Culture Features

I took a punch in the gut recently. First one in quite a few years and it hurt, hurt bad. What happened was the phone rang, I answered it, my wife told me the bad news and I made the decision not to throw up. I wanted to throw something at least, anything, and take a swing back, oh you bet I did, but I was on my bicycle down by the river and the geese had nothing to do with it. What a thing, I thought, a few words and the world turns upside down, inside out, and there’s nothing you can do but hang on for the ride. And such a physical response, a visceral reaction.
What’s ironic is that not long ago I had occasion to open a bottle of champagne. The reason is irrelevant, at least to this telling, but suffice it to say I’d received some great news and was in a celebratory mood. On that day, only champagne would do. For someone like myself, situations that warrant such excess are few and far between, so it’s best to take advantage of them when I can, not knowing when the opportunity will arrive again. Getting sucker punched so soon afterward took the shine out of life, to say the least.

When Josh Hart arrived in Joplin, Missouri, after a four-day haul from Bend, he quickly realized that he hadn't fully prepared himself for what he was going to see. And smell. Just a week earlier, the city of about 50,000 people had been devastated by one of the most deadly and destructive tornados in our country's history. Hart knew this, but still, he wasn't primed for the experience.
“When I got here, it looked like the tornado had just left. It's indescribable. Everything is dirt and rubble for a mile wide and seven miles long. When you stand in the middle of it, you see nothing but complete destruction,” says Hart. “There are no words to describe the stench of rotting corpses, animals and food.”
The tornado – one of many that ravaged the Midwest this spring – hit Joplin in the early evening hours of Sunday, May 22. Currently, there have been 153 deaths attributed to the tornado, but that number could increase as remains continue to be found below the piles of rubble, many of which have yet to be combed through. The impact of the tornado hits home upon glancing through the obituary section of the Joplin Globe's website, which is populated with far too many young faces of people killed on May 22. The videos of the tornado shot by survivors are also horrifying, to say the least, but not nearly as horrific as the devastation Hart witnessed, even days after the storm had left the city.
“There's nothing a human can do to prepare themselves for what they can see here. These people went through a meat grinder,” says Hart, having just finished a long day of work in the oppressive heat and humidity that's engulfed Joplin for most of the time following the tornado – providing just one more challenge to an already overly challenged community.

After six years of broadcasting at a mere two watts and barely reaching throughout the Bend city limits, our city's community radio station, KPOV, has achieved a long-term goal and become a full-power radio station. This might mean there's some rebranding to do, given that their signal, which can be heard at 88.9FM, will reach well into Redmond, Sunriver and other surrounding communities. The move to full power was the culmination of a massive fundraising campaign and thousands of volunteer hours that will surely escalate the presence of one of Bend's best-kept cultural secrets. With the stronger signal, you have plenty of reason to tune into the eclectic, locally produced content that comes from the minds of KPOV's volunteer hosts and DJs. Here are a few shows to get you started.
Open Air
Wednesdays 5-6 p.m., Rebroadcast Tuesdays 6 -7 a.m.
Her name might not be as recognizable as some of the other media types in Bend, but Dawn Newton, with her show “Open Air,” has become one of the more interesting journalists in town. Her interview show features a wide range of subjects, from authors to athletes and other notables, like Ed Asner, who she interviewed before he came to town last year.
“It's really about giving people the opportunity to tell their story and the listener a chance to walk in their shoes,” says Newton, a mother of two who first dabbled in radio back in high school.

Spring: Graduation season, that special time of year; bland wonder and blatant youth filling auditoriums; pomp and circumstance (literal and figurative, visual and aural) leaking out across soccer fields and school lawns. Where else, I ask, can you find such androgynous gowns and silly hats? Where else are the genuine smiles of sons and daughters balanced so perfectly against the fine suffering of pride the parents must go through?
I attended my niece’s college graduation recently.

Sure, this region might be better known for its mountains and recreational opportunities, but there has for some time also been a strong contingent of art and culture to be found in Central Oregon. Now, the scores of artistic and cultural groups in the area will have a louder voice and a bevy of other resources thanks to a new collaborative group developed by Arts Central, our regional cultural council.
The Cultural Advocacy Partnership (CAP) was announced at an Arts Central event last week and presently includes 20 member groups (all of which pay a $100 annual membership fee). It includes some well-known nonprofit and for-profit cultural institutions like BendFilm, the Les Schwab Amphitheater and the Tower Theatre Foundation, but is hoping to bring even more groups into the fold as it progresses. According to Arts Central Executive Director Cate O'Hagan, CAP will allow different cultural groups to work together to enhance the area's reputation as a place for culture while also helping fund the member groups. Essentially, the partnership aims to increase the community's interest in the arts, making them once again a priority. This can be done, she says, through collaboration.