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redmondspokesman.com
A special good morning to subscriber Michael Brannon
@RedmondSpox
Tour connects women of Redmond history
BY TIM TRAINOR
Redmond Spokesman
A dozen of the most inter-
esting women in Redmond
history are included in an auto
tour, presented by the Gen-
eral Foundation of Women’s
Clubs. Connect them all and
finish the quest to win prizes
and help raise funds for a local
nonprofit.
The “Ladies, Legacies and
Landmarks” tour is available
through April 30. It finishes
with a party and fundraiser
on that date, from 1-3 p.m.
at Centennial Park. A guide
to the quest is available on-
line or can be picked up at the
Redmond Chamber of Com-
merce, 446 SW 7th, and win-
ners will be chose at the park
on April 30. To be eligible for
prizes, an individual must do-
nate $5 to the fundraiser, or
a team can donate $25. All
money raised will be donated
to Saving Grace of Redmond,
which helps support victims of
domestic violence and sexual
assault.
According to the GFWC of
Central Oregon, the goal of
the project was to learn about
some of the many women
who helped shape the city of
Redmond and its culture.
“The hardest part was nar-
rowing it down to 12,” said
Ginny Weeber, a member
of the local GFWC chapter.
“There are so many that could
have been included ... it was
really fun to research and
learn about all of them.”
The women featured in-
clude Princess Helen August
Victoria Beatrice Bruckner
von Gathan, who claimed she
was a member of German roy-
alty and grew up among the
wealthiest families in Europe.
She eventually renounced her
title and lived much of her
life in Redmond. People who
THE WINNING PICK
Redmond man wins $80,000 at keno
after offering server choice of tickets
BY TIM TRAINOR
Redmond Spokesman
A
lma Rodriguez was
midway through
her shift at Ashley’s
Lottery Café in Redmond when
a customer asked her to choose
between two keno tickets. He
was winning a little bit and
wanted to tip his server, hoping
to keep karma on his side and
his good luck going.
There was a slip of paper in his left
hand, one in his right. In a few min-
utes, one one them would be worth
more than $80,000. The other, nada.
Alma chose wrong.
“We knew right off it was a big
winner, but didn’t know how much,”
she said. “We put it in the machine
and it just said ‘SEE LOTTERY.’
That’s when we knew it was really
big.”
They were playing 8-spot, a jack-
pot game where the payout for going
8-for-8 on keno numbers goes up
with each bettor — until someone
hits all eight and takes the pot. When
the winning numbers were chosen
at the Redmond cafe, the pot had
reached $80,022.
The winner was a Redmond resi-
dent who chose to be identified only
as Robert “Bobby” H. According to
the Oregon Lottery, he plans to save
some of his prize money and use the
rest to buy a new truck.
He also recalled giving Rodriguez
her choice between the two tickets.
“If she’d picked that one, she
would have won,” he told the lottery.
“It must have been karma for me.”
Rodriguez sees it as karma, too.
She claims she is not pained by com-
ing so close to a big winner. She felt
excitement, not regret, even in the
first moment when the magnitude of
her choice became clear.
Photo by Tim Trainor
Alma Rodriguez works the register at Ashley’s Lottery Cafe in Redmond. On an earlier shift, she sold a keno ticket that was
worth $80,000.
“I’d never seen anybody win so
much,” she said. “There was no way
to not feel happy for him. He was
such a nice guy, it was really cool to
see him win.”
She says, strongly, that she would
have not kept the money if she’d cho-
sen the winning ticket instead of the
loser.
“I would have given it back to him
and asked him to cut me a share,” she
said. “I don’t want to take his money,
take his winnings.”
Rodriguez did receive a $100 tip.
Like everyone, she could have
used the $80,000. Two nights a week,
she works the 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
shift at Ashley’s Lottery Cafe, located
in a strip mall next to Grocery Out-
let. During the week, she works days
at BasX Solutions and adds her extra
shifts at the late-night gaming spot
in order to help pay bills and supple-
ment her savings.
