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INSIDE » Deschutes County Fair
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’22
Deschutes County Fair
& Rodeo Aug. 3 - 7
redmondspokesman.com
Pacific Northwest heat wave
@RedmondSpox
DESCHUTES COUNTY FAIR & RODEO
Determined
teen takes
reins as
Deschutes
rodeo queen
BY TIM TRAINOR
Redmond Spokesman
Nick Rosenberger/Spokesman
Attendees crowd under shade at Music on the Green on Wednesday, July 27, at Sam Johnson Park in Redmond.
REDMOND ROASTS
Crushing temperatures reach all
corners of Central Oregon life
BY NICK ROSENBERGER • Redmond Spokesman
T
he sun bludgeoned much
of the U.S. West this week,
with temperatures reach-
ing 109 degrees at the Red-
mond Airport and forcing res-
idents to face the crushing heat
and uncertainty of future Cen-
tral Oregon summers.
With thermometers read-
ing triple digits on Wednesday,
crowds at Music on the Green
stuck to the shade of Sam
Johnson Park. On Thursday,
food trucks like the Mighty
Greek in Redmond stored iP-
ads in their fridge to keep from
overheating. Some construc-
tion workers started their day
at 5:45 a.m., before the sun and
temperatures rose.
Homelessness
The local unsheltered com-
munity is especially at risk
for extreme heat. For dozens
of Redmond residents living
among the sage and junipers
east of 17th Street, the baking
sun was overwhelming and in-
escapable.
Many made their way to two
blue tents set up city streets,
wrapped by hoses that sprayed
a cooling mist of water into
the air. A blue kiddie pool with
water balloons and a floating
ice pack rested nearby. Water
spilled on the cement sizzled
and popped.
Volunteers provided pota-
ble water, bags of ice, popsicles,
food, shade and support.
Colleen Thomas, a home-
less services coordinator for
Deschutes County Health Ser-
vices, helped coordinate ser-
vice providers and mutual aid
groups. The tent and misters
were set up by Bob Bohac and
Jericho Road.
But it was Larry, a man expe-
riencing homelessness himself,
who “manned the battleship.”
“He helped organize this,”
said Kathryn Osborne, a com-
munity volunteer and candi-
date for Redmond City Coun-
cil. “It wouldn’t have happened
without him.”
REPRIEVE
FROM
Shepherd’s House provides daytime
respite from triple-digit temperatures
BY LEO BAUDHUIN
Redmond Spokesman
Kim Neal spent daytime
hours during last week’s
heat wave at Shepherd’s
House, located off Highway
97 south of downtown Red-
mond. She came equipped
with her phone, iPad and
books for entertainment
and spent the week hang-
ing out with others in the
safety of the air-conditioned
shelter.
The building served
as a cooling center from
Monday to Saturday be-
tween 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. —
though Neal said director
Andrew Hoeksema would
sometimes let her in to es-
cape the heat as soon as he
showed up each morning.
The cooling center was “a
godsend,” Neal said.
Neal has been homeless
since 2014, first living out of
a smaller car and now a van.
She’s currently parked out-
side of Shepherd’s House.
Neal is hoping her sister will
send her gas money so she
can pick up her medication
and relocate once tempera-
tures drop, she said.
“You learn to live with
it,” she said, but it’s still not
ideal. “I have a ton of family,
but not any that want to be
family right now.”
When the cooling center
closes in the evening, Neal
moves outside to the van.
See Cooling / A4
See Heat / A4
A woman changed
the course of Jessica
Sperber’s life when she
walked into her fourth-
grade class at Tumalo
Community School.
Her name was Em-
ily Cox. She wore jeans
and a western snap shirt,
a cowboy hat atop her
head and sash across her
chest. Cox was queen of
the Deschutes County
Photo by Jeff Sperber
Fair & Rodeo and she Jessica Sperber is the
looked and acted the
queen of the 2022 De-
part. She signed auto- schutes County Fair &
graphs and chatted with Rodeo.
awestruck elementary
students. Sperber, 10 years old at the time, was
one of them.
“I knew right then I wanted to be queen of the
Deschutes County Fair,” she said.
For most young people, dreams come and go.
But not for Sperber. Now 18 and a graduate of
Ridgeview High, she never wavered from her de-
sire to be queen of her local rodeo.
Earlier this year, that desire became a reality.
After undergoing the rigorous pageant process,
Sperber was named queen of the 2022 Deschutes
County Fair & Rodeo.
That she succeeded was no surprise to her
mom, Carla.
“She is the most focused, most determined kid
I’ve ever seen,” she said. “She’s had that attitude
from the beginning. And she has the most im-
pressive follow through.”
To claim the crown, Sperber was tested not just
on her horsemanship, but on her public speaking
skills, a written test of rodeo history and rules,
her presentation and her academics, athletics and
extracurricular activities.
One look through her bio, and it was clear that
no one could keep Sperber from her title.
She was the salutatorian of the Ridgeview’s
249-person Class of 2022, graduating with a 5.0
GPA as member of the National Honor Society.
She served on student council, volunteered as a
math tutor, was captain of her soccer team, was a
counselor at the Deschutes County Horse Camp,
president of her 4-H horse club and a four-year
member of Ridgeview’s track and equestrian
teams. She also worked part time at Stone Pony
Dressage and Wilco Farm Store.
“She became involved in absolutely every-
thing,” said Carla Sperber. “That’s the kind of kid
she is.”
The Sperbers own about 10 acres between
Tumalo and Redmond, enough room for their
five horses and the numerous 4-H animals Jes-
sica Sperber brings each year to the fair.
See Queen / A4
Planned Oasis village homeless shelter sees progress
New timeline means construction
to start next May, grand opening
in November 2023
BY NICK ROSENBERGER
Redmond Spokesman
With increasing housing prices and
continued inflation, homelessness has
continued to tick up across Central
Oregon.
Whether nestled on unused roads
or on the edges of Redmond, Bend or
Sisters, it’s not difficult to find dozens
of people — all with their own diverse
stories, personalities and histories —
dreaming of home. Those dreams
might be closer to reality as Oasis Vil-
lage, a planned Redmond transitionary
shelter, pushes forward despite delays.
On Wednesday, July 20, the Board of
Directors for Oasis Village presented
their updated plans to the three-person
Deschutes County Board of Commis-
sioners. In it, they detailed a new time-
line: a May 2023 start of construction
with the goal of welcoming residents
by November 1.
“This looks like a pretty firm time-
line,” said James Cook, a community
advocate and vice-chair of the Oasis
Village Board of Directors. “Right now
I think we’re in pretty good shape.”
The Spokesman uses
recycled newsprint
INDEX
Cook and the rest of the board will
meet with the City of Redmond on
Calendar ........A2 Sports ............A5
Tuesday, July 26, to discuss plans and Doc ument 3. Puzzles
qx d ...........A2
2/ 22/ 05 Classifieds
1: 07 .....A6
PM
will meet with ODOT by the end of
the year. They aim to submit a site plan
Volume 112, No. 48
USPS 778-040
to the city on September 1 with a deci-
sion by December.
“We’re well on our way,” said Bob
Bohac, chair of Oasis Village.
See Oasis / A5
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