january @ thump

New Exhibit: Carol Sternkopf “The Danger Show” (opens First Friday, January 4, 2008)

Continuing through January: Bear Creek Elementary Young Artists Exhibit; Wishes Redux 2008

The conceptual thread linking Bend-based photographer Carol Sternkopf’s exhibition at Thump Coffee this month stems from two ever-vigilant characters from her youth: The Robot from the classic ’60s TV show, “Lost in Space,” and her mother Harriet. Both figures seemed to find “Danger! Danger!” everywhere.

“This series is to honor fear, whether real, fictional, or somewhere in between,” says Sternkopf. “These photos explore the risks we take throughout life. Bungee jumping, ice climbing, swimming with sharks, boarding an airplane, or simply taking on love — there’s potential loss that might happen from doing any of it.”

Sternkopf dedicates this show to her recently deceased mother, “even though I’m pretty sure she cannot possibly be resting in peace.”

With the help of five Bear Creek Elementary School teachers and their classrooms, Thump Coffee owner Hazel Chapple presented the theme "On A Winter's Night, The Sky Showered Us With Gifts." Students created wrapping paper and constructed the paper into small gift boxes. Then, each artist wrote about a non-material gift they wished to give to their family, school, city, country or planet. “Something to make someone else's life a little better,” Hazel explains. The gift boxes hang from Thump’s ceiling.

Now through the end of February, the public is invited to come by Thump and create a new "Wish Plank" for 2008. Artist Mark Bernahl encourages people to take their new plank of wood home to work on it if they choose. The new wishes will be hung at the end of February.

Go to Thump Coffee.

Local Snowless Skiing Film: "Love Me Cinder"

This just in from my friend Renee Davidson at GrassrootsPR. Jonas Tarlen's video is hilarious - he's also done a Himalayan expedition video, without the Himalayas. What a hoot! -hoc

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Local Snowless Skiing Film Released on DVD
"Love Me Cinder" Now Available at Pine Mountain Sports


BEND, Ore. – December 14, 2007 – "Love Me Cinder," a locally-made movie about the adventurous sport of snowless skiing, is now available at Pine Mountain Sports. Filmmaker Jonas Tarlen of Bend debuted the short film at the Powder Hound Preview, which was held in the Tower Theatre on November 28. It was the second installment in Tarlen's snowless-skiing series. The first also debuted at Powder Hound, in 2006.

"Jonas' cinder skiing film was, once again, the crowd favorite," said Dan McGarigle, owner of Pine Mountain Sports, which sponsors Powder Hound. "We had so many requests that we asked him to burn it onto DVD."

Both cinder skiing films are now available on one DVD at Pine Mountain Sports. Discs cost $12 each, and proceeds will help support Tarlen's ski habit. A one-minute movie trailer is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTsrtLYXlas

Powder Hound is Pine Mountain Sports' annual "Welcome to Winter" party. Hundreds of locals pack the Tower Theatre to watch ski slideshows and movies made by locals. Organizers raffle off thousands of dollars worth of outdoor gear, and proceeds benefit Central Oregon Trail Alliance and Deschutes County Search and Rescue. This year's event raised $2500.

New resort by Mt. Bachelor?

A friend just sent me this while I was working late last night. They're building a new resort up by Mt. Bachelor? -hoc
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For Immediate Release

Borealis Resort Development Announces Plans for
Destination Resort Community:
Long-Awaited Luxury Residences and Accommodations Coming to Mt. Bachelor

(BEND, OR - December 14, 2007) Bend-based Borealis Resort Development announced today that it is partnering with Wildland Property, a global resort real estate brokerage based in Plano, Texas, to market and develop Borealis: The Village™. Located on 700 acres just three miles northwest of Mt. Bachelor, Borealis will be the closest community to the ski resort.

“Borealis is a long-awaited dream come to true,” said Sam Hillson, president of Borealis Resort Development. “Ever since Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort began operations in the '50s, people have envisioned the possibility of mountain-side accommodations. We’re finally going to make it a reality.”

Designed for today’s active lifestyles, Borealis Resort will link directly to the slopes of Mt. Bachelor via an extensive network of hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country ski trails. This one-of-a-kind community will also feature a members' clubhouse, a 150-room hotel with 50 adjacent high-end cabins for overnight rentals, a spa, restaurant, meeting space, 379 single-family homes and 210 townhomes. Plans call for an 18-hole championship golf course surrounded by millions of acres of old-growth forests that boast sweeping vistas of icy volcanoes and alpine lakes.

