​This upcoming weekend and Monday (Halloween) are full of fun things to do in Downtown La Grande.  I have rounded up some exciting things going on in and around downtown in the following days:
 
Ongoing at Le Bebe Cakes:  A Halloween Pumpkin Decorating Contest has been ongoing since October 1st.  The contest will close on October 29th and judging will take place on that day at 3 PM with awards in three age groups.  For more information, please call 541-963-2253.
 
Also at Le Bebe Cakes, there is an October High Tea Event on October 29th, with tea times at 11 AM and 1 PM.  Costumes are encouraged, and all ages welcome.  RSVP at 541-805-0248.
 
Grand Lumiere Events at 1101 Washington presents an enchanted evening of fun, food and mystery on October 28th at 7 PM with “Hocus Pocus,” a murder mystery costume dinner, catered by Le Bebe Cakes Bakery.  There will be a no-host bar and a costume contest.  There is limited seating, so RSVP at 963-2253.
 
Art Center East’s Annual Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead exhibit and community celebration will open with a community celebration on October 28, 2022.  The exhibit features artworks created by K-12 studies from throughout Union County inspired by Mexican folk-art traditions associated with Dia de los Muertos. For more information, check out their website at https://artcentereast.org/events/dia-de-los-muertos/ or call 541-624-2800.
 
Rounding out the Halloween festivities, on October 31st from 4 to 6:30 PM, La Grande Main Street will host Trick or Treat Downtown.  Adams Avenue between 4th and Greenwood will be closed to traffic for safe trick or treating with local businesses and organizations handing out treats.  There will also be costume contests and other bunches of fun stuff!  For more information, please call 541-963-1223.
 
Happy Halloween season to all! 

The coming up weeks are chock full of fun things to do in Downtown La Grande.  The following is a roundup of some of the many exciting things going on in and around downtown in the next couple of weeks:
 
Ongoing at Le Bebe Cakes:  A Halloween Pumpkin Decorating Contest has been ongoing since October 1st.  The contest will close on October 29th and judging will take place on that day at 3 PM with awards in three age groups.  For more information, please call 541-963-2253.
 
Also at Le Bebe Cakes, two October High Tea Events, one on October 22nd and the other on October 29th, with tea times at 11 AM and 1 PM.  Costumes encouraged, and all ages welcome.  RSVP at 541-805-0248.
 
Grand Lumiere Events at 1101 Washington presents an enchanted evening of fun, food and mystery on October 21st, 22nd, and 28th at 7 PM with “Hocus Pocus,” a murder mystery costume dinner, catered by Le Bebe Cakes Bakery.  There will be a no-host bar and a costume contest.  There is limited seating, so RSVP at 963-2253.
 
On October 22nd at 2 PM, Petsense and La Grande Parks & Recreation will host the “Doggy Howl-a-Ween” Costume Party at Riverside Dog Park.  There will be prizes, treats and an obstacle course.  For more information, please call 541-962-1352.
 
Rounding out the Halloween festivities, on October 31st from 4 to 6:30 PM, La Grande Main Street will host Trick or Treat Downtown.  Adams Avenue between 4th and Greenwood will be closed to traffic for safe trick or treating with local businesses and organizations handing out treats.  There will also be costume contests and other bunches of fun stuff!  For more information, please call 541-963-1223.
 
Happy Halloween season to all! 

​Exciting things have been happening at Birddog Glass!  A design and blow your own glass pumpkin workshop has been going on.  Kevin is experimenting with new glassblowing techniques.  New old stock is now available in the Gallery.  This is all exciting news for the legions of admirers of Kevin Boylan’s glass creations.
 
Kevin Boylan, the artist behind Birddog Glass, is a glassblower and mixed media sculptor living and working in La Grande.  After graduating from Eastern Oregon University in 2003, Kevin studied under Tom Dimond, the renowned multimedia artist.  He now incorporates blown glass elements with mixed media sculpture, creating an abstract visual journal.
 
Kevin notes that, throughout the years, his work has evolved from his beginnings as a potter to a mixed media sculptor and glassblower. He derives his inspiration from exploring new mediums, learning new techniques, and examining his immediate surroundings, a process that almost always results in a nonobjective abstract form.
 
The common thread in his work, Kevin says, is a personal journal.  While his hands are creating an object that he has “overthought” without sketching, his mind is contemplating ideas, relationships, past experiences, or daily occurrences in his life.  He says that he might not know what the piece is about until he has completed it and had the chance to reflect on the process.  Because he uses internal reflection in many forms to create his work, he considers it to be self-portrait work, and his work going forward is more figurative.
 
Follow Kevin and Birddog Glass on Facebook and Instagram and marvel at all of the beauty that is produced!