Betsy Warriner

The SOURCE gave Betsy the honor of Woman of the Year. I first met her because they asked me to make portraits of her to accompany that story. I went with the reporter to get a sense of who she was and, as I listened to her talk, two things became very evident: the first was why she was selected as Woman of the Year and the second was how suited she was for this project as she is an example for each of us. I am fortunate to have now had two opportunities to sit in Betsy's home and chat with her and learn from her wealth of experience and get a sense of her caring, compassionate worldview. You would probably like to chat with her, too. Take a peek at her website to find out how. 

---

Who are you?

(Laughs) I'm Betsy Warriner! I'd say I'm a community activist. Mother of two amazing daughters. Best friends with an amazing dog (laughs). And I live in the best neighborhood in Bend. It feels as if I've really found a home here. I'm really interested in people and I'm basically shy. 

Where do you come from?

I was born in Philadelphia. Grew up in the East Coast. The place of my heart is the family farm in northeast Pennsylvania. I've lived in Seattle, Atlanta, Ethiopia for two years, Brazil for a month (laughs), traveled a lot. I've been around a lot of different places. I come from pretty much everywhere (laughs). I come from a very conservative family growing up. My brother is highly conservative and we're about as close as two people can be. Which is kind of wonderful that we're able to bridge that gap. My experience growing up, even though it was privileged and protected in a lot of ways, also I saw a lot and kind of had a strong sense of suffering in the world. So, I think I also come out of that with a feeling of - horror isn't the right word -hatred of just how tough things are for most people in the world and a sense that that's not right. I'm committed to doing what I can to make that right. So I come out of a very strong place in that. I spent a number of years involved with the Co-counseling Community, which is a worldwide movement of people counseling each other. The community developed a lot of workshops and conferences on eliminating racism and anti-semitism and adultism and other oppressions. I have quite a number of years sort of being steeped in the language of liberation. And then when I was working at Seattle University, that really enhanced that because the priests and the faculty there, many of them were very involved in the Catholic liberation movements. So! I came out of all of that. 

What brought you here?

I was living in Portland and one of my daughters was living here and she kept saying, "Mom, you've gotta move to Bend." And so, finally, I did. 

What do you like about Bend?

When I first moved here, I felt just wrapped up and welcomed in the community. There was a group of people called the Network of Volunteer Administrators and they welcomed me to join with them. And I was talking with people at COCC and OSU-Cascades about trying to bring the service learning work that I'd been doing in Seattle and Portland - bring it here. Finally decided that the best way to go was to set up a non-profit organization and there always was a feeling of being wrapped up in community. Then, moving to this neighborhood, not a terribly diverse neighborhood (laughs) in terms of economics, but in terms of perspectives in the world it is. So I felt very much part of the community with that. Very early on I started going to the Deschutes Democrats meetings and that also began to feel like family. And then I joined a hiking club. I'd just go to things. I'd look at the Bulletin at the page of what's happening in the community and I'd go to those things (laughs). 

What does community mean to you?

Community means an acceptance of all members. There's the community where you live, but it's not a community unless people know each other and accept each other and do things together. A metaphor and an example of community is when the Criterium downtown - they're going through downtown really fast, just whizzing by, very close to each other - and it goes whoooosh! (laughs) and the streets are completely packed with people cheering them on. Just, you know, five deep (laughs). And the First Fridays, which is sort of like a party - an outdoor party. Those things don't include everybody, so that's a problem, but there's that sense of people coming together - freely coming together. So I guess that's what community means to me is that people want to come together and they do it freely. But then community extends to the whole world. So that's a lot of what we're wrestling with now. There's some community members who don't want to play fair. And we have our own pieces in which we're not playing fair. Community at that level is basically caring about each other. 

So where does it come from? I think the book I mentioned was the first step - Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales. And my family was always very - particularly my father - open to people of all walks of life and would always engage with somebody, human to human, no matter what that person's circumstances. I think he was naturally very curious and he passed that on to me. My parents were divorced when my brother and I were very young, and then they each remarried, so we had sort of successions of (laughs) step-parents and step-siblings. But there was one point when my father had a farm in Pennsylvania and when we'd go be with him there, I remember going to a bar with him. I don't know why we were able to go to the bar (laughs). My brother and I would be playing games and we would have a ball doing that and my father would be sitting there at the bar just really engaged with people in this small town in Pennsylvania. You know? I think maybe that's where a lot of it came from. And college, you know, college was really eye-opening and my politics shifted practically overnight from how I grew up to what I was seeing. 

Do you have a favorite memory from your time here?

I can think of a couple, but these are just sort of like examples of so many good things. One is seeing a trumpeter swan flying low upriver. Just the power and beauty of that and the magic of seeing that because you usually see them just kind of floating around the water. But a really special time was, I think it was my 75th birthday, my daughters did a party for me. They invited people and they created the food and, in the afternoon, one of my daughters came over and asked for some of the roses that were blooming. So I went over to her house and came in and, first of all, there were pictures all over. They had gotten pictures frames and they had gotten some pictures from me and pictures of my life kind of all over. And then went through the house and out into the garden and, she has a rectangular pond with stones around it, they had set up tables in a big U, and there were roses all around and white table cloths. It was enchanting. My daughter, who lives in San Francisco, Laura, when she was serving food to people, she got up on the rim of the pond, which is about a foot wide, and was walking around, serving people (laughs). It was a beautiful evening and another special birthday. And they asked everybody to say nice things about me, so that's really nice (laughs). 

What do you wish for the future?

I'm looking forward to seeing the eclipse. For my personal life, a relationship. With a guy. It's time. Leonard has moved on and it's time for somebody else to come into my life. Or me to come into somebody else's life or both (laughs). And in terms of work, there's a group of us who are creating something called Community Conversations. It's bringing people together to talk about community. The first criterion is that it will be a diverse group of people; in all kinds of meanings of diversity. But all of them will be people who care about community and are involved in some way in the community and have a sense of curiosity and empathy and respect for others. We're very vague about it but it's exciting to think about and plan for. For the community, what I hope for - (Laughs) well, I do hope we don't outgrow our resources. Growth is good and it's good if it's thoughtful and planned and not sprawled. But it brings all kinds of, you know, diversity and wonderful restaurants, and arts, better jobs for people - that kind of thing. So I hope that as we grow in size we also continue to grow in collaboration and finding ways to do things together and create a better community. 

I think it's important in looking at our community and our world to maintain rational hope. Not sort of pie in the sky hope, but hope based on the reality of the basic goodness of human beings. People who are doing some of the most horrifying things in the world, their actions can be explained by pain they've experienced in their lives and that if you took one of those violent terrorists and took them back to when they were a baby and there could have been a completely different future for that baby given different circumstances. And that baby could have been one of the people that we most admire in the world. So, I do think that our basic nature is good. And that gives me a lot of hope. Which doesn't mean that I'm not completely dismayed by the state of the world (laughs). We've got a lot of work to do. 

Kindra Kennedy

Kindra reached out to me after seeing the post that Libby (from a few weeks ago) shared through social media. I've only had a few people volunteer to participate in this, so those interactions feel like brand new territory. I consider it an honor to meet people for the first time through this project and this interaction with Kindra only confirms that truth. I met her at her office at Mandala Midwifery and immediately felt comfortable and calm with her. Kindra is an only parent and I was raised by a single mom and that tends to bring out some very unique emotions in me. So... I have my mom in mind for this whole story.  

---

Who are you?

My name is Kindra Kennedy and I am a lot of different things. Being the only parent of my 5-year old son probably, I hope, takes priority over everything else. And then I am a midwife, which comes with a lot of different hats. I'm a healthcare provider, a counselor in some sort of sense, a janitor sometimes, a babysitter sometimes, a friend a lot of times. It comes with a lot of different roles. I was born at home and then my siblings were all born at home and then I ended up training with the midwife who delivered me. So that was a really special relationship and learning experience and her and I are still in contact. So I have a lot of hope for the babies I deliver. What else? Daughter, sister, cousin, niece, a lot of things. 

My mom studied to be a nurse in school before she had kids and so she was exposed to the hospital system and hospital births. It was in the late '70s when midwifery was really becoming kind of like a revolution in the hippie community or whatever. I don't remember if she was studying to be a midwife before she got pregnant or afterwards, but she chose a home birth for her first child who was born in Roseburg, Oregon. And then they moved down to Flagstaff, Arizona, where I was born. When I was born, I refused to breathe for about 13 minutes and the midwife that delivered me had to use her skills and knowledge and save my life, basically. And I'm pretty convinced if I'd have been born in the hospital and my cord was cut right away, I would have probably died. So home birth is pretty close to my personal story. And my mom had three more kids at home and somewhere along the way decided she was too busy to be a midwife. So she was obviously thrilled when I came to her and said, "I think I want to be a midwife." She said, "Of course you do." (Laughs) She's known that about me forever. It's kind of been in my blood. 

What brought you to Bend?

My aunt and uncle lived in Bellingham, Washington, and they moved here when their sons were in high school. My grandmother hosted a family reunion in Sunriver. I was pregnant at the time so it must have been about six years ago. Of course, it's like August in Bend, and we all fell in love with Bend - the whole family. We all kind of scattered back to our homes and started researching. I looked up all the midwifery practices and was thinking about where I could get a job. My younger sister got pregnant and decided she wanted to be closer to family but not necessarily back where she was born, so she decided to move here. I remember that night, my mom and I got that phone call, she said, "I'm moving to Bend." So her and I decided we would start making that move towards coming here. Then everybody else, my grandma moved here, my brothers both moved here (laughs), so we ended up with a lot of people here. A couple of my cousins from Illinois have also moved here. So we are kind of increasing the population (laughs) of Bend with our family.

How do you contribute to the community?

I feel like, as a midwife especially, I get deep, deep rooted in communities really fast. I know our community gets accused often of being kind of monocultural where we don't have a lot of diversity as far as race goes. But as a health care provider here, I see a huge range of diversity within our population. And I really appreciate the different cultures that live here - where you have the kind of thriving west side culture and then this whole other culture on the east side of town and another culture down in Deschutes River Woods. We serve people from all over that are rich and diverse in their monocultural-we're-all-white-people (laughs) kind of way. There's a lot of diversity within that. But then that similarity of loving this space and the energy here and the outdoors and that commitment to health is fun to be a part of, fun to watch. 

I was born into this heart of service. We talk about that a lot in our practice - being of service to others. And birth work just calls so loudly, I guess, to me - to be of service to families here. To help them grow their own families and really to help them be empowered for their own decision making and their own control as parents. And then, you know, my son lives here. My son is growing here. And so I want this community to be healthy and thriving for him as he grows. For him to have a place where he can be of service to other people, where he can be in a community that respects him and sees him. That's been a fun new adventure this year - trying to find a school for him to go to because he just turned five. So we've been interviewing all the magnets and charters and finding where his community is, which is not always mine (laughs). Coming to Bend and kind of having that community right away of moms, you know, is kind of where I started. Because I had a kid, so I could go to all the moms groups and do all that stuff and start making connections there. And now, of course, I feel like I know a lot of people doing community building and community resourcing and serving this community in all kinds of different ways. It's fun to watch all of their projects grow. 

In Flagstaff, I had been a midwife there for a number of years already, and I had a really rich, thriving, female community. But I knew almost no men that I hung out with regularly for my son to emulate. You know? My stepdad was close, but that was pretty much it. And he's a fantastic role model and a really huge presence in my son's life, but here, you know, we were looking at having my uncle, my stepdad, my two brothers, two male cousins, my sister's husband - so I really wanted him to have that rich male community here. I really feel for the single moms who don't have support and really are doing it alone, because I never really felt like I was doing it alone in that way. My mom was there right away. She was the safety net that caught us. And then coming here, living with my aunt and uncle, we have so much support from them. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

Any time we are on the river are good memories. We go there a lot in the summer with family and friends and getting to see my son get to have that in his life every single day... where I got it a lot when I was growing up in the Southwest, but we certainly didn't have a river in town. We have summer barbecues a lot when the whole family is here. We have a lot family brunches out on the porch in our backyard and that kind of thing. There's also so much richness of the outdoors around here that the solitude is not hard to find if you need it. So we do that, too. 

What do you wish for the future?

For myself and my son, within our community, I think more cultural diversity would be welcome. If we could somehow attract, as a community, a more diverse population. Or more integration within the diversity that's here. You know there are plenty of hispanic people here that are sort of isolated, I think, and I wish we did a better job of integrating them. My son is going to go to, I think, the Bend International School, just trying to create more of that global community within our community. Professionally, that is always something we're thinking about as midwives is how to integrate the community between the hospital and home birth communities - how to make that system work better. And how to make it more fluid so that there's not such a separation of not just within the professional community, but within the moms themselves. If you choose hospital but I choose home and that somehow makes us really different. I just hope that there's more understanding and integration in that system professionally. I guess the big answer is integration. 

I feel like this community is fantastic. I'm really deeply involved in the parenting community, in the mother community, where there's the Moms Co-op and then there's Moms Meet Up of Central Oregon and there's so many things for moms to do and ways to connect in our community. And, especially as a midwife, I feel like I'm just like resourcing people to all of these place. It's great that there's so much support here for parents and growing families, which is part of why I moved here. 

Harriet Langmas

Someone recommend that I reach out to a man named David Langmas to talk with him about the project. We met for breakfast and spent an hour or so chatting. He recommended that I reach out to his mother because of her many years of history here in Bend. A few days later I met Harriet at her home. I could have listened to her stories for days. She sure has seen some changes in this community. After we chatted, I asked if she would play something on the piano. She offered to "play me out" and gave me a lovely rendition of "All The Things You Are". I had never been played out before... such an honor. 

---

I'm an Oregonian. I was born in Portland. Moved here, I think I was 23. I'm now 85. It's nice not to have to go to Portland to buy shoes anymore. That's the first thing that popped into my mind. When David was little, to get tennis shoes we had to go to Portland. There weren't any shoe companies in Bend. Well, there wasn't much of anything, really (laughs). The roads weren't paved. 3rd Street didn't go through. You know, 61 years ago. That's over half the length of time there's been a Bend. It was 1904 - or was it 05? - when Bend started. We've lived here a lot longer than half. I came for one year (laughs). To fish. And to teach. We thought we'd give it a year. But then we just kind of fell in love with it. And met some wonderful people, just such great people. Every year we wouldn't even think of leaving. And Sam became Mayor. Well, first Planning Commissioner, and then Mayor. For 16 years he was on the Council, running Bend. When we had our only flood, it was I think '81, he was Mayor. So he was on national TV. It was the fist time that Bend had ever flooded. 

Who are you?

I'm Harriet Langmas - Mrs. Sam Langmas. I told about Sam being Mayor. He was a football coach and a teacher for many years and then became a landscaper for the last 20 years of his life and loved that. People would see him maintaining the old grain shed before they tore it down and they'd say, "I'll trade jobs with you." (Laughs) He liked what he did his last 20 years, for sure. I've been a teacher and a piano teacher. And very active in quite a few civic organizations. I was State President of the P.E.O Sisterhood 40 years ago. I'm the oldest SMART reader in the state. They started 26 years ago in Bend and Portland and I signed up to read to the children to teach them to love books. I've also been on the Oregon Symphony Board and the Oregon Literacy Association. And, of course, we were really active in the Presbyterian Church. I think when we joined there were 120 members and now there are 1,000 members. So I'm the oldest member in terms of length of time, not in age. Because I'm only 85. 

What brought you to Bend?

As I say, we came to fish. We were coming over here every weekend to fish. We trolled. So we thought, well, we'll just teach in Bend for a year and fish our hearts' content. And then we bought two lots and decided to build a house. So that curtailed our fishing quite a bit (laughs). We came on our honeymoon in '54 and then we moved here in '56. 

What do you like about Bend?

Well, the people, I think. That's the first thing that pops into my head. And we were just greeted by 20 young couples our age who were delightful people. They're still our friends. Most of them are still alive, which is pretty lucky. I think the people. It isn’t always beautiful weather. You know? I was probably more inclined to move toward the beach, but Sam was from Pullman, Washington, and he liked the high desert - the dryness. So I was a good wife and moved with him here. 

