News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 29
Some elf got it all just about perfect on Saturday, November 26. There was just enough snow to lend that holiday feeling. Sure, it was chilly, but red noses and rosy cheeks are part of the fun — the cold makes the cider and hot chocolate taste all the better. Some 30 entries paraded down Hood Avenue in Sisters’ annual Christmas parade, sponsored by the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce. There were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts; festively-adorned llamas and and a posse of elv... Full story
The Sisters School Board has concurred with its superintendent’s denial of a grievance filed by the district bus mechanic, Gene O’Brien. O’Brien claimed that Superintendent Ted Thonstad had begun an inquiry into the possibility of “contracting out” O’Brien’s job “in retaliation” for O’Brien’s involvement in “multiple grievances over the last few years.” Four members of the school board rejected that claim based on evidence presented at a hearing in executive session November 9. The fifth member, Board Chairman Jeff Smith... Full story
Dave Vitelle of Bear Mountain Fire LLC scaled a towering cottonwood tree on Main Avenue early on Sunday morning, November 27, and started lopping off limbs with a chainsaw. This was the first move in an intricate process which will ultimately result in the removal of two cottonwoods deemed “hazard trees” by the City of Sisters. The trees were located directly across Main Avenue from The Fly Fisher’s Place on property owned by Jack McGillvary. Jeff Silbernagel, who lives in th... Full story
A group of Sisters citizens is taking a close look at the way the city assesses impact fees on developers for sewer, water and streets. The impact fees, known as Systems Development Charges or SDCs, are designed to make growth pay for its impact on city infrastructure. The city is revising its SDCs to make sure the charges are adequate and fair. The committee will look at how SDCs are calculated. For example, restaurateurs have long argued that calculating water and sewer SDCs... Full story
To the Editor: I wish to respond to an article concerning a statement from Art Davis of Davis Tires (The Nugget, November 16, page 1). While I think that Mr. Davis has his customers’ best interest at heart, his statement “There is no doubt that if you have to go somewhere in the winter studded tires offer the best traction” is not accurate. I offer three quotes from the State of Oregon Department of Transportation: “Studded tires are only effective in improving traction on ice at or near the freezing temperature.” “Studies... Full story
Sisters residents and visitors can cut their own Christmas tree and at the same time make a donation to the Deschutes Basin Land Trust in the annual Metolius Preserve Christmas Tree Hunt scheduled for Saturday, December 3, from 1 to 4 p.m. “We have invited members of the Land Trust to visit the area to cut a Christmas tree from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the same day,” said Sarah Mowry, outreach coordinator for the trust. “Then, the public is invited out that afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. to hunt for their tree. We want them to enjoy... Full story
Sisters Rotary Club invites the community to get in the holiday spirit this coming Sunday at the club’s annual Magical Voices performance. The free performance features about 100 local school students, musical talent from Portland, a visit from Santa Claus, refreshments and a chance for the audience to join in singing Christmas carols. Rotarians Barbara Turner and Jeff Wester have been working to organize the performance. Turner said 10 years ago, the Sisters Rotary Club noticed that the only holiday music was found in l... Full story
Colorful lights and a gaily-decorated Camp Sherman Community Hall greeted the throngs of early holiday shoppers as they moved through tables of holiday items provided by more than 20 vendors last weekend. After taking a year off while the hall was refurbished, the Camp Sherman Holiday Bazaar was back, giving locals and visitors a chance to explore, shop and catch up with friends. The hall’s lighting system was decorated with colorful hot air balloons made by students at B... Full story
The Outlaws came up short in a close battle with No. 1 ranked Sherwood on Friday, November 25. Sisters fell 27-21 in the quarterfinal football playoff game. Sherwood scored the only touchdown in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead. At the start of the second quarter Sherwood added a field goal to push their advantage to 10-0. Sisters took possession and went on a 13-play drive that lasted seven and a half minutes. Jeff Sampson plowed in from the two yard line to score and Matt Ruettger’s PAT (point after touchdown) was g... Full story
The parking lot at the Sisters School District’s new administration building on the corner of Locust Street and Highway 20 remains blocked off — and it is unclear whether school district employees will be able to park there this winter. The lot could not be paved in time to beat the winter cold and so it remains a wide expanse of gravel. According to City of Sisters Public Works Director Gary Frazee, the city won’t open the lot until it is determined who will be respo... Full story
Paulina Springs Book company will host American Indian elder George Aguilar on Saturday, December 10. Aguilar has captured the essence of his Columbia River tribal culture in his memoir, “When the River Ran Wild.” Aguilar combines memories of his own native upbringing, tribal lore and the writings of early Oregon country white settlers. On Friday, December 16, visitors will hear Heather and David Kopp read from their latest endeavor, “Roar! A Christian Family Guide to the Chronicles of Narnia.” Former Sisters residen... Full story
Sisters Art Works will host pet photos with Santa Claus during the December 3 Grand Opening Celebration at the arts building on Adams Avenue. Santa will be on hand from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pet owners may bring their dog, their cat, their llama or their hamster to this Sisters holiday celebration. Photos are $10 each and a portion of the proceeds benefit The Nugget’s Furry Friends Pet Food Drive, The Humane Society of Central Oregon and The Rotary Club of Sisters. Each pet owner will receive a 5-by-7-inch photo print for t... Full story
