It snuck up on me: Bend WinterFest starts this weekend! It's from Friday, February 2nd through Sunday the 4th, and is chock full of events.

In addition to the ever-popular ice carving exhibitions, fireworks, races at Mt. Bachelor, Mojo Music Eruption in the Festival Center, children's activities at Snowflake Village, the US Cellular Rail Jam presented by Crunch Events, ice skating, and Arts Central LIVE, LibertyBank Bend Winterfest will feature an expanded Winter Wine and Barley Hop of Bend, headline entertainment at the Tower Theatre, the Winterfest Marketplace, a snowman building contest, and a polar bear plunge.

And you can't beat the price. A LibertyBank Bend Winterfest button is $6 and gains entrance to many weekend events, and significant discounts for tickets to other events. Many retailers downtown also offer special discounts for customers with a Winterfest button. Best of all, everyone who buys a Winterfest button will be entered into our contest to win a brand new Chevy Equinox!

And according to Weather.com's 10-day forecast, it looks like it's going to warm up for the weekend, just in time.

The next book I'm reviewing here is also by Raymond Hatton: Bend in Central Oregon. Like his previous book, this is a fairly short read (134 pages) yet fairly comprehensive.

The first thing to notice on the book is the publication date; originally published in 1978 and revised in 1986, there is an obvious 20-year gap for anyone looking for a more recent history of Bend, and at the same time, reading about "modern" Bend up until about 1980 is charmingly anachronistic and surprisingly relevant.

For example, Wall Street in downtown Bend used to be the main Highway 97 thoroughfare through the area, but:

Late in 1962, the Highway 97 by-pass was opened, rerouting through traffic one mile east of downtown Bend [on to Third Street]. Landscape changes resulting from the establishment of the "by-pass" have been profound. In many respects the character of Third Street, as it is commonly known, reflects a typical commercial strip highway, found in "Anytown, U.S.A."

The theme that the by-pass "drained some of the vitality from the heart of the city" immediately sounds familiar to anyone who remembers the Parkway debate of the '90s, and the "stripmall" criticism of Third Street (from 45 years ago!) resonates surprisingly with the article that appeared in the Bulletin last week:

Ripe for redevelopment is the Third Street corridor, where buildings popped up decades ago when the road was still the major highway through Bend.

"The development that emerged out there was almost entirely auto-orientated - fast foods, convenience uses, gas stations - low density uses that service high volumes," Shetterly said.

Of course, the function of Third Street changed when the Parkway was built in the 1990s.

"The days of serving as a classic strip (mall) corridor are nearing an end," he said. "We see that in the site by site changes in land use."

To help create a better Third Street, one of the suggestions is to add trees and other landscaping, build sidewalks, construct buildings along the edge of the street and put in bike lanes.

Anyway, back to the book. Like his other, this one is well-supplemented with black and white photos of Bend from various eras and stages, and Hatton pulls quotes from various sources (though the text is not as quote-heavy as High Desert). The main section of the book looks at the history and growth of Bend as a city, and is the most interesting as a result. Other sections look at the geography of the area, downtown, landmarks, and parks.

It's a good book, and one of the things most striking to me was the fact that the issues over growth, tourism, and "outsiders" moving into the area have been an source of discussion and contention since at least the 1930s—despite the common perception (mine included) that it has really only been an issue since the 1990s.

I highly recommend it. It can be found at the library and Amazon.com (used starting at $2.34); being out of print since 1986, I haven't seen it at the Book Barn but I'm sure they could order copies for you if you asked.

Bits of interesting history and trivia about Bend...

• In August of 1934 Eleanor Roosevelt passed through Bend, staying at the Pilot Butte Inn and dining on planked trout.
• Other notable people who stayed at the Pilot Butte Inn (opened in 1917, demolished in 1973) include Herbert Hoover, Ty Cobb, and Humphrey Bogart.
• From the fall of 1964 through the winter of 1965, a ski run and jump was built and used on the northwestern slope of Pilot Butte. Snow was hauled in from Tumalo Falls to be spread over the slope. The ski jump was removed in 1967.
• The early publisher and owner of the Bulletin was George P. Putnam, of the Putnam publishing empire. He ran the paper from 1910-1919 and later married Amelia Earhart.
• In 1933 the city began holding a water pageant on Mirror Pond for the Fourth of July. Thousands of people would come to watch the pageant, which featured elaborate illuminated floats that would pass through an arch and drift down the river. The last water pageant was held in 1965.
• The Pine Tavern restaurant opened in 1935.
• Two Native American names for the area Bend is located: Wychick, and Widgi Creek. Other names that were considered for the city (aside from the well-known Farewell Bend): Deschutes, Pilot Butte, Staats, Lenark, and Oreopolis.

