Have you ever wondered about
Memorial Day?
Memorial Day, originally called
Decoration Day, is a day of
remembrance for those who have
died in our nation’s service in
any war involving the United
States of America. Memorial Day
was officially proclaimed on May
5, 1868, by General John Logan,
national commander of the Grand
Army of the Republic following
the Civil War. The holiday was
first observed on May 30, 1868,
when flowers were placed on the
graves of the Union and
Confederate soldiers at
Arlington National Cemetery. We
at the Bend Chamber would
welcome this opportunity to
honor all of our members who
have served their country. May
those who still are serving
their country come home safe to
their family and friends. For
all of our Southern friends,
they have several days to honor
the Confederate war dead:
January 19 in Texas, April 26 in
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi
and Georgia; May 10 in South
Carolina and June 3 in Louisiana
and Tennessee.
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Rep. Burley helps city of Bend
on emergency preparedness bill
This week, the Oregon House of
Representatives unanimously
passed a bill, HB 2624, that was
introduced by Rep. Chuck Burley,
R-Bend, on behalf of the city of
Bend. The bill was the result of
a problem encountered in
December 2005 when the city
tried to reach the county in a
flood emergency. The bill
requires counties to establish a
procedure for processing and
transmitting to the Office of
Emergency Management a request
issued by cities to the
governor. The bill is now in the
Senate Committee on Emergency
Management and Ocean Policy.
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Balloons Over Bend Coming June 9
and 10th
The fourth annual Balloons Over
Bend, sponsored by LibertyBank,
is coming soon to Bend. More
than 20 hot air balloons will
take off from Jewell Elementary
School at about 6:30 a.m. on
June 9th and 10th.
The always popular Night Glow,
sponsored by Kirby Nagelhout
Construction, will be held at J
Bar J Youth Services on Hamby
Road beginning at 6 p.m. on June
9. That’s when you get a chance
to see balloons light up and
tether in the sky. There also
will be a variety of food
vendors, a beer garden,
activities for youngsters and
music from “Two Eds and
Friends.” All events are free.
For more information, go to
www.balloonsoverbend.com
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Pole Pedal Paddle brings
business to Bend
Last week’s question was, “What
impact did Pole, Pedal Paddle
have on your business?
Apparently for some, a lot. Some
responses:
“We are a new restaurant in the Old Mill and we saw a
ton of business. We’re glad they
moved the PPP from downtown
Bend. Many of our customers were
from out of town, so we hope
they come back.”
“We didn’t have any new business from the PPP. We’re
downtown and we used to have a
lot of people come into the
shop, but it’s dead now. I
understand why the city wanted
to move it out of Drake Park,
but it was a lousy decision for
downtown businesses.
“Thanks. We had a record year renting equipment. I hope
the PPP goes on forever!”
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New home prices take nosedive,
but sales up dramatically
The latest news in the housing
market: A drop in the price of
the average new home in April
led to a big sales increase. New
homes sold at an annual pace of
981,000 in April, up 16.2
percent from 844,000 in March.
That’s the biggest
month-to-month sales rate in 14
years. But April sales still
came in 10.6 percent below April
2006. The median price of a new
home sold in April was 10.9
percent below a year ago, at
$229,100. That’s the highest
year-to-year drop in median new
home prices since December 1970
and the largest month to month
drop on record.
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