News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Olivia Pulver, a sixth-grader at Sisters Middle School, is training a wild Oregon mustang. Her mustang, Ronan, comes from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land outside Paisley, Oregon. Prior to this training, Ronan had never been touched by humans and had never been out of his wild homeland. Pulver is already making strides with training her mustang for the upcoming Teens and Oregon Mustangs competition that takes place in September. The final competition will include... Full story
Every year entering the spring season, Sisters High School Choir Director Rick Johnson asks his group of students if they would like to compete in state choir competition, or if they’d rather visit an Oregon university and work with faculty and tour the music programs at Oregon colleges. This year, students were eager to compete. “We had just come out of the musical and students said they wanted to compete at the district level,” said Johnson. The Sisters High School concert c... Full story
Venardos Circus is back. The animal-free Broadway-style circus is returning to Central Oregon this month. The circus was started by Kevin Venardos. Their motto is #LiveYourCircusDream, and that shines through in their shows as each performer lives out their passion. Jess Draper, Sisters local and The Nugget’s graphic designer, is an avid circus aficionado who last saw the Venardos Circus when they visited Redmond during Halloween week of 2021. “I love seeing the people liv... Full story
The Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) brought the arts community back together in person for a celebration of local artists and a fundraiser for art programs in Sisters schools last weekend. On Friday, April 29, the Community Arts Celebration held at the Sisters Artworks Building celebrated and honored students’ work and kicked off the weekend’s My Own Two Hands (MOTH) auction event. Bidding for the auction items began online on April 22 and went on for a week, ending at the auc... Full story
Brooke Blevins grew up around horses in Central Oregon. Being surrounded by horses at a young age, she always knew she wanted to pursue professional riding and rodeo. Her grandma got her on horseback when she was in diapers. She began riding around the house and trail riding and eventually ended up working on barrel racing and pole bending – both rodeo events. “As I got more confident in events on horseback, I decided I wanted to further build up my confidence and do mor... Full story
It’s no secret that Central Oregon is one of the premier locations for rock climbing. With Smith Rock and a multitude of bouldering areas close by, Central Oregon has some of the most unique routes and popular areas in the Pacific Northwest. The Nugget spoke with a few climbing experts and guides about the growing popularity of the sport, as well as how to get started. Josh Spoelstra, a Central Oregon local, spent most of his young life serving as a youth group leader, as a c... Full story
Rock climbing in Central Oregon has always been a popular sport because of our unique terrain and stellar climbing areas. However, in the last five to 10 years there’s been an influx of rock-climbing enthusiasts due to social media and the “trend” of the sport, especially in Central Oregon, which has some of the best climbing routes and opportunities in the state. The importance of stewardship also shines through as a hugely important aspect of keeping the areas of Centr... Full story
Erin Lane has always had a passion for horses, ever since she was a young girl. Five years ago, she shifted her career path to combine her passion for horses with her expertise in the production and media industry. Lane grew up in Sisters and graduated from Sisters High School in 2006. She attended all three Sisters schools and continued riding horses throughout all her schooling, in the English discipline, mostly hunter-jumper. “It is hard to think of where the inspiration t... Full story
Sisters Moto is riding into spring events in style. Last Thursday, the motorcycle sports shop in the Three Wind Shopping Center hosted an autograph signing with motocross rider Kyle Chisholm. Chisholm is from Florida and stopped in at Sisters Moto before his race in Seattle on March 26. The race is the Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Lumen Field in Seattle and Chisholm was riding as part of the Yamaha factory team. He is also sponsored by Sisters Moto. Chisholm runs his own... Full story
Alessandra Wentworth and her mare Q recently participated in one of the biggest horse shows in Southern California. Competition ran from January 22 through February 7. The show in Thermal, California, takes place at Desert International Horse Park, where Olympic athletes train, one of the largest competitive parks. It is also where the World Cup Qualifiers are also held every year. “I had wanted to go for a couple years with my other horse, but this year I finally had the o... Full story
Juniper Blu is a new independent boutique shop in Sisters next door to Hood Avenue Art. Somerli McLain now operates Juniper Blu, her second shop in the Central Oregon area. McLain also owns and operates Maple Moon in Redmond, selling the same types of goods. “I decided to open these stores because I love meeting new people. I love anything to do with home décor and sharing things that I am passionate about with customers,” said McLain. Juniper Blu is a home and gift sho... Full story
The Sisters High School Choir Program is bringing the community of Sisters to “Oklahoma!” Rick Johnson and his choir students are putting on their first full-scale, live-performance musical since their performances of “Freaky Friday” in 2019. “Every other year we do a classic musical as a full-scale show and this year we finally decided to do ‘Oklahoma!’” said Johnson. The choir director cast the show in September and they have been working on chorus music throughout the semes... Full story
