• Souvenir COBW glass
• Special beers pouring, featuring the official “SMaSH” style beer from several breweries (see more below)
• Tours/talks about Worthy Brewing from the brewers
• A raffle featuring some awesome prized donated by a number of sponsors
• Food provided by Worthy

Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased online here.

About that SMaSH beer: “SMaSH” stands for Single Malt and Single Hop and is a method of brewing by which, yes, a single malt and a single hop are used. Brewer Brett Thomas from Silver Moon Brewing suggested this when discussions were underway about the possibility of an official COBW beer, and that became the one; each brewery participating has their own twist on the beer, and Worthy is working on lining up as many of those breweries at Worthy Monday night as they can to pour their respective interpretations.

Of course be sure to keep up to date on the website for current information.

Disclosure: I’m a co-founder and planner for Central Oregon Beer Week.

I don’t know (yet) if they’ll be offering the exact same menu as their Klamath Falls restaurant, but I’m definitely curious to try them out. It’s a decent enough location to serve the neighborhood behind it and some of the neighboring businesses around Empire, if the right kind of restaurant goes in. BBQ could be it—and having another place to get BBQ in Bend isn’t a bad thing.

(Full disclosure: I’m a co-founder and one of the main organizers for COBW.)

Sunriver Resort is the title sponsor this year and one of the big events taking place on Sunday the 26th is their first annual Brewfest celebrating the opening of their new beer garden. There will be breweries pouring beer (of course!) as well as food, live music, and more, all taking place from 4 to 9pm that night.

The big opening event for the Week is also the only ticketed event, the Kick-Off Celebration being held at Worthy Brewing on Monday the 20th. The $15 ticket will get you a commemorative official COBW beer glass, tastes of beer from some of our local breweries who have brewed up a special official beer for the Week, food, and a chance to win some fantastic raffle items. The space is limited (hence the tickets!) and if you want in on this you can buy tickets online here.

There are lots of other fantastic events throughout the Week too, like Deschutes Brewery’s Beer-lesque show on Wednesday the 22nd—this is one of their off-the-hook events that’s taking place at the Summit Saloon downtown from 7 to 9pm, and is free. A one-line description: “An evening full of craft beer & comedy coupled with the lovely ladies from Seattle-based Shanghai Pearl’s Burlesque Revue, who will feature a Deschutes Brewery beer in each of their burlesque & variety stage acts.” Do not miss this!

And there are many, many more things going on all Week, plenty to choose from. Such as:

• Broken Top Bottle Shop‘s Brews & Bands taking place every single day of COBW
• Mount Bachelor’s annual BrewSki festival for their closing weekend on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3pm, featuring only local breweries pouring their beer (and of course, on Sunday you can leave the BrewSki at 3 and come down the Mountain to Sunriver Resort!)
• All week-long specials with The Growler Guys as well as some super-special tasting and meet the brewer events
• Special beer breakfasts with McMenamins Old St.  Francis School and the D&D Bar and Grill; and additional specialty beer events with McMenamins during the week
• A week-long local beer tap takeover at Crow’s Feet Commons; and Crow’s Feet will be hosting a special Ale Apothecary beer release as well as a big Fire Pit party Friday night with a ton of great live music in the Mirror Pond Plaza
• A special Industry Appreciation Night at Sun Mountain Fun Center on Tuesday the 21st
• Homebrewing demonstration and tastings at the Brew Shop/Platypus Pub
• Special beer tours with the Bend Brew Bus and GETIT Shuttle

And way too many more to list here individually! Events are, of course, subject to change (it’s the nature of the beast), so keep fully up to date at the website Events page!

Hope to see everybody out enjoying beer all Week long!

Look for some upcoming posts about the Drake and La Magie’s expansion, both of which I haven’t had a chance to cover myself yet. And many more good things to come I’m sure!

Interested in learning how to prepare and can your own mustard? Only a very few recipes are safe to can. Summer sausage also has food safety risks. Learn how to safely prepare and can mustard and prepare and store summer sausage at a “hands-on” workshop taught by Glenda Hyde, OSU Extension Family and Community Health Instructor. The class will be on Thursday, May 16, at the OSU Deschutes County Extension office at the Fairgrounds in Redmond, 9:00 AM to Noon. Cost of the workshop is $15.00. The registration fee includes products made in the lab and OSU publications and recipes. Class size is limited. The deadline for registration is May 14th. Call to register at the OSU Deschutes County Extension office at 548-6088 or email glenda.hyde@oregonstate.edu.

Not all mustard recipes can be canned safely. OSU Extension recommends only using tested recipes for canning. Food preservation booklets with tested recipes can be purchased at your local county Extension office, or ordered or downloaded for free on-line at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fch/food-preservation.

With fires blazing in southern California and New Mexico and the potential for loss of hundreds of homes, Project Wildfire takes this opportunity to remind residents in central Oregon that YOU are our greatest resource when it comes to protecting homes and neighborhoods. “There are many similarities between central Oregon and the areas affected in California and New Mexico including an abundance of grasses and strong springtime winds that can quickly turn into a similar disaster here, particularly in combination with debris burning,” warns Ed Keith, Deschutes County Forester.