This is just a random idea I'm throwing out there: every day I drive by the old Movietyme Video space, there on the corner of 8th and Greenwood. (Behind Papa John's Pizza, and in the same building complex as Thriftway and Rent-a-Center.) It's a big empty space and there's a sign on the window indicating that it's for lease.

So here's my thought: What about opening up a brewpub there? (Overlooking the fact that the area might be getting oversaturated with commercial beer brewers.) Think it would be a good spot for one?

I'll even throw out a name: Pilot Butte Brewing Company.

So claims the Economist in this article on Bend, which pretty much sums up their point. It's basically another rah-rah promotion piece for the area, nothing we haven't seen before in some form or another—though as Barney points out, it "might raise at least a few eyebrows, both from the vantage point and the rosy portrait it paints" since it's from the high-profile The Economist.

Other select quotes from the article:

"Bend is also economically vibrant. It typifies the changes seen in many western towns that once were sleepy backwaters based on mining or timber."

"In some areas all this translates into a city full of ageing but well-off geezers. Not in Bend."

"[A] large population of relatively young adults means thousands of children who will eventually want to create their own jobs and wealth in Bend."

This Friday, January 26th, is Mt. Bachelor's annual Free Ski Day—their 17th. From the KTVZ article I found this on:

On Friday, January 26, Mt. Bachelor will host the 17th annual Free Ski Day to benefit Neighbor Impact, formerly known as COCAAN. In exchange for a minimum of three items of non-perishable food, Mt. Bachelor will issue one all day Alpine Lift Ticket or Nordic Trail Pass. The goal: feed the needy and less fortunate in Central Oregon....

Donations will be taken at the Bend Park and Ride in downtown Bend and at the West Village and Sunrise ticketing areas at the mountain. Although a minimum of three items of food are required to receive a ticket, Neighbor Impact and Mt. Bachelor are asking those who can to donate more....

When choosing what to donate, Neighbor Impact encourages guests to donate canned tuna, chicken and salmon and canned meals such as soup, chili and stew. Other useful items to donate include peanut butter, canned beans and peas. Monetary donations are also accepted. Neighbor Impact asks that guests avoid donating glass or boxed items for this event, as they tend to get damaged in transport from the mountain.

See also Mt. Bachelor's Free Ski Day page. And, in case anyone missed it, Mt. Bachelor has a blog.

The Renegade Rollergirls are back for the new year with their first bout of 2007 coming up on February 17th (a Saturday). It'll be at the Central Oregon Indoor Sports Center (as usual) but heads up: prices have gone up this year. It's now $10 for general admission and $15 for VIP seating.

As I said in my review, VIP is the way to go. If you general admission, though, get there as early as you can—doors open at 6pm—because it fills up fast and it's first come, first served. Tickets are available from Oxygen Tattoo and Redmond Smokehouse.

Here's a thumbnail of the banner for this event ("Farewell to Flesh"). Click through for the full version.

Despite the (possibly) off-putting name, the Central Oregon Web Professionals Usergroup (COWPU, get it?) is having its next meeting this Wednesday, January 24th, 6pm at Edge Wireless. The topic seems to be "Browsers," although the "Meetings" page on the website is broken, so I can't really give you any more information than that.

At any rate, here's the Upcoming.org page for the meeting. More details, plus directions to Edge Wireless if you need them. Also note, pizza will be present.

One of the things I decided to start doing on this blog was book reviews of books by local authors, or about the area in general. The first review covers both: High Desert of Central Oregon, by Raymond Hatton.

Hatton is Professor Emeritus of Geography up at COCC, and has written a number of books about Central Oregon. High Desert was first released in 1977 and the latest edition (Third) was published in 1997. You can find it at the library, or the Book Barn has several copies available for $12.95.

At 141 pages, it's a fairly quick read, liberally supplemented with black and white photographs of many of the topics covered. Much of the text quotes other (usually older) sources, with Hatton's very readable writing style tying them together.

The book is an excellent primer on, well, the High Desert, and while parts of it seem dated—it was originally written in the '70s, after all—the sections concerning themselves with geography and climate are as relevant as ever. It's roughly divided into two sections: a history of homesteading on the High Desert (a period which only lasted roughly from 1900 until 1920 in various stages) and general descriptions of the three main areas of Central Oregon desert: east of Bend along Highway 20 towards Burns, Fort Rock Valley, and Christmas Lake Valley. Each section covers some local history, as well.

