News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 371
Program staff from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry traveled the tree-lined roads to Camp Sherman and the Black Butte School last Monday to present the school with the OMSI Award for Outstanding Science Program. This is a significant achievement for the 25-student school already boasting a long tradition of excellence in the humanities and environmental science. The award was earned earlier in the spring at the Intel NW Science Expo, Oregon's top science fair. In addi... Full story
When Paul and Alison opened Weston Equine Services in 2009, their aim was to establish a small and caring boarding environment. An additional few horses might come in for rehabilitation, and travelers would find the location on the corner of Holmes Road and Highway 126 convenient for overnight stops. Fast-forward five years and the Westons are busy with their boarders, with training, and with hosting a variety of clinics. They've built barns and shelters, established dry lots,... Full story
To an equestrian, a horse is the ultimate silent partner. He works in unison with his rider, yet is often unable to communicate exactly where he's experiencing pain and discomfort. Sisters resident Courtney Satko wants to use her thermal imaging business, Equiscan IR (infrared), to help riders and others who care for horses detect issues beneath the skin that might be confounding owners and veterinarians. Thermal imaging, or infrared thermography, is akin to another tool in... Full story
Dyrk Godby is a Sisters artist who in recent years has worked with an unusual medium. He creates art scenes on cowhide, using a sophisticated leather-burning tool to transfer what he sees in his mind onto the hide. One such work, titled "Change on the Horizon," and donated to the annual My Own Two Hands art auction, shows a group of five Native Americans watching a wagon train traveling on the Oregon Trail. It was inspired by scenes from Godby's childhood in southern Idaho,... Full story
The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce honored their own at the annual Masquerade Ball held last Friday at FivePine Conference Center. An enthusiastic crowd, about half of which got into the spirit of the night and donned sparkly Mardi Gras masks, enjoyed hearty appetizers from The Porch restaurant and an evening of celebrating Sisters' business community and spirit. Chamber Executive Director Erin Borla welcomed the guests and thanked the chamber board and volunteers who make... Full story
The Sisters High School equestrian team gallops into their new season with the first Oregon High School Equestrian Team (OHSET) meet on February 21-23. The meets encompass three days of competition and are held at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond. The team of 11 athletes and their horses has been practicing all winter and is ready for the challenges ahead. They'll compete against 19 schools in the Central District, which includes all Central Oregon schools and stretches as far east as Baker City and... Full story
Standing in the afternoon sunshine, the cows loafing at one end of the pen looked up as seven riders walked their horses through the gate. The horses, ears forward, watched as the cattle waved their horns around and shuffled a bit closer to the fence. One rider separated from the group and walked her horse toward the cattle. As they approached, those pricked ears flattened onto his head. He clearly was not looking forward to getting amongst those horns. Quietly, ears still... Full story
Barbara Turner isn't moving anytime soon. She and her husband, John, are well settled into their Sisters Country home and have been for 34 years. It's their 32nd home in 68 years of marriage. That's a lot of moves in the formative years of a long and productive relationship. There are few career choices resulting in that sort of nomadic life, and for John and Barbara, members of the Greatest Generation, it was military service. John spent 32 years in the Army, retiring as a fu... Full story
Camp Sherman residents and visitors may be forgiven for slowing down considerably when they pass the Metolius Meadows barn this holiday season. At first glance, it appears the red wooden sleigh parked in front of the barn is pulled by fivefull-size deer. (Well, except for the little guy in the front, sporting the red nose. He's not as burly as the others but he sure glows.) A closer look reveals that the deer are actually models - wood-framed, filled with a sawdust/epoxy mix... Full story
Christmas inched another step closer on Sunday evening with the 17th annual Magical Voices of Christmas program, sponsored by Sisters Rotary. The annual free gift to the community began in 1996 when the president of the Sisters Rotary Club was scouting around for a community-based project. Over lunch one day, Barbara Turner suggested a music-based project, and Peg Bermel suggested the name. Thus was launched Magical Voices of Christmas, which in its early days boasted... Full story
Sisters artist and horsewoman Kimry Jelen has a big opportunity looming, and she's turned to Kickstarter to fund it. Jelen's been invited to show her equine art at the pinnacle of "horsey" events, The World Equestrian Games (WEG) 2014, in Normandy, France. The late-August/early September event is an awfully long way from Central Oregon, and when hit with the reality of the cost of getting her paintings there, Jelen realized it was beyond the scope of her hay-filled pockets.... Full story
Nora Ellison walked white-faced and trembling into the Glaze Meadow recreation center at Black Butte Ranch a year ago. It was time for her first swimming lesson. The smiling face of instructor Marti Dale did little to ease her anxiety, but she was determined to learn. A year later, 83-year-old Ellison swims laps and does core strengthening and stretching exercises twice a week at the pool, with five other women who have dubbed themselves the Silver Fins. The women range in... Full story
