spend her days riding her bike on Phil’s Trail, but immediately upon moving to Bend, Lynch was faced with evacuating from the 2014 Two Bulls Fire. She said, “As a police officer, I was used to knowing everything that was going on; the feeling of not knowing was anxiety producing for me.” That experience ignited her interest in becoming involved with SAR. Lynch is known as one of the more active volunteers, with a deep knowledge of the inner workings of the organization, including a near encyclopedic knowledge of the SAR inventory of rescue tools and vehicles, and a career officer’s attention to protocols.
A volunteer with the snowmobile, ATV and Incident Management Team, Lynch is not a stranger to challenging rescues, including a day participating in and overseeing incident response to three separate calls at South Sister, as well as the emotional rescue of a pair of lost snowmobilers. These experiences are the “why” of why she volunteers. “We’re all here for the same reason,” she said, “We all want to be able to bring somebody home.” But as a woman who spent her career in a male-dominated field, Lynch shared that she is also passionate about encouraging women to take on leadership roles at SAR. “We’ve got women with a lot of gifts and talents and a different approach. It’s an incredibly strong female contingency right now who are all stepping up in some really cool ways.”
Building a custom home isn’t for everyone. Prospective homeowners need the right location, a team of professionals who can deliver the vision and a budget to match the dream. After building and living in their first custom home, Bend residents Rachel and Scott McGuire knew they wanted something different for their second custom home and hired a team of design and construction professionals who could work through challenges and deliver their forever home on a budget they could afford.
The result is a distinctive dwelling carved from ancestral influences of Rachel’s Swedish heritage and ideas built around their lifestyle and features in the Central Oregon landscape.
The initial challenge for architect Eric Meglasson, who typically designs only modern homes, was to work with the McGuires on a contemporary version of a traditional-style home.
“Their Scandinavian roots reflected more of a European chateau,” he said. “I adjusted it to fit the Central Oregon climate and specifically to fit narrow design guidelines for the neighborhood.”
The home’s footprint was laid out on the lot to capture views of the Cascade Mountains from front to back through the large space at the center of the house. Compared with their first custom home, the couple sought to make this home lighter and brighter.
They used a Belgian window system not often seen in American homes. Four large windows tilt inward from the top for fresh air circulation and pivot open as doors in the great room. The five-foot-wide front door also pivots on a spindle rather than on a common hinge system. “They were able to create realistic simulated divided light windows approved for historic preservation in Europe,” Meglasson said. In the front brick-courtyard, the divided light windows emulate historic buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s in both Europe and America, he said. “It’s a good look and super-high performance.”
The 4,100-square-foot home contains three bedrooms (one doubles as an office for Rachel), three and a half baths, an office for Scott and a media room. The central room with 14-foot ceilings flows from kitchen to dining and living rooms where entry is off the front courtyard. The opposite side of the large room offers access to an outdoor kitchen, seating for entertaining, a sunken gas firepit and mountain views.
The home has several special-use areas, such as a kitchen nook where Rachel and Scott enjoy their morning coffee. They incorporated a wet bar in a corner of the main room near the outdoor kitchen. It has a walnut bar and stools for seating while the McGuires make drinks, pull beer or sparkling water from a small fridge and put glassware in a mini dishwasher for cleanup.
There’s a secret door fully integrated into the wood paneling along the hallway from the great room. The door leads into a pantry tucked behind the kitchen and is completely concealed until someone pushes a spring in the cabinetry to pop it open. The other end of the pantry has a glassed-in wine closet.
Interior designer Kerri Rossi said the cabinetry throughout the house is one of her favorite parts of the McGuire home. She worked with Anderson Clark Interiors, a local residential cabinetry company, refining and planning every detail of every drawer down to the hardware. “Those beautiful cabinets look simple,” she said, “and sometimes simple makes it more complicated–all the attention to detail like getting the right stain and bead channels that line up perfectly.” To create visually uninterrupted surfaces, all appliances throughout the house have cabinet panels on their fronts to blend in.
The primary bedroom is on the ground floor and has mountain views and a door leading to a partially enclosed in-ground hot tub for soaking after a day of skiing, playing 18-holes on the nearby course or cycling and hiking. Rachel is an avid golfer and skier, and Scott is skier, marathon runner and triathlete. The main bathroom is built around a “beautiful back-lit quartzite slab by Imagine Stoneworks behind a free-standing tub,” said Rossi.
In addition to bringing Swedish influences to the home, Rachel worked closely with Rossi in several places, including a showcase powder room. “I started with the glass vessel sink and then picked out a Swedish mirror and wallpaper,” Rachel said. A tulip light pendant and the floating cabinet finish the room with pizzazz.
A staircase with vertical steel railings by Ponderosa Forge in Sisters and seven-inch blocks of oak stacked on the outside of the treads create a “beautiful and graceful staircase,” Meglasson said. “I liked how we created a bridge heading into the bedrooms and overlooking the great room.” Another hidden space runs the length of the upper hallway and is perfect for additional storage or an inner fort and sanctuary for kids who want to escape their parents.
Visitors to the home are greeted with the sound of a water feature running from the outside through a brick wall to welcome people into the courtyard. The water falls out of a weir into a 20-foot, horizontal trough that might tempt Bernese Mountain dog Nils to take a dip in on a hot summer day.
The courtyard itself is on a smaller scale than the home, with short brick walls and metal fencing around landscaping sections that create an eastside place to escape Central Oregon’s afternoon heat and sit quietly to read or have a glass of wine. Even the McGuire’s beloved housemates, Nils and Mainecoon cat Sven, have designated space inside the home for eating and sleeping, and Nils has his own wood-covered enclosed retreat with a doggie door to the outside. The McGuires had the right team to help them draw on ancestral roots and lifestyle preferences for a home that stands out in the high desert.
Seeking a change of pace, a deeper connection to nature and a sense of slowing down, Mandy Davis and her husband Josh made the decision to leave the bustling Bay Area behind and relocate their family to Central Oregon. Settling on 10 acres of picturesque countryside near Powell Butte, the Davis family embraced a modern homesteading lifestyle, which includes homeschooling their three young children. With the desire to create a dedicated space for education, the couple worked to transform their garage into a bright homeschool classroom.
Mandy, a former school principal, envisioned an environment that would nurture growth, creativity and a love for learning—a space that would reflect a home’s warmth rather than a conventional schoolhouse. With their children’s ages spanning 10 years, Mandy wanted a multifunctional room that could cater to individual workspaces, a communal table for shared activities, sensory areas to stimulate engagement and space to move around. The project was a collaborative labor of love for both parents, who share a passion for do-it-yourself projects. “My husband and I were both born with the ‘How hard can it be?’ gene. We love to DIY and take on large projects together,” said Mandy.
“Every step of the way was a check-in with my children. ‘What are you loving?’ ‘What do you need in the space?’”
Mandy’s background in education played a vital role in shaping the design choices for the couple’s remodeling project. It was crucial to Mandy that her children had input regarding the project. “Every step of the way was a check-in with my children. ‘What are you loving?’ ‘What do you need in the space?’” she asked, keeping their needs and preferences at the top of her mind.
Josh, a skilled builder, took charge of the construction and turned Mandy’s design ideas into reality. “Our ongoing joke is that there isn’t anything he can’t build,” said Mandy. “But really, it is so true. I would share my stick-figure drawings, and he would scale it up and build it.” The transformation only took about three weeks to complete. The work began by bidding farewell to the garage door and elevating the flooring. Next came the drywall installation to improve insulation, along with French doors and large windows to provide natural light and a seamless connection to the outdoors. The project also included selecting new flooring, applying fresh coats of white paint, crafting custom cabinets and creating a fully enclosed patio to expand the learning possibilities.
Stepping inside the homeschool classroom, one will find an array of cherished features that both the children and Mandy adore. Butcher-block desks create sturdy workspaces; custom cabinets offer storage for curriculum materials and books; and a large rug encourages movement and play. These elements enhance the room’s functionality and contribute to its inviting atmosphere—a true embodiment of Mandy’s vision, who describes the space as warm, functional, bright and, most importantly, theirs.
While the homeschooling experience extends beyond the classroom into the family’s entire home and homestead, the dedicated space serves as the heart of the children’s educational endeavors. For Mandy, the homeschool room provides structure and organization, smoothing the flow of their daily routines and acting as a central hub for learning.
Mandy’s vision for a home learning space was realized but believes that having a designated homeschool room is not a prerequisite for successful homeschooling. She feels the essence of homeschooling lies in the freedom to personalize the educational approach, creating learning experiences in a variety of environments and embracing the world as the classroom.
Utilizing thick oil paint and textured impasto-style brushstrokes, Raina Verhey unearths and explores meaningful and complex emotions in her art. “My work is a place for me to question and process the world, a way to hold space for the grief and love of my heart.” She classifies her creative style as emotional impressionism, crafting abstract landscapes that vividly portray the metaphysical terrain of the soul.
She grew up outside of Atlanta, Georgia, with parents who worked in the arts, her father as an architect and writer, and her mother as an indie songwriter and artist. “My parents cultivated an incredible atmosphere to learn the hardships and rewards of pursuing the arts,” said Verhey. “Being the oldest of five during the crash of ’07 in an artisan’s home, I learned real quick that life is pain, but I also learned by watching my parents that honest expression of that pain is a salve to the sting.”
Though surrounded by the arts as a child, it wasn’t until she was living on her own in California at the age of 17, facing a barrage of personal hardships, that she turned to art as her safe space. “It was my way of self-healing,” she said. “I had all of this pain, and I would sit there, and I would fill my notebooks with these abstract scribbles, and they just took over all of my pages, and it slowly grew from there.” Her style, skill and perspective as an artist expanded alongside her journey of personal growth.
Four years ago, she moved to the woods outside of Sisters, and it wasn’t long after her arrival that she bought her first set of cheap oil paints, an on-the-whim decision that would propel her toward her current medium of creative expression. Further reflecting on her transition from mere notebook scribbles to becoming a dedicated full-time artist, Verhey shared, “Even though I was bad at the beginning, I took myself seriously. The work had a meaning beyond just being good, so I knew it was something important and worth taking seriously.”
Many long days and nights spent painting were also involved in developing her craft. “I just kept going, and when you put the hours in, you finally hit a cusp where you get into the flow and find your style.” Verhey’s style is greatly inspired aesthetically by the work of Vincent Van Gogh and continues to be a way for her to map her emotional life. “I feel the emotion in my chest, and it kind of has a movement to it, and I apply that movement to the canvas,” she said. “Which is why a lot of my brush strokes are really fluid, a lot of tumultuous curves in and out, and twirls and swirls.”
She hopes her work prompts others to reflect inwards. “It is my intention to inspire beauty and hope, and the courage to carry on in the face of great tribulation and weariness,” said Verhey. “I want my work to be an invitation to step into the honesty of your soul and a support to you becoming friends with that honesty.”
Her art has been inspiring the community as it hangs on the wall of Central Oregon businesses and homes, a community she is continually impressed by and grateful for, “Folks here take the arts so seriously and so value artists,” she said. “I’m always honored by the time folks take to engage with my work and by how interdependent the life of an artist is; I can’t express how grateful I am to those who love and share my work.”
Find work by Verhey at the Campbell Gallery from June 8 to August 1, or in the halls of The Grove during the month of July. See artbyraina.com.
It’s late morning as Alan Watts pulls up at Smith Rock State Park. We first climbed here almost 40 years ago, when Watts was establishing a new style of rock climbing and putting Smith Rock on the map. We’re older now and not climbing as hard as we used to, but that’s OK. Today we’re going to climb a few forgotten classics, hoping we’ll have them to ourselves. We put on our packs and start hiking down the Chute Trail. That’s when it starts.
“Are you Alan Watts?” someone asks. “Will you autograph my guidebook?”
I like climbing with Alan, but we never do a lot of actual climbing. It’s like hanging out with a rock star. Everyone stops him to chat, pose for a selfie or autograph his climbing guide (he gets so many requests he carries a Sharpie in his pack). He’s been climbing here since the mid-1970s; when it comes to Smith Rock climbing, he wrote the book. His popular climbing guide, first published in 1992, is in its third edition.
I first climbed at Smith in the early ‘80s and was not impressed. Sure, the park inspired a sense of awe (it still does), but the rock seemed loose and the climbing so-so. I didn’t know that Alan—then a self-described “scrawny kid from Madras” in his early 20s—had already put up the first of dozens of steep, bolt-protected routes on the park’s blank-looking walls that would transform it into a world-class climbing destination. After a picture of Watts appeared on the cover of Mountain magazine in 1986, climbers from around the world began to arrive. Nearly 40 years later, they haven’t stopped coming.
Allan Watts helped put Smith Rock on the sport-climbing map. | Photo by Tyler Roemer
“Watts’ legacy is pushing climbing forward early on with a new style of route development that created the hardest routes of their time.”
“It was my dream to someday turn Smith Rock into an international climbing destination,” Watts says, but admits he didn’t anticipate the sheer numbers of climbers who would come or the impact they would have. “There are times when I’ve felt overwhelmed by the popularity, wishing I could step back in time to the old days.”
In the old days, Watts was often the only climber in the park. Those days are long gone. “I’m never lonely out there anymore,” he says.
We finally get past the conga line of adoring fans and find a shady wall that isn’t too crowded. Alan goes first. You wouldn’t know this compact, unassuming 63-year-old was one of the best rock climbers of his generation—until he starts climbing. He leads methodically upward, casually clinging to the pebble-size nubbins and finger pockets, toeing in on rounded edges worn down by decades of ascents. He makes quick work of the pitch.
Some people assume Alan is the famous Zen philosopher and writer of the same name. “There are serious climbers who think we are one and the same,” he says. “I used to remind people that the other Alan Watts died in 1973, but now…” Now he just suppresses that wry smile of his and says, “Ah, yes, in each of my books lies the seeds of my next book.”
Passing climbers ask Alan when the new edition of his guidebook will be done. “Soon,” he assures them, but admits it’s a bigger task than he imagined. “People keep putting up new routes,” he explains. “I have to get them all in.”
Alan Watts (left) and Alan Collins (right) | Photo by Tyler Roemer
New Guide, New Routes
Rock Climbing Oregon’s Smith Rock State Park: A Comprehensive Guide to More Than 2,200 Routes, which comes out in August, has more than 800 new routes; it took three years of hard work—frustrating at times Watts admits, but fulfilling. “I had doubts along the way whether I had another guidebook left in me,” he confides, “but I somehow reached the finish line.” He credits the book with giving him purpose and preserving his sanity during the COVID pandemic. He’s clearly relieved to be finally done.
We only get in a couple of routes before Alan goes off to lead a history tour of the park, narrating as he goes, pointing out the hard climbs he and his contemporaries—local climbers and foreign hotshots—did in the ‘80s and ‘90s, which still rank among the hardest climbs anywhere. Despite the heat, the group—mostly younger climbers—eagerly follows, soaking it all in. Alan is clearly enjoying himself, proud that he’s able to share the place he loves most.
“I never could have imagined decades ago that climbers who weren’t even born at the time would be just as enthused about Smith climbing as I was when I was young,” Watts tells the group. “What happened at Smith Rock in the 1980s still matters.”
Watts wasn’t thinking of future generations of climbers back then; he was focused on climbing challenging new routes. But his single-minded obsession created a legacy, a torch that he’s passed on to a new generation, including Alan Collins, who, like Watts, is a passionate route developer who’s committed to preserving the character of the landscape.
“Alan [Collins]’s been a tremendous steward of the area,” Watts says. “In terms of new route development, he’s holding the torch right now.”
“I’m really proud to hear that he thinks I’ve got the torch,” Alan Collins says. “I’m just doing my thing out there.”
Photo by Richard Bacon
Collins, a 31-year-old Bend native, is one of the current driving forces of Smith Rock climbing. Since he started climbing seriously at age 19, he’s spent countless days establishing routes and building trails just outside the park boundary, developing new areas to help alleviate overcrowding in the park. Although some remain critical of the development process—removing loose rock and drilling protection bolts—it’s work he’s proud of. “I like things to look good, especially if it’s one of my routes.”
He’s quick to acknowledge Watts’ influence on the new generation of Smith Rock climbers. “Watts’ legacy is pushing climbing forward early on with a new style of route development that created the hardest routes of their time,” Collins says. “It’s always inspiring to think about everything Watts did back in the day. As a route developer, I have the utmost respect for Alan staying true to his vision regardless of the criticism.”
Is the future of Smith Rock climbing in good hands? Watts thinks so, but insists preserving the legacy of climbing here isn’t about one or two people. He credits organizations such as the Smith Rock Group and the High Desert Climbers Alliance for their access and conservation efforts, and Park Manager Matt Davey for doing a good job balancing access and overcrowding. He worries that increased bureaucracy may negatively impact the future of climbing in the park.
“It has taken the collective efforts of many people to keep this place from getting trampled to death,” Davey acknowledges. “For the first time, climbing is no longer purely in the hands of climbers.” He points to the draft master plan for Smith Rock issued in April 2023, which proposes the hiring of a climbing ranger to enforce climbing standards in the park and an online reservation and permitting system to alleviate overcrowding.
“I hope I never see the day when it’s necessary to make a reservation to climb at Smith,” Watts says, knowing it’s already happening at other climbing areas.
Regardless of new regulations, Watts believes older climbers—such as his role models from back in the day who helped shape his approach to climbing—play a vital role in preserving the legacy of climbing at Smith Rock. He says that the best way to assure access is for climbers to take it upon themselves to be good stewards and set a good example for newcomers to the sport.
“The older climbers not only inspired me but helped me define the boundary between what was and wasn’t acceptable,” Watts says. “Now I’m one of the older climbers who plays that vital role.”
Belay On
At any level, climbing requires diligent attention and support. Start with local companies and guides, such as:
Just about every 1970s American household had at least one Frisbee sitting on a garage shelf, buried in a toy bin, or resting in the backyard where it was last thrown. Learning to toss it was a right of passage and a ticket to hours of fun with longtime neighborhood friends. Watching the Frisbee fly parallel to the lawn and into an awaiting hand was matched only by competitions focused on the challenge of trying to hit stationary targets.
“Steady” Ed Headrick, widely considered the Father of Disc Golf, first invented the Frisbee in 1966 and then transformed the game into a sport by patenting what was called the Disc Golf Pole Hole and starting a movement now played on countless courses worldwide. The Professional Disc Golf Association currently boasts more than 130,000 members across 70 countries with an average of five new courses opening each day. Parallel to golf, disc golf is played on nine- or 18-hole courses, with each hole consisting of a tee pad, fairway and hole. Both sports also share scoring terminology, such as “birdie,” “par” and “bogey,”but for disc golf players, the target “hole” is most commonly an elevated metal basket.
When throwing the disc well, spirited competition is likely to arise. Even when playing poorly, disc golfers still enjoy nature courses set in beautiful Central Oregon landscapes. Because Bend is filled with amateur and professional athletes with a desire to spend time outdoors, it’s no wonder disc golf has been on the rise in the area.
Pine Nursery’s disc golf course
Let’s Play Disc Golf
According to the disc golf phone app Udisc, Central Oregon is home to more than 30 officially established park and resort courses, as well as non-sanctioned courses usually found on Bureau of Land Management property. Diverse Central Oregon settings pair perfectly with disc golf—as does the post-round craft beer.
In Bend, the Pine Nursery Disc Golf Course offers a quality mix of long and short holes, as well as open and tight fairways. Because none of the holes is too advanced, both beginners and experts can enjoy a day spent at the east side park. The surroundings of junipers, sage and lava outcroppings line the course and separate it from the rest of the park’s features. For a quicker outing, the Skyline Sports Complex in northwest Bend is home to a fun nine-hole course, while Rockridge Park Disc-Golf in northeast Bend was built intentionally short to allow for beginners and putting practice.
Mt. Bachelor got into the disc golf game several years ago by adding a course to its summer offerings. The Professional Disc Golf-listed course begins just to the west of the Bill Healy statue at the top of the Pine Marten Lodge. Players may want to save their legs for the course and ride the chairlift up. The first three holes wind down the Outback ski area, holes four through 15 are located along the Coffee and Canyon runs, and the course wraps up just above West Village Lodge.
Other Central Oregon communities have joined the disc golf revolution as well. Just west of Sisters, Black Butte Ranch built a nine-hole course that winds through the resort property. Redmond constructed a very popular 18-pin course in Dry Canyon Park. Downtown Prineville’s Rimrock Disc Golf Course offers a mostly flat but challenging game.
Even More Play: Non-Sanctioned Courses
In addition to the officially recognized disc golf courses, players have built non-sanctioned or “renegade” courses on private and government properties throughout Central Oregon. Armed with a knowledge of the game and a little ingenuity, they scope out areas perfect for a course. Tee pads and holes are marked with natural material. The course is plotted out on GPS to either be kept secret or shared through the Udisc app.
Bendite Jeremiah Fender had only been playing for a year before he got the idea to build the non-sanctioned course Base Camp at Horse Butte. “I used to walk out there all the time and hated seeing all of the trash,” explained Fender. “I figured that I would try and bring some different active users to the area.” Local and visiting disc golfers like to play the course due to its long and technical nature, as well as its desert location allowing it to be played all year long.
Josh Steele, a local professional disc golfer, began playing after finding a disc in Willamette State Park and then being gifted another one by disc golf legend Nate Sexton. After moving to Bend in 2016, Steele built the non-sanctioned Face Rock Course along Century Drive, a perfect course to practice on with the long, technical holes and beautiful views.
Pairing Favorites: Discs and Beer
Valarie Jenkins and her husband Nathan Doss ended their highly successful professional disc golf careers and opened Bend’s Bevel Craft Brewery in 2018. Their career accolades include a combined seven professional world championship titles and Valarie’s induction into the Disc Golf Hall of Fame.
Pairing their two loves, Valarie and Nate incorporate disc golf into their brewery as evidenced by the naming of beers such as Par Save Pale Ale, the disc golf tournaments that play on the brewery’s televisions and an 18-hole putting course out back. The Bevel Putting Course, located just south of the 9th Street Village food carts, lays out as a fun, yet challenging par-two putting course, complete with tee pads and natural obstacles. In the summer, Bevel hosts a weekly competition to be played at a disc golfer’s leisure. Valarie has also found a role in inspiring young people to discover the love of a new sport. While there are legions of current fans, the nonprofit Universal Play Disc Golf aims to spread the word about the many benefits of disc golf to kids worldwide.
“While disc golfers can be from all walks of life, there is a common thread that these people enjoy the outdoors, traveling and doing things off the beaten path,” explained Valarie. “There are lots of amazing benefits to the sport, but it’s the people and the connections that we’ve made along the way that we will always be thankful for.”
To learn more about our disc golf community, see CODGC.org.
Each July, watch for a hodgepodge of unlikely cars zipping across the high desert, with their drivers cleaning up trash along the way: this is how the Gambler 500 rolls. A nontraditional off-road rally, Gambler 500 began in 2014 with a defining aspect that participants drove any car valued at $500, or less. The nonprofit removed 426,000 pounds of trash last year alone. “It’s not a scenario where whoever spends the most money wins. It’s quite the opposite,” founder Tate Morgan said. “Our tagline is ‘Fun is greater than the rules.’”
Collecting debris from illegal dumps | Photo Christian Murillo
After living in Bend during the mid-2000s, Morgan and his family moved to Portland where he and a few friends took some cheap cars into the Oregon desert to create their own version of a rally. “Our intent was never to make it bigger than it was,” Morgan said. However, a video in 2016 made by national clothing brand Chubbies Shorts featured footage of the adventure, and it went viral.
Initially, Morgan shut everything down because he said they weren’t set up for that kind of response, but he brought it back to life after discovering their social media pages were being copied. He copyrighted the name Gambler 500, inspired by an old car spoiler found in his father’s trash with the word “Gambler” written on it. In 2016, with a logo drawn on the back of a Coors Light box, the Gambler 500 was back, this time as a registered nonprofit with a mission.
On a Mission
The clean up component was introduced when the Forest Service contacted Morgan regarding the Gambler 500’s use of public lands, which inspired the new organization to use its nonprofit status and perform a public land clean up across many miles. In 2016, event participants cleaned up 40,000 pounds of trash from Portland through Prineville in a single weekend. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2016, Morgan said he focused all his energy toward growing the rally. The event was originally held in the Gilchrist area where it remained for four years before moving to its current launchpad at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds & Expo Center.
Gambler 500 utilizes the Sons of Smokey mobile app developed by Morgan, where participants mark the location of trash or illegal dump sites during their off-roading adventures and upload a photo. Then, a team returns to clean up the area in partnership with the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The Gambler 500 traverse encompasses the Crooked River Grasslands and La Pine, with a portion trickling into Prineville. Morgan said the event also works closely with the Public Land Stewards of Bend to pick up trash.
Tate Morgan, founder of Gambler 500 | Photo Lance Reis
As part of the Gambler weekend, a festival at the fairgrounds features live music, food, go-karts, minibikes and a race option. For the fifth year, an OG (Original Gambler) event known as the HooptieX race will be held alongside the Gambler 500, offering what they call a fun and “impractical” event for “daily drivers, junkyard beaters…or your mom’s minivan.” The HooptieX is led by Race Director Chuck Brazer, who was one of the original Gambler 500 participants in 2014. The HooptieX holds a similar ethos to the Gambler 500—off-roading with any old drivable machine available—in an affordable and accessible race format. Now a nationwide racing series, the HooptieX race at the Deschutes County Fairground and Expo Center is a complement to the Oregon-only, one-of-a kind, Gambler 500. “[HooptieX] is essentially the [series’] biggest event,” Brazer said. “We’ll have 5,000 to 8,000 people there.” At different scales, the two events both offer the goal of off-road rally fun.
So this summer, thousands will drive to Redmond ready for exploration of Oregon’s roadways driving the most unlikely of vehicles. For the Gambler 500, though, there’s more to it. “It’s always the first thing our people want to do, to get out and help people,” Morgan said. The affordable playfulness of the rally is present, but the bigger picture of stewardship in public lands is overarching, and the Gambler 500 is shifting that idea into a new gear. See Gambler500.com.
Gambler 500 | June 21-23, 2024 | Deschutes County Fairgrounds & Expo Center
A cup of fro-yo after a day at the lake, a cone at the ice cream shop down the street from your childhood home, or a scoop of gelato after dinner at your favorite restaurant. Whatever flavor—and wherever you find it—these frozen desserts have a nostalgic place in everyone’s hearts. To recreate the sentiment and beat the heat on a hot summer day, try cooling down with one of these Central Oregon frozen treats this summer.
The Three Sisters Sundae has a double meaning to Elly Sisney, who started Elly’s Ice Cream with her husband, Tim. Of course, there’s the triad of mountains just outside of Bend which the name is attributed to, but this sundae is also special to Sisney because there are three sisters in her family. Starting with a delicious base of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with salted caramel, the Three Sisters Sundae is topped with house-spiced cashews and dried pineapple and finally, whipped cream and a local cherry. “We serve small-batch, super-premium ice cream with high-end, locally sourced ingredients—whenever possible—with endless flavor inventions,” Elly said. After walking through Northwest Crossing one day, the Sisneys were inspired to create an ice cream shop in Bend. With more than sixty rotating flavors, and eccentric ice cream desserts, Elly’s Ice Cream is becoming a Bend staple nearly one year after opening its doors.
Visit Elly’s Ice Cream at The Grove in Bend’s NorthWest Crossing.
A once lone frozen yogurt shop on Bend’s west side, Cuppa Yo now has multiple locations and franchise opportunities, so that every family can experience the fun environment wherever they are. No matter what, the Original Tart flavor will always be a perpetual flavor among those that rotate every two to three weeks. According to Keith Clayton and Crystal Lomeli—owners of Cuppa Yo Frozen Yogurt—there are many customers who return specifically for the Original Tart. Although Cuppa Yo is all about topping the frozen yogurt yourself for a recipe that’s made for you, Clayton and Lomeli recommend topping the Original Tart with fruity pebbles, granola, nuts and fresh fruit that mesh well with the sweet, tangy pure-yogurt taste of the flavor.
Visit Cuppa Yo at its original location on Newport Avenue in Bend, or on the east side of Bend on Northeast Cushing Drive.
In the heart of downtown Bend, Bontà is thriving in its mission to stay small, local and make artisan gelato. A favorite that has been tweaked over the years, but remains true to itself, is the Roasted Strawberry. A concoction of roasted strawberries and Oregon honey, resulting in a desert bursting with flavor in every bite. Jeff Labhart, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Juli, shares that, “Juli is responsible for the bulk of the flavor creation. Making good, artisan gelato actually has a lot of math and science involved in it, with balancing sugars, fats, solids and liquids. Juli has a degree in math and a natural culinary knack for coming up with fun, but still appealing flavor creations.”
Visit Bontà in downtown Bend, or find pints of their gelato in grocery stores around Central Oregon.
It’s said a heart makes a home. For Josh and Stephanie Wilhite, they took their time to bring personal touches to a remodel of a West Hills family home when it changed hands for the first time in decades.
Built in 1979, the mid-century rambler on Trenton Street in Bend began as the home of Linda Mork where she raised her son David on the sprawling triple lot replete with stands of cottonwoods, maples and a centennial ponderosas. Having lived around the corner in a Craftsman-style home since 2007, the Wilhites appreciated the neighborhood with its mix of original homeowners and younger families. Every third or fourth house had an original owner, such as the 95-year-old man who lived down the street. “It’s been a fairy tale,” said Stephanie, to live with close proximity to downtown Bend, Josh’s office on Drake Road and the kids’ elementary school down the street. Ready for a change, the timing was excellent when Linda was ready to sell. “You have the energy and know how to take care of it,” Stephanie recalled Linda telling her.
The sunken living room hosts his and her artwork selected by the owners: an abstract painting from Jesús Perea and a landscape by Nelly Van Nieuwenhuijzen.
That may be because Josh is no stranger to building custom homes. As current principal of Copperline Homes, Josh has been in the construction industry since he and Stephanie (a speech pathologist) moved to Bend. His recently-retired father, Mark Wilhite, was the founder of Copperline. However, for Josh to build a home for his family that includes sons Fischer, 11, and Reid, 8, the criteria and goals were different. They sought to create a home unique to their family’s artistic style. Analogous to the family’s love for music, he and Stephanie wanted to wait for the right harmony of elements to come together when they were looking for a house to make their home, then the property on Trenton struck a chord. “I knew immediately,” Stephanie said. The home had both beautiful bones and a history of family, so they knew they could make it their own. “The energy was so good, the light was so good no matter what the time of day; it just felt right to me,” Stephanie said.
The Wilhites bought the home in 2019 and undertook six months of remodeling with an overarching goal to make the home warm, colorful and eclectic to represent the multi-faceted aspects of the family’s personality. They began by reviewing the layout of the house to make changes that updated infrastructure and adapted to contemporary living. Many of the changes were necessary: a new roof, HVAC and floors. The remodeled home creates a visual and livable flow for the active family, as well as for the entertaining they enjoy—their annual Super Bowl party absorbs upwards of sixty people who may mingle through the rambling ranch layout.
Natural wood welcomes
Walking in through the bright front door, visitors are greeted by warm, layered textile art on the wall and a wooden aperture crafted by Ryan DeKay of White’s Fine Woodworking that yawns to give both a screened glimpse of the living areas plus sets the tone for the home’s organic style. The entryway introduces texture, warmth and natural tones with the use of sawn cedar paneling on the walls. Through the wooden portal is a view of the welcoming open-living space. “What sold me on the house was the sunken living room,” Stephanie said. “I walked in, and right away could imagine our family gathering in the space.” It was the first room the Wilhites tackled by removing its yellow carpet and a behemoth wood stove.
The media room evokes a period style with its color palette and wallpaper choice.
Retro-Scandinavian style
The house and many of its original features helped inform the updated ’70s vibe, and for the Wilhites, there was no need to rush to a finish line. Instead, they worked slowly. “We are very intentional about the things that go in our house. I’d rather it be empty than fill it with stuff that doesn’t matter to me.” Stephanie said. To guide the experience, interior designer Traci French helped hone and curate pieces that were gathered over time for a look that she describes as “mid-century Scandinavian.” Exemplifying the collaborative design experience was the inspiration from a vintage table called “Les Yeux,” by a European designer and with a collector’s price tag. Combining Josh’s design capabilities with the woodworking craftsmanship of DeKay, a unique version of the table inspired by the eye-shaped pattern now anchors the sunken living room as a true focal point.
Within the same gathering space, Josh and Stephanie independently selected his and hers art to pair above a circa 1970 sling-back chair. Similar to other elements in the home, the art is highly personal. Josh’s abstract selection from Madrid artist Jesús Perea is linear and represents the way he sees the world, Stephanie said. Stephanie selected a landscape painting by Nelly Van Nieuwenhuijzen depicting a horizon that for Stephanie evokes places and a vantage point she loves. “We go to the Steens and can see 10 miles all around,” she said. While the artwork is different, the pieces work together in a marriage and complement of color and contrast.
The additional of contemporary grasscloth wallpaper in the main bedroom is a nod to the original wallpaper found throughout the house.
Flowing floorplan
Stepping up from the living room, the dining room space is anchored by a teak sideboard from Stephanie’s grandfather where atop it sits the family’s beloved record player—a way to listen to music beyond the Sonos sound system that permeates the entire home. “Music was always important to us,” Stephanie said. She and Josh met in high school and went to college together in Northern California. “Music is how we fell in love and got married,” she said. They use the turntable to punctuate times of day with genres of music ranging from the country music and classic rock they grew up with, to Grateful Dead or singer-songwriter vibes as they sit around the teak dining table purchased ten years ago in Santa Barbara.
Adjacent to the dining space, the kitchen opened up after Josh removed banks of upper cabinets to create a centerpiece of the island with its unique shape that facilitates movement around its sides. Durable quartz countertops were added along with finishes that the Wilhites selected with the assistance of Lucy Roland of Harper House Design. The kitchen flows to what Stephanie describes as the coziest room in the house: a sunny reading nook. Illuminated by natural light from an open courtyard and a Naguchi light fixture, it’s a go-to place for respite all four seasons of the year.
Sunny style continues in a powder room that harnesses natural light from a skylight to give the space a “bright and happy feel.” Traci French brought in bright flowered wallpaper by Swedish company Svendskt Tenn and leather accents to provide a Scandinavian design nod to natural elements.
The original floorplan had no primary bedroom, so that project became a priority for the Wilhites. As an homage to the original wallcoverings found throughout the house, contemporary grasscloth was brought in as a base for personal art. Here, an image of the I-5 Grapevine at dusk provides not only tones of purples and blues, but serves as a reminder of family trips to Yosemite over the years. “Each element of our home has to speak to us,” Stephanie says. In another example of patience, the media room project took time. After an extensive search, a wallpaper from contemporary Transylvanian company Mind the Gap finally hit the right notes with its colors, geometric shapes and “Don Draper-y” feel, said Stephanie.
Finally, the creation of a music room provided a space where each Thursday, the family takes music lessons. “Steph and I are putting together a family band,” Josh said. “We just need to get the boys on board!”
The Wilhite family, from left: Josh, Reid on drums, Stephanie and Fischer.
Heart as home
There was no rush to complete the home. “Over the years we have been able to figure out what the house needs to be and what it wants to be,” Stephanie said. Upon completion of the remodel, the previous owner visited and was, “over the moon that there’s a young family that has breathed new life into the house and preserved some of her touches,” according to Stephanie. In fact, the first picture the Wilhites put up in the house was one gifted to them by the original owner. The figure, drawn in 1978, watches over the family to bridge past and present through art. “The previous owner dreamed of selling the home to a family that had the same ideals and I think she succeeded,” said Josh. “This is the home that our two boys will grow up in.” Stephanie added, “Once you infuse a house with heart, it becomes a home; this house already had a heart, we just brought it to our family.”
A short walk from the forested parking lot to the put-in above Benham Falls on the upper Deschutes River. The kayakers, including Axel Hovorka, Orion Junkins, Ciaran Brown and Noah Metzler, hoist their kayaks on their shoulders, paddles in hand and walk cautiously along the icy path. They’re geared up in helmets, dry suits and minimalist PFDs that allow for the full range of motion required to paddle. They check their throw bags—a small bag filled with a nylon cord to be tossed to a boater in case of emergency—and clip on their whistles. The whistles are to be used to communicate on the river where the thundering sound of rushing water makes verbal communication impossible. The mission is serious, but the atmosphere among this group is anything but—the vibe is downright giddy. There’s a levity you might not expect when undertaking a serious section of Class V rapids, but this crew is confident, experienced and it’s clear that this sport is a lifestyle—one focused on fun and community.
As they make their way towards the put-in the boaters peer down over the cliffside at the quarter of a mile stretch of rapids looking for hazards such as fallen trees and share bits of beta as they go. They’ve all paddled this stretch innumerable times, but the river changes with the season as the amount of water flowing through it fluctuates. The flow of the Deschutes River isn’t a natural release tied to snowmelt and rainfall, instead it’s a manufactured season at the directive of Wickiup Reservoir. This time of year, the river is flowing at just under 500 CFS (cubic feet per second). The flows in this upper section of rapids, which also includes Dillon Falls and Lava Island Falls below, begin to increase as the dam opens in mid-April for irrigation. The flows ramp up gradually through the spring, peaking in the summer when they’re the rowdiest and most consequential, before settling back down in the fall and winter. The flow can range from 500 to 1,500 CFS, a metric that’s tracked and shared on websites bookmarked and monitored by these boaters, not just for the Deschutes, but for all of Oregon’s rivers and creeks.
A waterfall drop on the White River. | Photo by Tyler Roemer
The kayak season is year-round here in Oregon. There are innumerable whitewater rivers within striking distance of Bend including the spring-fed Metolius River in Camp Sherman, the McKenzie, North Santiam and the Umpqua over the pass. Then there’s the Columbia River Gorge near Hood River, which has been referred to as the “Hollywood of whitewater boating,” thanks to the bounty of rapids, boulders and yes, massive waterfall drops most prolific on the Little White Salmon and numerous other creeks and offshoots draining into the Columbia River.
While this group of boaters is casual about running these rapids, this expert section of the Deschutes is definitely not where you want to get acquainted with the basics of whitewater kayaking. Running big water has a steep learning curve, boaters need to master the roll—a key move that allows a flipped boater to upright their boat with a hip jerk and a firm paddle stroke. This move is first achieved in calm water and then relearned in the rapids. A failure to upright the boat usually leads to a dangerous wet exit—basically the equivalent of a yard sale in skiing, except in kayaking the rushing water adds an element of swimming through an avalanche, and you must rely on your fellow boaters to retrieve your equipment downstream. A high-level of fitness is also needed to paddle hard to avoid being dragged back into a churning hole or up against a ledge. Finally, and an almost intimate understanding of river hydraulics gained through years of experience is crucial.
The world of kayaking consists of access for multiple levels of expertise. | Photo by Regina Nicolardi
The experienced crew arrive at the put-in, a calm and unexpectedly quiet pool. They tuck into their boats, feet firmly pressed against the pegs for stability, with spray skirts sealing them into their creek boats. These boats, built specifically for navigating whitewater, are longer and more voluminous than the squat playboats you might see at the Whitewater Park in downtown Bend. Creek boats are built to be responsive, allowing the paddler to precisely navigate through the whitewater and stay on their line.
A few strong paddle strokes and a gentle hip tilt brings the boaters out of the eddy and into the main current of the river and they’re off. The first boater takes a line river right paddling into the green tongue and easily flowing through the upper section of the falls, he pulls over into a calm eddy, sounding his whistle to signal that it’s a go. The next boater finds a similar line, but he keeps his speed up as he passes by, dropping into a churning constriction and navigating expertly to exit into another quiet pool. Another sharp whistle blow signals for the rest of the crew to join him. The river below from here gets even more consequential, taking a sharp left turn narrowing between a ledge and an exposed boulder. This is clearly the crux of Benham Falls, the water is crashing into the exposed wall, churning over unseen rocks and boiling up from below. The boaters take turns positioning their boats through a rapid succession of paddle strokes, each finding their own paths through this section showcasing a thrilling display of the creativity inherent in the sport.
They regroup in a pool below the rapids and decide to lap it again, and then again. Each lap reveals new routes: Hovorka boofs off a boulder, up-top landing in the aerated water below, Ciaran flips over in the crux and then expertly uprights. They all play on a standing wave in the river, casually surfing back and forth. Back at the cars they strip off the layers of gear and talk about future plans—there’s a waterfall that Hovorka is eyeing on the Umpqua, a possible weekend pilgrimage to White Salmon—the options are endless for these Central Oregon paddlers.
