News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 1025
The residents of Sisters Country provided generous support for the recently completed Hospice House at Partners In Care, contributing $134,310 to build and furnish the Three Sisters patient care suite. In addition, The Roundhouse Foundation funded the large foyer and gathering space complete with a fireplace. The state-of-the-art facility is one of only three inpatient hospice facilities in the state of Oregon and the only one east of the Cascades. The new 12-suite facility,... Full story
The Sisters Garden Club has created a new event for this year’s Quilt Show week. On Thursday, July 6, they are holding a Garden Party from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the home of one of their members at 364 E. Wapato Loop in Buck Run. Visitors can enjoy the garden, view handcrafted wares by several local artists, and enjoy lemonade and cookies. The Garden Club will be selling a garden journal created by member Karen Thrower for $15. The artists selling their goods include Rustic G... Full story
Are you looking for a fun getaway not too far from Sisters? I recently had the opportunity for a quick visit to Hood River that was relaxing, entertaining, and educational. My cousin was visiting from Southern California, and I planned a getaway we would both enjoy. She and I grew up together and spent hours riding horses and spending the night together. We left Sisters at noon on a Wednesday to drive up Highway 26 to Highway 35, which circles the south and east side of Mount... Full story
Kellen Klein, the new interim executive director of Citizens4Community (C4C), describes himself as a "network weaver" who has known from a young age that he wanted to do "purpose-driven work." Klein, one of three new board members for C4C, was asked to become the interim executive director when Josie Newport announced her intention to step down from her director position. Her last day was June 9, after working with Klein to make a smooth transition. C4C is a 501(c)(3)... Full story
City staff has recommended denial of the application for the owner of the Space Age gas station to rebuild the current facility. The recommendation is based on one development standard: compatibility. A much-anticipated Planning Commission public hearing was held on the application on Thursday, June 15. There was no final decision — the hearing was continued to next month. Based on the information in the record as of June 1, staff concluded the proposal has not satisfied t... Full story
Mark your calendars for Thursday, June 8, 3 to 6 p.m., to gather at Beacham's Clock Company located at 300 W. Hood Ave. to celebrate Ed and Kathi Beacham's 45 years as one of the finest clock shops in the country - and to welcome the Recksiek family of Utah as they assume ownership of the business. Visiting Beacham's is a feast for the senses. Every hour and half-hour there are chimes, bongs, bells, and tweets as the clocks do their job of announcing the passage of time. On... Full story
The application for redevelopment of the Space Age service station at 411 W. Cascade Ave. is finally complete and the process for consideration of approval will move forward, according to Sisters City Planning Department. On Thursday, June 1, 4 p.m., at City Hall, the Planning Commission will be briefed on the application by City staff. The intent is for this workshop to provide preparation for the public hearing that will occur on the request. That hearing is scheduled for... Full story
In honor of Memorial Day on May 29, there is a new, very large American flag flying atop the flagpole in front of WaFd Bank (formerly Washington Federal) at 610 N. Arrowleaf Trail. The flag, which measures a generous 10-by-16-feet, was gifted to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #8138 by a gentleman who had purchased it years ago to fly at the opening of a project he had constructed. It had been folded up in his garage for years, and when he was preparing to move... Full story
Do you know what to do in case of an emergency in Sisters? How can you prepare ahead of time for an emergency? At last week's forum "Emergencies in Sisters: Be Prepared," sponsored by Citizens4Community (C4C), residents had the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of six agency representatives and one citizen, all of whom deal with emergencies on a regular basis. Sisters resident Jack McGowan, who sits on the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire District Board of Directors,... Full story
The Sisters Elementary School paved playground was a beehive of activity last Friday morning, as four classes of first-graders - about 80 students - worked with their Sisters Middle School seventh grade mentors to construct-a bird house/nesting box. The project came about when middle school math and STEAM teacher Jeff Schiedler mentioned a bird house building project his seventh-graders were undertaking to Sisters Elementary School first-grade teacher Erika Valikonia. The... Full story
Now that the isolation of COVID-19 is over, the Sisters Garden Club is undertaking several new projects. After a club field trip to the Harmony Farm Sanctuary for animals last November, the club decided to provide volunteers to engage in some gardening activities around the Sanctuary. "Seeing the rescued animals, many of us knew we wanted to get involved in volunteering to help with some projects that needed to be done," said Ruth Palmer, communications coordinator for the... Full story
Utilizing past usage data and future population forecasts, Anderson Perry and Associates created models that informed the City’s new water and wastewater master plans, which were both recommended for approval to the City Council by the Public Works Advisory Board. They evaluated the condition, performance, and available capacity of the four existing City wells, the reservoir, infrastructure, the equipment located at the City treatment plant and the city-wide sewer lines and l... Full story