Bottom line: it's definitely worth a read, but to be honest, I'm a bit allergic to shelling out 13 bucks for a short book like this. If you can find it used, go for it—it's currently out-of-print otherwise, so if you're dying to own a copy of this book, head on down to the Book Barn or pick one up from Amazon.com at its full price.

The new 92.7 FM radio station I first blogged about in October of last year (and garnered a ton of comments for—mostly from people think that I am the radio station) has been going strong. So far it's gotten mostly positive reviews based on comments and people I've talked to. And it's the station I listen to most often when I'm in the car these days.

They've added at least two live DJs over the past few weeks, and recently they've started playing music from local bands, and have been soliciting more local music (radio edited, naturally). I think that's a really good move, considering the thriving music scene here in Central Oregon.

As they've been advertising, if you're a local musician and want to get on the air, either hit 92.7's contact page or drop off your CD at their Mill Point office, just off Columbia Street and above Robby J's Bistro. They're claiming all types of music are welcome.

And interestingly, they've published the results of the survey they have on their site. (I don't know if they update these results as more surveys are filled out, since they still have the form online.) Some interesting stats/conclusions there.

So what does everyone think, a couple of months in?

Brian points us to yet another mysterious Bend Bigfoot sighting here... although Bigfoot looks to be mugging for the camera a bit much...

(Yeah, yeah, I'm about done with all of this.)

Following up on yesterday's Bigfoot news, I thought I'd better share the photographic evidence I have of a Bigfoot on Pilot Butte. Look carefully:

As usual, Jake was on the forefront of this news: this June, the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization will be descending on Central Oregon to have a, well, Bigfoot hunting expedition. Once Jake ran the story, it picked up steam: appearing in an article in the Bulletin (you need to pay for online access) and on KTVZ.

The gist:

The cost: $300 per person, $600 for two or more in the same vehicle. That covers only "the overhead costs for organizing the expedition," so you have to arrange and pay for your own food, camping gear and whatever else you need to go Bigfoot hunting.

Participants will meet in Bend before venturing out on the four-day campout and hunt for evidence in the Cascades, June 14-17, timed for a period when there's "almost no moonlight," organizers said on the Website.

Uhm... yeah. You don't see area news like this every day.

Jake suggests leaving town during those days, but I don't know, it could be too much fun to watch. Perhaps June should be Bigfoot-themed to commemorate the event; the kitschy stores could sell Bigfoot dolls and postcards and things, the breweries could brew Sasquatch Ale or something. Maybe there'll be a "sighting" on Pilot Butte (nudge nudge, wink wink).

And of course, even though you have to pay to be a part of the "official" expedition, what's stopping people from just tromping out into the woods those same days?

A tip on one of those open-air produce stands you see around (actually, they're less "stands" than just vendors selling out of the back of their trucks): a co-worker recommended the guy on the corner of Third and Division (south end of town, by 7-Eleven) for the best oranges in town.

I haven't personally bought any oranges from there, so I can't vouch for them. But I thought I'd pass along the tip.

Also, my co-worked recommended, during the warmer months, the stands/trucks across from the Factory Outlets, behind the Timbers building, for general produce.

Via Jen, there's a new coffee shop downtown: Thump Coffee. It's located at 25 NW Minnesota, just down from the Firehall building (which houses Staccato). They're in the old "Bears" location in Suite 2, next to the Habit clothing store (the other street-facing store in the building).

Anyway. According to Jen, today (the 12th) was their first day, and they are serving up Stumptown Coffee. She rather liked it. And since I work nearby, I'll be trying it out myself—and I'll write up my own review.

Saturday, January 20 is the Deschutes Public Library's Winter Book Sale. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library, it takes places from 10am until 4pm at the Library Administration Building at 507 NW Wall (the smaller building just a block down the street from the main library).

They always have great deals at these sales, if you can find books you're interested in—so arrive early (it's first come, first served).

Shannon tipped me off to this: there's a new place being built out next door to the Alpenglow Café, apparently named Makahna's. They have their liquor license application posted on their window (to sell beer, wine and cider), which was entered January 4th, under the name "Makahna's, LLC". Inside there's still a lot of construction going on.

There really isn't much to be found out online about it, but I do have a reliable source who gave me the scoop: It's going to be a coffee, wine, and pastry place—kind of a wine bistro similar to Vino Mercato. They will be open during the afternoons and evenings, have seating out on the terrace (during good weather), and will definitely cater to the fine wine crowd.

And, construction will probably be finished sometime late February or March.

Should be a nice little establishment, especially when it's warm enough to sit out on the terrace; it's west-facing and while you can't directly see the river (Joker's blocks the view), the views aren't bad at all.

