Director’s Corner May 2023

We’re gearing up for the Rhubarb Festival which will be held June 17 and 18 here at the Center. It’s our biggest event of the year, here’s an update of what’s been happening with this event:
We need volunteers to help make Granny Pies for the Rhubarb Festival. We have about 900 pies ready so far, but we usually have about 1200 for sale, so there’s still a lot of work to be done. Connie Burger and others are helping to finish out the year.
Sina Wallace Streeter donated two cases of the BIG cans of Crisco, which were badly needed. Thanks Sina!
This year’s Rhubarb Festival sponsors include: St. Charles: dessert contest; La Pine Community Health Center: entertainment; First Interstate Bank of Sunriver: rhubarb pies; MidOregon Credit Union: golf carts; Terry Mowry is organizing the entertainment; Dan Laibath keeps those beer kegs organized; Rusty Hoar takes care of security during the day; Denise and Dennis Sampson actually tape out our parking lot for vendor spaces; and Janice Delzer is in charge of coordinating all the vendors. We are FULL as far as vendor spaces, with 106, and 30 new ones this year!
NEW this year as a Rhubarb Festival sponsor is HD Botanicals! And they’re very interested in doing monthly informational sessions before or after lunch to speak about the benefits of cannabis for seniors.
We’re having pre-sales for rhubarb pies and T-shirts, so please give us a call starting this month to pre-order yours.
On to other news:

  • If you need a medical device (wheelchair, walker, etc.) check here FIRST before going to rent or buy one. We have items you can either have for free or rent (such as knee scooters). Just give us a call – we have lots of medical supplies you may be able to get for FREE.
  • We need volunteers to help deliver lunches to homebound seniors three times a week. Also needed are volunteers for the kitchen, front desk and events.
  • Volunteers for Monday Bingo caller once or twice a month are also needed.
  • Although Heart & Home Hospice has closed in La Pine, Partners In Care still has a presence serving the La Pine community with hospice, home health, palliative care, and transitions (non-medical, free resource-based program). They have a small office on Huntington Road not far from the Park & Rec building, but most of their team is out visiting patients in their homes throughout La Pine, so the office may be quiet. They work closely with the La Pine Activity Center! If you need them, call 541-382-5882.
  • Get your stuff organized for our annual community-wide garage sale July 7 and 8, to be held here at the Center.
    Lastly, I want to recognize Annette Langenstein, who produces our monthly newsletter. Annette is a graphic designer and writer who volunteers her time to sell and design the ads, write the articles, and lay out the newsletter each month. These sponsorship ads bring in much-needed funds, and with the closing of Wise Buys, this newsletter is more important than ever to our little community! Thanks, Annette, for all you do for us!

Christine Dishaw, Board Treasure & Bookkeeper

Christine Dishaw works at the La Pine Activity Center as their bookkeeper, paying the bills and doing banking duties, but she also acts as the Center’s Treasurer, attending board meetings and giving a report each month.
“Four years ago, a good friend wrote to me and asked if I’d like to help out at the La Pine Senior Center, and here I am today,” says Christine. “I really enjoy being here and the people are so wonderful. I usually work about 50 hours a month, sometimes only coming in one day a week, but most weeks I’m here for two days or more.”
Christine had a career as an accountant for many years while living in Los Angeles, until she and her husband moved to Sunriver about seven years ago.
“We used to vacation in Sunriver a lot because it was a central location for our family, so for about 15 years we would come here for various reasons. We have a daughter in Beaverton and one in Atlanta, Georgia, and the kids, grandkids and great-grandkids visit us here.”
“It’s nice working here because although I’m retired, this gives me something to do; I look forward to coming here each week. I like being here because it keeps me engaged in the community. I walk and hike a lot and I’m really looking forward to getting to the Fall River and Paulina areas now that spring is here. We have about 33 miles of bike paths in Sunriver that are safe and great to walk on with my big dog, so I love living there. It can get pretty busy in the summer, and winters can be very quiet, but we live in a really nice neighborhood with friendly people.”
Christine’s husband, Dennis, is a loan broker and at almost 82 is still working from their home, running his own business. He does apartment, industrial and commercial work.
“We have an amazing number of very generous people in this community, very giving,” says Christine. “As bookkeeper, I see the donations that come in. During the COVID pandemic, we had people donating their stimulus checks to us, if you can believe it. We have several extremely kind, generous people in the community who don’t want their name attached to their donations; that’s not why they’re donating. They just see a need here and enjoy helping us out.”
“Our Executive Director, Jamie is an amazing person, with lots of things constantly on her plate, and we’ve had some really terrific people stepping up and helping her out. She’s hard to turn down when asking for volunteers or donations!”
Christine continued, “If somebody shows an interest in some type of event, say knitting, and they have enough people that our interested, we’ll accommodate them here. They’ll have a place to meet. Right now we’re asking if anyone wants to start a book club; as an avid reader, I think that would be great!”