Additionally, Borealis announced that it selected Longmont, CO-based engineering firm Grand Shelters to help create the resort community. Grand Shelters designs are found in mountain locations worldwide. The firm is known for producing elegant structures based on the self-supporting catenary curve, the same architectural form and engineering principles behind the flying buttresses of Europe’s most splendid cathedrals.

Green-building practices and materials will be incorporated throughout the resort, and Borealis will pursue LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. “The environment is our most precious asset, and we must protect it,” Hillson stated. “Everything will blend in seamlessly with the natural landscape.”

The resort’s name was inspired by the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, which are a rarely seen phenomenon in Central Oregon skies. “This rare and special quality is perfectly appropriate to our unique vision for the resort,” Hillson remarked.

Thanks to a wildly successful word-of-mouth campaign, Wildland Property has already begun accepting reservations from eager investors, and Borealis Resort Development plans to complete Phase I of the master-planned community by Spring 2008.

For information, visit www.BendBorealis.com, call 541-815-0907 or email info@bendborealis.com. For real estate inquiries, contact Wildland Property at 972-607-9480 or email info@wildlandproperty.com.

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Media Contacts:
B.C. McCoy, Borealis Resort Development, 541-815-0907, info@bendborealis.com
Neville Williamson, Wildland Property, 972-607-9480, info@wildlandproperty.com

Forest Service Road 40/45: Skjersaa Rd.

(photo: left to right, Karen, Greta and Olaf Skjersaa in Meier & Frank catalog photo shot at Hoodoo, circa 1951.)

According to my colleague Anna Johnson at Descutes County, "Following the recent reconstruction of Forest Service Road 40/45, (also known as the Sunriver to Mt. Bachelor road), Deschutes County Commissioners are asking the public for ideas on what to rename the road."

Here's my suggestion:

Skjersaa Rd.
No other single family has contributed more to the development of skiing as an industry in Central Oregon than the Skjersaas: Nils, Olaf, Grace, Karol, Terry, Karen, Greta, Terry Jr. - all of these members of the Skjersaa family were champion skiers, ski industry pioneers, and visionaries who enabled the development of Mt. Bachelor and the ski industry as we know it today in Deschutes County. Most of them still call Central Oregon home. I can't think of a more fitting name for this road.

photo: Skyliners Ski Club nordic team, circa 1930. Olaf is second from right, Nils is wearing #1 fourth from right.

PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ANNA JOHNSON to express your support of Skjersaa Rd. ONLY contact her to suggest your own name ideas. She is simply compiling a list of submitted names, and the Board of County Commissioners will make the decision:
annaj@deschutes.org

If you have any information about the Skyliners Ski Club - contact information for surviving members of the elder, "founding" generations in particular, family photos, stories, news clippings, etc., I would love to see and hear about it.

- Harold Olaf (Skjersaa) Cecil

december @ thump

NOTE: Go to the Thump Coffee website to sign up for this monthly newsletter: http://www.thumpcoffee.com/contact.htm

First Friday Art Walk, December 7, 5pm - 8pm

ART: Empty Bowls Redux
Each fall NeighborImpact (formerly COCAAN), Central Oregon's champion for local economically disadvantaged people, hosts the Empty Bowls project to kick-off National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Hand-thrown bowls created by local artists for the event will be on display at Thump Coffee and available for purchase to raise funds for NeighborImpact's efforts.

For more about NeighborImpact, go to http://www.neighborimpact.org
Read more about the national Empty Bowls project at http://www.emptybowls.net

ART: Oregon Natural Desert Association 2008 Calendar (continuing through mid-January)
ONDA's annual Calendar Sale raises funds for the local non-profit conservation organization whose mission is to preserve and restore public lands East of the Cascade Mountains. Featuring gorgeous landscape photography donated by shooters such as Greg Burke, Jim Davis, Scott Erickson, Mike Henetz, Bruce Jackson and David Sherrill, 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these breathtaking calendars will go directly to ONDA when purchased at Thump Coffee. These calendars make a wonderful holiday gift for anyone who has never seen the stark beauty of Oregon's desertscape.

