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We have always made our community central to our work and view it as a privilege to tell the stories of your world, too. These experiences are touchstones of lives well lived — just like those for a magazine, or a marriage.

The celebrations wouldn’t be possible without the incredible people that surround us. We’re overflowing with gratitude for the talented team who pour their heart and soul into each issue of Bend Magazine to capture the essence of Central Oregon with such passion and creativity. In this issue, we invite you to fall in love with the magic of a winter in Bend’s backyard over and over again. Explore cozy cabin hideaways tucked away in snowy landscapes, try your hand at winter fishing on a pristine lake or river, and meet the athletes who inspire us with their dedication to winter sports — whether on powder or on the ice. We bring you along to discover the vibrant scene in Central Oregon after dark, whether you’re seeking a night out or a cozy evening by the fire. This issue is an invitation to create your own winter traditions and take your own journeys into the new year and beyond.

We haven’t reached these milestones alone. To our advertisers, thank you for believing in our vision and for partnering with us to share our community’s stories. And to our amazing readers: thank you for being the heart of Bend Magazine. Your support means the world to us and pushes us to continually strive for excellence. Here’s to many more years of shared stories, adventures, and a deep appreciation for this incredible place we get to call home.

Happy Trails,

Heather & Ross Johnson,
Publishers/Owners, Oregon Media LLC

This issue has us reflecting on some of our most important journeys and milestones. Bend Magazine will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year and it’s incredible to reflect on the path we’ve taken to discover and share the Soul of Central Oregon with you during the past decade. Coincidentally, 2025 marks another important milestone: our 25th wedding anniversary. From a windswept engagement at the base of Broken Top — one that nearly blew us off the mountain — and saying “I do” in Sunriver’s Great Hall, to raising our kids here and calling Bend home for almost 30 years, this special place has been an essential part of our story and has truly shaped our lives.

We have always made our community central to our work and view it as a privilege to tell the stories of your world, too. These experiences are touchstones of lives well lived — just like those for a magazine, or a marriage.

The celebrations wouldn’t be possible without the incredible people that surround us. We’re overflowing with gratitude for the talented team who pour their heart and soul into each issue of Bend Magazine to capture the essence of Central Oregon with such passion and creativity. In this issue, we invite you to fall in love with the magic of a winter in Bend’s backyard over and over again. Explore cozy cabin hideaways tucked away in snowy landscapes, try your hand at winter fishing on a pristine lake or river, and meet the athletes who inspire us with their dedication to winter sports — whether on powder or on the ice. We bring you along to discover the vibrant scene in Central Oregon after dark, whether you’re seeking a night out or a cozy evening by the fire. This issue is an invitation to create your own winter traditions and take your own journeys into the new year and beyond.

We haven’t reached these milestones alone. To our advertisers, thank you for believing in our vision and for partnering with us to share our community’s stories. And to our amazing readers: thank you for being the heart of Bend Magazine. Your support means the world to us and pushes us to continually strive for excellence. Here’s to many more years of shared stories, adventures, and a deep appreciation for this incredible place we get to call home.

Happy Trails,

Heather & Ross Johnson,
Publishers/Owners, Oregon Media LLC

Introducing our July + August 2024 issue of Bend Magazine.

Time feels different on a summer day, doesn’t it? Remember riding your bike as a kid until sundown or when the street lights came on? Those days seemed to stretch beyond 24 hours. Long summer afternoons were as much about freedom and independence as exploring trails. Was it simplicity or the new experiences that made time feel endless?

In summer, it’s easy to feel like a kid again. Some of the best parts of my job are to act like one: being curious, meeting people and telling stories. Last year, my goal was to surf the river. Being an early riser helped—I planned to be on the water in the morning, before anyone else, so I wouldn’t embarrass myself. Maybe the wave would be empty then? Ryan Richard, wave shaper for Bend Park & Recreation District gets asked this question all the time: “When is there no line?” The answer is that you’re never alone at the wave. So I found myself there at 6:45 a.m., with a group of people that were the impetus for a story on the Green Wave community, described on pg. 72.

