In 2026 the La Pine Frontier Days Association will be gearing up to celebrate 50 years of bringing the best Independence Day Celebration in Central Oregon! My husband Gerald and I are so very proud to have been a part of it for over 25 of those years. I thought I would share some of the "Vision" for the future of this organization and our commitment to sustainable and thoughtful use our wonderful piece of heaven that is the Frontier Days Events Land. The following is just a portion of the entire "History/Mission/Vision" statement that appears on the home page of our website www.lapinefrontierdays.org. Please take a moment and check it out as well as all the other great pages on our website. And huge Thank You to our dear friend and supporter Kathy DeBone for her help in creating and maintaining our website.

Vision:
The La Pine Frontier Days Association would like to utilize the acquisition of this incredible resource (the "Events Land") in a thoughtful and long serving manner. In the short term, the 15+ acres that are buildable will house the event midway, a permanent stage and entertainment area, a permanent kid’s fish pond area (one of our most popular events) plus event parking. A priority is to build an adequate storage area for all the many parts that support the 4th of July event. We also own tables and chairs, and many tent canopies, that we offer to other non-profits to use for their fundraising efforts at no cost to them. We also envision a designated area for rv parking for events, and even to accommodate needed rv parking for other events in the community not necessarily held at our events facility. Basically an RV Park for approximately 50 sites.

The long-term the vision is for a large indoor events facility that would house smaller meeting type facilities, but also contain an open area for large events (something that is severely lacking in our community). It would contain the organization admin office, a commercial kitchen and indoor/outdoor serving area connected to the meeting rooms, and utility/janitorial rooms. This would be a signature structure in the "La Pine Frontier style", something the community will be proud to offer to outside events. A true economic drive We plan to develop a recreational area in the designated wetlands. This would include a walking path for use by the community with native plants etc. as an educational piece. The development of a pond that would create a lovely green space for the community, but could also serve as a "dip" pond for fire-fighting when needed. This could be developed into a preservation greenspace virtually in the middle of the city. To sum up we are very aware of the fact we have become the stewards of an exceptional piece of property. We will create a Master Plan that takes in the many aspects of utilizing a complex property that includes uplands and wetlands. We will keep the needs of the community always in mind as we plan development. We wish to create a legacy that the community of La Pine can continue to grow and enjoy far into the future.