By now, the echo of La Pine’s new Music in the Pines concert series has ended. And although the bimonthly event is done for the season, the mini music festival left a positive impact on the surrounding community.

Residents of Bend have the luxury of weekly entertainment options. There’s the Les Schwab Amphitheater for large-scale events, along with a plethora of smaller venues offering a wide variety of free live music. Add the near-weekly summer festivals, theaters, traditional movie cinema, and local open mics and and it becomes easy to take the constant stream of entertainment for granted.

For residents of La Pine, however, larger recreational events can be few and far between. But this year, the community came together in a big way to build the perfect stage for the summer. The Music in the Pines concert series began in early June and went straight through the dog days of summer, with concerts every second and fourth Thursday. The final show happened in late August.

Frontier Heritage Park made for a great venue not only for the live music but also the food and craft vendors that helped to round out the events.

“Music in the Pines was a new thing this year and it really took off. I’m really excited to have more of those kinds of events that are free, and the community can come, throw a blanket down, and hang out,” said Andie Price, office manager at La Pine Parks and Rec.

For the inaugural year, the series was received with open arms. The great location, situated right in the heart of downtown, gives the community an opportunity to come together with only entertainment and fun in mind. It takes away the stress and time burden of making the trek into Sunriver, or even farther to Bend.

Judging by the success of the concert series, citizens of La Pine can look forward to more local events. The recent revitalization of the Park and Recreation building, adjacent to the lush lawn in Frontier Heritage Park, provided a comfortable and serene setting for Music in the Pines.

The music series could not have happened without the help of several generous sponsors. The City of La Pine, the Park and Recreation District, La Pine Lions Club, and many others contributed to the creation of this special summer series. Regardless of population size, funding, and general notoriety, the proud city of La Pine continues to build, utilizing the most important resource available—community. •