Capturing stories about summer, we dove into the reopening of Kah-Nee-Ta with elders who remembered its heritage hot springs (pg. 80). Camping tips begin with putting away your cell phone and relationship with time, see pg. 84. At Camp Tamarack, Charlie and Michele Anderson give campers the gift of outdoor programs—understanding YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A KID TO APPRECIATE THE GLORY OF THE SEASON.” time in nature breaks barriers and sparks connections, learning and growth (pg. 51). We learned about citizen assemblies as a way to gather diverse voices and affect government policy. True conversation requires slowing down and really listening to other points of view.

Novelty-filled days of waves and words went by quickly, but felt longer. In April, a paper published in Nature Human Behavior posited that when the brain processes complexity, time seems to contract. Summer in Bend is full of heightened experiences and connections, so maybe time can seem both fast and slow at once.

We all get the same 24 hours, but you don’t have to be a kid to appreciate the glory of the season. Whether rising early or staying up late to view the stars, these days give us time to embrace new things and expand the slice of time we have on this planet, while holding on to simplicity, too. It’s why we created these pages, to put summer in your hands. Enjoy!

Cheryl Parton, Editor in Chief

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A KID TO APPRECIATE THE GLORY OF THE SEASON.”

Introducing our May + June 2024 issue of Bend Magazine.

Sitting in the cockpit of the world’s first flying car* and scanning the control panel, my imagination took flight.  Would there be a highway in the sky someday? I was about to take off into the future, only this scene was set in Central Oregon just a quarter mile off Highway 20.

My conversation with the vehicle’s inventor, Sam Bousfield (see pg. 69), kept me on solid ground. While he’s an idea-architect with almost a dozen patents to his name, the word he used to attribute his success resonated: persistence. It’s what I’ve tried to emulate myself, teach my kids over the years and remind my youngest child who is about to graduate from high school this June—it’s not always about your successes, it’s about what you learn along the way and your fortitude to stick to what you believe in. We’ve all had an injury, a broken relationship or business, or simply taken a wrong turn. The ability to make a thoughtful decision about what you do afterward defines where you go next.

In this issue, as we head toward summer together, let’s ask ourselves, “What decisions will we make to connect to the best of Central Oregon?” How about gathering in Drake Park to celebrate community while honoring Juneteenth (pg. 45)? Or hiking or biking with intention to learn about the environment along the way (pgs. 31-37)? We can think more about the food we eat and the clothes we wear (pgs. 63 and 78). The first open-air concerts signal the start of the summer season in my book, so I’m hoping to grab a paddleboard and listen to music while looking up at the stars.

On the subject of paddleboarding, Annie Fast wrote about pups on SUPs in her feature (page 84). It reminded me of another example of persistence. Our wire-haired griffon Buzz loved the water—he seemed to hold his breath as he took deep dives for sticks, stones (and detritus) at the bottom of Elk Lake. But when I attempted to bring him on a board, he’d have none of it. Over and over again, we’d try. Each time, it ended in utter chaos and a huge splash for both of us.

Persistence doesn’t always mean success, but in failure, we find lessons, invention or at least a laugh or two. Enjoy the season ahead—music, Central Oregon’s rivers and trails, and our diverse community. Allow your imagination to take flight. After all, life’s a splash!

Cheryl Parton, Editor in Chief

“IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT YOUR SUCCESSES, IT’S ABOUT WHAT YOU LEARN ALONG THE WAY AND YOUR FORTITUDE TO STICK TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN.”

My thoughts went to some of the different ways we give at a recent renewal of vows. Guests led our procession dancing down a Bend city street and the groom arrived on the back of a white horse in Indian tradition. But what really stood out? The bride of now 25 years shared a moment she recognized she may have found true love: it was when her future husband gifted her a homemade Valentine.

‘Tis the season for our Gift Guide which started on this reflection of how we give and receive. What are the gifts that matter most to us? I was happy to take on the research since I enjoy the act of gifting…I’ll write it, make it, bake it, or haul an offering across the world for people I care about. With each act of giving, it is my way of thinking of you and how I might make even a minute in your life a bit wiser, healthier or happier.

