News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
• Janit Brockway has passed the torch to Harmony Thomas, the new proprietor of Bedouin. Thomas says that she is bringing the core values she learned growing up in Sisters to the business. She is excited to be back in the community that she loves. She notes that she was raised here and has known Janit since she was a child and will be forever grateful to Janit for being the chosen one to pass the baton to. The clothing brands will stay the same, and the essence of... Full story
Nancy Jean Charles passed away May 21 in Sisters after a long battle with Parkinson's and Lewy Body Disease, with Andrew, her husband of 11 years, at her side. Nancy was born to Irene and Sam Charles in Santa Barbara, Ca. and grew up in Tustin, Ca., graduating from Tustin High School in 1964. At the age of 20, upon hearing that United Airlines was hiring flight attendants, she accompanied a friend to an interview. Nancy at 5'9" was told she was too tall to be a flight attendan... Full story
Michael "Mike" Doran Henderson of Sisters, 77, passed away on May 18, at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend after sustaining multiple injuries in a collision three weeks earlier in Redmond. Mike was born on January 29, 1941, in Oakland, California, to John Henry Hill and Velma Louise Drewry Hill Henderson Day. When he was young, his family spent a lot of time at the Drewry Ranch in Mendocino County, where he enjoyed fishing, hunting and helping with the livestock. Over the... Full story
Eula Curtis was born in Marcola, Oregon, to Sam and Virtue Spicer. She graduated high school as class valedictorian. She met her future husband Lester Russell Curtis on a blind date and they were married in 1943. Russ was hired as a cartographer for the USGS. The couple and their three young daughters lived in seven western states and moved 61 times in the 30-plus years he worked for the government. In 1947 Russ was sent to Prineville. They loved it there and decided they... Full story
The banners are hung, the paint is fresh, merchandise is folded, and the traffic cones are placed. These are only a few of the tasks undertaken on Saturday as volunteers prepared for one of Sisters' biggest weekends. Sisters hosts a number of high-traffic weekends throughout the year and the 78th annual Sisters Rodeo is no exception. It takes a lot for it to run smoothly. "The Biggest Little Show in the World" takes a big number of volunteers and a lot of heart to keep running... Full story
Three hundred eighty-four professional cowboys and cowgirls will compete for $10,000 purses in each event in the 78th annual Sisters Rodeo beginning June 6 and running through June 10. There will also be 69 members of the Professional Wild Horse Racers Association participating in their three-man competition at "The Biggest Little Show in the World." Sisters Rodeo has one of the largest purses in the nation in June, which entices cowboys and cowgirls to travel from all over the nation to take their chances in America's... Full story
Prescribed burning is critical to restoring health to densely overgrown forests and to protecting communities from the effects of raging wildfires. But when they are conducted in highly visible areas, the effects can be startling. Two prescribed burns in high-visibility areas of Sisters Country in recent weeks have come under scrutiny, with some members of the public appalled at the sight of scorched trees with reddened needles and blackened trunks. Facebook lit up with... Full story
To the Editor: In the May 30 edition of The Nugget, Paula Surmann submitted a Letter to the Editor chastising Greg Walden for becoming more conservative and no longer caring about regular people. I'm not sure what I've missed, but aren't lower taxes, smaller government, peace through strength, rule of law, standing for the national anthem, creating jobs, securing our borders, support for the unborn, free speech, right to bear arms, transparency at the highest level of government and "One Nation Under God" conservative values... Full story
Most of you probably do not know that McKenzie Pass Highway 242 has been plowed and is ready for traffic now. Unfortunately members of the local bicycling community, a local politician and the (retiring) head of ODOT Region 4 have conspired again to secretly block it off and again secretly operate a local bike path. This time it's State Highway 242 to McKenzie Pass. You didn't know? Of course not, that was their plan. Without any advance public notice, ODOT, our county commissioners (Unger and Baney), and members of the... Full story
There was a time, when Len Babb finished a painting, he'd give it to a friend, or maybe trade it, but mostly he'd toss it into a corner and then move on to the next one. But that was before he realized that, not only was he creating a legacy of art from Western history, he was crafting iconic images for future generations. Len spent his life as a buckaroo. He wasn't out fixing fences or baling hay. He rode, and he rode hard. And when he was done, he painted, and did a little... Full story
A hearty breakfast is just what's needed to keep a cowboy on the trail - or a rodeo fan full of fun. For over 30 years, the Sisters Kiwanis Club has cooked a pancake breakfast on Rodeo Sunday at the rodeo grounds entrance. Fifty Kiwanis volunteers serve up stacks of pancakes, bacon, sausage, cooked-to-order eggs, orange juice, milk and coffee. On June 10, seven grills will prepare breakfast for 1,000 hungry buckaroos who will consume 225 pounds of pancake mix, 300 pounds of ba... Full story
One hundred and twenty excited first-graders from Sisters and Tumalo filed into the Sisters High School auditorium on Friday, May 25, all set to have some fun with books. The 10th annual Books for Kids literacy event, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sisters, kicked off what Rotarians hope will be a reading-filled summer for the students. Friday's gathering was the culmination of several months of anticipation that began in January. A selection of six hard-cover books, chosen... Full story