Director’s Corner April 2023

Happy Spring! The Activity Center has been busy with lots of classes and events, and we’re getting ready for more in the next dew months!
We have almost ALL our vendor slots filled for the upcoming Rhubarb Festival June 17 and 18! We’ll need just a few more and then we’ll have 100+ vendor booths with many new items such as handmade crystal products, wood/rock art, rye-dye, Sunriver Art Glass, and one of the 20 new vendors this year is 503 Distilling from Portland, who are going to be selling a rhubarb/whiskey cocktail. Yum!
Food trucks at the Rhubarb Festival will include Auntie Bernie’s Hawaiian Grill, The Corn Dog Company of Central Oregon, Kona Ice of Bend, Red Beard BBQ, Pop-N-Hot Kettle Corn, and Supreme Elephant Ears Funnel Cakes.
And the kiddos won’t be left out because we’ll have a bouncy house and face painting, so this is a festival for all ages!
In other news, we just received a $25,000 grant from the Ford Foundation for our upcoming kitchen remodel, planned for this September. So exciting!
New classes starting in April include a soap making class and a chalk class. In fact, these and other classes have proved so popular that we’re planning a multi-workshop weekend featuring classes in painting, jewelry-making, leather, chalk…hopefully in September of this year.
The Deschutes County Planning Department will be here on April 26 to present to the public what kind of developments are planned for La Pine. Bring your questions!
We’ll also have a free Covid vaccine clinic on April 3.
St. Charles Health Systems has been presenting some great informational sessions like the Wound Care class held in March. On April 4 they’ll present another one on Community Care, and on April 11 a class about transfer and gait.
On April 13, First Interstate Bank will have a “Fraud and Seniors” class. All these are free classes! No registration required, just show up! And if you attend one of these classes, please let us know what you think so we can plan more in the future!
I would like to address an issue that many people may not be aware of: who is going to take care of you when you get on in years?
Last night I got a phone call from a friend who knows someone who had just gone into hospice care and her home caregiver had persuaded her to sign over all her assets, including her house, to that caregiver. We need to protect our seniors…especially those who have no voice.
If you know a senior that’s struggling, please let us know and we’ll find a way to help them. There are a lot of resources out there and we can connect seniors with those resources.
That’s it for now, got to get busy with all that’s happening at the La Pine Activity Center!

Jean Marable · Queen Quilter

Jean Marable has been making quilts since La Pine started its first senior center, about 40 years ago. And at 90 years old, she is one of just a few people who meet every Wednesday and Thursday at 7 am and stay until noon making the beautiful items.
“We used to have two or three quilts going at the same time, but a lot of our quilters have passed away, or they’re snowbirds, etc., so it’s down to just a few of us“ says Jean.
The Activity Center quilters would love to have more people join them, because quilting is in danger of becoming a lost art.
“Today both parents work and there’s just not enough time to engage in this art,” says Jean, “but I think we do a remarkable job of quilting and make some gorgeous quilts. We accept fabric squares and make quilts from them, putting sashing in between the squares and add batting and a backing, then finish it up by binding everything together.”
Jean and her husband have lived in La Pine about 45 years and two of their sons still live here.
“We sell or raffle off these quilts and the money goes to the Activity Center,” says Jean, “so it’s a win for everybody!”

Zee Birthday Celebration (Celebration of Life)

Many of you knew Zee Gallagher, who celebrated her 100th birthday a couple of years ago during Covid.
Zee passed away not too long ago after her birthday, and family & friends were never able to officially celebrate the event.
Please come join us on
Tuesday, April 4th @ 11-12 pm at the
La Pine Activity Center, where we will celebrate Zee in style!
She loved pie & coffee!
$5 for 60+ • anyone else $6
Zee was our oldest volunteer!

