Redmond, OR

For those of you unfamiliar with our little town; Redmond has an approximate 'urban' population of 26,000 give or take a few; we've grown leaps and bounds in the past 5 years. Last night, September 12, 2008, at our monthly 'Art Walk' the Downtown Redmond Partnership in conjunction with the City of Redmond and our local area Chamber announced our new logo and tag line. "Redmond Downtown ... Who Knew!" A somewhat off the cuff nod to our our neighboring localities who seem to think on occasion that the 15-20 miles that separates us is an ocean and that there is just not much to do here.

Downtown Redmond, while admittedly a work in progress, offers clean pedestrian friendly streets and locally owned businesses and shops. Locations like Dawson's Station offers one stop shopping where you can buy the latest best seller at Shelf Life Books, participate in one of their several book clubs or just enjoy a mean Mayan Latte with chocolate and chili powder.

The Mustard Seed Cafe, open 7 days a week for breakfast and lunch is a charming and affordable meeting place to dine with business associates and friends alike.

If you are looking for a start to your weekend, a quality house warming or good neighbor gift, Wine Styles has a multitude of offerings from gourmet snacks and custom gift baskets to wine tastings on Thursdays and live music and wine & beer by the glass on Fridays. Wine Club Memberships are available but not necessary to participate in these events. The new Healing Hub offers a buffet of holistic healing and alternative health options from massage therapy to natural wellness products for your home and family. Also on this block: Cooks -N-Counters kitchen supply and gourmet cooking equipment, Doggie Styles, a boutique for Fido that includes gifts for the pet lover as well as in house grooming. Edward James financial advisers, Bank of Oregon Home Loans Office, Blue Moon Boutique, The Hen's Tooth, Aqua Escapes and Desert Sky Real Estate, LLC. (Okay perhaps I have a tiny shopping addiction, at least to good coffee and books!)

Other downtown area shops not to miss include Goody's Ice Cream Shop in the Old Redmond Hotel, Paulina Springs Book Store, Santiago's Yerba Matte bar and for a trip back in time Cent Wise Hardware and Sporting Goods.

In the summer there are flower baskets hanging from the street lamps, and we line the main streets with flags for all of the major federal holidays so you literately drive through a sea of flags! Come this fall we will have scarecrows decorating the main downtown corridor. Local area groups for adults and kids alike will participate in dressing up the downtown for fall with a contest to adorn the lamp posts with a variety of scarecrows in various themes to warm our hearts through Thanksgiving. By Christmas window decorations are a favorite and it brings in our local populace as well as tourists from the surrounding destination resorts on a daily basis to see which shop will offer the daily advent window through the Christmas season. Of course their is community judging, prizes and the all time favorite, downtown dollars to be won for shopping sprees in our city center.

So if big city life has got you down and you have a hankering for local community spirit and some good old fashioned fun come to Downtown Redmond, "Who Knew" we had all of this to offer and more!

(Trust me there are more stores and businesses than I have creative copy, but if I've missed someone, contact me and I'll gladly put you in the mix.)

For more information on Redmond, Oregon follow this link.

City Care Clinic, located in Redmond, OR, was founded in February of 2006 and provides free health care to patients that:

• do not qualify for the OHP (Oregon Health Plan)
• are not on Medicare or Medicaid
• cannot afford health insurance

Currently, the cost of medications, tests, consults and hospital care are the patient’s responsibility, but the clinic is exploring various avenues in an attempt to acquire more support from the medical community to cover the costs of all aspects of health care. Donations and fundraising will also become a big part of funding ancillary services.

City Care Clinic is currently working under the non-profit status of City Center Church of Redmond, OR but is soon to have its own non-profit status. Oversight is provided by CCC’s Board of directors, comprised of community and church volunteers.

The goal of City Care Clinic: to provide health care free of charge in a Christian environment free from financial coercion.

• Care at CCC is not limited to Christian patients and patients will in no way be coerced or otherwise pressured to become Christian or “go to church”.
• All patients undergo a financial qualification process to show a true financial need and insure eligibility.
• Patients sign a contract with CCC to hold them accountable for their “medical behavior”. ”. For example, drug seeking activity or belligerent behavior in the office will not be tolerated.

The clinic was initially established as a clinic without walls in the office of Dr. Randy Visser of Internal Medicine Associates of Redmond.

• The completion of a free standing clinic is estimated for October 1^st, 2008 and will be staffed by volunteer physicians, nurses and support staff, and initially open a half day per week.
• An associated pharmacy, Redmond Pharmacy & Compounding Center, greatly discounts medications, as well as many specialists that see CCC patients for free or at discounted rates.
• Central Oregon Radiology Associates donate a certain amount of radiology work for free.

Those involved are very excited at the growth of City Care Clinic and the ability to provide medical services to those who just plain can’t afford them and have no other means of assistance. This is meant to be informative to the residents of the Central Oregon area, but if you are moved to make a financial donation don’t hesitate to let me know!

Please pass this on to anyone you think should know!