Some businesses come and go in Sisters, but one long-time fixture, Sisters Drug, has simply moved. The familiar purveyor of all things pharmaceutical for over 43 years has undergone a few changes in recent years. The Pill Box organization, which owns five other pharmacies including Rice's Pharmacy and Gifts in Corvallis, purchased the Sisters pharmacy in 2008. As of May 29, the pharmacy moved from its familiar location in the building at the corner of East Cascade Avenue and... Full story
Two new leaders will be in place for the 2018-19 school year in Sisters. Schools Superintendent Curt Scholl announced that the district has hired a new principal for Sisters Elementary School and a new principal for Sisters Middle School. "We started our search for our new Elementary School Principal with 22 applicants," Scholl reported. "On May 15, a panel of 14 stakeholders interviewed the five candidates. After deliberation and reference checks, we are excited to announce that Joan Warburg has accepted the position and... Full story
The Sisters Ranger District has closed an area west of the Crossroads subdivision to shooting due to public safety concerns. The McKenzie gravel pit, located west of Crossroads near Sisters off Forest Service Road 400, will be closed to shooting due to concerns about conflicts with other recreational uses in the area and potential for stray bullets to fly outside the shooting area, the Forest Service reports. According to the Forest Service, for the last several years... Full story
Oregon Army National Guard Sgt. Dane Moorehead - a 2008 graduate of Sisters High School - won the National Guard Best Warrior Region VI 2018 competition on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 15. The four-day competition tests soldiers' mental and physical toughness through a series of events that demonstrate technical and tactical proficiency to determine the top non-commissioned officer and junior enlisted soldier. To make it to the regional level, the soldiers... Full story
It's rodeo week in Sisters Country and the town is buzzing with excitement as the annual event kicks off with a show of man against beast. Humanity possesses a certain curiosity about where its position in the animal kingdom stands. The sport of rodeo piques this curiosity as men and women will take on different events to show strength, agility, and grace in the arena. These individuals possess a special skill; they're terrific athletes. What does it take to be a rodeo star? Just like track and field, rodeo has a variety of... Full story
When Tom Lyons was a child he couldn't have cared less about his bicycle. If you know him today, you would find that hard to believe. Then, it was no more than a mode of transportation and a way to hang with his friends. But today it has become an extension of himself - one he uses to encourage and inspire local kids to be and do more. As a kid Lyons played a number of sports including soccer, basketball, and baseball. None held his attention for long. When he was 10 he began... Full story
I had been lulled into thinking that our friendly almost-in-town hike along Whychus Creek was one last little bastion of safe green space among our thousands of acres of scorched forest in Sisters Country. Alas, I learned last week that that's not entirely the case. Thankfully, the fire impact is not extreme, nor does it affect much more than a few hundred yards of this relatively new trail that takes off just four miles south of town. All in all, though, the Whychus Creek... Full story
With the rodeo back in town I've been thinking about horse-wrecks. Depending on how you look at it, it's either fortunate or unfortunate that I have a considerable library of personal wrecks to choose from. It's a qualifying roster of equine catastrophes that would, sadly, make more of a book than a column - something like Thomas McGuane's marvelous musings about the cutting-horse crowd in "Some Horses" - but in the spirit of all things dust and blood and the roar of a Sunday... Full story
Research shows that social media and phone overuse is becoming a problem-especially for kids and teens. Bullying, anxiety, depression, and suicide are among the growing fears of parents and educators. How can teens help themselves feel better? How can adults help? Spending time in nature reduces anxiety and combats depression in people of all ages. One program at Sisters High School takes nature immersion to a whole new level. IEE, or Interdisciplinary Environmental... Full story
A lucky group of juniors will make it into the high school's lauded IEE (Interdisciplinary Environmental Expedition) program. The rest of us can create our own small expeditions close to home. "As human beings, we are all hardwired to connect with nature," says nature awareness teacher Susan Prince. "It's not complicated." You don't need fancy recreation equipment or special clothes. Start with your five senses and a small chunk of time. 1. Start right now, or plan ahead.... Full story
Folks in Sisters delight in the sight of deer in town, crossing in a crosswalk or lounging on a green lawn. But those cute critters can be highly aggressive - especially a doe protecting a new fawn - and downright terrifying. Ask Amy Abramson. Last Friday at about 10:45 a.m., the proprietor of Blue Burro Imports on Elm Street was walking with her dog before work in the woods where Pine Street and Forest Road 100 meet at the north end of town. She and her Corgi/Aussie mix... Full story
The American cowboy is admired for his rugged self-reliance and his agile roping and horsemanship - all which make for a mighty hearty appetite. After spring roundups in the 19th century, cowboys herded their cattle out on the trail on a cattle drive heading to a cowtown with a railroad station where the cattle could be corralled and loaded. To herd cattle on a long drive (such as Texas to Kansas) a crew of 10 or more cowboys was needed. And most ranch owners wanted their cowboys fed well so that they would stay healthy... Full story