All the people we met when we first moved here were just very interested in being in AAUW and working for Community Chest it was called, now it's United Way, active in church. And we started the AAUW nursery school, which became the AAUW kindergarten, which then turned into the Seven Peaks School, so I'm sort of the great grandmother of Seven Peaks School because I started the nursery school. People thought, Oh what a crazy thing to have nursery school. And we couldn't get too many kids. Now, of course, there are lots of them and it's not such a strange idea. But when we moved here there was no state kindergarten. So that was a real valuable thing that our group effort did was start the AAUW kindergarten. It was well attended. You had to put your name in early, really, to be in that. And, of course, now they don't have it because it's state-sponsored kindergartens. When I moved here there wasn't even a hot lunch program in the schools. It was pack your lunch. Then they built the new high school and they saved room for a cafeteria, but they didn't have financing for it. And I think about 1960, '59 or '60, the community donated funds to buy some equipment for a cafeteria in the high school. And that was the first one. Which is kind of strange because hot lunch programs had been going on for years, but not in Bend. You packed your lunch. A little-known fact (laughs). 

We had some doctors here that offered babies to their friends. Our neighbor was Dr. Moody and he already had six children. And so when he was offered another child, he sent it on to us. And then the next one came through a lawyer. So the first one was a doctor and the second one was a lawyer. So it was very common in those days. You didn't go through an agency. Though we had signed up at Boys and Girls Aid for many years and there just weren't enough babies. So we were very happy (laughs). In one week we could have adopted three, so David could have been a triplet. It was the week that we got David, we got two more phone calls. As it turned out, I even had some of those in nursery school that I could have adopted. It was an interesting situation. I don't think that happens very much anymore. Not a common thing. But then it was very easy to adopt a child. There were lots of phone calls. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

I think probably spending the summers at Cultus Lake. And waterskiing and picnicking and having my grandchildren up there. The first few years that we used Cultus Lake you could just leave your boat on the dock. You know, there wasn't any expense. In fact, there was even a lottery that never happened. But you put your name in to get a lot up there at Cultus Lake. (Laughs) What an amazing prospect that would have been. But then they had this survey that said no more people were coming to Central Oregon, so they eliminated the drawing for lots on the Cultus Lake shores. But there were people that had cabins on Elk Lake and on the Metolius River, but they stopped it. That was probably in 1957. That's when the lottery was going to take place. But they eliminated the lottery and now you have to pay to even park your car in the parking lot up there and you can't leave your boat at the dock for more than a minute (laughs). Just the difference in how many people have discovered Central Oregon. It used to be that almost everything closed in October when hunting season came and then it didn't open up until High Lakes opened up in May, but then Mount Bachelor appeared and also Sun River and that changed the whole chemistry of Central Oregon. And now I'm sure we are very noted for being a destination resort area. Which is good, I like a lot of the changes that have come in 61 years. 

What do you wish for the future?

We just need to keep it Bend. Keep the personality of the city. You know, not make it be completely a resort town, but make it with good schools and good hospitals and the infrastructure that makes a community strong. It's nice that we have the tourism also, but we need to improve our roads (laughs). Get them mended so that you don't bounce your car all over. We need to keep our City Council strong, our water system strong, you know all the things that Sam worked for for so many years on City Council. We need to keep them in top notch. That's what I hope. And I hope our college does well. I have a lot of questions about whether it can be sustained in such a tight quarters, but there is land there that will need refurbishing. Personally, I just hope that all my friends last a long time so I can keep enjoying them and enjoying my lifestyle, which couldn't be better. Is that a good ending? 

Do you have any thoughts regarding Bend's growth?

I think it's open territory and I've always loved all the Californians. I think they're great people. I live in Mountain High and probably over half of the people here are from California. I call them the California Equity People because they probably sold a house in California for a lot of money and they were able to come to a beautiful place and buy a prettier house for less money than they sold their house for in California. And they all seem to be very good citizens. I don't have any qualms at all. You can't get a negativity out of me. I love all the Californians (laughs). Hope they're listening (laughs)! 

Arden Conde

I met Arden's mother, Amanda, at a dog park a couple of months ago. She's also a photographer, so we fell into a little shoptalk. We met up again at the park and I learned more about her family. I asked if I could photograph Arden for this project and she agreed. Arden was wonderfully sweet and didn't stop smiling the entire time we chatted. I don't remember what it was like to be 10 years old, but Arden is making it look like a breeze. 

---

Who are you?

I'm Arden Conde. I'm artistic. I like to make a lot of stuff. I have an older brother. I love nature. And I love art. I'm creative. I go to Highland Elementary. I like being with my friends and I've just always liked school. Our school gets to do Storyline, which is really connected with art. We decorate a wall to be the setting. Right now we are learning about Shakespeare and it's good because we don't just read about a book, we actually get to create artwork based on it. 

Where do you come from? What brought you to Bend?

I was adopted from Vietnam when I was six months old. I just recently went back to visit my family. It was really cool, but it was a little overwhelming because there was a lot of people. 

What do you like about Bend?

I like the nature in Bend and it's a fun place and it's beautiful. I like to draw pictures of the nature and I like to play in it. I like to bake and I like to draw. I usually like making desserts. Probably the best thing I've ever baked is cupcakes with filling. My favorite things to draw are roses and trees. And like drawing people, too. 

How do you contribute to the community?

Just recently we started doing a project where we would take trash out of the river and then create art with it. I'm doing that with my Girl Scout troop. Two weekends ago we went to the coast and we went to Washed Ashore. They get trash out of the ocean and build really big sculptures. It's important to keep the Earth safe. We all live in it, so it needs to be healthy and we need to be healthy. 

Do you have any thoughts regarding Bend's growth?

Bend is getting more trashed. But, I mean, everyone's welcome here, which is good. I want it to be healthy. The more people that come, the more pollution we're putting into the Earth. 

What do you wish for the future? 

Me and my friend have this dream of having a cafe together. And we would display some of my art and sell it. And I want the Earth to be healthy and I want our family to be safe. 

I look up to my art teacher, Marlene. She has an art class that we go to every Wednesday at her house with six other people. We make lots of cool stuff and she's actually helping with the river cleanup. We make soap and homemade paper, which we're doing today. 

Erin Pryor

Several posts ago, I wrote about a woman named Sasha who refers to herself as a networker. Since then, she has proved that to be very true by connecting me with many people, all of whom have been very interesting in very different ways. Sasha works with Erin at Humm Kombucha, but recommended her to me because of her work with the Outdoor Women's Alliance. Erin is a hoot. She's got a great laugh and a very healthy dose of that New England grit that I don't see quite as much of these days. 

---

Who are you?

I am Erin Pryor. I am originally from New England, which I'm super proud of. Even though I guess I act like I'm not. The first thing my boyfriend ever said to me before we were together was, "Where are you from because you have a New England accent?" I guess I was angry about it. (Laughs) But the more people I talk to, the more I'm super proud of it. I'm from Connecticut originally. It's a cool place. I mean, the Final Four this year was hard for me, but I think it was hard for everybody, Ducks included. I graduated with a degree in statistics. I'm very STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) oriented. I like math a lot, which is weird, I guess. I'd rather work with numbers than work with literature. I don't know. And then I got bored of that and moved to Korea. I was an English teacher. I was a scuba diving instructor. I traveled all over the place. My dream job was to work with a tour guiding company, which I did for a bunch of years. I traveled all throughout the Continental U.S. and it was super rad. I was a trekking guide in southern Patagonia, which there isn't beauty like Patagonia. Bend's beautiful but something about southern Chile is just mind-blowing. My friend put on Facebook that she needed a roommate or she had an extra room in Bend or if anybody knew anybody in Bend, would they want a room. I just needed a room anywhere and I was at this point 26,27 - a couple of years ago - and I didn't want to move in with my parents. I needed a room anywhere, so I took it site unseen and just moved to Bend (laughs). Yeah, super jumped in. I love Bend. I started running an NGO (non-governmental organization) recently to get women outdoors, which I'm super proud of. It's called the Outdoor Women's Alliance. We just did a big movie at the Tower. I filled the Tower - I was very proud of that. We're doing a writing workshop next week. Bend's super broey, which works for the bros, but it's really intimidating to get started snowboarding or mountain biking or anything, so I just try to get women out. Realizing it doesn't have to be awful. Nobody starts as an expert, as much as everybody in Bend wants you to think they start as an expert. It's super fun. We just got NGO status this year. There are seven chapters and I run the Central Oregon chapter. I have a few other leaders that help out, but I've been doing a lot of work since last July. We go hiking, we have a Pole, Pedal, Paddle team that does pretty well, snowshoeing. It's just a way for women to meet and connect and realize that the outdoors doesn't have to be awful and doing things outdoors doesn't have to be awful. I really like it. I think it's really important, especially in this political climate, where not necessarily that women are getting beaten down more, but I feel like after Hillary lost women are back at "Maybe we can't do things". It doesn't matter what other women are doing, you need to do what you want to do. 

What do you like about Bend?

I love Bend. I do love the people. I always describe New England as being a little bit more rat racey, where people are more focused on how they can get elevated in their job and they can become junior partners and, for some people that works, and I just realized it wasn't going to work for me. And I was a mathematician and I thought it was going to work and I just didn't want to. So Bend's a little bit more laid back. I think the best thing about the people here is they always want to do stuff. In Connecticut - I'm not bashing my friends if they ever read this - they are kind of hard to wrangle into doing stuff. In Bend it's always like, Oh, the road's open, we should go hiking. And everyone's like, Yeah, totally, why aren't we hiking right now? (Laughs) I really like that and I like that there's always someone around that wants to do something weird and try something new. I like the plethora of abilities to try something new. I like that people in Bend are into it. Some people are very good at things and some people just want to try a little bit of everything, which is probably the camp I fall in. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I work for a start-up, which I think is important. Not that tourism or anything like that isn't because I also work in tourism. I'm also one of those people that got kind of complacent this fall and did vote and stuff, but then things obviously didn't work out the way... not obviously, if you're a Trump voter they worked out for you, but they didn't work out for me. And I kind of think America's taking a step back, so I'm currently getting involved in politics. I'm running for Library Board and if I won I would be the only person that was under 75 to represent people in the library. They are all really old, which is awesome that they're still involved, but I think there are a lot of people that are falling through the cracks of what the library could do. So I'm starting with that and hopefully, I don't know, I want to make Bend a better place. I really just try to make my circle a better place to live in and hopefully people make their circle a better place to live in and hopefully, by the end of it, everyone's circle is an amazing place to live in. 

There's just so much garbage in the world and there's so much hate. Have you every read the comments on KTVZ or anything? Just like everybody hates each other. For no reason. No one wants to talk to each other. I don't know, I think it's important that everybody talks to each other. I know lots of people that have lots of different views from me on lots of different things. I'm a very outgoing, vocal person. Everybody will tell you that I'm very brazen. Everybody just needs to take a step back. I don't think anybody's trying to hurt each other. I mean there are sociopaths, but... 

Do you have thoughts regarding Bend's growth?

I've been here for two and a half years. I came directly from Santa Rosa, California. So I'm probably one of the Get out, Californians!, which might be why I'm so active in the community. I can be a transplant and still love the community as much as the people that have been here multiple generations. And I have lots of friends that are multiple generations and we get along just fine. And they're cool people to talk to. Well I remember when Shevlin-Hixon and the REI wasn't there. That's rad. I only know it as an REI and I'll probably only know it as an REI. I have so many fun memories and friends. I'm a big boater and I think there's really something to be said for having a long day at work and going to Hosmer (because Sparks is always packed, but Sparks is beautiful as well) and just float around and listen to the fishermen swear at the fish and stuff because they can't catch 'em (laughs). When I'm 80 and look back at Bend, I'm really going to enjoy watching the sunset and listening to the fishermen swear when I'm sneaking around in my kayak. 

What do you wish for the future?

I'm probably not very original. I just want to be happy and have my happy dog. I live with my boyfriend and we get along and that's super nice. And I would want to see that go on for a while, if not ever. Lots of things stress me out and there are certain days where I forget about them and I'm on the river or on the water or in the mountain and I just don't and I just like being me. And I wake up in the morning and I'm like, Erin Pryor's a cool person to be! And I like that. I like days like that. 

I'd like to see the community grow. I'd like to see the community be less aggressive towards transplants, which I'm probably not the only one to say. I feel like there's this whole Us versus Them and why can't it just be Us? Everybody can get along. And everybody can contribute. And everybody can work and play and be happy. When I first moved here I was frisbee golfing with my roommates a lot. And I'm not very good, but I would just tromp around the woods and there was always this fight with the mountain bikers and the frisbee golfers and whose land it was. I don't know. There's like 50 miles out here, why can't I throw a frisbee the same place you ride your bike? I'm not stationary and you're not stationary, so I don't know why we can't work around each other. Maybe that's a metaphor for Bend. Everybody's kind of moving around. We can all work together and make Bend move with us. 

Anything else you want to put on the record?

I'm running for the Library Board. Ballots come out in a few weeks and they have to be turned in by May 16. So, I'm in the middle of a campaign right now. (Laughs) I don't even think anybody knows you can vote for Library Board (laughs). 

Jeshua Marshall

I became aware of Jeshua through my interview with Greg Delgado. Greg spoke very highly of him, so I reached out. But Jeshua was in Palestine. Several weeks later, I interviewed Sasha Lawless and she also recommended Jeshua. I reached out again and was lucky enough to meet during a 5-day stint of his being home. I heard that he and his band, Larry and His Flask, are local celebrities, but being new to town, I didn't know that. I purposely didn't do much research on Jeshua or his music before meeting with him, though. I just wanted to communicate with him as a member of this community and someone who came highly recommended by other great members of this community. We met at a tiny house that Jeshua is renting and had a really cozy chat on a very bright and warm spring day. 

---

Who are you?

My name is Jeshua. First and foremost I'm a human being. I'm a musician.  I consider myself an activist of some sort. I just try to be a genuine person with a worldly outlook to life. 

Where do you come from? What brought you to Bend?

I was born in Baker City, Oregon. My father was also born there, but my mother is from British Columbia, so I'm a dual Canadian-American citizen. I've lived in Canada. I spent the last maybe 13 years touring, playing music. Our family relocated to Redmond, actually, in '96. So I went to middle school and high school in Redmond, graduated, and then just started working on my band and traveling first just the U.S. and Canada and then Europe, among other places. 

What do you like about Bend?

Definitely the nature was the first attraction, just being able to not be confined in a city. I always grew up in the country and I like the openness. I like the mountains and the clean air. And the people - it's a really good community of outstanding people. Growing up here, I was always just like, Oh, I want to get the hell out of here. I want to go somewhere else. And then, touring and playing music, I'm very privileged to see so many amazing places. But the more I saw, the more I realized that where I live is actually awesome. You know? I always came back and continue to come back. I still find that it's a really great place to live. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I try to just give back in positive ways through whether it be music - just to help build a culture of independent art - as well as, I'm somewhat involved politically. That's how I got to know Greg Delgado really well. I was working with him on his campaign last year when he was running for Senate. I just try to do what I can to show that there's another point of view living in Central Oregon. I don't want it to get dominated by a right wing outlook, which, you know, it was. When I was growing up, this was like a redneck place. I have no problem with rural life and farming and everything, but it doesn't need to be covered in hate. (Laughs) You don't need to hate other people to farm or whatever. I just want to try to be as positive as I can and contribute to the community with music, especially. 

The first time I worked with Greg was through a nonprofit called Rise Up. Now I'm on the board, but at that point we had just started working with them - playing shows for fundraisers and through different events that they hosted. Rise Up and Greg created an event for Dia de los Muertos, so we got asked to perform at a place called the Poet House that was this art space that Rise Up ran. So we played in there and that was the first time I got to know Greg and work with him. Throughout the years, we've just kind of been acquaintances. He told me he was running for State Senate and I was excited and right away wanted to support him. I performed at his dinner kick-off/celebration party. He asked me if I knew anybody that could help him out in the last couple months of his campaign. At the time, I had been working at Whole Foods and they pulled this corporate card on me and were trying to screw me out of some money. I was over working for a corporation and so, I thought about it for a minute, and was like, Dude, what about me, man? (Laughs) We met up and I jumped on that campaign. It was an incredible learning experience and a pleasure to work with him and get to know him better on a more personal level. 

Through playing in the band, we kind of started out as kind of a punk band - I guess we still kind of are punk. At least our attitude (laughs) and the way we do things is pretty punk rock. Just to get our name out there in like a grassroots kind of way we put up these paper stickers. We would go down to the printing spot and make all these paper stickers and just put 'em everywhere. (Laughs) I remember getting an email to the band email from the Bend City Office or something just being like, You need to stop putting stickers everywhere or we're going to fine you $500 for every one. The contrast of being kind of hated by Bend and then growing our fan base and finally coming to a place where I feel like we're respected. And now we play city events (laughs) and stuff. 