Sierra Scherrer and Quincy Shepard of the Sisters Stompers 4-H Club donated $345 to the local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. The funds were raised throughout the last year by catering the “Fat and Fuzzy Buckle” show and various other catering and fund-raising events. The club had many options for their donation but chose Habitat because they wanted to help people to get a home who otherwise might not be able to. The funds donated will be matched by a grant from The For... Full story
Sisters’ Public Works Department is ready for the snowfall that was expected to hit Sisters this week. Forecasts called for four to six inches of snow early in the week, followed by more snow at the end of the week. “We’ve got all three trucks and we’ve got plows and sanders on all the trucks,” said Public Works director Gary Frazee. Frazee said the city is continuing to use magnesium chloride de-icer almost exclusively, which the department has used successfully for several years. The Oregon Department of Transport... Full story
More Sisters students will have an opportunity to swim competitively this year. For the first time in 10 years the Outlaws swim team has secured a second training facility and a volunteer coach to give the large number of students trying out for swimming a chance to participate, according to coach Isolde Hedemark. Hedemark reported that Sisters High School (SHS) Site Council member Lori Hancock and SHS Volunteer Coordinator Ann Jacobsen approached Dave Elliott, manager of the Sisters Inn, about possible use of the motel pool... Full story
The Bend Theatre for Young People (BTYP) will present the Second Annual Holiday Play Production in Sisters on Friday, December 16 and Saturday, December 17. “The Jingle Bell Jury,” by Jay Moriarty, is directed by BTYP Artistic Director Gary Bowne. Assisting Bowne is Kristina Coulter, staff member of Sisters Community Church and local leader of Young Life youth ministry. The comedy will be performed by a combined cast of elementary school students and middle schoolers from the Sisters-Redmond area. Something’s amiss in the s... Full story
• Sonrise Christian School auction chairpersons Chris Gurney and Dawn Richerson thanked everyone who supported the November 5 fund-raising auction, which made about $45,000 for the school. “As usual, our own Sisters businesses were great supporters as were many Bend and a few Redmond businesses. In addition, Lynn and Kristi Miller (Small Farmer’s Journal) dedicated countless hours showing us how to run and organize a REAL silent and live auction, and their friends, Dennis and Kris Turmon, dedicated their professional aucti... Full story
The Sisters Library will close its doors on Friday, December 9, to reopen in its new, larger location on Monday, December 19. The staff will spend the day packing on December 10. “We will be using volunteers to pack the boxes,” Sisters Librarian Peg Bermel said. An earlier plan to have volunteers help with the actual move was scrapped because of concerns about the safety of volunteers lifting heavy boxes. According to Bermel, about 15,000 books need to be moved, along wit... Full story
The Sisters High School Key Club is making sure local children find toys under their trees this Christmas. The club is hosting a matinee at Sisters Movie House this Saturday, December 3, and asking movie-goers to bring toys to donate. In past years, the Sisters Kiwanis Club put toys in its holiday food baskets for needy families with children. But the source for toys is no longer available. The Camp Sherman-Sisters Rural Fire Protection District gave Kiwanis toys which they received from the Portland fire department. But... Full story
• Sisters businesses reported a strong Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with several stores reporting increased sales from last year. • McDonald’s at Mainline Station will host a week-long opening party, starting with a ribbon cutting on December 6. Specials include a free 22-ounce Pepsi with a fill-up at the Chevron station on the site. • A new equestrian art and decor online business has started just in time for Christmas shopping. The Gilded Horse is owned by Angela Dilly and features art by Davina Long and Kim McElroy... Full story
Sam Phillips didn’t want to hear the same old gospel song sung the same old way that day at Sun Records recording studio in Memphis. He interrupted a nervous John R. Cash in mid-audition and told him he wouldn’t record songs he couldn’t sell and, anyway, he said, “I don’t believe you.” That March 1955 audition was a pivotal moment in American music history and it’s a pivotal moment in “Walk the Line.” In the movie, Phillips tells Cash to play something like he really means i... Full story
We have some wonderful historic roads in the Sisters country. Some of them are paved over, some are barely discernible wagon tracks through the forests and grasslands and some are graveled — but their routes still exist, on maps, in photos and in people’s minds. Today they go through public and private lands and some sections have remained in the public domain while others have not. One historic road that can still be followed for much of its length was established in 1879 as the A.J. Warrin County Road. A.J. Warrin Road went... Full story
Harriet Rockefeller Anderson, 97, died of natural causes in her sleep Monday, November 21, at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Sue Anderson. “Curly,” as Harriet was known to most everyone who knew and loved her, was born in West Haven, Connecticut on April 3, 1908, to Benjamin and Marguerite Rockefeller. Curly and her husband, “Ted” Anderson moved to Oregon in 1958, following their son, Jim who came to Bend in 1951. Curly and Ted’s two other sons, Don, now... Full story
The Chappell brothers of Sisters are a force to be reckoned with in the world of motocross. Ben, 9, and Nick, 8, took first and second place in the Oregon State Championships, which concluded in Salem last month. Nick took first place in the point series in two classes: the 65cc 9-11 class and the 65cc Open Class, in which he competed against all ages. “He won his age group by, it must have been 40-45 points,” said the boys’ father Matt Chappell. “But he didn’t win the open... Full story
• A vehicle got stuck in snow just inside Tollgate off Highway 20. • Someone reported kids running on Fir Street with a stick on fire. They were gone when deputies rolled down the street. • The snowman stolen from the Sisters Fire Hall was found undamaged. It was apparently taken as a prank. • A woman reported that her ex-fiance had been drinking and had grabbed her 14-year-old daughter by the throat. The man had left when deputies arrived. There were no injuries. • A man requested extra patrol after a car was seen several t... Full story
