News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Authors and book enthusiasts came together to celebrate writing, books and the importance of a good story at the inaugural Sisters Festival of Books last weekend. Authors of various genres came from around the nation to take part in the festival events. Friday kicked off with a special local-author reception honoring Sisters-area authors (see story, page 1). Saturday featured presentations from various authors throughout the day at Sisters Middle School. Some of the authors... Full story
Ruby McConnell is a featured author at the Sisters Festival of Books, taking place October 18-20 at venues around town. The festival proceeds benefit the Sisters Festival of Books scholarship fund. McConnell is a writer, geologist, and adventuress whose work focuses on nature, the environment, and the relationship between landscape and the human experience. Her experiences as a researcher, activist, and explorer in the wildlands of the western United States led her to write... Full story
Joe Wilkins never thought that writing could be a career when he was growing up. He was an avid reader because he grew up in a rural town with not much to do. “I read all the time, it was how I passed the time in my small town in Montana, it was my way to have company around” said Wilkins. Now a highly regarded author living in the Pacific Northwest, he will be featured at the Sisters Festival of Books, October 18-20. Wilkins was born and raised north of the Bull Mou... Full story
This year’s Sisters Folk Festival brings back many musicians who have played the festival multiple times and have become part of the Sisters music community. Among them are Martyn Joseph, Ellis, Johnsmith, Beth Wood, Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai, and David Jacobs-Strain. Jacobs-Strain has performed in Sisters countless times since his first appearance at the Sisters Folk Festival many years ago when he was just 17 years old. Since, he has played The Belfry’s Halloween ext... Full story
Legendary bluegrass singer-songwriter, Peter Rowan is one of this year’s headliners at the 2019 Sisters Folk Festival. Rowan has a career spanning over five decades, after falling in love with music at a young age. He has worked with a number of well-known artists and musicians over the years. His most influential early music memory comes from his uncle when he was just six years old. When his family would visit his World War II veteran uncle, they would pass the time in H... Full story
Lauren Wattenburg has always known that she wanted to pursue ballet. She has been dancing for as long as she can remember. Wattenburg is a graduate of Sisters High School in the class of 2017. She is now starting her third year at the University of Utah, located in the Rocky Mountains outside of Salt Lake City. She is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts in ballet. “All my life I was taught to pursue my passion, and ballet is my passion so I am currently pursuing a degree in i... Full story
Soulful singer-songwriter Keith Greeninger is returning to play the Sisters Folk Festival for the fifth time. Greeninger has played Sisters Folk Festival with his band, with Dayan Kai, as well as solo shows. During all of those years, he has also taught at the Americana Song Academy at Caldera. Greeninger spoke highly of his experiences teaching at Caldera ahead of the festival. “I love being a part of people’s self-discovery and connecting and expressing themselves here, it... Full story
The traditional Quebecois band Le Vent du Nord is an award-winning group considered leaders in the francophone folk movement. They draw upon traditional sources and original compositions while enhancing a driving, soulful sound rooted in the Celtic diaspora. Andre Brunet, fiddle player of the band, spoke with The Nugget about his role in the band and how honored he feels to be in this long-lasting Quebec-based band playing songs of his homeland. Le Vent du Nord has been a... Full story
Ron Artis II & The Truth are the encore artists for the Sisters Folk Festival this year. After their rousing success at last year’s festival, the band will be back performing their soulful blues-rock at multiple venues in town. Artis, who recently moved himself, his wife and three daughters to Portland, is looking forward to playing the festival again this year. They moved to Portland due to the fact that his touring has taken off in the past months, and it was easier to be c... Full story
Sweet Remains is a band made up of three guys who didn’t know they needed to be in a band together. Greg Naughton, one of the three members of the band, spoke with The Nugget on the creation of the band, their sound and their autobiographical film. The Sweet Remains will be featured at this year’s Sisters Folk Festival. Known for their strong melodic drive and comparable sounds to bands of the 1960s and ’70s such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Sweet Remains have been... Full story
Freddy and Francine, (actual names Bianca Caruso and Lee Ferris) will be returning to Sisters as the third and final installment of the free Summer Concert Series on August 21, at 6:30 p.m. Freddy and Francine were featured at the 2018 Sisters Folk Festival and were very well received by the Sisters crowd. Now, after a long leg of touring around the nation, they are returning to the Sisters stage. Freddy and Francine as a band name came about when Caruso and Ferris were just s... Full story
Sister duo Leah and Chloe Smith make up Rising Appalachia. Rising Appalachia and their five-piece band will be featured at the 2019 Sisters Folk Festival. As world travelers for over two decades, their sound blends various musical styles from around the world, rooted in Americana. Leah Smith spoke with The Nugget on the creation of the band and origin of their sound. The two sisters did not mean to create a band when they started playing music together. The two grew up in a mu... Full story