I went to Palestine to work with Rise Up. They started working on a film in Jordan - in Amman - about this skatepark. It's called Seven Hills Skatepark. It was created by a nonprofit that goes to developing countries - generally places that have high refugee populations. They'll build a skatepark through volunteers. They'll house volunteers, but different skaters from all over the world come and teach, offer workshops and classes to refugee and local kids to teach them how to skateboard. That was a really really incredible experience. For a lot of these kids, that's the one thing they have to do and look forward to and the one time they get to actually leave their camp or their part of town and come and exercise and have fun and skateboard and do something kind of out of their cultural boundaries. 

What do you wish for the future?

I just want to remain young at heart and just keep constantly learning and continuing to contribute to society in a positive way. And just to be open-minded and continue to create art and be a positive example, I guess. I would really like to see Bend become more self-sustainable. I think we already are. The community is really great there. We can definitely improve on that, having more of a local economy where we don't need to ship in so much goods from other places when we could create them here. Especially with farming, I think local farms - local stuff - could be embraced a little bit stronger. It's happening, I think. It's already on the positive track to becoming more available, as far resources and stuff. I would like to see our community continue to have open arms to people and not to get in a collective mindset of being afraid of foreigners or Californiansor whatever and be a welcoming place and not a place surrounded by walls (laughs) because that doesn't help anybody.

Kelly McGuire

I met Kelly through Sasha. Sasha described her as "the brightest light". That's quite a reputation to live up to, but Kelly did it. She was radiant from the inside out. She seemed blissful to the point of overflowing with her little baby growing inside her. And she was extraordinarily kind to me, but in a way that made me understand she is that way to everyone she interacts with. 

---

Who are you?

I'm Kelly McGuire. I am first a mother, I would say in my personality and my persona, who I identify most with. I'm very maternal. I have been a manager of Mother's cafes in town for the past six years and have recently given my notice. So that's a big change. I'm kind of reestablishing my identity through things that are important to me. I love to learn. I love to grow. I'm super curious about everything. I love animals and kids and outdoors. And I love arts. I'm a really lovey person. If you saw me with my friends or with family or at work, I call everyone Hunny Bunny, or Sugarplum, Love, Sweetie Pie, you know, that kind of stuff. I guess that's me. I was a very young mom. So, it's fascinating kind of experiencing my own evolution. I went from being a really young mom and feeling super grown-up to now I feel more youthful than I did then. I think it's just a matter of learning that it's okay to enjoy things and not have to sacrifice and fight and struggle. It's okay to just kind of slow down and take a deep breath and nurture yourself and learn to love yourself, because that's something that is a life lesson and also a gift. If you can get a little smidgen of it and just reach for it on a regular basis, then it's a good thing. I'm kind of meeting in the middle from feeling really old at a really young age and then becoming pregnant and feeling like a young mom and getting to experience the excitement of it, for really the first time. Because the first time I was so young and I was determined to succeed and be a good mom. And I really was. I was a really really good mom. I got pregnant when I was 14 and I had my son when I was 15. I moved out when I was 14. I got my first apartment when I was 15. I raised my son on my own. I was really raised with this mentality of you work hard for what you get. You don't take hand-outs, so I didn't get on any kind of state assistance. I worked three jobs and tried really hard. Bu there was a lot of stuff I didn't know. I didn't know how to cook. I didn't know how to do anything to take care of myself. I have a really wonderful family, but when I had my son it wasn't a supportive environment. It was just in my best interest to not be there. And then we kind of grew up together, obviously. He's 18 now. So I have an 18 year old and I'm pregnant with my next little baby, which is really exciting. Who else am I? I'm also a student. I've got three new little kiddos in my life that I'm learning a ton from. I also have been a manager for the past six years at Mother's and that's been an incredible learning experience for me and I'm really grateful for it. And I never want to manage again. (Laughs) Ever. Even though I've been told that I'm really good at it and I'm just cut out for it. I can't. I'm an empath and I feel other people, but I also have this really unwavering work ethic that is just diehard. I will do whatever I need to do for the success of something I believe in. But I also feel the pain of the people who are opposed to it or don't agree with how I do it or whatever. And I just kind of push through it and then I feel the backlash and it hurts me inside even though I don't necessarily show it. You know? I love kids. For probably close to six years, I was also on the board for Serendipity West Foundation. I could go on and on and on. 

Where do you come from? What brought you to Bend?

I come from the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. When I was 11, I actually ran away from home. And came up here to live with my mom. I hadn't spent a whole lot of time with my mom. It was kind of a new experience for me. I was raised by my dad, a single dad. And then my stepmom and him met when I was seven and married when I was nine. And we're really close now, which is awesome. I ran away from home to be with my mom because I had this fantastical idea of what it would be like. And I got here and it wasn't really the life that I thought it was going to be. But what's incredible about that is once I did move out on my own and separated myself from the situation, I realized how much I loved Bend. I fall more madly in love with it every year. Because you can go an hour and a half in any direction and be somewhere completely different. And it's so full of life. And it's so diverse. It has four seasons. I'm an intense person. I consider myself a very deep person. I like extreme cold and I like extreme heat and I like anything that's just exciting, really. A big snow storm is my favorite or just raining for 10 days is like I love this! (Laughs) The stuff everybody hates. What keeps me here is that it's like my dream land. I still want to experience the world and I want to travel and see everything, but I still feel like I haven't even sunk my teeth in to everything that's here. And there's so much more that is good. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I feel like I contribute to the community in a variety of ways. I think that we're connected. We all benefit from recognizing that connection. You know? And supporting each other. I'm a helper by nature. I love to make people feel special and good and I love to nurture. I like to inspire. The most important thing to me is empowering people, making them feel strong and making them feel solid and powerful. One of things that I'm really passionate about is wellness. And one aspect of wellness is nutrition. I came to Mother's for a variety of reasons but the thing that was the seller for me was their mission statement and their value statement, they talked about integrity and wellness and supporting and inspiring and accountability and all these things. That is awesome! I love that stuff! Not because it is what I am, but because it's what I aspire to be. So why not be in a position where you're going to be surrounded by something that is going to support where you want to be? You can't be healthy if you're just eating healthy foods and you're not treating every aspect of wellness. Right? Because it's holistic. I think that everything's connected in that sense, as well. It's just as important to eat healthy, vibrant foods as it is to have fun eating healthy, vibrant foods. And to value and nurture yourself while you eat. And to be kind to yourself when you're doing it. Or if you choose not to eat healthy foods, being accepting of that and forgiving. And supporting other people and enjoying the fresh air because I think that your mind has so much to do with your wellness. If you believe that you're not well, you're not going to be well. If you believe that you have the ability to heal yourself, you have a lot more capacity to do that, than if you don't.

So through Mother's, I was able to create a wellness presentation series, which was awesome. It was health care practitioners and healers in the community that could come together and speak about things that they were passionate about. I did it every week. That lasted all last year. This year we were opening our new restaurant, so I wasn't able to do that, but I do want to do that again. It was an awesome opportunity for people in the community to come to a free event that was about maybe breast exams or eating disorders or the importance of nutrition. One guy came and talked about the different specific values of the full spectrum of color in your diet and what it specifically targets when you eat vibrant reds or vibrant purples. I had people come and talk about cancer and where we're going wrong and what we can do about it culturally and cognitively and how we can reshape our thinking about the world around us. Step away from this lack mentality and step more into more inclusive this is what I do get to experience type of things. I helped spearhead and create a successful juice cleanse business through Mother's. It's doing really really well. That business is fantastic because it basically resets your body. Just eating vibrant, organic, healthy foods in a variety of ways. You're eating incredible foods, but you're also setting that intention to take care of yourself. And you're learning about nutrition. You're opening your mind to something new. Usually when you participate in it, you're participating with multiple people so you're experiencing that sharing of wellness. A lot of times when you meet people, the first thing that you do is try and bond through hardship, right? But it's a totally different experience when you bond through empowerment. It's something different entirely. I see this wonderful thing in you and I want to bring that out. And I want to talk about that. Being able to share those things with other people. And then being able to be the victor. You know? Like, I did that!  You're able to experience the full capacity of your willpower and your capacity to heal and your body's natural state of wellness and thriving. I think it is, I think the natural state is wellness and thriving. All these different ways that we get to experience those things.

I did the Challenge Day program with the kids, which blew my mind. It still blows my mind. I mean, to be able to participate in that is mind-blowing. I think that's one of the most powerful programs that anybody can participate in. And it's amazing that it's free. You go and you participate in this and you get your world rocked like you would want it rocked if you paid $300 for a workshop and you go and help out kids and they blow your mind. Really powerful stuff. Through the course of time, I've had a lot of opportunity to support nonprofits in town. Whether it's co-ops or it's working with the LOFT in town. I did some work with the LOFT, which is transitional housing for homeless kids. It basically teaches them life skills, from personal hygiene to how to go grocery shopping to how to have an interview and a resume and all those kinds of things. How to communicate. How to receive affection. Like, all of those basic skills that, it's amazing, you aren't taught in school, so where are you going to learn it if you don't learn it at home? That was a really powerful program. I think that I contribute to the community by being the absolute best version of myself and reaching for that. And I fall way short of that on a daily basis, but to be somebody who wants to be that. Who's maybe in a compromising situation, who's frustrated or upset and can choose to either be valid in my response or choose to be empathetic and understanding. You know? I want to make the right choice. I want to show people what love and forgiveness is. I want to show people what happiness is and thriving, even amongst hardship and contrast. That's something that I think I have to offer because I do really well in contrast. And I tend to look for the silver lining. That's a gift that I can share with people. Help them see that they can choose that to. 

What's your favorite activity? 

I love cross-country skiing in the winter at night up to snow shelters and wrapping up burritos in foil and putting them on the snow shelter stoves and heating them up that way. That's like, I don't know why, but that's amazing! Surrounded by snow in the dark, out in the middle of nowhere and getting a work-out and then heating up a burrito out there. Food tastes better outside, first of all. That's just the way it is. And then, summers. Summers here are incredible. Everything is perfect. It's green. It's bright. We have the most sun, I'm sure you've heard this from everybody, but we have more days of sun here than Florida. I just love the sun. Water, I love, oh gosh. Okay, I do have a favorite. I actually use this in my meditation. I've had past passions for yoga. Bikram yoga, it's the most amazing thing in the world. Very intense, but I love it. There's a meditation that I do when I'm in Savasana. Laying there, I picture this incredible, pristine lake that I've been to. It's a super secluded lake up the Cascades Lakes Highway. You have to drive like seven and a half miles up this super rocky dirt road that you have to have a big truck that's super beat-up to do and then when you get up there, you hike in like two miles to this perfect lake. It's crystal clear. It's warm because it's semi-shallow. It's only probably 12 feet deep. And it's perfect. It's surrounded by trees. There's these perfect rocks that you can jump off of into the water. Probably one of the most euphoric moments, it was like a dream that I could navigate through. Going to this place, jumping in this water. You gotta go there. It's so good. 

What do you wish for the future?

I wish that we would find a way to be a little bit more involved in the community. Because I think we're a community of really incredible people that is really connected. But I think this election and stuff that tends to happen from time to time, you curse the voting system and the political system and all this stuff. A lot of it is stuff that you can start changing right where you are. I think that if we were more involved... people saying this is being cut in the schools and this is being cut in the schools and I can't believe that, but when's the last time you went down to the school and volunteered for an art program? You know? Anybody can go and volunteer and do an art project with a class. This is stuff that you can participate in and make a difference in. Or cutting veteran funding. Or Meals on Wheels and stuff like that. How about we drive things to people who need it? It would be so cool if we were so connected that we could do that. I can name probably 50 people who would be willing to do that, if we just did it. I'm guilty as well. I guess it take a measure of vulnerability and it would take some inspiration and motivation to kick start something like that. That's what I want. I want people to be more connected so if you need something, you aren't afraid to ask. And then you have somebody to help and you're not just relying on a vote for it. That's a form of a copout when you say, well I voted. Yeah, but you didn't do anything. You can have a little bit more ownership in the outcome. 

I wish that I will be able to sync into this joyful state that I've been able to kind of tap into with this beautiful man in my life. Be able to fully embrace and experience being a mom without having to work so hard and not being present. I was paying other people to raise my child with my son. I just wish for that. I know the best version of myself is when I'm able to be a mommy. And be able to express my love to the people that I love. And this is my partner and his beautiful babies. And my son, my family, my friends, and then this unbelievably amazing life inside of me that's growing and that this little baby is going to be be healthy and maybe a girl (crosses fingers and laughs). That's what I want. I want to be happy. I want to step out of this workaholic state of being that has become me and I want to create something new and fresh. And I'm ready for it. 

Do you have any thoughts regarding Bend's growth?

Bend is this really unique, amazing place that draws people who are excited about life and living. That is what has made it such an attractive place to be. I have a very different opinion than anybody else that I've talked to. I think the growth is fantastic. We have the room. This lack mentality that there's not enough to go around. That if somebody has something amazing it's going to take something away from me, I think that is false. If we were a little bit more sharing and less fear based, we could invite something even more beautiful to evolve. I think that is taking shape. We're beginning to be a bit more welcoming. I love the expression on people's face when they are from out of town and I say, Welcome to Bend! It feels so good. It feels homey and it feels comfortable. The growth is amazing. It invites culture. It invites diversity. It opens up different perspectives. It allows us to grow in so many different ways. It helps us be innovative. One of the things we have struggled with as a culture is like for example, coal. What did we do when there was a coal crisis? Well, we created innovative strategies to create more energy. It's the same thing with growth. We just need to innovative. We need to be smarter about building materials. We need to be more efficient with what we use. Those are all positive things. There's always different ways you can look at it. If it makes you feel better to focus on the positive, then that's what you should do because you're going to be a better person at the end of it. 

Libby Nierman

Sabrina recommended Libby to me on the premise that she is "amazing and I will love her and I can thank her later". Leota was home "sick", so the three of us chatted in the living room while Libby's mom, Sally, was cooking and wafting lovely smells throughout the house. It turns out that Sabrina was right - Libby and her family are, indeed, amazing. 

---

Who are you?

Oh, god! (Laughs) Who am I? Well, I am a mom. And I do massage therapy here in town. And I teach yoga. So I like to be an active contributor to the betterment of this world. That is what I try to be. 

Where do you come from? What brought you to Bend?

I come from the Midwest. And I came to Bend by happenstance, really, seeking new opportunities and a different kind of life. I think the better question for me is What keeps me here? I find there's a really good community here and the access to wild spaces and, as far as raising children, Bend is amazing. There's parks and there's other families. There's just a lot of opportunity here that wasn't where I was in the Midwest. So, initially I came out for work, for jobs. My mom has finally stopped asking me when I'm going to move back. (Laughs) Now the question is, When are you going to move here? I'm here because I want to be here. 

What do you like about Bend?

I like that it's small enough that you run into people you know, but it's big enough that you don't know everybody. I think we're at a place where we get to choose what Bend becomes, because it's growing. There's a lot of grumbling about Bend becoming something else that people don't want, but I think this is the chance we all get to make it something even better. Because it's going to happen. If you want to live here, why can't other people live here, too? I try to make this a better place by... (sighs) by doing the work that shows up for me. I try to raise two conscious, thoughtful, little people in the world that are cognizant of their choices and how they impact others. And the work that I do in the world - I do massage therapy - I found myself enjoying it the most because I think that if each person felt a little bit better in their body and more comfortable, how much kinder they are to themselves and then, in turn, to the rest of the people they encounter. You know? And gosh, we need good right now, right? If people could feel better in their body, how much kinder they are outwardly and inwardly. So that is why I do what I do and I am grateful that I get to do that work. 

Libby asks Leota, What's your favorite thing to do here? Leota says, Ummm, play. Libby laughs and says, This is probably true!

I am blessed to have two children, a seven year old (Elliott) and a four year old (Leota), which means I get to spend a lot of time at the parks and that's one of our favorite activities. Just to be outside and explore and meet amazing people that are either passing through or that live here. You know, the thing I love about Bend, and I notice when people visit they mention this, is that people will ask you how you are. And mean it. When my family comes from the Midwest to visit they're like, Everyone looks at you and smiles! So that's one of the things I like about Bend. I think it's a beautiful place and so we're more in the beauty of what it is. I think people are happier here because they surroundings are so lovely. Then they're just kinder and more open. People are people everywhere you go, though,  but more often than not people are outside being active. I like that. 

What do you wish for the future?