Photo courtesy Oregon Lottery
A Redmond man, identified only as
Bobby H., won $80,000 playing Keno at
Ashley’s Cafe.
Still, she’d rather wait for her own
karma than glom on to someone
else’s.
“It was his money. They were his
numbers. It was his ticket,” she said.
“Someday, I’ll hit my own jackpot.”
Tuesday 4/19
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.
“I’d never seen
anybody win so
much. There was
no way to not feel
happy for him. He
was such a nice guy,
it was really cool to
see him win.”
— Alma Rodriguez, Ashley’s
Lottery Cafe
complete the dozen stops will
learn about Princess Helen,
as well as a woman who kept
a monkey in the basement of
the Redmond Hotel and an-
other who arrived on the first
passenger train that stopped in
town. It also includes still-liv-
ing legends, like Jo Weigand
and Carrie Novick.
See History / P4
REDMOND
Single-family
home prices
hit new highs
BY SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
Homebuyers who thought
last month’s median sin-
gle-family home price in Red-
mond was the highest, now
have a new yardstick: The me-
dian single-family home price
reaching a record $520,000,
according to the Beacon Re-
port, which is produced by the
Beacon Appraisal Group in
Redmond to track single-fam-
ily home prices in Central Or-
egon.
In all markets, the number
of days on the market were less
than two weeks, with homes in
Sisters averaging two days be-
fore being sold. Low invento-
ries are tied to demand, Don-
nie Montagner said.
“This is how robust the
market is,” Montagner said.
“The only way to temper that
is rising interest rates and
raising the inventory levels.
The inventory is a key part of
this. As long as we’re hovering
around a half-month’s supply
the price trajectory will con-
tinue to go up.”
In Redmond, the $520,000
median single-family sales
price is $37,000 higher than
it was in February. A year ago
the median sales price of a sin-
gle-family home in Redmond
was $373,000.
The Beacon Report uses
the median sales price, which
is the midpoint value of all
transactions in a month.
Prices have been soaring up-
wards since before the pan-
demic.
In March, there were 64
Redmond single-family
homes that sold using a con-
ventional mortgage and 21
with cash, according to the
report.
The median single-fam-
ily home price in Sisters was
$695,000 in March, a $70,000
increase over the prior month.
La Pine’s median sales
price of a single-family home
hovered around the same
$455,000 level in March com-
pared to $434,000 the month
before.
█
Wednesday 4/20
Writers Writing — Quiet Writing Time: Enjoy the focus of
a quiet space with the benefit of others’ company; 10:30 a.m.-
12:30 p.m.; free; Redmond Public Library, 827 SW Deschutes
Ave., Redmond; deschuteslibrary.org or 541-312-1050.
Emotional Health Class: Learn how emotions affect our
bodies and how you can improve your emotional health;
11 a.m.-Noon; free; Redmond Senior Center, 325 NW Dog-
wood Ave, Redmond; 541-548-6325.
Redmond Commission for Art in Public Places Meeting:
A regular meeting will be held; 4:30-6 p.m.; free; Redmond
City Hall, Online; redmondoregon.gov or 541-923-7710.
Business Expo & Job Fair: The fair will take place; 1-6 p.m.;
free; Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, 3800 SW Airport
Way, Redmond; visitredmondoregon.com or 541-548-2711.
Trivia Tuesday: Go with a team or team up there to play
genuine UKB Trivia live and possibly win gift certificates; 6:30-
8:30 p.m.; free; Initiative Brewing, 424 NW Fifth St., Redmond;
facebook.com/InitiativeBrew or 541-527-4380.
Housing and Community Development Committee
Meeting: A regular meeting will be held; 4-5:30 p.m.; free;
Redmond City Hall, Online; redmondoregon.gov or 541-923-
7710.
See Calendar / P4
Reporter: 541-633-2117,
sroig@bendbulletin.com
The Spokesman uses
recycled newsprint
INDEX
Puzzles ............. 2 Obituaries ....... 5
Flashback ........ 5 Classifieds ....... 5
Volume 112, No. 34
USPS 778-040
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