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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
Redmond, Oregon • $1
redmondspokesman.com
A special good morning to subscriber Carol Wolfe
@RedmondSpox
Honor Flight returns to Redmond
BY ZACK DEMARS
The Bulletin
File photo
Former Marine Dane Prevatt, right, one of the organizers for this year’s
Honor Flight, sports and Honor Flight T-shirt at previous organizing
events for this past week’s trip to Washington, D.C., war memorials.
REDMOND — Two dozen Central Or-
egon veterans got a hero’s welcome over
the weekend.
After two years stalled by the
COVID-19 pandemic, an Honor Flight
took 24 veterans from the Vietnam and
Korean wars to the nation’s capital last
week to visit memorials, tour museums
and meet with Congressman Cliff Bentz.
“A lot of guys said this was a very heal-
ing trip,” said Dane Prevatt, the organizer
of Honor Flight of Central Oregon.
The group, one of over a hundred local
chapters, coordinates free flights and tours
for area veterans who served in World War
II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
The trips are designed to show veterans
the national memorials honoring their ser-
vice that they might not otherwise be able
to visit.
The organization’s last flight was in May
2019, and organizers had to “gamble” a bit
by making plans for this September’s flight
without knowing if the COVID-19 pan-
demic would allow them to go until a few
weeks in advance. That gamble paid off
when the national Honor Flight organiza-
tion gave the Central Oregon chapter the
green light to make the trip.
“It was tough, but those guys, they were
awesome. It was exactly what the honor
flight should be,” Prevatt said.
One highlight included an early morn-
ing visit to the National Archives.
“We got to see the original documents
— the Constitution, the Bill of Rights
and several original articles,” Prevatt said.
“When you join the military, you take an
oath to defend the Constitution.”
See Honor Flight / P4
Bend pastor
to run for
County
Commission
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
CLEARING THE AIR
BasX doubles down on manufacturing expansion
in Redmond, where it first set up shop in 2014
BY MICHAEL KOHN • The Bulletin
D
riving into Redmond from
the south along U.S. High-
way 97, one will surely
wonder — what is that
massive new building going up on
the east side?
In what looks like an airport han-
gar, sporting a huge BasX sign, is
actually a manufacturing facility for
HVAC systems specially designed for
data centers, clean rooms and other
high-tech facilities.
Matt Tobolski and Dave Benson,
the founders of BasX LLC, are capi-
talizing on tech boom times, creating
space-age systems for customers that
are themselves growing like gang-
busters. Their clientele list includes
some of Silicon Valley’s largest tech
companies.
That’s good news for the city of
Redmond, which is making a name
for itself as a manufacturing and light
industry hub. BasX has been recently
joined by Wild Mike’s Pizza, which is
in the process of building a 270,000
square foot food processing plant in
Redmond. The city is also home to
medical supplies company Medline,
dairy products producer Eberhard’s,
and jet aircraft manufacturer Stratos.
Rapid expansion
But with its new facility on High-
way 97, BasX is emerging as a major
player in the city of 30,000 people.
The new building adds 90,000 square
feet to the existing 110,000 square
foot facility.
Inside, workers are busy building
cooling solutions for data centers.
They also churn out environmental
control systems for cleanroom appli-
cations to be used at semi-conductor
plants, pharmaceutical companies
and operating rooms.
The company has come a long
way since 2014 when Tobolski and
Benson purchased an abandoned
Walmart on Redmond’s south side.
At the time the pair spent $6 mil-
Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photos
ABOVE: Construction is nearly complete on the 75,000-square-foot manufacturing
floor expansion of BasX in Redmond. AT TOP: Employees build HVAC cooling and
clean room systems at BasX.
lion to transform the Walmart into a
manufacturing plant. Over the past
18 months, they’ve spent $23 mil-
lion on the new building and equip-
ment.
Tobolski, who previously worked
as a consulting engineer, said it was
a challenge to remake the Walmart
building. But since the new facility is
purpose-built, it has increased their
efficiency immeasurably.
See BasX / P4
Morgan Schmidt, a pastor
with the First Presbyterian
Church of Bend, is running for
a seat on the Deschutes County
Commission.
Schmidt, 36, is a Demo-
crat and if she is successful in
the primaries next May, will
challenge Commissioner Patti
Adair. Adair, a Republican, was
elected in 2018. Adair told The
Bulletin she is planning to seek
reelection.
This is Schmidt’s first run for
public office.
Schmidt
said she began
considering a
run for office
after watching
a county com-
mission meet-
Schmidt
ing in May,
when Adair
proposed an ordinance that
essentially stated the county
would not enforce capacity lim-
its for churches for public health
reasons.
“I couldn’t believe our
elected officials would be
working against the good of
the people,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said she is disap-
pointed in the way Adair has
responded to the COVID-19
pandemic by shooting down
ideas, like incentivizing county
employees to get vaccinated, and
said the county needs leadership
that is “not willing to listen to
public health misinformation.”
Near the beginning of the
pandemic, Schmidt launched a
Facebook page called pandemic
partners, which connected
people in the community who
needed help with those who
could provide it. Over the past
year, she also has become a vo-
cal advocate for Bend’s home-
less population, and helped
coordinate emergency shelters
for extreme weather events, like
cold and smoke.
See Commission / P4
Events in and around Redmond
The Redmond Spokesman welcomes event information for
its community calendar. Submissions are limited to nonprofit,
free and live entertainment events. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday
for the following Wednesday’s paper. Items are published on a
space-available basis and may be edited. Contact us at
news@redmondspokesman.com or fax 541-548-3203.
WEDNESDAY 9/29
Sept. 29; 9:30-11:30 a.m.; Free registration required; OSU Extension
Service, online; extension.oregonstate.edu or 541-548-6088.
Know Des(s)erts — Dessert at Home With Ahja King: Learn how
to make your own fruit pie crumble bars by following along with
the virtual program; 6-7 p.m.; Free; Deschutes Public Library, online;
deschuteslibrary.org
All About Otters: Join Deschutes Land Trust and Jen Zalewski to learn
about the river otters that call Central Oregon’s streams and waterways
home; 4-5 p.m.; Free; Deschutes Land Trust, online; deschuteslandtrust.org
How to Start Running this Fall: Beginner runners looking to get
outside, relieve stress and get some much-needed “me” time can learn
more with this talk led by training group coach Michell Poirot; 6-7 p.m.;
Free; FootZone, online; ceilingunlimitedhealthcoaching.com or 541-
317-3568.
THURSDAY 9/30
Zoom in on Drying Fruits and Veggies: The class will teach
participants how to dry fruits and vegetables safely. Register by noon
Live at the Vineyard — Melody and Dave: The local duo will perform
original Americana, blues, country and Southern rock, with covers
from Patsy Cline to Tom Petty and everything in between; 5-8 p.m.; $10
adults, children under 12 free; Faith, Hope and Charity Vineyards, 70450
NW Lower Valley Drive, Terrebonne; faithhopeandcharityevents.com or
541-526-5075.
Author Event — Dani and Hava Dennenberg: The authors of
“Mirrors and Closets: Author The Complex Journey of LGBTQ Twins &
Their Siblings” will discuss their book. This event will be held in person
See Calendar / P5
The Spokesman uses
recycled newsprint
INDEX
Puzzles ............. 2 Obituaries ....... 6
Police log ........ 2 Classifieds ....... 6
Volume 112, No. 5
USPS 778-040
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