BendVibes — 2026-10-16

Fri, Oct 16, 2026

IN THIS ISSUE Around the Bend · Trail Mix · The Trailhead · The Setlist · Did You Know · Bend Almanac

🗳️ Your ballot is in the mail — and drop boxes open today

Ballots for the Nov. 3 general election have been mailed, per the Deschutes County Elections Office, and official drop boxes open today, Friday, Oct. 16. That includes the new box at COCC's Bend campus.

Fill it in, drop it off, skip the mail-timing math entirely. If your ballot hasn't arrived by Oct. 29, call the County Elections Office.

Source: KTVZ NewsChannel 21 →

Mornin', Bend. Friday is the warm one: sunny and 77° today, then a cooler, mostly sunny 67° Saturday. The passes are clear, and the Cabin Butte and West Bend trail closures are still in effect. Ballots are in the mail and drop boxes open today — and this weekend is your last one with Columbia Park and the Gilchrist Bridge before they close Monday.

• 🗳️ Your ballot is in the mail and Deschutes County drop boxes open today.

• 🌉 Columbia Park and the Gilchrist Bridge close Monday at 8 a.m. This weekend is the last chance until next summer.

• 🎶 Tonight: Shire on the Mountain at Volcanic — a bluegrass Lord of the Rings costume party.

🌉 One more weekend: Columbia Park and the Gilchrist Bridge close Monday

A reminder worth repeating: Columbia Park — 'Pirate Ship Park' to local kids — and the Gilchrist pedestrian bridge close Monday, Oct. 19 at 8 a.m. through early summer 2027 for the riverbank restoration and a new, wider bridge.

Saturday and Sunday are your last shots until next summer. After Monday, detours run via Galveston Avenue and the Bend Whitewater Park footbridge.

Source: Bend Park & Recreation District →

⛷️ Want to be a winter volunteer ranger? The forest is recruiting

Discover Your Northwest, the nonprofit partner of the Deschutes National Forest, hosts a winter volunteer information night Oct. 27 for folks interested in supporting conservation education and naturalist programs this winter. The session starts at 6 p.m. in Bend.

Best excuse in Bend to be out in the snow all winter — and the programs kids and visitors love run on volunteers. Put Oct. 27 on the calendar now.

Source: Bend Bulletin →

💝 A Bend pilates studio has become a safe haven for breast cancer survivors

Jamie Skuse, owner of Club Pilates Bend on Robal Lane and an ambassador for Heaven Can Wait, has become the first person members and their friends and family reach out to — and the studio has become a safe haven for breast cancer survivors.

October is full of pink ribbons. This is the local, human version: a Bend studio where survivors actually gather and move together.

Source: Bend Bulletin →

🐟 An $11 million gate and fish screen are going in on Bend's main canal

North Unit Irrigation District has ended water deliveries for the season and started work on a new $11 million headgate and fish screen on its main canal in Bend.

The canal water that farms Central Oregon starts here. A modern fish screen means more of that water — and fewer fish — end up where each belongs.

Source: Bend Bulletin →

🎓 COCC faculty have a new three-year contract

Central Oregon Community College has approved a new three-year contract with significant faculty raises, the college board signed off this week.

If you, your kid, or your neighbor teaches or studies at COCC, this is three years of labor peace — and a college that can actually keep its instructors in an expensive town.

Source: Cascade Business News →

💼 Kiln threw its grand opening in the Old Mill — 42,000 square feet of coworking

Kiln, Bend's new 42,000-square-foot flexible coworking space in the Old Mill District, threw its grand opening celebration recently — some 400 attendees, live music, and local food and drinks.

The Old Mill keeps adding reasons to linger past the shops. If you work remote and your kitchen table is winning, this is the new room in town.

Source: Cascade Business News →

🏠 Bend is getting 25 new homes through a statewide affordable housing investment

Bend is getting 25 new homes through a statewide affordable housing investment, KTVZ reports this week.

Twenty-five homes won't fix Bend rents. But every affordable door that actually opens counts — watch for where they land and who qualifies.

Source: KTVZ NewsChannel 21 →

🍺 The Great American Beer Fest winners pour free at UPP Liquids Saturday night

UPP Liquids hosts a Great American Beer Fest Winners Party Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. — free — pouring the beers that just medaled at the country's biggest beer competition.

Award-season beer without the Denver flight. Saturday night, free, and the pour list does the bragging.

Source: UPP Liquids →

💡 Central Oregon once grew 20,000 acres of potatoes

In the 1960s and '70s, Central Oregon was a major commercial potato producer, with about 20,000 acres and several packing sheds — Redmond was the shipping center, and Portland wholesalers got 85% of their late potatoes from the region. Columbia Basin growers with center-pivot irrigation could pull 600 hundredweight per acre against Central Oregon's 350-400, and the commercial crop collapsed. The Culver-Madras area reinvented itself growing certified seed potatoes instead.

Repositions the region's ag identity — and corrects the 'Idaho owns potatoes' reflex.

Source: Spudman →

Friday morning: sunny and 77° today, mostly sunny and 67° Saturday, and the passes clear. Air is clean, fishing stays strong at Hosmer, Three Creek, and East and Paulina per ODFW. Cabin Butte and West Bend trail closures are still in effect — route your dirt time around them. Friday night clouds up with gusts to 22 mph, so stake the patio umbrella before the evening shows.