For my personal future, I wish to buy a house soon (laughs) so that I can, you know... Bend is so amazing and, yes, people want to be here so the laws of economy apply here as they do everywhere, so supply and demand is happening and more people are coming than there are places for people to be. I wish to have a place that is stable and secure, especially as a mamma, to give my kids a home in this beautiful place so that we can be here and know that we're here and we won't be displaced. We've been displaced twice now just by rising rent and just being on a fixed income. 

At this point Leota invites me over for dinner. 

And so, I hope to build a home. And I am actually working with Habitat for Humanity, which has been the most incredible experience so far in my life to have a house that love built. Love and action is building. People that don't even know me show up and work and donate and volunteer and donate time, energy, money, resources, whatever it is, to make this happen for three people they don't even know. And then, from there, my children get to have a place to grow and to know they have a place to land when things don't work out. In my future I hope to give them that. And I'm throwing myself into that with everything I have. And it looks like it's going to happen, so that's exciting. And then, for Bend in general, I just hope that those possibilities continue to exist for anyone with a dream and that's willing to work for it. That we don't lose site of what makes Bend Bend, the people. Opportunity, I hope that Bend continues to have opportunities for everyone. 

Because Bend is so fabulous, you just kind of think everything should be easy and things should just come to you. Work is still a part of achieving anything and I think this landscape attracts a personality that just wants to have fun. There's an important part of life of enjoying, but I think sometimes hard work and learning the true cost of something gets lost. You know, it's a leisure town. It's built on tourism. And I have gotten to learn to play that balance of yes, I can go skiing, but I also as a mother need to give my children these important things. It's an interesting place to hold the balance of that. It is important to have fun. I come from the Midwest where you just work hard all your life and then you go. So, it's important to have fun and appreciate the beautifulness that surrounds us, but also know the value of hard work and the trust cost of this life and what it means to be anywhere and provide for more than just yourself. 

Do you have any thoughts regarding Bend's growth?

I just really think we're at a place where we get to decide what it looks like. And that's exciting. I guess it was like two years ago, they were not putting a cap on the vacation rental permitting through the city. All these little rentals, like what I'm in right now, would be purchased by investors and because you can make so much money renting by the night versus by the month, nobody had homes. I work in the service industry and make like $23,000 a year went to the City Council and told them I'm a human here that works here and pays taxes and my children go to the schools here and I need help protecting the space to live in. Especially this neighborhood that we're in now, every time a house goes on the market it's almost a half a million dollars and nobody with a normal job without an inheritance can make that happen. So they are trying to put caps on people being able to make them into vacation rentals. If they keep them as a rental home, at least that's still contributing to people that are living in the city and working. So that has been a huge issue. But I think it's just the inevitability of how awesome this place is. I don't think the City Council members have an easy job and everyone has an opinion and everyone's perspective is valuable, but finding something that works will be interesting. My thoughts on Bend's growth is that it will happen and being an active part and advocating for what you see and what you want is important. Those are my thoughts. 

I love Bend and I'm grateful to be here and we all get a choice. You know? We all get to choose how we move forward. And the attitudes we project onto the people coming. It's easy to go into that being a victim of, Oh a certain population is moving here and it's messing everything up. And some of that is true. It is really happening, but we also get to get involved. If it's really that important to you. Instead of just sitting down, complaining, talk to your elected officials. You know? We have a choice. We all have choices. That's what I've got. 

Sabrina Hadeed

Tiahna recommended Sabrina to me. After a little back and forth, we met at her home. Sabrina certainly contributed to the sense of community I often feel when I'm invited, essentially as a stranger, into one's home. She made us some tea and we sat in her living room with her dog, Dexter, and chatted pretty casually (notwithstanding the audio recorder). I appreciated the honesty and vulnerability that Sabrina brought to our first conversation. It's obvious she lives the life she encourages her clients to live. 

---

Who are you?

Who am I? (Laughs) Do people often have a hard time answering this question? Can we cheat? Tell me how people begin. Shit! (Laughs) I am a 36ish cisgender, heterosexual female. I am a proud daughter and sister. I have three siblings. I am a dog mamma. I am an auntie. For a living, I am a wilderness therapist and also an adjunct instructor. I have lived in Bend about four years, moved from Portland for a job and also an internship at OSU-Cascades Research Center for a PhD that I finished. I am the daughter of a Syrian immigrant, which has become more relevant for some people. It's been relevant for me my whole life, but for others it's become more relevant. I'm someone that really loves the outdoors and loves holistic health. I think that to live well there needs to be attention to physical health, mental health, spiritual health, connection to nature, that kind of stuff. I'm a pretty active person, which is one of the reasons I live in Bend. I love all the outdoor adventures Bend has to offer. So that's a part of who I am - someone that loves to get out there and play. Maybe I'm also an artist? I paint and I dance and I sing and create. That's what I got so far. That's a hard question. 

What brought you to Bend?

I came from Portland. I lived in Portland about seven years. Before that, Seattle. What brought me to Bend was two opportunities. One was to work for the company I currently work for, Evoke, which is a wilderness therapy program. Right around the same time, another opportunity to do my internship at OSU that I needed to do for my PhD. I also really wanted to get out of the grey Portland area. I love Portland in so many ways, but the weather definitely affected me. And I just couldn't do it anymore. I went to all these great lengths to sort of overcome the gloom that I felt (laughs). I got this sunlamp and put it in my bathroom and then I got another sunlamp and I put it next to my desk. Every chance I had, I was next to these sunlamps that were supposed to help with seasonal affect problems. I was also on Saint John's Wort and I was exercising more. And then finally I decided that perhaps the geographical location wasn't the best fit for me and my spirit or whatever. I had been looking at Bend and when the two different opportunities came up, I thought, This is a sign. So, that's what brought me here. 

What do you like about Bend?

I like that there's over 300 days of sunshine. I like the high desert a lot. I grew up in a similar climate in eastern Washington State. And then my heritage, I think where my dad's lineage comes from in particular, is very desert like. I think I feel at home in a desert setting. But I also love that, although Bend is high desert, within 30 miles in any direction, you can find something beyond the desert. Like the Ochocos National Forest, well maybe not 30 miles. The Cascade Lakes - so I love the access to water because I like to do water activities, water sports - I love swimming and stand up paddle boarding and kayaking and fishing. The climate, the sun, the water. Really the outdoor heaven of it. I love that there's a time of year where you can do a snow adventure, you can do a water adventure, and you can bike. You know the Pole, Pedal, Paddle event that they have. There's a time of year where you can do all three and I love that. I think it's really fun. I also think Bend draws similar people, people that love the outdoors and find value in interacting with it and disconnecting from the front country technology. 

How do you contribute to the community?

Being active and getting out there, I do meet people through the outdoor activities that I do. I'm pretty personable. In small ways, I probably contribute to the community just by being someone that is personable with others. I feel strongly about people feeling empowered to use their voices. I think Bend is a bit of a bubble, but at the same time, it's important to continue to reach out to people to see where we agree and disagree. I wish there were more diversity in terms of opinions and even lifestyle. There's just like one kind of person here and that can be limiting. Not one kind, but it's just not as diverse. The different marches that go on, the different community events - I tend to attend the ones that I think are important. It's a really good question - how to contribute to your community. I'm friends with my neighbors! (Laughs) I think that counts. I'm definitely mindful of local companies, local businesses. For instance, my stand up paddle board is made by a local company. Our company does contribute to the community in that we hire people that come and live in Bend that are phenomenal human beings. We definitely draw quality humans that hold the values that Bend represents, which are to get outside as much as possible and not take life too seriously and be kind to each other. Our clients come from all over and they get to have their transformation - or their journey to be well happens in the great outdoors of Bend and there's something to be said for that. It's magical that they get to tap into this location to do their work. They basically live outdoors for eight to ten weeks in our program. 

Do you have a favorite activity? 

Paddle boarding Cascade Lakes and floating the Deschutes are some of my favorites. Some of the hikes are incredible here. I would say the Lakes are my favorite. Hosmer Lake is my favorite. I get to do what I love for a living. I'm a wilderness therapist, so I have an adolescent girls group. I work with adolescent girls that are struggling. Usually they are struggling to the point where their parents have tried everything and they're still not doing well. Sometimes substance abuse problems, sexual promiscuity, unhealthy relationships with sex as a teenage girl, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, attempts sometimes even. The girls that I work with are typically really artistic, so I feel really lucky. They are the right-brained people. In addition to struggling, they also come in with these incredible artistic talents ranging from being incredible singers to drawing, dancing, poets, writers, those kind of girls. I feel really lucky that I get to get paid to help them tease out who they are and what the struggle is. 

What do you wish for the future?

I really hope that the city planners are going to prepare for the population growth before it grows. More of a preventative model. We live in a culture where we are crisis management, crisis intervention focused. We wait for it to get bad and then we do something about it. So I would like to see Bend not wait for it to get bad and instead, expands the roads and maybe, I don't know, build some more bridges or I don't know what the solution is, but prepare for the growth. Housing is a huge problem right now. Affordable housing, affordable rental housing is a big problem. I want to make sure that the city planners are working with developers to try to address that before it becomes worse than it is. That's what I want for Bend's future. I would love for the East Side to be developed as much as the West Side. The cute development, maybe quaint is a better word, restaurants and bars and businesses are all on the West Side. The East Side has some potential. I'd like to see that happen. More community events, too. More diversity would be nice. In all ways. 

I have found that it's really hard to meet a partner in life. I moved here without knowing anyone four years ago and I have been without a partner for a long time. I would really like to find a partner in crime. I would love to have children, as well. I don't know if that's going to happen in Bend, to be totally honest. I don't know if it will. There's hope and then there's also this sadness and longing. I think people really take it for granted when they're partnered up. Especially in my line of work, I hold a lot of space for a lot of people. I'm really good at it. I think that at times it's not obvious that there's this loneliness to what I do, as well. Sometimes I feel a little bit like I'm on an island, if that makes sense. I have found in my own research, having lived here for four years, there are far more phenomenal single women living here than not. I think that men should just start moving to Bend. Particularly mid to late 30s, I think there's a big hole here. Like 36ish! Yes! (Laughs) That would make Bend better. 

Anything else you want to put on the record?

I will say I chose to wear these particular pants for you coming over and asking me all these questions because a good friend of mine recently got them for me and they're called Phoenix Rising. I was like, What meta communication do I want to give in this? I really value, and I think I have found that in other people here in Bend, this idea of not pretending that life is perfect, but instead honoring your story and your history and your process and rising, like a phoenix from the ashes, from whatever struggles you have in a way that leaves you more empowered and colorful, like the colors of the pants (giggles). You are more beautiful if you can come out of the things that try to hold you down. I think that's reflected in the work I do - that belief - and who I am as a person. We'll add that to the mix - my pant choice. (Laughs)

Sasha Lawless

Garret Caster recommended Sasha to me. They work together on the Community Assistance Program. While raising four children, Sasha, among other things, works in the taproom at Humm Kombucha, heads up their donations program, handles their sales in Central Oregon, and is their representative for Bend’s Makers District. When I first wrote to her, she responded by saying, "I don't know that I'm a great candidate." So, she's got humility on her side, too. We had a great time chatting at her house. She's exuberant and passionate and loves to laugh. I'm glad to introduce her to you. 

---

Who are you?

I'm a mom. I'm an active community member. I was involved in activism and I kind of found that the best way for me to be a solution with things is to be involved in community and network. And I'm really good at networking. I know a lot of people. I can get along with a lot of different people. Something that I've seen in Bend is that you have a ton of amazing groups, like over 400 non-profits, but not everyone's on the same page. Talking to each other, finding out what's going on. That's something that I like to do is find out who I can connect and network 'em and that's just a big part of who I am. That's also part of what kind of legacy I want to leave for my children - helping develop the community and make an impact that's positive. I did history and archeology, so I spend a lot of time doing that, too. 

Where do you come from? What brought you here? 

I grew up in Idaho in a town of a thousand people, super tiny. I moved to Bend about 12 years ago. I loved it over here because of the sunshine. There's no sunshine in the valley. I lived there for a while. Lived in Astoria, lived in Eugene, did the hippy thing for a little bit. I dug coming here, staying downtown and being able to walk to all the festivals. It was a lot smaller then, so it was doable. It's a little bit harder now. And the outdoors. I'm not a skier or anything. I don't like winter, which people give me crap about all the time, but where I grew up in Idaho, it snows all the time. Way more than it usually does here and that's just never been my thing. But I enjoy hiking and I spend a lot of time in the Ochocos and traveling around here. The sun here just makes it everything. There's so much you can do and see. And history-wise, there's still so much preserved here that is accessible. I think that's awesome. And there's still a community feel here. I like that, too. My ex-husband grew up here, so his family was here. I came over to finish college. I was raising four kids and had attended three different colleges and was trying to work and do all of that at the same time. Coming over here to have the family support that could get me to finish. COCC was great and I went to OSU Cascades as of U of O student, so I got my degree from the University of Oregon. It was better to have the support when I had kids. I was working always and a full-time student and... yeah. And the sun! The sun is a big deal! (Laughs)

What do you like about Bend?

I like that there's a vast variety of people here. I mean there's people here from everywhere because they've all settled. They came through hiking or camping or whatever and then decided that this is where they wanted to be. A lot of people are interested in the outdoors, so they spend a lot of time trying to preserve the outdoors. There are a lot of groups here. I dig that. I love the community scene. We have a little music scene. We have all of our fun festivals. The breweries are super fun to be involved with. There's definitely a camaraderie of people. It's small enough that you can still make an impact in the community. I've been involved with a lot of non-profits that have done great things. The Community Assistance Program to me is amazing because it's going to directly impact our citizens. It's not like it's going into some big pool that's going all over the state or whatever. It's going directly into the pockets of the firemen so that they can put a family up for the night or buy a coat or buy a meal. I dig that. I dig that you can make an impact still that's small enough, but it's also big enough that you have the resources, you know, to do it. It's a good thing that we have these folks that come in from everywhere else and these tourists, even if people complain about the tourism. It brings in the music, the festivals, all the fun stuff. The money that empowers us to do stuff in our community and build it and I like that. I like the surrounding area. We have the diversity as far as from other states, but we don't have it on other levels. It's as big as I would get. I'm much more a small-town person. I prefer to be in a tiny, little town. I love Prineville, but right now this is where the work is and this is where my kids are being raised and I think it's a good place. And the people here are great. A lot of people are really actively involved. 

How do you contribute to the community?

Networking. I've done a lot of fundraising and volunteering. I ran an activist club on the campus when I was in college here, which the whole goal was to network nonprofits with volunteers from the campus, get students involved, knowing about what was going on. Like Rise Up International and these different groups that were doing stuff and let those students know that this was a great way for them to be involved with the community, work towards their resumes and their scholarships and things like that. Since then, I've done fundraising. I have a lot of friends that are running non-profits. I think my best way is I try to be aware, try to stay on top of it, and just network people. I love talking to people. I love people. And so I'm always interested in what people have going on and what they're passionate about and then finding ways that I can turn that passion into something that's going to help out the rest of the community. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

We used to have this awesome punk-rock venue called The Horned Hand. It was so much fun (laughs). Those are my best memories because there's a small group of people in town that were always there and hung out and it was like hanging out in your friend's garage. And so we all kind of became friends. That's always a fun memory. My favorite activity is hiking and finding cultural spots. I go out with a buddy that re-documents them and let's the Warm Springs Tribe know if we find new stuff. I think that's super exciting. It's really cool to come across an arrowhead or a pictograph or something that is anywhere between hundreds to thousands of years old and just be in that presence. You know, that energy. It's just awesome. I think that's probably my favorite thing. The Ochocos is my favorite place in this area. It has it's own climate. It's beautiful. Going for drives is when I'm the most calm. I'm not a meditator. I don't like to sit down and have guided meditations and stuff like that. My mom calls me her hillbilly hippy. But I dig going for those drives because that's how I meditate. Like my time out hiking in the woods and going for long drives and listening to Patsy Cline with my kids is my chill time and when I feel focused and calm. I'm not into yoga and stuff. (Laughs) I hang out with these old hippies and these old-timers that can take me and tell me the history of this stuff. It makes you feel a part of the area, you know? When you get to learn about that stuff and the stories. It just gives you a whole different perspective of what's happening now with the growth. It makes you care when you know the stories and the background. It's how you make roots. We don't have roots anymore, right? Since the Industrial Age, we've been moving around and nobody lives in their hometown anymore. We've all been transported all over the place and it's hard. I think we lose a lot of respect for community and our neighbors and people because we feel like we're this new person here. That's where I think encouraging people to learn about the history and set their roots in and appreciate it makes them feel like they're a part of it. It's a big deal. 