Eli Zatz navigates churning water. | Photo by Orion Junkins
Getting Started
Tumalo Creek
Tumalo Creek offers a two-and-a-half-day Full Immersion Whitewater Kayaking Weekend. The course begins Friday evening on the shop’s back lawn and along a flatwater stretch of the Deschutes River, where you’ll learn essential safety techniques and boat fitting. The course then heads to Deschutes’ milder rapids and ends running a stretch of the McKenzie or other nearby Class II-III river. Participants can then layer on skills through the shop’s weekly Whitewater Skill Builder workshops throughout the summer. See tumalocreek.com.
Find a Crew
OSU Paddle Club
Whitewater kayaking is not a solo endeavor—you’ll need a crew. Central Oregon boaters can connect at the Whitewater Park, in the popular 3,000-member strong Bend Whitewater Facebook group, or through the OSU Paddle Club. See osucascades.edu.
Revel throughout the streets of downtown Bend during a First Friday Art Walk and listen as each bar, restaurant and art gallery beckons for attention with the siren sounds of local music. A blues band wails at Bend Brewing Company, a jam band gets funky at Silver Moon Brewing, a metal band screams from The Capitol. Meanwhile, a solo artist stands on the street corner in front of Red Chair Gallery, a bluegrass band busks on Wall Street, and hopefuls test their courage at an open mic hosted by Astro Lounge. “When I’m on stage and see that many people engaging in community, it reminds me that music has [the] power to make life more interesting and to bring people together,” said local country artist Kurt Silva. Music connects community.
A Look Back
Musical diversity in Central Oregon didn’t happen overnight nor come without venue turnovers and economic downturns. Bend in the 1990s was virtually a music desert with high schoolers having to see random shows at the VFW Hall. By the early 2000s, population growth fueled the number of local bands playing in Central Oregon. But, of the artists pursuing their musical dreams, only a few, such as MoWo, Empty Space Orchestra, and Larry and His Flask performed outside the area. Downtown Bend events such as the Bend Summer Festival emerged, complete with a main stage for national artists and a side stage designated for local bands. A consistent audience made those gigs popular amongst longtime and up-and-coming musicians alike.
Then, a decade ago, Bend’s musical landscape began to shift along with a turnover in local businesses. Cafe Paradiso’s folk acts, The Grove’s funk bands, and Horned Hand’s rock bands were all left searching for new places to perform when those performance spaces were vacated. Then, as Bend’s population grew, it fueled a new wave of venue options propelled by the explosion of breweries and food cart lots that set a new stage for musicians. “[Live music has] basically become a background soundtrack to drinking beer,” said Sam McQuate of Bend rock band Leftslide. “There’s a heavy reliance on the folky acoustic music here,” he adds. Bend’s number of Americana bands was bound to grow.
TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT: Andrew D. Lyons, Matti Joy, Ian Egan, Pete Kartsounes, Jason Schweitzer, Mosely Wotta | David Miller, Matt Fletcher & Scott Baber | Ella & Gregg Morris and Grace Cooper.
A Changed World
Just as the scene was growing, in 2020, the world shut down and stages went silent. Musicians retreated to their homes to find audiences online through streaming performances. In Bend, some venues got creative. Worthy Brewing partnered with Bend Roots Revival and started the Worthy Relief Fund by offering up a space to film streamed performances and providing a virtual tip jar for the performers. Four Peaks Presents put on a virtual festival by streaming highlights from past events. Some artists used the forced layoff as time to write and record new music. “Creative people will create,” said Patrick Pearsall, a Bend bassist who played 250 gigs in 2019, before the shutdowns. “My pandemic project was to learn home recording. But the joke is no one could possibly go through all the music made during the pandemic.” Two years later, venues began to open up again and Bend was back in the swing of things. Musicians took to the outdoor and indoor stages in search of the much needed connection to the audience. Fans were ready to reciprocate. Sadly, some traditions, such the popular Free Summer Sundays shows at the Les Schwab Amphitheater and Night Under the Covers in downtown Bend, didn’t survive.
Collaboration and Traditions Anchor the Music Community
What remained consistent was the foundation of Bend’s music scene centered around a collaborative festival of local artists. For the past sixteen years, Bend Roots Revival has showcased local bands each September with an event featuring more than one hundred regional acts and educational workshops. While it has grown from its humble beginnings at the corner of Galveston Avenue and 14th Street, the free, family-friendly festival’s mission of celebrating local artists has remained the same. “I feel embraced by my music community and try to bring that feeling to Roots,” explained local musician and Bend Roots Revival founder Mark Ransom. “This was the best way I could think to honor my community.”
The music community is connected by many shared experiences. Ask a Central Oregon musician or fan about their fondest music memories and you are bound to hear about an assortment of legendary performances. Pearsall talked about fans packing into the random locations announced the morning of the Church of Neil show in its early days. Four Peaks Music Festival Director Stacy Koff points to the Moon Mountain Ramblers sold-out show at the Tower Theatre. Bend photographer Gary Calicott tells the story of Sir Mix-a-Lot pretending to take a photo of him as he squatted side stage to get a shot of the rapper at Bend’s Summer Festival in 2015. Musicians that were in attendance, talk of the 2013 Bend Roots Revival, hosted at Pakit, a former building-supplies resale business. Nicknamed “Typhoon Roots” by Ransom, the festival caught the tail end of a Pacific Northwest storm and saw wind gusts nearly rip tents apart that were held down by musicians. Rain poured down and temperatures dropped as organizers juggled performance schedules. But, the weekend’s craziness birthed special sets such as when Broken Down Guitars sat in the building’s center and performed an unrehearsed all-acoustic set.
Aside from helping to create sound memories, local radio stations and dedicated local music spotlights hope to bridge the connection between artist and audience as well. Backyard Bend’s weekly Hwy 97 “Local Music Show” plays cuts from studio albums while KPOV’s Center Stage invites local musicians to its studio for live performances each Saturday. “KPOV gives local bands a voice and a way to get their music to the masses,” Koff said. “I’d love to see more of them gain traction through an increased following so they can play out of town.”
Creating Connection
No matter if it’s played from a storefront window or at a festival main stage, music has helped build the Central Oregon community. The unspoken agreement between an audience seeing the value in art and artists pouring their souls out on the stage brings people together whether at free shows in Drake Park or ticketed events at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater. “Educating folks in the arts makes them more relatable to and tolerant of the world,” explained Ransom. “It’s a model for psychological well-being in a community.” Sometimes, all you need to feel good mentally is to listen to music and dance with your friends. Sam McQuate said, “People need to connect.”
You’ve heard the joke, right? Central Oregon has two seasons: winter and August. Well, it’s the hotter season of the two once more, and you’d better enjoy it while it lasts! Here’s a run-down of ten ways to cool off in the high desert and dip in a watery oasis this summer.
“Sup” a Lake
Photo by Pete Alport
Scattered about the Cascade Lakes Highway are a smattering of inland waterways of many shapes and sizes, all perfect for a stand-up paddle session. Elk Lake offers a resort with backcountry fine dining, live music and water sport rentals. Devil’s Lake is a short and sweet traverse with the most gorgeous aquamarine water you’ve ever seen. Sparks Lake is fed by a sneaky secret creek you can paddle up and its banks have hidden campsites.
Wave Park Surfing
Photo by Steve Heinrichs
Centrally located in the Old Mill District, the Bend Whitewater Park offers traditional river surfing and kayak playboating opportunities. Bring your own gear or rent from a handful of vendors in town. To have the best experience, check the Bend Parks and Recreation web and Facebook pages for updates on water flow, safety and line-up etiquette. Act like a local by remembering, these amenities are for everyone to share!
Kayak a Resevoir
Spread out across Central Oregon are Lake Billy Chinook (north of Bend), Crane Prairie Reservoir (south of Bend) and Prineville and Ochoco Reservoirs (east of Bend)—each excellent for kayaking. For views of towering walls of John Day-formation geology and on-site rentals, check out Billy Chinook. For epic lounging, camping and shoreline exploration, see Crane. For superb bass fishing right from your cockpit, dive into Prineville and Ochoco.
River Clean-Ups
Although the opportunity to clean up whatever section of river you find yourself on is always an option, there are also organized all-day events for river clean-up volunteering. The longest standing such event, organized by The Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, is in its 25th year. Scheduled for Saturday, July 31 this year, the clean-up will scour Meadow Camp, Riverbend Park, McKay Park, First Street Rapids Park and Sawyer Park for litter and trash. Wherever you go, pack it out!
Take a Dip
Photo by Steve Heinrichs
For a mellow after work river outing, how about a dip in the townie section of the Deschutes River corridor? This is a great family friendly activity that won’t break the bank. Check out Farewell Bend Park near Bill Healy Bridge for late day warm weather swimming. For a big grassy knoll and tons of put-in space on a cobble beach, see Riverbend Park. To settle into the juniper and desert landscape while dipping, try First Street Rapids—a long time locals hot-day haunt.
Scuba Club
For everything scuba, stop by Central Oregon Diving. They provide gear (rentals and retail), classes and certifications. Once you get your kit and cert, join them for one of their international hosted trips. Locally, Waldo and Clear Lake are named as diving hot spots. Clear Lake boasts a sunken forest and uncommon clarity.
Riparian Bird Identification
For those who don’t love getting wet but enjoy the water, try a self-guided river’s edge birding tour. Get your avian checklist from the visitor’s shop in the Old Mill and start marking off birds as you walk the paved footpath. On either side, the path stretches three miles upriver and becomes increasingly forested. Scout red winged black birds, mergansers, baby geese and more. Bonus points if you happen to see an osprey dive and catch his next meal!
Waterfall Kisses
Photo by Adam McKibben
What is a waterfall kiss, you ask? It’s when the mist from falling water lightly lands on your epidermis, such that it feels like a thousand cool tiny fairy kisses. Some favorite local waterfall baptisms are to be found at Paulina Falls in Newberry Caldera, Tumalo Falls at the end of Skyliner Road and Sahalie Falls on the McKenzie Pass.
Raft Big Eddy
Photo by Buddy Mays
A popular bachelor(ette), family reunion and honeymoon outing, Sun Country Tours and Seventh Mountain Resort offer white water rafting trips on the Big Eddy thriller stretch of the Upper Deschutes River, just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Century Drive in Bend. Think of it as a local river roller coaster ride. The outfitter provides personal floatation devices, paddles, a raft and a guide. Although some locals navigate this stretch in their personal time, going with professionals is highly recommended!
Waterboard or Waterski
Photo by Steve Heinrichs
Motorboat, motorboat, go so fast, motorboat, motorboat, step on the gas! Take your waterskis and wakeboards out of storage and head for one of Central Oregon’s motorboat-friendly lakes including Lake Billy Chinook, Cultus Lake, Twin Lakes and Prineville Reservoir. New on the scene is Tanager, the
region’s first private ski lake—all you need to do is to buy a home in the development to access the lake.
Sail Away
Photo by Pete Alport
That sailboat in your garage itching for some action? There isn’t a lot of sailing to be had in Central Oregon, but a small contingent of enthusiasts gather at Elk Lake in the summertime. Get out the polo shirt, put on the yacht rock and cruise with those sails unfurled.
First image: Tangy and sweet Limoncello Profiteroles complete a meal.
“A space unlike anything else in town.” That’s how Executive Chef and Proprietor John Gurnee described Lady Bird Cultural Society, the new restaurant founded and created by Gurnee and his wife and business partner Amanda. John has an extensive, impressive culinary background including a stint as chef de cuisine at the acclaimed Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco. He moved to Central Oregon in 2014 and was executive chef at Drake for more than eight years and led the opening at Washington Dining & Cocktails in NorthWest Crossing. Lady Bird is the couple’s first venture together.
Small plates include a Tuna Crudo over an herbaceous chimichurri sauce.
“Going back since we first met, over twenty years ago, we’ve been dreaming up restaurant concepts, and they’ve all had a bird theme or name. I grew up an avid bird hunter. I refer to my lovely ladies, my wife and two daughters, as my flock,” explained Chef Gurnee. “Part of what sucked me into the restaurant business in the first place was the familial aspect and now Lady Bird is something that can grow a new work family and add to our flock.”
About the Restaurant
Recently opened in The Old Mill District in Bend, the Gurnee’s Lady Bird is beautiful and extraordinary, simultaneously elegant and flamboyant—think 1920s vintage art and throwback pieces with modern twists. Imagine black and white tile with splashes of hot pink as well as a private VIP dining room wallpapered with dancing cranes. Feel the welcoming ambience aglow in golden light cast from chandeliers as you walk through the doors. Hear music of a bygone era. Then get ready to eat and drink.
Amanda and Chef John Gurnee, founders of Lady Bird Cultural Society.
Perhaps you’ll want to first get comfy in the posh lounge and enjoy a prohibition-era style cocktail or a distinctive wine. There are classic martinis and negronis, house-made cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages that are all very ingredient driven. “We built a bar that I would be proud to work at myself,” Gurnee said. This entire venture is like a Broadway show he explained, “I feel a bit like an entertainer. We’ve designed the set, created the score, set the scene and built the cast of characters to execute our vision.” Gurnee likes to see people have a good time but his favorite part is challenging himself to create new things, prepare food he hasn’t prepared before and see guests delight in that food.
Words from Chef Gurnee
Here’s how Chef Gurnee described the menu at Lady Bird: “Simple, approachable dishes that let the ingredients shine.” He recalled the first time he walked into the building down in The Old Mill, “There was the wood-fired oven. It took me back to working with a wood-fired grill and oven years ago. I’ve always wanted to get back to a place where I was cooking with live fire.” He’s cooking a myriad of things in that oven now, “kissed by the flames to impart the flavors.” Wood-fired oysters, wood oven-roasted mussels and artisan pizzas are examples.
Seasonal and local ingredients abound in house-made pastas such as Rigatoni à la Vodka and Duck Egg Mafaldine with mushrooms and mascarpone. The visually impressive Balsamic Beef Short Rib over soft polenta is sure to become a favorite. Other standouts include house-aged meats and game, caviar and classic French-based desserts. The Limoncello Profiteroles featuring choux au craquelin, limoncello curd and white chocolate anglaise, pair perfectly with after dinner drinks and coffees.
Music is another reason the Gurnees are excited about Lady Bird’s location. They’re both avid music fans, and they’re excited to be able to open their doors in the summertime and hear the sounds emanating from the nearby venue. Amanda smiled as she described her husband as someone who “puts his heart and soul into whatever he does.” Twenty years in the making, Lady Bird is a place the Gurnees have built, and it’s something special: a place with beautiful food and a magical ambience located on the river where the birds abound and the music dances across the water.
Kayla McKenzie’s work as an architectural photographer and Matt Reilly’s background in construction made them a well-qualified team for remodeling their kitchen. When they first toured their eastside Bend home in 2017, McKenzie admits to feeling apprehensive, unable to make out its potential. But after a little creative thinking and hard work, the home’s potential is now on full display. The kitchen’s once dark, uninviting ambiance has successfully transformed into one of warmth and light.
The kitchen before and after the remodel.
The Before
The kitchen is the first thing a person sees when walking through the front door, making it a focal point of the home and a high-priority project for the couple. The original kitchen was cloaked in dark hues. “Dark browns and navy blues, low ceilings and big cabinets that took up a lot of space. It just felt really claustrophobic,” said McKenzie.
The home, built in 1997, was a rental for most of its life, with each new landlord giving it a surface-level makeover but never a full update. When the couple moved in, they could touch the kitchen ceiling due to the three layers of floor that each new owner had installed over the previous one. The tiles were cracked, the appliances were outdated, and the doors were drafty. There was a lot to be done, but McKenzie and Reilly got to work giving the kitchen all the care and aesthetic updates it needed.
The Vision
McKenzie pulled a lot of inspiration from her extensive experience photographing beautiful Bend homes, collecting different elements from each and collaging them together to create her vision. The couple’s main intention was to create a luminous and open space, a kitchen people want to spend time in.
The Process
They tackled the remodel one project at a time, spreading them out across a couple of years. For those who want to take on their own remodel, McKenzie points to teamwork as the foundation of the project’s success. “Just tag team everything as much as you can,” she said. “We had our designated roles. I’d paint during the day, and then he’d do installs at night.”
The first and most urgent task for them was replacing the doors to the backyard that weren’t adequately sealed. From there, they refreshed the cabinetry, covering its wood with 10 coats of thick white paint and updating the hardware.
To create more space, they replaced one wall of cumbersome cabinets with beautiful floating shelves, now their favorite part of the kitchen. They found the natural wood planks on Craigslist, finished them and installed them. Reilly says it was both the most challenging and rewarding part of the remodel because of the creativity and craftsmanship needed to create a clean, sturdy and functional look.
Next on the to-do list was updating the floor, which was a more significant undertaking than they initially thought. What was supposed to be a two-week-long project turned into a couple of months due to the multiple layers of floor and sneaky black mold found growing in the baseboards. Today, where there once was dark marble-patterned tile, is light Lanier Hickory luxury vinyl plank flooring from SmartCore.
The final large-scale project to complete the kitchen was to replace the navy marble laminate countertops with sleek Mystic White quartz slabs from EleMar, the only project that necessitated bringing in external contractors. JMC Stoneworks in Redmond cut and installed the countertops. The couple finished the kitchen with a white tile backsplash and a spacious Kraus sink.
Walking into the kitchen now feels like walking into a patch of sunlight, and their goal of making it a central gathering space has since come to fruition. “It’s now the place we hang out whenever we have our friends over,” McKenzie said. “I honestly don’t think a single person has ever sat on our couch,” she joked.
The only female member of Bend’s Discovery West Builders Guild, Lynnanne Likens of Visionary Homes, likes a plan. Be it a house plan, a plan for the order of construction or the finished plan after a project has all come together. She is also good at looking after people whether it be in her first career as a registered nurse or in her current career putting a roof over a family’s head.
How it all Began
Likens did not take the usual route to becoming a builder. She was working as an R.N. in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit when she and her husband at the time built a home for their family in the late 1990s. Following that project, they started building custom and speculative homes throughout Central Oregon as Visionary Homes. When the two parted, she took over the company.
These days, she prefers to build speculative rather than custom homes. “I put so much thought into it,” she said. “I have a whole vision, and I know where to spend money and where it should be saved.”
The Process
While Likens works with an architect to choose a project, she looks for homes that have good flow and are classic in design. Once a lot is purchased and plans are in hand, though not necessarily in that order, Likens divides the work into three phases: the first phase includes ground breaking, foundation construction and framing; the second phase encompasses rough-ins for electrical plumbing and drywall; and the third consists of all the finishes. She relies on a set group of subcontractors whom she trusts and respects. That feeling is mutual according to Bibo Fowler, an electrician who has worked with Likens on numerous projects. “Her personality and expectations of quality meet mine,” he said. “She always has the customer in mind.”
While her builds are often geared toward family living, she has noticed several highly requested features. “In Bend, people want room for their toys and belongings so garages and closets are important. They want to have open areas but also opportunities for privacy, which have become particularly important since the start of the pandemic. And everyone wants a little bit of yard.”
A Timeless Design
As the interior designer on her projects, Likens’ goal is to pull in trends but maintain a timeless design. To achieve this feat, she concentrates the use of currently fashionable decor in such areas as light fixtures or wallpaper that could be easily replaced in the future.
Pete and Allison Stein bought one of Visionary Homes’ Tetherow properties in 2021. The Steins saw the house before it was completely finished and were immediately taken by the flow of the rooms, the smart use of space and the quality of construction.
“It has a custom feel even though it was a spec,” said Allison Stein. “Everyone who comes in here notices the doors and the textures, like around the fireplace and the wood floor. My daughter visits and wants our fixtures. There are different colors and textures, but they all go together. It takes a certain eye, which I never could have done. How could anybody not like it?”
Likens prefers to have no more than three projects going at once, but all in different stages. One could be in planning, another could be in stage two of construction, while the third could have just been listed. Visionary Homes stays involved with the home even after it has been sold. Either Likens or her superintendent, Hugh Clevenger, are available for several months following the sale. “We’re not done just because the homeowners have the keys,” she said.
Discovery West Neighborhood
Likens is now concentrating her vision on Bend’s Discovery West neighborhood located west of Northwest Crossing. She has already built several homes there. “I want to stay in one neighborhood,” she said. “I can get to know it and know what the people who live there want and value.” While Discovery West is currently developing phases three and four, there are at least 10 more phases to go before the neighborhood is completed. That schedule leaves time for Likens to further get to know the area and bring her Visionary eye to the homes in Discovery West.
Winter is a long season in Bend but that’s also why many of us live here. For Bend-based, professional triathletes Paula Findlay and Eric Lagerstrom, winter is their “off-season,” a transition from their intensive training and competition schedules to spending more time with friends and family, but they also make time for getting in their workouts. During their competition season which may run from spring to the end of the year, they spend about twenty-five hours a week training. In winter, they scale back those hours but “hold their base” by running through Shevlin Park, biking Skyliners, or skiing uphill at Mt. Bachelor with backcountry skiing buddies.
In 2021, an opportunity to move to Bend presented itself and they eagerly took the plunge. “One reason we moved here is that we can either train right from our front door or drive five minutes to Juniper,” added Findlay.Numerous outdoor “soft trails” provide multiple running and biking opportunities, depending upon the snow, and the Deschutes River is a seasonal open-water swim spot when the weather warms.
“Triathlon is an individual sport but you really need a good community and structure to train in,” said Findlay. “We’ve met so many supportive people and have been able to create these really fun communities of people and networks to train with.” It also helps when your training and life partner is the first one out of bed to start the coffee in the morning.
So how did they get to this point?
“I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, and started competing in triathlons when I was 16,” said Findlay. Eric, who was born in Salt Lake City but moved to Portland as a baby, grew up swimming and participated in his first triathlon at age 12.
With competition in their blood, both Findlay and Lagerstrom pursued separate Olympic dreams. Paula competed in the 2012 London Olympics for the Canadian National Triathlon Team and Eric was an alternate on the U.S. National Triathlon Team for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Eric, Paula and their dog Flynn run on trails above Shevlin Park.
“We were both on this Olympic pathway and knew of each other but had never really spoken or hung out together,” said Findlay, “It was several years later when we were more focused on long course triathlons that we met and started dating.”
Their success, and some downtime during the COVID pandemic, allowed them time to pursue another dream: creating and developing content for their project called That Triathlon Life. Through TTL, they feature videos and podcasts with Paula, Eric, and their amateur triathlete buddy, Nick Goldston, discussing everything from triathlon life to good coffee. That Triathlon Life is a way to give back to their sport. “TTL stands for triathlon as a lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if you compete, do all three sports each week, ride a $100 bike or a $10,000 bike. What matters is enjoying being outside, being friendly, and being a little better you each day,” said Eric.
The trio often gets asked the “How do I start?” question. “The various types of triathlons make the sport very accessible to a lot of athletes,” said Findlay. There are short and long course triathlons, but they all include an open swim, road bike, and running component. Eric and Paula have found recent success at the Half Ironman or 70.3 Ironman (total miles of the race). In 2022, Paula won the Indian Wells 70.3 Ironman and was second at the World Championship 70.3 in St. George, Utah. Eric won both the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco and the Ironman 70.3 in Santa Cruz.
Though the winter gives Paula and Eric somewhat of a break, they appreciate each season. “We’re lucky to be able to make triathlon our jobs and thankful we’ve had success to make a decent income, but it’s pretty inspiring to us knowing that people get to the pool at 4:00 a.m. to get in their workouts, when we roll up at 8:30 a.m.,” said Paula. Year-round, and in all four seasons, it is truly a triathlon life.See thattriathlonlife.com.
Central Oregon is not only growing, it is also becoming more diverse, and local entrepreneurs believe the same is true of the community’s demand for international foods. That’s stirring up the launch and expansion of markets aimed at satisfying this yen for global ingredients. Business owners are relying on hard facts, market data, anecdotal evidence and years of local experience to support their hunches—and business plans. For example, U.S. Census data for Deschutes County shows that between 2010 and 2020, the total population went up almost 26%, to nearly 200,000 residents. During that time, the Hispanic or Latino population increased nearly 50 percent, the two censuses show the county’s number of Asian residents increased nearly 72 percent. Alongside this data are local trends that entrepreneurs said prompted them to open new markets. The nearest Asian grocery store is 139 miles away in Salem, social media sparks young consumers to want trendy, exotic treats that pop up in their feeds, and since the pandemic, more people are cooking an expanded range of cuisines at home, they said. Here’s how they are seizing a market opportunity.
Colima Market
Colima Market, which offers authentic Mexican products, has experienced significant growth in the past three years and plans to open its third location in Redmond by fall. Sales have been increasing since 2020, when revenue went up about 40%. “I think it was because everyone stayed home for coronavirus—everyone cooked at home,” said CEO Yamely Chávez Kennedy.
Her family opened its first local market in Madras in 2009 and a second in Bend in 2016, and is bootstrapping the expansion, relying on hard work that is finally paying off, she said.
Over the years, family members put revenue back into the business, upgrading equipment, adding a bakery, expanding their meat department, and offering a wire service which residents use to send and receive money from Mexico. Top-selling items include meats such as longaniza sausage and al pastor pork prepared in-house by her father, Guillermo Chávez, fresh and dried chilies that customers say they cannot find elsewhere, vegetables and fruits from Mexico, and Mexican sour cream and queso fresco, staples of the Mexican kitchen, she said.
The growth since 2020 also allowed them to hire four employees. Before that, Chávez Kennedy, 35, relied on two employees and herself. For seven years, she worked from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. six days a week, including when her son was born, and she had little time to spend with him and her husband. Since her sister moved from Portland to manage the Bend location last year, Chávez Kennedy said she can leave at 5 p.m. to make dinner and have weekends off.
She emulates her father, whose unrelenting work ethic and versatility, from forging strong relationships with customers and vendors to making Mexican specialties, laid the foundation for success. “My only mentor is my father,” she said.
Bendite Market
At the new Bendite Market at The Hixon Westside Yard Apartments off Century Drive, owners are counting on the flavors of the Middle East, Asia, Europe and South America—not just convenience-store sundries—to draw customers from the complex’s more than 200 apartments and beyond.
Snacks, candies, beverages, spices and packaged goods, from Turkish iced coffee, Thai milk tea and Japanese matcha Kit Kats to Tunisian harissa spice paste and Moroccan sardines line the aisles. Co-owner David Sayidi springs from behind the register to guide visitors, explaining the healthful properties and soothing effects of saffron tea. The 29-year-old moved to Redmond from Afghanistan a decade ago to join a cousin here after serving as a translator for U.S. forces in his homeland.
A friend introduced him to Haseeb Shojai of Redmond, who came to Central Oregon from Afghanistan in 2004 and built his business MHTS, which owns and operates gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and bars throughout Central Oregon, from the Parkway Chevron in Bend, to Saffron Grill, a Persian restaurant in Redmond.
“With the college [OSU Cascades] being right around the corner, and with the diversity that’s happening with a lot of people moving in from California and Washington and from other states, we thought we should give it a try,” said Shojai. “You can find unique snacks in Bend instead of having to order them online or having to go to a bigger city to try an international market.”
Shojai said he tapped savings generated by MHTS to launch the independent retail space of about 1,800 square feet. He relied on his business sense and his own information gathering rather than market analysis. He talks with vendors and customers daily about product requests, and when he cooks for guests at home—Persian dishes such as marinated lamb kebabs and rice with raisins and almonds—they always ask how to make it, but can’t find the spices.
Shojai aims to fix that. “We are proud to call Central Oregon home and to be able to be part of a change that will diversify Central Oregon in a good way,” he said.
Tomi Mart
Growing up in Bend, Jesi Scott, 36, and Natasha Dempsey, 35, had mutual friends, but just last fall discovered their shared passion for Asian culture and cuisine. In October, Scott launched her plan to open Tomi Mart, hosting a table of Asian dry goods at Bend Moonlight Market at Open Space event center. The pair realized they shared the same vision and values—a desire to create a community hub celebrating Asian culture and food products.
They knew Central Oregon had a pent-up demand for Asian grocery goods. Dempsey grew up with her Korean-born mother’s cooking, and knew that locals needed to travel to Portland, Eugene or Medford to get ingredients. Scott taught English in China, lived in Japan and her partner, Adam Shick, is half Japanese and loves to cook. The market is named for their 18-month-old daughter, Tomiko Eddy, and Shick’s great-grandmother, Tomi Hashizume.
Scott and Dempsey hope to open a 2,000- to 3,000-square-foot store this fall, and plan to offer dry goods and snacks, phasing in produce and a grab-and-go section of prepared dishes from local Asian restaurants.
In drafting a business plan, they leveraged local resources including the Small Business Development Center at Central Oregon Community College, SCORE, Central Oregon’s free one-on-one business counseling service and Deschutes Public Library’s Ask a Librarian service, through which they accessed Deschutes County consumer food purchasing reports. Dempsey gleaned data to find the percentage of locals eating out and cooking at home, plus population growth numbers. National food industry reports cited the rising popularity of Asian foods. For financing, they’re exploring loans from the Small Business Administration and the nonprofit lender Craft3 in Bend, which considers community impacts alongside economic ones to lessen the racial wealth gap.
After selling out inventory at two Moonlight Markets, they gained newsletter subscribers and followers on Instagram. Keeping up the momentum, a Tomi Mart Takeover on May 19 at Open Space is a fundraiser for startup costs with music, food, drinks and a ramen-eating contest coinciding with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month “The amount of times I’ve heard people who’ve moved here from Seattle, San Francisco or California asking, ‘Where’s the Asian grocery store?’ ” said Dempsey. “I’m expecting to come to a town this large and have two or three Asian grocery stores, and there’s not one.” Yet.
Single-use plastic is so last century, right? Director of Sustainability at Hayden Homes Amphitheater, Cassidy Cushing, thinks so too. Last year alone, Cushing oversaw efforts which eliminated the use of 281,000 plastic water bottles. This number was calculated through measuring water usage at amphitheater water bottle refill stations.
In fact, single-use plastic bottles are not available anywhere in the venue. “We do not sell or allow our vendors to sell plastic bottles or utensils. All cups and service ware are required to be compostable or reusable items, and no straws are allowed. We also refrain from using toothpicks or fruit skewers in our cocktails as they make scooping food out of the trash a bit more difficult and painful!” explained Cushing. Why would Cushing and staff be scooping food out of the trash? Because that is how committed they are to recycling.
After concerts, Cushing and her team “dumpster dive” or look over the contents of each and every garbage bag with a fine tooth comb to be sure waste products are sent to proper recycle streams. Plastic bags are cleaned, dried and then taken to a facility to be reused. Beverage distributors are given back six-pack rings to reuse during packaging. Some trash is even made into art.
Cushing and Hayden Homes Amphitheater aren’t the only organizations in Bend catching the recycling craze. Cushing names The Environmental Center as a longtime Bend-centered organization that continually creates impacting programming around local recycling and sustainability efforts.
Udara Abeysekera Bickett, program manager for the Rethink Waste Project at The Environmental Center, mentions one major challenge to recycling efforts is that infrastructure is different across the state (and county) lines—meaning that what is collected for recycling in Bend is different from what is collected in Madras, Prineville, Portland or Newport. “It’s important to learn to recycle correctly across communities, especially when traveling,” she said. Fortunately, the Rethink Waste Project has published a do’s and don’ts guide to recycling available at RethinkWasteProject.org.
Recent efforts by Rethink Waste Project to address recycling gaps include partnering with Visit Central Oregon and lodging sites, including resorts, hotels and Airbnb, to implement recycling infrastructure and education that supports tourists to rethink waste; collaborating with Housing Works properties to implement recycling infrastructure and education that supports multi-family housing communities, developing and implementing large event sorting station plans; and partnering with Deschutes Brewery, Crater Lake Spirits and several other local beverage manufacturers to collect plastic film for recycling.
Another local and innovative recycling initiative is Local Plastic, which launched in 2019, and is a spin off of The Broomsmen—an event recycling-solutions team for weddings and gatherings of all kinds. “We always asked ourselves, ‘Where is all this waste going? Is it actually going to get recycled into a new product or just shuffled around in a charade of globalized supply chains?’ We realized we needed to utilize the plastic we collected to create a product in-house locally here in Bend,” explained Founder Philip Torchio.
Isolated in Central Oregon from major municipalities where recycled plastic markets exist, Local Plastic emerged from a desire to close the loop on the waste collected through The Broomsmen. Local Plastic was born to collect and manufacture locally discarded plastics into beautiful four-by-eight-foot sheet products.
In years to come, Torchio hopes Bend residents will think twice before throwing their plastic away. “We are placing a high value on your waste and view it as a manufacturing resource of the future. This discarded waste will create jobs and prosperity for our local community,” he said.
Cushing thinks support for recycling initiatives from residents, to travelers, to decision makers and corporate higher-ups is ever present in Bend in part because, “Bend is such a beautiful place. The city makes it easy to recycle or use the proper waste stream by providing receptacles, signage and ample reusable products to mitigate the production of unnecessary resources.”
During her 12 plus years of dumpster diving on behalf of Hayden Homes Amphitheater, Cushing noted, “We have a responsibility to preserve the live music experience for generations to come, and an opportunity to use our platform to inspire global environmental action.” This is what it means to be a Bendite.
Cate Havstad-Casad hopes to start a revolution. While managing 360-acres from the Madras farm she runs with her husband Chris, Havstad founded Range Revolution. She refers to it as the “world’s first regenerative leather luggage and handbag company,” using traceable and regenerative hides to create its designs. Recipient of the Early Stage Award at the 2022 Bend Venture Conference, Havstad spends roughly 70% of her time running Range Revolution while also helping manage Casad Family Farms and creating custom designs for Havstad Hat Company, plus being mother to 19-month-old son Hesston. Here, she tells Bend Magazine more about how design and responsibility don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
What is a range revolution?
The wordplay is for me to conjure a thought process about how we consider rangelands and the people who steward them. Rangelands sometimes get forgotten or left out of the picture when we talk about different ecosystems,but they hold a large percentage of the world’s remaining biodiversity, and they hold the potential to sequester more carbon than even rainforests. Rangelands make up more than 54% of earth’s land mass, these are important ecosystems that are in trouble right now. It’s an important and critical time to shine a lens on them and build supply chains that support their regeneration.
So how did your company Range Revolution begin?
Originally I sought to create a luggage piece for Havstad Hat Company, and I wanted to find leathers that aligned with how I live the rest of my life. I wanted them to be local, to be sustainably raised and from this ecoregion. As soon as I started looking, I realized that a supply chain didn’t exist. All of the hides from mid-sized processors in Oregon are thrown in the trash. Taking it a step further, from my research, I learned more than 5 million hides are thrown in the trash just in the United States. Most leathers that are part of our fashion supply chain can be traced to Brazil and to the deforestation of the rainforests. That’s where things started in 2020, and it has been a journey to rebuild this regenerative, regional leather supply chain for Range Revolution.
People have become more aware of supply chains. Can you explain that part of your business?
What’s unique about our supply chain is that all our leathers have a provenance journey. It means we can trace them back to the ranch that they came from. The ranchers we work with go through Ecological Outcome Monitoring which shows with data that these ranchers are improving the ecosystems they manage. People are just starting to understand what regenerative agriculture means and how cattle play into that system. Range Revolution is uplifting those stories and working to create a value-added marketplace for the raw goods coming from those ranches.
So what does regenerative agriculture mean?
Regenerative agriculture refers to any sort of management practice that improves the ecological outcomes on the land. That usually means you’ve increased soil organic matter, increased diversity in the landscape and now those soils are healthy and more functional, allowing more water to be infiltrated and held. These lands regenerate, sequester more carbon, hold more water and preserve biodiversity.
Especially in the area of luxury goods, do you sense that understanding where goods originate matters more these days?
The luxury world has always revered beautiful high-quality leathers but the ecological impact of those materials has not been in focus until very recently. Now, the fashion world is waking up to a level of accountability. The demand for regenerative hides is outpacing the supply. It’s a good place to be if you are ahead of it, so the work I started three years ago to secure relationships to procure leather was important. The hoarding worked out!
What is your long-term vision for Range Revolution to invoke change in the fashion industry?
I want to focus my energy on showing people what transparency, traceability and regenerative sourcing look like, because it’s doable. We have just gotten used to a different and extractive way. My vision is that in the next five years, 100% of our supply chain will be sourced from our ecoregion. We’re building the relationships, aggregation and an economic model to do that. It’s important to buildthe blueprints and create relationships to find partners who are able to think at a larger scale, both from a business standpoint and from a humanity standpoint.
Let’s not forget how beautiful Range Revolution designs are.
All of our bags have a heritage look and a timelessness to their design. Some styles are unisex, some more feminine and some more masculine. They’re about letting the natural fiber shine. We’re not hiding the marks that show this is leather.Great design communicates ethos in the most subtle ways. How a certain item makes you feel when you wear it, if you understand the story of the fibers and have a connection to this item, it can make you think about everything around you and about how something is intentionally created. That’s my goal in design. I think revolutions can be beautiful and design can be a force for good.
Remember this name: Diggory Dillingham. The swimming sensation has his sights on the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024.
Dillingham, 18, a senior at Mountain View High School, secured a swimming scholarship from University of Southern California, but instead of going straight to college this autumn, he’s taking a gap year to train even more intensely for the Olympic trials.
As the holder of the fastest American 50-meter freestyle time for his age group (18 years or under), and the fifth fastest 50-meter freestyle time in the world for 18U, his chances appear good, but Dillingham remains humble.
“My time for the 50-meter free is now 22.48, but really to make the Olympic team, I’d need to bring that down by another full second, but I don’t feel too much pressure, if I make it, I make it, but if I don’t, I can try for another Olympics,” said Dillingham from his home. Already, he had finished his early morning swim workout, attended his high school classes and was getting ready to go to his afternoon swim workout.
When he’s not in the pool or at school, Dillingham is at the gym lifting weights. He says he’s been serious about his swimming since he was about 12 years old, although he’s been swimming since before he could walk.
Dillingham’s Bend Swim Club coach is his mother, Megan Oesting, who was an accomplished swimmer and water polo player for University of California Los Angeles, and a national swim team member. Despite her career, she’s never forced her two children to swim.
“Childcare is expensive,” joked Oesting. “The kids had to come with me. I’ve been a single parent since Diggory was two, and his sister, Mia, is a few years older than him, so they’ve always been around the pools.”
Oesting says swimming is an intense sport. It uses more muscles than football, and a workout typically consists of swimming at least 4 miles. Dillingham swims up to 8 miles per day doing “doubles” in the morning and afternoon, often six times a week.
If you’re weak in your mind, then you’re never going to be fast in swimming.
Training 24 hours a week, with several more hours of weight training in the gym, requires dedication. Dillingham admits the long intensive workouts led him to quit swimming when he was younger. He attempted other sports: “I’ve tried a lot of things, like football, fencing, wrestling, but I’m not really good at anything on land,” said Dillingham, who has the distinction of being the reigning Oregon 6-A state champion in both the 50 and 100 freestyle.
Dillingham said swimming thousands of miles in training requires the right mental state. “If you’re weak in your mind, then you’re never going to be fast in swimming,” said Dillingham. “If you get behind the starting block and you’re scared, then you’re getting beat. I really don’t like getting beat.”
To make the National Junior Team last year, Dillingham had the swim of his life so far.
“He had to swim against Olympic gold medalist veteran Caeleb Dressel [current world-record holder in the 50 free], Diggory had to go faster than he’s ever gone, he had to thrive in that one race, and he did,” said Oesting. Still, the road to the Paris Olympics is long. Dillingham must earn a qualifying time for the Olympic Trials swim meet, and once there, must finish in the top two in one of 13 individual events. “I’m going to try my best,” said Dillingham. “The best piece of swimming advice I’ve gotten from my coach, my mom, is to just win your heat; don’t complicate things.”
Kinetic energy is the energy possessed by an object in motion, the energy that exists within the flow of a dance or the beat of a drum. While artist Miguel Edwards’ pieces don’t often involve physical movement, his sculpture work with steel and glass embodies implied kinetic energy. Large steel beams are welded into fluid, arching shapes that convey movement and emotion. His work is evidence of a fine-tuned creative mind and decades-long dedication to craftsmanship.
Edwards grew up the son of artists in Santa Fe. He recounted a childhood spent in his father’s woodshop and watching his mother weave. “I’ve never not considered myself an artist,” he said. From that upbringing, Edwards pursued an education in the arts at the University of New Mexico and at Southern Oregon University. Young and lovestruck, he followed a girlfriend north to Seattle, where he made a name for himself as a photojournalist, documenting the city’s 90s grunge scene for Billboard Magazine and TheSeattle Times.