Everyone who participates in the National Forest Cleanup Event scheduled for Saturday, May 20, 9 a.m.-noon, is invited to return to Village Green Park for a complementary picnic lunch. The community cleanup event is hosted by Sisters Country Leadership Initiative (CLI). Registration for the event can be made by email to sisterscliteam@gmail.com. Be sure to provide the number of people in your group to ensure enough lunches are ordered. Participants will meet at Village Green... Full story
During a review of their recent retreat, the Sisters Planning Commission explored the need for more time to conduct discussions regarding the many topics and projects they are expected to address and recommend to the City Council. Commissioner Tom Ries began the discussion. “Sooner or later we are going to have to make code changes to address the growth and design standards, so we don’t have just big-boxes built,” he said. “I’m even talking about fire mitigation. There are... Full story
Local youth have an opportunity to give back to their community while working outdoors in local forests - and earning school credit and scholarship opportunities. The deadline to apply to participate in the Central Oregon Youth Conservation Corps (COYCC) on the Sisters Ranger District is May 1. The application is located online at www.heartoforegon.org. A variety of conservation work on public lands will be done, including fire fuel reduction, trail maintenance, invasive speci... Full story
The Community Leadership team is working with the City of Sisters, Sisters Ranger District, houseless representatives, volunteers, NeighborImpact, and YouthBuild to provide two weekly services to those living in the forest. In October, the team began a garbage collection service every Wednesday in the woods off North Pine Street. Jeremy Fields of the U.S. Forest Service, and the team makes the first contact with campers to notify them of the service. Bonnie Rose of the team... Full story
Longtime Sisters resident Bill Willitts is on a mission to reach as many men as he can to educate them about the value of proton therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer — a treatment which has a cure rate of 85-90 percent. Last fall, Willitts was told by his urologist that his PSA (prostate specific antigen), which was first found to be high 10 years ago, had gone higher. With a biopsy, it was determined that he had developed prostate cancer. His urologist told him that a... Full story
Jordan Wheeler, the current city manager in Sandy was unanimously selected by City Council to become Sisters' new city manager, pending negotiations. After making the announcement last Wednesday, Mayor Michael Preedin told The Nugget, "We didn't make this choice by ourselves. There were hundreds of people involved providing input." A community meeting on Monday, March 27 saw about 50 people attend to meet the four candidates. Several different panels, plus the City staff and... Full story
The theme of National Volunteer Week, April 16-24, is "Volunteering Weaves Us Together." Nowhere is that truer than among the Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) volunteers who provide free rides to nonemergency medical appointments for their neighbors in the Sisters School District. By offering to support their neighbors, volunteers add to the strength and vibrancy of Sisters. Mark Reed and his wife, Vicki Bugbee-Reed, first volunteered to be drivers in the early... Full story
Why is the former U.S. Forest Service East Portal called the East Portal when it is located on the west side of Sisters? That location between Highway 20, Cascade Avenue, and Highway 242 is on the east end of Highway 242 and the starting/ending point for the scenic McKenzie Pass Highway, thus it is called the East Portal. Planning for development of a multi-modal transportation hub at the portal, which began in July 2022, is moving ahead. At their April 12 workshop, Sisters... Full story
It was a gray day in February 2004, and it started to rain as I was meandering around town during a visit to Sisters to look for a house. I ducked under cover in front of Leavitt’s front door (now Dixie’s). The owner — and a true cowboy — John Leavitt, came out, introduced himself, and asked if I needed anything. I told him I was moving to Sisters and needed to find a house. He welcomed me to Sisters, we briefly talked, and he wished me luck in my search. It was a brief b... Full story
Longtime Sisters resident Bill Willitts is on a mission to reach as many men as he can to educate them about the value of proton therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer — a treatment which has a cure rate of 85-90 percent. Last fall, Willitts was told by his urologist that his PSA (prostate specific antigen), which was first found to be high 10 years ago, had gone higher. With a biopsy, it was determined that he had developed prostate cancer. His urologist told him... Full story
Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid reported last week that the Sisters fire-shed has been identified as number one in the state which means, with provided funding, the district and their partners will develop long term goals and action plans for maximizing the effectiveness of treatments at the landscape scale to reduce the risk of wildfire. Reid added that “a lot of the important work (maybe 40-50 percent) has already been completed in Sisters fire-shed but it will be i... Full story
The Sisters Ranger District, led by District Ranger Ian Reid, was on full display at the Sisters Fire Community Room last Wednesday before a crowd of 70 people who came to hear what the district accomplished in 2022 and what the plans are for 2023. Reid began the evening by quoting the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service Gifford Pinchot who said, “A public servant is there to serve the public, not run them.” Reid and his staff take that philosophy to heart. The dis... Full story
For a position that requires compassion, empathy, and a deep desire to be of assistance, Partners In Care has the perfect person offering their Transitions program here in Sisters. Within five minutes of meeting Bethany Benefield, her passion for her work with medically fragile individuals is unmistakable. Her eyes light up as she talks about those who are benefitting from the assistance offered through Transitions in Sisters, Bend, Redmond, La Pine and south county,... Full story
