News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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When was the last time you helped make the dream of homeownership possible for a family or helped someone build their own home? Did you know you can do that without lifting a board or pounding a nail? Sisters Habitat for Humanity offers community members the opportunity to help working families become homeowners by volunteering their time at the ReStore and/or the Thrift Store. These two stores are successful because of the quantity of the donations and the quality of people... Full story
I'm not big on conspiracy theories but I am convinced there is a plot afoot to drive people insane - especially those of us of a certain age. The perpetrators are the people who design protective product packaging for consumer products. Now maybe younger folks don't find this so alarming, but us older folks are often driven to bizarre behaviors involving a profusion of expletives and the complete destruction of the object encased in this plastic protection. The ones that say Easy Open are the ones to really watch out for.... Full story
The main reason I live alone is that through my experiences of living with others I've developed a preference for having my own space and making my own decisions. Some might say it may just be me, that I'm impossible to live with or have annoying habits and that may well be, but I consider myself self-sufficient and enjoy my own company and not having to pick up after others. Most things I've learned to do myself out of necessity and the few things I can't do or don't want to do, I'd rather pay someone who leaves after the... Full story
In some cultures, those who reach a certain age quietly walk way from their villages and go off to die so they won't be a burden to their family. I'd like to think we've risen above that in this day and age, but here I find myself approaching that certain age living in Sisters, where it seems, though unspoken, that's pretty much what's expected. We have developers here who only think on the large scale and argue over pittances instead of asking people what they want and making it happen. When I talk to my senior friends and... Full story
In some cultures, those who reach a certain age quietly walk way from their villages and go off to die so they won't be a burden to their family. I'd like to think we've risen above that in this day and age, but here I find myself approaching that certain age living in Sisters, where it seems, though unspoken, that's pretty much what's expected. We have developers here who only think on the large scale and argue over pittances instead of asking people what they want and making it happen. When I talk to my senior friends and... Full story
St. Charles School-Based Health Care (SBHC), housed in the small red building next to Sisters High School, opened its doors last year to serve the healthcare needs of all children in Sisters. What started with a trickle of maybe one child a day most of last year has now become 8 to 12 patients a day, about which program director Emily Salmon is very excited. "Our goal is to have no slow days," she said. The program grew out of the cooperative efforts of St. Charles Health... Full story
What does "retirement" mean? The word itself suggests pulling back, withdrawing; calling it quits, packing it in. Nothing in there about a new beginning, the realization that there's more to life than working, that's there's a whole world of unexplored territory out there to investigate. Hopefully, retirement is the time to do all the things you couldn't do before because life got in the way. Social scientists have determined that the most damaging threat to well-being later in life is boredom and a loss of life purpose;... Full story
I haven't had a TV for years - and rarely do I get to watch one for more than a few minutes just in passing - so imagine my shock when I was house-sitting recently, and decided to turn on the TV and flip through the channels. It's all advertising ... like a continuous barrage of commercials with a few minutes of jokes or news stories in between! The majority of commercials seem to be for pharmaceuticals to combat all the symptoms and diseases all the people who watch TV apparently have (else why would people continue to... Full story
A nightmare for any writer is to not be able to find the right word you're looking for, and I seem to be experiencing that more often lately. I don't even have to be writing to forget my words. I'm in Bi-Mart last week on a mission to find a nine-inch disposable deep-dish pie pan in which to bake a zucchini pie. First of all, they've changed the store all around - much to the consternation of us seniors - so the first thing is to locate the new housewares section. A cursory look down several aisles doesn't reveal anything... Full story
Sisters Habitat for Humanity celebrated its 25th anniversary, honored World Habitat Day, and broke ground on its 58th and 59th Habitat homes in Sisters last Sunday. The block party and groundbreaking ceremonies were held at the corner of Brooks Camp Road and McKinney Butte Drive, which is the site of Habitat's 17-lot Village Meadows community. Community members and neighbors from the surrounding area and Westside Church were invited to come to see the house plans, meet their... Full story
We are tuned into heart health (walking, cardio, stretching, strengthening) and paying more attention to our diet (eliminating fats and high-fructose corn syrup, eating more fruits and veggies), but we live such highly active lifestyles, always on the go, a million things to do, that we never give our mind a rest or consider our inner needs. Little do we realize that where the mind goes, the "chi" goes ... and this little secret puts us in control. Qigong (pronounced chee gung) originated over 5,000 years ago; tai chi, over... Full story
Did you know you could now borrow ebooks from the library and read them immediately right on your device with a single click? You simply download OverDrive Read, a browser-based ebook reader that works on most computers, tablets and mobile devices running web browsers with HTML5 support, such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 10 and above. It's easy to use - and there are no fines for overdue books. Books expire from you device after three weeks if you don't renew. Books are available 24/7 and you can check... Full story