Sisters photographer Jay Mather is being recognized for his work in Cambodia during a time when the country was in turmoil. His work will be featured in the Visa Pour l´Image International Festival of Photojournalism near Paris in September. Mather visited the country in 1979 when the communist Khmer Rouge regime had slaughtered 1.7 million people — 21-24 percent of Cambodia’s population. Mather and reporter Joel Brinkley went on the lines of the refugee camps r... Full story
Grant Tandy, a Sisters High School graduate, is the manager at the Worthy Brewing Company “Hopservatory” in Bend. The observatory contains a 16-inch reflecting telescope, a Ritchey-Chrétien reflector made by RC Optical systems. The scope is a research-grade telescope capable of viewing planets and galaxies that are far away. Tandy graduated from Sisters High School in 2011 and attended COCC for two years and obtained general education requirements while trying to fig... Full story
Students from Heart of Oregon Corps Youth Build Program will once again participate in the Sisters Rhythm and Brews Festival at the end of July. Laura Handy, the executive director of the Heart of Oregon Corps spoke with The Nugget on the program and its connection to the festival. The Youth Build program is one of six programs associated with the Heart of Oregon. It is a program based on leadership development, job-training development for youth who have left high school... Full story
Larkin Poe — sisters, Megan and Rebecca Lovell — will be playing the Sisters Rhythm and Brews festival this weekend. The Lovell sisters spoke with The Nugget on how they got into music together and what they love most about playing together. The sisters grew up in a very musical household in Georgia, where they were born and raised. Their parents taught them to play from a young age and appreciate music. “It really became a passion for us,” said Megan Lovell. Ori... Full story
Dirk Van der Velde, Sisters High School graduate in the class of 2012, just ran his first 100-mile ultra-marathon race. The race took place in the old-growth forest in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Van der Velde had never necessarily thought of himself as a runner until he started after his soccer career ended. He played soccer for Sisters High School for two years under Coach Rob Jensen, getting to play in two playoff games. He then went on to play soccer for two years in... Full story
Young blues sensation Christone “Kingfish” Ingram will be returning to the stage for the Sisters Rhythm & Brews Festival at the end of July. “Kingfish” — his nickname given to him by his guitar teacher — came to the Sisters Folk Festival four years ago when he first started out at 16 years old. Now 20, he has taken the blues world by storm. Rolling Stone magazine asks: “Is Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram the future of the blues? The blues savior is one of the most e... Full story
Rachelle Beiler, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department volunteer and student, is taking her knowledge of medicine to Haiti in November. Beiler, a recent graduate from Central Oregon Community College, has gone through the student program at SCSFD where students serve as volunteer firefighters and EMTs, and in exchange, the department pays for their schooling. She graduated in paramedicine this past year and is in her third year as a student at the department. She is currently... Full story
The White Buffalo is returning to the Sisters stage for the Sisters Rhythm and Brews Festival Friday, July 26. The White Buffalo, given name Jake Smith, is known for his wide vocal range with a baritone sound and the dark, narrative storytelling of his songs. Born in Oregon, and eventually living in San Francisco, Smith picked up a guitar in his teenage years and found a passion for playing. “I started writing songs when I knew only a few chords, and didn’t realize I had suc... Full story
Eric Adler, Sisters High School graduate in the class of 2010, is making waves with his self-designed water conservation sensor. Adler saw the need for something to monitor water usage, and sees the need especially in the high deserts of Central Oregon. “We are lucky to have a lot of water, but it won’t last forever,” said Adler. Adler, originally from West Linn, moved to Sisters in 8th grade and had the unique experience that most Sisters kids do in their education at Siste... Full story
British blues player Joanne Shaw Taylor is set to play the Sisters Rhythm & Brews Festival July 26-27. This will be Taylor’s first time playing Central Oregon and one of her few shows on the West Coast. Taylor, born in the Black Country of western Birmingham in England, always knew she wanted to have music as her career. She had a passion for it from a young age. “I grew up in a musical household; my dad played blues guitar and my mother was passionate about soul mus... Full story
Sisters High School Class of 1999 will be celebrating their 20th reunion in July. The reunion will take place in Sisters at the Sisters Saloon, around town, and in the Village Green park. Crista Hagan, a graduate of the class, has been working closely with their class president, Tara Schafer, who is putting on the reunion. Hagan spoke with The Nugget on the importance of the reunion and what it means to her: “Our class really raised each other, we were more like brothers and s... Full story
Thousands of board feet of logged ponderosa pine is for sale along the highway in Sisters. Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid gave an update to The Nugget on the tree-clearing project on Highway 20. The project, which was completed ahead of schedule in May, removed 2,100 trees — mostly ponderosa pines — that were killed due to the application of an herbicide along the highway. The Forest Service determined that thousands of trees in the corridor were dead or dying... Full story
Oishi Japanese Restaurant is celebrating its sixth year in Redmond by giving back to a family in need. Tanankam Thanitithanand, known as Yee, is the owner of Oishi and fell in love with Central Oregon six years ago when she and her family visited. Oishi serves traditional Japanese food. They have a variety of hot foods including noodles, udon and rice dishes as an alternative for those who do not eat fish. Sushi, rolls and sashimi are their main focus. Originally from Santa... Full story