Learn more about ONDA at http://www.onda.org/

ART: Altered Books Redux
Local artist Mark Bernahl's "Altered Books" are showcased again this month. "I started sculpting into books partly because I am color blind and this limited the type of art I can make," Berhahl explains. "Plus, I always strive for making art that is beautiful and unique."

Bernahl says it takes him approximately a week to carve one of his book sculptures. He chooses the images he carves from the title or the pages in the book. "When I see any book the first thing that comes to my mind is what sculpture is already in it, and can I get it out."

Bernahl's "Wishes" installation has become a fixture at the downtown Bend coffeehouse, and continues to hang from the ceiling because it has been so well received. "When I started making art I could not afford traditional art materials and framing my art was not an option," says Bernahl. "So I started making art that did not have to be framed. This led me to making art in non traditional ways."

Before moving to Bend eight years ago, Bernahl studied architecture in Colorado and Illinois. He is actively involved in Artists Local 101 and recently presented a seminar, "Artist Portfolio on the Web," at the Deschutes County Public Library in Bend.

ART: Wishes Redux 2008
Mark Bernahl's "Wishes" installation takes a bow to make room for Bend's young artists (see Bear Creek story below). Starting on First Friday and continuing through the end of February, people can come in to create a new "Wish Plank" for 2008. Artist Mark Bernahl encourages people to take their new plank of wood home to work on it if they choose. The new wishes will be hung at the end of February.

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Mid-December through January: Bear Creek Elementary's Young Artists' Exhibit

ART: "On a Winter's Night, The Sky Showered Us With Gifts" Installation

This month Mark Bernahl's popular "Wishes" installation, which has been hanging from the coffeehouse ceiling since May, will be replaced by enchanting works from nearly 150 Bear Creek Elementary School students.

When choosing a location for downtown coffeehouse Thump Coffee, one goal for owners Kent and Hazel Chapple was that the space allowed them to feature the work of young artists.

"When I taught fourth grade at Bear Creek Elementary in Bend, it struck me that many kids had never been downtown or to Drake Park. They stayed in their area of town," says Hazel. "I wanted to give kids from varying neighborhoods and socioeconomic backgrounds a reason to come downtown — and I wanted them to realize that their art is worthy of being shared with the public."

With the help of five Bear Creek teachers and their classrooms, Hazel presented the theme "On A Winter's Night, The Sky Showered Us With Gifts." Using a variety of printing techniques, the students created wrapping paper to decorate gift boxes (donated by The Foot Zone). Then, each artist wrote about a non-material gift they wished to give to their family, school, city, country or planet. "Something to make someone else's life a little better," Hazel explains. The gift tags are attached to each box, which will hang from Thump's ceiling, along with objects you might see in a winter night, such as stars, planets, snowflakes and moons.

By displaying works by elementary school artists during the holidays, Hazel hopes it might "bring them and their families to witness something to be proud of, their work and their city." Her hope is to feature young artists annually, and to expand it to include more artists from grades K-12.

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CUPPING: None this month, the cupper's on vacation.

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Featured Cup: El Salvador Finca Kilimanjaro Direct Trade
According to Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Finca Kilimanjaro is the first-ever grand prize winner in the history of the El Salvador Cup of Excellence: "Since her 2003 victory Aida Batlle has maximized the potential of her SL28 coffee trees (hence the reference to Mt. Kilimanjaro, one of the original planting sights of the famous seed varietal) through vigorous commitment to picking and processing. Her family's farm, purchased by her father Mauricio in 1973, is perched along the slopes of the Santa Ana Volcano in Central El Salvador. With altitudes ranging between 1580 and 1720 meters above sea level, Finca Kilimanjaro truly soars to heights above the rest. Finca Kilimanjaro's silken texture overlays flavors of red currant, cherry jolly rancher and rosé with a delicate perfume aroma."

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Thumpology: Direct Trade
Thump is most fortunate to work with a coffee roasting company (Stumptown Coffee Roasters) who searches the world for the finest coffees — and for farmers who treat both their land and their employees with integrity. Stumptown builds lasting relationships with these farmers, visiting them multiple times a year and paying them directly, at least double Fair Trade prices. This insures that the farmers and their workers are paid equitably and that they have the financial resources to maintain and develop their farming infrastructure. When you see the words "Direct Trade" next to one of the coffees offered at Thump, know that Stumptown works directly with this coffee farm, paying them generously for their outstanding coffee. In turn, these farmers are paying their workers equitably and are committed to using sustainable
farming methods.

