“I can’t believe I saw a llama.” That’s a phrase often repeated as folks encounter Jeff Wagner and his llama, Yogi. Wagner hauls Yogi in a trailer, from La Pine to the Old Mill District, on a regular basis so they can take a stroll. He started doing this during the pandemic because he thought it […]
Culture Features
Posted inCulture
Preserving History Nearly Lost in Time
Bend’s Colored Men’s Business Club started 100 years ago
A little-known piece of Bend history, nearly lost in oblivion, has been recovered and pieced together. The project was inspired by one tiny newspaper article from 1925 titled, “Colored Men Form Club for Betterment of Race.” “I have no idea how long ago I found that story and printed a clipping of it for future research,” […]
Posted inCulture
Passages of Time
A quick guide to exploring some of Central Oregon’s museums
Story is a part of life in how we exist and make meaning. Lucky for us, Central Oregon is home to a number of museums that hold history, science, and nature in deepening our understanding of the world and our experience of wonder. Spring is a great time to delve into some of the regional […]
Posted inCulture
Around the Bend Farms:
Growing food, growing community
Growing food, educating and innovating, building community. These are the core values of Braided Roots Urban Farm, an area tucked away in the eclectic neighborhood of Deschutes River Woods where something pretty amazing is happening on only an acre of land. The farmers are not just cultivating locally grown produce, they are also transforming what […]
Posted inCulture
Why We Celebrate Indie Bookstores
Shop locally, but read globally
More than any other time in Roundabout Books’ eight-year history, our customers are asking us to match the prices of books they see on Amazon. It may surprise you that I am heartened by these requests, as I think it is a sign of greater general awareness of the damage monopolistic companies like Amazon have […]
Posted inCulture
Trivial but Serious Fun
It’s time to dust off frivolous knowledge inside your head
Trivia games are alive and thriving in Central Oregon. There’s a game to be played somewhere most every night of the week. Check out the Source calendar for a complete listing every week. I managed to hit four over the past fortnight. First on my list was JC’s because it adds a physical challenge to […]
Posted inCulture
In This Together
High desert writer and Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston’s new book, “We Could Die Doing This,” compiles treasured “Third Act” columns
When brainstorming a title for her latest book, Ellen Waterston, along with Source Weekly publisher Aaron Switzer, knew they had to hit a bullseye. Composed of columns from her monthly series, “The Third Act,” which Waterston has been penning since 2021, the central thesis of ageing and ageism necessitated something punchy. She recalled her children’s […]
Posted inCulture
Genre-Benders: Break Out of Your Reading Comfort Zone
Cozy horror, romantasy, viral BookToks. Publishing trends might be hard to keep up with, but one I don’t think will go away anytime soon is the way genre isn’t staying in its convenient pigeonholes. We’re seeing mystery bleed into literary, fantasy meeting detective story and horror alongside humor. I’m a bookseller at Roundabout Books in […]
Posted inCulture
A Tower-ing Figure
Ray Solley announces his retirement as executive director of the Tower Theatre
You know the health of a town by the state of its theaters. Opened in 1940, the Tower Theatre was the jewel of downtown Bend from the date of its opening until its closure in 1996. When I moved here in 1999, downtown felt lessened by its boarded-up windows and darkened marquee. After a herculean […]
Posted inCulture
Rising Above
Bend’s Jeff Swaney looks back on a life of adventure and found wisdoms in his memoir, “None of the Answers: Racing Through Life in Reverse”
When Jeff Swaney was 14 years old, an insurance salesperson knocked on the door of his home in Detroit, Michigan, extolling the soundness of a dizzying policy scheme to his parents. Detecting some dubious math in the pitch, the 14-year-old Swaney stepped in to quibble with the solicitor, trying and failing to convince his parents […]