In the spirit of doing these "zeitgeist" things on my other blogs, I thought I'd do one here, too. Considering I only launch this blog at the beginning of May, I think these are pretty good numbers.

• Number of blog entries: 130
• Approximate total number of words written: 20,386
• Average words per entry: 156.8
• Total visitors (including all the bots and junk): 70,399
• Average visitors per day: 263
• Total real visitors (approximate): 25,334
• Average real visitors per day: 94
• The most active month was December.
• Ten most popular blog entries:
  1. Jokers Bar & Grill (?): 1,642
  2. About Hack Bend (I treat it as a page, but it's technically a blog entry): 1,381
  3. Radio station comments (92.7 FM): 1,380
  4. New radio station: 92.7 FM (?): 1,274
  5. Bend Craigslist: 947
  6. Bend Area Transit!: 673
  7. Pet Parade photos: 632
  8. The 11th Postcard: 604
  9. Central Oregon pumpkin patch: 542
  10. Local phone prefixes: 526
• Total number of non-spam comments: 303
• Ten most popular search engine queries landing here:
  1. bend area transit: 159
  2. 92.7 bend: 130
  3. the 11th postcard: 88
  4. 92.7 fm bend: 85
  5. jokers bar and grill bend oregon: 74
  6. phone prefixes: 69
  7. 92.7 fm bend oregon: 68
  8. jokers bend oregon: 60
  9. phone number prefixes: 50
  10. hack bend: 48
• Top five search engines:
  1. Google: 2,929
  2. MSN: 1,196
  3. Yahoo: 661
  4. AOL Search: 28
  5. Netscape: 6
• Approximate breakdown of browsers and agents of visitor traffic:
  • Internet Explorer: 35.22%
  • Firefox/Mozilla: 23.9%
  • Opera: 1.02%
  • RSS readers/agents: 31.8%
  • Other stuff: 8.06%
• Total number of bots/crawler hits: 35,926

Yes, Joker's Bar & Grill is having their 1st Annual Beer Festival on Thursday, January 11th. That's according to their ad in The Source, anyway—I don't see anything on their website about it.

It'll run from 7pm until 11, and is featuring beers from the following breweries:

• Deschutes Brewery
• Bend Brewing
• Cascade Lakes
• Rogue
• Full Sail
• Big Sky Brewing
• Stone Brewing
• Mad River Brewing Company
• New Belgium
• Lagunitas
• MacTarnahan's
• Pyramid Brewing
  

There's no admission fee, and tasting tickets are $1 each (with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Boys & Girls Club).

In the latest Source Weekly, there's an article about the private airstrip that's located southeast, just off of Bear Creek Road. I've seen that before on maps and wondered about it, especially as it was near Sugarbowl Park (which I blogged about).

You can see the strip in the image to the right (lifted from Google Maps).

Known as the Pilot Butte Airport, there are seven (private) planes that use it regularly. Daily, during the summer months; who knew?

A small neighborhood south of Hwy. 20 on Bend’s east side... is the home of a relatively unknown, privately owned airstrip known as the Pilot Butte Airport. By appearance it’s not much to speak of - essentially it’s a piece of flat pavement used by planes instead of cars. The airstrip was constructed during the 1960s, according to Don Wilfong, the former president of the Pilot Butte Airport Association. Wilfong has lived beside the tiny airstrip for 25 years.

There are 17 private airports in Deschutes County. Most of them are nothing more than strips of grass, patches of dirt or slapdash pavement. There are no air-traffic controllers that work at these airstrips. There are no high-powered antennas or bubbling stewardess. These independently owned runways are used by small aircrafts – often piloted by people who live near the airstrip.

Pretty interesting stuff. (Notice a couple of the road names near the airport—Cessna Drive and Airpark Drive.) How cool would it be to walk out your back door and hop aboard a plane?

Just a heads-up to drivers; as of at least 8am this morning, the underpass on Franklin Avenue is closed due to the rain. Since the forecast is calling for rain all day today, I imagine it'll stay closed. Watch out for the other underpasses, too.

This really doesn't have anything to do with anything, other than just being kind of goofy. But there's an arrangement of property tax lots in Bend that look, when viewed from above, like a martini glass.

My wife noticed this in Sunday's Bulletin, in their article on growth. (They had printed a tax lot map of the area, but I didn't see it online.) So just for kicks I went to Google Earth and grabbed the image, and highlighted the property:

See that? The top of the glass is made up of the Humane Society and Central Electric Co-op, the "stem" runs along the road past Knott Landfill, and the base is the series of lots on the corner of 27th and its intersection with Rickard Road. And those are the actual (rough) shapes of the tax lots right there.

Like I said, nothing to do with anything, really, just kind of fun.