Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

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To the Editor:

The recent court decision to allow a neighborhood setback violation to stand within Crossroads has raised new issues for property owners in this subdivision (see story, p. 1).

The relief of a legal judgment after several years was overshadowed immediately by complex questions difficult to answer and impossible to agree upon.

Legal matters concerning home lie close to the heart, so emotions run high. However, another component critical to residing in a community contentedly is getting along with your neighbors.

I am grieved by the style of communication our (property owners' association) chairman has embraced at times. At the homeowners' meeting in Sisters Fire Hall Sunday I asked why the Holders had not been invited. I was acknowledged by the chairman up in front until he heard the question. Then he simply did not answer; he proceeded as if I had not spoken.

At the backyard social gathering Sunday, May 23, where some homeowners congregated after the meeting at the fire hall was adjourned in a fit of temper, I expressed a dissenting opinion.

I was told "You're entitled to your opinion. You've stated it; now don't belabor it. Please don't argue with me."

I have been ridiculed, interrupted, cut off, and ignored in my attempts to get information or express my opinion. I have heard and seen comments about other people that border on slander or libel.

I have yet to observe our chairman rescind an unkind remark. When admonished about the wording of the meeting notice, he said "I know it was vitriolic, it was crude, and it probably showed poor judgment. But I would do it again."

Leading a homeowners' association is no easy task. The responsibility can weigh heavily and pressure can be incredible. There will always be someone who disagrees with you. Regardless of where they stand on an issue, however, people want to be heard. They want to know they have a voice and that someone is listening.

We are people; let us treat each other with respect. We are neighbors; let us live peaceably together.

Barbara Fahrenholz

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To the Editor

Most people who utilize wilderness areas are unaware of the hidden agenda behind the "Trail Fee" idea foisted on us by the Forest Service.

This program is NOT about maintaining trails. The Forest Service is lying about this. It is about dreaming up another way to commercialize the wilderness. They have also admitted they intend to use the fees to enlarge the parking lots at trail- heads so that more cars can be parked, and more fees collected.

Trail fees are about the "Disneyfication" of our wilderness areas. The Forest Service wants to sell vendor licenses to recreation companies who will then charge the public to use their own lands. Our taxes support the Forest Service who is supposed to maintain these lands for free public use. Unfortunately, living in Central Oregon means many of us have no elected representatives to protest to because our local ones support this hideous idea.

The mania for privatizing everything from prisons to public lands is a new economic dogma promoted by zealots like Neil Bryant. It's the gospel according to Milton Friedman who believes, among other things, that Social Security is immoral, ( though he accepts and cashes his SS checks).

The major beneficiaries of this dogma are corporations. Of course they need all the help they can get, like Superman needs brass knuckles when he fights the 97 Pound Weakling. It's time to stop trail fees and the other privatization of our public lands while we still can.

R.T. Tihista

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To the Editor:

Blue Boy Landscapes has an imitator. When hiring a landscaper, be sure you get proper identification. (To check on those claiming to represent Blue Boy call 549-9691.)

We are looking for the blue truck with "Bob Officer" and cohort pretending to be from "Blue Boy." You know who you are and we will, too, very soon

Roy Manbeck,

Blue Boy Landscapes

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To the Editor:

To the citizens of Sisters - we hope you like the new barbecue in the Village Green and that it will provide enjoyment for many years.

All Sisters area residents should be aware of the extremely generous contributions of two local contractors.

Rod Brink was the general contractor and donated more than a month of his time to building and coordinating the barbecue.

Kevin Spencer donated all of the material and labor to do the beautiful stone work. Please drop by and check the quality of their work.

John Bolton

For the Sisters Rotary Club

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To the Editor:

Well done.

For those of you who were unable to attend, the dedication of the new covered barbecue structure was a great success.

Hats off to the Rotary Club of Sisters for building and donating such a wonderful structure to the city.

A special thanks must be mentioned to a few of the folks who made this possible:

Rod Brink of Brink Construction, for supervising the construction and doing much of the work himself. To Kevin Spencer and his crew for donating all of the beautiful river rock work. And Jeff Wester at Ponderosa Forge for building and donating the iron grillwork that worked so well cooking hundreds of burgers on Saturday, May 22.

Many more people donated countless hours on this project. To them, many thanks.

This structure will be used for enjoyment by members of our community for generations to come. Another fine example of what makes Sisters Sisters.

Respectfully,

Steve Wilson, Mayor

Editor's note: In addition to being Mayor, Wilson is also an active Rotarian.

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To the Editor:

The second annual art auction for the Sisters high School softball team was another success.

The Hotel Sisters again was kind enough to let us use the deck complete with canopy, tables and much-appreciated space heaters.

Adam Guggenheim opened the music portion of the event. He's a student at the high school and did a great job.

The high school jazz band followed and local musician Doug Cavanaugh's band closed the show, with Nick Patterson, another student, sitting in on lead guitar.

Many thanks to all the artists who donated their art work. Without their generosity, we couldn't pull this off.

As always, Skip Armstrong stole the show. He even let Bill Reed try his hand at wood carving.

Tony Lee from Black Butte Ranch helped get things organized.

From all the girls on the softball team and from the coaching staff - "thanks" to everyone who helped make this a great fund-raiser.

Mitch Deaderick

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To the Editor:

Victoria and I are very grateful for the generous donations that have been made to Greater Love to support our mission trips to Albania.

We are scheduled to leave during the first week in June and we will be gone one month. Our work will take us to refugee camps where the displaced Kosovars are sleeping in tents and hoping for a meal each day. Three quarters of the refugees are children.

We believe we will have a direct impact on the people we are serving. Please continue to make donations to: Greater Love - Albania, PO Box 834, Sisters, OR 97759.

Thanks so much!

Judy Patterson, Victoria Tolonen

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To the Editor:

What's it like to come from Southern California (population 7 million) to a small community like Sisters, Oregon?

To me it was a shock! Not unpleasant, but requiring adjustments I never expected to experience at my age (82 then).

The quiet nights. No sirens blasting, no police car activity - a blessed quiet I had never thought existed. The absence of car traffic day and night. We lived near a freeway and the all-nigh muted roar of the traffic, while muted, was still present 24 hours a day.

I quickly adjusted to an uninterrupted night's sleep.

The winter weather? I didn't adjust to that at all. Age is probably responsible for that cold spot in my evaluation of the "goodie" things about Sisters. The stories in Tollgate (we live there) that I took off my "longies" August 8 and slipped back into them August 11 are highly exaggerated! (Back-on date was August 14).

Buzz Clarke

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