For some, an RV vacation means doing some real work - and having some real fun. Sisters Habit for Humanity board members and volunteers welcomed a group of Habitat RV Care-A-Vanners with a potluck supper last weekend. RV Care-A-Vanners is a volunteer program for anyone who travels around the country in a recreational vehicle, and wants to build Habitat houses and have fun doing it. RV Care-A-Vanners welcomes people of all ages, from all walks of life, who want to pick up a... Full story
After attending all the Community Assets Committee meetings this past year because I was interested in observing the process, I can say I was pleasantly surprised at how well organized it was. Everybody participated cooperatively, there was no dissension, no politics, no ego trips, and they accomplished their goal of vetting the top three projects voted on by the people who attended a previous town-hall meeting. Next they offered a follow-up town-hall meeting to explain the results and present a survey, to get more public inp... Full story
Sisters Habitat for Humanity board members expressed gratitude to all their volunteers who have helped make home ownership possible for working families in Sisters, at their annual Volunteer Appreciation Barbecue at Village Green Park last week. Ninety-plus volunteers showed up to enjoy the fun, food, and hugs. Toni Landis, board president, introduced the board members, and thanked them and all the volunteers in the Thrift Store, in the ReStore, and on the homebuilding sites... Full story
Sisters Library welcomed the class of 2028 to "Get Ready for Kindergarten" on Friday morning. Community Librarian Paige Bentley-Flannery gave the children a taste of what kindergarten will be like with lots of fun, interactive learning activities beginning with a lively song and acting out different ways to get to school - walk, bike, skip, run, take a bus - all with the spirit of "Kindergarten, Hooray!" Flannery read to them from popular children's books and encouraged the... Full story
This summer's hottest trend, in arts and crafts at least, is coloring books. These are not your children's coloring books. These are highly detailed, intricate, delicate, often whimsical designs that need to be studied and planned out before colors are applied. There could be faces or creatures hidden within the design, color schemes that disappear and reappear in other places. This is the joy of coloring. The creativity comes from the color selection and the theme throughout the piece. It's not paint-by-numbers; the artist... Full story
A group of a dozen or so youngsters gathered outside the library last Saturday to "Meet a Real Hero" as part of the Summer Reading Program. Several firefighters from Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department came by to engage with the kids and share some fun and some fire-safety tips. Community Librarian Paige Bentley-Flannery opened the program with some songs about firefighters sung to familiar tunes like "The wheels on the fire truck go round and round..." then she handed out... Full story
The members of Sisters Community Garden hosted a garden party last week to recognize all the people and businesses that have contributed to the success of this community project. As honored guests meandered through the organic labyrinth located just southeast of the Sisters Airport runway, garden advisor Donna Parker took visitors new to the garden on a tour through the 44 planting beds showing off the variety of fruits and vegetables planted by community members, including... Full story
A group of young people from Coos Bay came to Sisters last week to help the Sisters Garden Club with their annual beautification project at both entrances to town. They are part of Upward Bound, which is a college prep program for low-income first-generation college-bound high school students from ages 14 to 17. This is part of their six-week Summer Academy where they get to choose a different project each summer that involves giving back to the community. Their supervisor,... Full story
Sometimes my body just has to quit working to get me to slow down long enough to readjust my compass. A severe bout with sciatica this past month left me barely able to do much of anything but the bare necessities, giving me plenty of rest and time to rethink my priorities. I am a retired person. Why the heck am I still "working" 8 to 10 hours a day seven days a week, mostly not for pay? I really can't afford to give away the time I need to accomplish the few projects I have left on my bucket list before I am no longer capabl... Full story
Absolute Serenity Senior Care, LLC, opened its second licensed adult foster-care facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house on Saturday, June 27. The newly built and beautifully landscaped home is part of the first phase of Adams Avenue Commons at the northwest corner of Fir Street and Adams Avenue. Before cutting the ribbon, owners Leah and David Tolle talked to the dozens of guests who attended about their path to opening this facility and introduced the local... Full story
You never know what you're going to find when you start rummaging around in your old storage boxes. When Cha, the fossil hunter and owner of Cha For The Finest Gallery at 183 E. Hood Ave., started brushing away at some ugly old rocks in a box, she discovered what she believes to be rather unique dinosaur fossils from the Cretaceous Epoch, 113 million years ago. "If I had known what a treasure I had, I never would have left them in storage for six years," she said. She... Full story
Sisters Habitat for Humanity has hired a new construction manager. Darleene Snider, who grew up on a farm where she learned to "fix things," spent 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, traveling to all but one continent (Antarctica). She deployed with troops as essential ground support for flying missions. The mission could follow an explosion, an invasion, a tsunami, wherever air support was needed. Her contingency response team planned, organized, and built all the facilities need... Full story
A group of over 100 veterans and their families came out to Central Oregon Veterans Ranch (COVR) on Memorial Day to have a look around the newly acquired 19-acre ranch property with a four-bedroom home and barn. COVR started as the vision of Alison Perry, licensed professional counselor, with inspiration from her MEDEVAC helicopter pilot brother Todd, to help restore purpose and spirit to veterans of all ages. She thanked everybody for being part of this amazing project to honor our veterans from all wars, then turned the... Full story
