Janice has been a volunteer at the La Pine Activity Center for less than a year, since around the time of the Sportsmen’s Show in April of 2022.
“As a former accountant, I asked if the Center needed any spreadsheets done,” said Janice. “Jamie turned around and pulled out the envelope of Rhubarb Festival vendor applications and said, ‘here!’ Ever since then, she’s had her hooks into me! Jamie keeps her volunteers involved and busy! I also work the front desk on Monday afternoons and have worked on the Cascade Relay as well as the recent Winter Traditions Craft Bazaar. Jamie is a whirlwind for getting people motivated!”
Both born and raised in SE Portland, where Janice was an accountant and her husband was a CPA they have had a cabin in La Pine for nearly 40 years. They purchased the two adjacent acres, then combined the acreage and had a home built about 15 years ago. “The camaraderie of the other volunteers at the Center and the fact that Jamie will do just about anything for anybody makes this endeavor a wonderful experience. She likes a resolution to a person’s problem,” said Janice. “I’m looking forward to staying with the Center as a volunteer, and we’re always looking for more!”
Lori Scott
Lori has been a volunteer at the Activity Center since meeting Jamie at the 2021 Quilt Show.
“I started out working the front desk one day a week, and then started helping with special events,” said Lori. “The Rhubarb Festival was my first big event, and I was the volunteer coordinator, which was a real challenge since we had just moved to La Pine and I didn’t know anyone. But it was a great chance to meet people in this community!”
Lori and her husband Jerry moved here in April of 2021 from the Rogue Valley.
“We’ve had friends with property here and we came to visit them during the summers, and my husband said he wanted to retire here. So when it came time to retire, we sold everything, bought a fifth wheel, and then Covid hit. I had wanted to retire to the coast, but we realized we couldn’t leave the fifth wheel there permanently because of the harsh weather. So we wound up moving here and are currently waiting on permits to get a house started.”
In her “before life”, Lori spent 15 years doing child care and then was director of a preschool when her kids were in high school. “I did that for eight years but missed having my business at home, so I opened a daycare in my home and did that until we moved here. It took me four years to retire because my families wanted me to finish taking care of their children,” said Lori.
“My husband, Jerry, was a mill-worker with Boise Cascade and retired after working in the mills for 30 plus years.”
So what does Lori like best about volunteering?
“The other volunteers! Everybody is so wonderful here… these people are amazing, willing and it’s helped me get into this community and get to know people,” Lori replied.
Recently Lori took a job cleaning the kitchen and restrooms at the Activity Center a couple days a week .
“I don’t like to clean, but those women in the kitchen work so hard and do such a great job, I feel rewarded helping them out,” said Lori.
Lori’s husband Jerry is always volunteering at the Center as well; he was up on the roof putting on Christmas lights recently!
“Jamie just gives so much to this center and this community, it makes it a pleasure to volunteer there,” said Lori. “If anyone out there is interested in joining us, call the Center — it’s for everybody, not just seniors! And come for lunch, it’s fantastic food!”
Director’s Corner December 2022
Happy Holidays! Christmas is right around the corner, and the La Pine Activity Center couldn’t be busier with tons of December activities for our community!
Our first Winter Traditions Craft Bazaar held November 25-27 at the La Pine Parks and Recreation building went very well! One of our center volunteers, Amy Hill, who owns Hillstead Farms in La Pine, put together all the decorations and did an outstanding job!
We had a total of 51 vendors from as far away as Portland! One of these, Outta My Gourd, actually became Center volunteers, helping to set up and take down after the event!
A BIG thank you goes out to Lori and Jerry Scott, Janice Delzer, and Dave Ott, who were indispensable to us with all they did.
I estimated that the first day of the event we easily saw 400 to 500 people stop by; in fact, some vendors paid for their booth rental in the first hour!
Newport Avenue Market in Bend bought $5800 worth of sugar-free jams, taffy and other products from vendor Outta My Gourd, an amazing day for this vendor.
The Winter Traditions Craft Bazaar saw quite a few new vendors, too, some from the valley, Klamath Falls, and lots of Rhubarb Festival repeats. There was Purple Door Creations from Gilchrist, Betty Summers floral arrangements had two booths, and had the best showing at any festival she’s ever done. Deer Wood Designs from Portland had five or six tables and did very well. Natalie Blair from Cup-N-Cake Creations by Natalie, a cottage home bakery right here in La Pine, provided cake pops, cocoa bombs and other fresh treats.
As a result of this festival, we have over 200 vendors on our list now for future events!
In other news, Jenny Pedersen, Community Librarian with the Deschutes Public Library, will be starting free sessions to help people with their legal questions at the La Pine Activity Center on the first Thursday of the month from 10-noonish (while Thrive is there or longer if needed). She will be starting this in either January or February, 2023.
A big THANK YOU goes out to Stu Martinez, who is going to be sponsoring a free veterans lunch once a month from January to March in 2023. We are excited to be able to have these free lunches to show our appreciation for our location veterans.
That’s all for now – have a wonderful holiday season and see you in 2023!