His creative identity expanded and morphed throughout the years. He dabbled in jewelry and oil painting. His first foray into metalwork came out of necessity; he wanted to avoid paying the steep price of framing for his pieces, so he taught himself how to weld metal frames. Throughout the late nineties and early 2000s, Edwards worked on a few larger-scale metal pieces here and there, including hammered-copper draping for a collaborative sculpture in Portland’s Pioneer Square and a commission to craft a steel orb for Burning Man in 2004.
In 2009 he created “El Sol,” a sphere crafted from pieces of overlapping curved metal, for the “Heaven and Earth” exhibit at the Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle’s Carkeek Park. It was after finishing this piece that Edwards shook his fist toward the sky and declared himself a sculptor. “It was so beyond anything I had ever made, and I was kind of in shock, like, where did that come from?” he said.
The piece that prompted the public to declare him a sculptor and helped launch his professional life to new levels was “Perseus II” in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood, a 35-foot tall kinetic sculpture crafted out of stainless steel. Ever since this career-altering project, Edwards has been passionately dedicated to this craft and sought out for his work. Presently, he is represented by nine galleries across the nation and has collaborated with various organizations to create impressive public works. One of his most renowned pieces, “Hope Rising,” commissioned by the Special Olympics for its 50th anniversary, is an imposing steel cauldron that ascends 20 feet into the sky and was set ablaze at the opening ceremony in 2019.
After years of living and creating in Seattle, Edwards decided to move away from the city in search of some new inspiration and a better quality of life. In 2018 he and his wife, Corrina Jill, who owns Corrina Jill Skincare, moved to Bend and purchased a home in the Deschutes River Woods neighborhood, a property with space for him to work and weld. He continues to grow his collection of sculpture and photography work in Bend with several large-scale projects back in Washington in process. He is excited to create more art and inspiration for the Central Oregon community.
Photo Orion Tupper/Miguel Edwards
The portfolio that Miguel has created over the past 10-plus years is diverse, with each gravity-defying piece demanding viewers’ complete attention, a result that doesn’t happen by mistake. “Everyone is absorbed in their own life; their tangly head and their phone. So many people are feeling so isolated.” Edwards said. “I strive to make something so striking, dynamic, weird and beautiful that people pause and live in the present for hopefully a couple of moments, maybe even longer.”
The name for the new wine merchant and tasting salon in The Hixon at Westside Yard says it all. “Viaggio” is an Italian word for journey—a voyage, travel or trip. That is exactly what the Viaggio wine experience is: a (fun) wine journey.
Viaggio has an extensive retail bottle list, by-the-glass choices that change daily, beer from coveted producers throughout the United States and abroad, and European snacks matching the quality of the wine producers that owner, Benjamin Richardson, has selected. An Advanced Sommelier, Richardson is behind the bar to share the stories of the places and people behind every bottle.
Most of the by-the-glass selections are priced at, or below, the average cost of a cocktail in Central Oregon, and three wines by-the-glass are offered on tap from a keg, providing fun and fresh options. Fill a growler bag with wine at Viaggio for an affordable takeaway wine option.
Ask about the “Coravin pour” tasting options that allow customers to taste specialty wines that retail at high price points. Richardson can use Coravin technology, a wine preservation system designed to pour wine without pulling out the cork, to keep a $750 bottle of coveted Super Tuscan red from Italy available for 2-ounce pours for up to a month.
Viaggio recently had the Aubry Brut Premier Cru Champagne on the by-the-glass menu. The Aubry family has winegrowing roots in Champagne, France, going back to 1790. Lightly honeyed floral notes complemented the gentle minerality of the Aubry Champagne. It is easy to imagine the Aubry as a great accompaniment to a day of skiing at Mt. Bachelor.
Richardson’s self-described “love of Champagne’’ is also reflected in the “Bubble Bar” pop-up tasting events, featuring a handful of Champagne and sparkling wines that happen twice a month at Viaggio. Buon viaggio on your next trip to Bend’s newest wine bar.
VIAGGIO WINE MERCHANT | 210 SW Century Drive, Suite 160, Bend | (541) 299-5060 | viaggiowine.com
Riders on Good Bike Co.’s Ochoco Overlander Bikepacking tour | photo Good Bike Co. LLC
The first rule of gravel riding: Always carry a first-aid kit. And salami. Oh, and a fly rod if possible.
The glory of riding Oregon’s forgotten gravel and forest roads is their remote beauty. But they are indeed remote. Yes, bring that extra PayDay and backup gauze, because anything is possible.
Last June, looking for a buddy trip that wasn’t too far from our homefront in Bend, my oldest friend and I plotted a bike-camping trip in the Ochocos out of Walton Lake.
A brief interruption in our story to define bike-camping: It’s not bike-packing, as we set up camp at the lake and did a pair of gravel rides that each day brought us back to our basecamp. And our burgers. And beer. Bike-camping is a fantastic way to get in some gorgeous backcountry miles and still eat and drink well after a full day in the saddle.
Fishing the Little Crooked River | Photo by Beau Eastes
Back to the story: the riding—and more importantly the adventure—in Crook County did not disappoint. On day one, after driving the sixty-six miles northeast from Bend to Walton Lake in the early morning and luckily grabbing a lakeside campsite when some campers left early, we tackled a nearly sixty-mile loop put together by the gravel gurus at Dirty Freehub, affectionately titled Mitch & Walt. What a spectacular way to start the weekend. We eased downhill out of Walton for about two miles before making our first climb, giving our instant coffee plenty of time to kick in. Riding gravel on what was essentially the Old Ochoco Highway between Prineville and Mitchell, we jumped on an early climb of about 600 feet over five miles, taking us as high as 5,300 feet elevation. We had spectacular views looking north and east of the Ochocos, through the carnage of the Bailey Butte Fire from 2014. From that high point, it was a ten-mile, 2,300-foot descent that might be one of the most enjoyable stretches of gravel anywhere in the state. Even the eleven miles of pavement, the majority of which are on Highway 26, is bearable because you know there’s a Doc Hawk Northwest IPA waiting for you at Tiger Town Brewing in Mitchell.
Rested and refueled on Tiger Town’s beer and muffaletta sandwiches, the Mitch & Walt route took us up approximately 2,500 feet over fourteen miles before things started to level off, showcasing high alpine views more commonly associated with Colorado than Crook County, Oregon. An abundance of streams and mountain meadows practically begged us to stop and take a post-salami and marinated olive salad nap midway through the clockwise loop back to Walton Lake. The whole loop totaled fifty-seven miles with a little more than 4,800 feet of elevation gain, two beers drank from a hidden gem of a brewery, and zero—I’m not making this up—cars on the route in the last 30 miles from Mitchell back to Walton Lake.
Lucas Alberg, Beau Eastes’ oldest friend, traveling companion for the Ochoco weekend jaunt, and fellow Bend Magazine writer, heads uphill on the Summit Road/NF 2630. | Photo by Beau Eastes
And again, here’s the beauty of bike-camping. By the time we finished our loop, we still had plenty of time to cool off in the lake, grill bacon cheeseburgers—calories are goals, not concerns on a bike trip—and plot the next day’s adventure before nightfall.
Where day one was flowy and meandering early on, all along a definite trail, we mixed things up a bit on day two. Again basing our loop off a Dirty Freehub suggestion, the Big Summit Prairie route, we quickly made a detour to avoid doing part of the same trail as before. It might have been our best decision of the trip.
Photo Courtesy of Good Bike Co. LLC
Riding east out from Walton, we jumped off the Big Summit Prairie loop less than two miles into the route and headed north towards the Bridge Creek Wilderness, which eventually took us to the ridge of the Ochoco Divide. From this point, water flowing north of the divide drains into the John Day River, while water going south makes its way into the Crooked River. The top of the divide featured sweeping views to both the north and south, before we headed south to circumnavigate the 55,000-acre Big Summit Prairie the route is named after. This fifty-mile ride had it all—a surprise fire lookout, an unexpected wreck where that first-aid kit came in handy, random historical markers, and a mid-day fishing break. We just missed peak wildflower season, for which Big Summit Prairie is best known, but turning our lunch break on the Little Crooked River into a fishing opportunity with our uber-portable Tenkara fly rods (they break down small enough to put into bike jerseys) quickly became one of the highlights of the trip. We recorded afew bites, multiple poor casts, and made way too many The Great Outdoors movie references.
The loop ended with a northern climb on the east side of Big Summit Prairie, where our pace was slow enough to enjoy the views of the wildflowers that were on their last legs, similar to us after two days of more than 100 miles in the saddle.
Interior designers help their clients create spaces that look as wonderful as they feel. Kymberlea Earnshaw of the eponymous firm Kymberlea Earnshaw Design focuses on “wellness-driven interior design” not only as the company’s motto but stemming from her point of view as an advocate for a healthy and holistic lifestyle.
Earnshaw offers design services for homes and businesses that can incorporate feng shui, sustainable materials, clean materials and green design. In their work sourcing finishes and furnishings, Earnshaw and her team consider what is good for the client and the planet and envision spaces they will love to look at and live in.
When working with a client, she asks questions beyond a client’s personal style, such as “What type of environment would support your health?” and “What kind of design would bring harmony to your life?” In fact, she is also studying to become an integrative health practitioner. “We’re going to ask a lot more questions in regard to health and your lifestyle,” Earnshaw said. “We’re going to dig into, first of all, what is the soul of your project? What vibe do you want to feel when you’re walking in here? How do you want it to support you?” Her services include architectural review, interior design, space planning, builder collaboration for remodels and new construction and overseeing the process from finishes to furniture.
Earnshaw started her business around 2007, took a break while raising her two daughters, then dug back into it in 2013. She and her family moved to Bend from San Diego two years ago. From the time she was young, she had a creative side. Once in college, she considered studying interior design, but practicality stood in the way. The interior design studio time conflicted with the many hours Earnshaw spent in the pool training for swimming competitions as part of her scholarship.
After studying communications instead, Earnshaw knew she hadn’t yet found her career path. “I had this dilemma. Would I go into health, like a naturopath, or would I go into design?” Earnshaw said. “At that point, the creative side really called to me, but in my spare time I was always reading health and fitness stuff.”
Earnshaw felt even more drawn to researching what’s in our environments and the effects of off-gassing as she became a mother.According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, off-gassing is the release of chemicals into the air from any material, including furniture, flooring, paint and more.
“I think that was a really pivotal moment,” Earnshaw said. “You’re pregnant, [asking] what can I put on or in my body? So then this whole new awareness just erupted for me. I started looking at things with new eyes and realizing just how much stuff there is out there that’s really not beneficial for us,” she said.
Early on, not everyone understood Earnshaw’s intention with wellness-inspired interior design. Now, more people are considering what fills their homes and how that affects their mood and health. For example, she tries to maximize natural light, bring in plants when possible, select organic bedding, clean and natural materials and choose Forest Stewardship Council-certified woods—all with sustainability and the carbon footprint in mind.
“We typically do new construction or full remodels, so we’ll start from the beginning. We work really closely with the architect and the builder,” Earnshaw said. “We are the ones who do all the specifications of the tile, the hardwood, the paint, so we try to keep the VOCs or anything that can off-gas as clean as possible.”
VOCs are volatile organic compounds, many of which are human-made chemicals used in the manufacture of paints and more, according to the EPA. Breathing in VOCs for long periods of time may increase some people’s risk of health problems, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. VOCs refer to a group of chemicals, but each individual chemical has its own potential effects.
Whatever the project, Earnshaw’s goal is to pick furniture with cleaner materials, whether it’s recycled or certified by the Sustainable Furnishings Council.
“Even though we are navigating this, there are a lot of things that aren’t 100 percent clean. We do the best that we can with what we have, but just the knowledge is the power to make better decisions in this industry,” Earnshaw said.
Earnshaw has seen wellness-focused interior design begin to trend in hospitality, and she expects the practice will eventually trickle down to more private homes, just as her business has spread by word of mouth. Learn more at kymberleaearnshaw.com.
There is an immediate vibe of tranquility when walking into the home of Beth Davies, managing principal broker for LivOregon Real Estate. The renovation project began after her youngest daughter went to college. “It was ‘kid-zone’ before,” Davies said. “I wanted to take it to a more sophisticated adult-haven.” The entire downstairs portion of the 2009-era home located in the historic Old Bend neighborhood near the Deschutes River was torn down to the studs, Davies said. Her longtime friend Anne Mastalir, owner and principal designer of Design Bar in Bend, and a team of experts brought Davies’ vision to life, creating a space that felt like her own and welcoming to guests.
Photo by Zee Wendell
The Build
Davies didn’t start out with a specific goal and said she knew what she liked, but didn’t know how to achieve it. She enlisted Mastalir, who began the Design Bar three and a half years ago. The company has worked on a wide range of projects in Central Oregon where Mastalir has found that the Design Bar’s signature ‘organically modern’ style is gaining traction in the community. “Authenticity in design is a core value at Design Bar,” Mastalir said. “Beth is the most authentic person I’ve ever met, so [this project] was easy in her case.”
Davies said there was a synergy between herself, Mastalir and the builder, Bobby Stenrose at Bend Home Company.
The project began with planning in 2020, building and renovating started in 2021, and the renovation was finished in August 2022. Among the major renovations, including new drywall, floors, cabinets, and nearly everything in between, Davies said that she was encouraged to have larger doors and eight-foot windows to make the space feel bigger. The end result is a sleek and seamless-feeling home, where one bright, fresh room flows into the other. There’s a mix of fresh white paint, glass, metal, tile and herringbone-style flooring. Davies said that she wanted dark floors, and Malastir suggested a herringbone style as a nod to the historic neighborhood.
Photo by Zee Wendell
The Result
“When I was [renovating], I wasn’t thinking about how anyone else was going to perceive it; I was just doing what I wanted to do,” Davies said. “But many, many people who come in here are like, ‘It’s so beautiful. It looks just like you’.”
Davies’ art collection, which she has personally curated from friends and many local artists, adds pops of color to the home, which is adorned in mostly neutrals, and the details and personalization don’t end with the art. Many cabinets contain space to mask appliances, including one that hides the coffee maker behind the kitchen island. Tucked off the kitchen, floor tile chosen at Design Bar smoothly transitions from the dark kitchen floor into the laundry room. There, custom cabinets by Andrea’s Cabinetry discretely conceal the pantry and washer-dryer units. Even the television which is mounted on the painted white brick fireplace (another ode to the historical neighborhood) is cleverly covered by a large painting that Davies can easily remove and hang back up when she is finished using the television.
Intentional and inventive subtleties of the design are often unseen, but give way to the personality and uniqueness of the home. For example, before the flooring was set during the renovation, Davies buried cleansing crystals in the ground below. She said the purpose of the crystals beneath the floorboards is their “clearing” and “grounding” properties, which allows negative energy to be moved away from the space. Above ground, there are still crystals placed strategically around the living room and dining area, adding to the character of Davies’ style. Beyond the living room, an accordion-style glass door by Art Glass Millwork opens to the front porch, reflecting the sense of serenity from the home’s interior.
The project is still fresh, and Davies said she’s still soaking it all in. She said that not a week has gone by where she hasn’t hosted people at her home. “I want people to feel welcomed,” Davies said. “We’re going to create our own joy in this space.”
The façade of the modern home facing a busy Bend street may garner an appreciative glance at its angled roofs, wide walkways, attractive plantings, an overarching Russian olive tree and a Zen-like enclosure near the front door. Yet a second glance could make a curious person wonder what’s on the side that overlooks the Deschutes River because that’s where the home unfurls its remarkable layout. Let’s go there for a moment.
It’s a warm summer evening with the low hum of voices rising off the river. Inside, a person tending bar passes drinks through a large kitchen window hinged at the top. The window opens out over a covered bar where guests converse with those inside. Around the corner is a covered patio where someone asks about a South African-inspired wood-burning oven known as a braai which can roast chickens or even a whole pig on a spit.
The kids are hanging out in the family room. The home’s only TV is silent. Who wants to watch TV when friends are over to play shuffleboard, listen to tunes and lounge on the daybed? Outside below the family room window is a large warm-water spa where parents enjoy a soak after kayaking the river or hiking in the Cascade high lakes. A cedar-enclosed outdoor shower is a few steps away for a quick rinse off before dinner.
After the meal, people gather around a firepit to relax and recount the day’s adventures. A couple takes the stairs to the river for a last look before sunset and to be sure the kayaks are secured on the river’s edge.
Old makes way for the new
Until 2019, a 1920s-era cottage stood on the site. A family moving to Bend from overseas fell in love with the home’s riverside location, proximity to downtown and safe river access for their children. They bought the property and hired Bend architect Karen Smuland to determine whether it was possible to remodel and expand the existing structure.
A feasibility study revealed that only a fraction of the home was supported by a foundation, and retrofitting a second story would be prohibitively expensive. The owners made the tough decision to dismantle the cottage and build a two-story home with modern energy efficiencies.
Trevin Duey of Trevin Duey Construction, who was brought in as the builder, said “A conscious effort was made to recycle and repurpose rather than throw everything in the landfill.” Doors, windows, cabinets, appliances, plumbing and lighting fixtures went to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and others who would repurpose them. “It took a little extra time to do the right thing,” he said. In the end, they were able to recycle about half the original structure.
Two other professionals were hired, Mike Szabo of SZABO Landscape Architecture and interior designer Lucy Roland of Harper House Design. The group, which formed a tight design and building pod, felt it was important to preserve some elements of the former home, such as mature trees, including the Russian olive and heritage crabapple trees. Incorporating native features such as rock outcroppings, juniper trees and riparian vegetation was also important.
The site presented challenges—proximity to the Deschutes River required extensive storm-water management to prevent river contamination; a popular park and playground next door called for privacy screens; and a 20-foot right of way in the front couldn’t be encroached. To avoid having handrails throughout the property’s sloping grade, Szabo said the strategy was to create a series of terraces starting at the house all the way to the river. Each level would create a different zone for different use. The upper terrace was for cooking, dining and entertaining, the middle terrace for playing lawn games and the lower terrace with a firepit cupped by a huge boulder was for enjoying a nightcap or a morning coffee break. He noted the use of board-formed concrete imprinted with a natural cedar pattern adds organic texture to landscape walls and harmonizes with the cedar-siding-clad house.
Designing indoor-outdoor living
The design group’s overarching goals included using sustainable building practices to create a home that flowed seamlessly from inside to outside, and that would accommodate the family’s active sports and outdoor pursuits, their love of music and entertaining family and friends from around the world.
Smuland designed a 3,800-square-foot, four-bedroom home with two stories and river views from most rooms. The structure is covered by a series of shed roofs, including one that supports solar photovoltaic panels for renewable energy. The couple’s preference for Scandinavian design lends a sense of minimalism with sleek, unfussy lines throughout the home’s interior.
“Karen created a house that isn’t enormous, but every square foot of the house has a function so it works well for a family of four,” said interior designer Roland. “There’s a place for everything and everything is in its place.”
The initial inspiration was a casual and family-friendly home that was chic, timeless and sophisticated, Roland said. “Placement of the home within its environment was important so we were careful not to compete with the gorgeous views around the house,” she said. “We didn’t lean heavily on pops of color but rather chose layers of textures, neutrals, earth tones, crisp white walls and cement accents.
“The kitchen is the showstopper for most people who see the home,” she said. “It comes down to a mix of materials—Cement Elegance-crafted countertops, white oak and white cabinetry and handmade Heath Ceramics tile backsplash. The open-plan kitchen, dining room and great room spill onto the multilevel patios through a large folding glass door.
The built-in bar at the awning window marries the interior kitchen to the patio while celebrating the spirit of hospitality and whimsy true to the home’s vacation cottage legacy, Smuland said. The outdoor kitchen with the braai oven also includes a gas grill, sink, refrigerator and cabinets. “The built-in cabinetry is topped with concrete counters which play with the concrete board-formed patio walls to create a soft-organic feel consistent with the interior’s concrete theme,” Smuland said.
The inside contains a myriad of spaces designed to hide and tuck away appliances, sporting equipment, laundry and other clutter that would compete with the Scandinavian aesthetic. A large butler’s pantry stores kids’ snacks, canned and dry foods, toasters and other appliances, under-counter beverage coolers and anything that the owners want to keep out of sight. The mudroom, accessible from the garage and side of the home, allows individuals to wash off muddy feet and hang wetsuits to dry.
Upstairs is where the family sleeps. The primary suite’s unusual configuration includes a galley hallway that connects a built-in daybed as a reading nook, a shared office with built-in bookshelves, a small bedroom, a large walk-in closet and bathroom with a stand-alone bathtub and skylight. The other upstairs wing contains two kids’ rooms, each with its own bathroom.
“It was enjoyable to create something so unique in a high visibility area to be enjoyed for generations,” builder Duey said.
“It’s mind-blowing when you stand back and see how well the home was designed and built. It looks like it’s always been there. It blends into the environment,” Roland said.
Bend has seen a surge in custom home builds in recent years, bringing a new level of design sophistication to Central Oregon. One way to personalize and upgrade a high-end build or remodel is to incorporate custom wall finishes in the home, including lime and Venetian plasters and a wide array of decorative finishes. Juanita Perdomo, owner of WallsArt, Inc., has mastered the craft of turning walls into works of art. She launched her company in 2000 after working for years as both an interior designer and in industrial design.
“I walked into a building where Juanita hand-applied plaster on a two-story wall and my jaw dropped,” said Bend interior designer PJ Hurst. “It looked like brick and had so much depth and movement. It was the most beautiful thing. I feel that whatever Juanita touches turns into gold.”
A native of Colombia, Perdomo has worked across the United States and in Central and South America. While most of her work is residential, she still does some commercial design, including several luxury brand cosmetic shops on the Eastern Seaboard. She relocated to Oregon from Florida and settled in Bend during the pandemic after spending a few years in Hood River. “My market is custom homes, so the growth of that market in Bend is a good fit for my services,” she said. “Plus, it’s obviously an amazing place to live.”
Perdomo uses a variety of techniques and materials including Italian plasters and an array of specialized materials to create trendsetting decorative finishes.
Perdomo’s work can be nuanced for subtle, elevated sophistication or bold for impactful designs. Finishes range from fun to formal, or from modern to traditional. As an inhabitant of the high desert, she finds ample inspiration from Central Oregon’s natural environment for bringing the outside themes into each home.
Decorative plaster is a favorite material of Perdomo’s for making an upscale, sophisticated statement. Walls and fireplace features can be made to look like concrete, stone and even wallpaper. She can also create accent work in places such as a primary bedroom or fireplace surround.
Her work is best showcased when a homeowner incorporates custom walls throughout. “It takes the home to a whole new level,” she said, adding that it allows both her and her clients to get more playful with smaller spaces, such as a powder room or an accent wall. Unconventional designs are some of her favorites because they allow her to showcase her artistic skills and create visual impact for her clients.
More typical projects take anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks, or up to a month for a whole-house custom plaster finish.
Beyond custom decorative plaster work with an infinite number of finishes, she can create any design with paint, including murals. She mocks up samples to guarantee she has captured the client’s vision. Once she and her client finalize design and finishes, it’s a matter of getting to work and making magic happen.
Perdomo made magic happen in the Bend westside home of Ann Peck who hired her to finish two fireplace surrounds, two bathrooms, a laundry room and a stairwell feature. “She’s a plaster worker who can do anything with color and texture,” Peck said. “The wallpaper design she put in the bathroom was so intricate and detailed that everyone assumes it’s wallpaper. You’d never guess someone could do that by hand.”
For Perdomo, walls are like a blank canvas, and the possibilities are endless.
Kristian Thordarson spent eight years as a general contractor in Portland before moving to Bend with his family in 2020. Thordarson took the move as an opportunity to zoom in on a construction niche and purchased The Hardwood Floor Company, which has been installing high-quality floors in Bend homes since its founding in 2012 and continues striving to provide the Central Oregon community with excellent service under its new ownership. Thordarson chatted with Bend Home + Design about his latest venture, and flooring trends.
We’re a small, family-owned flooring company specializing in mid- to high-end solid hardwood, engineered hardwood, luxury vinyl plank and carpet. We also sand and finish solid flooring. We pride ourselves in offering customers a range of services from material-only sales to a complete, turn-key installation.
The Hardwood Floor Company switched ownership recently; how has that transition been?
The transition has been great. My background in the contracting world has helped me relate to the needs of general contractors and also really helped in the transition to working with homeowners. I find myself assisting customers with questions outside of flooring because of my background, which helps us offer a more well-rounded and customer-focused solution.
What are the elements of high-quality wood that you look for, and where do you source your materials?
When looking to source high-quality materials, we look for something that isn’t mass-produced. The smaller mills tend to pay more attention to the milling quality and take better care of their customers if there are issues. We source all of our solid hardwoods from North America, either the United States or Canada. Our engineered floors come from multiple countries, including the United States, Canada and Italy, and our luxury vinyl plank is generally sourced from Asia.
Can you walk us through the process when a client comes to you for flooring?
Most of our clients set up a site walk to evaluate the existing flooring and discuss options. We measure the home and then produce a quote for the customer to review. We encourage customers to visit our showroom to see the many options available or to take sample boards home to ensure they fit their aesthetic. Once the customer approves the estimate, we get them on the schedule for installation.
Are there any trends in flooring that you’ve noticed are popular now?
A lot of customers are leaning toward engineered-wood flooring so they can get that wider plank and not be as worried about the gapping that sometimes occurs with solid wood. Our customers are currently selecting colors in natural tones, either light brown or warm gray. A few years back, the hand-scraped look was popular, but that seems to have pretty much gone away, and we’re tearing more out than installing.
Can you expand on the three pillars of quality that include honesty, service and expertise in your work?
We ensure that our employees provide the most accurate information to our customers from the sales process through to completion. Even if it’s not good news, we know that being honest about the situation and working with the customer is the best solution.
Our staff members live and breathe service. We aren’t here to sell floors; we are here to educate our customers on the many options they have and allow them to make a selection that best fits them. Our field staff continues that level of service from start to finish. We want to make the experience as enjoyable as possible because we know it’s a huge investment.
Both our sales and field staff take training courses through the National Wood Flooring Association to ensure they are as up to date as possible with the current installation standards. We also have sales representatives from the companies we work with come by our showroom for product knowledge meetings to discuss product construction, finishes and installation techniques.
Is there anything else that you would like to share?
We want to make sure that our potential customers know how much effort we put in from start to finish to provide the best experience possible. We consider our employees part of the family, and it’s part of what makes us successful. We love working in Central Oregon and look forward to many more years serving such a wonderful community.
Unassuming at its face, Dundee offers something that is quintessentially Oregon. It gives the first impression that, when visitors dig a little deeper, delivers a richness warranting the area as its own destination for world-class wine and excellent food. Rolling out from the modest 3,000-person town, acres of vineyards unfold to reveal Willamette Valley views as if from an oil painting.
American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs, is a term you’ll commonly hear when wine tasting. These geographic areas vary enough in climate to affect how the grapes are grown, and therefore, the flavor. Willamette Valley now has eleven AVAs, including the Dundee Hills AVA.
Tips About Dundee’s Vineyards
Miles of rows of grape vines and evergreen trees dappled in among the landscape serve up a comforting beauty. Riding out among Dundee’s vineyards, you’ll spot a red barn and aging farmhouses mixed among the smooth lines of glassed-in newer builds designed for wine tasters to take in vineyard views. In the small downtown, there are multiple wineries and food spots within walking distance of each other. Wineries here offer a modern wine-tasting experience—the opportunity for a non-fussy feel if you prefer more laidback atmospheres or you’re new to tasting and want a fun, no-pressure first encounter.
Three tastings in a day is a good rule of thumb to savor each winery, allow travel between stops and fit in lunch. If you start around 11 a.m., you’ll likely finish up your tastings in the late afternoon, leaving enough time to head back to your home base and freshen up for dinner. Dundee makes three tastings in a day easy because there are many wineries within close distance of each other.
Plentiful outdoor spaces are an invitation to linger at Day Wines.
About Day Wines
When Brianne Day, winemaker and owner of Day Wines, talks about how she fell in love with winemaking, it may be a feeling familiar to Bendites.“I felt a sense of personal fulfillment and cultural connection to a place,” Day said. At Day Wines in downtown Dundee, Day has visitors come from the Portland area, Central Oregon, out of state and even from around the world. She wants people new to wine to enjoy their time just as much as experienced tasters.“If you’ve never been wine tasting, just remember that it’s fun,” Day said. “The whole reason to make wine is to enjoy it.” Day’s goal is to make wines that are exciting and unexpected. She does this by blending grape varieties and approaching winemaking from what she says is a more non-traditional perspective.
Dobbes Family Estate
Dobbes Family Estate nearby also wants the wine-tasting experience to be an enjoyable one. “The point of Dobbes is to be as approachable as possible,” said April Yap-Hennig, director of marketing. Guests there are greeted with a welcome wine, usually a bubbly, meant to be a palate cleanser. Dogs are welcome at Dobbes, with the ask that owners keep a close eye on them. Following the welcome wine, Dobbes serves a series of five wines, generally finishing with one of their sweet wines. Through the “very relaxed tasting,” Dobbes’ staff is there to help educate you and talk through the wines at your pace. The more interested you are in learning, the more they’ll share.
Winderlea Vineyard and Winery
At Winderlea Vineyard and Winery, you can view some of the first vines planted in the area, with pinot noir grapes that are still growing today. “Our flagship is a cross-section, from old vines on the top of the vineyard, to original vines that were planted in the 1970s,” said Donna Morris, who co-owns the winery with her husband, Bill Sweat. “The wine we make is called Legacy. It’s a beautiful reflection of what old wines can produce.” Winderlea, like Day Wines and Dobbes Family Estate, buys some of its fruit from other vineyards in other AVAs, creating more opportunities to blend varieties. At Winderlea, where vineyards are just outside the winery, guests can take a wine-tasting hiking tour to get up close to the land that yields a way of life for winemakers—and wine lovers.
The Deschutes Railroad War is A Race for Oregon’s Natural Resources
The Deschutes River Railroad War in the early 1900s shaped the future of Central Oregon. Without railroad tycoons James J. Hill’s and Edward Harriman’s animosity towards each other, the area would look different than today. The battle royale played out along the steep river banks of the Deschutes and in the courtrooms of Portland.
On paper, Central Oregon was considered a high desert. However,the landscape held an important commodity—water was a necessity to irrigate the parched land. It also held another important commodity. In 1905, Israel C. Russell with the U.S. Geological Survey issued a report, Geology and Water Resources of Central Oregon, extolling the natural resources in the area: “The yellow pine forests [in the] central part of Oregon are not only extensive, but contain magnificent, well-grown trees, which will be of great commercial value when railroads shall have been built.”
The possibilities of getting a railroad into Central Oregon seemed bleak in the early 1900s. In his book, In the Oregon Country, George Palmer Putnam described the area as a “railless land, the largest territory in the United States without transportation.” At the time, Putnam had yet to purchase The Bend Bulletin or become Bend’s mayor. Nonetheless, he was a booster who believed that the area’s farm and timber products were worthless without a way to market. As he put it bluntly, “In Central Oregon the railroad question was one of life and death.”
That changed in 1909 when Hill and Harriman decided to build two separate tracks up the Deschutes River.
A first shipment of lumber in Bend, November 1911. Photo courtesy Deschutes Historical Society
Two Men and Two Railroads
Although Hill and Harriman interacted professionally during their business dealings, privately, they despised each other. In 1901, Harriman tried to corner the market of Northern Pacific to gain voting power in the company controlled by Hill. The take-over failed and ended in a near stock market crash. “Hill and Harriman were interested in connecting with the Central Pacific route which had reached Klamath Falls by that point,” said Paul Claeyssens, owner of Heritage Stewardship Group in Bend. “They wanted to open the markets from the east side of the Cascades to California.”
Russell’s report about Central Oregon must have whetted Hill’s and Harriman’s appetites. Whoever won the “war” would see a hefty return on investment. Hill got standing ovations when he visited Portland’s Lewis & Clark Exposition in October 1905. He had just announced plans for the construction of the North Bank railroad along the Columbia River. He would finish the line in February 1908 as a stepping-off point towards Central Oregon.
Harriman incorporated the Des Chutes Railroad in 1906 with the expressed purpose of building a line into Central Oregon. Two years later, Harriman was far from ready to start construction. For many Central Oregonians, the issue could be summoned up as; “Harriman promises. Hill builds.” Finally, by mid-1909, Hill and Harriman, egged on by each other, started construction.
The Race Was On
The most efficient way into Oregon’s interior went up the Deschutes River from The Dalles, where both Hill and Harriman had existing tracks. Hill’s engineer and president of the Oregon Trunk Railway, John F. Stevens contracted the Porter Brothers to build on the west side of the Deschutes River while J.P. O’Brien contracted the Twohy Brothers to lay Harriman’s tracks on the east side. Perhaps influenced by Hill and Harriman’s feuding, the work conditions almost immediately became hostile. “The blame for the infighting lays mostly with the supervisors who created an atmosphere of conflict,” said Leon Speroff, the author of The Deschutes River Railroad War.
Reaching Bend, James J. Hill decrees October 5, 1911 “Railroad Day.” Photo courtesy Deschutes Historical Society
Delay Tactics
The construction camps were small, semi-permanent tent cities along the riverbanks. The work was backbreaking. Evening entertainment, fueled by plenty of moonshine, included taking potshots at the opposing crews or performing brazen raids across the river to steal black powder or simply blow it up to delay construction. Revenge operations saw crews stampeding each other’s beef cattle. “There’s no evidence that the competition accelerated to the point where they were actually killing each other,” said Speroff. “They were just trying to scare people.”
One of the more ambitious schemes was an attempt by Steven’s crews to block access to the Twohy brothers’ water supply. The wagon road went through a nearby 320-acre property. Stevens allegedly bought the property, put up “No Trespassing” signs, and posted armed guards.
In September 1909, when the local sheriff arrived to solve the dispute, fighting broke out between Porter’s and Twohy’s work crews. During the melee, the sheriff and his deputies were ejected, and their horses were sent running into the high desert. The dispute had to be resolved in court.
Reaching the End
Throughout the project, Hill and Harriman’s representatives fought ongoing battles in Portland’s courtrooms. “You get the impression that much of the ‘war’ played out in the courtrooms. Ultimately, Stevens and his group had better lawyers,” said Speroff. After the death of Harriman on September 9, 1909, Hill and Robert Lovett, Harriman’s successor, decided to play nice.
The Harris track-laying machine reached Bend on September 30, 1911. The finished line included 151.5 miles of tracks, seven tunnels, and ten steel bridges—including the Crooked River High Bridge and Hill’s Columbia River Bridge. In the end, Bend was the real winner of the railroad war.
Artist Clara Smith Adds Fresh Style to Western and Equine Themes
Clara Smith is an artist of many talents, including: graphic design, drawing, painting and digital art. Though, the variety of mediums do not take away from Smith’s intention to portray the western and cowboy lifestyle in a new way.
Equine Influence
Raised in Portland, Smith visited Bend during summers growing up and observed the artistic endeavors of her late aunt, Western artist Joelle Smith. Young Clara learned the anatomy of horses while sitting with her aunt in the art studio after returning from a ride. The studio where Joelle Smith worked had large windows purposefully overlooking the pasture outside. “The love for the horses came first,” Smith said. “And the art kind of stemmed from there.”
In high school, Smith used that knowledge and was encouraged to pursue art by a teacher. “I always drew as a kid, and I was the kid that doodled on her homework all the time,” she said. Her decision to pursue the craft led to her first sale: a print of an original scratchboard piece of her horse.
Today, Smith works out of Joelle Smith’s former studio which Clara Smith said has pretty much remained the same way it was when it was used by her aunt. “There’s a lot of her presence in it, which is comforting and inspiring,” she said. Beyond the large windows are her three horses, Teddi, Kedda and Carradine—her favorite subjects.
Clara Smith and her horse, Teddi. Photo by Melissa Atillo.
Accuracy Across All Mediums
Accuracy is a priority to Smith when it comes to depicting the cowboy lifestyle across all mediums of her work including drawing, painting and digital art. Because of this, much of her art illustrates people Smith knows and who currently live the Western lifestyle. “The point is to portray a moment in time,” she said. When it comes to authenticity in her art, Smith also noted the importance of getting the gear and clothing correct.
Smith’s range of creativity is highlighted in her portfolio, revealing a mix of the modern and traditional with realistic depictions of the Western style. She started with a love for classic fine art painting and drawing, then shifted gears slightly after studying graphic design at Oregon State University, where she began leaning into modern artistic ideas. She then progressed to marrying fine art and graphic styles, which became popular. “It’s like bringing new light to an old idea,” she said. “Classic, fine Western art isn’t for everybody. Doing the graphics kind of reawakened [the] vintage style—Old West style.”
She said when she was younger, she had a hard time parting with art pieces because she spent so much time devoted to them. Though that feeling has shifted as she’s advanced in her field, one piece she will never let go of is that original scratchboard of her horse that jump started her career.
As a budding artist designing clothing and handmade leather goods, Alicia Renner (image shown above) found a sense of community at a shared artist workspace, Poet House, which once existed in downtown Bend. “The energy of being in a space like that is so motivating,” said Renner, who a few years later found the same sense of place at The Workhouse, a collective of artist studios that popped up in the early 2010s in Bend’s Old Ironworks Arts District. There, Renner rented a studio space which included use of The Workhouse’s retail area. It allowed her to test out new products and interact with customers to gather feedback on designs for her new business, Howl Goods, said Renner, who continued to live in Bend and operate her small business.
Alicia Renner of Howl Goods
Renner is one of a growing number of creatives who are using collective workspaces for artists, maker spaces and shared workshops. These spaces are like incubators for their businesses, where they tinker on new projects, swap ideas with fellow creators, and, in many cases, use the spaces to meet their first customers. In addition, spaces including The Workhouse and DIYcave in Bend are also businesses themselves, renting studio spaces or offering classes or memberships to operate, while also generating a small income for owners.
Eric Padilla making cutting boards from reclaimed-maple cabinet doors at the DIYcave.
Building the Dream at The Workhouse
For Cari Brown, the idea for The Workhouse came about unconventionally after the historic building on southeast Scott Street opened up for lease in 2011. Brown was working next door at a since-closed art shop, and was hopeful the vacant space would attract an artsy neighbor.
“The space became available abruptly, and we [with co-owner and husband Christian] really hoped it would be something interesting and bring more foot traffic to the area,” Brown said. “Then we thought, ‘Hey, we could do something cool.’”
Marianne Prodehl of Junk to Jems, Prodehl works on her jewelry line at The Workhouse
The first iteration of The Workhouse was sixteen studio spaces for working artists to rent out, with opportunities to mingle with other artists. Before long, the space was reconfigured to have fewer studios, but to include a large communal table to work at or host classes, and space to sell goods created by the resident artists and others in Oregon. Creatives pay a fee for their studio space, and together the rent money covers the cost of operating The Workhouse.
On the retail side, artists pay a small commission for work sold at The Workhouse, allowing the Browns and her co-owner and husband, Christian Brown, to earn a small profit. Just as The Workhouse was finding its groove, another creative workspace was being conceived just a mile down the road. The DIYcave is the brainchild of a group of Bendites who came together with the idea of creating the city’s first maker space in late 2014.
Building the Dream at the DIYcave
Aaron Leis and his wife Charah Leis had leased a space on southwest Ninth Street with plans to open a workshop called Maker Station. Through word-of-mouth, they connected with Tim Willis and Dave Danek, who were brewing up a similar business idea, and had another name in mind—DIYcave—and the group joined forces as business partners. The first building of the DIYcave opened to curious passersby later that year, and officially opened to the public in early 2015, with the group slowly adding new buildings and expanding the creative offerings of the space over the next eight years.
Today, the DIYcave is operated by Aaron Leis and Willis, and is home to spaces equipped with tools for woodworking, welding, blacksmithing, laser cutting, 3D printing, glass projects, jewelry making and other creative explorations.
Even on a weeknight, the DIYcave campus will be abuzz. You might see a couple of female woodworkers operating saws and a family working together on a live-edge table with an epoxy river down the middle. You might also see an open session for jewelry makers and a builder working on the finishes for a tiny home, parked outside the woodshop. At the same time.
“It’s very inspirational to walk through here,” said Leis. The goal of the DIYcave was to create a space that felt accessible and welcoming to anyone, from a college student to a single parent. “We wanted there to be no barrier to entry.” Interested do-it-yourselfers can join the DIYcave community by signing up for a class or paying an hourly rate for shop time to work on a project independently. Frequent users pay for memberships and some artists and builders rent out studio spaces, where they can store supplies and projects.
Shawna Ziegenbein of Sansarc Culture
While the DIYcave owners themselves are operating the business, Leis also acknowledges the role the space plays in launching the businesses of others. This is true for a glassworker who rents out studio space to an artist who went from experimenting on the laser cutter one day to launching a company to sell topographic trail maps the next. Leis estimated about seventy percent of DIYcave users are creating items for themselves. Thirty percent are working on projects with monetary motivations.
