News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
This Christmas will be extra special for more than 30 Sisters elementary and middle school students who were to receive home computers on Wednesday, December 23.
A local group of anonymous donors provided funds to purchase 35 computers with upgraded memories and modems from a Nashville, Tennessee, computer liquidator. The computers were trucked from Tennessee by Interstate Distribution, which donated its freight services.
The computers were to be given to qualified students in a ceremony at Sisters High School from 2 to 5 p.m. December 23.
According to organizers, the students were selected on the basis of their academic achievement, interest in computers and financial need.
The individual computers cost approximately $200. The high school-based internet provider OutlawNet will provide six months of free internet access for the students and OutlawNet technicians will install the computers in students' homes.
The Wednesday ceremony was expected to be a highly festive occasion, with a visit from Santa, Christmas cookies and cider, a candy cane giveaway and photos taken of the students with Santa.
Bill Willitts, one of the organizers, said he expected the day to be a holiday highlight.
"I remember getting my first Schwinn bike and thinking, 'man, this was the best day of my life,'" Willitts said. "I think for some of these kids, this is their Schwinn."
Some of the computers will go to families with more than one child in school, which means that the computers will serve more than the 30-35 students actually receiving the gifts.
At press time the funding drive was about $1,650 short of its goal, according to Willitts. Donations are being accepted through the Sisters Schools Foundation, Santa's Computers for Kids, PO Box 2155, Sisters, OR 97759.
Willitts said that organizers hope the program will become an annual event and donations for computers and software are always welcome.
The program is separate from the school district's adopt-a-computer program, which provides computers for in-school use.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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