The Deschutes County Fair is touted as having something for everyone. The Nugget visited on Friday afternoon, dodging the rain that fell on Sisters. The 4-H exhibit hall had static displays ranging from beekeeping to vegetables, robotics to livestock. Some were information only, arranged on foam-core board, while others were fine examples of art and craft. The Stars of Sisters 4-H club had exhibits turning up all over the hall. Photos, metalwork, a tie-dye T-shirt and... Full story
Sisters Country fans of Asian cuisine don't have to leave town to get their food fix. Happy Wok is open for takeout business on Hood Avenue. Owned by June and Mark Spofford, the restaurant reflects its name with a warm and friendly buzz. June believes that happy people are well-fed with healthy, fresh food and according to Mark, her talents in the kitchen make it so. The Spoffords previously owned The Royal Thai restaurant in Sisters, closing it, to the disappointment of... Full story
Audrey Goldsmith has high expectations of her mules. Much higher than the usual pack animal, Grand Canyon people-toter perception most folks have. Her mules do perfect canter-departs, cattle sorting, and one of them jumps over cross-country and show jumping courses at one-day event competitions. Her 9-year-old mule, Heart B Oliver, recently paired up with 13-year-old Mallory Johnson to compete at beginner novice level in two one-day events. Mallory outgrew the lesson horse... Full story
Sisters resident Col. Bob Woollard, U.S. Army, Ret., recently collected his Associate of Science degree from COCC - 47 years after finishing his last class there. All he needed was to transfer one credit, for a PE class, and the parchment was his. It's not as though Woollard needed any more letters after his name. In those 47 years, he served his country with distinction in the Army National Guard and in the Department of the Army, earning a bachelors degree in botany and two... Full story
The Rotary Club of Sisters supports literacy projects and a club favorite happened last Friday when 130 first graders from Sisters and Tumalo gathered in Sisters Community Church's big hall to celebrate reading. Former Sisters head librarian and long-time Rotarian Peg Bermel heads up a committee that for several years has provided books to every first-grade student in Sisters, and more recently, Camp Sherman and Tumalo. The 1st Grade Book Project actually had its start in Wyom... Full story
Sisters equestrian team wound up the OHSET season with a strong showing at the state meet, held May 16-19 at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center. Olivia Chandler brought home the gold medal in Hunt Seat Over Fences, with her sister Ellie taking fifth place. Autumn Saunders earned the bronze in Dressage with Olivia Chandler taking 10th place. Freshman Cammi Benson captured bronze medals in Hunt Seat Equitation, Western Horsemanship and Reining, and seventh place in Working Rancher. She also came home with third place in... Full story
The Black Butte School District might be one of the most far-flung of Jefferson County, but the students there are getting in on the act of the county library district's Community Read. For the past 10 years, the library district chooses a book for county residents to read and hosts a number of related activities. This year features two books by Oregon author William Sullivan. "Searching for Coyote" recounts his journey backpacking across Oregon. "Cabin Fever" is a memoir of... Full story
Dennis McGregor is well-known in Sisters for being the artist who painted a whole bunch of Quilt Show posters - 14 of them in all. He is also a songwriter and now an aspiring children's book author. All those talents come together in his book "Dream Again," the story of a young woman named Annie trekking the Oregon Trail on a wagon train accompanied by her faithful horse, Grace, and a precious quilt made by her grandmother. Without spoiling the story it can be said that the... Full story
The Sisters Oregon High School Equestrian Team (OHSET) completed their first meet on the weekend with satisfied athletes and coaches. Despite wintery conditions at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center grounds and the loss of three athletes due to injury, the team persevered and athletes finished in the top 10 in 15 of the 23 events that Sisters entered. The English riding events have historically been Sisters' strongest, and the tradition continued with Olivia and Ellie... Full story
Sisters equestrian athlete Julie Klemz, 16, and her horse, Divine Horizon (Devon), 23, recently returned from the United States Eventing Association Area 7 annual meeting with a championship award. Based on a complicated nationwide scoring system, the pair emerged at the top of the scale in the beginner novice division. Area 7 covers riders competing in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Klemz and Devon competed in four or five events each season, starting in... Full story
The Oregon High School Equestrian Team (OHSET) is galloping onto the athletics calendar at Sisters High School. The first meet of the season is February 22-24 at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond. The team of 12 riders and their equine partners are ready to take on the challenge of long days at the OHSET meets and have endured chilly practice sessions through the darkest days of winter to stay on form. OHSET is a club sport and this year is enjoying the support of SHS Athletic Director Tim Roth. "Our goal... Full story
Stephanie Garcia of SMG Performance Horses is a horse trainer with lofty goals of competing in professional rodeo, and she's willing to share the journey with her clients. While Garcia can take just about any horse from a variety of disciplines and help it become a better citizen, that is no longer her specialty. Focusing these days on the timed events of barrel racing, poles and team sorting, Garcia and her clients enjoy their success by performing well, being nice and having... Full story
Operations may be winding down in Iraq and Afghanistan but American troops are still fully occupied in all branches of the military. A local group, the Military Parents of Sisters (MPS), wants to be sure that the Sisters community is aware that several young men and women from Sisters are actively serving their country. The group created an honor board, which now sits in a prominent place in City Hall, just to the left as one enters the building. The display contains photos... Full story