Work Space for All
Bend’s artistic workspaces are tied together by what they offer the public—a place to connect with other creatives, room to experiment and the opportunity to pursue a new hobby or career. For jewelry artist Marianne Prodehl, joining The Workhouse gave her the opportunity to pursue jewelry-making more seriously and consistently, without the overhead cost of operating her own shop.
“From a business aspect, joining The Workhouse made my business grow like crazy,” said Prodehl, who staffs The Workhouse retail shop at least twice per month—a requirement for studio members. While her company, Junk to Jems has never been Prodehl’s full-time vocation, she said The Workhouse has played an important role in her company’s success. “It really helped me develop my following,” she said.
Mud Lake Studios has work space for ceramic artists
For clothing and leather-goods artisan Renner, who operates Howl Goods, the impact collective workspaces had on her professional trajectory can’t be understated. After being a studio member at The Workhouse, Renner has gone on to operate her own artist workspace and retail shop next door, called Mud Lake Studios. Here, she runs a shop selling her own products, as well as goods from dozens of ceramists who rent out artist workspaces. Renner said the goal of Mud Lake Studios is to show aspiring artists what’s possible if they decide to dive into a creative hobby or business.
“We provide all the equipment and tools you need, and you can choose to do what you want with that,” Renner said. “Artists can really see what is a viable future business option for them. Or they can experiment—try new designs and see if anyone likes them. Sometimes people are surprised to find out what sells.”
The entryway of a home is a space to welcome visitors, and to feel comfortable each day while arriving home. There are tricks to making elevated entryways that work for the everyday.
If the idea of redesigning the entryway feels overwhelming, go for a “less is more” approach, said Karrie Bomstad, owner and designer of Staging Spaces & Design in Bend, which specializes in home staging, style and design. “Your guests are going to walk in, and it’s really their first impression, so it’s either warm and welcoming, or not,” Bomstad said.
One approach is to focus on five foundational elements of the entryway, according to Traci Porterfield, designer and co-owner of Circa Interiors, an interior design firm that has operated in Bend since 1991. “I think the entry especially can be so beautiful and also functional as long as you have a few key pieces,” Porterfield said. Start with a grounding piece of furniture, whether it’s a console table or sideboard that offers some storage. Above this table or sideboard, choose something that makes a statement, Porterfield said. “My preference is to do a dramatic piece of artwork, but an interesting mirror works as well,” she said. As a third element, Porterfield recommends having something fresh like a plant, flowers or branches. Fourth, it’s important to engage more senses than the eyes. “There always needs to be a scented candle, and in my world, it’s always burning,” Porterfield said. Finally—a must in the high desert—a durable, beautiful rug. Porterfield personally opts for hand-knotted styles. “I recommend choosing something that hides dirt but it doesn’t have to be an entry mat,” she said. “It can be something that offers a lot of style.”
One bonus design choice will make an impact before any visitors even pass through the threshold: the front door and its hardware. Even if choosing more affordable hardware in the rest of the home, front door hardware is worth the investment, Porterfield said.
A beautiful entryway also doesn’t have to be a big entryway. For homes that are short on space, Bomstad said to swap in a nightstand for a console table or add floating shelves for extra storage.
Photo by Andrea Rugg Photography
Bomstad often helps design mudrooms, with smart pieces such as benches and cubbies for baskets. One new feature that’s rising in popularity is especially appropriate for Bend: a metal tub dog wash, allowing clients to bathe their dogs as easily as a groomer, sometimes just off the mudroom in the laundry room. She also typically adds a counter space meant for charging and storing devices; it’s the kind of feature you might not think of without expert help.
Like any room in the home, it may take time to curate an entryway to get it just right. “You make smarter choices when you’ve lived in a house for a little bit,” said Allison Clouser, co-owner of Clouz Houz, and formerly of Design Bar Bend. Clouser and her husband recently launched their new venture in Clouz Houz, offering design services and flipping fixer uppers. “Especially in this house, we use our front door all the time,” Clouser said of her family’s home. “We don’t have a mudroom like a lot of new houses do these days.”
She manages with a console table, benches and baskets for people to kick off and stash their shoes. In the console table, Clouser has a place to store mail, keys and leashes for their golden retrievers. Light-colored rugs help hide the dog fur that inevitably escapes a daily vacuum run. “This space has to work in multiple ways,” she said, explaining finding the balance of beauty with a spot her teenagers and their friends pass through daily.
A final curated detail that sets the tone of the entryway is lighting. “The lighting is really key in an entryway,” Clouser said. Changing the overhead lighting, or simply adding a lamp, can transform the whole setting of an entryway, she said. Porterfield agreed, explaining soft or adjustable lighting is essential.“That way if it’s dark out, you’re not coming into this blast of light,” Porterfield said. “That might be done with a lamp, or the light is on a dimmer.”
In a well-done entryway, there is a special feeling when you walk in. “The goal is that it feels warm and welcoming,” Porterfield said. “And there’s a hint of what’s about to come.”
See that distinctive silhouette outlining the edges of Three Fingered Jack along the Cascade Range? Well, deeper in the archives of history is the tale of a three-fingered pioneer trapper named Jack who lived in the shadow of the shield volcano. There’s more to a name than meets the eye. We may pass roads, landmarks and natural features every day and not give their names a second thought. Yet, the history of an area is often revealed in its landscape’s lexicon, while also providing layers of intriguing narrative. Here’s a glimpse of times gone by and a bit of Central Oregon unveiled, one name at a time.
Three Fingered Jack
This easily identified Cascade peak was called Mount Marion in the 1870s—and was given that name after a road-building party from Marion County that was in the area at the time. The volcano has three main rock spires that lend it a descriptive meaning, and many a traveler along the Santiam Pass has tried to make out the pattern of three fingers. However, Lewis “Tam” McArthur (1883-1951)—secretary for the Oregon Geographic Board for many years—wrote that it actually got its name from a three-fingered trapper named Jack who had a cabin nearby. The first ascent of the tallest spire of the peak was on September 3, 1923, when six men from Bend climbed to the summit of the highest “finger.”
Marshall “Marsh” Awbrey, 1910
Awbrey Butte
Was the prominent butte located in northwest Bend named after a prominent citizen? Not quite, although Marshall “Marsh” Awbrey was an early settler who attempted, like many a Central Oregon resident, to grow his fields in an often disagreeable Central Oregon climate. Born in 1829, the Missouri native served in Mexican and Rogue wars, and drove freight wagons from Jacksonville, Oregon, to the gold mines of Yreka, California. He came to Central Oregon in the early 1870s, moving near the Deschutes River and settling near what is now the site of Harmon Park in Bend. There, he planted some rye in the meadow along the river. A severe winter, followed by devastating spring frosts, destroyed his crop so he moved farther downstream on the Deschutes River and settled near the present site of Tumalo. While his crops didn’t stick, his name did.
Market Roads
When settling in Deschutes County in the decade from 1920-1930, just owning land created decent odds that a market road would be created in your name. According to the Deschutes Historical Society, the Oregon Market Road Act of 1919 provided funding for the construction of roads to facilitate access to agricultural resources and give from farmers to fishermen the ability to “get their goods to market.” There were some fifty market roads constructed during this era, and they were given names for the property owners whose land the road traversed.
Dutchman Flat, 1950
Dutchman Flat
Dutchman Flat is found two miles north of Mount Bachelor and was named for a homesteader nicknamed “Dutch John” Feldewerd. He was one of a multitude of Dutch settlers in the area in the 1880s who came for the promises provided by open space and land ownership. Dutch ranched near the present site of Bend in the 1880s and ranged his sheep and cattle as far west as Sparks Lake. He had a property near Vandevert Ranch where it is written that he and his neighbor “Scoggin” (William G. Scoggin) had an argument over a spring near the boundary of their adjoining property—both believed they had rights to its water. Their method of conflict resolution was a duel. Scoggin shot first and wounded Dutch John. Scoggin then rode his horse to Prineville, bringing a doctor back to treat Dutch John who later recovered. Afterward, both men decided to sell or abandon their claims.
Brothers
Even during bygone days of wagon travel, there have been rest stops for weary travelers. On the early road from Bend to Burns, Brothers was one such resting point for wagoneers. The community had a store, saloon, school and later a service station. In 1913, Patrick H. Coffey, its first postmaster, suggested the name to be Brothers to commemorate the several sets of brothers from different families who had homesteaded nearby: the King, Stenkamp, Varco, Kruse and Hogue families. Several years of drought and difficult economic times shattered the dreams of many of the early settlers. However, construction of Highway 20 through eastern Oregon led to new opportunities for Brothers to provide rest and service for travelers through the high desert, where the rest stop exists today.
Ashton Eaton Boulevard
Referred to as “World’s Greatest Athlete,” decathlete Ashton Eaton earned not only a gold medal in 2012, but that year he earned the La Pine City Council’s unanimous vote to rename a portion of U.S. Highway 97 within the city limits as Ashton Eaton Boulevard. Ashton Eaton was born in Portland, Oregon, and he and his mother moved to La Pine when he was a young boy. Later they moved to Bend where Ashton attended middle school and Mountain View High School. A track athlete at University of Oregon, he competed in the heptathlon and decathlon where he won five collegiate national championships—he holds the 2010-2012 world record in the heptathlon, and in 2012 he set the world record for the decathlon. His 2012 Olympic victory sealed the deal for La Pine’s hometown hero, and secured his path along the boulevard that bears his name today and secures his place in Central Oregon history.
Jefferson Greene remembers his grandmother, Verbena “Sasawaipum” Greene, telling stories about the first people and the trees, mountains and animals that spoke with the breeze. Most of all he remembers her words about the water and tributaries of the Deschutes River.
His grandmother’s is just one voice among the many elders who have lived on the land of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. As both water and Native languages recede under modern pressures, contemporary voices seek to connect newer generations with traditional practices from the past, bring them into the present and carry them into the future. Through the revitalization and reverence of language, craft and tradition, Native people such as Greene and Brigette McConville, a fisherwoman, artist and cultural historian, connect to the river and teach others about its past and the need to protect its future.
Jefferson Greene seeks to revitalize the Native Ichishkiin language and pass along traditions. Photo courtesy of Wahoo Films
ESSENTIAL HISTORY
Much knowledge about the river was passed down through oral history by the generations of elders who have lived on the 1,019-square-mile Warm Springs Reservation. The tribes include a confederacy of three original bands of Wasco, two bands from Warm Springs, and members of the huge Paiute population spread across five states.
The Deschutes River starts from snow-fed headwaters near Little Lava Lake in the Cascade Mountains. It then flows through rugged and arid country, ribboning through deep, rim-rocked canyons along the way that form fertile valleys on its 252-mile northward stretch to the Columbia River. The Warm Springs River is the largest watershed within the reservation and the largest tributary to the Lower Deschutes. The river and creeks that cross the Warm Springs Reservation provide essential habitat for wild populations of spring and fall Chinook, mid-Columbia River summer steelhead, bull trout, redband trout, Pacific lamprey and a variety of non-salmonid species.
Tribal members still fish for salmon with dip nets and collect lamprey at Sherars Falls, which was the site of a crossing point for local tribes as well as a sacred fishing ground. Today, fish are caught from an elaborate scaffolding and are used for ceremonial purposes and for subsistence distribution to tribal members.
TEACHING TRADITION
It’s from the banks of the Deschutes that Jefferson Greene collects tule reeds to create traditional items, including a recently completed 16-foot-long canoe that he paddled on the river with his young son aboard. A member of the Warm Springs Tribe, Greene wants to revitalize and protect the Tribe’s cultural and ceremonial practices. He has learned songs, stories, drumming and basketry from elders that he hopes to pass on. As an Ichishkiin language instructor, he seeks to preserve the language, while maintaining ancient traditions by building canoes and sharing river adventures with young people from across the Northwest. Greene has been a main force in revitalizing the canoe tradition at Warm Springs. A long canoe can accommodate as many as thirty people at a time as they traverse lakes, reservoirs and the ocean. He persuaded the Tribal government to purchase an ocean-going canoe so that groups, with an emphasis on teenagers, could participate in the Northwest Tribal Canoe Journeys, a coastal event drawing together tribes from across the region. Greene brought together Native youth from the Warm Springs, Yakama and Umatilla reservations for the experience, reinforcing Indigenous history and encouraging important cultural and traditional values.
Greene, an executive at the Columbia River Institute for Indigenous Development Foundation, is passionate about the value he places on language, culture and water. “Our relationships have been tied through water,” he said. “It’s important that it run free, for that freedom to flow…and to give life. In ceremonies we start and finish with water.”
To help expand the cultural dialogue, Greene was commissioned to create the tule reed canoe he paddled on the river with his son as part of the current “Creations of Spirit” exhibition at the High Desert Museum, which has the goal of immersing visitors in the Indigenous Plateau worldview.
FISHING THE WATERS
Brigette McConville has spent her life on the river and is an important steward of varying cultural traditions, including fishing and beading arts—two of the historically most-traded items on the Columbia River. As a child, she caught salmon and lamprey, and she has owned and operated Salmon King Fisheries with her husband Sean McConville on the Warm Springs Reservation for more than a decade. The shop processes and provides Columbia River-caught salmon, a primary food source for local tribes for thousands of years. McConville and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs define themselves as Salmon People, and her life has been dedicated to the water, and particularly to the fish: she served as the Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commissioner on the Fish and Wildlife Committee of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and as a Warm Springs Tribal Council member. Fishing is an important part of tribal history and McConville’s goal is to protect water throughout the Columbia Basin for generations to come. “But it is going to be a tough task,” she said. “Mother Nature is very tired and is about ready to give up on human nature.”
For McConville, a producer of an upcoming documentary that amplifies Indigenous voices on the subject of water, the idea for the film, A Reflection of Life, came about during a discussion of its importance and what it means to her. “I have respect for water and cherish it greatly,” she said. The intention of the project was to capture elders’ and others’ traditional and cultural viewpoints on water and its importance to them,” she said.
DREAMS OF WATER
Greene explained that in times of water deprivation, he and others “go into the places of dreams.” Through their work and their connections to others—as part of tribal traditions or through art in the larger community—Greene and McConville’s voices, and others’, are amplified. “We dream of these things: What we hear beneath the vibration of our feet, the heartbeat from the earth…and water.”
Visit the exhibition “Creations of Spirit” at the High Desert Museum through October 1. See highdesertmuseum.org.
Bend filmmaker Jesse Locke said his new documentary, A Reflection of Life, is the best work he has helped produce. While Oscar recognition would be welcome, he hopes it will help people fully realize just how important our water sources are to life. The full-length documentary is part of a series of social justice films made in partnership with World Muse and will premiere in Central Oregon this spring after being in production since summer of 2022.
“Each year we look around and see what the community conversations are; what keeps coming up over and over?” said World Muse Founder and Director, Amanda Stuermer. “There were so many water issues popping up, from the Warm Springs reservation’s resort development to the boil water notices, and broader conversations about water throughout the Northwest.” A Reflection of Life focuses on water issues, specifically in Oregon, and amplifies Indigenous experiences and stories. Voices in the film are from members of Warm Springs, Umatilla, Nez Perce, Klamath, Yakima, Hopi, Standing Rock and Valdez tribes.
The series came about when World Muse and Unlocked Films partnered for the first time in 2019 to create the short youth documentary, A Reflection of Hope, about the Generation Z population in Central Oregon, which originally demonstrated how impactful films could be for a larger audience.
Making these social justice films is a passion for Unlocked Films founder, Locke, who said each of the Reflection series films have important issues that may make some people uncomfortable, but he says that’s okay because that’s how we start a conversation. “We are all in this together, and the more you know about other cultures and other people, the less frightened you become,” said Locke. “At the end of the day, we are all humans trying to provide for the people we love.”
In 2020, the next film in the series, A Reflection of Change, was produced during the height of the COVID pandemic. “We took a deep look into the BIPOC community and researched their traumas, especially with the pandemic and lockdown,” said Stuermer. Next, they produced A Reflection of Self in 2021 about the LGBTQIA+ community. It was with A Reflection of Self that MUSE fully realized the impact of films going out to a broader global audience, as this film won a best documentary award at an international film festival in Barcelona, Spain.
“Our films live beyond the event; our films can travel to different schools and communities,” said Stuermer, who estimates World Muse has impacted thousands of people since its founding in 2009, and its beginnings as a catalyst for change and empowerment for women and girls.
“With the pandemic we found it was a turning point; people’s attention spans changed, and through film we had more access to provide more information to more people. Films allow us to create empathy as we look at various issues, it’s a different experience, films land in a different way,” Stuermer said.
While Locke said he has loved every film in the Reflection series, he said A Reflection of Life moved him to tears while he edited down about sixty hours of raw footage to an hour and a half. He believes it’s the best work to date. Native elders gave the crew unprecedented access so now through the film, their voices talking about land and water may be shared with a broader audience.
World Premiere
A Reflection of Life debuts April 20 at the Tower Theatre and at the Madras Performing Arts Center. The film will also be available virtually that night. The Conversation Series with various Native American producers will be held the following day on April 21 at The High Desert Music Hall in Redmond.
Compiled by Bronte Dod, Annie Fast and Bend Magazine Staff
Photo by Pete Alport | Skier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa
The spring skiing season in Central Oregon is one of the most anticipated times of the year for avid skiers and snowboarders. With the official season often lasting well into May and backcountry opportunities continuing through June, it’s no wonder why. In this complete guide to spring skiing in Central Oregon, explore the unique qualities of spring snow along with the best places in Oregon to experience those sunny ski days. So, grab your gear and explore the beauty of late-season skiing here.
Photo by Jill Rosell
SPRING SNOW
Wondering how spring skiing differs from winter? In short, it’s the snow. Unlike the deep winter, when storms beckon skiers with fresh powder and first tracks, spring skiing is about a variety of snows. Local writer Annie Fast spoke with Kevin Grove, a local mountain athlete and alpinist who also happens to be a professor of physics and engineering at Central Oregon Community College with expertise in snow science, who was excited to share his views on spring skiing. Grove quipped, “I always have this dilemma of, ‘What do I like more corn or powder?’ When it’s powder season, it’s powder. But when it’s corn season, it’s definitely corn—it’s such a fun time of the year.” He explained that corn snow is actually old snow that has gone through a melt-freeze cycle during the warm days and cold nights of spring. “Over a period of time, those beautiful six-sided snowflakes become spheres and they connect to become larger spheres, which become corn.” The key to scoring perfect corn, he explained, is a combination of warm sunny days combined with freezing temps at night to “lock up” the snowpack.
CRUST
On an ideal spring day, skiers are likely to encounter early-morning firm and icy conditions, “There’s definitely a sweet spot,” shared Grove, the key is to catch it when it’s not too firm and not too soft for ideal skiing conditions. The rule of thumb is to ski between 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Cascades. Grove refers to the firm morning conditions as “crust,” a hard surface that makes for easy travel in the backcountry a.k.a. “crust cruising.” Compared to the winter when backcountry skiers and splitboarders exhaust themselves by breaking trail through deep snow, spring travel is a breeze, which allows deeper and further access to popular destinations such as the Three Sisters and Broken Top. Recreational backcountry skiers find fun lines and wind lips to make turns, while alpinists, equipped with crampons, ice axes and ropes, eye big chutes and couloirs to descend. Meanwhile, inbounds at Mt. Bachelor, the early-morning crust beckons athletes looking for the thrill of carving high-speed groomers.
Photo by Alyssa Henry
CORN
As the morning progresses, the frozen snow turns to corn, and the freestylers awaken to take advantage of the forgiving conditions in the Woodward Mountain Parks and halfpipe at the resort. This is an opportunity to practice tricks and spins or to carve the soft conditions across the mountain. Mt. Bachelor’s terrain park manager Alex Storjohan said, “We get a lot of snow throughout the winter making it more challenging to keep parks prime, so the springtime is when we really get to focus on all of our parks and make them great for the extended spring season. We also have one of the longest halfpipe seasons in North America. We expect the halfpipe to be open through the end of the season or as long as the snow conditions allow for it.” Whether on the hunt for airtime, rails or transitions, spring is “go” time.
SLUSH
On sunny afternoons it’s likely the solar effect on the snow will gradually advance it into deep slush, or if there’s any hint of new snow, which does happen—because it is spring in Central Oregon after all—it will become a sticky surface known as mashed potatoes, true to the food theme—not the creamy kind, but the over-whipped sticky version that makes it difficult to glide down the mountain. These unique snow conditions are reflected in Mt. Bachelor’s earlier operating hours in the spring, when lifts open at 8:30 a.m. and close earlier at 1:30 p.m.
APRÈS SKI
On sunny afternoons, spring skiers transition to après ski. At the resort, it’s time to hit the main lodge sundeck or seek out the weekly 10 Barrel Snow Beach parties. In the backcountry, après celebrations go down back at a Sno-Park gathered around the tailgate luxuriating in the late-day sunshine. Mt. Bachelor celebrates the season with their finale held on Memorial Day weekend, which features the addition of lift-served downhill bike park laps off Little Pine, live music, pond-skimming and costumes—basically the best of spring. Perhaps the early ski or snowboard session is the end or just the start of a classic Bend multisport day. There’s still plenty of time for a round of golf, a couple laps at Phil’s, or a paddle at the whitewater park. Just don’t forget the sunscreen.
Photo by Adam McKibben
WHERE TO SPRING SKI
Want to explore beyond tried and true Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort? Luckily, Oregon is home to some of the best spring skiing conditions in the Pacific Northwest. From Hoodoo Ski Resort’s charm to Timberline’s elevation or Anthony Lakes’ powder, there is no shortage of options. Bronte Dod shares some of the best places to lose a few layers and ski all kinds of spring snow.
The base of Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort sits at 7,100 feet—and the conditions just get better from there. It’s the highest base in Oregon, and the resort has some of the lightest powder you’ll find in the state. A five-hour drive from Bend, Anthony Lakes is worth turning into a multi-day ski trip to make the most of the weather, terrain and great prices. Don’t let the one-chair stat fool you—Anthony Lakes may be a hometown ski hill, but there are a handful of black diamond trails that can challenge seasoned riders.
Carved into a hillside outside of Sisters, Hoodoo Ski Area is much more than a local’s ski hill. With five lifts and dozens of trails to explore, the ski area boasts some top-notch skiing. Head to Hoodoo this spring if you’re looking for a skiing experience for your whole family. Plus, Hoodoo offers the only night skiing option in Central Oregon. For those that don’t want to ski but still want to enjoy the snow and good weather in the spring, Hoodoo also offers tubing.
MOUNT HOOD MEADOWS/TIMBERLINE
As the highest peak in Oregon, Mount Hood has some of the best skiing in the state. There are five ski areas to choose from, depending on your abilities and with the best spring conditions at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area and Timberline Lodge & Ski Area. Both offer night skiing into March. At the end of the day, find a spot in the lodge and enjoy the après-ski menus and stunning views.
It’s a peaceful evening at Suttle Lake Lodge with its breathtaking natural views and rustic atmosphere. The lake is glassy, the surrounding forest is vibrant and the aroma of delicious food drifts down to the boathouse. The Royal Coachmen, a pop-up culinary and fly-fishing experience was setting up for an evening of community, nature and nourishment.
Founded in 2022 by Doug Adams and James Park, The Royal Coachmen is a dining series that celebrates good food, community and nature by bringing premier culinary artistry to the banks of beautiful streams, rivers and lakes. Park said, “At its essence, The Royal Coachmen is about bringing people together—chefs, brewers, guides, local fishing experts, winemakers and guests, and creating a one-of-a-kind experience.” There is no better duo to lead these evenings than Adams and Park.
Eric Bartle, of The Wilderness Hunters. Photo by Kevin Prieto
Adams, a renowned Portland-based chef with decades of experience in the restaurant industry, is the brain behind The Royal Coachman’s mouthwatering menus. His resume includes stints at some of Portland’s most loved eateries, Pok Pok, Ox, and Paley’s Place, to name a few. Many may also recognize him from his 2015 appearance as a Bravo network’s“Top Chef” finalist. In 2016 he opened his first restaurant, Bullard, which specialized in Tex-Mex-inspired cuisine. His Texan roots shine through in many of his culinary works, with his beloved fried chicken earning him a nomination for a 2016 James Beard Award Rising Star. He has achieved many of the goals most chefs set out to accomplish, but along the way, he found that balance can be hard to obtain. He says that his years spent in high-profile, fast-paced kitchens were some of the best of his life but that it also meant he was working fifteen-hour days six to seven days a week. The Royal Coachmen was a chance to slow down and reconnect with his love for the outdoors.
Park, an expert fly fisherman and owner of the Red Truck Fly Fishing Company in Sacramento, was a crucial inspiration for Adams to spend more time in nature. The pair first crossed paths several years ago at a street fair in Portland. They connected instantly over a love of fishing, and Park promised to take an overworked Adams, who hadn’t been able to get out on the water in years, on a fishing trip. From there, the friendship only grew, and soon the idea of combining their two great passions came to fruition.
It was early 2022 when the pair first discussed The Royal Coachmen, and within just a few months, they had hosted events in Seattle and Portland. Adams prepares the food while Park gives fly-fishing demos, offering insight into casting technique and tying skills. Each dinner has its unique and memorable flair. “We’ve served sandwiches in fly shop parking lots, we’ve done seven-course dinners on a dock right on the water and popped up at some of Portland’s best restaurants,” Adams said. Their only rule is that the food must be meaningful and delicious.
Attendees learn to fish with James Park at The Royal Coachmen events. Photo by Kevin Prieto
They achieve this through the food’s expert preparation and deep connection with Oregon’s landscape. Guests will enjoy wines and produce sourced from the Willamette Valley and seafood fresh from the Oregon Coast. Adams said, “When I cook and enjoy these things, it brings me a deep sense of connection to where I live and the people that bring it to life.”
In preparing the Suttle Lake Lodge pop-up menu, Adams sourced inspiration from childhood memories of stopping at roadside steakhouses with his dad post-fishing. He brought along guest chef Peter Cho, owner of the award-winning Han Oak restaurant, and together they delivered a delicious Old West Steakhouse meal.
The evening began with refreshing and light starters. The Bay Shrimp Cocktail, complete with freshly made cocktail sauce, iceberg lettuce, and lemon, was served alongside a flavorful and bright Heirloom Tomato and Blue Cheese salad dressed in a zesty lemon herb vinaigrette. The creamy, pungent blue cheese paired with the sweetness of the heirloom tomatoes made for a balanced and delicious flavor profile, topped with summer beans, basil and hazelnuts for a little crunchy texture.
A diverse relish tray provided various fermented vegetables, and an array of tastes from plum vinegar pickles to smoked Jimmy Nardello peppers, and sweet baby corn to daikon kimchi, a traditional Korean condiment made from fermented radish. No relish tray is complete without the sauces, and Adams didn’t disappoint. There was a sweet, spicy, candied jalapeño caper relish and a thick and delicious horsey cream sauce. Warm dinner rolls provided a soft buttery vehicle for all.
The chefs prepared most main courses with the signature Royal Coachman style of open-flame cooking. The smoked prime rib acted as the hearty anchor of the meal, which paired well with the rich and slightly tangy creamed braising greens. Finally, the charred scallion mashed potatoes were soft and buttery while maintaining great flavor.
Grilled salmon, with candied jalapeño and caper relish, served with homemade salt and vinegar chips.
For dessert was Adam’s take on a sweet and refreshing strawberry shortcake. The tart balsamic strawberries, velvety EVOO whip cream, and flavorful basil made for a mouthwatering end to the evening.
For a taste of The Royal Coachmen, you’re in luck, as the duo plans to continue hosting beautiful dinners in memorable places with a clear mission: “Connection is what we are after.” Adams said. “That’s the heart of Royal Coachmen. Connecting people to people, people to nature, connecting me with fish.”
We do it 20,000 times a day. Breathe in, breathe out. But what if the goal is to run faster, sing better, lower stress, overcome addiction, or manage pain and anxiety? Success might come from two locals, one a physical therapist and the other a breathwork coach, who believe magic happens when we marshal the power of breath for wellbeing.
From James Nestor’s best-selling book, Breath: the New Science of a Lost Art, to pop-up reminders on personal fitness trackers, breathwork is part of mindfulness practices such as yoga and meditation that are now accepted into mainstream health and wellness programs. Conscious breathing got a big bump in popularity during the pandemic for managing stress, but it is rooted in thousands of years of practice that survived from early religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Judaism along with Indigenous cultures worldwide, including Native American tribes who believed that certain breathing techniques would promote vitality and longevity.
Breathing 101
“Breathing is part of the solution to everything,” said Andy Sabatier who opened Bend’s Academy West: Breathing & Performance in 2019. After earning a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at New York University, he spent years caring for patients in intensive care units, first at Stanford Hospital and more recently at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. He saw the debilitating effects of dysfunctional breathing using the mouth, neck and shoulders and fast shallow breathing. “If you can’t breathe functionally, you can’t thrive,” he said. “My mission is to educate anyone who is curious, motivated or suffering.” In his practice, that means surgical patients, people with injuries, athletes of all ages, musicians, parents and other health care professionals will learn about the science of breathing; how even small adjustments in the way we inhale and exhale can produce positive changes in our biological, psychological, social and spiritual realms.
He offers a class he calls “Breathing 101” to take individuals deep into the mechanics of breathing and break down the differences between functional (helpful) breathing and dysfunctional (harmful) breathing patterns. “We show folks how to use their breathing system more effectively by tweaking what they’re already doing—breathing,” he said.
“Andy was a godsend,” said Mike Wilkins, a Bend building contractor who fell off his dirt bike last March and landed in a boulder field, breaking ribs, perforating a lung, lacerating kidneys and rupturing his spleen.
After eight days in the hospital, his surgeon, Jennifer Watters, M.D., referred him to Sabatier who introduced him to breathing techniques and ways of incorporating those into exercise. “I made a fairly remarkable recovery,” he said, noting that he was able to ride his mountain bike three months after the crash. “I am doing remarkably well and have no lingering issues.” Sabatier presented Wilkins’ case at the American College of Surgeons Oregon chapter meeting last June in Sunriver. Academy West offers weekly classes as well as individual evaluations and physical therapy at a new studio on Bend’s west side.
Breathwork Experience
Jon Paul Crimi offers Central Oregonians an entirely different experience, one born from his own struggles with addiction and alopecia. At age 23, Crimi was working as a personal trainer and trying to make it as a method actor in Los Angeles when his hair—from eyebrows to toes—abandoned him. Nothing took away his anxiety and depression until a twelve-step program helped him conquer addiction, and he discovered breathwork—an umbrella term encompassing a range of breathing techniques for physical, mental and spiritual health.
Now twenty-two years sober and a coach to the stars (Owen Wilson and Matthew Perry among them), he holds live “Breathwork with Gong Sound Healing” classes at the Riverhouse Convention Center, which often max out at 250-to-300 participants.
At a recent class, people carried yoga mats and blankets into the convention hall and spread them on the floor. Franchot Tone sang and played guitar until the lights went out and Crimi began. “It’s going to be a wild ride,” he said, as he explained what participants could expect over the next hour. He exhorted them to have an open mind. “It’s an experience that will change your life.”
He instructed people to lie on their backs, eyes closed, hands over belly and chest, and to begin breathing through the mouth in a technique he calls circular breathing—two big breaths in and one quick exhale—for twenty-seven minutes. He motivated participants to stay the course, let the emotions flow, and gave them permission to cry if they needed to. The class climaxed with a wavelike rumbling of gongs and ended with a primal, purging yell from participants. “I want to give people a huge emotional release,” he said. “I want people to walk out in gratitude after anchoring moments in their hearts,” he said of the technique he uses to finish the class. “I don’t just want to do a class, but I want to be moved myself.”
When asked about his open-mouth breathing technique that breaks with current thinking about functional breath, Crimi acknowledged that ninety-nine percent of breath should be through the nose but added that “a little bit of mouth breathing to shift an entire life is worth it.”
When he began breathwork, he offered individual coaching but now says his mission is to spread the technique to as many people on the planet as possible by teaching others to facilitate breathwork classes. He’s been featured in the HuffPost, has been a guest on national talk shows and podcasts, and has coached Olympic athletes, plus Emmy and Grammy winners.
Sabatier and Crimi are both disciples of the power of breath to transform the course of one’s life—as it has for both of them, in different ways. Of the thousands of breaths we take each day, deliberate, controlled inhales and exhales may help a person succeed at a goal most haven’t given much breath to.
Michael “Mike” and Kathryn “Kat” Burn make it a point to look at things differently. Take their home, for example. It’s constructed of prefabricated panels rarely seen in custom-home neighborhoods. Then there’s the design—eight rectangular rooms arranged around a central courtyard in the shape of a hashtag, earning it the name “Octothorpe House.”
Form and Function: The Burn family home met design and construction challenges to create their contemporary home.
The design came from award-winning Mork-Ulnes Architects of San Francisco and Oslo, Norway, who previously had designed a remodel for the couple’s San Francisco home. The Burns felt the Mork-Ulnes team would embrace the challenge of designing an almost entirely wood home in Bend with many sustainability features. They wanted something different from the status quo and had three requests for the architects: it should be made of panels, it should be as small as possible given minimum square-footage requirements in their residential development, and it should have a courtyard as a refuge from Central Oregon’s wind.
The Move to Central Oregon in 2018
The couple moved to Central Oregon in 2018 for the lifestyle and for more time in the outdoors with their son Alan, now age 9. Both worked in the Bay Area for many years, Kat in pharmaceutical development, and Mike as the owner of a consulting company focused on innovation systems. Mike grew up in Newcastle, England, and was familiar with panel-built homes. He wanted “a stronger, more robust, high-quality house with better insulation, airtightness and fire resistance,” he said. Both Burns felt they had a moral responsibility to build with sustainable materials.
The walls and ceiling are made of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels manufactured by SmartLam North American of Columbia Falls, Montana—one of a handful of U.S. factories producing them. Some of the CLT was made from salvaged lodgepole “blue pine” lumber killed by mountain beetles.
Viewed from above, the home looks like an octothorpe, otherwise referred to as a hashtag.
The product is made by compressing and gluing layers of solid wood in a cross pattern, which endows it with exceptional strength compared to traditional stud-framed walls. It is widely used throughout Europe and is gaining popularity in the United States
for mid- and high-rise commercial buildings as well as residential.
Building outside of standard practices had its challenges. For starters, the home is built from the inside out. “You assemble it like a Lego house,” said builder Trevor Downing, who found it difficult to find subcontractors willing to learn this new style of construction. He ended up doing much of the work himself, including the siding. “Trevor and his subs had to reinvent the wheel, no small feat,” said Casper Mork-Ulnes, founder of Mork-Ulnes Architects.
The interior wall panels arrived from the factory with windows and other holes precut. Four inches thick, the room-size panels are so heavy a crane was needed to lift and place them on the foundation. Once in place, utilities such as electrical were placed on the outside of the panels and pulled through to the interior walls. A sticky, self-adhering spray insulation was added before plywood went on to make the dwelling airtight.
In a nod to the Awbrey Hall fire that burned through Bend’s westside in 1990, the homeowners chose a burned cedar wood product called Shou sugi ban for the exterior siding. Originating from Japan, the process of burning and charring the wood makes the product waterproof, and resistant to fire, decay and insects, plus it requires almost no maintenance over the years.
Thoughtful Use of Space
“The greenest part of our home is the part we didn’t build,” Mike said. The couple met the minimum of 2,800 square feet of living space required by their residential development, even though it was larger than what they wanted for their one-story home.“It was exciting for us to work with American clients who didn’t necessarily want a mega-mansion. In Europe we’re used to being economical with space,” Mork-Ulnes said. “There’s not a square inch of wasted space,” Kat said. “Everything is useful living space.”
The design team paid particular attention to where the house sat on the site. “It was about not filling up the entire lot,” she said. “It was about placing it in the right position for views and privacy, making the most of the space.”
The hashtag design of rooms around the courtyard includes a large rectangular space consisting of the living and dining rooms, kitchen and a large butler’s pantry (also known in Britain as a “dairy room with storage”). Each room flows into the next, negating the need for hallways.
The four bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms, with the primary suite slightly larger than the other rooms. An office for the work-from-home-couple doubles as a guest bedroom with a hidden Murphy bed. Each room has a door to the courtyard and another door leading to a patio or the natural environment. Inhabitants can easily cross between rooms through the center courtyard or via interior spaces. This crisscross pattern of open doors also lends itself to cross ventilation of fresh air on hot days. Large eight-by-eight-foot windows in every room convey light and connect people on the inside with the outside landscape.
Cross Ventilation: Windows to the exterior of the home and interior courtyard bring in light and breezes on warm days.
Because the walls and roof were prefabricated and panels had to fit perfectly with one another, architectural drawings were extensive and specified every aspect of construction. “They were some of the most detailed plans I’ve ever seen,” Downing said. “There must have been one-hundred pages which laid out everything from strict guidelines for CLT installation to tile design and bathroom fixtures. Having a plan that detailed helped a ton.” And because of the extraordinary “tightness” of construction, walls and windows required no trim to cover rough or uneven edges.
Modern Design Meets the High Desert
The wood panels made of pine, spruce and fir imbue the home with a warm, Scandinavian chalet feel. There’s no sheetrock or painted surface anywhere in the house. The high insulation values, thick walls and windows dampen sound and give spaces a quiet coziness. “The acoustics are great,” Kat said.
“The beautiful high desert environment and the sculptural design of the house drew us toward [the design aesthetics of] Donald Judd’s Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas,” said Lexie Mork-Ulnes, interior designer. She said the two dominant materials in Octothorpe—the CLT and the concrete floors—inspired a muted color palette for furniture, surfaces and fixtures that would merge with the natural landscape. Furnishings are made of wool, felt and leather.
Charred-wood exterior siding of Shou sugi ban was selected in part for its qualities of resistance to fire, decay and insects.
A unique coffee table in the living room crafted by Oakland wood artist Yvonne Mouser was inspired by the Three Sisters peaks visible from the sofa. She used a chainsaw and blow torch on three Douglas fir blocks to create three peaks that protrude through smoked glass to mimic the view.
The public part of the kitchen is sleek and uncluttered with a black paper-stone island. It’s the only dark feature in the great room except for a black Danish wood-burning stove in the living room. Cabinets hold a discreet induction stove and dishwasher. The tidy kitchen hides a walkaround pantry where no cook’s tool was overlooked. It has a commercial-grade stainless steel sink, two refrigerators and freezers, shelving for appliances and dry goods and extensive counters for food prep and cabinetry for storage.
“God is in the details,” said Casper Mork-Ulnes. “The initial concept is as important as the final details and execution. We had to think it through and design every little thing. We picked everything from the toilet paper holder to recessed door handles and light switches.”
Dustin Moore of San Francisco-based Strata Landscape Architecture worked with Mork-Ulnes from the beginning to ensure consistency between the house and the landscape. The space immediately surrounding the building is populated with native plants that require little water and hardscapes such as concrete steps leading to a gas fire pit and a covered outdoor dining and barbeque area.
Mike describes himself and Kat as compulsively committed. “If you’re going to build something, build something epic,” he said. After two years of living in the house, the couple feels they accomplished their goal. “We have this house, and we can walk right into the forest. I have to pinch myself.”
While more established winter pastimes such as Nordic and downhill skiing have surged in popularity in the past few years, fat biking is growing at a much slower pace, and that’s just fine with Central Oregon Trail Alliance winter trail steward Gary Meyer. Meyer is the leading champion of fat biking in Bend, and is responsible for the ongoing development of the Wanoga Snow Bike trails—a dedicated trail network offering nine miles of groomed trails. Meyer, an avid year-round cyclist, first found his passion for winter biking in Alaska, where fat biking originated. Meyer has taken this passion to the limits, competing in the Iditabike in 1988 on a custom bike and contributing to the development of the first fat bikes, which were only made commercially available in the mid-2000s. The sport is still in its teens, but all signs point to a growing following. Bend is the ideal place to give it a try.
Fat Tire Biking | Photo by Trevor Lyden
A fat bike is considered a specialized rigid mountain bike that can accommodate the 3.5-inch (or wider) tires used to maintain traction on the snow. Rentals are readily available, but Meyer cautions that your best bet for a positive inaugural fat biking experience is to go with an experienced rider or a guide. This ensures that you’re riding in the ideal and somewhat specific firmness of snow conditions. Meyer explains that the ideal conditions are basically the opposite of those for downhill skiing—you want hard and firm, not soft and deep—when the skiing is bad, the fat biking is good.
