By BEN OLSON/For The Herald — It’s good to be back home! I made the 800-mile drive from Heber City to Oakridge in one piece on Friday so I was here to see Mick Garvin and crew hurl pumpkins and other fall harvestables with his trebuchet on Saturday afternoon at the old Hines Mill site.
On Sunday more festivities took place at Greenwater Park in Oakridge with live music, pumpkin carving contests and a judgment of who could make the tastiest pumpkin pie. I performed a rare “triple” on Halloween — a ukulele show at Lion Mountain Bakery in the morning, an hour of guitar at the Greenwater festivities and finishing the day playing bass with the Song Dawgz at the 3 Legged Crane Sunday night.
Speaking of Song Dawgz, they will be back playing open mic on Thursday evenings at the 3 Legged Crane brewpub in Uptown Oakridge, commencing at 6 p.m. I will be trying an experiment on Monday nights, also starting at 6 p.m. I’ll be there with my guitar and bass, hoping that you’ll come in with your instrument — maybe I can help you, maybe you can help me, but most importantly, we’ll make some music and have some fun. There is no cover charge and the 3 Legged Crane will be serving their award-winning craft beers and entrees on their dinner and sandwich menu.
Down at the Dexter Lake Club in the heart of Dexter, there will be karaoke on Thursday evenings beginning at 6 p.m. The electric open mic and jam session is held on Sunday night, hosted by Brian Chevalier, starting about 6 p.m. The acoustic jam/open mic takes place on Tuesday evening, hosted by Brian and Craig Sorseth and that event begins at 6 as well. There is no cover charge. The Dexter Lake Club has a full bar, as well as a dinner and sandwich menu.
Broken Horn will be performing his classic pop and rock covers at the Lion Mountain Bakery this Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. There is no cover, and Lion Mountain will be serving from their breakfast and lunch menu. I’ll be in there on Sunday morning doing my ukulele show from 9 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. The Lion Mountain Bakery is located on Highway 58 in Oakridge.
This Saturday, Nov. 6, the Upper Willamette Community Development Corporation will be holding the 13th annual Keg and Cask Festival in Oakridge. This festival is generally held in August but was postponed because of smoky conditions caused by wildfires at the time. There will be live music and vendors taking over the grounds of the city’s old shop building on Highway 58. (Read all about it here.) Proceeds from the event help to fund the Oakridge Food Box, a non-profit entity.
That’s all I’ve got this week. It’s good to be back in the Cascades. Stay well and keep smiling.
Oakridge musician Ben Olson, entertainment editor and columnist for The Herald, can be reached by email at [email protected]
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