Residents seek SOAR board seats

Seven people have filed for the board of directors of Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation District. Five of them will serve on the board if a Sisters recreation district is approved by voters on the November 3 ballot.

The recreation district will guarantee the continuation of the three-year-old SOAR program which offers an after-school latchkey program and a variety of arts, learning and sports activities for both youth and adults in the Sisters School District.

Without approval, SOAR would be left without secure funding and could be forced to cut programs or cease operations altogether.

Candidate John Bushnell is a member of Sisters Rotary Club, and served on its board of directors for five years and as Rotary president in 1992-93. He has been the players' agent and treasurer of Sisters Little League for which he has served on the board for five years.

A member of Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce for seven years, Bushnell was a board member for two years. He has four sons.

"If you were to ask 100 people in Sisters why they live here, 98 would tell you that it's the quality of life and a great place to raise a family," Bushnell said. "Without SOAR, there is no program for the kids, no way to point them in the right direction instead of the wrong direction. We need SOAR to ensure that quality of life here. "

Marie Clasen works for Head Start and Together for Children. She volunteers on the Site Council for the elementary school helping to establish education goals set by the state. She also serves on the Sisters Parent Teacher Committee and the board of Central Oregon Community College community education in Sisters. She is the mother of two girls, 10 and 13 years old.

"It would be an honor to work on this board with the quality of candidates who are running," Clasen said. "Within SOAR, I'd like to be involved in getting more arts and cultural activities started for the community. The level of activities is great, but I feel we have the opportunity to do more in these areas. "

Carol (CB) Davis has been on the Kiwanis Board of Directors for five years. She is also a past president of Kiwanis, and it was during her presidency that the idea for SOAR took form in the Kiwanis long-range planning committee. She served also for five years as a director of Sisters Chamber of Commerce. She is an active member of Sisters Rodeo Association and also, with her husband, was active in the mentoring program through J Bar J Boys Ranch. She has been a member of the nonprofit SOAR Board of Directors for three years.

"I have been a youth advocate all my adult life," Davis said. "The youth of the community are our future. If we don't invest in our future, what kind of a community will we have?"

Ben Ehrenstrom has been seeking a recreation district for many years. He was a primary advocate for a recreation district proposed four years ago, which was not approved by City of Sisters voters.

Ehrenstom, who has two sons, ages nine and 16, served on the Little League Board of Directors and has coached Little League for 13 years and soccer for six years. He was a director in Sisters for Odyssey of the Mind, a problem-solving challenge which included competition with other school districts.

"My son has been going to SOAR, and it offers him an opportunity to do the things that I haven't been able to do with him because I am at work, such as hiking camping, rafting. The number of opportunities in SOAR that he and other kids have is great," Ehrenstrom said.

Ed Fitzjarrell moved his family and business to Sisters four years ago, and immediately became involved in community activities. He has a 12-year-old daughter. He has been on the SOAR board of directors for two years, is the sitting president of the Sisters Soccer Club. He also coaches basketball in the middle school. He is a director of the Sisters Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and was one of the founders of Sisters Folk Festival.

"To me, the importance of a recreation district is to coordinate all community sports, to have one site which will schedule events, meets and games, one location for equipment and one place to answer questions and deal with management problems," he said.

Bonnie Malone has been a director of SOAR since the organization began, and was a member of the SOAR development committee. She is a nine-year board member of Sisters Rodeo Association in which she serves as the association secretary. She is a member of Sisters Rotary Club and was Rotarian of the Year, 1995-96.

"I feel that SOAR has far exceeded the expectations we had in the beginning," Malone said. "The number of people involved in SOAR activities is astounding, especially the number of youth. To lose this program would be tragic when it has enhanced life in this community for three years. I don't know how working parents got along without it. "

John Reuter has two sons, ages 7 and 11.

"There is nothing more important than raising a generation of people with good heads on their shoulders," Reuter said. "We can only do that by paying attention. A bored kid can be a troubled kid. These kids find the wrong things to do. SOAR fills a need by giving kids activities to do, things to learn."

Filing remains open until August 27, for the general election on November 3. People interest in becoming candidates may call the County Clerk's office for applications, 388-6547.