What do you wish for the future? 

In this community, I would love for people to communicate better. And get a lot of groups pulling together for the community. There is that huge income gap of people that are here and that are servers and that are struggling and then you have the bigger money. And you have a lot of need in these other areas and so many little groups trying to do things, but they really need to connect and talk and communicate and make things happen together. It's getting bigger. For me, personally, I would like to move to the Prineville area. I'd love to have land and a little farm that my kids can grow up on and feel that appreciation to their land and being sustainable and being independent. That's my goal is to kind of get them in a smaller area. As much as I think about that all the time, I can also drop my kids off downtown and get a call or a text from every other business owner that I know down there saying, "Oh, I saw the kids and they're be good." What I like about Bend is that it's still small enough that that community is there to look after my kids, knowing that I'm a single mom, and that I'm doing this by myself. They're always offering to help and people are always there and looking after them. That's the same kind of feel that you'd get in a small town that I appreciate. That's cool. I would love for it to stay that way. I don't know if that's possible. I don't think it is possible. It's going to keep growing in. I don't want to see it turn into Tahoe or something where it's so expensive that all of the people who are trying to live here and raise their families and who've been here get pushed out. That's going to be a major bummer. I don't know what the answer to that is. I think maybe people being more involved in the city and planning would be a big deal. If we can just keep that little community feel and make sure that we're supporting the people that created Bend... There are roots of people that came here and created something super special and if it keeps growing too big and things are happening, those people are getting pushed out because they can't afford to live here. I see a lot of that. I see a lot of families I've know have had to move. And that's heartbreaking. They shouldn't have to, it's still their town. I'd like to see it keep that community feel. A lot of that is up to people, too, to make the choice to connect with people. To spend the time walking downtown or driving through the old streets rather than taking the parkway and going over everything and being in such a hurry. Slow back down, connect with someone. Ask them where they're from. Ask them their story. Spend the time. Add another 15 minutes to every time you go to the grocery store or gas station so you can chat with that person that's in the service industry doing that for you. Spend the time to connect with them and to know your neighbor and have that feeling of neighbor and community because that's the only way you're going to keep it. You know?

Do you have thoughts on Bend's growth?

I know specifically a couple, very good friends of mine, they have four kids. They've been here for 10 years or something. I sat at a bar one day and had another friend who is like 4th generation here, tear her apart because she is from California. "How dare you come here? We don't want you here, blah blah blah." My friend was just in tears. They have four kids and three grandkids, you know? They came here because they wanted to raise their family differently than where they were at in California. They loved this area and loved the community. They wanted to give their children the experience that is here. Not everybody's here from Napa Valley or whatever with a bunch of money, trying to just use it as a playground. You can't always judge. You don't know everybody's story. You don't know what they want. Until you ask them! You ask them. And then you can have your feelings. That's, again, where that connection is. Take the time to find out somebody's story and figure out why they wanted to be here. How they want to become involved with it. If you shut the door on them, Screw you, you're from California!, then they're not aiding our community either. They're not going to feel involved. They're not going to feel a part of it. They're not going to want to take care of our area. They're not going to want to make sure we have community services and environmental protection on our areas and stuff like that. There's no point. We can all have our opinions on people traveling, but again, since the Industrial Age, that's what we do. That's what Americans do. That's what everybody does, right, is look for something better. You can spin your wheels on it, but it's not going to help anything. It's going to happen no matter what, so I think it's a lot better if we spend our time connecting with those people, finding out why they're here, having empathy, having compassion. Right? There's your difference, too. The empathy is you're going to feel it, but the compassion is that you're going to offer a solution, too, to making them feel a part of the community. And empowering them to aid the community and to be a solution in the community, to be active in the community. If you don't let them in, then you are just adding to the problems. And to the hostility. And to the shit that's happening that we don't like. Everything that's wrong in the world today is because of lack of connection. We don't take the time anymore to connect with people and relate and have empathy and have compassion. Everybody has to remember that, no matter what, if they want to actually do anything. To fix anything. To be a solution. It is what it is. You can bitch or you can try to make it better. (Laughs)

Anything else for the record? 

I wish I could be more involved in stuff. I used to be pretty active in things, but I guess there's always chapters of your life where you go from being the person that's out there on the front lines to the person that's just trying to support everybody. And as a mom right now, I've got a lot of different places that I gotta be and support. It's hard to let go of that. When you're someone who's always been involved, it's hard to say I'm going to step back. But, in the bigger picture, I'm creating a legacy for them because I'm creating community every chance that I get. Maybe it's just helping gather raffle donations or maybe it's passing on somebody's new business to somebody else or introducing two people, at least that's something. I'm proud of that. It makes me feel a little bit better about not being able to be at rallies or be out volunteering my time. My children have respect for this area. They know the history. I'm definitely raising four children that are going to be impactful. Then maybe they'll be involved and they'll say this is something that I want to work on because it was something that my mom supported. There are just so many freaking phenomenal people in this community that have so much going on to help out and to be active. The bulk of Bend isn't that selfishness that people like to take onto it as the playground. The people that are real community members here have huge hearts and it doesn't take a lot for them to make stuff happen that's positive. 

Garret Caster

I recently created an Instagram account (@acommunitythread) for this project and I noticed that @bendfirefighters was paying attention to my posts. In my day-to-day, I don't have many interactions with fire fighters, so I saw this as a good opportunity to get to know one. I reached out via Instagram and it was Garret on the other end. We met at a coffee shop and chatted for a couple of hours and then made an appointment to meet at the fire station for the interview and photos. Garret left a strong impression on me. He's a super good guy and one we should all feel lucky to have on the helping end of our emergencies. 

---

Who are you?

My name is Garret Caster. I was born in Corvalis, lived most of my upbringing in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Through a number of different ways, I decided to move to Bend. I first came over here when I was in college and then, later in life, after I got established in my career, I was able to take an opportunity to move over here. And now, this is where we are. I'm currently a Firefighter Paramedic for the Bend Fire Department. When I'm not at work, I really enjoy spending time with my wife, Carlee. She does a lot of stuff with horses, so I find myself at the barn a lot, helping out. I mountain bike, I wake surf, river surf, and snowboard, and hike. Those are my outdoor activities. I try to be a good person and try to have as many experiences and laugh as much as I can. 

What brought you to Bend?

I don't know how well you know the Willamette Valley, but it rains a lot and it's gray and foggy and, for whatever reason, that just bums me out. It wasn't until I was in college that I really came over here. On a whim, I just decided to learn to snowboard. I rented a board and drove over here and it was beautiful. The air smelled clean, you have Juniper, it just smells different. People were super nice. I got over here in the evening and it had some alpenglow and it was just gorgeous. I was struck by the beauty of the area. And the people were just incredibly nice. I was kind of hooked right out of the gate. It's sunny, it's clean, it's fresh. You have all these amazing views right in your backyard. That was the first little bit of my exposure over here. I spent the next day snowboarding. Some friends we had just met let us crash on their floor and my buddy, Nick, and I walked around downtown. The city was lit in a cool way in the trees. It was kind of a winter wonderland. All of that blew my mind and made me want to live here one day. I finished up college and I knew I wanted to go to paramedic school and become a fireman. I had a little bit of a gap between when I could actually get into paramedic school and when I finished my Bachelor's degree, so I applied for a job in Sisters, Oregon. I took a job and moved there. That was my first experience discovering the community and culture of Central Oregon. And this was it for me. People are really friendly, there are a lot of people that have similar values. They value our natural resources. All the activities here. The safety of the community, the cleanliness of the community, the sustainability of the community. All of those things kind of permeated the culture here. We were hooked. Eventually, my now wife and I moved together. I was lucky enough, timing-wise, that the fire department here was hiring. I did well enough on the test - got through that. And, yeah, haven't looked back since. 

What do you like about Bend?

I like so many things about this town. I like that it's sunny. I like the way that after it rains, it smells really good and also dries up really fast and it's sunny again! I like that we have seasons. And the profound natural beauty that's in your face all the time. But beyond that, there's a really really good local business scene here. Other businesses support each other. In that, you get really cool, high-quality products, whether it's food, entertainment, drinks, local shops. I really like that aspect. There's a decent music scene. And the community keeps investing in itself. I look at the Whitewater Park as a good example of that. That's an expensive project. The community decided that was worth it. The same with the ice skating Pavilion. Stuff like that. The community's like, "How can we make Bend a better place? How can we make Bend more desirable and fit, healthy, active?" There are a lot of like-minded people here and they want to contribute to the quality of life. If I had to whittle it down, the climate is awesome here. The community is friendly and caring. And there's a lot of outdoor activity. And burritos. (Laughs)

How do you contribute to the community?

I work for a public service agency, the fire department. But in that, I care immensely about the people in this community and I've sworn to protect them with the oath I took. Through my line of work, I contribute by answering the call of people's emergencies and trying to help people on a really bad day. In some way I think that if I'm excellent at my job and I can help soften the blow of some kind of tragedy or someone's really bad day where they're in a vulnerable state, then I'm contributing to the life experience people get here in my community. With that, I signed up. If someone's life is threatened, I'm willing to trade mine for theirs. I'm pretty committed to what I do, the place I live, and the people that I serve. Beyond that, we try to be outgoing. My wife and I go out to a lot of different restaurants. Bend has a very vibrant culture and social atmosphere. People come to town and want to meet up, it's kind of second nature to go down to The Lot or down to the park or downtown to walk around. In that, you are having experiences and meeting new people. I don't know if it's an old-timey kind of thing, I feel like in modern day we lose kind of that small-town Hey, how are ya? Tell me about where you're from! kind of thing. If you are outgoing and friendly to people, it's a hallmark of a good community. We contribute by going out and being a part of the social life in the city. 

Through my work at the fire department, I got involved with a non-profit called the Community Assistance Program. When we show up to calls, a lot of times we identify other crises that people are experiencing. We show up to someone's call, maybe it's a medical emergency, and we look around the house and see that there are no groceries or they have no basic necessities. It was started by an engineer who worked here and retired not too long ago and got really frustrated showing up to calls and not being able to make that little extra difference. We got you. We're going to go back to the store and provide them with groceries or whatever they need. Or the older couple that can't keep their heat on because they're on a fixed income - we'll pay their month's utility bill. Stuff like that. For a long time it worked. It was sustained by small donations and private donations. Eventually, when he retired, that need was still there, but the effort and energy to keep it running wasn't. When I heard about it, I was pretty excited about it. I've experienced a lot of those situations where I wish I could do something else. A lot of times you can, but it's hard reaching in your pocket and pulling out your money every time it happens because it happens a lot. I started getting into this non-profit and trying to raise money for it and the community was really supportive of it. There's no overhead because we are already out doing our job. It's 100% local and you know it impacts the people in your own community. It's a pretty easy sell. We've experienced quite a bit of success funding that again. I've really been pouring myself into that because there's always going to be people that struggle to thrive and are either living paycheck to paycheck or on the streets or tucked away somewhere in society that can't get by and lack those basic items to make day-to-day life doable. We'd like to grow it to the point where we're doing quarterly projects, bigger projects for families. Instead of a hundred dollars worth of stuff or a couple hundred bucks, it's a thousand dollars or a couple thousand dollars. That's the next goal. Then after that it's to fund a scholarship for people who have a financial need or hardship that also want to get into some public service career in some capacity, whether it's being a firefighter, paramedic, police officer, school teacher, whatever. We'd like to see as much help for that out there as possible. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

Some of the best times I've had are just walking through downtown with my wife, enjoying a nice night with zero pressure, no commitments, as care-free as we could. Going from spot to spot, getting a little food, getting a little drink. Early fall or early summer, where it's not hot, it's not cold, and it's beautiful outside and you have that sunset painting the town orange - that's among my favorites. Hiking or snowboarding, when you're on the top of a mountain and you're just like, "This is awesome!" When they made the word radical, this is what I imagine. I've got a lot of really good memories at work. Rolling the streets at two a.m., no one else around except cops, firefighters, and street sweepers. It's pretty cool to see the other side of a city where it's just vacant. The Freedom Ride (4th of July) is always really interesting. It's the best people-watching you'll ever experience in this city.  

What do you wish for the future?

I want to see Bend grow in a way that is more sustainable for the economy, more sustainable for working class people, and I'd like to see it grow inward and upward a little bit to kind of prevent some of the sprawl. I'd like to see the city develop in a way where you don't have to commute all over town and they have kind of like boroughs. I'd like to see the city grow upwards. Some people really really don't want to see the skyscape change, but this city is awesome and it's going to keep growing. Some people get really discouraged about people coming from other cities and especially California. It's not going to stop, you might as well embrace it and just make room. I'd like to see things grow in a way that's inclusive, sustainable, and hopefully make it more accessible to regular folk like me. Moving here was terrifying. It's an expensive place to live. Housing is crazy expensive. I hope it grows in the way a lot of our trail systems and parks have, where we're just getting more and more really neat stuff that's unique to Bend. And personally, I'd like to see myself continue to grow in my department. Hopefully become more and more involved in the community. I don't know if that will ever lead to any kind of city government kind of stuff. I'd like to live closer to the mountains maybe. Or somewhere with a little more land. I'd really like to nerd out and have a little, super sustainable hobby farm with some solar panels and, knowing my wife, probably some rescue animals. Grow some hops. I'd like to become some kind of fixture in the community or the fire department and continue to enjoy Bend as home base. I'd like to travel and stuff, but I want to do that knowing that when I come back, I'm coming back to Bend, Oregon, which is pretty sweet. 

Do you have thoughts regarding Bend's growth? 

I guess people are just inherently uncomfortable with change, but all I've known my whole life is I'm either learning something or failing at something or trying something new until a point where it's just like I enjoy change. I enjoy new stuff. For a lot of people, it's outside their bubble, their comfort bubble. I think people see people coming from California as a threat to what Bend is like or what it was like and that's just not the nature of the world. They're making more people (sighs), it's going to continue to grow. If you really have a problem with anything, it's over-population. Bend's going to continue to grow - it's an awesome place - all you can do is keep it awesome by being nice to people. The population's growing, people want to live somewhere cool. The economy's good, so people can move. It's not like it's a secret. Visit Bend is working. We have such an abundance of things people like to travel and go do. Whether it's outdoor activities or food or an insane amount of breweries. It's not going to stop. You might as well just support your... look inwards and try and make your community your community. Make it a personable place. Make it a friendly place and safe place. People like to complain because it's really easy. It's a lot harder to have a really good attitude about stuff. I experience that in my job. You can see it in the community. It's an easy thing to complain about and also bond with someone. But at the same time, let's keep it growing. More money, more people, more passion, and power in the masses to make this place super, super cool. I don't have a problem with it. If it was a bunch of people that sucked, you know, life drains, it would be a different case. But there's a lot of wildly successful people that come here to live here. Whether they're working for themselves or remote for another business, but they saw something in this place and were passionate enough to uproot themselves and move here. So, I'm all for it.

Greg Delgado

A friend very wisely recommended that I reach out to Greg. He was quick to respond and enthusiastic to participate and a few days later I found my way to his office. Greg's heart is very big and his passion is almost palpable. He works very hard and donates the majority of his time to the social justice issues that are prevalent across the nation and right here in Bend. The Social Justice Center, where Greg spends much of his time, is bursting at the seams as the host to some 70 different organizations that meet around the well-loved conference room table pictured above. I'm not sure where he found the time, but he also ran for State Senate, losing by a very small margin when you compare the financial resources of each of the candidates. 

---

Who are you?

My name is Greg Delgado. I'm a native of Southern Arizona. My ancestors were Native Americans - Yaqui and Apache and Latino from the Southern Arizona Region before it was the United States, before it was Mexico. I'm very proud to call myself an American of the Southwest and of America, the whole continent. I moved to Oregon about 10 years ago via Estes Park, Colorado. I just found this place to be a very loving, caring community, and I just really embraced it. I was working in food and beverage - did that for about 25 years - and one day in the restaurant somebody said, "If I ever open a restaurant, I'll hire all Mexicans 'cause I can pay them less and they work harder." And that was my "Oh, heck no!" moment. We need to make that dialogue change. To me it was about how we in America can look at people, the color of their skin, and have that dialogue and be okay. The entire crew on the front line that I trained was okay with that conversation and I wasn't. I was actually mopping the floors in the dining room and cleaning the bathrooms to make the extra money and training folks for that kitchen because I had more experience. I felt that, "No this is not who we are as a community and this is not who I am." From there I went to a job in social justice work with a nonprofit called Jobs With Justice. I was a community organizer with them - organizing Latinos around labor issues. That morphed into a lot more community organizing around immigration issues, around the driver card issue, working with people like the United Farm Workers, and the governor's office, doing this type of work. Right now I work part-time for Discover Your Forest, doing outreach with the Latino community. And the full-time work that I do is all non-profit and not paid. I'm on various boards and do a lot of volunteer work in the community around racial justice and social justice issues. 