Photo by Trevor Lyden
Locally, Cog Wild offers one-day guided rides for intermediate to advanced cyclists, during which you can expect to learn all the fundamentals, from how to dress for the sport to how to stay warm—and best practices, like deflating your tires to a low PSI. The location of the guided rides vary depending on snow conditions, from higher-elevation Tumalo Falls trails early in the season to lower-elevation rides, which can even include setting off directly from the Cog Wild offices at LOGE on Century Drive.
After mastering the basics, rent or buy a fat bike and set out to explore the trails. Central Oregon Fatbikes Facebook page is a resource for enthusiasts and boasts more than one thousand followers. Meyer is the lead communicator along with a lively group of participants who share details and photos of day-to-day conditions at trails near and far. Whether it’s a one-off adventure or the beginning of a new winter sport, explore Central Oregon on these trails with a fat bike on the snow.
Wanoga Snow Bike Trails
This pair of looped trails starts off at the Wanoga Sno-Park off Century Drive. Here, you’ll not only find the most consistent and quiet trail conditions (due to the lack of snowmobiles), but you’ll also meet the enthusiastic fat biking community and their dogs, which are welcome on the trails. The two loops are groomed by volunteers three times a week and are very well marked with great views—the inner loop is a short three-mile ride, and the outer loop clocks in at six miles. New this year, the inner Snowshoe Loop has been widened to accommodate adaptive fat cycles.
Photo Brandon Nixon
Parking: Non-motorized end of the Wanoga Sno-Park across from the sledding hill. Purchase a Sno-Park pass at the Cascade Lakes Welcome Station on Century Drive. When: November 1 through April 1, conditions permitting.
Ticket To Ride
This accessible ride starts at the Cascade Lakes Welcome Station. In the summertime, it’s a popular family mountain bike trail due to the mellow elevation gain and relatively short six-mile loop, which earns it a green-level beginner designation. You can opt to ride the whole Ticket to Ride loop or just head out and back up the scenic canyon following the COTA signage. Be aware that this is a narrow, shared-use trail for snowshoers and Nordic skiers.
Parking: The Cascade Lakes Welcome Station on Century Drive, where you can purchase a Sno-Park pass. When: Meyer suggests waiting until snowshoers and skiers have packed down the trail’s snow after fresh powder falls.
Fat biking on the groomed trails at Wanoga Sno-Park. Photo courtesy bendtrails.org
Tumalo Falls
This trail embarks from the Skyliners Sno-Park and ends at the Tumalo Falls Viewpoint—a stunning sight draped in winter white. Do this as a loop or as an out-and-back ride. The Tumalo Creek Trail is a three-mile ride up to the falls, from here you can either ride back down the trail or loop back on the snow-packed road. You may opt to ride up and back on the road, which is closed to cars in the winter. This popular trail is also used by snowshoers and skiers, so be sure to yield right of way.
Parking: Skyliners Sno-Park off Skyliner Drive. Purchase a Sno-Park pass in advance. When: Meyer suggests heading out to this popular trail on weekdays to avoid the crowds.
Brett Pulliam rides at Todd Lake. Photo David Braun
Dutchman Flat Sno-Park
Close to Bachelor, Dutchman Flat Sno-Park is a good basecamp for fat biking, as there are lots of trails to choose from. You can ride on the groomed snowmobile trails here (note: snowmobiles have the right of way on these trails). A popular route for fat bikes is the three-mile loop that leads to Todd Lake.
Parking: Dutchman Flat Sno-Park. Sno-Park permit required. The lot fills up fast, so get there early in the day. When: Beginning November 1, but check snow conditions before you go.
Phil’s Trail Network
If you’re familiar with the area for mountain biking, Phil’s Trail Network is a good place to go for fat biking when there’s snow. Rekward cautions that the trails can get muddy if you don’t get there early after a snowfall. He recommends the middle trails: Storm King, lower loops and Skyliner’s.
Parking: There’s usually plenty of parking available at the Phil’s Trailhead parking lot. When: Check snow conditions before you go.
Rent a bike and get geared up for winter riding at local businesses including:
Local companies also offer fat biking tours in winter, but you can also rent your own bike to ride on trails around Bend. “You can still ride fat bike, but it’s condition dependent,” said Bend Trails partner Robert Rekward. “The good rides for me have been the day after if snowed. All the trails are really good the morning after a snow.”
A couple tips: Always check snow conditions before you go, especially considering this year’s low snowpack. You want to ride on packed snow, and the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) asks that bikers stay off trails when they get muddy because you can damage the trails. Stay seated on the bike, and don’t be afraid of sliding around on the snow. It might take some time to get comfortable riding on the snow. Most trails require that your tires are at least 3.8” wide to ride on the trails. Fat bikes are allowed on groomed snowmobile trails, but are not allowed on Nordic ski trails.
Sitting in a New York cafe in 2012, John Kish charted the idea for a mystical space where plants and theater met, much like the Little Shop of Horrors. He always knew he wanted to create a dynamic space where there was more than met the eye, and realized soon enough there was room in his Bend plant shop, Somewhere That’s Green, to give The Greenhouse Cabaret a stage.
From left to right: Fertile Liza, Caressa Banana and Jasmine Powers. Photo by Joy Reyneke
When walking into Somewhere That’s Green off of Greenwood Avenue, visitors see the crawling vines overflowing shelves, smell the naturality of the soil, then tucked behind the towering cacti and succulents, a glimpse of The Greenhouse Cabaret space emerges. A black and gold mural of the zodiac signs, and the phases of the moon painted by artist Nicole Fontana adorns the ceiling, opening the realm of possibilities for the future of the theater. The stage itself is small, but Kish said this allows for the writing to speak for itself, and makes for a more genuine performance and less of a spectacle.
His background is in theater from Circle in the Square Theater in New York City and Topsoil Theatrics, which toured the show Spring Awakening in Central Oregon. Kish is ambitious with the Greenhouse Cabaret stage, noting that it’s not only a performance space, it’s a celebrated safe environment for queer performers and allies. He believes it will fill a hole that has been lacking among the performing arts community. “We need performing arts as a backbone to this town,” he said. The future of The Greenhouse Cabaret will be host to live performances, musicals and drag shows. Kish is hoping for a spring show, a fall show and drag shows sprinkled in, plus a drag competition. One of the driving forces behind The Greenhouse Cabaret is to grow the performing arts community. “Creating a space that can attract more diversity and more talent is kind of my goal,” he said. This includes diversity in the stories being told on stage.
John Kish, founder of The Greenhouse Cabaret was transformed into the character of Hedwig with help from Kate Hana Artistry (makeup), Astacia Christenson (wig), and Milly Dole (costume). Photo left: Joy Reyneke | right: portraits by Bee
For the first show, which premiered in October, Kish envisioned the performance of off-broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Playing Hedwig was Kish’s dream role and everything fell into place to spearhead the performance when Rick Johnson—a performer and director with a history of theater in New York, regional performances and in Central Oregon—came to direct the show. “It’s spectacular to watch [Kish] become Hedwig,” Johnson said. “He makes the character real.” Johnson sees himself working with Kish and The Greenhouse Cabaret indefinitely in the space. In addition to Kish as Hedwig, the cast includes Christie Capucci as Yitzhag, and a live band that rounds out the powerhouse program. “I love working with John and Rick,” said Capucci. “I’ve worked with them before and they’re the best, so it makes you want to be the best.” With the way the show is directed and the way John acts the main character, “you’re watching humans on stage, and they’re trying to become complete,” Johnson said.
The Greenhouse Cabaret has proven its potential with sold out performances for their very first show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Kish said he is working with other companies in Bend’s 2nd Street area, such as the Campfire Hotel, to make the area near The Greenhouse Cabaret a performing arts district; there is no doubt that a new wave of creativity and inclusivity is about to be born from the humble yet mighty spirit of the theater on Greenwood Avenue. Watch for future performances on their website.
Editor’s Note: The first part of this post is the printed version of our interview with David James Duncan, found in the March + April issue of Bend Magazine. Following, you will find the full interview.
As sure as waters flow, time marches on. In 2023, rivers and years intersect upon the 40th anniversary of the publication of The River Why, a novel that has become a dog-eared classic in fly boxes of fishermen and in libraries of those who love language, natural resources and life. The book was one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s “20th Century’s 100 Best Books of the American West,” and led to Duncan’s next works—the National Book Award finalist My Story As Told By Water, the bestseller and winner of the Pacific Northwest Book Award for nonfiction, God Laughs & Plays and The Brothers K, subject of the 2023 Deschutes Public Library’s “A Novel Idea.” His new novel Sun House will be published in August. Words between Bend Magazine’s editor and David James Duncan had him musing about his work and our larger relationship to rivers and to one another.
Cheryl Parton: It’s been forty years since its publication, and readers carry the image of Gus Orviston eking out those final forty miles to the headwaters of the Tamanawis. Anniversaries, milestones and mileposts equally show us where we are and guide us ahead. What can readers of The River Why learn today as much as from the first time they may have read the novel? Why do you believe it has been so timeless?
David James Duncan: Perhaps the timelessness of rivers rubbed off on the novel. I love Oregon rivers deeply, and stirred in my love for several favorite coast streams as I portrayed the Tamanawis. Rivers, more than any other geophysical feature, make Earth as richly habitable as it is, and if there is anything in my novel I hope readers today might hold on to, it’s that even rivers that have vanished behind dams don’t stay vanished, because no dam is forever. And even rivers that have dried up in the super-drought the West is suffering are the outcome of water’s ability to travel from ocean as saltwater into the sky as freshwater, travel inland, and return to Earth’s surface as rain and snow, every drop and melted flake of which is seized by gravity the instant it encounters a tilted surface, and away it goes! As rivers go on constantly renewing themselves, you can hear their rapids laughing at people who don’t believe in reincarnation! I’ve seen several streams pronounced dead come back to life. Because gravity sometimes sends water underground it also turns up in surprising places in surprising quantities. Central Oregon dwellers know how wonderful it is when hidden rivers like the Metolius, or Fall River, burst up out of the ground in a gorgeous spring. I also love the way water travels through space and, far more often than we can know, descends to Earth as an inexplicable bit of rain. And I was jazzed by the recent moon mission’s discovery of a lake in Clavius Crater! Those participating in Bend’s upcoming “A Novel Idea” might remember that a minor league baseball player in my novel, The Brothers K, claimed that the moon was once a living planet, and sings, “There’s a dead world on the rise,” to the tune of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising.”
In the end, I’d say a final reason why The River Why continues to be read is that, like Norman Maclean, millions of us are “haunted by waters,” and never more than now, when water feels so threatened, and so precious.
CP: In a way, it’s not only that water feels threatened and precious. It’s as though the challenges of the past several years have also threatened humans and their ability to connect to one another. What more did Gus learn, and teach us?
DJD: Another River Why theme that slowly slips into a timeless dimension is Gus’s trial-and-error obsession with how to get the most profound pleasure out of fishing. This leads him to the ridiculous notion that the number of hours he spends alone, charging around fishing by himself, can be a path to maximum happiness. But solitude and aching loneliness soon reveal that it’s the other beings he encounters on rivers, human and non, who gradually bestow both happiness, and an effort we might call the spiritual search. And here my writing found material I care about deeply.
The day after I graduated from high school, my own spiritual searching led me to stay at a high lake in the Cascades for ten days, fasting for seven of them to try to erase all the useless crap I’d been exposed to in high school—and it worked, leading to a rebirth that probably saved my life by revealing my life’s work.
Speaking of that work: I’ve read countless op-eds calling for a massive change of consciousness if humanity is to survive, but no op-eds that depict what this change of consciousness might feel, taste, sound, smell and live like. Gus’s spiritual search was my first attempt to address this tragic void. My new novel, Sun House, devotes 357,000 words to what changes of consciousness feel, taste, sound, smell and live like as they lead more than a few people to a viable contemplative life. One such greenhorn is a comically over-enthusiastic young man named Grady who becomes smitten by mountains, feels they have profound things to teach him, and speaks of his need to launch a high elevation quest in this whacko phone call to his girlfriend:
“Come to terms with your Mortal Nobodyness, strip yourself down to your Ancient Animal Body and Ancienter Spirit Self, converse ye with the trees, weather, hoot owls, and desolation angels in their language not yours, and even you, Grady, can catch a whiff of the Old Ways and figure out who the Living World’s asking you to be.”
I consider Sun House’s Grady a sort of heir to The River Why’s Gus.
CP: Similarly, we are heirs of the Earth.The River Why and the awareness it brought to the impact of humans on beloved rivers illustrates the idea of how we can use our unique talents to affect change. For you, has that been through writing?
DJD:You ask if my activism has been through writing. Mostly yes, but I consider it vitally important for us to find ways to interact with rivers and streams, or soil and plants, or moss and sweetgrass like the wonderful Robin Wall-Kimmerer, in a hands-on, physical, loving way, so that intimacy and love inform our activism. It’s activism, for instance, that when I went fishing on my home Montana river one day and came upon the strewn garbage and forty-three empty beer bottles of what must have been a hell of a party, I did what I always feel called to do: spend fishing time packing the mess off to my truck to restore my house of worship’s beauty.
Another kind of “love and intimacy activism”: when West Coast streams drop after the high waters of spring, side channels become disconnected pools doomed to evaporate, leaving large numbers of salmon and steelhead fingerlings doomed. On the streams I have frequented, rather than feel helplessly depressed by this part of the natural cycle, I long ago purchased a long-handled minnow net and eight gallon plastic bucket, began enlisting the help of a local child or two, or child-like adult friends, and sought out these channels. My friends and I then stand at opposite ends of the long but narrow pools, and one team member hazes and herds the fingerlings the length of the pool, where the other teammate waits, net and bucket at the ready. After some scoopin’ and whoopin’ it’s incredibly satisfying to release a gob of marooned fingerlings back into their natal river, knowing a lucky few will return as salmon and steelhead the size of sleek silver dogs whose only leg, their tail, works better in water than any number of legs!
CP: “Love and intimacy activism,” and a bit of an adventure! You take readers along on the adventure through The River Why and The Brothers K, so we highly anticipate the release of Sun House this summer.Are there themes you continue? What should we pack in our “reader’s fly box?”
DJD: I’m more interested, these days, in the icons on my altar than the contents of my fly boxes. An unusual through-line in my life ever since I was twenty has been friendships with wonderfully wise older women. Feminine expressions of wisdom abound on my altar, from the first great female author in English history, Julian of Norwich, who wrote, “Just as God is our Father, so is God also our Mother,” to Muscogee Nation songbird and former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, who wrote, “Remember the earth whose skin you are.” These voices escort us away from the toxic masculinity that has spewed its poisons over the Earth, its populace, and our politics. In reaction to that toxicity, one thing I very consciously do in Sun House is exclude the internet sub-realities and mind-traps that give voice to poison. I’m incredibly fortunate to be close to many women and some great but unsung men whose lives embody a depth of love and truth you seldom find referenced in mass media. That closeness leads me to believe there is a vital shift going on that grows ever more capable of addressing our biological and spiritual crises with the love and justice they demand. In Sun House, I pull out every stop I could get my heart and hands on in support of this shift.
CP: Is there something from your writing and/or life that you hope readers can learn by reading your novels?
DJD: My wise friend Barry Lopez felt that the great questions have no lasting answers, and if we confine ourselves to the limited powers of reason, I agree. But as an unreasoning but water-loving boy I began to find the Unanswerable to be a reminder that I was born lost, but in creeks and rivers began to be found. Watersheds remain a place of pilgrimage, rivers prayer wheels, wild salmon an interior compass, dammed or industrially-wounded rivers blues tunes, diminishing bird species dark prophets, and wild lives as unassuming as weeds blooming in the cracks of city sidewalks a momentary home.
Being alert to what our mother, this Earth, is serving up daily enables me to defy worry (which is just praying for what we don’t want) and refuse to be paralyzed by fear. In my fiction, I’ve tried my best to heed what the Earth and her “skin” are bestowing upon us. And it is unspeakably worth the effort when moments of attention on my part, or anyone’s part, unexpectedly explode, as they still sometimes do, into moments of inexplicable joy.
The above article was printed in the March + April issue of Bend Magazine. Below is the full interview if you would like to continue reading. – Cheryl Parton, Editor in Chief of Bend Magazine.
FULL INTERVIEW
What the River Says
A conversation with David James Duncan
As sure as waters flow, time marches on. In 2023, rivers and years intersect upon the 40th anniversary of the publication of The River Why, a novel that has become a dog-eared classic in fly boxes of fishermen and in libraries of those who love language, natural resources and life. The book was one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s “20th Century’s 100 Best Books of the American West,” and led to Duncan’s next works—the National Book Award finalist My Story As Told By Water, the bestseller and winner of the Pacific Northwest Book Award for nonfiction, God Laughs & Plays and The Brothers K, subject of the 2023 Deschutes Public Library’s “A Novel Idea.” His new novel Sun House will be published in August. Words between Bend Magazine’s editor and David James Duncan had him musing about his work and our larger relationship to rivers and to one another.
Cheryl Parton (Bend Magazine): It’s been forty years since its publication, and readers carry the image of Gus Orviston eking out those final forty miles to the headwaters of the Tamanawis. Anniversaries, milestones and mileposts equally show us where we are and guide us ahead. What can readers of The River Why learn today as much as from the first time they may have read the novel? Why do you believe it has been so timeless?
David James Duncan: Perhaps the timelessness of rivers rubbed off on the novel. I love Oregon rivers deeply, and stirred in my love for several favorite coast streams as I portrayed the Tamanawis. Rivers, more than any other geophysical feature, make Earth as richly habitable as it is, and if there is anything in my novel I hope readers today might hold on to, it’s that even rivers that have vanished behind dams don’t stay vanished, because no dam is forever. And even rivers that have dried up in the super-drought the West is suffering are the outcome of water’s ability to travel from ocean as saltwater into the sky as freshwater, travel inland, and return to Earth’s surface as rain and snow, every drop and melted flake of which is seized by gravity the instant it encounters a tilted surface, and away it goes! As rivers go on constantly renewing themselves, you can hear their rapids laughing at people who don’t believe in reincarnation! I’ve seen several streams pronounced dead come back to life. Because gravity sometimes sends water underground it also turns up in surprising places in surprising quantities. Central Oregon dwellers know how wonderful it is when hidden rivers like the Metolius, or Fall River, burst up out of the ground in a gorgeous spring. I also love the way water travels through space and, far more often than we can know, descends to Earth as an inexplicable bit of rain. And I was jazzed by the recent moon mission’s discovery of a lake in Clavius Crater! Those participating in Bend’s upcoming “A Novel Idea” might remember that a minor league baseball player in my novel, The Brothers K, claimed that the moon was once a living planet, and sings, “There’s a dead world on the rise,” to the tune of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising.”
In the end, I’d say a final reason why The River Why continues to be read is that, like Norman Maclean, millions of us are “haunted by waters,” and never more than now, when water feels so threatened, and so precious.
CP: In a way, it’s not only that water feels threatened and precious. It’s as though the challenges of the past several years have also threatened humans and their ability to connect to one another. What more did Gus learn, and teach us?
DJD: Another River Why theme that slowly slips into a timeless dimension is Gus’s trial-and-error obsession with how to get the most profound pleasure out of fishing. This leads him to the ridiculous notion that the number of hours he spends alone, charging around fishing by himself, can be a path to maximum happiness. But solitude and aching loneliness soon reveal that it’s the other beings he encounters on rivers, human and non, who gradually bestow both happiness, and an effort we might call the spiritual search. And here my writing found material I care about deeply.
The day after I graduated from high school, my own spiritual searching led me to stay at a high lake in the Cascades for ten days, fasting for seven of them to try to erase all the useless crap I’d been exposed to in high school—and it worked, leading to a rebirth that probably saved my life by revealing my life’s work.
Speaking of that work: I’ve read countless op-eds calling for a massive change of consciousness if humanity is to survive, but no op-eds that depict what this change of consciousness might feel, taste, sound, smell and live like. Gus’s spiritual search was my first attempt to address this tragic void. My new novel, Sun House, devotes 357,000 words to what changes of consciousness feel, taste, sound, smell and live like as they lead more than a few people to a viable contemplative life. One such greenhorn is a comically over-enthusiastic young man named Grady who becomes smitten by mountains, feels they have profound things to teach him, and speaks of his need to launch a high elevation quest in this whacko phone call to his girlfriend:
“Come to terms with your Mortal Nobodyness, strip yourself down to your Ancient Animal Body and Ancienter Spirit Self, converse ye with the trees, weather, hoot owls, and desolation angels in their language not yours, and even you, Grady, can catch a whiff of the Old Ways and figure out who the Living World’s asking you to be.”
I consider Sun House’s Grady a sort of heir to The River Why’s Gus.
CP: Similarly, we are heirs of the Earth. The River Why and the awareness it brought to the impact of humans on beloved rivers illustrates the idea of how we can use our unique talents to affect change. For you, has that been through writing?
DJD: You ask if my activism has been through writing. Mostly yes, but I consider it vitally important for us to find ways to interact with rivers and streams, or soil and plants, or moss and sweetgrass like the wonderful Robin Wall-Kimmerer, in a hands-on, physical, loving way, so that intimacy and love inform our activism. It’s activism, for instance, that when I went fishing on my home Montana river one day and came upon the strewn garbage and forty-three empty beer bottles of what must have been a hell of a party, I did what I always feel called to do: spend fishing time packing the mess off to my truck to restore my house of worship’s beauty.
Another kind of “love and intimacy activism”: when West Coast streams drop after the high waters of spring, side channels become disconnected pools doomed to evaporate, leaving large numbers of salmon and steelhead fingerlings doomed. On the streams I have frequented, rather than feel helplessly depressed by this part of the natural cycle, I long ago purchased a long-handled minnow net and eight gallon plastic bucket, began enlisting the help of a local child or two, or child-like adult friends, and sought out these channels. My friends and I then stand at opposite ends of the long but narrow pools, and one team member hazes and herds the fingerlings the length of the pool, where the other teammate waits, net and bucket at the ready. After some scoopin’ and whoopin’ it’s incredibly satisfying to release a gob of marooned fingerlings back into their natal river, knowing a lucky few will return as salmon and steelhead the size of sleek silver dogs whose only leg, their tail, works better in water than any number of legs!
CP: So did your writer’s life lead to a life of activism? Or perhaps the question is what came first?
DJD: For me there’s a huge difference between my fiction and nonfiction. In all three of my novels I’ve taken pains to avoid “Activist Speak,” because activism so often seduces its writers into intractable stances and volatile language. An intractable screed by an unknown did not strike me as a career-starter, so in The River Why I created theater instead, by having a foul-mouthed bait-fishing ranch brat, Ma, fall in love with an effete British fly fishing snob, H20, spawning a family for whom the way in which one chose to adorn one’s fish hook is a life-and-death matter. My aim was to make intractable stances and volatile language so absurd they were comical, so that readers traumatized as kids by the political or religious warfare of their parents began to see this warfare, too, as absurd. Laughter over the “The Great Izaak Walton Controversy” then placed Gus’s childhood madhouse in the same genre as the great diplomats known as stand-up comedians.
After Gus leaves the madhouse for an Oregon Coast cabin my methods changed dramatically as he encountered the longest-lived source of food and spirituality the west coast of North America has ever known: the rivers that allow marine protein to travel as far as 900 miles inland up into the mountains in the form of wild salmon, steelhead, and other edible anadromous species. The species that saved the Lewis and Clark expedition not once but twice. That species has been driven to extinction in a huge portion of its range in a single generation, leaving the indigenous people of those watersheds without their Eucharist, robbed of their chief source of wealth. To my mind this injustice rivals the deliberate slaughter of buffalo to destroy the tribes of the Great Plains.
The obliteration of wild salmon and steelhead left me highly sensitive to everything that diminishes rivers and those who love them. Not many know that two-thirds of the rivers on Earth have now been dammed, destroying the biological diversity and fecundity of river valleys, exiling the mostly poor but culturally rich human populations of those valleys. The World Wildlife Fund reports that 160,000 miles of Earth’s riparians are now underwater. Those lost lands provided the most fertile ground for diverse plants, creatures and humans we have. Those lands were also a Commons accessible to millions. When a bureaucracy or totalitarian regime replaces a Commons with a slackwater reservoir, they obliterate cultures and languages and commit themselves to lying forever that hydro-electricity is clean, green, and harmless, when it is nothing of the sort.
In relation to this problem, The River Why is dated. But it does portray the greatest salmon mecca in human history—the Columbia River’s Celilo Falls—before a dam drowned it. This is autobiographical. I got to watch tribal salmon fishers in heartbroken action at Celilo when I was four years old. That experience planted the seed that caused Ma Orviston to be the first character in American literature to watch salmon and steelhead destroying their beautiful bodies trying to pass an Oregon high desert dam with no fish ladder, and in defiance of what, in the long term, has become the most disastrous idea Franklin D. Roosevelt ever had, mutter, “God damn dams!”
CP: You’ve been able to share these portrayals through your writing of fiction and nonfiction. Do you have advice for readers on how they can affect change in their own, unique ways?
DJD: I’ll answer this by describing the three most satisfying tasks of my activist career, because these tasks illustrate some important concepts. All three projects began with me working alone, or with a very small handful of allies—but in all three cases a huge number of diverse and passionate people eventually got involved. Important concept: be on the lookout in your particular regions or watersheds for protests with a groundswell of emotion and integrity and, if you possibly can, involve yourself in these good struggles.
My favorite groundswell engagements were these:
Helping start a fly fishing and river restoration school for teens in the Bellingham (and Nooksack tribal) area in honor of Liam Wood, an excellent young fly fisher who died, while fishing, in the 1999 pipeline explosion that seemed to kill Whatcom Creek, the much loved stream that flows through the city. The Liam Wood Fly Fishers and River Guardians still thrives a quarter century later, and an ambitious new film about the amazing recovery of Whatcom Creek, and the place it still holds in the culture of Bellinghamsters and others, this Montanan included, is moving forward full steam ahead.
I also strongly recommend Whatcom Creek for Personhood Status, since malfeasant oil industry buffoons now possessing this Status unleashed this nightmare upon tens of thousands lacking that status. This legal absurdity has to end, but all I know to do is quote Wendell Berry saying, “Some things you just raise hell about and hope somebody smarter than you can fix it.” Calling all brilliant legal minds smarter than me or Wendell!!
Also in the 1990’s, the Blackfoot River in Montana, Norman Maclean’s river, was threatened by a Canadian mining company’s plan to build a gigantic cyanide heap-leach gold mine on its banks. I broke that story with the research help of a Harvard grad appropriately named Gus, in an essay first published in Sierra Magazine, then in my nonfiction book, My Story as Told by Water, a National Book Award finalist. Journalist Richard Manning’s wonderful book, One Round River, also broadcast the threat, and again, an incredibly diverse bunch of people came together. In the end Montana activists and voters not only stopped the mine, we got cyanide heap-leach mines banned statewide. The Blackfoot is now one of the most skillfully protected rivers in the country, remains a dream to fish—and alert readers already know I’m about to recommend the Blackfoot for Personhood Status. And let’s add to the Personhood List every stream and river in the vast tapestry of salmon streams in Bristol Bay, the greatest wild salmon sanctuary left on Earth, threatened by a sickeningly dangerous mine.
In 2010, my friend, Oregon’s own John Larison published a review in Outside that began, “At this moment, Big Oil is turning America’s holiest fishing grounds—the Columbia and Norman Maclean’s Montana—into a terrifying industrial corridor. With the help of oil-drunk politicians, ExxonMobil’s trucks are towing megaloads—230 feet long, 24 feet wide, and half a million pounds—over the two lane roads and wooden bridges that bisect the very rivers you dream of someday fishing. And if they succeed in delivering their loads to Alberta’s Tar Sands, they plan to construct a vascular system of pipelines across the continent—pipelines with a history of catastrophic rupture. A war has begun to stop them. And Rick Bass and David James Duncan, with the help of a few talented friends, have crafted a manifesto to inspire us to join them in battle.”
My contribution to that battle, Cheryl, was a beautifully illustrated 130-page essay titled “The Heart of the Monster,” which is the name of the Nez Perce people’s creation site and the title of the myth that describes it (used with permission). Rick meanwhile wrote an illustrated novella, “A Short History of Montana” that was not a big favorite among oil-drunk politicos. Combining our efforts in a book also titled The Heart of the Monster, our literary Paul Revere ride met up with a diverse and emotional swarm of people including a great Idaho activist group called “Fighting Goliath,” a crowd of mega load-blocking Missoula grandmothers the police were humiliated to arrest, a crowd of Nez Perce megaload blockers just as shamefully arrested on their own land on the Idaho side, and scores more activists generated national news headlines. Two wise judges, on federal, one in Montana, then sent ExxonMobil packing and left our iconic rivers intact.
CP: “Love and intimacy activism,” and a bit of an adventure. You take readers along on the adventure through The River Why and The Brothers K, so we highly anticipate the release of Sun House this summer. Are there themes you continue? What should we pack in our “reader’s fly box?”
DJD: I’m more interested, these days, in the icons on my altar than the contents of my fly boxes. An unusual through-line in my life ever since I was twenty has been friendships with wonderfully wise older women. Feminine expressions of wisdom abound on my altar, from the first great female author in English history, Julian of Norwich, who wrote, “Just as God is our Father, so is God also our Mother,” to Muscogee Nation songbird and former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, who wrote, “Remember the earth whose skin you are.” These voices escort us away from the toxic masculinity that has spewed its poisons over the Earth, its populace, and our politics. In reaction to that toxicity, one thing I very consciously do in Sun House is exclude the internet sub-realities and mind-traps that give voice to poison. I’m incredibly fortunate to be close to many women and some great but unsung men whose lives embody a depth of love and truth you seldom find referenced in mass media. That closeness leads me to believe there is a vital shift going on that grows ever more capable of addressing our biological and spiritual crises with the love and justice they demand. In Sun House, I pull out every stop I could get my heart and hands on in support of this shift.
CP: Is there something from your writing and/or life that you hope readers can learn by reading your novels?
DJD: My wise friend Barry Lopez felt that the great questions have no lasting answers, and if we confine ourselves to the limited powers of reason, I agree. But as an unreasoning but water-loving boy I began to find the Unanswerable to be a reminder that I was born lost, but in creeks and rivers began to be found. Watersheds remain a place of pilgrimage, rivers prayer wheels, wild salmon an interior compass, dammed or industrially-wounded rivers blues tunes, diminishing bird species, dark prophets, and wild lives as unassuming as weeds blooming in the cracks of city sidewalks a momentary home. Being alert to what our mother, this Earth, is serving up daily enables me to defy worry (which is just praying for what we don’t want) and refuse to be paralyzed by fear. In my fiction, I’ve tried my best to heed what the Earth and her “skin” are bestowing upon us. And it is unspeakably worth the effort when moments of attention on my part, or anyone’s part, unexpectedly explode, as they still sometimes do, into moments of inexplicable joy.
Records from 296 B.C. in Ancient Greece tell of a place where men would gather to get their hair and beards trimmed, and of course, debate political and philosophical subjects while they were at it. In reality, the practice of barbering—or cutting men’s hair—goes back even further, as nearly every culture throughout history had some sort of standard for men’s grooming. While the methods of cutting hair, products used and styled appearances have changed over time, barbershops are still considered gathering places for men to sit back, take care of themselves and perhaps even gossip a bit. Across the country, these businesses that traditionally cater to men can be identified by the swirling red, white and blue streaks of a barber pole outside their front doors. In Bend, when someone walks into a barbershop, they are often greeted with a local beer or whiskey to sip while waiting for a turn in the barber’s chair.
In Deschutes County there are 141 people licensed as barbers, practicing a career that has traditionally been for those who want to be their own boss. According to many barbershop owners in Bend, the trend in Bend and throughout the country isn’t to employ barbers, but instead to rent out chairs for barbers to practice their craft. In this way, most barbers are self-employed—they dictate their own schedule and many of them have their own loyal following of clientele that is somewhat separate from the overall shop’s roster.
For many owners and barbers such as Debbie Bennett, current owner of L & K Barber Shop which has been open in downtown Bend since 1968, this method of employment has significantly more pros than cons. Bennett said that barbers can oftentimes make more money in self-employment. Beau and KayLea Beach, the husband and wife owners of Esther Salon and 4.fourteen Gentlemen’s Grooming, both located within the Widgi Creek Resort, said that there are two sides to the chair-rental form of employment. “The flexibility of self-employment is nice, but some stylists and barbers are going to want the stability that a nine-to-five income brings,” said KayLea. Beau echoed the statement by adding that some barbers appreciate a more hands-off approach when it comes to scheduling, booking clients, advertising and handling finances. “Self-employment can work out really well if you’re the kind of person who wants that control and independence,” he said.
At the West Side Barber Shop, owner and barber Travis Maxwell asserts that the biggest pro to being your own boss is that it allows you to truly be yourself. “I’ve always wanted to be a barber,” he said. “I’ve always had an interest in it because it’s an old-school practice that lets people still be people.” In his barbershop, Maxwell is able to be himself. He is heavily tattooed in the American traditional style and spends his free time fixing up hot rods. He believes that the very nature of self-employment attracts people like him to barbering.
When asked about the biggest challenge they faced while running their businesses, each owner echoed the same point: the pandemic shutdowns were difficult to survive, but barbering is an ongoing practice because grooming is consistent when hair grows at a rate, for most, at a half an inch per month. Today, many shop owners are happy to say that their books are almost always full, keeping their respective businesses steady and profitable. A challenge facing the industry today is the lack of young barbers, creating a somewhat hot labor market with a high turnover rate.
Ryan Burnhart of Metropolitan Barber
Barbershop Culture
Socially speaking, barbershops have traditionally played an important role in society. Beau and KayLea agree that barbershops have been one of the only socially acceptable places for men to make time for self care and talk about their personal lives. “Historically speaking, and especially with older generations, many men haven’t had an outlet to talk about themselves or treat themselves to something nice,” KayLea said. “Barbershops have always stood out because they allow men to do just that.” At each barbershop, the owner has an opportunity to create their own type of environment. Beach and Maxwell, for example, help their clients relax by serving them a complimentary beer or whiskey and are television-free to keep channels open for communication, they said. Bennett considers her shop more traditional with a television to watch during a wait for a haircut, but no beer is served.
Keeping up traditions
No matter how they approach cutting hair, each owner emphasizes one thing: tradition. From the way that Beau trims long hair with a straight razor using what is considered an old-fashioned technique to how Bennett rejects serving beer, tradition is something that is very important to barbers. While techniques and aesthetics change in the future, just as they have in the past, the industry of barbering will not go away: hair will need to be cut, and the barbershop as a gathering place for men to relax and accept pampering will remain in some form. Today, the tradition is visible with the welcoming signal of a whirling barber’s pole.
When Bend resident Pema Sherpa went home to Nepal during the pandemic, she was once again exposed to the difficult realities that are a part of being from a developing nation struggling with poverty. Nepal is home to about 126 ethnic groups, each with their own languages, and each with a ranking as part of the country’s Hindu caste system. While Sherpa such as Pema and her partner Nurbu are in a minority-ranked ethnic group, Sherpas have benefited financially from tourism in the northern Buddhist Himalayan area. Some other tribes are viewed as outcasts, and are shunned and suffer significantly from poverty. On Pema’s last trip to Nepal, she learned about an ethnic group in southern Nepal whose people were working fourteen-hour days, surviving off eating field mice and unable to afford things such as clothing or being able to send their children to school. She was motivated to do something.
In summer 2022, the couple opened High Camp Taphouse in Sisters, a taproom and Himalayan restaurant that sends proceeds to Nepal to help the struggling Nepali people she learned about back home. “We weren’t really planning to open a brick and mortar restaurant before this,” Pema said. Pema and Nurbu had previously operated Bend’s Himalayan Bites food cart, which they opened in 2016 and gave to relatives from Nepal to operate during the pandemic. Pema knew it would take something more significant than a food cart to generate the type of income to make a difference for the people back in Nepal.
High Camp Taphouse took over a location on the south end of Sisters previously occupied by pizza and beer stop Hop & Brew. Nurbu led the way on updates for the space, including removing the drop ceiling, tearing out a hallway that divided the interior and adding a roll up, glass garage door for seasonal access to the patio and fresh air when needed. Outside, there is space in the parking lot for High Camp to house a few food trucks in the summers.
Pema and Nurbu Sherpa
With remodeling underway, the couple got to work crafting a menu of Himalayan recipes, drawing from their mutual love of cooking and feeding others. Pema said that her mother had owned a restaurant in Nepal for a time, and was a good chef who shared her knowledge with Pema. “I got to work with her in her restaurant and learn all the tricks,” she said.
On a visit to High Camp Taphouse, Nurbu was eager to cook and serve a sampling of dishes from the restaurant’s simple but mighty menu. A highlight among starters is the vegetable samosa, a warm pastry filled with spiced potato and vegetables, served with mint chutney. A popular entree is the chau chau noodle dish, which is a mix of udon noodles, fresh vegetables, chicken and savory spices. One of Pema’s favorites is momo, a dish of Sherpa dumplings stuffed with ground beef and pork, vegetables and spices and served with a tomato-based sauce. Pema explained that in Nepal, the cooking of momo often happens for a special occasion, and several people will come together to make it, each taking on a specific task such as forming or rolling dough or making the sauce.
Sabzi Bhat (coconut curry)
All of the dishes on the High Camp Taphouse menu are packed with traditional spices used in Nepal, some of which are hard to come by in Central Oregon. Pema said she makes regular trips to Portland to get the freshest versions of some spices, and she also brings back suitcases full of ingredients when traveling. The well-spiced, warming meals pair well with High Camp’s twenty taps, which include local beers, ciders and seltzers.
In addition to helping the people in Nepal, Pema sees the restaurant as a way to nourish and connect with people in Central Oregon through the food, which is made with care and love. “My main goal is to make our food just like it is at home. In Nepal, we heal with food,” Pema said. “And the flavor of our food comes from our thoughts. Which is why we cook with gratitude, joy and love.”
High Camp Taphouse | 523 E Highway 20, Sisters | (541) 904-4694 | highcamptaphouse.com
Six miles west of Redmond, Eagle Crest Resort is a surprise to anyone who’s never stopped to see the resort, play golf at one of its three courses or wander its neighborhoods. “It’s a hidden gem,” said Robyn Fields, managing principal broker at Eagle Crest Properties.
The hidden gem metaphor is apt. The two entrances off Cline Falls Highway are modest compared with the vast network of neighborhoods and resort amenities that fan out over more than 1,700 acres. The resort’s main entrance is on the east side, extending to the cliffs above the Deschutes River. A road on the west side leads to the Ridge and a newer section known as West Ridge. Mountain bikers and hikers coming off the extensive trail system above the resort can access Eagle Crest’s West Ridge from the popular Cascade View Trailhead off Highway 126.
Despite being out of sight from the two highways, Eagle Crest has a population of 2,973—slightly larger than La Pine, for reference. Unlike a city, though, the destination resort is designed to maximize on-property activities and draw nightly guests, second-home owners and permanent residents. Set in the sloping juniper forest east of Cline Butte with views of the Deschutes River, Smith Rock and the Cascade Range, and proximity to many of Central Oregon’s outdoor attractions, Eagle Crest offers many conveniences.
“It feels like you’re in this fabulous community in the high desert’s banana belt where it doesn’t get the extreme weather of Sunriver,” said Fields, who lives at Eagle Crest as well as works there. “We’re surrounded by farmland and [Bureau of Land Management land]. It’s fifteen minutes to the Sisters Movie House, ten minutes for cocktails at General Duffy’s in Redmond, ten minutes to Tumalo’s The Bite and a half hour to the Old Mill in Bend.”
Compared with newer luxury resorts in Central Oregon such as Pronghorn and Tetherow, Eagle Crest is more affordable. Fields said that recent lot sales ranged from $195,000 to $335,000, fractional properties from $5,000 to $50,000, and townhomes and single-family residences from $405,000 to $1.6 million. Fractional ownership is where an investor has part ownership of a property’s title rather than units of time and is typically more expensive than a timeshare.
A resort in phases
An early 1900s-era 550-acre potato farm was reportedly located somewhere on today’s Eagle Crest property, but nothing much else sprouted in the area until 1981 when Deschutes County approved it as a resort. During the ‘80s, the resort built a 100-room lodge, restaurants and a large convention center and developed 202 home sites which included two gated communities, condominiums in the Riverview Vista Estates and townhomes in the Fairway Vista Estates.
In 1993, based on new laws from the Oregon Legislature on destination resorts and updated Deschutes County zoning codes, Eagle Crest was able to expand into a second phase on the west side of Cline Falls Highway. Construction began on the Ridge and Challenge golf courses and a variety of neighborhoods, including the over-55 Falls neighborhood. Resort features including a spa, pools, sports and fitness centers, and tennis and pickleball courts were also added.
