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.

The very first Bend Bulletin from March 27, 1903, is a delightful little time capsule from a Bend that barely existed yet. One page, a handful of world headlines, and the kind of confidence only a frontier town could pull off.

Back then, the paper reported on everything from a $33,500 gold bar disappearing in Detroit to a runaway burning streetcar in Brooklyn to a Parisian opera singer getting shot through a train window in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, “News of Oregon” included the governor touring the future Celilo Canal, new jade discoveries in Southern Oregon, and counties doubling property values because they were “too low.” Classic.

My favorite part? Bend had no paved roads, no mills running yet, barely a main street — but we were absolutely determined to keep up with national politics like the Panama Canal Treaty depended on us.

The whole thing reads like a tiny town raising its hand and saying,
“We’re here. Someone write this down.”

And now, 122 years later… we still are.

There’s something incredibly endearing about reading the first Bend Bulletin.

This was a town that wasn’t quite a town yet, a settlement on a river bend, with no mills running, no Drake Park, no breweries, not even the faintest whiff of a roundabout. And still… here was a newspaper.

A community trying to stitch itself together with stories.

A place saying, “We exist. We matter. Someone write this down.”

And more than 120 years later, that’s still the job.

The stories change, fewer gold-brick heists, more food trucks and roundabout opinions, but the instinct is the same:
Tell people what’s happening. Help them feel part of Bend. Keep the record alive, even if it’s messy, small, or sideways.

And honestly?
Reading that first edition makes The Bend Banner feel like we’re part of something old and very local and very human.

A century-long chain of people writing down what this place is becoming, one week at a time.

There’s a particular kind of December panic in Bend: the moment you realize it’s basically Christmas, and you still haven’t made your holiday cards. Not shot the photo, not designed the card, not even figured out where to print these.

Maybe you were busy skiing fake snow on Bachelor. Maybe you were stuck in traffic behind someone learning how roundabouts work. Maybe you simply believed, foolishly, that you had “plenty of time.”
You didn’t.

So here are your real Bend options when the clock is melting:

Look, Bend is full of very competent people who roast their own coffee and repair their own bike tires in their garages. But even here, holiday cards take down the best of us.

No judgment. Just options.

🐱 Sailor – Terrier/Pit Mix - 2 years
Sailor is friendly, social, and loves to play with the other dogs.

🐶 Potato – 5 months, Irish Wolfhound
This big guy is already 60lbs, and will likely be north of 100lbs by the time he’s full-grown.

Want more event tips every week? Follow The Bend Banner on Instagram.

Holiday Gift Wrapping @ Unity Community | 1 PM

Ladies Climb Night @ Bend Rock Gym | 6:30 PM

Lunch & Learn Holiday Sing-Along @ Larkspur Community Center | 12 PM

Women Tasting Flights – Holiday Sparkle @ Flights Wine Bar | 5:30–7 PM

Christmas Carolling @ First United Methodist Church | 6:30 PM

Graphic Novel Book Club (Kids) @ Larkspur Community Center | 4:30 PM

Hoodoo’s Wintervention @ Sunriver Brewing East | 6 PM

Holiday Craft Beer Dinner @ Terranaut Beer Lab | 5:30 PM

Ugly Sweater Run @ Ballers & Brews | 6 PM

Winter Solstice Open House @ Hanai | 4 PM

Elise Franklin Quartet @ The Commonwealth Pub | 7 PM

Home Alone Trivia Night @ Open Space Event Studios | 7 PM

3 Sisters Painting in Acryllic @ Layor Art + Supply | 5 PM

Street Dog Hero Bingo @ Midtown Yacht Club | 6 PM

Danger Gently and Friends @ The Cellar | 6 PM

Art with a Splash of Science @ Tower Theatre | 1–4 PM

Swingin’ Tower Christmas @ Tower Theatre | 7:00 PM

Bingo & Brews Night @ Spider City Brewing | 6 PM

Winter Nights: Snowology! @ High Desert Museum | 4–7 PM

Skinny Dennis @ The Lot | 6–8 PM

Swingin’ Tower Christmas! @ Tower Theatre | 7 PM

Immersive Breathwork & Sound Healing @ Hanai Center | 7–8:30 PM

Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Bend Christmas Show! @ Cascades Theatrical Company | 7:30 PM

Winter Flower Bar @ The Grove | 4-7 pm

Ugly Sweater Day @ McMenamins @ Old St. Francis School | All Day

Dirksen Derby 18 Snowboard Rally Race @ Mt. Bachelor | 8 AM–4 PM

SantaLand in the Old Mill District @ Old Mill District | 11 AM–5 PM

Mt Bachelor’s Birthday Party @ Mt. Bachelor | 1–2 PM

Fort Rock: Sunset Hike & Stargazing @ With Wanderlust Tours | 3–8 PM

Stargazing at Fort Rock @ With Wanderlust Tours | 3–8 PM

Kids Makers Market @ Holm Made Toffee Co. @ NE 1st St | 4–7 PM

Swingin’ Tower Christmas! @ Tower Theatre | 7 PM

Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Bend Christmas Show! @ Cascades Theatrical Company | 7:30 PM

SHINE at The Commonwealth Pub @ The Commonwealth Pub | 8–11 PM

Magical Markets of Merriment @ Somewhere That’s Green | 10 AM–5 PM

All Aboard! Michael the Train Man @ Deschutes Public Library (Downtown) | 10:30

SantaLand in the Old Mill District @ Old Mill District | 11 AM–5 PM

Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Bend Christmas Show @ Cascades Theatrical Company | 2 PM

Carolers in the Old Mill District @ Old Mill District | 3:30–5:30 PM

Solstice Ski Concert @ Meissner Sno-Park @ Virginia Meissner Sno-Park | 5–8 PM

Deck The Walls @ Bend Brewing Company | 5–10 PM

Swingin' Tower Christmas! @ Tower Theatre | 7 PM

Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Bend Christmas Show! @ Cascades Theatrical Company | 7:30 PM

Magical Markets of Merriment @ Somewhere That’s Green | 10 AM–5 PM

All Aboard! Michael The Train Man @ Deschutes Public Library (Downtown) | 10 AM–12:30 PM & 3–5:30 PM

SantaLand in the Old Mill District @ Old Mill District | 11 AM–5 PM
Santa holds court above LUSH and BUDD + FINN with photos, wish lists, and riverfront strolling built in. Peak Old Mill December energy.

Carolers in the Old Mill District @ Old Mill District | 12–3:30 PM
Choirs and a cappella groups wander the paths and plazas, turning your errands into a movie soundtrack. Just try not to hum along.

Swingin' Tower Christmas! @ Tower Theatre | 2 PM
Matinee edition of the big-band holiday revue. Perfect for families, grandparents, and anyone who prefers to be home in sweatpants by 8.

Ebenezer Scrooge's Big Bend Christmas Show @ Cascades Theatrical Company | 2 PM

Holiday Themed Trivia Night @ On Tap | 5–7 PM

Christmas In The Pines @ Crook County Fairgrounds (Prineville) | 5:30–9 PM

Until Next Week,

Paige & Mason

PS. Own or manage a local business? Reach out! We are looking for our first few newsletter sponsors and have a few great New Year packages to reach the 1051 members of the Banner.