News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Hello Nugget supporters: The staff here at The Nugget thought it would be fun and interesting to share some of the inner workings of the paper with those who have stepped up to support our work. Hence, this newsletter. What's news: The big news item this month should be a planning commission ruling on the Space Age Gas renovation. The City of Sisters Planning Staff has recommended denial of the application on the basis of incompatibility with the neighborhood. The PC left the...
Though he died more than a half-century ago, Jimi Hendrix continues to influence virtually everyone who picks up an electric guitar with intent to rock. Few have been as powerfully influenced as Randy Hansen, who will bring his tribute to the rock legend to Hardtails Bar & Grill on Saturday, July 29. Hansen's journey with the guitar began when his father was killed in a car wreck when Randy was 10 years old. His father, who was a coach and mentor, was hit head-on by a drunk... Full story
When Corb Lund's boots hit the boards on the Big Ponderoo stage on Sunday, June 25, he'll be serving up the eclectic range of "Americana" music that defines Sisters' newest festival. Backed by the crack band The Hurtin' Albertans, the Canadian songwriter throws down rocking alt-country barn-burners and elegiac ballads, the writing shifting from comedic to poignant without ever mashing the gears. The through line in all his music is the lifeways and landscape of the North... Full story
It was, as the Duke of Wellington described the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, “the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life.” The series of events that went down 40 years ago, in 1983, carried much bigger potential consequences than any single battle ever did. The stakes were the continued existence of humanity. Had a couple of decisions gone another way, had individual men not kept a cool head under pressure, it might well have been lights out for the human race. Most fol... Full story
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness -That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to insti... Full story
You'd think that Sisters' winters would be the most amenable time for going on a reading tear, but for me, summer seems to be the season when I really get on a roll - especially with fiction. Part of that is technologically enabled. With audiobooks downloaded to the phone, I can listen to a novel while I'm throwing down a couple of hours of work in the yard, read-tripping with Marilyn, or chucking newspapers on porches through downtown Sisters on a Tuesday night. Part of it... Full story
Stetson Wright of Milford, Utah, took All-Around Cowboy honors at the Sisters Rodeo last weekend. That meant he went home with an exquisite equine sculpture sponsored by the Sisters branch of U.S. Bank, and carved by Sisters artist J. Chester "Skip" Armstrong. The exceptional trophy is a reflection of the homegrown quality of the Sisters Rodeo - one of the aspects of the event that draws the top competitors and sold-out crowds. The event is staged by hundreds of volunteers... Full story
The Sisters Rodeo honored some key players in America's frontier military history last weekend. They welcomed the Buffalo Soldiers of Seattle, a reenactment group that pays tribute to the soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry - Black regiments that conducted some of the most grueling campaigns in the American West after the American Civil War. The Buffalo Soldiers were given their name by the Plains Tribes, who respected their endurance and... Full story
Last Saturday, I had the honor of joining my fellow songwriters and musicians Lilli Worona and Mike Biggers in presenting "Songs from the Shelf" for the Deschutes Public Library. We spent an hour at Sisters Fire Hall with a wonderful, engaged audience serving up original songs inspired by books. We introduced each song with a little exploration of what inspired them, and how we built them: Greek mythology, history, the etymology of common phrases. I've always been... Full story
The first of Jeff Guin’s books that I discovered was “The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the OK Corral and How It Changed the American West.” It’s an outstanding read; Guinn takes a story you think you know and digs in past the crust of myth to find the pure ore. In recent years, Guinn has turned to crime. He brought a sharp journalist’s eye to the biography of Charles Manson. I would not have thought any time spent in the company of that sordid little co... Full story
The winner of the title All-Around Cowboy at Sisters Rodeo is the contestant who wins the most money over the weekend, usually having success in multiple events. Traditionally, that cowboy wins a saddle, which has been sponsored for decades by US Bank. But when you're a successful rodeo cowboy, chances are you have more saddles than you have horses. "This year we decided so many guys have multiple saddles, we wanted to do something special, rather than just another saddle,"... Full story
A friend told me the other day that he gets downright sentimental about a small-town parade. Heart-bursting, tear-welling sentimental. That’s a wonderful thing. It signals a connection to something truly valuable — a genuine, homegrown sense of community that doesn’t exist everywhere. Sisters has long punched well above its weight when it comes to creating events that are 100-proof, world-class — and yet celebrate a hometown vibe. Nothing exemplifies that more than the Sis... Full story
Dozens of people traveled from across the Pacific Northwest to Sisters last week to testify before the Oregon Board of Forestry. The Board conducts its meetings at locations around the state, and Wednesday-Thursday, June 7-8 was Sisters’ turn. The public testimony that the Board took at the beginning of an all-day session at FivePine Lodge & Conference Center on Wednesday was impassioned — and it had nothing to do with anything that was actually on the board’s agenda. The p... Full story