In 2001, the county approved a third phase allowing the resort to expand three miles westward through BLM land to what’s called West Ridge. This area has six neighborhoods, including the high-end Scenic Ridge with one-acre lots, big homes and full Cascade Mountain views. Home construction is ongoing in West Ridge.
Seasonal outdoor pool and hot tub
“One of the things that makes Eagle Crest special is there’s something for everyone: fractional ownership, a townhome with or without a garage, classic Eagle Crest chalets or a single-family home,” Fields said. “Like everywhere, the slowing real estate market has affected second-home buyers, but sales in Eagle Crest remain steady.”
A 2021 Deschutes County report shows Eagle Crest with 1,911 residential lots and 430 overnight lodging units (100 at the Lodge at Eagle Crest, 106 operated by WorldMark by Wyndham and the remaining 224 in privately owned vacation rentals). The twelve subdivisions throughout Eagle Crest are represented by seven homeowners associations, and about half the owners are full-time residents.
Residents and guests throughout the resort have access to all three golf courses, various resort amenities and 13 miles of paved paths for walking, jogging and biking. For road cyclists, Cline Falls Highway connects Eagle Crest with hundreds of miles of rural roadways; mountain bikers can be on single-track trails in minutes. Smith Rock State Park is a half-hour away, Mt. Bachelor and Lake Billy Chinook are both an hour’s drive.
During the holidays, it’s impossible to miss Eagle Crest when it puts on StarFest, a nightly display of lights that runs from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. The public is invited to drive the 1-mile display or enjoy hot drinks and cookies at the lodge. Learn more at eagle-crest.com and eaglecrestproperties.com.
After years of living off the grid, Jason Daniels and Lindsay McAnulty moved into Bend to secure permanent housing that would be suitable for their blended family, which includes five children and a set of twins on the way. While Central Oregon nonprofits NeighborImpact and Housing Works helped the couple secure a home, the inside was empty. That’s when they learned about Furnish Hope, an organization that could provide furniture and other household necessities to fill the space. “Not only did they provide everything, but they delivered it to our house,” McAnulty said. Furnish Hope helped the family secure everything from bunk beds and a crib to a carpet shampooer and a copier/printer. “We didn’t have any money for furniture, so it’s been amazing,” McAnulty said.
From Left to Right: Mary Barlow, Co-founder / Finance Director | Kailyn Neil, Program Coordinator | Megan Martin, Founding Director | Tammy Rorem, Storefront Manager | Deborah Asato, Co-Founder / Marketing & Communications Director
The family is one of many who have benefited since Central Oregon nonprofit Furnish Hope was formed in 2018. The organization is run by three women—Megan Martin, Deborah Asato and Mary Barlow—who had previously worked together in education, were friends and are all mothers. What started as a vision to furnish twenty-two Habitat for Humanity homes in 2019 has exploded in the past few years, and now the nonprofit has expanded its scope and reach, furnishing roughly fifty homes around Central Oregon each month. In addition to the three organization directors, the organization is supported by a program coordinator, storefront manager, three board members and more than 100 volunteers.
The group works with a network of sixty local referring agencies who identify clients who could benefit from the organization’s furnishing services. For each recipient, Furnish Hope creates a personalized packing list of needed items, and then fills the list using items from the organization’s warehouse on SE Ninth Street, which is filled through donations. “Furnish Hope serves a broad range of individuals in need, including veterans, foster youth and families; those with mental and/or physical disabilities, fleeing sexual and domestic violence, transitioning out of recovery; and those who have lost their home to a natural disaster,” Asato said. “Our reach encompasses three counties, eleven communities in all, throughout Central Oregon.”
Volunteers move a mattress in the Furnish Hope warehouse
In the fall, Furnish Hope was on track to furnish more than 600 homes by the end of 2022. From January to September of last year, Furnish Hope served 1,130 people, including 523 children, with a total of 13,277 pieces of furniture and household essentials. The organization’s growth is closely tied to increasing need in Central Oregon, where the cost of living is a barrier for many people. “We have seen the need for basic household furnishings multiply as we have come through COVID, and anticipate the need will continue increasing as inflation is making housing affordability even tougher for many in our region,” Asato said.
The Furnish Hope & Home Storefront
Furnish Hope & Home
In September, the organization opened a new storefront on SE Scott Street which serves as a retail location to generate revenue for the organization. Select donated items are resold at the storefront, which is packed with furniture, decor, table settings, and other items for the home. It also functions as a gathering or meeting place, Asato said. “In addition to generating sustainable revenue to support our operations, it’s a place where people can pull up a seat at a table or sit on a sofa and connect with someone who sees them, cares about their story and how they are doing,” she said.
In addition to shopping at the Furnish Hope & Home store, those looking to support the organization’s work can do so in a variety of ways. Furnish Hope accepts financial donations and donations of gently used furniture and household items, and invites people to host their own “Home Essentials Drive” to collect items. For those interested in volunteering with Furnish Hope, the next informational meeting is planned for noon Thursday, February 9 at the organization’s donation facility, 1006 SE Ninth Street in Bend.
Tango originated in Argentina and Uruguay during the late nineteenth century.
Winter nights may seem cold and dark, but there’s a sultry dance movement bringing heat to Bend. Latin dancing has ignited in Central Oregon with partners spinning and grooving to the salsa beat in clubs across town; it’s a sizzling scene.
The term Latin dance is used to refer to any type of dance that originated out of Latin America, and includes salsa, mambo and cha-cha-cha. The most popular Latin dances found in Bend are salsa and bachata. While both are of the same genre, origins of the two dances are different. Salsa dancing was imported to the U.S. from Cuba largely by immigrant populations in Miami and New York City, yet the dance has far-reaching roots to Africa, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. Then, bachata is a direct export from the Dominican Republic. The word “bachata” means party or good time, and this dance became popular through social gathering as it is largely danced in a festive, group atmosphere. While both dances are Latin in origin and performed with partners, the steps are quite different and each dance has its own type of music.
The word “salsa” translates to sauce, which is a good place to start when describing the dance. The salsa dancing style popular in the U.S. originated in New York during the 1960s. It’s fast, with partners dancing front to back, while bachata is performed in a circular motion using side-to-side steps. Bachata is a bit more sultry or romantic to match slower-paced music. Partners dance close to one another, often hip to hip.
Victoria Tolonen teaches salsa in her dance studio and at periodic Latin dance nights at The Capitol, downtown Bend. Photo Kai Dunn
Salsa with Victoria
Victoria Tolonen started salsa dancing in Eugene in 1993. She led a small performance group teaching classes and hosting competitions. There wasn’t anyone else in the area doing organized Latin dance at the time. A move in 2002 brought her salsa lessons to Central Oregon when she opened the studio, Bend Dance. Early on, she organized salsa nights at any bar or nightclub in town that had even the tiniest bit of dance floor space. This was the start of the Latin dance community in Bend. Having a community is essential for Latin dance to thrive, Tolonen said. She offers a four-week salsa dance series in her home studio each month, with skills progressing over the course of the class. Both couples and singles are encouraged to attend lessons as partners rotate continuously. The classes include all ages and abilities and private lessons are available as well. “Everyone is welcome and no experience is necessary,” said Tolonen. “You just need a willingness to learn and a desire to have fun.”
Andres “Andy” Garcia sees an opportunity to grow the Latin dance community with the influx of new residents who have relocated to Bend from bigger cities. Andy, originally from Mexico, is the founder of Latin Dance Bend. As a kid, he had a lot of Puerto Rican friends who helped shape his love for dancing. “Growing up, at our family gatherings, you eat and you dance,” said Garcia. When Andy graduated from high school, his parents gifted him a trip to New York City. During the weeks he visited, he and his friends danced frequently. In 2008, while going through some personal transitions, Garcia reimmersed himself in dance here in Bend as an outlet. As his passion grew, he took lessons and attended Latin dance congresses, or dance competitions. He eventually started teaching in 2012 part time. In addition to teaching salsa and bachata classes, he also hosted socials open to the public, where he was DJ and gave dance lessons.
After a couple of years, Garcia took the plunge and started teaching Latin dance full time. The demand for his classes grew to two classes a night, three days a week. This lasted until the 2020 pandemic. Today, Garcia has a full-time job and young family, but dance—especially bachata—remains his passion. In 2022, he started hosting monthly Latin dance socials
at Campfire Hotel.
When asked about the positive impact of Latin dance in Bend, both Gary and Tolonen accentuate the community it builds. Tolonen said her entire circle of friends came through teaching salsa, and Garcia met his wife dancing. “Even if you don’t want to participate, watching the dancers’ show is a fun night out,” said Tolonen. Latin dance is a way to learn a new skill, keep active, and expand a social network. Now, that’s pretty saucy.
Angelina Swanson is a natural. From her athletic lifestyle, to the planet-conscious, Bend-based aos (Angelina Organic Skincare) business she created, she embodies her brand as more than a namesake. Starting in 1997 from her kitchen lab, aos now occupies a Bond Street storefront, with a spa sited above it to take customers from a retail experience to a journey to wellness with treatments, such as facials and massage, all using Angelina’s signature, personally-formulated skin care line. We asked Angelina about what inspired her to action.
When did you develop an interest in skincare products?
Growing up in Arizona, I was obsessed with getting to know the plants around me and how they were useful. My mom had a catering business, and I grew up cooking with her. She was incredibly creative, as are all the women in my family, and I loved fostering an intimate relationship with each ingredient. This has carried over into formulating skin care.
What was it like to be a budding botanist in the harsh climate of the Sonoran desert in Arizona?
Wandering in the desert preserve adjacent to our home, I was fascinated by the unique plants and began learning everything I could about how to use them. I studied botany and advanced biology in high school and completed the Master Gardener training, with my botany teacher—so geeky—the summer after graduation.
How did aos get started?
Like many small businesses, it began as a hobby. I was making products, like [best-selling] Skin Doctor Salve, for my family and friends. I started creating labels when I got tired of rattling off every ingredient, or handwriting it on a little slip of paper for the recipient. I think my first labels were on Microsoft Word and I cut them out with scissors. In the early 2000s, I was in massage school and didn’t like using the standard lotions full of chemicals and petroleum, so I began making my own massage butter. A few years later, two local spas called and said their massage therapists were “sneaking in” their own massage butter to use on clients, and they liked it so much, they wanted to buy it by the gallon! They kept asking for more products, massage lotion, oils, sugar scrubs and eventually face products. I wasn’t confident in formulating skin care yet, and since I was studying Ayurveda [Indian folk medicine] at the time, I decided to travel to India and talk with some of their Ayurvedic skin care specialists in Kerala. I returned armed with new knowledge and passion and began experimenting with the help of the estheticians at Sage Springs Spa.
What is the creation story behind your first product, Skin Doctor Salve?
I’ve always wanted to be outside as much as possible. In college, I earned extra money running river rafting and rock climbing expeditions on the weekends. The constant exposure to the harsh elements put my sensitive skin to the test and left my hands and feet painfully dry and cracked. I tried everything I could find, from Bag Balm to salves, but nothing really worked. I had taken a salve making workshop and decided to experiment in my kitchen with ingredients I found at the natural foods store where I worked.This experience inspired my first plant-based product, Skin Doctor Salve, which now three decades later, is still hailed as the ultimate healing salve by doctors, outdoor enthusiasts and devoted fans around the world.
I was intrigued to read about your idea of “Full-Circle Beauty,” can you explain what it means?
We strive to create more beauty in everything we touch, from our products to the communities that grow our ingredients. We call this concept “Full-Circle Beauty.” From choosing ingredients that are sustainably grown and harvested to suppliers who pay living wages and support their own communities, choosing alternative energy sources, riding bikes to work, buying recycled copy paper and long-life light bulbs, we work to create more beauty in the world with every facet of the business.
You have been a long-time supporter of local nonprofits, why is this important to you and aos?
The U.S. government doesn’t create the same kind of social safety nets that many other countries have, so we rely heavily on nonprofits to take care of our communities. I think it’s important to support them as much as we can because they provide so many necessities and valuable resources.
Finally, will you tell us about that cash register?
Oh yes, the cash register! I have a strong affinity for analog tools and machines. When I opened my first store, I searched for a beautiful, non-electric cash register. I don’t like surrounding myself with plastic, electrical things. Many antique machines were artfully crafted, and I like to weave that beauty into my life.
Ski days aren’t just incredibly fun, they’re also taxing. A lot of physical work goes into a good day on the mountain—around 400 calories are burned in one hour of downhill skiing. Carbs and proteins are required to make the most out of every run. With Bend just a short drive from the mountain, and plenty of fantastic food (aka mountain fuel) options at Mt. Bachelor, a little planning will ensure you stay fueled for the deepest of powder days from start to finish. Then, add libations to cap off the day and, well, that’s just carrying out the apres-ski European tradition.
Powder panic—the anxiety of getting to the mountain after fresh snowfall for an untouched line of snow—is real. Don’t make the mistake of skipping the most important meal of the day. Bend Breakfast Burrito gives mountain-goers every opportunity to get a filling breakfast without slowing the momentum of getting a spot at their Mt. Bachelor lot of choice.
Bend Breakfast Burrito began serving up burritos in 2021 from a prep kitchen and a homemade food cart now located within Boss Rambler Beer Club off Galveston Avenue. If there’s snow in the forecast, plan ahead by pre-ordering their Ski Package by 7 p.m. online the night before and picking it up starting at 7 a.m. The package includes two breakfast burritos and two sides. Choose from vegan, chorizo, or the original bacon burrito. Sides include banana bread muffins, churro Chex mix, or more protein-filled “slope snacks” including trail mix breakfast cookies and homemade granola bars. “A lot of people like to snack on the sides on the chair lift between runs,” said Valerie Hilton, owner. Recently rebranded as Boss Coffee, Bendites enjoy the coffee previously known as Megaphone Coffee that was located at Boss Rambler. For a drive up the hill, grab a drip coffee, a whipped coffee meringue or a staple, the G.O.A.T.—their greatest coffee of all time. Don’t forget to pick up a six-pack of Stokes Light Lager or Ski Day IPA for tailgating in the lot later in the day. See bendbreakfastburrito.comand bossrambler.com.
1 p.m.On the Hill
Mt. Bachelor Dining
When it’s time to refuel and rehydrate to make the most of afternoon laps, a brown-bag lunch doesn’t always cut it. At the West Village Lodge, find a hearty meal at Cocoa’s Cafe, snacks at the Subie Shack, or take in a plate of nachos at Clearing Rock Bar. Mid-mountain, enjoy Mediterranean and Italian fare with sit-down service and a view at Scapolo’s Bistro within Pine Marten Lodge. While at the Sunrise base, fill up on a burger at Sunrise Grill, or stop at the 360 Food Truck for a menu featuring menu features tasty, easy-to-share dishes like hot fries and flatbread pizzas, convenient to grab-and- wings, truffle go. Seemtbachelor.com.
A pit stop at LOGE includes s’mores, craft beer, music on vinyl, plus a hot wax happy hour. | Photo by Tambi Lane
4 p.m. Apres Ski
LOGE
Skiing may be over for the day but keep the fun going. Conveniently located off Cascade Lakes Highway on the way back into town, the ’70s ranch-style architecture of LOGE, modernized with an alpine mid-century modern style, provides a space to unwind after an adrenaline-filled ski day. Cozy up at their hot wax happy hour from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day where your gear is prepared for the next adventure on the mountain, all while you relax, listen to tunes and grab a local draft beer to drink while you wait. A record player is available for people to pick vinyl of their choice, said Tom Wells, LOGE’s general manager. The records are a collection Wells built by visiting local stashes around town and includes classics such as The Who’s Kids are Alright and Steve Miller Band’s Fly Like an Eagle. Play a board game or head out to the fire pit to roast marshmallows. Watch for LOGE’s Puffy Jacket Concert series held one evening each month, Live Outside movies featuring Northwest filmmakers at 7 p.m. each Friday, and featured photography classes throughout the winter. See logecamps.com/bend-or.
Clothing, left, courtesy of Powder House Ski & Snowboard | Photo by Tambi Lane
6 p.m. A Strong Finish
Mountain Burger
Enjoying a hearty meal with friends is second only to taking your ski boots off for the day. After building up an appetite, Mountain Burger, located in NorthWest Crossing and run by the team behind Drake and Washington Kitchen + Cocktails, offers the hungry a modern spin on the iconic American burger joint and a meal to look forward to. Classic orders have been thoughtfully crafted; the burgers are ground three times in-house with chuck and brisket and each milkshake is made to order. Executive chef Brian Walczyk puts a flair on classic dishes such as the Okonoko mountain fries, a Japanese pancake-inspired dish with sesame miso aioli, furikake, pickled ginger, bonito and scallion.
Serving a diverse range of diets, expect the same dining experience whether digging into the most popular double mountain cheeseburger or into the vegan in-house Manzanita burger. Sit by the firepits with a handcrafted cocktail, before heading inside for a Cliffhanger Caesar, one of many items named after iconic Mt. Bachelor runs, and Swampy Lakes mountain fries, this one topped with Mountainwich chili, dill pickles and burger sauce. Finish up with a boozy milkshake like Summit, a delicious strawberry and white chocolate reward after Summit laps all day, or the Big Butte cookie. Mountain Burger’s sustainability mission is to have net zero carbon emissions by 2025. One particular perk of the sustainability model is the local ingredients used throughout the menu, such as Big Ed’s potato buns, North 44 Farm meats and Bontà Gelato. So, after a day of activities Mother Nature provided, feel good about where you’re eating. An epic mountain day is officially complete! See mountainburgerbend.com.
Emily Cathcart was born into a life surrounded by fine art. Her father, a gifted painter, took her to Santa Fe, New Mexico, throughout her childhood for his gallery art shows on Canyon Road. At a young age, Cathcart was able to pick up on people’s connection with her father’s work. This inspired Cathcart to focus on a career path that would enhance others’ lives through a different medium of art, interior design and eventually her specialization in kitchens and baths.
Cathcart graduated with a bachelor of science in interior design from Colorado State University and her first job out of college was at a kitchen and bath dealership in Denver, Colorado, doing computer-aided design, or CAD, for other designers. It was at this point, she realized she wanted to specialize in the kitchen and bath industry for which she had little educational experience. Cathcart continued her education with the National Kitchen and Bath Association. In 2008, Cathcart became a Certified Kitchen Designer, and in 2016 she became a Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer, the highest distinction in the kitchen and bath industry. Cathcart brings more than twenty years of education, experience and certification to her clients. In addition, Cathcart traveled to Germany last fall with the NKBA on a buyers tour for kitchen and bath products.
Emily Cathcart
Bound for Bend
Years after developing her own business, Emily Cathcart Designs, and starting a family in Colorado, Cathcart and her family began to contemplate a move to Central Oregon. As longtime residents of Fort Collins, Colorado, and second homeowners in the ski resort town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the family was seeking a community that offered a mix of the two areas. They began to visit Bend regularly, and grew fond of the town’s outdoor amenities, size and clean mountain air. “We moved for the quality of life, and I know that’s what a lot of people say, but it’s really true,” Cathcart said. “We wanted a healthier lifestyle in general.” They were planning their move in 2019 and made their trip out west permanant in the spring of 2020.
Business Refresh
After settling into her new home, Cathcart returned her focus to kitchen and bath design, relaunching her business in Oregon with plans to serve the Pacific Northwest. As part of the business’s second iteration, Cathcart now offers direct sourcing of cabinetry through ECD Cabinetry, which she launched in 2021. Cathcart works directly with a family-owned custom cabinet manufacturer in Vancouver, British Columbia, acting as a dealer for clients looking for cabinetry for their kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, pantries and adjacent spaces. “Homeowners who are looking for design are often also in need of cabinetry. It works seamlessly to handle the complexities of a cabinet order with a designer like myself who’s spent the majority of my career in the cabinet industry. The intention of my designs can be followed through in precise detail this way,” she said. Clients who work with Cathcart go through a step-by-step process that takes them from dream to design. It begins with a complimentary discovery call to discuss a potential project. From there, clients can book an in-home design consultation. “I’ll go out to that person’s home for a tour—we’ll talk about their ideas, we’ll talk about my ideas and I’ll share my process with them,” Cathcart said. For clients who give the green light to a project, the process continues and typically includes technical drawings, product selections and support through purchasing, installation and construction as you work with a builder.
Personal Style
As Cathcart builds her new business in Bend, she’s keeping an eye on trends in home design and cabinetry and incorporating that knowledge into her consultations. Among the trends she’s seeing lately are pencil shaker cabinet doors, large format tile slabs on floors and walls, through-body porcelain slabs for countertops, natural stones such as marble and quartzite and more warmth in color choices, including warm whites, blues and greens.Trends aside, Cathcart is happy to see more homeowners embracing their personal styles, versus choosing design strictly on the basis of what’s popular right now. “I encourage people to discover their personal taste, and not worry about what everyone else is doing,” she said. Cathcart said her hope with each project is that in the end, the homeowner is satisfied with the process, and feels better in their space. “My priority is always the outcome, and to give a client more than they asked for,” Cathcart said, “And providing the client with a positive experience along the way.”
Rarely does an architect get the chance to design two custom homes for the same client, especially with a gap of 27 years between projects. When a Bend couple decided to simplify and scale back their living space, they turned once again to Bend architect Neal Huston. “They wanted to travel and needed a more manageable space,” Huston said, embracing the challenge of designing a smaller home compared to the couple’s original 5,000-square-foot residence on 20 acres. Their new home measures 2,350 square feet, and is in the Three Pines Ridge development near Shevlin Park.
Despite downsizing, accommodating the couple’s extensive art collection was a priority. The home’s contemporary design features walls of glass to let natural light in for displaying cherished pieces of art. “The challenge was to do more with less which made this project particularly enjoyable,” Huston said. “I understood their starting point and knew how to carry forward their vision.”
Q&A: An interview with Neal Huston of Neal Huston & Associates
How did you navigate the challenge of reducing square footage while preserving livable space and the clients’ aesthetics?
The first home was on 20 acres, nestled into a rock ridge above the Deschutes River, affording a great deal of elbow room. When you move into town on a standard lot, getting a sense of elbow room isn’t easy. To maximize the available space, I designed a simple form consistent with a Mid-Century Modern house and the residence to one side of the lot to enhance outdoor space. We chose a minimal, low-maintenance landscape with space for art.
It’s a single-story home with lots of light and airy spaces. The rooms are smaller compared to the previous home, which had separate dining and informal eating areas; we consolidated these into a single dining room. Instead of two offices, the new home features a bedroom that serves as flex space, doubling as an office with a hide-a-bed for guests. Additionally, an alcove off a wide hallway accommodates a second desk. The old home had a grand entry, exercise room and wine cellar, which we eliminated. Instead, the couple works out at a nearby athletic club.
As an architect who’s been in business for several decades, how was the experience different from 27 years earlier?
Communication with clients is much easier today, especially with those who aren’t local. During the design phase of the first residence, the couple lived in Washington. We communicated back and forth by phone, fax and snail mail–the only options available then. It was more cumbersome than today’s options. In the late ‘90s, there were fewer skilled craftsmen in the area to rely upon, but more recently, due to the high level of construction activity in Central Oregon, scheduling craftsmen within a reasonable timeframe has often been a challenge.
How did you balance designing a sleek, minimalistic-style home while also creating space for showcasing art?
We painted the walls a warm yet neutral color to best display artwork and built special glass shelves projecting from the wall, supported by cantilevered steel supports. A custom-designed table behind a living room sofa supports a large, cherished glass installation.
The clients’ first home had a security gate and a long driveway that gave them lots of privacy. How did you create privacy in a home surrounded by neighbors?
For starters, Mike Szabo [SZABO Landscape Architecture] did a great job achieving privacy within a relatively small outdoor space. We also designed a street façade that discouraged views from the street into the home while still allowing residents to enjoy seeing what’s going on within their neighborhood.
When each new client comes to Neal Huston with a dream home or commercial space in mind, he sees the project as a puzzle to be solved. Sometimes the pieces include a steep lot with a large pine tree in the middle, while other times it’s a building with history and new owners with a vision. Whatever challenges are at hand, Huston and his team at Neal Huston & Associates are up for it, often preferring more complex projects over repeating the same old thing. “We love working with clients who are interested in a variety of different styles. That’s what keeps us going,” Huston said. “We love to try new things and think outside the box.” An open-minded approach to new ideas and a talent for creating timeless designs that still check the boxes on a client’s wish list has helped Huston thrive as an architect in Central Oregon, where he moved more than five decades ago to begin his career.
The Road to Central Oregon
An Oregon native who grew up in McMinnville, Huston as a teen headed to college still debating whether to pursue medical school—to become a doctor like his father—or architecture. By his second year at Stanford he had chosen the latter, and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in pre-architecture there and subsequently completed an additional architecture degree program at the University of Oregon. While wrapping up his education, Huston saw a position in Central Oregon listed on a job posting board. The role primarily involved establishing a design department and designing residential and summer homes for a resort community north of Sisters called Black Butte Ranch. Bend development firm Brooks Resources had recently bought the 1,800-acre property, and were advertising 1,250 building lots to Oregonians looking for a place to “listen to the quiet” of Central Oregon. “They were just contouring the golf course by the time I started,” said Huston, who moved to Central Oregon for the role in 1970. “The idea was that we would provide home designs for free to people who bought property there,” Huston said. The position was a learning experience for Huston, who gained on-the-job insights working with engineers, architects, interior designers and contractors, as well as the developer.
Building a Business
By 1976, Huston had finished his architecture apprenticeship and went on to partner with two other fellows to form Waldron Huston Barber Architects, which later became Huston Barber Barrett Turner. By 1988 he went out on his own and formed the enterprise he’s known for today—Neal Huston & Associates. While larger firms have come into the region and others have grown, Huston has kept his team small over the years and focused on a select number of residential and commercial projects, all of which he’s personally involved with. Huston partners with two other architects—John Gerard and Mark Ward—who have both been with the company for more than two decades, along with his wife/business manager and an office coordinator, both of whom ensure the business side of the operation runs smoothly. Huston’s longevity in Central Oregon means he’s built up countless relationships with area builders and contractors, helping each local project come together efficiently and effectively.
Developing Bend
Huston’s home design projects are all over Central Oregon, with an emphasis on custom home architecture in Bend. While there is a draw to larger projects with seemingly limitless budgets, Huston said he often prefers projects that have unique stipulations and challenges. Several years ago, Huston’s team was tasked with building a new single-level home for a client. While that sounds simple to begin with, Huston said the project needed to be designed on a steep lot, which had a mature pine tree in the middle that the clients wanted to keep. The solution was to thoughtfully design a home around the tree and construct part of the home on steel stilts to allow for the single-level living the clients were seeking. In the end, the successful project was dubbed the “Tree House,” Huston said.
On another project, Neal Huston & Associates worked with a couple looking to move from a three-story home into a newly built single-level home in Bend’s Hillside Park neighborhood. “They still wanted a nice view up on Awbrey Butte, but they wanted it on one level,” said Huston, who described the clients as close friends. The resulting design maximized the south-facing views that the couple had loved at their previous home, in 3,000 square feet of living space on one level.
While Huston’s work has most recently focused primarily on custom residential projects, his commercial work is visible all over Bend. Downtown, Huston helped transform an office space for attorneys into the Deschutes Brewing Public House, enclosing an exterior courtyard that would become the main dining room of the brewery restaurant. Just a block away, Huston was also the architect tasked with preserving the history and sentiment of Eddie’s Corner, a longstanding Bend auto dealership slated to become a bank at the corner of Northwest Wall Street and Northwest Newport Avenue. Huston worked out a design for the new bank that kept the dealership’s massive lava rock pillars with a sign reading “Eddie’s Corner,” appeasing auto dealer Eddie Williamson, while building a more contemporary building on the site to house the bank.
Test of Time
With more than fifty years in the architecture field in Central Oregon, Huston has become an expert in designs that stand the test of time. He may suggest variations to ultra-contemporary styles that might currently be in vogue but may not live as comfortably five or ten years later, and advocate for designs that prioritize functionality, sustainability and timeless style. In the coming years, Huston hopes the company continues its current trajectory, pursuing new designs and styles that spark creativity and the problem-solving skills that drew Huston to architecture in the first place. “I love the creative part of having a client come to you with their ideas, no matter the budget or size of the project,” Huston said. “The goal is to create functional buildings that live large and hopefully exceed the client’s expectations.”
Neal Huston & Associates | 520 Southwest Powerhouse Drive, Suite 621, Bend | 541-389-0991 | nealhuston.com
On an artist’s journey, natural landmarks can be an essential influence for what comes alive on a canvas. In the Pacific Northwest, diverse and striking landscapes seem to be endless, and painter Taylor Manoles has taken full advantage of the enchanting scenery that provides inspiration right outside her door.
Manoles, age 27, has entered Bend’s art scene full-force and with gumption. Always a creative kid, she pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education at North Dakota State University and became a middle school art teacher. Knowing she and her husband, Joe, didn’t want to settle down in North Dakota, they moved to Portland where Manoles was a substitute art teacher while still practicing her craft before the pandemic. Then, after settling in Bend a year ago for Joe to pursue a physical therapy program at OSU Cascades, Manoles launched her art career full-time.
When they moved to Portland, Manoles was first drawn to the foggy trees, the mountains and the ocean. “It definitely completely changed what I paint, how I paint, what I’m drawn to, and the landscape of Bend has been so amazing to capture as well,” she said. Today, Manoles’ studio in Bend finds work-in-progress paintings adorning one wall and her easel on another, and it is where her creativity has found a home in the form of her Pacific Northwest landscapes.
Beyond the Canvas
When looking at a painting by Manoles, the dramatic colors and layered paint illustrate the remarkable and breathtaking views from across the Pacific Northwest. Stunning florals and swans may grace a canvas in her trademark style. “Landscapes are just where my heart is,” she said. “But with that [are] wildlife and botanicals. So they kind of feel intertwined at times.” With the ebb and flow of the seasons, Manoles’ inspiration on what to paint fluctuates.
The notable scenes—many of them Central Oregon landmarks—feature thick oil paint, smeared into layers, creating an almost multi-dimensional effect to the art. The colors in the paintings all feature the vibrant earth tones which Manoles sets out to honor. “I like to capture dramatic lighting,” she said. “That’s my favorite: when there’s dark-darks and light-lights.” When searching to be inspired, Manoles focuses on scenes with interesting lighting and lines, sometimes scenes in photos from friends or her own photography. But, she feels the most inspired when taking a hike, then coming home and painting the view from a photo she captured along the way.
Photo by Kevin Prieto
The Artist’s Challenge
Taking her art commitment to new heights, she pursued the 100 Day Project—one hundred paintings in one hundred days—two years ago. The project calls for any artist to remain ardent in their craft by completing something creative each of the one hundred days.
During that first round, Manoles challenged herself to paint using a palette knife, a choice which would change the outcome of her work from that moment forward. “I love the way it looks; I’ve always been drawn to the thick paint, but I never really felt like I could pull it off,” said Manoles. The extra challenge of the palette knife resulted in the signature and consistent style seen today.
In 2022, Manoles pursued the 100 Day Project once again. This time, she was able to paint while in Greece and France, and said that because of the challenge, a viewer can see the seasons change through the consecutive days of her paintings.
Find Manoles’ work on her website and prints at Lark in downtown Bend. Looking ahead, she said she wants to show her art throughout the community, and looks forward to showcasing her work at The Commons Cafe & Taproom in February. Also stemming from the 100 Day Project, Manoles is feeling the passion to paint on a larger scale. “Whenever I do a bunch of small paintings, I want to do giant ones,” she said. “I already feel that itch like, ‘I have to paint something huge now.’”
If your New Year’s resolutions include bringing balance back into your life, it may be time to step out of the daily grind and plan a wellness retreat for 2023. Practices such as meditation, yoga, heat therapy and massage reduce stress hormones, slow heart rates and clear our thinking. They activate the parasympathetic nerves to shift bodies out of fight-or-flight mode into a restful sense of wellbeing. Fortunately, finding that zen doesn’t require traveling far. Between the high desert to our east and the lush valley to our west, Central Oregon is home to a wide range of destinations to help jumpstart healthier new habits.
High Desert Havens
Juniper Preserve
Twenty miles northeast of Bend, Juniper Preserve offers an oasis where self-care meets luxury. Formerly known as Pronghorn Resort, the lodge recently shifted to put wellness at the heart of the golf community. “We want transformational experiences that maintain health,” said Maddison Katchem, director of wellness. Integrating experiences into the high desert landscape means yoga in the lava cave, sound baths on the island, or meditation in the serene interior of a teepee, followed by Ayurvedic-inspired massage or energizing gemstone facials. Golfers needing a meditative break might discover a rock labyrinth tucked behind the 15th green. See juniperpreserve.com. (First image shown is of Juniper Preserve.)
Silvies Valley Ranch
Part dude ranch, part retreat, Silvies Valley Ranch is an escape from the stress of a fast-paced world. The remote location north of Burns makes it easy to unplug and get grounded, according to Sandy Campbell, co-owner of the ranch. “Spending time in the meadow, the old growth timber, along the river…this place nurtures your soul,” said Campbell. Balance that quiet contemplation with ranch activities such as goat herding and horseback rides, followed by bodywork in the Rocking Heart Spa. This year the ranch reopens in late spring. If the goats cooperate, opening weekend may include caring for the baby goats, followed by a massage and dinner. See silvies.us.
Nurtured by Nature
Breitenbush Hot Springs covered in snow.
Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat
Wellness has been central to the Breitenbush mission since it began in 1977. As the Breitenbush community rebuilds what was lost to a wildfire two years ago, a restoration theme holds more meaning than ever before. Even while under construction, Breitenbush is open for guests. The lodge, sauna and kitchen survived the fire, allowing them to resume daily yoga sessions, massage services, special events such as a sacral chakra and chocolate meditation or frequent live music. Best of all, the tradition of soaking in mineral hot springs remains unchanged. While Breitenbush is WiFi-free, substance-free, and occasionally clothing free, it is abundant in soul-nourishing experiences. See breitenbush.com.
Green Rock Retreat
Between the rimrock cliffs of the Crooked River Canyon and the rushing waters below, the Green Rock Retreat creates a refuge that is both calming and energizing. Meander the trails and you’ll find a soaking tub with a panorama view, an intricate labyrinth adorned with gemstones, and an abundance of inspiration for reflection and meditation. From May through October, raised canvas wall tents provide unplugged glamping at its best. Guests gather on the outdoor patio for meals, drawn by the scent of the wood-fired oven, and the lodge meditation room offers indoor space for yoga or group sessions. Plan now for a Green Rock retreat scheduled this spring and summer, or plan an individual getaway. Once you experience the magic here you’ll come back again and again. See greenrockretreat.com.
Healthy Resorts
Shibui Spa at FivePine Lodge
FivePine Lodge, Sisters
Where wellness meets romance and adventure—that is how Beverly Garcia, lodge manager, likes to describe FivePine Lodge. Wellness weekends here begin with a serenity cabin, where the soaking tub looks out over the forest. Next comes a dose of nature, with a snowshoe trek on the Peterson Ridge trails. Let the Himalayan salt stone massage at Shibui Spa work its magic. For an added boost to circulation, immunity and mood, follow a soak in the spa’s hot pool with the cold plunge shower. “The wellness weekend is designed for anyone feeling overwhelmed. It’s a lovely baby-moon for expecting parents, or an early-moon to relax before a wedding,” said Garcia. See fivepine.com and shibuispa.com.
Sunriver Resort, Sunriver
Known for family fun that spans generations, Sunriver also encourages taking self-care breaks from busy vacations. Escape for a few hours at a Sage Springs Spa’s signature massage with CBD and arnica. Step out of the hustle and bustle in the Oasis Room, where custom herbal blends infuse the soaking tub. Follow that with an infrared sauna session—a bonus for detoxing skin, improving circulation and supporting sleep quality. With yoga classes that can adapt for a variety of ages, Sunriver may be the place to introduce wellness to the whole family. See sunriverresort.com.
A Hotel to be Well
Peaceful King Room at the SCP Hotel
SCP Hotel
This newly renovated historic Redmond hotel also hosts co-working spaces and community gathering spots. SCP stands for Soul-Community-Planet, and wellness is a natural fit with their holistic hospitality brand. The hotel’s “peaceful rooms” are designed for rest and focus. Instead of televisions and clocks they include yoga mats, meditation pillows and sound machines. Add local yoga and healthy smoothies, and their wellness package hits the mark for staycationers and business travelers seeking a reboot. Mindful nutrition is easy here: Terra Kitchen offers plant-forward field-to-table dining, and Wayfarer has a full bar with a creative menu of mocktails and low alcohol cocktails. See scphotel.com.
The Meissner Nordic Ski Club was at it again, and the Forest Service roads and paths southwest of Bend were once again magically transformed into glorious ribbons of cold, corduroy snow. It’d been a tough day at work, but now, standing in the parking lot at Virginia Meissner Sno-Park, the stress faded like so much daylight. A light snow fell. I stepped into my skis and cast off into the purple night, the flakes strafing through the cone of my headlamp.
We live within eyeshot of one of the nation’s largest downhill ski resorts, but we’re also a Nordic skiing paradise. Between Mt. Bachelor and Virginia Meissner alone, the area has more than 100 kilometers of groomed cross country trails, nearly half of which are free thanks to the Meissner Nordic Ski Club. Countless other trails wind around snowy buttes, back to cozy cabins and along quiet lakes. For little to no money, cross country skiers can glide through a winter wonderland where the forests sigh under the weight of the flakes and the tranquility can be exquisite. Or, if you’re one of the countless Nordic athletes in town, you can push yourself so hard the world blurs at the edges, and you feel as if you might cough up a lung.
High school teams produce nationally-ranked skiers. Photo Matthew Lasala.
Nordic Definitions and Dedication
The range of experiences, athleticism and dedication the sport inspires is a big reason why Nordic isn’t just downhill skiing’s kid brother but a passion that many in Central Oregon embrace with near fanaticism. You can “classic” ski (in which your skis remain parallel, often in a set track) or “skate” ski (in which your skis act more like ice skates on a wide, groomed track). “If you can jog you can basically ski classic,” said Mark Jobson, an instructor at Mt. Bachelor’s Nordic Center. “[But] skating is a lateral motion that is quite foreign to most of us.”
In Bend’s annual Pole Pedal Paddle multi-sport race, the Nordic leg often determines a winner from a runner-up. The winners all skate ski because it’s faster—and more taxing—with a lot of coordination and balance needed to sync the various poling techniques, called V1, V2 and V2 alternate, with your legs. A skier’s entire weight must also transition repeatedly from one ski to the other, all while everything is moving. “Historically I think it’s rare for people to do well in the race unless they have a history of Nordic skiing,” said Jesse Thomas, winner of last year’s event, who trained diligently on cross country skis to make up for his lack of Nordic history. Multiple Pole Pedal Paddle winner Marshall Greene, a one-time World Cup racer, beat Thomas by a whopping three minutes on the Nordic leg that takes elite racers just fifteen minutes to complete. Taking advantage of an extended training season, Olympians such as Dan Simoneau, Justin Wadsworth and Beckie Scott have all called Bend home at one time. Members of the U.S. Ski Team are frequently spotted on the trails well into late spring.
Aidan Jacobus demonstrates skate-ski form during a high school race. Photo Matthew Lasala.
Training Grounds
Central Oregon produces youth standouts as well. Across the entirety of Oregon, about 250 students will be racing both classic and skate for their high schools, and more than half of them will come from Bend. A major reason the state has a high school racing program is largely thanks to Bend resident Jinny Martin, who spearheaded the statewide effort in the late ‘90s. “It’s pretty cool how amped the high schoolers here get,” said Martin’s son, Eric Martin, a National Masters Champion who graduated from Mountain View High School in 1984 and has been the school’s cross country ski team coach for twenty-three years.
If you had to pick one student racer to watch this season, follow Bend High’s Neve Gerard. The athlete, who started skiing in sixth grade, had barely turned 16 last March, when she earned two podium finishes at her first U.S. Junior Nationals Cross-Country Skiing Championships in Minneapolis. “It’s pretty cool, to have gone to Nationals and podiumed there,” Gerard said. But the truly remarkable thing is how she’s hardly alone. “We have a very large number of kids who will qualify for junior nationals, and a few of them have the potential to be on the podium,” said Dylan Watts, the Nordic director for the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation.
While skiing at Virginia Meissner Sno-Park is free thanks to its volunteers and a Nordic day pass at Mt. Bachelor costs just $30 (versus $155 or more for a day of alpine skiing), cross country skiing can still be an expensive sport to start, with the hard goods alone costing more than what many families can afford. But Martin said he’s able to outfit each member of the Mountain View team with two pairs of skis, two pairs of poles and a pair of boots each for as little as $20 a year thanks to donations from the community. Unlike a lot of other competitive high school and club sports, no one gets cut from the team.
