News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 260 - 284 of 3917
My grandfather was a cowboy. That’s what my family told me when I was a little kid. Of course, that conjured up images of riding across the sage with spurs a-jingling, eating off a chuckwagon, maybe battling a bad guy or two. It wasn’t like that, exactly. Ken Ginter was actually a small rancher in South Dakota. Not the same thing. He and his dad ran cows, but they also grew a variety of crops, which made them as much farmers as ranchers — though they always ide... Full story
Tom Nechville is renowned among instrument makers for his innovative banjo design, creating a line of banjos that are aesthetically pleasing, play well, and — most of all — sound wonderful. They are found in the hands of some of the finest professional players in American music. While his main factory remains in Minnesota, he and his partner, Linda Leavitt, a talented bluegrass and folk musician, have located Banjos West at 411 E. Main Ave. in Sisters. They plan a... Full story
Mike Durre is a lifelong Central Oregon resident, and he feels rooted here. “I just love the area,” he said. That sense of rootedness informs his work with Bisnett Insurance as a producer/agent. For Durre, it’s about relationships with clients. “I’m going to work for them and help them meet their needs and help do what’s best for them,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is consistency.” Durre had been working for Colonial Life when he reconnected with professional coll... Full story
Jon Fogarty is on a mission to get more kids on bikes in Sisters. The coach is building a Sisters-area mountain bike racing team — Deschutes Composite — under the auspices of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA). “I’ve been involved since the league started in Oregon,” he told The Nugget. “It’s cross-country mountain bike racing, similar to the Stampede.” The team is open to youth in sixth through 12th grade. Boys and girls are both encouraged... Full story
While out delivering The Nugget recently, I listened to an episode of the American Spy Museum’s Spycast podcast, featuring Ric Prado. Enrique Prado was a covert CIA operative in Central America in the 1980s, as the Reagan Administration sought to build an insurgency to overthrow the Communist Sandinista regime, which had come to power in a revolution against the brutal Somoza government of Nicaragua in 1979. Prado worked directly with the “Contras” as the count... Full story
Sisters High School science students launched multiple experiments into the stratosphere on Wednesday, May 25, in what has become an annual rite of spring for the Outlaws.... Full story
There was anguish in the voice of Sylvester Van Oort, the keynote speaker at Sisters’ Memorial Day service, held at the Village Green on Monday. He described the terrible fate of Don Bullock, a 17-year-old who lied about his age to join the United States Marine Corps to serve his country in Vietnam. Just a handful of days after arriving in Saigon, he was killed by a satchel charge flung through the window of his living quarters. “We’re sorry, Don, that you had to die so young,... Full story
Adam St. Clair’s story is a classic tale of American entrepreneurism: He had a talent and a passion, saw an unmet need, and set about filling it. St. Clair has launched Three Peaks Computers at 625 N. Arrowleaf Trail, Ste. 106 in Sisters (next to Level 5 CrossFit and Sisters Dance Academy). “I’ve been working on and rebuilding computers since I was about 15 years old,” St. Clair said. There was a strong impetus for the teenager to learn to repair a computer: His broke down, l... Full story
Tyler Cranor, the Sisters School District’s band director, says that the current lineup of the Sisters High School Jazz Band is the “best–sounding band we’ve ever had.” That’s not just a proud teacher’s opinion — it’s backed by the judges at last weekend’s Oregon Music Education Association (OMEA) State Jazz Competition held at Mt. Hood Community College, where the Outlaws took first-place honors in the 4A division. “We got higher marks this year for the whole ense... Full story
Paulina Springs Books has been a community cornerstone in Sisters for the past three decades. The staff and its legion of customers and friends will celebrate those 30 years next weekend. The store will offer a sale with 30 percent off on most of its wares on Saturday and Sunday, May 28-29. On Saturday, there will be free Boone Dog Pizza from noon to 3 p.m. (as long as the slices last) and music from 1 to 3 p.m. by Beth Wood and Dennis McGregor. Even as the staff looks back... Full story
Been doing a little work for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, one of the most significant events in modern American political history. The aftershocks of the botched political espionage operation that ultimately brought down the Nixon presidency continue to reverberate today, as evidenced by the persistent tendency to attach the suffix “gate” to any political scandal, large or small, that captures our attention (i.e., “Russiagate”). Even for people... Full story
The Outlaws varsity baseball team battled tough competition in the 4A-3 Oregon West Conference. They wrap up league play this week with two games against Caldera. Senior night is Wednesday, May 11. Going into the last week of play, the Outlaws are 8-15 overall; 3-12 in league. It’s not clear whether the Outlaws might get some post-season play. “We’re kind of on the bubble as far as a play-in game,” said Coach Kramer Croisant. The Outlaws’ record reflects a young team with... Full story