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Thump Coffee is located downtown Bend at 25 NW Minnesota Ave. For more information, call 388-0226 or visit http://ThumpCoffee.com

Source's Laurie J. Rice Reviews Jackalope Grill

I ordered the rouladen because I had never seen it on a menu before, and I wasn't quite sure when or where I might have the chance to try it again. I loved it. The combination of flavors - meaty rich, salty with a subtle sour twang - was far better than I could have imagined. Chef Tim really knows food. -hoc
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Defying The Adages: Expecting the unexpected at the Jackalope Grill

by Laurie J. Rice
The Source Weekly - Wednesday, 28 November 2007

You’ve never had a pickle this good - Jackalope’s Beef Rouladen.

So often we hear that location is everything for a restaurant. If it’s not in a good spot, death is inevitable once the initial curiosity has worn thin. Then there are those restaurants like Zydeco – perched between a car dealership and a fast food restaurant – and Kokanee Café – located in a beautiful setting, but an hour from most of the area’s population – that have defied that adage. Another of these location-challenged, but successful, restaurants is the Jackalope Grill, which I visited recently with a friend who had deemed it the best restaurant in the area.

From a marketing standpoint, the strip mall location and commonplace bones of the space are big deterrents. Those same weaknesses become strengths when viewed through the lens of convenience. The restaurant is right off Highway 97 and offers ample parking. As a result, getting there can be less stressful and time consuming than dining downtown.
Inside Jackalope, owner Kathy Garling has made the most of the interior. Charming and comfortable in a homey, unpretentious but upscale way, the acoustic tiles are partly hidden by drapes of gauzy blue linen and twinkly star shaped lights float over each table. Red and gold walls bring a soothing touch while tiny lights interwoven into the spiky snake plants make a clever privacy screen between the dining room and the entrance. Between the carpeted floor and the soft materials used throughout, the sound level stays at a comfortable din – busy and cheery, but never deafening.

My dining companion and I found ourselves in a comfortable booth looking over the Jackalope Grill menu while the knowledgeable server told us about the specials. It was a Friday night, a little before the 7 p.m. dinner hour, but still the place was almost full; by 7:30 there was not an empty seat.

We perused the 18-page, well-organized wine list emblazoned with the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence seal the restaurant recently received and decided to leave the choice up to owner Garling. The variety of wines is well rounded and at good price points ranging from $20 - $250. There is a balanced selection between the high cost and more economical wines, featuring some bottles I’ve rarely seen on other Central Oregon wine lists. After a quick description of what we wanted—a full, smooth red with a big finish—Kathy brought us a 2004 Chateau Pesquie Cotes du Ventoux Cuvees des Terressas from the Rhone Valley in France, a $29 bottle of wine with the distinct character and lushness of a more expensive bottle.

Next came a salad my friend and I opted to split. Recently I have steered clear of salads, finding that many have been subjected to either a heavy or stingy hand in the dressing department. This salad, I’m happy to say, was perfectly dressed with a pear vinaigrette complimenting the Northwest flavors of field greens, blue cheese, hazelnuts and dried cranberries.

The meal was nicely paced with a few minutes to sip wine between our salad and entrees. Stylishly plated, our entrees tasted as good as they looked. My companion’s Filet Mignon was beautifully rare with the right amount of rich, green peppercorn sauce brightened with a touch of brandy.

I ordered a traditional German dish off the special list that I’d never tasted. Chef Timothy Garling rolls thin pieces of Oregon flank steak around bacon, onions and, yes, pickles to create a classic Beef Roulade. It sounds strange but it tastes great. The pickles add a bit of umph, but don’t take over. And bacon, of course, makes everything it touches that much better. Served with it’s own juices, a big portion of tender spaetzle and some tart red cabbage, I can’t think when I’ve enjoyed the lowly pickle as much.

We finished our meal with a homemade macadamia coconut ice cream filled with whole nuts and creamy coconut milk, and a juicy pear tart with some of the flakiest crust I’ve ever tasted.

You’ve got to hand it to any restaurant that can serve up an amazing haute Northwest cuisine experience while sharing a parking lot with Blockbuster Video. Once again Jackalope Grill has defied all adages and proves that location is less important to success than the overall experience.

Jackalope Grill

1245 S Hwy 97, 318-8435