The greatest risk of homes catching fire during a wildland fire event is from the advancing embers or “fire brands” that reach your property long before an actual flame front. “High winds can whip embers beyond the flame front and land in gutters, on decks, in vents, and in flammable vegetation, soon igniting and burning down the homes,” says Katie Lighthall, Program Director Project Wildfire. “There simply are not enough fire personnel or resources to post a truck at each home, so it’s up to individual homeowners to take responsibility for the defensible space around their homes,” she adds.

With this in mind, Project Wildfire reminds you to take a look around your property in the “home ignition zone” where glowing embers can ignite spot fires and vulnerable areas like decks, patios and fences that can spread flames to your home. And take advantage of upcoming FireFree Recycling Events to dispose of the debris for FREE.

FireFree Recycling Events Start THIS Weekend:

Friday, May 3 THROUGH May 11 at Knott Landfill in Bend (closed Sunday).

Fridays & Saturdays, May 3 & 4 and May 10 & 11 at the Westside Collection Site in Bend, on Simpson Avenue between Century Drive and Mt. Washington.

Friday & Saturday, May 17 & 18 at Deschutes County Transfer Sites:

• Negus Transfer Station in Redmond
• Northwest Transfer Station in Cloverdale
• Southwest Transfer Station in La Pine

Friday & Saturday May 3 & 4 at the Sunriver Compost Site in Sunriver.

Saturday & Sunday May 4 & 5 and 11 & 12 at Box Canyon Transfer Site in Madras.

Visit www.firefree.org or www.firewise.org for more information about how you can prepare your property for wildfire season. Or call the Project Wildfire office at 541-322-7129.

Learn the principles of drying food and how to enjoy some of your favorite foods year round by practicing safe preparation of foods at a “hands-on” workshop taught by OSU Extension Instructor Katie Ahern and Master Food Preservers Mary Lowe and Gayle Hoagland. Participants will make jerky that is safe from harmful bacteria and taste a variety of dried fruits and veggies in recipes prepared in the class. The class will be on Thursday, May 9, at the OSU Deschutes County Extension office at the Fairgrounds in Redmond, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.  Cost of the workshop is $15.00.  The registration fee includes products made in the lab and “how-to” booklets. Class size is limited. The deadline for registration is May 7. Call to register at the OSU Deschutes County Extension office at 541-548-6088.

All this weekend you can order up individual pints of IPA, or for $15 you can get a taster tray featuring all 10 at once, plus a voting card so you can weigh in on your favorite.

Here’s the lineup:

• Three Creeks – Hoodoo Voodoo IPA
• Three Creeks – Raptor Rye IPA
• Three Creeks – Vaquero IPA
• Silver Moon- Southern Exposure IPA
• Hop Valley- Alpha Centauri Imperial IPA
• Ft. George – Vortex IPA
• Goodlife- Descender IPA
• Alameda- Yellow Wolf Imperial IPA
• Lucky Lab- Super Dog IPA
• Lompoc- Allons-y IPA

If you’re a fan of IPAs at all, you should head out to Sisters and order up the taster tray!

Here’s the description:

The Bend Follies is a light-hearted, fast-paced variety show starring prominent Bend business, civic, educational and entertainment personalities, showing off their singing, dancing and joke-telling skills.

Two nights only!
Friday, April 26
and Saturday, April 27

Silent Auction and Drinks: 6:30
Show and Live Auction: 7:30
VIP and Cast Party at Five Fusion: 9:30

Ticket Prices:
$50 General Admission
$75 VIP Seating

VIP includes reserved seating, two drinks, and admission to exclusive Five Fusion post-show party (complimentary appetizers and cash bar). “Restaurant of the Year”

You can buy tickets online via the site.

Katie Hinton danced alongside my daughter at Central Oregon School of Ballet for several years before quietly quitting some time ago. Devon (my daughter) also left ballet in the last year so we didn’t hear much about Katie until she was chosen by Summit to be their sparrow for 2013.

You can read more about Katie and her illness here - http://www.sparrowclubs.org/sparrows/katie-hinton but what I can tell you about her personally is that she is a beautiful girl who always smiled through her performances. I watched from the sidelines as she grew, her younger siblings were born, and she blossomed into a  young lady. She has always had the support of her family and now it’s time to ask for support from the sidelines.

Mr.Thunder is a pageant-type event put on by Summit High School and its students. Several of the male students volunteer their time to raise money for their sparrow and the fundraising effort culminates in an evening of laughs, talent, jokes, tears, and, ultimately, a gift.

The Mr. Thunder pageant takes place tomorrow night, April 23, at 6:30 in the Summit High School auditorium. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds will go to Katie’s care. Tickets can be purchased online through the school district’s website or at the door. However, this event is expected to sell out so you might not want to wait until then.