Director’s Corner March 2023

As I write this, I just got back from vacation and now I’m already busy with lots of stuff happening at the Activity Center!
As of April 3 we will be open Monday through Friday, from 9am to 4 pm, which is the schedule we will continue to follow during the summer.
Upcoming events: The Gun and Sportsman Show is schedule for April 1 and 2, and we are taking vendor applications now.
The Rhubarb Festival in June has over 65% of vendor spots taken! We have over a dozen brand new vendors and my biggest fear is that our regular vendors may lose their preferred spots if they don’t renew NOW…we just have too many new vendors wanting those prime spots. So if you want to keep your spot, contact me now! And remember, if you join the Center as a business member at either the platinum or gold level, you can hang your banner at the Rhubarb Festival FOR FREE!
Our membership drive is continuing through March, and just last week we had about 45 people renew their membership. Remember, right now there’s a special membership rate of $35 if you sign up before the end of March. Even if you don’t want to participate in the classes the Center offers, or attend the lunches, your membership dollars keep our door open! For example, our gas bill usually runs about $399 a month….lately it’s tripled to about $1200 a month. And that doesn’t include our electric bill! So we really need those members to help us keep the lights on!
BIG NEWS! The Eclipse Theatre Company of Bend is coming to the La Pine Activity Center! We will have a performance of “Here On The Flight Path” on Sunday, April 16 at 2pm, complete with food and drinks! This is an adults-only play and hopefully the first of many in the future that we can offer this community. See page 5 for more information.
In other news, we are offering two new classes at the Center! We are not a gym or fitness center, but we have people coming here taking these two new classes and loving them. Shondra McGrath is the instructor for “Better Bones and Balance” held Fridays at 9am and Mondays at 11:30, and Carol Spaw is now offering exercise and strength activities. Her class is Wednesday at 1pm for low-impact exercises like weights, pull-ups, etc. Cost is $5 for members and $8 for non-members. See the article on page 7 of this newsletter for more information about these two new classes.
The High Lakes Car Club Swap Meet is scheduled for May 13, and we’re doing our annual Flea Market sometime in May or June. More to come on that!
Grants are being worked on for kitchen upgrades and improvements. We also received $10,000 from the Council on Aging for these kitchen upgrades.
Last year our big project was the asphalt parking lot, and this year our big project is upgrading our kitchen. Next year we may look at expanding our facility because we are growing, and there’s nothing to stop us continuing to expand!

Fit For Life Training

Carol Spaw is our new “Fit for Life” fitness trainer at the La Pine Activity Center, and on Wednesdays at 1pm you can find her in the main activity room, teaching people how to get moving and become stronger at any stage of life.
Originally from Iowa, Carol moved to La Pine about 15 years ago. She currently teaches Piyo (a combination of Pilates and Yoga) and spin classes at Anytime Fitness in La Pine. Through her business, All in Fitness, Carol teaches online and outdoor classes.
Fit for Life includes moving your body and utilizing weights and other workout equipment.
  “My main objective is to get people stronger, and the class can be as easy or difficult as the person wants.,” says Carol.  “The class is geared for all fitness levels, there’s no special equipment required and I ask that students just dress comfortably be ready to move and meet new friends!”
“Even though this is a new class, I think it’s going to be a good fit for the Activity Center,” said Carol. Through her Community Fitness she can do classes at your business for employees and the public.
“I really do enjoy working with the community and bringing health and fitness to everyone. We live in a beautiful place, so get fit and go out there and enjoy it!” 

Meet the Instructor for Better Bones & Balance

Do you need “Better Bones and Balance”? If so, then come to the Activity Center on Mondays and Fridays, where Shondra Zimmerman teaches an Oregon State University research-based class for folks with osteoporosis, but anyone who is interested can join.
“I’m about to be a physical therapist so I put my own flair into the class,” says Shondra, “like to work on mobility and bone building — which is a strength workout — to slow down the process of osteoporosis and sometimes actually reverse it. We also work on fall prevention, post-rehab work — we cover all the basics. We work on balance, and strengthening the bones and joints. The class lasts one hour, there are no physical requirements and it is for all levels. We’ll be starting to get on the floor soon, but anyone who can’t do that can use a chair. We accept all ages and injury levels. Participants should wear comfortable clothing and athletic shoes. The class meets Mondays at 11:30am and Fridays at 9am. It’s just $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers, and the first class is always free. I also do punch cards for regular members. I want to make sure everyone can take this, so if money is an issue, please come talk to me before class!”

Meet Matt Tarter, Newest Board Member!

Please join us in welcoming La Pine resident Matt Tarter to the La Pine Activity Center Board of Directors!
Matt is the owner of Matt Tarter Designs, a graphic design company with customers like Spike TV and Paramount+.
“I also work at the Crescent Fire Department as a firefighter/EMT and paramedic,” says Matt, “and when I’m not doing that, I’m the head coach for boys’ varsity soccer at La Pine High School.”
In addition, Matt runs the La Pine Soccer Academy, a nonprofit organization that starts children as young as three years old learn the sport of soccer.
I asked Matt why he volunteers at the La Pine Activity Center.
“In my graphic design business, I help local businesses with re branding, and that’s actually how I started helping Jamie. What Jamie does for our community really inspires me,” said Matt, “so I starting volunteering at the Activity Center, first designing the new Activity Center logo, and also doing the fliers for the Rhubarb Festival, Sportsman’s Show, and others.”
Matt has lived in La Pine for five years and wants to stay here and help out whenever he can at the Activity Center.
“I love this small town and the opportunity to help out and give back,” said Matt.