Often, getting started with Nordic skiing begins with a simple question. “Do you want to ski on snow that has been prepared by a groomer or snow that is virgin and isn’t prepared?” said Jobson. “That’s going to lead you to decide what type of equipment you put on your feet.” From there, beginners can rent skis at a local shop such as Sunnyside Sports, Pine Mountain Sports, or Powder House Ski & Snowboard, and head out with friends or up to Mt. Bachelor to take a lesson. Later, skiers might want to consider signing up for an XC Oregon camp. “A lot of our people are looking to improve upon very specific technical things that they’re struggling with,” said XC Oregon founder John “J.D.” Downing. Maybe they aren’t transferring their weight as well as they could or perhaps their poling technique is off. Our camps really smooth out those edges.”
As for me, that night at Meissner still ranks as one of my favorite evenings of the more than 6,500 I’ve had in Bend. Everything seemed to click. I skated along the flats and up the climbs, threading that line between exertion and exhaustion. Halfway through, I stopped and turned off my headlamp to marvel at this amazing gift we call a Central Oregon winter. Jobson can relate. “Folks ask me, ‘Why are you so dedicated to this [sport]?’” he said. “I say, because winter is the most magical time to be outside.”
Moonlight Trails
As ski lifts are put to sleep for the night and when the sun sets, the time is ripe for Nordic skiers to begin what is often considered one of the most magical experiences on skis: gliding by the light of the rising moon.
When the phases of the moon approach maximum fullness, snowy trails are illuminated by reflections provided from light as it bounces between sky, snow and any clouds to offer a bright glow complete with moon shadows. Experienced skiers that traverse Bend’s trail systems during the daylight hours may feel confident skiing solo in the nighttime silence with the only sound being the swish of snow crushed under a sliding ski. Yet, a classic adventure is a group ski to a snow shelter with friends with the reward of a respite under the stars before a return to the trailhead.
Night Ski Tips:
Check a Farmer’s Almanac to find dates when the moon approaches full. The next dates in Central Oregon are January 6 and February 5.
Watch weather to assess not only safety in the skies, but the snow conditions. See meissnernordic.org/weather/ for webcams and readings.
Know the trails. Bring a map and a headlamp. While moonlight brightens the terrain, landmarks may appear different under a general cloak of darkness.
Bring extra clothing, water and food. Temperatures after dark drop quickly.
The Luminaria event, a long-time tradition hosted at Virginia Meissner Sno-Park by the volunteer-supported nonprofit Meissner Nordic Ski Club, will not be held this year, a product of too much love. “The Luminaria was great while it existed,” said Steve Roti, board president of Meissner Nordic Ski Club. “It started small and grew with the ski community until the size of the event outgrew the size of Virginia Meissner [Sno-Park}.” This year, start a new tradition with family and friends. Watch for music concerts and hot chocolate nights under the moonlight at Meissner.
In today’s world, being mindful of what we do with our food, both what we consume and what we don’t, is a wonderful way to kickstart a more sustainable lifestyle. With food waste contributing to a staggering 24 percent of all landfill content and a significant eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it’s high time we reevaluate our approach to leftovers and scraps. This is where composting comes into play. Carys Wilkins, the owner of Sister’s Mahonia Gardens and Farmstand, aptly puts it, “Even before I became a farmer a decade ago, composting felt like one of the most accessible ways to reduce my energy footprint. Not only does it help reduce landfill waste, but it also creates nutrient-rich soil that can be used for growing food.”
Composting is the natural process through which organic matter, such as kitchen food scraps or backyard leaves, transforms into a dark, fertile soil called compost. While these materials will break down naturally over time, composting expedites the process by creating an ideal environment for decomposition. Making the perfect compost pile might seem daunting, but it’s much simpler than you might think. This straightforward guide has everything you need to kickstart your composting journey.
Location, Location, Location
Regardless of where you call home, there’s a composting method that can fit your lifestyle. If you have a backyard, consider creating an open-air pile or an enclosed compost bin fashioned from an old trash can or metal box. Ensure the location is shaded and dry, away from animals, with good drainage.
Not planning to garden but still eager to embrace sustainable living? Simply gather food scraps in a countertop collection bin, which you can then transfer to a yard waste receptacle for someone else to convert into compost. Living in a smaller space? No worries. You can purchase a small compost bin designed for apartment living or even use a large plastic bag to mix compost materials. For residents of Bend and Redmond, Cascade Disposal or Republic Services collect yard debris and food waste every other week.
Building the Pile
To nurture a thriving compost pile, you’ll need four essential elements: nitrogen, carbon, water and air. Nitrogen and carbon are often referred to as the “greens and browns.” Nitrogen-rich “greens” include fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, flowers, eggshells and animal manure. “Browns” provide carbon and are derived from yard materials like dead leaves, twigs, wood chips, hay, soil, as well as items such as egg cartons and old newspapers.
Browns should form the base of your pile, with alternating layers of greens and browns stacked on top. Maintain consistent moisture by watering every three to seven days and introduce air by turning the pile approximately every two weeks. Layering greens and browns, while cutting them into smaller pieces, will facilitate aeration. Remember to keep dairy products, meat, oil, coal, pet waste and diseased plants out of the pile. The success of your compost pile can often be gauged by its scent. A pleasant, earthy fragrance indicates you’re on the right track. However, if it starts to take on a foul odor, it’s time to add more brown materials and give it a good turn.
After collecting scraps and building a successful compost pile, reap the rewards with nutrient-rich soil for the garden.
Putting Your Compost to Use
Compost can become ready to use anywhere from one month to a year, depending on various factors. You’ll know it’s ready when the original organic materials are no longer recognizable, and the compost appears dark and crumbly and smells fresh and earthy. Now, it’s time to reap the rewards of your composting efforts. As Wilkins suggests, if you have any outdoor space, you can use your compost to enrich trees, bushes or even a section of your lawn where you plan to grow veggies. Compost introduces a wealth of nourishing nutrients to the soil, making it a boon for your crops. Even if you’re in an apartment, you can replace your houseplants’ soil with your homemade compost every six months instead of relying on chemically enhanced bagged soil.
If the concept of composting resonates with you, but you don’t have a direct use for it at home, fear not. There are plenty of options available. Community gardens, for instance, often accept kitchen scraps. You can also consider initiating a community compost bin in your neighborhood. “Our farm stand in Sisters, The Stand, has a community compost bin,” Wilkins said. “Come check it out for an example of how to start your own.”
Gone are the days (for now) of condensation on a cool glass of lemonade at a barbeque, or a refreshing brew on a patio after a mountain bike ride. It’s time to cozy up fireside and watch the snow fall with a warm mug of cocoa, tea or even a boozy nightcap. Try these three delightful winter drink recipes made with local ingredients this chilly season.
Honey-sweetened Earl Grey
Broadus Bees honey
Broadus Bees owner James Broadus Wilkie V founded the Central Oregon company in 2019 with pollinators as priority. Broadus Bees sells lip balms, whole beeswax, honeycomb and flavor-infused honey. Find the honey at stores including Newport Avenue Market and Central Oregon Locavore.
For a simple and delicious warming drink, steep Earl Grey tea in a mug with hot water. After letting it cool to your preference, remove the bag. Measure one teaspoon of Broadus Bees lavender honey—along with milk if desired—for a sweet, fragrant winter drink. See broadusbees.com.
Ingredient List
Hot water
1 packet of Earl
Grey tea
1 teaspoon of Broadus Bees lavender honey
Smoked Hot Toddy
Meadowland Simple Syrup
The whimsical—not to mention delicious—Meadowland Simple Syrup brand is a collaboration between Kathy Irwin and Katie Daisy. Beyond Daisy’s imaginative illustrations on the bottles, the syrups range from floral to fruity to piquant, all distinct in their flavor.
This winter, try Meadowland’s own tried and true recipe: a smoked hot toddy. The whiskey, hot water, cinnamon stick, honey and lemon of the common recipe are sure to comfort winter blues, but why not add a twist to a classic? Replace honey with Meadowland’s Woodfire Apple simple syrup for a sweet and smoky addition to this winter nightcap. See meadowlandsyrup.com.
Ingredient List
1½ oz whiskey
¾ oz Woodfired Apple simple syrup
Squeeze of lemon
Hot water
Lemon wheel and cinnamon stick garnish
Rich Hot Chocolate
Seahorse Chocolate Cocoa Mix
Seahorse Chocolate is owned by husband and wife RC and Amanda Gartrell, and the company’s partners, Parker Vaughan and Jay Junkin. They specialize in the creation of high-quality chocolate from cocoa sourced from around the world, including Trinidad, Peru and Vietnam. Aside from delicious bars and variety packs—samples of the luxurious chocolate—the cocoa mix from Seahorse can be found in hot chocolate and mochas at Palate and Still Vibrato Coffee.
At home, turn the cocoa mix into a classic winter warming drink of your dreams. Grab the mix at Suttle Tea in Sisters and Jackson’s Corner in Bend. Bring milk to warm on the stove in the top pot of a double-boiler; stirring continuously so that it does not
Burn, curdle or boil. When heated, add the cocoa mix and stir. Pour in a mug, add a spritz (or two) of whipped cream and enjoy. See seahorsechocolate.com.
Ingredient List
7 ounces of milk
1½ level tablespoons of Seahorse Chocolate cocoa mix
When second-generation family owners of an Idaho/Oregon railroad construction company were looking to design a new fireplace for their home, they turned to Paul Shepherd at Bend’s Forged Elegance to get the job done. Shepherd worked with homeowner Gail Sines to design an electric fireplace that embodied the family’s railroad industry history, using wood from historic railroad spikes and rail cars, and a forged steel door. Shepherd even sourced historic date nails from 1922, each labeled “22,” and used them as accents on the fireplace to signify its date of creation in 2022. “I’ve known Paul for years and asked him if he could make me an electric fireplace,” Sines said. “I really enjoyed working with him on my railroad-theme decor.”
Approaching each project with a spirit of creativity, with knowledge of forging and metal work and with materials exuding historical character, Shepherd is making a name for himself through his steadily growing company, Forged Elegance.
Elegant Takeoff
The idea for Forged Elegance was conceived in 2020, when Shepherd, a second-generation sheet metal worker and owner of Shepherd Heating & Air Conditioning, began to pursue custom furniture and decor projects using metal and aged barnwoods. In the three years since, the variety of products has grown, and now includes more custom designs, built-ins and fixtures. “Forged Elegance has evolved beyond our wildest dreams,” Shepherd said. “We have advancements in new designs and techniques that have developed into an array of various styles to satisfy every homeowner’s needs. Not only are we able to produce rustic, old designs, but we have incorporated modern contemporary and mountain modern designs into our collection.”
A 1960s foosball table reconstructed with historic barnwood, forged steel and custom handles and decking.
At Northeast Lytle Street in Bend, visitors to the Forged Elegance showroom (open by appointment) can find some of the latest furniture and decor in the company’s collection, custom pieces and one-of-a-kind creations such as a rebuilt foosball table originally manufactured in West Germany in the 1960s. The foosball table was deconstructed and new details were built on top of the original interior assembly. The finished product incorporates historic barnwood, forged steel and custom handles and decking. In addition to the original interior structure from the 1960s, the original ball collection drawer and coin receptacle were also kept. “This game table has been in my family for generations, so to see it transform is an honor,” Shepherd said. “It will make a great addition to any game room.”
History at home
The furniture, decor and built-ins designed and created by Forged Elegance are special not only because of the expert craftsmanship, but because of the storied history of the materials used to create each piece. Wood is sourced from a Civil War-era barn, a historic Oregon ranch, railroad cars and a redwood water tower using lumber from 800-year-old old growth redwood trees. “Hand-selected barnwood is hand sanded to a very fine grit, leaving the rustic wood behind with a smooth finish,” Shepherd said. Once wood is selected, cold rolled steel is then used to enhance the wood furniture, producing an Old World look and feel. “This combination sets us apart from traditional furnishings, and elevates it with history and artistry,” Shepherd said.
For Bend interior designer Leah Hendrix, it’s the stories behind Shepherd’s work that make his finished products so impressive. “Forged Elegance is absolutely the best source for unique custom furnishings in Bend. What I enjoy most about working with Paul and his team is the true passion that they have for the beautiful, historic wood that they source,” Hendrix said. “Any time you visit his showroom, he is excited to tell you the story of each piece that he has created. Paul is truly a visionary artisan combining rich, reclaimed historical wood and his modern blacksmith-style metal work.”
The newest aged-wood collection that Forged Elegance has sourced is from pylons used to hold up buildings in the coastal town of Astoria, Oregon. In the 1880s and again in the 1920s, Astoria was devastated by fire. Afterward, buildings were constructed off the ground on wooden pylons. In recent years, some of these pylons that are no longer used as structure support were dredged up from several feet under the ocean floor. “The covering of mud and sand preserved this beautiful wood that still contains unique, colorful striations throughout each piece,” Shepherd said. “We repurpose this historic wood into captivating furniture with solid steel accents.”
Design Delight
As Forged Elegance has completed more projects over the past few years, the company’s following of customers, builders and designers has grown, and with that comes testimonials that speak to the quality of craftsmanship provided by Forged Elegance. Often builders and homeowners learn of the company after working with Shepherd Heating & Air Conditioning on heating and cooling for a new construction project. That was the case for Pat Wood, who met Shepherd to talk about heating and cooling for a project in Sisters, before learning about Forged Elegance. “I met with Paul at his shop in Bend to discuss business over a set of plans. Unbeknownst, we started a tour of his second business, Forged Elegance, where I realized I had just found Paul’s true passion and talent,” Wood said. “As a woodworker myself, I knew the quality and hard work that is required for such beautiful artwork.” Wood connected his custom-home client with Shepherd, who went on to create a series of pieces for the new home, including a bar in the garage, dining room table and bathroom mirror and vanity.
Another builder who champions Forged Elegance is Tye Farnsworth, owner and general manager of Pacwest Builders, a Bend-based home construction company. Farnsworth said he appreciates Forged Elegance’s selection of handmade products in stock, as well as the made-to-order pieces the company creates. “They are amazing in their creativity and in the selection of the material they use,” Farnsworth said. “Each piece has a story to tell from where it originated. Ask Paul to share the history behind the materials he uses.”
Paul Shepherd
Next Steps
As Forged Elegance continues to grow, Shepherd said he’s excited to continue experimenting with new styles and items, with a goal to always outdo himself. “I always strive to build bigger and better pieces that exceed our clients expectations,” he said. “I encourage new ideas and out-of-the-box designs.” Shepherd said he’d be particularly interested to try creating a pool table and matching forged steel light fixture someday.
In the near future, Forged Elegance is focused on keeping up with orders and demand, and preparing for upcoming opportunities to meet new customers. The company will be at the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s show in Portland, February 15 to 19, and the Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, March 9 to 12.
The glitz and glam of the roaring twenties are alive and well just behind the doors of Redmond’s Gompers Distillery. Walking into the prohibition-themed speakeasy, with its vintage decor of comfy leather couches, hidden rooms behind bookcases and delicious cocktails, transports visitors to another era. This cozy hideaway is the perfect spot to warm up this winter.
Photo Jakub Dziubak
After being unable to find the perfect gin, Michael and Jessica Hart decided to take matters into their own hands and craft their own. Gompers Distillery was founded in 2012 and opened its tasting room in 2019.
The distillery’s name is in honor of Jessica’s grandfather, a Holocaust survivor who hailed from Holland, the birthplace of gin. “My grandfather was a very outgoing, fun person to be around, and even after all the things he had gone through in life, he never let it get him down,” Jessica said. “No pun intended, but we were trying to bottle his spirit.”
Inside each bottle of Gompers small-batch, hand-crafted spirits—which now include gin and vodka—you’ll find high-quality local ingredients and unique flavor profiles. Juniper berries and lavender are handpicked on a farm in Central Oregon, and the golden pears are sourced from Hood River; the result is smooth spirits perfect on the rocks, straight up, or in a cocktail.
A cocktail such as the Bee’s Elbow, Gompers twist on a Bee’s Knees, is a classic prohibition-era creation. Be transported with this refreshingly smooth drink made with Gompers Gin, lavender honey and mint leaves. Or pick up a bottle of Gompers Gin and bring that roaring twenties spirit home this holiday season with the Bee’s Elbow recipe below.
The globe-trotting odyssey of 81-year-old Marda Stoliar and her Bend-based International School of Baking would easily fill the countless number of cookbooks she has studied, gathered and reviewed during the past four decades. Since opening the school in 1985 from her Awbrey Butte home with its state-of-the art kitchen, Marda estimates that several hundred aspiring or professional bakers from across the globe have benefitted from her expertise. She has flown around the world as a consultant with the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the U.S. Wheat Associates, plus has taught baking classes at Central Oregon Community College.
For years she read and judged hundreds of cookbooks for a national contest. Her advice for buying the right cookbook? “Read the section on equipment and everything else that comes before the ingredients list—that’s the expertise you are paying for,” she said.
Raised in Portland, her initial ambition was to be a shoe designer. A fashion design degree from the Pratt Institute in New York led to her start her own successful shoe design company, followed by marriage in 1968 to businessman David Stoliar, and a move to Tokyo. World War II history buffs may recall Stoliar’s name from the book “Death on the Black Sea.” David was the lone survivor of more than 800 Jewish refugees aboard the Sturma, a ship that exploded and sank near Istanbul, Turkey. For several years, the shoe business took the Stoliars throughout Europe where Marda also learned about European pastry baking in Paris and breads in Venice.
The lure of Central Oregon’s clean air and bucolic environment brought the Stoliars to Bend in 1972, eventually leading to Marda opening Breads of France in 1979 in the downtown building now occupied by Toomie’s Thai restaurant. A serious bout with arthritis in her hands forced her out of the bakery in 1983.
Two years later, Marda opened the doors to her International School of Baking, and attracted professional chefs, bakers and “wannabes” from four corners of the globe. Her school mantra says a lot about Marda’s dedication to baking: “A bakery school is only as good as how successful a person is after they leave,” she declared. From bread makers in China to cheesecake chefs in Italy, clients from around the world come to Bend to be taught by Marda. What sets her school apart from the hundreds of baking and culinary schools throughout the world? She would point to the one-on-one interface and mentorship she provides to each student. “I work with students one-on-one to help them achieve the results they desire and deserve as bakers. Our program is founded on three core components: custom-tailored education, side-by-side implementation and improvement through mentorship,” she explained. One of her favorite success stories was the catalyst for “Marda’s Gift,” a recently-released film documentary on her career as told via the success of one of her students who opened a family bakery in Wyoming.
The staff of Breads of France on opening day, 1979. Original glass etchings remain on the storefront windows in downtown Bend.
In 2013, Dr. Ezdan Fluckiger, an emergency room physician in Torrington, Wyoming stood at the intersection of three critical paths: professional burnout, the future facing his teenage daughter with Down’s Syndrome, and a passion for baking. That’s when Fluckiger Googled “how to start a bakery,” and found Stoliar’s website. After investing four intense weeks of hands-on learning with Marda, Fluckiger returned to Torrington and two years later opened his own bakery: The Bread Doctor. Both his daughter and wife are involved in the bakery and both are featured in the film. Fluckiger acknowledges that without Stoliar’s mentoring, none of this new life adventure for his family would have been possible.
The story doesn’t end there. The Fluckigers now consider Marda part of the family, and the feeling is mutual. “The whole family is just wonderful, and they treat me so well…even inviting me to join them in Wyoming every Christmas and Easter,” Marda said. It’s this type of personal apprenticeship and learning intensity that has impacted so many of her students over the years as she now moves into yet another phase of her career. This phase involves another one of her former students. Veronica Flefil de Bueso came to Bend from Honduras twelve years ago to learn how to open a bakery. Today, not only does she run a her thriving baking school, but, in Marda’s words, “She’s one of the best baking teachers I have ever worked with.” Marda is so impressed with Veronica that she’s taken her on as an active partner, even entrusting her with the more than 4,500 formulas and recipes that Marda has cataloged over the years. Marda Stoliar has become totally involved with aspiring bakers from different cultures across the globe over the years. “This is my life and I love it.” she said.
Broadcast outlets for “Marda’s Gift” documentary may include Oregon Public Broadcasting, Wyoming Public Broadcasting, as well as local independent film festival, BendFilm in 2023.See schoolofbaking.com and mardafilm.com.
When Sherry Ortega drops into the Old Mill District off Reed Market Road, she sees stunning views of the mountains, the sparkling blue sky, the iconic smokestacks above REI, people throwing frisbees, kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders, families walking dogs and outdoor diners and she wonders, why wouldn’t she want to live here? As a principal broker with Bend Premier Real Estate and a longtime Bend resident, she believes people come to Bend for the lifestyle.
photo courtesy Old Mill District, photographer Nate Wyeth
“When I have clients from outside the area, I take them to Bend’s downtown area along Wall and Bond Streets and then to the Old Mill,” she said, adding that she doesn’t know of another place with so many lifestyle activities packed into one district. But it wasn’t always like that.
A Bit of History
For most of the twentieth century, Bend’s life and economy revolved around two rival sawmills that both opened in 1916, helping fuel America’s growth. After the city incorporated in 1905, Bend grew outward from the early soul of the city—Mirror Pond and Drake Park where founding families arrayed their homes, and essential millworkers built homes closer to the mills.
The city prospered in the 1980s. Besides lumber, the city had Mount Bachelor, destination resorts such as Sunriver, Inn of the Seventh Mountain (now Seventh Mountain Resort), a community college and first-rate regional medical care that drew people to the area. But by century’s end, the collapse of the timber industry in the Northwest idled Bend’s last mill and frayed the economic fabric of the area. With the old economic power base gone, the city searched for a new identity.
photo courtesy Old Mill District & courtesy Deschutes Historical Museum
William “Bill” Smith, who moved to Bend in 1970 while attending Stanford’s MBA program, had an idea; a really big idea that would add a thumping new pulse to Bend’s economy. As the former president of Brooks Resources Corp., and later head of his own development company, he was inspired after seeing how other cities had transformed blighted areas into lively new space for retail shops, restaurants, art galleries, parks and walking trails for public use.
He formed a partnership to purchase 270 acres on the site of the former Shevlin-Hixon and Brooks-Scanlon mills and spent years cleaning up eroded riverbanks long forbidden to the public. An interpretive sign in the Old Mill details the timeline of restoration: 1994 public access to 14,000 feet of riverfront; 1995 river trails created for public use; and 1997 a fish ladder installed in the Colorado Street bridge for fish migration.
In 1998, he gained approval of Oregon’s land use laws and city zoning requirements to develop the site, which opened in 2000 with Regal Cinemas and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Today it’s an entertainment hub and river-centric mecca with the recently remodeled Hayden Homes Amphitheater for outdoor concerts and events, shopping, dining, lodging, businesses, residences and miles of scenic river trails. A former air-polluting mill burner has been converted to a flower feature, joining thousands of flowering landscapes throughout the Old Mill—another flourish of Smith’s to beautify the area.
Photos courtesy of the Old Mill District, Truman Miller
Urban Life in a Playground
Longtime Bend resident Dennis Oliphant, who built Sun Country Tours into a major whitewater adventure company—owning it from 1978 to 2016 when he sold to Mt. Bachelor—calls the Otter Run neighborhood in the Old Mill District home. “I lived out of town on acreage before moving into the mill,” he said. “It didn’t take long for me to appreciate the conveniences.”
“I seldom drive my car. I ride my bike everywhere, which is a huge advantage because it’s hard to find parking in Bend. We live on the water behind the Hayden stage, which is awesome. I really enjoy the music from our deck,” he said, referring to the home he shares with his partner Traci Porterfield.
He notes that Otter Run has no short-term rentals and 90 percent of residents live there year-round. There’s a perception that the Old Mill District has many second or vacation homes, but Oliphant said that property is expensive and “it’s not like a summer cabin.”
Principal realtor Ortega provided information showing that in August, the Old Mill District had only two active residential real estate listings and two pending sales, with prices ranging from $1 million to $2.3 million. She said condominiums and townhomes are highly sought after.
There are more than 150 residential units in the Old Mill District with more townhome and apartment projects proposed in the future.
Today’s mill residents may be better off than the millworkers who lived nearby in modest homes, but their legacy endures a century later, carefully preserved by Smith and others who incorporated elements of both mills into the vibrant new district.
In 1910, engineer and surveyor Robert B. Gould came to Central Oregon to plot out the townsite of La Pine. He loved the area so much he never left. Gould was a key figure in plotting out the early footprint of many of the Central Oregon townships and in 1916 was credited with creating the first map of Bend.
Photo courtesy of Deschutes County Historical Society
Though the maps of the area have changed considerably since Gould plotted them more than a century ago, much of their purpose remains the same. We use maps to navigate roads and highways, locate a store or restaurant and even find our way around the Old Mill shopping district. Maps also play an important role in the booming tourism industry in the area, from navigating single-track trails at Phil’s to ski runs at Bachelor. The creation of maps, called cartography, has a long history of helping us get from point A to point B and today helps us map the future using geographic information systems.
Start with a paper map
For centuries, paper maps have played a pivotal role in navigation, exploration and understanding the world. Though technology has now changed the breadth and way we interact with some maps, the role of paper maps is still vital. “Bend is a perfect example of why paper maps will continue to play an important role in people’s lives,” said Taylor Monroe, a cartographer at Benchmark Maps in Medford and a 2022 graduate of the Central Oregon Community College (COCC) GIS program. “Tourism and recreation are such a huge focus in the area and maps play a big part of that for so many people.”
Joe Milbrath, a Sisters resident and cartographer for the National Park Service for the past seven years, agrees. Paper maps are just more user-friendly. “The world is trending toward digital maps and interactive maps but the traditional maps are a tool you can’t replace,” he said. “They’re easier to plan with—you can mark them up and personalize your trip,” he said. According to Milbrath, “Each has its own uses, and they can work hand-in-hand, whether navigating or wayfinding or otherwise. Nothing sets yourself up in a landscape better than a paper map.”
Milbrath should know. As one of only four cartographers on staff, he has designed hundreds of maps for parks, monuments, battlefields and historical sites around the country. Though his maps are integrated into various formats from trailside kiosks to roadside signs, the bulk of his time is spent on the maps included in the physical brochures given upon entry at most parks. Milbrath said he loves this aspect of his job and sees it as a rewarding path. “It’s hard to beat creating a map that’s read by millions of people,” he said. More than that, though, Milbrath said he feels his role is important to convey the accurate history of the park. “We’re creating maps for some of the most beautiful places, but also some [with the most troubling history],” he said. “You have to ensure [information] is conveyed in the right way and honors the right people.”
Mapping change
Jared Hanley, co-founder and CEO of mission-driven tech company NatureQuant, said the speed at which technology can process data has changed the way maps can operate. “Maps are one of our best tools at conveying massive amounts of data in a simple, digestible format,” he said. “And because technology is exponential, what would have been impossible to synthesize five-to-ten years ago, is now possible.”
It’s this access and ability to crunch large amounts of data that helps fuel NatureQuant’s signature program, NatureScore, with the simple but poignant goal: to drive home the positive impacts of nature on human health. “When we’re creating our NatureScore we’re taking billions of data points—health tags, geo-tagged objects, satellite imagery—putting them together, and then creating a heat map out of these data points in a single image to tell a story,” said Hanley.
NatureQuant feeds into its algorithm natural elements such as green spaces and water, combines it with human-created elements such as traffic, noise, light and air pollution, and ultimately creates a score to provide an idea of how much access a location has to nature. By working with city planners, municipalities and nonprofits, NatureQuant hopes to use its data and heat maps to drive change. “We want to improve public health by providing access to nature,” said Hanley. “And we create heat maps to do that.”
Blair Deaver, a GIS software solutions architect for international geospatial solutions company Locana, and part-time instructor at Central Oregon Community College, said that technology has also helped to make cartography more accessible and user-friendly to the public. “The big challenge was you used to have to download all the data,” he said. “Today with open data, cloud-based data, it’s much easier.” Deaver added that this accessibility, along with more user-friendly software, is helping to create more maps. “GIS software is much more approachable than it used to be. This allows people who want to dabble with data the ability to make maps,” he said. “Now, especially designers can style maps to create customer experiences and tell deeper stories.”
With the overload of data, however, framing a map in the right context is key, according to Deaver.
“Maps are a natural way for people to see patterns and showcase location intelligence,” he said. Maps tend to tell a story in a much quicker and efficient way than other mediums. To this point, Deaver gave the example of the pandemic’s beginnings. “When COVID-19 first broke, everyone was looking at maps to follow the spread of the disease. This would have been much more difficult in a spreadsheet.”
Deaver said he believes that GIS and the data analysis that comes along with it will help us solve some of the biggest challenges we face today. “Locally, Central Oregon has seen tremendous growth over the past thirty years,” he said. “Looking at issues like land use, water quality, wildfires—being able to analyze data on these topics will allow us to tell a relatable story to the masses and enact change.”
Recent COCC GIS graduate Taylor Monroe believes she and other young cartographers can play a big role in this process. “The younger generation can help champion these key societal issues,” she said. “With the speed of technology and digital, we can reach more people.”
Whether using the latest app, or a trusty paper topographical map, the role of maps will continue to serve as an important tool for navigating the future. Bend’s original cartographer Robert B. Gould would be proud.
Jim Niehues has painted more than 150 ski resorts throughout North America.
Art of the Ski Map
If you’re a skier or snowboarder, chances are you’ve utilized maps created by artist and illustrator Jim Niehues. His hand-painted, beautifully illustrated maps have served as a trail guide for more than 150 ski resorts around North America, including Mt. Bachelor. He is the subject of 292-page hardcover coffee table book, “The Man Behind the Maps,” that compiles maps he has created during his 30-year career.
Bend Magazine sat down with Niehues to talk maps, art and Mt. Bachelor.
BM: You’ve quietly become an icon in the ski world and have been inducted into the Ski Hall of Fame. How does this make you feel?
JN: It’s been thirty-five years of ski maps! I really had no thoughts of such recognition until [I was] nominated. It’s really an honor and very gratifying to know that you may have made a difference in [the] ski industry.
BM: Your maps and illustrations are known for their brilliant color and detail—down to every tree even. Why is it important to you to capture each detail?
JN: Detail is important in several ways: first, it’s a map that guides you around the mountain. I want skiers to be able to know where they are by recognizing their surroundings on the slope and relating it to the map they hold in their hands. This means showing deciduous or conifer trees where they are, or showing rock features and slope inclines in detail.And second, I want to add credibility that this map is correct and they can rely on it.
BM: Mt. Bachelor offers 360-degree skiing—what was the process like to map that?
JN: Mt Bachelor was a challenge. The “satellite” perspective was necessary over the traditional view that includes a horizon. The secret is simply not to show the horizon, and turn all side slope runs as vertical as possible so the viewer knows they are looking down on the mountain and not horizontally to it. I also used color in some instances with warm colors toward the summit and cool colors in the valleys; warm colors are perceived as near and cool colors further away.
BM: Your artwork is unique in the sense that many carry it with them on their person, referencing it before, during and after their visit on the mountain. What does this mean to you?
JN: I think the fact that skiers review the map over a beer at the end of the day is the most gratifying accomplishment an artist could ask for.They are reliving exploration, excitement, exhilaration, achievement…and some spills, hopefully not too serious. Ski maps are doing more than getting a skier around the mountain. They are collected to reflect the experience or dreamed over for the next adventure.
The secondhand market has seen significant growth in the past few years amid growing concerns about the environmental and ethical impact of what we buy. Experts don’t think this trend will disappear anytime soon, with the resale industry expected to double by 2026, making it an $82 billion market.
This shift in consumer habits becomes abundantly clear around the holidays. With supply chain issues, tightening wallets and rising prices potentially transforming holiday joy into a season of stress, it’s no surprise that more and more people are opting to shop secondhand for their holiday gifts. ThredUp, a prominent secondhand retailer, reported that 49 percent of consumers are interested in gifting thrifted items this year.Central Oregon has a community of business owners who are making sustainable shopping accessible, affordable and stylish.
Fashion
With the fashion industry sitting right behind big oil as the second largest polluter worldwide, evaluating what’s in your closet is an excellent way for someone to begin living a more sustainable lifestyle. Sped-up trend cycles and giant fast-fashion retailers are driving forces behind the increasingly devastating repercussions, with the average consumer buying 60 percent more clothing than they did fifteen years ago and wearing them for just half as long.
Shopping at local vintage shops increases the lifespan and decreases the carbon footprint of an article of clothing item while offering unique fashion options.
Gathered Wares of Bend, located in the Old Ironworks Arts District, is a goldmine of curated pre-loved clothing and home goods. Shop owner Lauren Cooley, who opened the store in March of 2021 and can often be found making jewelry behind the counter, said,“I just had this vision of a beautiful creative space that would foster community and encourage people to think about how they can adorn their bodies and homes in ways that aren’t detrimental to the environment.” Walking into the shop, it’s evident that she’s done just that. The space is filled with colorful fabrics, beautiful wooden furniture, brass details and eclectic home decor. “There’s a lot of color. There’s a lot of texture. There’s a lot of different things to look at,” said Cooley. “It takes about five times through the shop for people to see everything because pretty much 90 percent of the things in here are one-of-a-kind.” Prices range from $5 and up, meaning almost anyone who walks into the store can walk out with a unique vintage item.
Cowboy Cash
More vintage fashion
Old Boy Vintage gives older garments a new life, with most items made before the 1970s.
Revival Vintage presents a curated collection of eclectic vintage clothing. The racks are adorned with colorful velvet, silk, flannel and denim fabrics.
Cosa Cura specializes in high-quality clothing sourced sustainably. It sells on consignment while also working with local artisans to stock handmade jewelry.
Cowgirl Cash offers an array of vintage boots and buckles, clothing, sterling silver jewelry, accessories and home goods with in-store partner Arrange.
The passion for outdoor recreation is strong among Central Oregonians, so it only makes sense for us to have that same level of passion for finding ways to better care for the environments where we enjoy spending time. Much of the gear and clothing used when heading into the mountains or floating down a river are constructed of plastic-based fabrics, such as polyester, that can take anywhere from 20 to 200 years to decompose. Shopping second hand is one way to lessen the negative environmental impact.
Walking into Gear Fix feels like walking into a shiny outdoor retailer, except all the items are used. First opening its doors in 2006, Gear Fix is a local source for secondhand goods. It joins the ranks of global brands such as Patagonia, a company that take sustainablility seriously with its repair program and a self-imposed earth tax to support activism. At Gear Fix, there are racks full of puffer jackets and hiking pants, mountain bikes and skis that have already been on a few adventures and are now available for purchase.
“If you boil it all the way down, our baseline value statement is that we think it’s better to buy the good stuff used than to buy the lesser quality stuff that’s going to need to be replaced,” said Matt Deacon, general manager of the consignment shop. Not only does shopping second hand keep gear out of the landfill, but it also makes outdoor recreation more accessible. With lower price points, there is a lesser barrier to entry for people who want to gear up to go outdoors.
More GOODS
Latitude 44 Sports is a snow sports consignment shop where you’ll find great gear for great prices. Everything from boots and apparel to goggles, helmets, skis and snowboards are available.
REI Garage gives their returned and pre-loved items a second chance through their garage sales. Co-op members can shop and trade in used gear anytime.
TruNorthwest Exchange is an online consignment shop based in Bend that facilitates the rental and sale of second-hand outdoor gear. Locals can visit their warehouse for consignment drop-offs and gear pick-up by appointment.
If a single word could sum up a visit to The Ale Apothecary tasting room, it’s “wood.” It starts with the beer—owner and brewmaster Paul Arney’s founding vision was to “combine age-old techniques alongside modern ones” by brewing small-batch handcrafted beers with a unique profile. Wood is an integral ingredient in all of them, and is present in nearly every step of the brewing process. The beer is fermented and aged in barrels with a native wild yeast cultivated from the Deschutes National Forest. As a result, all of the beers exhibit various levels of sour, and sometimes funky, character. The tasting room has an eclectic charm that exalts wood and meets Arney’s goal of “familiarly exotic.” Located in an industrial brick building off Century Drive, the interior fuses the wood with industrial and iron elements into an attractive and functional space. It feels like a museum to brewing and family history, with handcrafted artwork, vintage decor, historic photographs and furniture from repurposed barrels. “It’s important for me that the environment helps to support the beer we make and the stories we are telling,” said Arney. “Just like the beer I make tells a story about history, food production in our modern age, Oregon farms and the importance of nature and artisans, I am also trying to share the story of my family history in small business.” Most beers are available by the bottle only, with a few available for individual pours and flights. The bottle list is extensive and showcases Arney’s creativity and versatility as a brewer; you may find beers brewed with wine grapes, apple skins, pine needles, lilac blossoms and more. “My suggestion is to go for the flight of available beers as we have quite distinct differences between our brands,” Arney said. First-time visitors unsure about sour beer and what to order should ask which beer is “best for initiation,” he said. See thealeapothecary.com.
While it’s natural to think of heat and melting as a solution to icy, wintery conditions, when it comes to ice dams, warmth is the culprit.
An ice dam is a chunk of ice that forms along the outer boundaries of your roof. As long as the entire roof stays frozen, the dam is no problem. But when the roof warms, higher points may melt away ice and snow, while the lower overhangs stay frozen. This can cause water to pool behind the dam, eventually soaking into your roof, ceilings and walls. That’s when the real problems begin, including costly damage that is difficult to repair. Avoid disaster this winter by following these tips.
Keep It Cold
As thawing and refreezing is the cause of an ice dam, keeping a cold roof can prevent ice dams from forming in the first place.
Close up Attic Bypasses
Warm air leaks from our homes into the attic and to the roof a variety of ways. Be mindful of cracks around lighting fixtures and in drywall, uninsulated access hatches and undampened chimneys.
Insulate Your Attic
Make sure you have at least twelve inches of insulation in your attic. If you measure less than that, consider hiring a company to blow in more insulation. This will keep your home more energy efficient and help lower your heating bill, too!
Add or Maintain Roof and Soffit Vents
The vents you see under the eaves around your house are another piece of the puzzle in terms of keeping your attic and roof cold. These vents draw in cold outside air, keep circulation moving and maintain cool temps in the attic. Make sure your roof has vents for every other roof rafter, or one square foot of vent for every 300 square foot of attic floor area.
Addressing Problem Areas
You’ve done all you can to keep your roof cold and you still can’t seem to prevent ice dams? That can happen, in long, extra stormy winters, and on particularly tricky roof sections, like roof valleys or segments that absorb a lot of warming sun during the winter. How do you prevent ice dams under these circumstances?
Rake the Snow off Your Roof
A snow rake is an aluminum scraper on a telescoping aluminum pole, available at most hardware stores. Use a snow rake to pull snow down from the roof, before it has the chance to melt and refreeze into an ice dam. You need to rake soon after snowfall, and this method only works with single story homes, but can be very effective.
Heat Cables
Sometimes, heat is the answer. Tough spots like roof valleys might call for the installation of heat cables, which warm consistently to melt snow and ice and prevent an ice dam before it even starts.
Ice Dam 911
You’ve done everything you can to prevent an ice dam and yet—here you are, with ice dams. If you note no leaks in your house, you may not need do anything. If you do see signs of water damage, and you can’t safely remove the ice with a rake, you may have to call a roofing company for assistance. Climbing on your frozen roof to try to deal with the situation yourself is just plain not safe!
Editor’s note: This story was originally published February 2020.
Through the expanse of picture windows stretching across the western wall of the Sunriver Resort Lodge, the changing season paints a view like no other. The landscape’s vibrant reds, yellows and golds fade to a muted palette against the bright blue sky. The sun, which shines more than 300 days per year here, glints off the frost-covered trees and reflects bright against the freshly fallen snow dusting the ground. In the distance, Mount Bachelor, South Sister and Broken Top hint at the area’s volcanic past.
The view overlooks an adjacent meadow revealed when an ancient lake slowly dried and disappeared. Things have always moved a little slower down here in Sunriver, known as the granddaddy of destination resorts in Central Oregon after it debuted half a century ago. Since then, it’s been setting the standard for family-friendly vacation destinations in the Northwest.
More than seventy-five years ago, the Sunriver area was home to Camp Abbot, a U.S. Army engineer training center where more than 90,000 citizen-soldiers lived and worked.After it shut down, the army razed all but one of the camp’s structures. The officers’ club survived and later served as a cattle shelter and lives on today as the resort’s historic Great Hall, home to wedding receptions and special events.