Living amid the ponderosa pine forest west of Sisters, homeowners in Tollgate know they are vulnerable to wildfire. Last weekend, the Tollgate Property Owners Association hosted an event designed to help residents take wildfire defense into their own hands. Under a tent on the subdivision commons, representatives of the insurance industry, Oregon Department of Forestry, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Coordinator Sgt. Nathan Garibay, and others dispensed i... Full story
Sisters Community Church (SCC) and VAST Church will officially reunite on Sunday, May 22, under the name Sisters Community Church. “It’s going to be a new church,” said Ryan Moffat, pastor of VAST, who will share pastoring duties with SCC’s Steve Stratos. There will be a new governance structure and a new constitution — but both pastors emphasize that this is about a great deal more than formal merging of two theologically compatible churches that grew from the same ro... Full story
Local dignitaries and representatives of the Sokol family of Sisters gathered on Thursday, May 5, to celebrate a singular act of civic generosity. In November of 2017, Cris Converse announced to the Sisters City Council that her family would rescind the $250,000 sale price of quasi-municipal water rights that belonged to Pine Meadow Ranch, which were being sold to the City. In effect, Converse cancelled the $250,000 owed by the City to acquire the water rights, and instead... Full story
There are wolves... Full story
Growth and change in Sisters are nothing new to Debbie Newport. She’s seen a lot of both in a lifetime spent here. Her family — the Dyers — have deep roots in Sisters and Camp Sherman. Newport served Sisters schools as an educator and has worked with nonprofits to the betterment of the community, from the Sisters Folk Festival to Circle of Friends. Newport is one of the panelists in the Keeping Sisters “Sisters”: Navigating Change in a Growing Community forum... Full story
A friend of mine is downsizing. “This is a lesson in consumerism,” he said as he contemplated how to off-load years of accumulated possessions. We’ve all been there. Most all of us have a room somewhere that’s full of the stuff we haven’t used, the clothes we haven’t worn in years, the books we’ll never read again. We just can’t seem to bring ourselves to get rid of all that stuff, and stop buying more. Sometimes we have the impulse to haul in a 60-foot dumpster and ju... Full story
It’s obvious to everyone that Sisters is growing and changing at a rapid pace. Finding a way to accommodate growth while maintaining the qualities that make Sisters an attractive place to be is the mission — and the challenge — that sits on the desk of City of Sisters Community Director Scott Woodford. Woodford... Full story
I’m a bit of a tree hugger. I love our towering ponderosa pines. Heck, I even have a soft spot for junipers. There’s a big one in my yard that gives me pleasure every time I look at it (and the birds that flock to it), and there are a couple of venerable, gnarled specimens that I visit regularly on woods rambles.I’ve been known to talk to trees. Don’t make it weird. One of the things that I’ve learned over a lifetime of woods rambling is that sometimes loving the trees and... Full story
The wind was whipping off the freshly snow-clad Three Sisters, and the terrain was rocky and uneven, choked with fallen trees that have come down in the wake of the 2012 Pole Creek Fire.A small crew of tree planters strode across the rough country, shovel in hand and bags full of ponderosa pine seedlings on their hips. Mason and Ethan Gardner, both 17, and 16-year-old Kodee Sweat were in their second week of a planting project conducted under the auspices of the Sisters Ranger... Full story
Colorful glass work by 220 Sisters Middle School students now graces the landscaping adjacent to the entrance of Sisters Art Works at 204 W. Adams Ave. in Sisters. The permanent art installation represents hours of work by students under the guidance of art teacher Judy Fuentes and renowned Sisters glass artist Susie Zeitner, assisted by volunteers from Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) . Zeitner, with her team of Patty Lahn and SFF staff Teresa Mills and Kate Kittell, conducted a... Full story
There’s a good case to be made that America would not exist as the nation we know without Benjamin Franklin. In 1778, France concluded a formal alliance with the newly declared United States of America — and it was Franklin who almost single-handedly engineered that geopolitical coup. The alliance provided America with critical arms and financing and, eventually, troops and naval power that cornered General Lord Charles Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown in October 1... Full story
Last weekend, Slaid Cleaves returned to Sisters to play The Belfry. The Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter works in a tradition of folk songwriting and storytelling that celebrates the courage and resilience of ordinary folk buffeted by the storms of life — some of their own making, some conjured by an indifferent or sometimes malevolent cosmos. Though there’s a lot of darkness in their world, his characters still find some reason to believe, and to keep on keeping o... Full story