☀️ Friday — Sunny · High 77° · 💨 3 to 10 mph · 💧 0%

☁️ Friday Night — Mostly cloudy · Low 45° · 💨 3 to 10 mph · 💧 0%

🌤️ Saturday — Mostly sunny · High 67° · 💨 2 to 8 mph · 💧 0%

🎣 Fishing: Anglers report good fishing at Hosmer Lake and Little Lava Lake. Anglers can still fish for trout throughout the lower Deschutes. Using a large stonefly nymph or a double nymph setup with an indicator typically does well during the summer months. Anglers report excellent fishing for recently stocked and holdover trout at Three Creek Lake. With cooler temperatures and improved water clarity, anglers report improved rainbow trout fishing at Crane Prairie Reservoir. Anglers report good fall trout fishing at East and Paulina Lakes. (ODFW Recreation Report (October 8, 2026)) Report →

🚧 Roads: TripCheck shows no incidents on the passes this morning. (ODOT TripCheck)

🌲 Forest alert: Cabin Butte Area Closure (USFS Deschutes NF) Report →

🌲 Forest alert: West Bend Area Trail Closures (USFS Deschutes NF) Report →

Don't miss: Fungi Fest, Sat 9am — mushroom season's big day out, and it's free.

Don't miss: Annual Chili Fest at Bend Brewing, Sat 11am — chili, pints, fall in Bend.

Don't miss: KIDS Center Disco Masquerade Ball at the Hanai Center, tonight 7pm — costume season starts classy.

Neighbors & Makers — Fri, Oct 16 · 4:00 PM · 10 Barrel Brewing West Side · Local makers market with a pint in hand. Bend Magazine →

KIDS Center Disco Masquerade Ball — Fri, Oct 16 · 7:00 PM · Hanai Center · Disco masquerade benefit night, 70s style. Hanai Foundation →

Fungi Fest 2026 — Sat, Oct 17 · 9:00 AM · 57250 Overlook Rd · Free · All-things-mushroom festival day, free to attend. Bend Ticket →

Vamonos Outside — Community Bike Ride at Shevlin Park — Sat, Oct 17 · 10:00 AM · Shevlin Park · Free community ride through fall colors in the canyon. Bend Bikes →

Annual Chili Fest at Bend Brewing Company — Sat, Oct 17 · 11:00 AM · Bend Brewing Co · Chili cook-off day with Bend Brewing pours. Bend Magazine →

Classic Car Fest — Sat, Oct 17 · 11:00 AM · River's Place · Free · Classic cars lined up at River's Place, free. Bend Source →

Bend Bikes Saturday Social Ride — Sat, Oct 17 · 3:00 PM · Bend Bikes · Easy-paced social ride, all welcome. Bend Bikes →

A Speakeasy Affair — Sat, Oct 17 · 8:00 PM · Secret downtown Bend location · $35 · Satin Seduction burlesque/cabaret, secret downtown, guest-list only. Bend Magazine →

Live Music Around Town

⭐ Shire on the Mountain at Volcanic, tonight 8pm — bluegrass Lord of the Rings costume party. Yes, really.

⭐ Call Down Thunder at Volcanic, Sat 8pm — a Grateful Dead tribute night, $14.43.

⭐ The War and Treaty at the Tower, Tue Oct 20 — next week's headliner; get tickets now, not later.

Josh Cole Band — Fri, Oct 16 · McMenamins Old St. Francis · Live band night at Old St. Francis. Details →

Desiderata & Guests — Fri, Oct 16 · 7:00 PM · Silver Moon Brewing · $14.92 · Live set at Silver Moon Brewing. Tickets →

Live Music with Timothy James — Fri, Oct 16 · 7:00 PM · Stoller Wine Bar · Solo live set with wine-bar pours nearby. Details →

Shire on the Mountain — Fri, Oct 16 · 8:00 PM · Volcanic Theatre Pub · $22 · Bluegrass Lord of the Rings costume party. Tickets →

Live Music with Sugar Mountain — Sat, Oct 17 · 5:00 PM · Stoller Wine Bar · Early-evening live set, wine in hand. Details →

Jack Krouscup Quartet — Sat, Oct 17 · 6:00 PM · River's Place · Live quartet set on the patio stage. Details →

Call Down Thunder — Grateful Night of the Living Dead — Sat, Oct 17 · 8:00 PM · Volcanic Theatre Pub · $14.43 · Grateful Dead tribute night at Volcanic. Tickets →

Gabe Hess — Sun, Oct 18 · 5:00 PM · River's Place · Early-evening live set at River's Place. Details →

The War and Treaty with Blank Page — Tue, Oct 20 · 7:30 PM · Tower Theatre · $52–$72 · Soul-Americana duo, next week's Tower headliner. Tickets →

3rd happiest city in Oregon — HomeSnacks' 2026 ranking put Bend at #3 among Oregon's happiest cities, behind only Corvallis and Hood River — scored on low poverty, home values, and family demographics. Take any single happiness ranking with a grain of desert salt, but the pattern is consistent: Bend keeps showing up near the top of every livability list that touches Oregon.

Source: HomeSnacks

🌅 Sunrise 7:21 AM · 🌇 Sunset 6:19 PM

🕐 Daylight 10h 57m · Visible light 11h 56m · 2m 55s shorter tomorrow

🌒 Waxing Crescent · 33% lit · Rises 1:42 PM · Sets 9:58 PM

🌡️ Bend averages for today: High 63° · Low 33°

That's the Friday edition — the Weekend Send. A sunny weekend, a park to visit one last time, and a ballot to drop. Take care of each other out there.

Float on, Bend.

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