My latest article for The Bulletin this week covers the birthday weekend of Bend’s McMenamins Old St. Francis School — the location is celebrating both the 88th birthday of the St. Francis School property itself, and the 20th anniversary of McMenamins opening.

This weekend, McMenamins Old St. Francis School is commemorating a pair of anniversaries — the 88th birthday of the St. Francis School itself, and the 20th as a McMenamins property. On Friday and Saturday, the Old St. Francis will feature live music with the Garcia Birthday Band, two new special beers and free history tours on Saturday.

I was recently invited along with other members of the media to tour the property ahead of the anniversary, which provided the opportunity to revisit the whole property as well as glimpse a preview of Saturday’s history tours.

I provide a short historical recap in the article (and of course you can dive deeper into history with Bend Beer) and naturally I write about the beer. Specifically, the two anniversary beers on tap this weekend:

As for the 20th anniversary beers that will be on tap for the celebration, [brewer Vance] Wirtz shared details.

“As far as the beers are concerned, I have a New Zealand variant of Hop Pillow I brewed called Hop Blanket,” he said via email, “and a West Coast Pilsner called Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary that’s also showcasing New Zealand hops.”

Check out the article, and I’ll also have another post up with some of the photos and thoughts from the media tour of the property I was invited to attend.