When a wintry blanket (the resort gets almost a foot more snow than Bend in an average year) envelops the meadow and golf courses, children and adults alike bundle up and delight in an array of snowy pursuits. Snowmen take shape and snowballs fly. Some visitors don snowshoes, others Nordic skis. They traverse along plowed pathways or make fresh tracks as they set out to explore a piece of the more than 3,300 acres that make up the resort and surrounding community.
Honoring founder John Gray’s vision when he, along with Donald V. McCallum, brought the resort community to life in 1968, Sunriver strikes a balance between nature and development. Though there are more than 4,500 residences and lodging units in Sunriver today, the area boasts dark skies that, when paired with clear air and elevation, makes for perfect stargazing.
Sunriver’s fun, however, encompasses much more than being immersed in nature. The indoor pool at SHARC — Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic and Recreation Center — has a zero-entry area with bubbling fountains, a spinning water flower and a dumping bucket that elicits endless laughter as kids (and adults) take turns being doused from above. Water volleyball and basketball pit swimmers against one another, while the vortex water feature sends kids floating in dizzying circles.
Beyond the pool, adventure seekers race down SHARC’s seasonal tubing hill, especially when the lanes are illuminated on Black Light Blast nights.
“When people inquire about what there is to do in Sunriver during the winter and holiday season, it’s hard to know where to begin. There are so many festive and fun things that make this resort a destination for everyone,” said Denease Schiffman, operations manager for The Village at Sunriver.
The Village bustles with activity as Sunriver’s commercial hub and, come winter, has a genuinely enchanted feel. Visitors enjoy strolling between boutique shops and art galleries interspersed with restaurants, including the always hopping Sunriver Brewing Company. It’s all quaintly situated around the village center and ice-skating rink, where skaters glide, or in some cases wobble, around the rink as music drifts beyond the pavilion walls.
Each year, Sunriver Resort kicks off the holidays with the Grand Illumination, a rite of winter in Central Oregon. Holiday spirits soar as friends and family spend the day dancing to live music and indulging in delectable bites. Children whisper their wishes to Santa and hustle between craft projects, bounce houses and train rides. Horse-drawn sleigh rides and visits to Gingerbread Junction fill the hours as everyone awaits the resort’s lighting ceremony.
“We’ve had so many families come back year after year for the Grand Illumination event, sleigh rides and elf tuck-ins. We are ramping up this year with a light show featuring more than one million bulbs and choreographed to holiday music,” said Joshua Willis, Sunriver Resort’s director of operations.
When it’s time to slow down after all the adventures, schedule a visit to Sunriver’s Sage Springs Club & Spa. Here you will find the perfect escape in a selection of signature and seasonally inspired treatments. Stars twinkle like diamonds in the dark above the hydrotherapy spa, an ideal way to relax in conjunction with a massage or facial, or only as a long soak after a long day.
With so much to see, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that so many guests are return visitors.
“When you find a place as beautiful and family-friendly as Sunriver, it draws you back time and again,” said Sara Bittner, who has been coming to Sunriver for more than forty years. “My parents started the tradition of coming to Sunriver from Portland in 1978 when my mom was pregnant with me, and my brother and sister were both under five years old. They fell in love with the beauty and peacefulness of Sunriver, and the opportunity to relax and enjoy the outdoors.”
Bittner lives in Bend with children of her own now and, despite being just fifteen miles away, continues the Sunriver tradition with her family.
“All these years, Sunriver has been a place of beauty and rest for us. It’s allowed our family to bond and create memories that will be treasured forever.”
Editor’s note: This story was originally published November 2019, and has been updated to reflect current information about the Grand Illumination and Snowblast Tubing Park.
Years after first meeting at work in the tech industry in San Francisco, Brittany and Kyle Lindquist were married and eyeing a move to Oregon to raise their growing family. Brittany, a native Oregonian from Newport, and Kyle, who grew up in Chico, California, initially chose Portland for their new home base, moving to Oregon’s largest city in 2019 with their first son, Jack. They found a beautiful house they liked without fully considering how the surrounding neighborhood would play into the quality of living. “We learned from that experience that it’s more about choosing the neighborhood, and less about the house,” said Brittany of the ten months the family spent in Portland. After bouncing back to the Bay Area in 2020, the Lindquists zeroed in on Bend, the Central Oregon city where Brittany’s brother lived. “Every time we would come visit, we knew this is where we wanted to be,” Brittany said. By fall 2020, they had moved to Bend as renters and identified northwest Bend as the area where they’d like to purchase a home. During a home tour on Awbrey Butte in 2021, the couple watched as a yellow school bus drove by, sensing they were in the right neighborhood for the next chapter of their lives. “You don’t see yellow school buses in San Francisco,” said Brittany, who explained that kids take public transit, are dropped off by parents or nannies or take a ride-sharing service for kids. Because both Kyle and Brittany grew up in smaller communities where riding the bus to school was a part of life, they loved the idea of living in a community of families where kids would do the same. “We wanted a neighborhood that you could see kids running around in,” Kyle said.
Moving In
The Lindquists closed on their new home in the spring of 2021, knowing they would have their work cut out for them. The 1998 Craftsman-style home was in need of some modernizing, after spending years as a rental property. “We’ve never been bombarded by more brown in our entire lives,” Kyle said. “But it had great bones.” Before moving in, the couple removed the shaggy brown bedroom carpets, which were stained from past tenant pets, including cats and turtles, replacing the floors with luxury vinyl plank. Hardwood in the main living areas and kitchen were kept, but the entire home was refreshed with new paint, new outlets and lighting fixtures, door handles and appliances. While Kyle led the way on initial updates in the house, Brittany packed up the family’s Bend rental, with toddler Jack and newborn son Beckham in tow. “It was a good example of what not to do—having a baby and buying a house at the same time,” Brittany said.
Brittany and Kyle Lindquist with sons Jack, front, and Beckham.
Project Mode
Once moved into the new home, the Lindquists set their sights on more significant updates, tackling the kitchen, laundry room and smaller projects throughout, such as painting the tile around the living room fireplace and reimagining the front yard landscaping. In the kitchen, the cabinets and island were painted, and a new hexagon tile backsplash added character. In the laundry room, white subway wall tile, repainted cabinets and accessories brought new life into the space. Kyle did many updates himself, along with the help of Brittany’s dad and brother, who were passed down carpentry skills, specifically electrical work, from Brittany’s grandfather, a craftsman and former chief electrical inspector for the State of Oregon. “We did the work to modernize the home, little by little,” Kyle said.
PARADISE AT HOME Fresh foliage, including a bird of paradise plant, soaks up the sun from windows high and low in the Lindquist dining room.
Tucked below the laundry room is the garage, which the family has converted into a downstairs living space and hangout zone. There’s a couch, workout equipment, a makeshift wine cellar and kegerator. Off the “garage” is a home office with space for Kyle, who works remotely for a farming technology company, and Brittany, who works remotely as a marketing director. Back upstairs, now 5-year-old Jack has settled into his bedroom at the front of the house, which is furnished with a Hot Wheels bed and plenty of race car toys. “Hot Wheels are life for that kid,” Brittany said.
As a heatwave blazed through Bend this summer, the Lindquists were busy with outdoor projects, including fresh exterior paint and a complete rebuild of the upstairs deck and front porch. Dated wood boards and railings were replaced with Trex decking, and the back deck wood railings were swapped with sleek glass panels.
Remodel Reflection
With much of the remodeling behind them, the Lindquists are able to reflect on their style and the updates made over the past eighteen months. “The remodel itself was about simplifying, and having a neutral palate on the inside, allowing us to build upon the design in a few years,” Brittany said. Kyle said his biggest lessons from the process were that remodeling is really problem solving, and that it always takes longer than expected. “I use the ‘times three’ rule,” Kyle said. “If you think it’s going to take an hour, it will take three hours. If you think it’s going to take a week, it will take three weeks.” Despite the frustrations that come with more than a year of home renovation projects, the Lindquists said the work has helped them build a relationship with the house, which now feels more like home. The couple will spend the coming years personalizing, and they have a shortlist of projects for the future, including a remodel of both bathrooms.
After a health scare with Jack that had the family at St. Charles Medical Center for more than a week last fall, Brittany said the family was even more grateful for having their home, and all the quiet, mundane moments they’re able to enjoy in it. “I want to roll out of bed, snuggle my kids, go downstairs to work, come back up, do dinner, bedtime routine, rinse and repeat daily,” she said. That everyday routine lately includes activities such as listening to records (Disney tunes, The Beatles and Elvis are favorites), tending to a growing collection of plants and the unpackaging of the latest Hot Wheels offerings. And when the winter snow rolls around, the family will be found at the side of their house, which they learned is home to a popular sledding hill, packed with children who call their neighborhood home.
When it comes to imbibing, move over hops and barley, there’s a bean brewing in town. While Central Oregon is known for the ale trail, per capita, it’s coffee that reigns supreme. It’s not just a local phenomenon either. Coffee consumption in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2022 according to the National Coffee Association. Whether found at a drive-through kiosk, or at an independent coffee house, estimates from Deschutes County put coffee locations at close to seventy in Bend alone. Here we take a look from source to sip, of what arguable might be Bend’s favorite brew.
SOURCE
As the sun begins to creep across the high desert, sleepy Central Oregonians step to the counter of their local coffee purveyor to order their favorite morning brew. While the customer’s path may take them from home to the barista and on to work, Backporch Coffee Roasters owner Dave Beach knows the coffee bean’s journey is significantly longer.
Most Januarys, Beach travels to El Salvador in search of flavorful beans to roast in his Loring Falcon Roaster. Alongside a few chosen co-workers and guests, he lands at the airport and drives to the Menedez family ranch in Ahuachapán. The fifth-generation coffee farmers own or manage eight farms and a coffee bean processing mill in the area. Beach and friends, escorted by the Menedez family, ascend the rutted, dirt roads to view beans grown at various elevations. After a morning of inspecting farms, Beach, who has been roasting coffee beans for more than twenty years, heads to the mill for blind tastings of forty various beans, roughly ten at a time. “My goal is to choose the best beans and develop them properly,” said Beach, who has lived in Central Oregon all of his life, save for four years studying at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Coffee beans are harvested in the morning and sent at night to the mills where workers remove the fruit for a month of drying. Next, the beans are de-shelled and packaged in burlap sacks at the dry mill for shipping across the world. Relationships like the one Beach has with the Menedez family ensure not only a quality bean, but a strong connection between Central Oregon and Central America. This friendship provides the foundation for plantation direct purchasing and fairness amongst the farmers, ranch managers, and those who sell the coffee beans.
Dave Beach, CEO and Founder of Backporch Coffee Roasters, with Rene Monroy and Miguel Menendez Sr., owner of Finca El Rosario, El Salvador.
Stewart Fritchman, owner of Bellatazza in downtown Bend, also follows this approach to sourcing quality coffee and travels to Guatemala a couple of times a year. “We’ve used plantation-direct purchasing in Guatemala for twenty years. It allows me to build the necessary relationships with the people of Guatemala,” he said.
Traveling deep into the jungle of Central American countries is not without danger. Often times, airplane runways seem to appear out of nowhere and need to be cleared of grazing animals. Other times, armed guards patrol jungle mansions and drivers must vary their route home for safety. And of course, COVID-19 added a new level of concern to international travel.
But in the end, tackling bugs, animals and light rebellion are all worth it for quality beans and lasting friendships. In early 2020, Fritchman realized the Guatemalan tourist economy had plummeted so he took to social media and promised to shave a mohawk and dye it blue if he raised $5,000 in support. After surpassing his goal and donning his new hair style, Fritchman sent the money to his Guatemalan friends who made 328 care packages and passed them out to those in need. “Economics are important, but I’m in it for the emotional connections,” explained Fritchman.—written by Gregg Morris
Explore the world through coffee:
Strictly Organic Coffee Co.: Since 1999, Richard and Rhonda Steffensen have been leaders in sustainable business practices and offer 100% certified Organic and Fair Trade coffee.
Coffee4Kids: Sourced from sustainable plantations, proceeds support Mi Casa International, the founder’s family-run orphanage in El Salvador.
ROAST
The subtleties of coffee taste are even more pronounced when beans are freshly roasted, which is why many local coffee houses choose to roast their own beans. “Coffee is a science when you really dig in,” said Mitch Thisius, co-owner with Bo Olsen of Junction Roastery in Redmond. Expert roasters must learn temperature and timing standards, a roast color spectrum, and a set of new terminology such as going from “First Crack” at 412°F, through “City” to “Full City+,” then “French” to “Burnt“ at higher temperatures of 455°+. The range of a roast-master’s stylistic process produces coffee beans with a wide array of outcomes. When coffee beans are roasted in-house, there’s also an opportunity for a visual tour to see (and smell) the process live.
Sample the beans:
Still Vibrato: Specialty roasts include Top Hat and Squid Ink.
Junction Roastery: See the 1.5 kilo Ozturkbay roaster at work in their historic building which was once the first medical center in Redmond.
Spoken Moto
BREW
Brewing and pouring is an art in itself with a barista orchestrating each step. Creative choices for steeping range from a low-fi pour over, slow Chemex drip or the use of a high-end European espresso machine depending on what will end up in that final cup. Baristas train to learn the subtleties of coffee creation, not to mention the art of foam. Jodi Groteboer, co-owner with Jason Rhodes of Palate a Coffee Bar in Bend, says consistency is key. “Steaming milk, pulling espresso and pouring drinks all day” combined with a“love for learning” are the secrets to being an excellent barista. Then there are the tools of the trade: “In our cafe, you will find our baristas using digital scale, measuring spoons, and even cute little mini whisks to get it right,” Junction Roastery’s Mitch Thisius said.
Find art in a cup:
Palate a Coffee Bar: Have co-owner Jodi Groteboer make an Italiano, a six ounce americano. “It’s the perfect size to sip on for a bit and taste the full expression of the espresso.”
Thump Coffee: Barista Hilary Harvey said, “We all have our latte art specialties,” from foam hearts, tulips and rosettas to even animals.
SIP
The taste notes in a cup of freshly roasted and brewed coffee are an array so vast they have their own flavor wheel. That spectrum and variety is equally colorful in the coffee shops of Central Oregon. It’s in these environments, we see the wide range of settings for the range of how we live our lives: there’s a coffee stop to start the day, meet a friend, hold a business meeting, clock in time at a remote job, or fall in love. Try having your coffee served with distinctive personalities:
Start here to sip:
Spoken Moto: Set amidst a collection of vintage motorcycles in a former mechanic’sshop.
Here in Bend, living like a local means creating a life that reflects the spirit of our community. It means seeking out the authentic, the natural, the fun—in everything from how we work and play to how we gather with friends and family. It means embracing adventure in every season, with a passion for the rugged beauty of our landscape. Most of all, living like a local means engaging with the Bend community, weaving connections and supporting neighbors. This holiday season, living like a local can also mean giving like a local. From setting the Thanksgiving table to toasting in the New Year, holiday traditions become more meaningful when they bring us closer to this place we call home. With just a few shifts, we can make the season richer and brighter, steeped in community connections. Along the way, we lift the artisans, chefs, outdoor guides, local experts and small business owners who keep our creative economy humming along.
Why giving local matters
After two years of socially-distanced celebrations, online shopping feels normal. But what happens when you close the laptop, bypass big box chains and shop in real life? The benefits are hard to ignore. According to the American Independent Business Alliance’s 2021 study, almost half of every dollar spent at independent businesses stays in the community, compared to only thirteen cents of every dollar spent at chain stores. That translates into a thriving economy and a vibrant hub year-round. Beyond the economic numbers, venturing into the festive hum of local shopping just feels good. “The holidays in a small town feel magical,” said Tonna Wilkens, owner of Wander+NW in Sisters. “The traditions, the twinkling lights, the music—locals reconnect with downtown, and every shop does something special,” she said. Many shops host giving trees or spotlight nonprofit groups. At Wander+NW, giving back means hosting a holiday food collection for the community pantry.
Shop the Pop
Some of the most local shops last just a few days in a temporary “pop up” form, yet they offer the merriest of atmospheres and the widest array of locally-crafted goods. Watch for Central Oregon’s pop-up markets from November through December. Highlights include:
Holidawg Market | Photo Grace Baker
Craft-O!
The area’s largest pop-up market, fills the Workhouse and Old Ironworks Artist District in Bend with more than seventy artisan booths—offering items from fine art to handmade mittens. Also on site: treats from the new Deschutes Cafe and a festive cocktail bar. Plan ahead for this year’s Craft-O! on December 10 and 11—advance tickets are required. theworkhousebend.com
Holidawg Market
This dog-centric pop up organized by Dog Guide to Bend, will be held at Spider City Brewing and will feature everything imaginable to pamper your pup. Holidawg takes place December 3 and 4. Holidawg Event Page
Schilling’s Garden Market
On the Old Bend Redmond Highway, Schilling’stransforms their wandering gardens into a European-style holiday market with live music, fresh wreaths and garlands, plus more than forty artisan booths during the first weekend in December. schillingsgardenmarket.com
Magical Markets of Merriment
Held the first four weekends in December through the 24th, the Magical Markets of Merriment offers local arts, crafts (and gifts of indoor plants) at Somewhere That’s Green in Bend. somewheregreen.com
Create an Expedition
At Bend’s Expedition Club & Supply, a center for creating custom outings, their guides will help you plan a experiential gift from the resources in an extensive Map Room. Expeditions may be based on photography, rockhounding, birding, astronomy,geocaching, or even themed scavenger hunts. For year-long exploration, give a membership to the Expedition Club and have access to the Map Room to create your own adventures. expeditionclub.co
Hands-on Holidays
“Holidays mean more than rush-rush and buy-buy. Doing things together is what’s important to make this time special,” said Cindy Jeffers, nursery manager at Landsystems Nursery in Bend. Jeffers leads the nursery’s classes on making winter wreaths, table centerpieces and hanging baskets of boughs. She enjoys seeing people slow down and smile as they work with the greens to craft take-home masterpieces. “Working with your hands in nature sets a slower pace for the holidays,” said Jeffers. Once the holidays are decked and the scent of pine and cedar fills the air, the activities bring family and friends together to make gifts and memories at the same time.
Cook together
While the amount of cooking and baking can seem like a tall order this time of year, food brings people together at the holidays, said Michele Morris, chef at Kindred Creative Kitchen in Bend. Her immersive, hands-on classes aim to make those culinary skills easier for students of all ages. Class topics range from cookie decorating and pie making to creating multi-course wine dinners. “People become friends by cooking together—it’s a way to connect. And learning to create delicious food, especially at the holidays, is a life-long gift,” she said. Central Oregon’s foodie culture makes it easy to take a support-local approach at home as well. Home chefs can start by stocking up at Central Oregon Locavore’s Fill Your Pantry event to be held this year on November 12. However, holiday gatherings shouldn’t have to require hours of kitchen prep time—local specialties like challah bread from Big Ed’s Bakery and Nancy P’s berry pies make a delicious dinner party contribution. For holiday toasts, find festive cocktails recipes at craft distilleries like Crater Lake Spirits in Bend or Gompers Distillery in Redmond. thekindredcreativekitchen.com
Make a gift
Local DIY experts at various levels can guide any level of elf/artist. Begin at Board & Brush to create custom wood signs for everyone on a holiday list. Workshops help participants personalize projects with whimsy, humor or to commemorate milestone moments. The DIYcave has been providing classes, mentoring and workspace since 2015. With a self-professed spirit of, “Think it, and make it,” they can help a wish list come to fruition in areas metalworks, stained glass, blacksmithing, jewelry making, mosaic and more. They offer memberships for a gift of creativity all year long. diycave.com
Think Outside the (Gift) Box
In a season that can feel commercial, sometimes the best gifts are shared experiences. A gift of adventure gives more than the actual activity—time spent together creates lasting memories. Tuck a gift card for a guided activity to do together (such as an organized snowy bonfire evening with Wanderlust Tours) into a sweet new pair of mittens wrapped with a bow—or simply make your own coupon card, redeemable for an adventure gift of your own design. When the mountains and trails are right out the backdoor, there’s no end to the possibilities for a gift of adventure. Need a few ideas to get started?
Dark December evenings may be long and chilly, but they can also inspire a stellar gift experience. Some of winter’s most breathtaking moments happen on the coldest clear nights as Orion and Canis Major glide across the sky. Give an evening of stargazing with a visit to the Oregon Observatory at Sunriver for an up-close view through their telescopes—private programs are offered on Tuesday and Friday evenings through the winter months for groups of family or friends. Make plans for a summer visit and overnight trip to University of Oregon’s Pine Mountain Observatory, thirty-five miles east of Bend. Or, keep it simple by creating a DIY stargazing adventure gift, which requires only a guide to the constellations, a red flashlight (to keep eyes adjusted to darkness) and a dark night sky. Around the solstice on December 21, watch near the Big Dipper for shooting stars—that’s the Ursid meteor shower. Could there be a better gift than making wishes together on a shooting star? See snco.org
Create an Expedition
At Bend’s Expedition Club & Supply, a center for creating custom outings, their guides will help you plan a experiential gift from the resources in an extensive Map Room. Expeditions may be based on photography, rockhounding, birding, astronomy,geocaching, or even themed scavenger hunts. For year-long exploration, give a membership to the Expedition Club and have access to the Map Room to create your own adventures. expeditionclub.co
Learn Together
Looking for an experience that involves less cardio and more taste buds? For coffee-loving friends on your list, gift a roasting workshop. Ryan Lenz, a former chemistry teacher, takes small groups through each step of the roasting process, and guests take home their freshly roasted beans. Then, to learn more about homebrewing beer, Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization teaches the basics of making all-grain and extract-style beer on the club’s brewing system. 2021 COHO Homebrewer of the Year Kevin Tucker guides the experience and two weeks later, attendees bottle and take home their own six-pack of beer. Find Ryan Lenz @blackmagicroasting. Brew beer at a class taught by Central Oregon Homebrewers Organization at DIYcave. See coho/wildapricot.org, diycave.com.
Experience the Outdoors
Mt. Bachelor is the go-to destination for skiing, but winter adventures abound on the mountain and make memorable gifts. Consider reserving a sled-dog ride for two with the Oregon Trail of Dreams, where you’ll experience the backcountry in a whole new way and help care for the sled dogs, too, with your financial support. Or, for a budget-friendly option, give the plan for a day to join Forest Service naturalists on a snowshoe trek through Mt. Bachelor’s forest trails, learning about the geology and ecology of the Cascades along the way. Snowshoes are provided, and there is no charge for the activity. Follow up with lunch and a Bloody Mary in the West Village Lodge. Find details on how to register for both activities at mtbachelor.com.
While cacti and succulents prosper in the heat and sunshine, they don’t need summer to flourish; a wonderful indoor high desert can be created at home. The plants not only provide a dusting of color to a room, but their unique shapes and textures give layered accents to your home drawing the eye to multiple livingfocal points.
Photo by Graham Atkins-Hughes, styled by Abigail Ahern
To explore the high desert aesthetic, Desert Rose Cactus Lounge provides inspiration. Owned by Andrea Metzler and her husband, Kent Halverson, the shop is adorned end to end with prickly and exotic greenery—flora that thrives in the high desert climate. Metzler said the sun and the arid climate are what make these particular plants grow so well in Bend. For the winter months, cacti and succulents don’t need much water. In fact, Metzler said some cacti are typically dormant in the winter season, allowing them to survive in dry soil for up to three months. Keep desert plants near a window—but not touching the glass to avoid cold damage—or under grow lights for the snowy, darker days.
In general, Metzler suggested placing plants in south- or west-facing windows, typically these provide the most direct sunlight for cacti and euphorbia throughout the day. “I also recommend terracotta pots,” she said. “They let a lot of air in; they’re more porous. So they absorb extra water which helps keep you from overwatering your cactus and succulents.” Terracotta pots also add an extra element to the design of a high desert home with their colors mimicking the neutrals and softness of the desert landscape.
To get started, Metzler recommends San Pedro cacti because they’re fast growers. Another starter cactus is the cereus Peruvianus, otherwise known as the Peruvian apple cactus or the night-blooming cereus. After a while, they produce stunning blooms at—you guessed it—night. Also commonly seen as a design accent, is the structural cereus jamacaru. With easy care, cacti and succulents are an easy way to manifest indoor high desert dreams. See desertrosebend.com.
I’m lying on a reclining chair under the canopy of a century-old maple tree, my eyes closed and surrounded by seven women singing quiet songs of peace, love and release. They start with a melody and then ease into a harmony. My day’s stress and the street noise fade. If I was an actual hospice patient, the Heart of Oregon Threshold Singers would sing to me as my human spirit begins its passage from life to death. This is a rehearsal for when the singers head to the bedside of a person in hospice care.
The idea for a threshold choir started with Californian Kate Munger when she sang for a dying friend in 1990. In doing so, she tapped into the power of music to soothe and provide peace at important transitions in life, and planted the seed to grow the gift of song and kindness to give to others.
In 2000, she founded Threshold Choir and a half-dozen chapters sprouted up in Northern California. The concept grew into a worldwide phenomenon with about 200 independent and locally-based choirs, including the Central Oregon group.
Among those Munger mentored was Yolanda Sanchez-Peterson who moved to Bend in 2017 and had already been singing solo as a volunteer for St. Charles hospice. She began recruiting others and by January 2020 had eight women trained and ready to sing at bedsides. “You need to sing on-key and match the pitch of the [lead] singer. But equally as important, is the ability to maintain a calm, heartfelt presence while singing,” she said. Covid-19 nearly shuttered the fledgling group. They persevered by singing outside people’s windows and occasionally by phone.
Sanchez-Peterson reached out to Shannon Campbell, volunteer services coordinator for Partners in Care, which recently opened a new, twelve-bed inpatient Hospice House. “I hadn’t heard of threshold singers before, but it piqued my interest,” Campbell recalled. “I couldn’t believe that people do this. It’s such a beautiful thing.” Campbell soon had her own personal experience. Her mother, who would soon pass, received the gift of music as the choir sang in 35-degree weather outside Touchmark. “Mom kept looking and smiling through her window,” Campbell said.
Word soon got out about the Heart of Oregon Threshold Singers among Central Oregon’s hospitals, hospices and in-home health care providers for gravely ill individuals. “The vision is that when a nurse sees a patient struggling with the final days, he or she can reach out for threshold singers,” said Susan Boucher, a member of the choir and co-director of the local chapter with Sanchez-Peterson since 2018. She notes requests for the group have grown exponentially, from twenty requests in 2021 to 139 through August 2022.
Yolanda Sanchez-Peterson leads a group rehearsal.
A typical visit
Today, Sanchez-Peterson, Susan Boucher and choir member Rhonda Ealy gather as part of twice-weekly visits to Hospice House. They wear N95 masks—often a challenge for voice delivery, but necessary for everyone’s safety. Even though the current ten-member choir rehearses together, they sing in small groups of two to four. They stress that their presence at the bedside isn’t a performance or music therapy but a gift. “We’re bringing compassion, something that doesn’t come with an injection or a pill,” said Boucher, a retired nurse. The patient has agreed to the singers’ presence in their room. Today’s lead singer will gather a variety of information before entering the room on subjects such as the recipient’s spiritual background, culture, age and then pick up additional cues after entering the room.
“To do this work requires a lot of training,” Boucher said. “Your own thoughts and experience with death and dying come into play.” “We enter an extremely private space is a privilege,” Sanchez-Peterson added. “Being in that room is about the patient, not about you. Singers need to stay calm and present if they feel themselves becoming ungrounded.”
Most of the songs are specifically written by Threshold Choir members and patterned after lullabies that soothe and calm people who may be agitated or fearful. The titles say it all: “Rest Easy,” “Grateful Heart” and “May Peace be with You.” At rehearsal, choir members are encouraged to listen to the music first and then open their sheet music to get a feel for it.
The Heart of Oregon Threshold Singers look forward to growing their ranks, including adding those who are fluent in other languages. As the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico, Sanchez-Peterson sings in Spanish when asked. She emphasizes that individuals don’t need to go through hospice to request the choir at a loved one’s bedside.
Back at the rehearsal—one of the first in-person practices since coming out of Covid and those held by Zoom—they wind it up with the words to a song, “I’ve lived my life in a river of grace. I trust this river will carry me home.”
Deep in Oregon’s forests, there are opportunities to experience a true winter wonderland, the kind many people only ever see in movies. These getaways provide guests with a multitude of activities, no matter their interests. From adrenaline junkies to bookworms and for everyone in between, there are forested retreats to inspire a winter getaway.
Hemlock Butte Cabin
Let’s kick things off with a true retreat to a primitive Forest Service cabin, where guests can really get away from it all: Hemlock Butte Cabin. Situated in the Southern Cascades, this eight-person, three-story A-frame cabin, sits about two hours south of Bend. The location is so remote that all guests must complete a four-mile ski or snowshoe journey just to reach the cabin, explaining why the Forest Service recommends that all guests have some backcountry experience.
The amenities offered here are slim, and guests at a primitive cabin should pack in most supplies themselves. However, the bare-bones nature of a cabin is what draws people in year after year. For backcountry skiers, Hemlock Cabin is heaven on earth. Nearby Mount Bailey offers miles of terrain that can be explored by both downhill and cross-country skiers, including nearly 3,000 feet of vertical descent.
On the flip side, the remoteness of Forest Service cabins can create an incredibly peaceful environment. Guests may sip on tea or hot chocolate, back themselves into one of the cozy nooks the three-room cabin provides and crack open a good book. If guests haven’t experienced this kind of remoteness before, try this: walk out into the snow and be as quiet as possible while breathing deeply the mountain air. Primitive lodgings are available through the U.S. Forest Service. See fs.usda.gov.
For a more accessible getaway closer to home, head to Elk Lake Resort. Thirty-two miles from Bend and just past Mount Bachelor, Elk Lake is a popular getaway for locals and visitors to enjoy more amenities while maintaining a feeling of remoteness. The resort is surrounded by a snowy forest of ponderosa pines, and there are thirteen cabin rentals available for guests. During the winter, the highway to the resort is closed, making this getaway accessible by snowcat and snowmobile only.
Fans of adrenaline will love the many opportunities to explore the nearby trails and meadows from the back of a snowmobile. With more than 100 miles of trails to explore, many guests come to Elk Lake exclusively for this adventure. Elk Lake offers snowmobile rentals, so even first timers can get the chance to experience these thrills. Just be sure to bring the proper winter gear to keep warm.
For a more peaceful day of exploration, the resort offers snowshoe rentals. While this can still be a workout, the added tranquility of snowshoeing cannot be understated. Snowshoeing allows guests to immerse themselves in the environment and feel one with the stillness of nature. For any guest looking for a more relaxing stay, try out the Elk Lake Lodge bar and restaurant. Dine on rustic American fare and sip on cocktails or local brews while marveling at Mount Bachelor, South Sister and the view of of Elk Lake. See elklakeresort.net.
Photo Ann Nguyen and Mea Woodruff
Cedar Bloom Farm
The furthest location from Bend is well worth the drive. About four hours southwest of town find Cedar Bloom Farms, a family run farm, campground and event venue. Located in the Illinois Valley of Southern Oregon, Cedar Bloom is a 100-acre property filled with forested land. Owners said, “We are putting the 100 acres of land into a conservation easement this Fall so that the land can never be logged or developed.This will ensure that the land will stay wild and cared for for many generations to come.”
A stay at Cedar Bloom can be ripe with adventure. The nearby Siskiyou National Forest offers plenty of hiking options and chances to explore the banks of the Rogue River. The nearby town of Cave Junction is aptly named, because guests can explore the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, a cave system discovered in 1874 that put this town on the map. Make a day trip to the Siskiyou Mountains for more winter sports and backcountry adventure.
While Cedar Bloom can provide adventure, their forte is tranquility. The available camping options are clean, cute and oh-so cozy A-frame cabins, high-quality canvas tents and a dome that overlooks the nearby river. As winter rolls around, Cedar Bloom can feel like a fairytale come to life; many guests prefer winter stays to reconnect with nature and loved ones.
No matter the getaway one picks, there will be something for everyone; a winter wonderland can provide peaceful quiet or high-adrenaline fun. Don’t miss the chance to experience these wonderlands, so check websites and book reservations early, as many spots fill up quickly.
Marcelle Howard began dancing at the age of three at a studio formerly known as Jean’s Dancing School in Prineville. Slipping on her tap shoes, she emerged into her first recital before dance became her life’s work. “I was able to do a triple threat: ballet, jazz and tap as a senior in high school,” Howard said about her growth as a dance student. From there she studied in Western Oregon and taught dance at multiple locations around Central Oregon, including the Athletic Club of Bend. After noticing a lack of dance classes in Bend offered for young children, Howard opened Mrs. Marcelle’s The School of Dance in 1995, which now offers classes for children ages three and older. The first class at her studio was a pre-ballet class for ages three to five; Howard recalls the school only blossoming from there. Today, she has a team of experienced dance teachers working beside her to urge the mission of Mrs. Marcelle’s The School of Dance forward.
Photo courtesy Mrs. Marcelle’s the School of Dance
There are a couple of main goals that make Mrs. Marcelle’s The School of Dance stand out in the Central Oregon community. “Number one, when you have a student, let them realize how special they are,” said Howard. Her philosophy is to allow an opportunity for students to be aware of how extraordinary they are. Another belief of Howard’s is “everybody can dance”—the ideas of inclusion and acceptance are the backbone of the mission behind Mrs. Marcelle’s The School of Dance.
Veronica West began practicing ballet with Howard at the age of four, and continued with ballet, jazz and tap until 9th grade. At twenty-eight, she no longer dances but still holds a love for the practice, and looks back fondly at her experience with Howard as her dance teacher. “I loved dancing with Mrs. Marcelle. She was the most charismatic, energetic teacher who made everyone feel welcome…Dance practice was always something I looked forward to because of Mrs. Marcelle,” West said. This bodes well for one of the key takeaways from Mrs. Marcelle’s The School of Dance. Howard hopes that whether her students are practicing, performing or simply dancing for fun that they revel in what they are doing. “Enjoy it. If they aren’t enjoying it, I’m doing something wrong,” she said.
Marcelle Howard
Over time, the school’s recitals have sold out performances, bouncing between the Tower Theatre, Bend High and, recently, Caldera High School. A lot of love and thought goes into the development of the big end-of-the-year recital, and practice begins in October, running through June when the performance takes the stage. “Having our families and friends come watch us perform in our costumes was something we all looked forward to, and [Howard] put so much time, effort and planning in making sure the recital was amazing for all of us. We felt like professionals dancing on stage,” West said. Most recently, the students of Mrs. Marcelle’s The School of Dance performed in a Broadway-themed recital, pulling inspiration from classic Broadway show numbers; including a favorite routine of Howard’s, “Popular,” from the hit Broadway show “Wicked.” Howard is overjoyed to produce a Disney-themed recital in 2023. It’s one which takes place every five years.
In the summer, the school plays host to dance camps. Keeping in the spirit of the importance for everyday harmony and family time, “combo classes” are available at the school: all-in-one tap, ballet and hip-hop classes that provide time-saving efforts for both the children and parents during their busy lives.
The energy that radiates from the school and from Marcelle Howard are the purest forms of excitement and happiness. She has much gratitude for the ways in which the school has has enriched her experiences over twenty-seven years. As for her life outside of work, she said, “I love the balance it gives me, because I can make all my own decisions.” However, from the standpoint of a teacher, one of the gifts Howard treasures most is the ability to provide love and joy to all the dancers of Mrs. Marcelle’s The School of Dance.
Fergal Donoher and Caprice Neely had a few key items on their wish list when beginning their new home build journey back in 2019. Neely, an artist and mostly-retired athletic footwear designer, wanted a gallery wall and plenty of space to hang art—both collected and created herself. Donoher, a native of Ireland who first moved to the United States in 2007, needed a bar area, or a few, to remind him of a pub back home. Together, the couple dreamed of a courtyard area to enjoy the outdoors, and a home layout that maximized views and spaces that embodied their colorful, bold style.
The couple met in Portland in 2008, and they bought a second home built by Copperline Homes on Awbrey Road in northwest Bend in 2012. By 2018, they’d made the move to Bend full time and were making plans to design a new space for the family, which includes 10-year-old Maisie and a couple of large pups—Rosie, the 1-year-old Great Dane, and Charlie, the 4-year-old newfydoodle.
After buying a large, narrow lot at Tetherow, the family arranged to work with architect Eric Meglasson and use Copperline Homes for the build. “We immediately began sketching a home with two masses at each end of an oversized courtyard, connected with little more than a gallery space between the two,” Meglasson said. After about eighteen months of design and construction, the family moved into the home around Thanksgiving 2020, and have spent the last year-plus getting settled.
The residence is entered from the north by way of the garage, courtyard or an understated black door that blends into the home’s black exterior. Visitors will immediately see the courtyard beyond a wall of glass windows to the right, and a long interior hallway ahead, adorned with a twenty-six piece art collection. The prints are from Russian-born, French artist Erté, who completed “The Alphabet” from 1927 to 1967. The images bring to life the 112-foot hallway that connects the spaces of the home.
Halfway down the hall, between letters Q and R, is a door to a wing of rooms, with a bedroom and craft room for Maisie, a guest room and a bathroom. Following letter Z is one of the home’s most striking spaces, a bold powder room that showcases a table-turned-vanity that Neely’s father brought back from China in the 1940s, along with a bold Ferrick Mason wallpaper that exudes Chinoiserie and Hollywood Regency style, according to Neely. “The powder room should always be the jewel box of the home, where you can really think outside of the box,” said Lucy Roland of Harper House Design, who worked with the homeowners on interior design and furnishings.
The master bedroom showcases walnut nightstands with a cushioned, emerald green velvet headboard between them.
At the far end of the hallway is the main living space, with huge glass accordion doors that open to the courtyard. Nero Marquina black marble slabs on both the walls and counters, paired with matte black cabinets underneath make the kitchen a “showstopper,” Roland said. “I love how Caprice and Fergal weren’t afraid to take risks, and it paid off,” Roland said. “That room ended up being so striking—who says a kitchen can’t be sexy?” An accordian window from the kitchen opens to golf course views and an outdoor bar counter, which Donoher and Meglasson described as the “golfer heckling bar.” The living room is anchored by an oversized, custom-made couch that Portland’s Mad Furniture designed for the space.
Adjacent to the kitchen is the entrance to the home’s primary bedroom, where mid-century modern furniture pieces steal the show. The bed is flanked by walnut nightstands with a cushioned emerald green, velvet headboard between them, all of which are connected as one piece—also a Mad Furniture item. Opposite the bed is a long couch with built-in side tables, another mid-century modern piece that Neely received from a friend’s father. The primary bathroom features a shower with ten-foot glass walls to capture steam without completely trapping it in. An oversized walk-in closet offers room for plenty of clothing and—with Neely a former footwear designer—ample space for shoes. “I have to support her work,” Donoher joked about all the shoe storage in the home.
Between the kitchen and bedroom is a staircase, covered in wooden tiles constructed of narrow flooring scraps, leading up to the home’s office. Donoher, an executive in tech manufacturing, works from home in the cozy space, which he refers to as the “snuggery.” Both the office and the living room/kitchen area below share the same incredible views of golf course greens in the foreground and Cascade Range views in the distance. “The space upstairs is very calming,” Donoher said. “You go up there at 5 or 6 a.m. and it might still be dark, but you can see the white mountain tops.”
Back at the home’s entry, near letter A of the alphabet wall, is a second staircase, leading up to a mother-in-law suite with a living area, kitchenette and bathroom, with windows placed to take in the same mountain views, and a great space for guests.
Fergal Donoher and Caprice Neely’s family
Far and away, the most dramatic and striking aspect of the Donoher-Neely home is the courtyard, a focal point from many spaces in the house and a private space for the family to enjoy time outdoors. The courtyard includes a cement, outdoor bar area, space for a daybed to lounge and a koi pond. Maisie, a fifth-grader at Bend’s Forge School, is quick to toss in food to the four koi, named Peachy, One Eye, Big Daddy and #4, some of which are easier than others to distinguish based solely on name.
Since moving to Tetherow in 2020, the Donoher-Neely household has had time to fully explore what their new community and the greater Bend area has to offer, and they particularly enjoy activities like overlanding and tent camping, attempting to golf and indulging at food and drink spots around Bend. “We’re big supporters of the restaurant community,” said Donoher, listing off favorites that include BOSA, Drake, Washington, Zydeco and Flamingo Room. Maisie is partial to Elly’s Ice Cream in NorthWest Crossing. Together for fourteen years, Donoher and Neely were only just married in November 2021, meaning the couple’s first wedding anniversary is on the horizon. If a trip or celebration isn’t in store, perhaps a visit to the courtyard bar, nine holes on the course out back or an evening appreciating the views from the snuggery will do.
