Glenna Gunn is a Center volunteer who acts as the money taker and verifier during our Bingo on Monday night and after lunch on Tuesday. She’s been doing this for about six years, just one year less than she’s lived in La Pine.
“My husband and I retired and we wanted to be closer to our daughter and grandchildren in Redmond,” says Glenna. “We had been living in McMinnville, but my husband is an avid fly-fisherman, and he’s fished the lakes around here for years, so we settled on La Pine.”
Before Glenna and her husband Randy retired, she was a registered nurse, “mostly delivering babies. That was when we were well staffed and things weren’t as crazy as they are now. Randy was a steel factory manager at Cascade Steel in McMinnville. We bought a house here and the rest is history.”
“I’ve played bingo my whole life,” says Glenna. “I really enjoy helping people out during bingo sessions, and it’s a job that’s very much needed at the Center. Our Tuesday group is right after lunch, but the Monday group is a fundraiser for the Center, and we have payouts of $300 and $500. Our Tuesday regular payouts are about $10 minimum. We make a good amount each month for the Center because of our Monday bingo, and it’s a much-needed revenue source. But Jamie also wants everyone to have fun, too, so the Tuesday group is more focused on just having a good time.”
The Monday bingo session runs from 4pm when the kitchen opens until about 9pm. Available for purchase are hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken strips, all very reasonably priced.
You don’t have to be a member of the Center to play bingo here. Our New Year’s Eve bingo had a $1000 payout and the place was packed.
“I’ve made more friends and formed more close relationships since coming to La Pine, and the Activity Center, especially, than in my entire 35 year working career. I love seeing the same smiling people at bingo each week!”

If you’re wondering who keeps track of the 250-plus members of the La Pine Activity Center, here she is! Connie Guyer is our volunteer Membership Coordinator.
Connie says she started volunteering at the Center because she wanted to meet people and become part of this community. “I moved here in September of 2019 and by March of 2020 we were all in quarantine because of Covid,” says Connie, “so it was really hard to meet people. The Activity Center was closed intermittently during that time, too, which made it extra hard to become involved.”
Born in Burns, Oregon, Connie moved here from Keizer, Oregon because she has family that lives here. Before she retired, she worked for 30 years for the State of Oregon as an operation and policy analyst, retiring in 2018. “It took me about a year to get my house sold and buy one here, which was luckily just before the prices increased dramatically in La Pine. I am really happy to be on this side of the mountain,” says Connie.
As the coordinator it is her responsibility to coordinate with Jamie Donahue, our Director, and the front desk folks all things membership. What would we do without those wonderful folks! To track our membership she keeps a database of current members. This database tracks all the information that you provide on the membership application, including if you want to volunteer or not. The information is used for La Pine Activity Center uses only. She also sends information via email to the membership. You may have noticed getting information about upcoming events or other information from Connie. Center members can look forward to receiving our monthly newsletter by email starting in January of 2023, but about 1/4 to 1/3 of Center members don’t have email or a computer, so the Center also provides hard copies at the front desk.
“Our membership application form is kept at the front desk,” says Connie, ‘and we’re working right now with Jamie to have a working online membership sign-up in the future, to really make this process convenient for people. We really encourage people to come to the Activity Center front desk to sign up. We accept checks, cash, credit cards or PayPal online as payment.
HOT OFF THE PRESSES
Right now we have an EARLY BIRD MEMBERSHIP special during February and March where the membership fee is just $35 for the year instead of our usual $40. Our membership year runs from May 1 through April 30. And remember,any age person may be a member.
“It’s really important to fill out ALL the blanks on the membership application, or put N/A to indicate that particular field does not apply. And please try to be as legible as possible.”
Why be a member of the La PineActivity Center? Well right off the bat, new members get a free lunch, so that’s an instant perk of joining! Lunches are prepared homemade and fresh at the Center and by the way, are delicious! Our members usually are the first to know about the free dental bus for those without insurance, free clinics for flu and Covid vaccines and events that support the community like the fund raisers in support of the La Pine High School senior class, or a walk to support cancer research, and so much more. The Activity Center provides a great place to come visit and get warm or in the summer to cool down. A big bonus for members is that once a year you may rent a room for 20% off (based on availability) and vendors get 10% off space rental. And, who wants to miss out on bingo or line dancing or exercising with a fun group.
Members get 1 free 3 up on a game during Monday and Tuesday Bingo. Line Dancing, Body Groove are free but other classes like yoga are discounted to $5 from the non-member fee of $8. On February 10, the center will be offering a healthy walking/strengthening class. The first class is free but after that the cost per class is $10 for non-members, but as a member they are $5.
You don’t have to be a member to enjoy the Rhubarb Festival in the summer or Winter Traditions in the winter, but it sure is nice to see folks you know and hang out with at the La Pine Activity Center.
So, please come down in February or March or really anytime we’re open to become a member…your membership helps us to be able to be here in La Pine supporting our community!