What brought you to Bend?

I just had to get out of Arizona. I found it very oppressive and didn't see a future for myself there. My family's there and I love them all to death, but I just felt I needed my life and my own direction. I moved to Estes Park, Colorado, and had only been there about three years, working in food and beverage, and somebody said they were going to move here to start a business and they invited me to join them and they offered me some work here. But when we got here, that didn't happen. I just found that people here were so friendly and so embracing and said, "You know what? That energy makes me want to stay." So I did stay and it's been a really good community to live in. I live right here downtown and I love being local and I loving having that feeling of community. It's really important to me. I didn't have that growing up in rural Southern Arizona. It was a lot more hostile. It wasn't that diverse and it was very rural and very sparse. The sense of having community is what made me stay. 

What do you like about Bend?

The climate, the lifestyle, all of that is wonderful. It's a growing community. One of the similarities I see right now is with this immigration issue that I'm dealing with. Watching that happen back in the '70s and '80s in my community and the immigration of retired people from the Bible Belt into the Southwest and what that took on and how it morphed into something pretty chaotic - I remember that vividly and that's part of the reason I do the work I do now. I don't want to see that happen again. I don't want it to turn into this desert of resort/retirement communities of fear and agitation and dehumanizing the locals and natives that live on the land. That's what happened in Arizona and it created a space where if you didn't work on a golf course or a country club, there weren't any jobs. We should have a little more opportunity than that. I just didn't like that. Minimum wage is still under eight bucks and hour in Arizona. Things change slowly there, so I just had to get out of there. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I am on the boards with Latino and LGBTQ organizations, working with worker rights and all sorts of different social justice things. I helped build the Social Justice Center. I am the chair of Central Oregon Jobs With Justice, who kind of leads the work here. Recently we've identified about 70 different groups that we are working and networking together to try to build a more inclusive community. Inclusive socially, and politically, and economically. We are looking at all the aspects of social justice and how to connect those to one another and connect the work we are doing in that way. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

I am very proud of my favorite memory. We did an action about immigration at Congressman Greg Walden's office. I was arrested in his office, so that was really cool. I was proud I got arrested. As a kid, I was a trouble-maker and had trouble with the law, but this time it was for a good cause, so I'm really excited about that. To turn that whole history around was a lot of fun. Me and several other people asked to speak with him about immigration and they refused to listen to us, so we just sat there until the cops took us away. We've done several actions against Congressman Walden because he doesn't listen to us as a community, especially the minority community. We also did a march that was really touching. We did a peregrinación, (Spanish for a walk vigil) carrying a banner of La Virgen de Guadalupe and wearing butterfly t-shirts that said MIGRANT, from Madras (40 miles away) to Bend just to raise awareness and to tell people that this issue doesn't end. I'm really touched that the community embraces us. We have a Latino community that is in so much fear and to have a community that embraces us and supports us and makes us part of this community makes this community very endearing and very special to me. I'm proud of that. 

What do you wish for the future?

What I wish for my future is to someday own my own home or business or both here in town. As a community, I wish that we could work harder to make opportunity equal for everybody. I know the stats. We know that 80% of the Latinos in this community are making under $30,000 a year. That's a challenge. One of the new people that started volunteering with me goes, I'm one of those Californian people that just moved here. I thought that was kind of cool that he gets that there's that tension there, but he approached it in a very common sense way and identified with it. I said, Come on board. You should join us! We know that that dialogue is there. We are a nation of immigrants. How can we say no to people? How can we say no to our fellow neighbors? They say no to people who come from Mexico or California or Maine. Come on. Where do we draw that line? And why should we draw those lines? Why don't we be more embracing? And why don't we build a community that's more embracing of everybody? We should start looking at how to fix those things and not accuse the victims. Opportunity makes people move. We have a right to migrate. That whole issue is a very nativist issue and I don't like the way that sounds. I don't like the way it sounds that we are protecting what is ours because I think we have to look at the bigger picture. It's just disrespecting humans and human migration. We as humans have all migrated at one point. It's just natural. 

This is a great town to live in. A lot of warm souls, good people here. It's not as diverse as we like, but the community itself is intellectually diverse. I like the fact that there's a warm, healthy lifestyle. Maybe a mechanism of coping instead of dealing with the homelessness issue or the unemployment issue is to go hiking and biking or go drink beers. There's a very social aspect to this community, but there's also this part that we need to hold up and identify. It's real easy to get on your bike and forget about it. People do that here. They forget about things real easy. It's a great coping mechanism, but there has to be more balance. We have to try harder to build a better community. 

How do we put brick and mortar around social justice in our communities to put that balance there? It has so long been a one-sided issue in our communities. It's time to turn that around and make it reflect us as America. Because the truth is America is fast becoming communities of color. We are fighting that. We are fighting how those systems do not represent them. We are still talking about race these days. It shouldn't be about race. It should be about fixing these things. Let's look at the systems that are creating these challenges for communities of color, that are creating inopportunity for low-income peoples. What are we doing to keep local farms active and lively, local businesses active and lively and keep that diversity of community? We're not. We're pushing it away. That's part of this problem, being unwilling to change and unwilling to move with the times. I am proud of the fact that so many people are stepping up to say this is not who we want to be. That's important. It's not about protecting our privileges. I think it's more about being open and diverse in the conversations around building a better community and being inclusive of everybody. We've got to stop doing that hate stuff. 

Tiahna Skye

I met Tiahna while photographing at an event not long ago. I can't say exactly what it was that drew me to her, but she actually has a good word for it - resonance. There was a resonance there. She accepted my invitation and we put something on the calendar. I met her at her home and had a very warm and calm conversation. She has a very soothing voice and a relaxing and safe energy. And loads of nuggets of wisdom. And a very friendly cat named Shovel.

---

Who are you?

I'm Tiahna. I am a human. A citizen. I'm someone who lives passionately and curiously and deeply. That's who I am. 

Where do you come from and what brought you to Bend?

I most recently came from California. I was actually born on the East Coast. I came to Bend - you could say impulse or instinct - somewhere in between. I'd had a big kerfuffle with a company I'd been working with for 10 years. And I had a friend who had moved here. I asked if I could come visit for a couple of days to clear my head and think about how I wanted to respond to the situation. I came up and woke up the next morning and decided to quit and move here (laughs). My friend is a planner and was pretty surprised and asked if I was sure, if I didn't want to think about it. It just was time. I threw it all up in the air and landed here.

What do you like about Bend?

There's lots I love about Bend. The beauty. The lifestyle. The rhythm here suits me really well. I feel like people are real and in their bodies and, coming from the Bay Area, it's so different how people inhabit their bodies. And there's just like this comfort - physical comfort - here. People are happy. People seem content with their lives. There isn't that constant churning and scratching to keep up with the Joneses. I like that a lot. I've discovered kayaking, which to me is kind of like a direct path to Heaven. Kayaking in Hosmer Lake, I could die now. It is one of the most beautiful places on the Earth. Another favorite of mine - I'm a swimmer - and Lucky Lake in the summer time is, I don't know if I should be saying this publicly because there is never anybody there - I have the whole like to myself, it's so beautiful. And it's warm, it's not a cold lake. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I'm redefining myself here. I am a life coach. I have a coaching practice. I actually work with people all over the world because most of it's done by phone. That's sort of my doing-ness here. I believe in contribution. I'm not contributing like on a volunteer basis or in those kind of obvious ways right now. I am contributing in living with integrity. And living with kindness. And being part of what I love about people here and expressing my own contentment and happiness and positivity. 

What do you wish for the future?

I think of growth as sometimes we inhale and sometimes we exhale and Bend is clearly on an inhale. My wish for the community would be to be soft in that expansion. And really open to it, rather than create resistance to it. And I'd like for us as a community to really look at not whether or not growth is going to happen, because it is happening, but how we want to embrace that and be with it. And how we want to protect the beauty and the lifestyle here. And the flavor that's Bend. That's what I want for Bend. For me, world peace (laughs), physical comfort. I'm a pretty content person. I enjoy my life a lot. And when I don't, I unravel that until I do. 

Change is inevitable and we all have different relationships to it. I try and go with the flow, at the risk of sounding totally esoteric. I have one more wish for Bend, though - just occasionally less beer and gear talk! It's great, but occasionally something a little deeper. 

Anything else you want to add?

I want to show up really big in supporting love and kindness on this planet and community. So anybody who wants to use me in that way is welcome to.

Kjristi Nash

A lovely friend of mine (Thanks, Sarah!) recommended Kjristi (pronounced Sherstee) to me. She passed along my information and encouraged Kjristi to reach out. She did right away and we spent a couple of weeks organizing a time to meet. In the end, I ended up going to her home and met her for the first time in her driveway. She was immediately warm and kind and very hospitable. Her home is packed with musical instruments and art and sewing materials. It's a lived-in and lovely home and it's obvious that really cozy times happen in there. 

---

Who are you?

My name is Kjristi Nash and I'm 35.  I'm a mom. I have two kids. My oldest son's name is Spri and he's 14 and my youngest son is Wylder and he's 8. My husband's name is Dan. I've lived in Bend for 13.5 years, so I feel like I'm from Oregon now.

Where do you come from?

I'm from Washington State, Ephrata. It's a small town, sort of central Washington. When I grew up, there were maybe 4,000 or 5,000 people. Kind of small - farm and agriculture pretty much. I kind of grew up on a farm. Kind of not. My dad actually worked for my grandparents on their dairy farm, so we were there all the time playing around and helping out, but we didn't actually have too much to do at home that was farm-like, but we did have pigs and chickens for a while. Kind of funny. 

What brought you to Bend?

When I was 21 and Dan was 20, we had Spri, so we were pretty young. And we were living in our hometown with his mom and we didn't really know what we were doing (laughs). We didn't really have any money. He was working part-time and trying to save up money to figure out where we were going to go because we knew we didn't want to live where we grew up. Previously, we had been living in Bellingham, Washington, which is by Seattle. And we knew we didn't want to live there. Dan's dad moved to Oregon - to Madras. He had been here for like a year and invited us to stay with him for the summer. Dan got a job rebuilding the middle school because part of the building had collapsed that winter. And we just kind of moved to Oregon, like in one day. We didn't have any furniture. We had no real possessions or anything, so we just packed what we had and drove to Oregon and moved in with his dad for the summer. Eventually we kept coming to Bend for things, like there would be music or we'd come to the river and just hang out. Bend kept drawing us, so we figured we should just move here. At the end of the summer, we found rent in Sun River and just moved here and we've stayed ever since. 

What do you like about Bend?

I really like how there's a river through town. I think it really brings people out and gets them outside. It feels good. It brings a certain kind of people. People that appreciate it and want to take care of it, too. It felt like a friendly area and people were pretty nice here. At the time, rent was really cheap (laughs). So that was cool. It was affordable. Something about it just felt good. We kept continuing to find good places to rent. People were always suggesting we buy a house or settle down, but we never really felt like we were choosing that. It was just kind of happening. And it's still happening (laughs). It's fun to have a music scene, too. It brings different kinds of people in. And that's fun. I don't go out a lot, but when I want to, it's fun. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I feel like I probably haven't contributed to the community as much as I could. I'm just kind of getting into that more. I was a stay-at-home mom for a long time, so raising kids really kept me preoccupied. Now I feel like I'm more prepared to get into town more and I want to be a part of it more. Whereas before, it was just kind of easier to kind of do my thing with the kids and family stuff - not participate as much, maybe. It's gone by so fast. It's weird to think that the kids are already older. I'm a helpful person. Volunteering in school - that's helpful to the teachers. Helping people in town - random things that I see that I can do, I like to do that. I like to help out. 

Do you have favorite activity here?

I really like camping out at Todd Lake. It's a beautiful, small lake up passed Mt. Bachelor. All spring it's got these little, teensy tiny streams that come down with really cold water. It's so much fun to camp up there. You can drink the fresh water and you can hike around back there. It's easy. Fun. Relaxing. It's a good time. 

What do you wish for the future?

I really do hope that the rent situation can somehow change. I hope it can be less of a stress on people. And people will be able to afford to live here better. A lot of people have tried to make this a really good area, so I feel like that will happen. I hope it continues to be a beautiful place. And I hope people continue to take care of the land and keep providing the fun things that are here. The trails are amazing. People really care about taking care of all the outdoor things that you can do. I really like that the music scene is growing. That is really great. That's a huge thing to keep bringing in good music, like, all year around. It's good and I think it can keep getting better. 

I just want to be happy. Really and truly, I just want to keep finding things that feel good to do and I want to be a happy person. I want to keep growing. Honestly, I don't ever want to stop evolving. I want to keep being a good parent. I feel like I'm a pretty good parent. I care about people. It builds more appreciation and love in everyone's lives. And it just gets better, hopefully. Ultimately, I just want to be a happy person. 

Do you have thoughts regarding Bend's growth?

I was one of those people, 13 years ago, moving here. We all were those people. I think that's the thing that we forget. One area doesn't just belong to somebody. Having a big growth of people, we do need to be careful about properly managing the land and keeping it at its best. I think it's weird that people decide to be super negative. It's a shame because, really, they could be doing the opposite and they are choosing not to. We could all have a really amazing area, whether it grows bigger or not. Yeah, the more the merrier. I don't know, as long as people have good attitudes. But, if they don't, then that sucks to me. Just because I've been here for a little while, doesn't mean it's my town. People need to share (laughs). We need to share better. Why is that so hard? I don't know. There's a lot of negativity. Finding ways to stay positive and to make an area a great area is everybody doing that. It takes everybody working together.

Tawna Storey

I walk the streets of downtown Bend on a daily basis. I started doing that the night I arrived in town. I walked up Minnesota Ave in absolutely frigid temperatures and found a few spots that night that I would later frequent. I walked by Bendy Dog one day and, as I have an adorable dog named Pal, had to take a look inside. We met Tawna and immediately became friends. She's a laugher. And so bright and cheerful. And very encouraging. Pay her a visit. I can almost guarantee that she'll brighten your day. 

---

Who are you?

I am definitely in transformation. That's for sure. I'm Tawna. I own Bendy Dog. I have a lot of history behind me. I'm a positive person that likes to try to influence the world in positive ways and share things that I enjoy with other people. It's fun to share. 

Where do you come from? What brought you to Bend?

I'm from Southern California - born and raised. I lived in several different places down there. I went to school in San Bernardino. I lived in Pasadena. And worked in Burbank. So I've experienced a lot of those communities down there and done the whole Southern California deal. And I was just tired of it. I started to realize that I just did not feel happy. And I needed to do something about it. I was 40 and I needed to take some control and make some changes that I felt would make me happier in the long run. It was hard. My dad died in 2010 and that gave my mom and I an opportunity to get out of there. It's too hustle bustle. The mentality down there is different. The people are less invested in anybody else. I just was ready to have more of a community. When I came to visit a friend here, I was blown away by the community feel and the celebration, kind of. People are kind and they wave you across the street and they let you into traffic. And it's beautiful. Like, it feeds the soul. It was a perfect move for me. My mom felt that, too. After my dad passed away, there was nothing other than family holding us there, and you can always stay in touch with family and that never changes. So, I was just happy to go. It was enlightening and I felt like I had a ton of rocks off my back. And I still feel like that and it has been three years now. We moved here in 2014. I worked on my business plan for almost a year, sitting at The Lot, having beers and eating Thai food. I'm never looking back. I have no intention of going back. If I have to drive to California, I get to La Pine, and I just don't want to go... I'd rather turn around and go back home. I'm happy to be here. And I'm happy to be part of the community here. It's a real positive experience. 

What do you like about Bend?

I'm all about Bend. There is so much anonymity in SoCal because there are so many people - you just get lost in the crowd. It's hard to feel passionate about doing anything because there are so many damn other people. You are just so invisible there. And here, people are friendlier. I feel like in general they're happier, so they're more open to other people. There's more eye contact here. Things like that make people feel welcome. I'm happy to be a part of that. I feel like it makes me a better person to contribute to that. It makes my community a better place. I have my little dog shop. I am passionate about dogs. It may be silly to some people, but they make my heart happy. I feel like that comes through. When you come in my door, I'm happy to see you. I'm really happy to see your dog. And that's completely genuine and sincere. If I give them a genuine and sincere smile and show some interest in who they are or what brought them here and then they take that out on the street and they talk to somebody else and it influences them to do the same thing... it's almost like a pay it forward thing. And if we are all just a little bit better for it, then great. I'm not a community activist... I enjoy what I do and in general, I like people and their dogs. Hopefully that comes through and perpetuates itself through the community. 

