Jan Ostrom has dreamed of one day having a place for her business to call home. The Busy Bee Catering owner finally found the perfect space in the Mount Hood area in 2020.
Three years later — after COVID and renovations — Jan and Todd Ostrom realized their dream and opened Alpine Events in Rhododendron. They remodeled the former Alpine Hut building into a great multipurpose event space, ideal for family get-togethers, business meetings, birthday parties, memorial services or any other social occasion.
“We make our food from scratch,” Jan said. “It’s good, well-seasoned with ample portions. Hospitality and being nice to people is important to us. We want everybody to be comfortable, happy and well fed. All those things enter into catering.”
Jan has been catering events off-site with Busy Bee since opening in Mt. Hood in 2004 and she acquired a mobile kitchen in 2016. The family business has created thousands of meals and traveled from the mountain to the coast and everywhere in between. Always dreaming of a place of her own, the opportunity to buy a building in a beautiful setting presented itself in 2020.
Alpine Events opened for business in March 2023. Summertime is the busiest time of year with private events scheduled for special occasions like weddings, family reunions and conferences. In winter months, Busy Bee caters lunches for high school ski teams. Year-round, Meals On Wheels volunteers pick up food for delivery to those who are housebound.
Pop-up dinners, with a different theme every Monday night, are new at the center and open to the public. A breakfast-for-dinner buffet with Santa Claus kicked off the themed dinners in December as visitors were encouraged to wear their pajamas. Other pop-ups have included “souper Monday” and a celebration of winter. Future Monday night menus will feature Italian cuisine and Hawaiian fare.
Alpine Events offers an intimate space that can accommodate up to 75 guests, along with a cozy fireplace. A large mural of Mount Hood covers one wall and antique snowshoes hang from another. Some decor may change periodically with each season. The current theme for the holidays is a magical winter wonderland.
“Some restaurants cater, but we only cater,” Jan said. “It makes a huge difference. We know how to feed everybody all at the same time. It’s a little bit of a challenge. I’ve been catering my whole life. This is all I know.”
Having a love for cooking since childhood, and starting out by volunteering to cook meals for fundraisers, a career in catering was the perfect fit for Jan after raising children. Jan and Todd moved to Welches and have lived on the mountain since 2002.
Alpine Events, located at 73365 E Highway 26, Rhododendron, plays host to public and private events. For upcoming dinners, classes, music, celebrations and opportunities to connect with friends and family, see the Alpine Events website at www.alpineeventsmthood.com or phone 503-622-4618.