A Sisters High School freshman was arrested on Wednesday, May 31, in connection with two fires in girls bathrooms that led to the evacuation of the school. Authorities withheld the name of the juvenile female. According to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, a student at Sisters High School alerted staff to a fire in the girls restroom at 10:20 a.m. School staff responded to the girls restroom, and used a fire extinguisher to quench the blaze, which was located in the t... Full story
"We're ready to roll," said Hank Moss, a member of the Sisters Rodeo Association Board of Directors. It takes a huge volunteer effort - of some 225 people - to get Sisters Rodeo ready to roll, from painting to landscaping to manning food concessions and helping patrons find their seats to take in "The Biggest Little Show in the World." Moss expects some first-class rodeo action over the weekend, Friday-Sunday, June 9-11. "A lot of world champions will be there," Moss told The... Full story
The Sisters Stampede mountain bike race has become the unofficial launch of summer in Sisters. And Sisters Country served up a perfect early summer day for the hundreds of racers who took to the Peterson Ridge Trail System in an event that has put Sisters on the cycling map. The Sisters Stampede is so well-known and highly regarded that it is sold out in advance - as in on Valentine's Day in February. As is the tradition, the lead out for the multiple groups of riders that... Full story
The morning of Monday, May 29 carried the warm promise of summer and the pleasures of a three-day weekend in sunny Sisters Country - but many Sisters Country residents gathered in Village Green for a purpose more somber and more weighty than a holiday barbecue. As they have done for many years, Sisters veterans organizations - VFW Post 8138, Sisters Band of Brothers, and American Legion Post 86 - hosted a moving tribute to the fallen of America's conflicts, from the American... Full story
Green Ridge looms over Camp Sherman, its treed slopes and burn scars home to populations of wildlife and a destination for hikers and hunters. It's also the site of a Forest Service project - six years in the making - that is drawing intense scrutiny as a final decision approaches. According to the Forest Service, a draft decision on the Green Ridge Landscape Restoration Project envisions a project that "includes up to 19,437 acres of thinning, mowing, and prescribed fire... Full story
The Tollgate subdivision west of Sisters is nestled amid the towering ponderosa pines of the Deschutes National Forest. That's part of the charm of the 440-home development - but it also makes it vulnerable to wildfire. Residents of Tollgate are taking the threat of wildfire head-on, using Firewise principles to protect themselves and their neighbors by hardening homes and reducing fuels around homes. The Tollgate Firewise Committee, headed by Jane Killefer, held their second... Full story
Fire consumed the RV homes of a couple living in the forest just north of Highway 20 less than a quarter-mile from Sisters late Saturday night (see story, page 1). No one was injured in the fire, but the occupants lost everything they had to the flames. Embers from the blaze that consumed the RVs also sparked a small spot fire that caught in a dry, punky log about 100 yards from the main fire. A Forest Service firefighting crew was still patrolling the area on foot on Monday... Full story
A fire of undetermined origin consumed two trailers/RVs in the forest just west of Sisters late Saturday night, May 13. "It involved two RVs," Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District Shift Commander Cody Meredith told The Nugget. "One of them was completely destroyed. When we pulled up, there was pretty good flame-length; a tree was torching between the two RVS." The fire, which was called in just before 11 p.m., occurred north of the Best Western Ponderosa Lodge off the 2068-120... Full story
Sisters has a lot to be proud of in the agencies that work to protect our community. The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District, supported by Cloverdale and Black Butte Ranch fire districts, responded quickly and effectively to a raging inferno that consumed two RVs in the woods just outside Sisters Saturday night. Jason Barber, a fire manager with the U.S. Forest Service, told me that “the fire department crushed that — it was great.” And it was. Local firefighters attac... Full story
The work each of us does to prepare for emergencies can make a big difference in how well we weather a crisis — both personally and as a community. A cadre of experts in the field of emergency preparedness and response will gather on Thursday, May 11, at the Sisters Fire District’s Community Hall to talk about the range of potential emergencies that can affect Sisters Country, and practical steps we can all take to be prepared to navigate them. The forum, titled “Em... Full story
Stellar pitching and strong defense have carried the Sisters High School Outlaws baseball team to a 7-2 record in league play. Coach Matt Hilgers said the team has prevailed in “some close, intense baseball” this spring. They took two out of three against both Pleasant Hill and La Pine, two of the most challenging teams in the league. Brody Duey turned in a no-hitter against the Creswell Bulldogs. “We followed it up with Brody Davis pitching a one-hitter,” Hilgers said. ... Full story
Nobody enjoys paying taxes. However, if we have to pay taxes — and we know that that is one of two inevitabilities in life — local taxes paid directly to institutions that have immediate local value are the best kind to pay. With both measures 9-160 and 9-161 on the May 16 ballot, Sisters has the opportunity to renew local option levies that make a big difference in the quality of life for many of our citizens. You can see the impact of each of your tax dollars on the gro... Full story