Do you have a favorite memory or activity here? 

This is silly. I really like going to the Michael Franti concerts once in a year. I look so forward to that! There's such a mainline of positivity, surrounded by people who are also so pumped to be there. I'll walk around on a cloud for two days after that dumb concert. And I will go every year until I die. Every year he comes here, I will go. Just because I feel like my soul needs it. It's such a great experience. I love all the festivals and the festivities - the Munch & Music and the things that bring the community together. Where I'm from, they don't have that. What could be bad about walking down to Drake Park on a summer evening and sitting on a blanket with a thousand people listening to some music and eating some food and having a beer? I mean, come on. It's simple. It's so simple and yet it's such an influence. It's a magical activity because I am just so not used to feeling a part of any community. 

I have a lot of favorite haunts. I discovered El Sancho recently. Whaaaat? Try the chilaquiles, they're amazing! The back spot at McMenamins with all the fire pits is a fantastic place to go and kick it and have a drink. They make the best Screwhounds (half Greyhound, half Screwdriver). And I like places like Atlas and Crux and GoodLife where you can go sit outside and just chill and enjoy the experience. 

What do you wish for the future?

I'm pretty happy right now with the direction my life is going. I hope that I find a little more direction with the shop. I hope that it becomes a business that sustains me. As of yet, I haven't made a dime. They say it takes about three years. At the three year mark, I'm hoping I can pay myself. Otherwise, I can't do this forever. This is just kind of a spot in time if it doesn't become profitable. I'd like to become a bit more business savvy. A good balance is hopefully in my future. I would hate to think that Bend blows up and becomes some sort of Mecca. Honestly, no matter how big it gets, it's still going to have that draw. It's in a beautiful area. In general, the people that are here have an inherent goodness and happy souls. For the most part - way more than I've experienced in other places. I know some people get really upset about how many people are here. And especially people coming from southern areas. I'm just not going to worry about it. I love Bend. So wherever it goes, I can't see it making a hard right and turning into something I'm not going to enjoy. Everything evolves. It's just evolving. Hopefully it's getting better.

Rod Ray

I met Rod when I photographed him for another story. In the course of making those photos, Rod learned of this project and expressed interest in participating. I would have been a fool to say no to a guy like Rod: warm-spirited, friendly, kind, a staple of this community, and a strong leader. He's got a big heart and he's interested in a healthy future for us all. And he continues to work towards that. 

---

Who are you?

I am a consultant and I teach a leadership class. And I do whatever I can for the community, particularly the OSU (Oregon State University) and the school system. And, above all else, I really have the time... I'm trying to be a much better husband and father. In my previous life it was hard to do as good a job. I've got time now, so I spend a lot of time with my son. 

What brought you to Bend?

I was born in Portland and lived there until I moved to Bend when I was nine, in 1965, with my mother and my sister. My mother was a single parent and she started the registered nursing program at COCC (Central Oregon Community College). I grew up in Bend from the time I was nine until I went off to college at 18. Bend was around 10,000 people and a mill town then. The boundaries of Bend were between Pilot Butte and Aubrey Butte. It was a great place to grow up. We rode our bikes everywhere. Wherever we were at dinner time, we had dinner. A lot of the families, and particularly fathers, around town took care of me because they knew I didn't have a dad around. Fireman, college professors, teachers, and other people around town would make sure I got skiing, and make sure I got to Boy Scouts. It was just a tight community. 

I went off to Oregon State and got a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and then to the University of Colorado and got a PhD. I came back and started a full-time career at Bend Research, where I had worked through the summers in college, in 1983. I stayed at Bend Research, eventually becoming the CEO, until I retired in 2015. Then I became a consultant for them. Along the way, both through the company and Lori (my wife) and I, we've always done as much as we could for the community. Both with money and also using Bend Research's firepower in science education, which has always been the focus for us in the community. When I was in high school, it was very isolated here, in an absolute sense, but particularly in science and engineering. There just wasn't anything really going on here, so we had to work at it. We always wanted kids to be exposed to that. If Lori and I have any kind of legacy, it would be doing as much of that as possible. 

I have two kids: a daughter who is 27 and an intensive care nurse and a son who is 17 at Bend High School, where I graduated from. I'm very happy my son goes to my old high school. It's really cool. The best award I ever got in my whole life was the Distinguished Alumni Award at Bend High. Which means I'm on the wall and my son has to walk passed the poor schmuck every day (chuckles). That feels good. 

What do like about Bend?

When I think about the history all the way through, what I like about Bend is that everyone here has always tried to do the right thing. I would differentiate it from other communities that way. It is still true now. With all the growth and all of that, the community leaders are always trying to figure out what the best thing to do is. I believe that to be true of the city leadership, the school leadership, the county leadership, and all of the people underneath them: sheriffs, chiefs of police, it's true of the hospital, it's true of the businesses. A very, very large fraction of all the businesses and business people and shops, everybody, is always trying to the right thing. There is very little taking advantage of each other going on here. Even with the growth. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

My overall favorite memory of Bend is Mt. Bachelor in the winter. I've skied since 1965 at Bachelor. And in the summer it would be being in the mountains, climbing all the mountains you can see from Bend and more. And Elk Lake, sailing up there. Being in the local environment. Those are my favorite memories outside of family memories, which are, of course, almost always your very best ones. There is a particular memory or two: graduating from high school at Bend High, how that felt. Graduating from Oregon State University and how that felt. Having the honor to lead a company that has as good of people as Bend Research had in it - that's another memory that is really poignant. And my relationships. This is a town that is based on relationships - I sometimes wonder if I have too many. I have a lot of memories of great relationships all the way through. 

What do you wish for the future?

I wish for my health and success for my family and my kids and my granddaughter. I also wish to pay Lori back for all her support by us having the time and the money to go do some things. Both here and all the places she'd like to travel - I actually prefer to stay here (laughs). I want to see Ian (my son) do well and he will - he's doing great. For the community, you know, this place has a soul. A lot of towns really don't. This place does. My wish for this community, as it grows, is that the soul continues. I'm pretty happy with that right now. I know the city people and the county people and all the school guys and all those people are all under a lot of pressure. They never have enough resources and they have to manage the growth. But, in fact, they really try to do that right. That's part of the soul of the place. I just hope that continues as new people come in. Most people do. 

When I was in high school here no one had any money at all. You can tell that by going around and looking at the houses that are inside that boundary I told you about. All of them were the same. Nobody had any money. We didn't know we didn't have any money, you know? If we can keep the housing supply so that there are places for people to live and the prices of those are reasonable, then yeah, I think people can figure it out here. There aren't a lot of factories and mills and those kinds of jobs here, so it tends to be better for people with an education. But there is industry moving in. I'd like to see more of that. The non-professional type jobs tend to be tourism based and that's tough for people. I know the wages are going up because I hear that all the time when I talk with people that know what's going on in the community. There is competition for good people here. When someone would join us at Bend Research who would have a high performing, professional type spouse or a spouse with a particular trade, I would tell them that they would find something. It might take you a year, don't expect it in two months, but it will come. And now I think it takes less than that.

Do you have thoughts on Bend's growth?

This place will continue to grow - sometimes slower, sometimes faster. There is no reason to think it won't. There is plenty of water, despite what you hear sometimes. The issue here is the supply and demand. We are constrained between the BLM land to the east and the National Forest to the west. It's really important that the land use planning gets done right and in a timely manner, which is probably the biggest problem. If it's too slow you get pressure that tends to be not as high quality. It's gonna grow. The planning for growth has to be done right. The infrastructure needs to be put in and, therefore, everybody's got to pony up and pay for it. To that point, we do need a balance of people that come here and raise families and make a living wage, people who come in and out, but we also need the wealthier people because they help us pay for all this. The numbers help pay, the wealthier help pay. It costs money to grow. Everybody's got to pay for that. I think the balance is really important. The only other thing I would say is people who move here need to engage. What is somewhat destructive is people who just sort of have a bedroom here and don't really engage in the community. Some of that's fine. You have a responsibility, if you have space in a community, to do your part. Whatever that is. 

Up until just recently I flew airplanes for a long time, for like 30 years. I was always flying my airplane into Bend. The thing about flying your own plane is you see out the front. So you really see what's going on. I watched Bend grow from the air over the last 30 years. If you just squint a little bit, Bend doesn't look any different now than it did 30 years ago from the air. Mountains are still there, the forests are still there, the BLM is still there. There's a long strip of developed, La Pine to Madras, land. If you sharpen your eyes and look, yeah, okay fine, it has grown, but it really doesn't look that much different. Especially if you travel east, like I did, for business and you watch the growth that goes on back there. Things like traffic - we don't have any traffic jams here even though we all say we do. The road to Bachelor can get crowded at 8:30 in the morning on Saturday, but in fact, compared to anywhere else... I don't think it's actually changed that much. If you know how to drive this place, you can drive across town anytime of the day and be just fine. You just have to know how to do it. I know the city is going to continue to work on the east/west access and all that. That's back to the planning. I still can go all day long in the mountains, all day, like 25 miles, and not run into one person. That was the case in 1970 when I started doing that and that is the case now in 2017, when I'm 60. It hasn't changed at all up there, not one bit. I get tired of that, actually. It's changed so much. It's ruined. It's just not true. We've got growth issues, but we'll be fine. The most important thing, is that people are working together to do the right thing. I really believe that is true here. And it's true to the extent where if you see somebody not doing that, it really stands out. They get kicked out of town. You know?

Jeffrey Murray

As I'm a frequent explorer of the streets of downtown Bend, I walk by Jeffrey's gallery on Minnesota Ave. nearly every single day. I met him simply because of my curiosity to see his work. He's a very kind man and graciously accepted my invitation to participate in this project. Make an effort to visit his gallery. If for some reason you can't, you can see his beautiful work at his website. 

---

Who are you?

I'm Jeffrey Murray. I'm a photographer. I'm a husband. I'm a father. Pretty basic guy... there's not much too fancy about me (laughs). 

Where do you come from?

I'm originally from the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, but since then, I've lived all over the place. In Arizona for a while. I lived in Seattle for a while. After that I basically lived on the road for five years straight: traveling the country, going to a new state, every National Park, every day waking up in a new place. That really got me doing photography the way I wanted to do it. I went to school at Northern Arizona University, got my degree from there. Worked for a couple publications out of there - some newspapers and some magazines. And then basically hit the road to photograph the country how I wanted to see it. Put in the time that it took to do it right. 

What brought you to Bend?

Through traveling I found something everywhere I went that I liked. I found towns like Bend all across the country. Every state I went to I found something that was worth seeing, worth exploring, worth checking out. I'm from the West Coast, so I spent most of my childhood and younger years traveling the West Coast. I feel at home here - it's where my family is. And to be honest, the skiing brought me here. I'm a big skier. For my style of skiing, it doesn't get better than Mt. Bachelor. Being able to be up there in half an hour and being able to basically see my house from there is pretty nice. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I do photography and I love every minute of it, but I treat it like a job. I go to work and I do my job. I take pictures and I do the gallery thing and I go home and I do my family. When I'm not at work, I don't think about work, and, well, when I am at work I do think about my family. I try to find that healthy separation to keep the photography from consuming my life and being my identity. It's basically a job that I take a lot of pride in and really enjoy. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

I come from a family of five kids. There was one time, recently, (my brothers don't all live here) we were all up here and able to ski together. Me, my brothers Eric, Kyle, and Ryan, and, for lack of a better term, we can ski (smiles). I have a memory of this perfect powder day and we were doing laps literally from the minute they opened until the minute they closed just skiing as fast and hard as we could. Me and my three brothers in a line, going down the mountain, going up the mountain, going down the mountain. I remember skiing and looking and seeing two of my brothers in front of me as we bounced through the powder in the trees and one of my brothers behind me - I turned back and saw him and was a pretty nice moment to be out having one of the best ski days ever with my three brothers that I grew up skiing with but I hadn't skied with them all at once as adults. Being able to go up and spend the day on the mountain as a family. My parents were out skiing, too. But it was pretty fun being able to ski with my whole family.

How do you feel about Bend's growth?

A lot of people have reservations about where Bend is going. I'm not a born and bred, die-hard, keep Bend how it is type of person - I know that's an unpopular way of looking at things. I like Bend. I like towns with growth. Towns are always going to grow. I go to my hometown that I grew up in and it's the same thing as Bend - it's completely different now. I drive down the main street and everything looks different, there's new buildings, and there's tons of people, and there's traffic. It has all the different growth things that any town will have. I have seen a lot of towns growing similar to Bend. I don't see it as a bad thing. I like it. I like the way Bend is growing, that it's catering towards… good people are coming here. Good people are staying here. People love this town. A town can either grow or it can sit stagnant and eventually, sitting stagnant, it will start going down hill. I personally like the way Bend is going. I don't mind the growth. The summer times out here are so fun. The winter times are so fun. People love it. I think we all know why people love it. It's got basically everything you'd want in terms of weather, in terms of recreation, it terms of anything. I don't see any reason to necessarily fight that. Especially because I like the way Bend is growing. I'm not one to have any trouble with people coming in. We all came here at one point. Obviously some people were born and raised here, but everyone's come at some point and there's no point in stopping it. I know that's not a popular way of thinking... 

What do you wish for the future?

I have a three-month old son right now so he's pretty much all I think about in terms of my future. I want to provide him the same situation that I was provided from my parents. I want him to grow up and be smart, be kind - all that stuff. I want him to grow up to be a respectable person that people look up to. I want you to one day be going and interviewing him because he did something that you wanted to see. I want him to be ambitious. Basically, right now, my future is one hundred percent getting him locked-in to being a good person. Because we've got enough of the bad people around. I don't want him to be one of them. 

Oscar Gonzalez

A mutual friend recommended Oscar to me. I initially invited him to participate in this project over E-mail and then we later chatted in person to set up the interview. He took a little convincing as he was surprised at the idea and didn't think of himself as worthy. This project is intended to spread positivity and, as you'll read below, Oscar is working very hard to do his part. His deep care for his fellow Latinos is very obvious. He serves as the Empowerment Programs Manager at the Latino Community Association. 

---

Who are you?

I am Oscar Jesus Gonzalez. And I am from Nuevo Leon, Mexico. When I was four years old I was brought over to South Chicago. My parents had were part of a huge contingent of Mexican steel workers that were brought over by US Steel and Bethlehem Steel back in the 40s and 50s. This is why South Chicago to this day is the second largest Mexican community behind Los Angeles. It was interesting to start of living in there - in the snow and cold. Unfortunately that didn't mix with little Oscarito and my parents courageously decided to move to the west coast. In the 60s we moved from place to place to avoid increasingly popular criminal activity and gang activity and they didn't wall me falling into the wrong ranks with other boys in the neighborhood. They found a small community just southeast of East L.A. called Cudahy. When we moved onto that block we were the second Mexican family on that block. This was 1966 - I was a second-grader. That was a tough transition, given that there were very few brown kids in the neighborhood. We were challenged. Sometimes we had to defend ourselves, myself and my sister. I had a best friend named Leo who could do no wrong. He was the best athlete, he was the fastest runner. He was voracious and bold and he was just a born leader. And I was his side-kick. I was a chubby guy, kind of uncoordinated, not as swift on my feet. But over time, that changed. We spent time on the baseball fields and basketball courts and later the football fields and that's what really kept us out of trouble.

Eventually the gang element took over. I was beginning to have some issues, so my parents felt compelled to rescue me and put me into St. Gertrude's Elementary School in the 6th grade. I protested, but it didn't matter. My parents had made up their minds. Looking back, it was the best damn thing they ever did for me. The nuns were very impactful and significant during my formative years - from 11 to 14 - as I transitioned into high school. I had become a pretty decent football player and happened to go to a parochial high school in Downing, California, that was part of the best high school football league in California and maybe the nation. I transferred to a different high school to play football with my best friend, Leo, who had become the quarterback of their high-ranking varsity team. I knew I wanted to go to university, but that high school didn't have the advanced placement classes that I needed. I ended up transferring back to my previous high school with the help of a teacher. I was able to go to a community college in the evenings and that was the first time I ever took a Chicano Studies class. That opened up my mind. I ended up going to Loyola Marymount University and my parents were so, so, so happy (laughs) that I decided to stay within the Catholic family and would be coming home just about every weekend. 

