Wow, that was quite the season finisher!!! I am exhausted, exhilarated and energized by everything we did.

Starting on Saturday with South Wasco Connect, months in the planning with South Wasco Alliance and South Wasco High School, this was a brand new event that wasn’t supposed to land on the day that it did, but when it became obvious that it had to, we all pulled it together. There was engagement from companies and individuals across the state that came to meet one another and to recruit and share their experiences. Kaiser Park was full of white canopies and happy, engaged people. We will most definitely make this an annual event, but the date WILL change! We need the high school kids so it won’t be on a home-coming weekend or a day full of sporting activities (but that will always be a challenge), and for my sanity it won’t be on a day that has three more events following it.

At 3:00pm we moved to the track, gathering along with the National Guard, runners brought by the inimitable Mr Bergman, and a good local crowd to properly thank the NG for their 80 trucks in 10 days of 800 tonnes of rock that enabled the track to be built in the first place. We ate shaved ice and walked the track to Carver Corner and looked out down the canyon as the river curves away and it felt pretty good.

And then we were back at Kaiser Park to get ready for the thing I’ve been planning for a couple of years and due to Covid was unable to make happen – dinner for the whole city hosted by The Chamber. Turns out this WAS the year to do it, as Maupin celebrated it’s 100 year centenary. We had pulled pork from The Stockyard and pizza by The Don, Shaved Ice from Tygh Valley and our very own Maupin100 beer from Freebridge in The Dalles. The kids bashed a couple of Piñatas into oblivion and on we went…into the last event of the day – Tricycle Races! Every year we raise a bit of money for one of the high school teams and this year it was Girls Basketball. 6 races were run with 6 entrants in each race giving us 6 winners to run the final, which was won in style by Duncan Lewis. $180 raised for the team and a lot of fun was had doing it.

Sunday started early with Ride Row Run down at the Imperial. About 45 people entered the race, starting with a run down to the Imperial from Kaiser Park, leaping on their bicycles to ride the scenic loop back to the Imperial where they jumped into kayaks or rafts if they were a team and paddled hard down to Blue Hole where they then had to run back to the Imperial and the finish line. Every year I watch it and think – damn I could do that (but have yet to actually commit!).

The very last event of the season was gathering on the grass to listen to, watch and walk or dance around to Hunter Noack who played his 100 year old Steinway piano for 360 lucky people. We gave away nearly 60 free tickets to locals and 300 more came from far and wide to listen to Hunter and his guest musicians. We lay down under the piano to really FEEL Ravel’s Bolero, we sang hard knowing that no one could hear us under our headphones and we cried a bit too. What a fabulous end to a beautiful summer. Thank you for letting me force the unlikely on you all!!

Black & white SWC photos by Doug Lowell. 

In A Landscape photos by Arthur Hitchcock.