Honey Don’t has released their third full-length album, titled “Threadbare.” Honey Don’t was created by husband-and-wife duo Bill and Shelly Powers in 2006 while they lived in the small town of Paonia, Colorado. Powers and his wife were in a band in Colorado from 2001 until 2010 called Sweet Sunny South, before branching out on their own to form Honey Don’t, to do more of the types of tunes they desired. Powers sings and plays guitar, and Shelly plays bass. “The vibe of what w... Full story
Radiant Day Spa has opened in the space next door to The Nugget at 692 E. Main Ave. Marianne Kennedy, owner of Radiant Day Spa in Bend decided it was time to expand her services to Sisters, and she’s getting involved with the Sisters community. Kennedy is a board-certified esthetician, having received her license from Premiere Esthetics in Bend two-and-a-half years ago. Kennedy moved to Bend three years ago, and that move enabled her to finally pursue her love for skin c... Full story
Joel Chadd of Sisters is pursuing his lifelong passion for music by releasing his first debut album. Chadd grew up in a musical family with his father being a professional musician, and his grandma in her youth being a performer in Big Bands. Chadd played drums in middle school but put music on hold for many years, until at 23 years old he decided to pick up the guitar and learn. “I began teaching myself guitar and writing songs when I was 23 years old on my mom’s nylon str... Full story
Sisters High School band students are striving for big things this fall. Four students from Tyler Cranor’s band class at Sisters High School (SHS) were selected as honor students for the annual Western International Band Clinic (WIBC) in Seattle, Washington this past weekend. There were over 400 students in attendance from high schools and universities from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Students are required to submit a recorded audition tape on their instrument t... Full story
Two Sisters High School students are journeying abroad with instruments in hand as Oregon Ambassadors of Music (OAM). Norma Quero and Justin Bowe, both sophomores at Sisters High School, were nominated by their band teacher, Tyler Cranor, to be a part of the Oregon Ambassadors of Music program in their respective instrument areas.... Full story
Daniel O’Neill, a Sisters High School teacher, is teaching young people the culture of skateboarding – not just how to be a better skater, but the life lessons that can be learned from getting into skateboarding. O’Neill is instructing a class this year at the high school called Skatepark. The skatepark class is offered to anyone who skates, and those who want to be involved in furthering the building project on the Sisters Skate Park located next to Sisters High Sch... Full story
CJ Chenier is bringing zydeco music to Sisters for Sisters Folk Festival. CJ Chenier — son of legendary zydeco musician Clifton Chenier — started playing music at a young age, learning piano in second grade. He then moved on to learning the saxophone and that was his main instrument throughout his young adult life. He started playing with Clifton Chenier and his Red-Hot Louisiana Band in 1978 at the age of 21, playing saxophone. “When my Dad became ill, I s... Full story
Big Sky City Lights became a band based on the circumstances of the world last year. Susan O’Dea and Nick Spear had spent time working with Alpine Theater Company in Montana together and Spear directed O’Dea in her first show, so they had a musical connection early on in their careers. When the pandemic upended the live music world, they renewed that connection — virtually. “Nick and I had been friends for many years doing theater together and I reached out asking if he... Full story
Alesha Faris, licensed massage therapist (LMT) has had a passion for helping people since she was a young girl, and she’s turned that passion into her own practice. Faris was born and raised in Sisters, being a resident since 1995. Faris became officially licensed to practice massage in 2014 after realizing she could make her lifelong passion a profession. “I studied all areas of massage — Swedish, Thai, pregnancy massage — particularly therapeutic massage, and sta... Full story
Aidan Moye has been surrounded by music since he was young. Born and raised in Buffalo, Wyoming, Moye recalls, “My dad was a bass player, my mom a singer, and we all sang and performed at church; music was everywhere.” He always knew he wanted to do something with music, yet it wasn’t until his later teens when he started taking that passion seriously. “I was mostly home-schooled and in and out of different schools, so I was always able to find a way to play music, whether... Full story
Raye Zaragoza uses music as her voice. She wants to share her message and truth to the world through music. Zaragoza is known for her feminist anthems, “protest folk,” and songs that, “celebrate those left too long outside the spotlight.” She is an award-winning singer-songwriter, who Paste Magazine called “one of the most politically relevant artists in her genre.” Zaragoza will be bringing that voice and tenacious folk music to the Sisters Summer of Festival concert ser... Full story
Two weekends ago, a number of Sisters locals chased their musical passions more than 600 miles to Under the Big Sky Music and Arts Festival in Montana. Running July 16-18, the massive festival staged by promoter Outriders Present is located in the picturesque Big Sky Country, nestled in the Bitterroot Mountain Range. Under The Big Sky is held on Big Mountain Ranch, a 350-acre working ranch located just over a mile east of the city limits of Whitefish. This was the... Full story
Preston Thompson Guitars in Sisters works with a number of big-name guitar players. Billy Strings, rising Americana and roots guitar player is one of those musicians. According to their website: “Preston started making guitars in the 1980s. Charles Sawtelle and Peter Rowan were among the first to enjoy the quality and sound of Preston’s builds, along with his friendship.” Many years ago, Billy Strings was in Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville where he found a Thompson guita... Full story