I started taking more Chicano Studies classes and going to MEChA (Chicano Student Movement) meetings. They were politically charged at the time. There were a lot of things going on that I really wasn't aware of. But it really helped me to come to terms with who I was as an individual. Up until that point my whole life's focus was football, surfing, rock-n-roll, and girls, basically. At 19, being exposed to a different perspective of history, of psychology, of all the social sciences, just totally blew my mind wide open. I came to the realization that I hadn't been told the whole story. I ended up with a degree in International Political Economy with a minor in Chicano Studies with a vision to go on to law school. 

After I graduated from Loyola, I ended up teaching and coaching at my old high school. At the end of that first year, I went to Monterrey to live with my relatives and I studied Spanish at the Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico. When I came back, I worked as a law clerk at a firm in Los Angeles. While doing that I met a woman who would become my wife. I was supposed to start law school that fall. We got pregnant and married three months into my first year of law school. Our first daughter was born as a six-month, premature two-pounder. She had to remain in the hospital for two and a half months. She's now very successful and is one of the top administrators for Teach for America in Manhattan. I'm very proud of all my three daughters. I took a leave of absence from law school because we got pregnant again. In the meantime, my sister had moved to Houston, and I helped her get through a serious case with Child Protective Services and the Department of Human Services. At the end of a year of working with her through that, her case manager asked me if had ever thought about working in Social Services because they were looking for bilingual investigators. This was in 1988. I was about 28 years old. It sounded like a good deal, not a lot of money, but a steady job for a young father. So that was my segue into Social Services. So it's going to be 30 years, which is incredible. 

What brought you to Bend?

My wife and I ended up divorcing after 25 years of marriage. And, later, what brought me to Oregon was love. That was in 2011. An old high school sweetheart was living on the coast, so we reunited. But that only lasted about six months. We figured out early that we weren't teenagers anymore. One of my mentors in Eugene was quick to remind that a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty got me to Oregon but I came here for a bigger purpose. I lived in Salem and Newport and Albany and eventually ended up in Eugene for a few years. I couldn't find steady, full-time work which made it difficult to lay down roots. A posting came out for a full-time position with the Latino Community Association here in Bend and when I read it I felt it pretty much mirrored my entire career of over 30 years in terms of what I had done as a counselor, as a teacher, as a program director, as an athletic director, as a coach. I was offered the position and came out to this side of the Cascades. The difference is like night and day. This has been so remarkably beautiful and different. The fact that the sun comes out almost daily, regardless as to how the day may start up or end up. I truly feel this has some sort of effect on people's persona and outlook and feelings. And I've become a huge craft beer fan. I didn't drink when I was a father, living in Texas. Coming out here, I've acquired or developed a taste for fine craft beer. I enjoy that and I enjoy music and I think Bend has a wonderful opportunity for those of us that indulge (laughs) in such activities. I feel comfortable and I feel very welcome wherever I go. 

What do you like about Bend?

People are just really happy to live here. Despite the tough economy. Despite the depressed wages that still inflict central Oregon. I've heard of the term poverty with a view and I guess I'm there. I'm not where I was at when I was working in Houston for twenty plus years, making more than twice as much as I make now. But, you know, my life has changed since my daughters have all grown up and graduated from great colleges and universities. I'm very proud of that because of the fact that I am an immigrant. I'm a first generation American and navigated those tough waters and came out of it ahead. I only wish upon all Latino, Spanish-speaking, all immigrant families to realize their American dream. I personally believe that is still out there. It's hard to overcome those obstacles, but I don't think it's impossible. 

I grew up in the city where we played on concrete. Grass was at a minimum. If we wanted water, we went to the riverbed. That's where we would ride our bikes and hang out. I talk to local kids about appreciating all the trees and the fact that there is mostly blue sky here. The beauty of it - the different terrain and the river running through the city. It's just majestic. I grew up under the freeways in L.A. We were in neighborhoods that people just drove over to get to Santa Monica or Hollywood or wherever they were going. They weren't necessarily going to our neighborhoods. Having said that, there are pockets of Bend that kind of remind me of parts of Houston or even parts of L.A. where the housing has been dilapidated. I don't know if it's a landlord issue or what. But a lot of our local latino families reside in trailer parks, living in squalor. It kind of troubles me. When so many folks are living in those congested conditions it breeds all kinds of other issues. This is kind of a microcosm of a bigger urban setting. I only wish that more of Bend would know that certain pockets of Bend still leave a lot to be desired in that respect. Overall, it's beautiful. It's wonderful. I'm always looking out and trying to have a voice for the underdog, for the folks that don't have much say-so or power or leverage. I'm trying to step up and be part of the solution. 

What do you wish for the future?

I would like to see some sort of rent control imposed. Working class and, to a certain degree, middle class folks aren't able to afford to live in the community they grew up in. Let alone other folks coming in, like myself, for employment reasons or what have you are barely making it because rent is so prohibitively high. And beyond that, the occupancy rate is very, very low. It's a double-whammy. It's very competitive. I ran into it when I first moved here. I have been able to deal with it, but I look at some other families who may not speak English as well or may not have the proper documentation, and wonder how it is that they are able to navigate those troubled waters. I ponder about these things. Through our Community English Tutoring program, we are able to connect folks living in Bend to our Latino citizens to help them learn English or improve their computer skills or help them become citizens of the United States. That gives me a lot of hope. For the most part, our neighbors here in Bend are welcoming and are open to diversity and are tolerant and understand that with diversity comes newness and freshness. It makes all of us that much more interesting to each other. 

When I was a kid, Latinos were about 10% of the population in California, but now we are the majority there. In my lifetime, everything has changed. And I foresee that happening here, too. I look forward to building community amongst all folks, regardless of your background, your culture, your language, or your religion. In this political climate, it is challenging. Our leaders in government are espousing ideas that aren't as embracing or tolerant as we all need to be. Many of our folks, as a result, are very afraid for themselves and their children of the possibility of being deported and having their family being torn apart. That's a horrific thing. There's nothing tougher. I hope it doesn't come to that, but we are preparing ourselves for the worst. We are always on the lookout to recruit other folks who are not Latinos, who are non-Spanish speakers, but have a concern and also want to be part of the solution and not just stand by and allow things to fester. These are folks who come in and ally with us and become our tutors and develop relationships with our clients and families. Initially it's a teacher-student relationship, but it evolves very quickly into a mentor relationship and blossoms into a true friendship. That's a really beautiful thing. I really believe that education, at the end of the day, is the key. I am troubled by the amount of kids who are leaving school before finishing. And by the fact that very few of our students are going directly to a four-year university. If they are lucky, they'll end up at a community college. And from there, I'm not sure how many are actually getting certificates or degrees. We are trying to make a difference here.

Teryce Kilby

I met Teryce early in my Bend days. I had failed to read a parking sign correctly and overstayed my 2-hour limit in one of downtown Bend's spots. I had a ticket on my windshield, but as it was my first offense, it was just a warning. I didn't understand what I had done wrong, so I approached the parking enforcement agent and asked her to explain it to me. She kindly did and I thanked her for the warning. I chat with her every time I see her now. She exudes joy and doesn't stop smiling. And she chuckles a lot. 

---

Who are you?

My name is Teryce Kilby. Who am I (laughs)? I am a mother of three boys. A grandmother of four children. I'm single. I have a job. I love to work. I love to hike. I love my job. I do the parking enforcement downtown in Bend. And I spread joy and happiness (laughs). I've been doing that for nine years. I get to interact with all the people downtown and all the tourists and the customers. It's just really fun. I love to hike. I like to walk. So I'm walking all day long at work. And I walk on my weekends. I go hiking. I like to climb mountains. 

What brought you to Bend?

I've lived in Bend my entire life. My parents are here and all my family, so here I am. I was actually born in West Virginia, but my dad was on a transfer because he worked for the Forest Service. He transferred there for a short time. We moved back here when I was a little over a year old. When I got older, when I moved out of the house, I thought that the grass was greener on the other side and had to go explore a little bit. I've never lived anywhere more than a year away from Bend. Until recently - I just bought a house in La Pine. I love the trees. I like pine trees and the mountains. I like being in the forest. I'm not much of a sage brush and juniper person. Although, I do have a new-found love for juniper trees. I had to grow that. They're like snowflakes, not everyone of them are the same (laughs). I have a different outlook on them now from my exploring and hiking and being outside a lot.

What do you like about Bend?

I like that everything that you could possibly do is just a short distance away. We've got the desert. We've got motorcycle riding. We've got race cars nearby. We've got the mountains. Skiing. Lakes. Snowmobiling. Boating. Fishing. Hunting. Hiking. I don't know, everything you could ask for. And if you like the beach, go to the beach - it's only a couple hours away. You know? Everything's here. The mountains are beautiful. It doesn't rain a lot. It's always blue sky… most of the time (laughs). 

How do you contribute to the community?

I spread joy and happiness through the interactions that I have with the people during the day at work. Most of the people when they leave my side, they leave with a smile. Everybody's always asking me for directions, where things are, where to go, where to eat. You know... what to do. I can provide them with all that information because I've lived here my whole life. I can pretty much tell them where everything is. If not, I'll Google it for them (laughs). I like to give people a hard time, joke around with them and stuff. It's just fun making people smile. Yeah, I do have to give them a couple tickets along the way sometimes. Those people don't smile as much, but when I do give them the information they need, they usually say thank you. Nobody likes getting a parking ticket, but that's my job. The interaction is the best. 

Do you have a favorite activity or memory from here?

I've done so many different hikes. I've hiked Three Fingered Jack. I've hiked Broken Top. I've hiked South Sister. I've hiked Gray Butte. I've hiked up Black Butte. All these different hikes. I think South Sister's a little overrated (laughs). Although the view was spectacular, the coming down was not. I think Broken Top is my favorite. Proxy Falls - those are beautiful waterfalls. Although the hike is not very long, the falls are beautiful. I don't know if I have a favorite. Everything is just so beautiful around here. Looney Beanis my favorite coffee shop in all of like ever. I don't think there has ever been a better coffee shop. 

What do you wish for the future?

I wish for happiness. Everybody get along! I just hope everybody quits fighting. I don't like all the fighting and all the political stuff that's going on right now. I'm not into that at all. Acceptance. I think everybody could get along. Love and kindness will take over. I believe that. That's what everybody wants. 

Do you have any thoughts regarding Bend's growth? 

Bend is growing really fast because everybody wants to be here. Because it is a beautiful place to live. My concern is that those people that come here, they come here because people are friendly and they’re happy - I just hope they can continue that. Look at people in the eye when they walk by. Tell them hello. Don't ignore them and look down. That's what makes Bend beautiful. 

Spring Olson

I met Spring as I was leaving Locavore after interviewing Megan. I could tell right away she was one of the go-getters. I asked her to pick a location that made sense for her. She thought up this greenhouse. Just perfect. While we chatted, snow kept sliding down the plastic walls as the sun slowly warmed the space.  

---

Who are you?

I'm Spring Alaska Olson, born and raised in Valdez, Alaska. I moved to Bend from Breckenridge, Colorado. I spent about 10 years in Telluride and Breckenridge. Then I moved here in 2006. I have been well-seasoned in the natural resource management fields of agriculture and water quality. And over the last few years I’ve started a few small businesses. I'm a mother. I've got a little one who's 10. That's where my focus is - keeping us fed and happy and raising her to be a good leader and to be responsible. 

What brought you to Bend?

Breckenridge exploded. It used to take 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get from Breckenridge to Denver and then it was three hours. And then it was four hours. And the traffic was just getting packed and the ski resorts were getting completely overrun and it was just time to go. I didn't really want to move back to Alaska because I was really enjoying taking the things I had learned in college there and then applying them down here. There aren’t the same opportunities up there like we have down here in the lower 48. So I didn't want to go home quite yet. Bend looked like a great place that would offer a similar fun lifestyle that I had been enjoying in the ski towns. Bend is a little bit bigger. Most of those towns have between a thousand and a few thousand people. It was just too busy in Breckenridge. There wasn't a lot to do there. Just full tourism. 

I was in the science industry, and it being so seasonal, I could only do so much. I was building rivers all through my time in Colorado. You can only restructure or revegetate a river one time. I would do that in one town and then I would move. I restructured the Blue River in Breck and the San Miguel in Telluride and the Uncompahgre in Ridgway. It was not a place I could see myself staying for a long time because it's quite Disneyland-like and it's extremely costly. Bend was really quiet when we got here in 2006. It was a very sleepy town. I think the population has almost doubled since I've been here. Maybe. I don't know the complete population count at this point because I'm in denial, but I can feel it. I can feel the presence of a lot more people coming in.

What do you like about Bend?

I like Bend because it has all the aspects of what I was raised in and became accustomed to from living in ski towns. It's a big playground. You can bike, ski, fish, climb, swim. There are lakes everywhere. There are a ton of activities. We've got lots of breweries, lots of concerts. It feels like we're living in Colorado again, we're just not making the big drive to get there. There is a ton to do and it keeps getting better every day. For sure. 

How do you contribute to the community?

I started the Central Oregon Seed Exchange, so I have a lot of networks with farmers. I saw there was a seed shortage in Deschutes County and there were literally no locally grown seeds available for sale (other than Round Butte Seed Company, but a lot of their seed is imported from Idaho and different regions). I have access to free seed - I started asking local farmers to donate their locally grown, cold-climate, organic seed. Then I set up a vector of transport at Central Oregon Locavore. We have a vintage seed fridge there from which we can give away and redistribute that seed. I myself am broke still and the economy is not doing so well, so the intent was to make sure the people who were struggling to eat healthy food weren't going to struggle to access it. I’ll give it away for free to enforce that old style of living where you grow your own food, you get the kids involved, you get them outside - off the iPad, off the phone that they're glued to 24 hours a day - and engaged with their community and family again. Giving them free seed was a cool project and a good option. I started teaching seed saving classes and pollinator classes. We give away a lot of seed to elementary schools. We work with Deschutes County with the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program and a variety of other nonprofit groups. We give away a lot of vegetable and flower seed.

I also volunteer as the chair of the Deschutes County Noxious Weeds Advisory Board. I've been on that board for eight years. I also volunteer with the Living on a Few Acres Farming Conference with Oregon State University. I help plan and design small classes for that. And I work with the Department of Agriculture Intertribal Agricultural Council - a Native advisory council to increase food sovereignty and solve food production issues for tribes. It's a national program. I also own Sakari Botanicals - another Native American business. I do a lot of farming and agricultural consulting. I assist land owners in Deschutes County on natural resource management issues - on how to basically start from scratch. If you buy a piece of property, you've got to work on soil quality, weeds, learn how to use water, implement energy efficiency, learn what to grow, what not to grow, how to manage your farm, and set up a business plan. 

Do you have a favorite memory from here?

My favorite memory from here was a Fourth of July many years ago: I skinned up Mt. Bachelor and skied down. Then I went down to Phil's Trail and mountain biked, did a little loop. Then I went across the street to Dillon Falls on my kayak and scooted up the river a little bit and checked that out. The three-event day. This place is awesome. I just killed it! That's what's great about Bend - you can go skiing and then as you're headed down the Cascades Lake Highway you can pull over and fly fish. And then you can go to the brewery. And then you're done - wrap that whole rockstar day up. It was basically free. It took 10 years to accumulate a bunch of crappy gear to get to that point and I had to build a skill set, but yeah, it was a free experience. That was before it cost money to park on those public lands, so it really was free. Or I was cheating - one of the two. 

What do you wish for the future?

I wish for people to communicate better. I've noticed that it's been very difficult to create change in this county. We have this big influx of young people in the farming and nonprofit industries and they are really go-getters. And then we're dealing with this old demographic of the bean counters, I call them. This is how it is. This is how it's going to be. I'm retiring so I don't care. I don't think they were ever change-makers. I'm noticing that communication is a huge barrier. The change isn't going to happen unless people communicate. We are working with two different concepts of change: one that doesn't want to and one that is happening. Megan from Locavore is a huge change-maker. We have a lot in common. We'll see a need for something and it's gonna get done. That's the end result. We're doing it. Oh, it's done now. So... next. I'd like to see people communicate better. Drop their guard a little bit, be open to more ideas, work together more, lose the fear factor, the ego needs to come down a little bit. That will actually bring the community together to get to the end of whatever your goal is. Whatever your intent is, just try to communicate better with people. It seems like poor communication holds a lot things up.