As winter approaches, we look forward to the gift of powder. In his story “Pray for Snow,” Gregg Morris writes about the ways we hope Mother Nature will bring us buckets of the fluffy stuff as we wax skis, rep squats and do a little snow dance in anticipation. It was as sweet as confectioner’s sugar (more on that in our story on holiday sweets, page 91) to learn about pow surfing. Writer Annie Fast shares how it’s done and who is shaping boards to carve snow with the same grace that surfers use to carve waves.

Then, Lucas Alberg tells us about the business of books. Now, there’s the best gift of all in my mind—to find and share ideas and words. The gift of a book is not only for the holidays but for all the days of the year. Plus, a bookshelf is a timeline of our lives, with dates and inscriptions inside front covers as reminders of who we were along the way and who was there as witness.

But what is it that we all really want and need? It’s the gift of each other. If we can’t be together with family or friends, then our words matter even more. In the groom’s promise for the future, he vowed to always make homemade Valentines. On that day, their childrens’ words pronounced them, “Still married.”

Thank you for reading Bend Magazine throughout the year. It’s our expression to this community we love and you’re invited to reach out to us, too. Write us a letter at 974 NW Riverside Blvd., Bend, Oregon 97703. That would be a gift.

Now, on to a little snow dance. Bring on winter!

Cheryl Parton, Editor in Chief

Life can be messy: from dusty trails to muddy thinking before morning coffee clarity; piles of laundry and to-do lists. Wait, maybe that’s just me. In an editor’s world, you’d think everything had a place, like a pair of carefully placed punctuation marks. The reality though is that we’re a group of folks notorious for collecting multitudes of random information, in our heads and on index cards of notes tucked in pockets and sprinkled around the house. Again, maybe that’s just me. I could use a coach.

When we started to plan for our feature on coaches, the short list was filled with some obvious heroes: In Central Oregon, we have Olympians coaching aspiring Olympians, people who have spent more than half of their lives teaching children to swim, or running plays on high school courts for decades. But what about the coaches of our daily lives? They’re the friends who encourage us to be better, prompt us to look at all sides of a challenging situation, or call us out on bad choices. They help us reach our goals, or summit a mountain (see page 31 for a few ideas on peaks to climb). Sometimes, a coach can be as simple as the person who just stands by your side while you move through transitions or tragedies.

How could we possibly choose coaches to fill only eight pages? We did our best, and in this month’s issue of Bend Magazine, you’ll meet just a handful of dedicated citizens (page 72) who are building a better Bend, by leaps and bounds, a volley or by helping us hit vocal high notes.

As we move toward being better versions of ourselves, hopefully, we’re not skipping over the present and some of the most glorious, colorful days of the year. As fall approaches, Mother Nature is on display and hard at work preparing for the seasons ahead. While we’re out biking trails, and skimming across lakes on boats or boards, the trees are busy. They’re preparing their roots and missives­ as blueprints for future incarnations in the form of blooms next spring. This, all before taking a long pause for winter. We learned about the process for our story on fall leaves (page 39). See, nature is a coach, too.

September means back to school for some, remaining an eternal student for others. So, what did I learn from the trees and on the trails? That I’m lucky to have “Life Coaches” help me imprint healthy daily habits while preparing for the next season of life. For them, I’m grateful.

Let’s coach each other to be better, as individuals and as a community. As a reminder, I even wrote it on a card: “Bless this mess.” Because after the dust settles, and you’ve put in the work step by step, the view from the top might just take your breath away.

Onward!

Cheryl Parton, Editor in Chief

In this March + April 2023 issue of Bend Magazine, we share a few of water’s stories. As a celebration of life on the water as a fly fisherman, and as of a human being, the book The River Why celebrates the fortieth year since its publication, we were grateful to catch up with David James Duncan as he prepares to return to Bend for “A Novel Idea” this April and on the cusp of releasing his new novel The Sun House. Writer Annie Fast brings us in the boat of whitewater kayakers on the Deschutes. We share the story of The Mayfly Project mentors who are teaching stories of fishing and life to foster kids across the country and in Bend. Meet artists, athletes and programs through our stories not just of water but about how we choose to live in Central Oregon.