"I started working with wood back when I was young with my Dad in his garage. I think my Dad started building things because I am from a family of 6 and my parents didn't have enough money to buy furniture, so he would just build the things we needed," explained Gary when we sat down for a chat this last weekend. "I then took a shop class in high school and loved to be in there building things".

​Gary and his wife Suzanne moved to Bend in 1979 where they built a large blue preschool and kindergarten called Bright Beginnings on 27th Street. Gary put up a small metal shed in the back and bought a Shopsmith and a handful of tools. Being the on-site handyman, he would also build everything from bookshelves, tables, and cabinets for the school and home. Parents saw his handy-work and side orders began coming in for kids beds, desks, and trunks for quilts.

​As Bend's population grew and building boomed, Gary became Heritage Woodworks and honed in his craft in cabinet making and took on remodels and new construction homes strictly by word of mouth. As the business and demand grew, he hired an apprentice, but refused to hire more people for he believed in the custom craftsmanship of his own work and didn't want to see that change, even if he had to take on fewer jobs. "Bend is a small town and it's important to build a reputation with solid craftsmanship and a good relationship with the customer. I am able to go into someone's home and draw plans for what they dream their space to look like and then help make that happen. It's pretty rewarding to look back after the work is finished with the clients and see how happy they are."

After about 15 years of mainly cabinet making, Gary realized that the detail and storage space necessary for cabinets was straining his modest shop space and transitioned into specializing in front entryway doors, sidelights, transoms, and interior doors. Stacking doors took up a lot less space than cabinets, while freeing up more of his time for creativity in making each door a masterpiece and less time trying to make cabinets fit into set spaces. Bear Creek Doors was born.

As Gary's reputation has spread through the years amongst well known Bend builders, and friends telling friends about him, his doors has been in high demand. Homes all over Central Oregon and stretching as far south as the Bay Area and Southern California, have been transformed by Gary's elaborate entryways, wine cellar doors, gates, garage doors, and an array of other fine artisan crafts. When potential clients would come to see Gary about a door, they would drive out to his shop on the ranch, passing the orchard trees, ponds, waterfalls, stained glass, barn and be taken into a world Gary had planted or built himself. He sat them down as friends and took the time to explain how their door would be built. He sent pictures as the door came to life and welcomed them to pop in and see the progress. People came to have Bear Creek Doors build their door because it wasn't just picked out from a sea of doors, it was created and the client was part of the creation.

After over 35 years of building and designing, Gary is ready to retire. Although he hangs his Bear Creek Doors hat, his creativity will go on in the never ending projects he constructs on their ranch out Bear Creek Rd. And if you are a Bendite or just passing through Bend, you are sure to see his work in places such as Crux Brewery, if you see the wooden Deschutes Brewery "Woody" Barrel drive by, or on a number of fine friend's homes you may visit. If you open the door and look on the door between the hinges, where the door meets the jam, you just might see the Bear Creek Doors bear stamped into the wood.

​Hello from Oslo, I'm here in the land of fjords, mountains and awesome nephews. I flew here 3 days ago from Finland to see my brother Antti, his wife Berit and my brand spanking new nephew Hjalmar.
The little guy has melted my heart and it's been a lot of fun hanging out with him. 

We Skyped yesterday with Aunt Kristen and so now they've met almost face to face too, she'll have to wait some more time to meet this handsome guy in person. We've spent our days playing with Hjalmar, going for walks and in my case just being a tourist. I've been to Oslo 5 or 6 times but it doesn't get boring for me, it's a great city to just walk around and see the sights, or you can use the buses, ferries and trains to get around as well. The Oslo fjord itself is on its own a beautiful water way on which you can grab a ferry from the downtown and be in the "country side" in 20 minutes. Highly recommend for anyone planning a trip to Scandinavia, it can be a little bit pricey for those backpacker bums like my wife and I but you can make it work. Same as everywhere else, it's good to know a local!

After I arrived here I was informed that the next 4 days out of the 5 that I'll be here will be holidays.
The day I leave will be the biggest of the 4 in that it will be a huge party and downtown will be packed from morning on. We'll head to the airport early so I can catch a glimpse of the party and still make it in time to the airport through the crowds. Excited to see the Norwegian chaos!

My flight lands tomorrow in Portland, K.G. will pick me up and then we will head to Bend for the continuation of the crazy preparations for the bike trip. We already have the bikes, but will be building wheels, getting a few more bike parts, tool kit together, and food packed for the first long haul in Alaska. Will keep you in the loop, so check back soon! See you fools in Bend :)