We’re Paige and Mason. The Bend Banner is our way of keeping tabs on this wild, beautiful place we call home. To the mornings that start with coffee and mountain air, the trails that somehow always lead to a brewery, and the kind of small-town stories that remind you why you chose to live here in the first place.

50 Years of the Nordic Center

Before the Nordic Center had a lodge.
Before the trail maps.
Before Emil’s Clearing became the place you regroup, snack, and quietly judge wax choices.

There was a one-page memo.

In the mid-1970s, when cross-country skiing was still something most American resorts treated like an afterthought, a Mt. Bachelor ski instructor named Bob Mathews typed up a simple proposal and handed it to then-president Bill Healy. The idea was modest: regularly groomed Nordic trails. A place for people who enjoy quiet effort more than chairlifts and noise.

Healy said yes.

That decision, made without much fanfare, turns 50 this year.

Back then, grooming meant snowmobiles, homemade track setters, and a lot of improvising. Lessons happened on ungroomed snow. Early loops hugged the Cascade Lakes Highway and Dutchman Flat. The “Nordic Center” was eventually a trailer in a parking lot. And still, people showed up. About 2,000 visits in the first season. Then more. And more.

By the early 1980s, the place had quietly become something special. National teams trained here. Major races followed. Trails multiplied and started taking on familiar names. Woody’s Way. Oli’s Alley. Leslie’s Lunge. Each one a nod to the people who built this thing by showing up every winter and making it better than it needed to be.

In 1983, the Nordic Center finally got a real lodge. Not flashy. Just right. Rentals, a café, space to warm your hands and swap stories. By then, skier visits had climbed past 12,000 a year. By the time Mathews stepped away in the early ’90s, that number was closer to 30,000.

Today, Mt. Bachelor’s Nordic network stretches nearly 56 kilometers. It’s the largest in Oregon and one of the longest-running seasons in the country, often pushing into May. Olympic teams still train here. So do retirees, kids, first-timers, and people who just want to move quietly through snow for a few hours.

The Asian Market Bend’s Been Missing

There’s a quiet kind of joy that comes from walking into a place and realizing, almost immediately, that it fills a gap.

That was Tomi Mart for me.

A proper Asian market. Right here in Bend. Not a novelty aisle. Not three sad bottles of soy sauce tucked next to the olive oil. The real stuff. Rows of ramen you’ve only seen online. Noodles with different cuts and textures that actually matter. Chili pastes that smell like trouble in the best way. Sauces you’ve cooked around for years because you couldn’t find the right one. Frozen meats, real rice options, spices that don’t taste like dust.

It’s the kind of store that makes you want to cook something new instead of defaulting to the same five dinners you’ve been rotating since 2019.

And that’s why places like this matter.

Little markets like Tomi Mart are more than convenient. They’re culture. They’re permission. They say: you don’t have to live in a big city to eat well, cook well, or explore flavors that didn’t grow up here but absolutely belong here now.

Growth isn’t just about more breweries or nicer patios. It’s about having the kinds of everyday places that make a town feel complete. Places that serve communities that have always been here. Places that quietly make life better for everyone who walks through the door with a basket and an open mind.

Go wander the aisles. Pick up something you can’t pronounce. Ask a question. Cook something ambitious.

This town’s better for having places like this.

🐾Bend’s Best Good Boys & Good Girls 🐾

🐶 Comet – 1 year, Terrier/Pit
Comet is an easygoing pup who has enjoyed hanging with other dogs since coming in as a stray.

🐱 Sailor – 2 years - Terrier/Pit
Social and friendly with the dogs he’s met, this boy loves to play. He will be a great companion to anyone.

🐶 Bee - 5 years- Retriever/Lab
True to his lab roots, Bee is a goofy, playful pup with an eagerness for life.

The Bend Banner is as local as it gets — written here, for the people who actually call this place home.

No big media machine, no out-of-town editor guessing what Bend cares about. Just a weekly letter built from real conversations, real places, and real curiosity.

If you choose to support it, every bit helps me bring you more of the good stuff — the stories, the characters, the weird corners of this town that deserve a spotlight.

Appreciate you, friends. Thanks for being part of this.

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