SANDY NICOL, VOLUNTEER
If you’ve come through the front doors of the La Pine Activity Center, then you’ve probably been greeted on Wednesday mornings by a friendly face that belongs to Sandy Nicol, one of our front desk volunteers.
Sandy moved here in the late 1990’s and has been volunteering since 2003, when the Center was housed where the Cub Corner is today, at the corner of Burgess and Huntington.
There have been a lot of changes since then, but Sandy has remained a constant helper and information provider.
“I really like being able to answer people’s questions about the Center,” says Sandy. “What I enjoy most about my volunteer work are the people I get to meet and help out.”
Sandy and her husband moved to La Pine from Arizona, but are originally from the eastern part of the U.S.
“I like the laid-back atmosphere of La Pine,” says Sandy. “Especially now that we’re older, La Pine is a great place to live…the people here aren’t in such a hurry to get on with things…but there’s always something to do here, and the Center is the heart of this community…I’m going to keep volunteering here for as long as I can!”

Carol Brewer has lived in La Pine since 1970, coming here from the Fall Creek area near Springfield to run the old general store on Hwy. 97 (called the La Pine HiWay Center). Her family purchased the store in 1946 but her whole family moved here in 1970.
“We had three children, and my husband was in the logging business,” says Carol. “He lasted just one year here full-time, choosing to spend weekends here and work over in the valley during the week. I stayed here with the kids and ran the store. At that time, my two oldest children had to travel to Bend for high school (three hours each day on the bus), while my fourth grader got to go to school here.”
I asked Carol if things have changed much in La Pine since then, and she replied, “That’s putting it mildly! When my husband’s family first came here in 1946, one of them had the job of counting the cars on the Dalles-California Highway each day. One day a total of 58 cars went by…and 38 customers came in the store. There wasn’t any electricity in town in 1946…and no telephones, police or fire department. La Pine was just a spot in the road.”
“Years ago we had a binder full of names of people who came here to vacation during the summers. But many streets weren’t paved yet and didn’t even have names. I lived in the back of the store for ten years.”
In 1997 Carol retired from the Hiway Center, and about five years after that, Homestead Quilts began renting her building. Carol still owns the Chamber of Commerce building next door, too.
“I moved to my current home on an acre and a half in La Pine in 1980,” says Carol, “and paid $12,000 for it, so I guess things have changed quite a bit since then.”
Carol stays busy helping out at the Center making Granny Pies and “helping wherever there’s a little job to be done.“

She decorates the tables at the Center for events and says “People really enjoy sitting down to lunch here, and it’s nice to have the tables decorated attractively. I come to lunch here at least twice a week.”
“There are a lot of places in town that really need help. We have a very unique little city, and we don’t always agree with everyone, but if somebody needs help, by gosh, they’re going to get it.”
“The people of La Pine are caring people, and when I ran the store, we would get the same people each summer coming up to vacation. And they would always say, ‘we love coming here because you’re real: friendly, honest, helpful…and that’s the best compliment you can receive.”

If you attended the recent Winter Traditions Craft Fair in November of 2022, then you’ve seen Amy Hill’s wonderful work in decorating the Community Center. She also decorated the Activity Center itself for the recent Storefront Decorating Contest, so she’s a talented addition to our Center family of volunteers.
Amy and her family have lived in La Pine for 10 years, but she actually lived here 20 years ago for a brief time.
“My husband and I got married and moved to California for his job, but we decided we didn’t want to raise kids there, so we came back to La Pine,” says Amy.
When she’s not at the Center, Amy owns Hillstead Farm, a plant and gift shop she operates out of her home.
“I’m known as the Crazy Plant Lady, but I’m just a stay-at–home mom with two children,” says Amy, “and my husband is a Microsoft network engineer who works from an office on our property.”
“Last September my dad was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and I just wasn’t coping very well. Jamie invited me to help out at the Center and volunteering there really helped me through a tough time. It gave me something to do, something fulfilling and helpful to take my mind off things.”
Amy continued, “A big part of volunteering is setting an example for our children in what we do for others. We always donate meals at Thanksgiving and it’s really important to raise your children to appreciate how important taking care of our seniors is. And everyone at the Center is so happy to see you when you walk through that door! Everyone there knows my story and what I’m going through and Jamie has been a rock. She checks on me periodically, and I feel like I’ve made friends and belong to a family that I didn’t have before I started volunteer there. It’s a great place to be!

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 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!”

If you’ve come through the front doors of the La Pine Activity Center, then you’ve probably been greeted on Wednesday mornings by a friendly face that belongs to Sandy Nicol, one of our front desk volunteers.
Sandy moved here in the late 1990’s and has been volunteering since 2003, when the Center was housed where the Cub Corner is today, at the corner of Burgess and Huntington.
There have been a lot of changes since then, but Sandy has remained a constant helper and information provider.
“I really like being able to answer people’s questions about the Center,” says Sandy. “What I enjoy most about my volunteer work are the people I get to meet and help out.”
Sandy and her husband moved to La Pine from Arizona, but are originally from the eastern part of the U.S.
“I like the laid-back atmosphere of La Pine,” says Sandy. “Especially now that we’re older, La Pine is a great place to live…the people here aren’t in such a hurry to get on with things…but there’s always something to do here, and the Center is the heart of this community…I’m going to keep volunteering here for as long as I can!”