Letters, letters, letters

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To the Editor:

Last week, with the weather holding good, we decided to make one last camping trip of the year to that magical place of places, the pristine Metolius River.

I have fished the Metolius for many years with but little success. This time it was different. After rigging up rod and reel comes the all-important decision of what fly to tie on the line. Will it be Greenwell's Glory, a golden-ribbed hare's ear, an elk hair caddis? My fly box is filled with these gorgeous creations of the fly-tier's artistry.

This time my eye fell on an all-black fly, one that was nothing more than a bunch of black thread crudely wound around the hook - a poor, nondescript thing that I tied years ago and have passed up umpteen times while making a selection.

Why not? At first light, Annie, our white West Highland terrier was leading the way along the path to where I selected a spot on the riverbank. First cast - nothing. So what else is new! Second cast - wham! Bang! My reel screamed as a huge trout grabbed hold and darted off.

I finally brought it to the bank. What a magnificent fish it was, a bright, shining, powerful, mature rainbow. As I gently removed the sharp hook from his jaw, he struggled with an amazing strength to be free. After a few seconds of admiring him, I slipped him back into the river. He was gone in a flash.

And so it was for four days. Finally came the time to pack up and leave. With souls rejoicing, we headed home. I reminisced about the many places I've fished and hiked the forests to catch an occasional glimpse of the deer and the elk as they flashed through the woods - proud, majestic, free and independent creatures.

We turned into the neighborhood where we live where the reverie was shattered.

Dull-coated deer with their young, heads down, standing around on the blacktop, waiting to be fed. Independence gone. No more are these the free, wild creatures of the forest, but poor domesticated specimens. Talk about evolution, we are seeing it right before our eyes - a new breed of sheep/deer.

How sad. How very sad.

Scott Reekie

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To the Editor:

We had a fire on our property last Wednesday (see story, page 1).

We were not at home and thanks to our neighbor Russ Curtis' fast action in calling 911, the firemen and volunteers were there quickly.

It still took seven hours of hot and hard work for them to contain it.

We are so grateful to them. Our home and the trees around it were not touched. Thank you so very much to the Sisters/Camp Sherman, Cloverdale, Black Butte and Redmond fire departments and the federal and state services.

To those who are unaware, a power line set a tree on fire to start it.

Ralph and Dolores Romans

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To the Editor:

Recently I attended the Sisters eighth grade retreat as a parent aide.

The school-sponsored event was three days of living and learning on the beautiful Metolius River.

I wish to thank all of those involved for their hard work in making this such a positive experience for our young people.

What better classroom than nature to teach the truly important lessons of how to care for ourselves, one another and mother earth.

It is refreshing for me to feel connected with a community that has so many members aware of the importance of loving education and conservation.

The future rests in the hands and hearts of our children. May we teach them well.

Mark Peterson

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To The Editor:

The ninth annual High Mountains Jazz at Sisters festival is over. Without question, it was an artistic success with great bands and wonderful crowds.

Many individuals contributed to this success. When a crew contracted to erect two large tents did not return to complete the work with no explanation, our setup schedule was set back 24 hours.

Portland Rentals' crew, in Sisters to erect another tent, agreed to stay over and complete this job. Our sponsor appreciation party was held under arches with no tent, but what a beautiful evening.

As we considered delaying our opening show at the Village Green Park on Friday, our many festival volunteers and others refused to accept that decision and came to the rescue.

Our festival decorator, Katie Emmrich, and her friends helped set up stages and chairs, as did a volunteer crew from Sisters Kiwanis Club. Even out-of-state vendors who sell jazz goods at our festival were hustling to help.

For our own volunteers, it was probably their finest hour - and our first band started to play at the scheduled time.

Throughout the festival, everyone continued to work hard to make this a fun event.

In the days ahead, we will be thanking these people individually, and they include the great crew at the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department, who opened their conference room for our band hospitality room, Lynn Plaza, who delivered extra food on her day off, our shuttle bus drivers, the venue volunteers who made it all happen, and the list goes on.

Thanks to all of you - and there will be a 10th annual festival!

Jim Fisher, board chairman

Ray Buselli, festival director

High Mountains Jazz at Sisters

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To the Editor:

I traveled 2,000 miles this past weekend to attend the Sisters Jazz festival.

While strolling through downtown, I lost my watch. I retraced my steps several times, to no avail. The silver watch my daughter gave me was gone forever!

After finally accepting that I would see it no more, I decided there was nothing to be done about it further and I would just continue to enjoy the festival.

So, back downtown I went.

There was a group of women walking slowly in front of me. Forced to slow doan, my eyes focused on the woman's arm in front of me. I looked, blinked, and looked again; there was my watch.

I hesitated, then tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and said to me, "Did you lose a watch?"

It was a miracle. She knew that I was from the Midwest because my watch was set to Central time and she was looking for a car with Midwest license plates.

All I can say is, fate intervened. We hugged, we laughed and we couldn't believe the coincidence, but I never got her name.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, thank you, thank you!

Brynn Ennis

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

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To the Editor:

Ever wonder what it is like in England, Ireland, and Wales? Well I'm going to tell you all about those places. I went there this summer as a goodwill ambassador in the People to People program.

Many people in Sisters financially helped me to go and I am forever grateful, so I thought I would tell you a little about the trip.

In England some of the food is different. One thing I noticed about the food difference, is the ketchup. The ketchup tasted like vinegar. I thought it was gross, but the people in England, Ireland, Wales seemed to like it.

The countryside in Ireland is beautiful because it was the mostly green everywhere. But if you like buildings better, then England is the perfect place for you. Wales is another beautiful place to go. There are a lot of castles in Wales. I liked all of those places a lot and they were all very fun.

While I was on my trip I stayed with a family in Seaford, England. They were very nice. I had a great time with them. I stayed with them for four days. One of the days I went to school with one of the members in the family. Their school is very different from ours. One thing is that is different is that they have school in July. That must be hard.

While I was in England we went to a lot of museums. One of the museums we went to was the Beatles museum. In it there was a yellow submarine. That was really neat. Also it was cool because the museum was in the town (Liverpool) where the Beatles formed their group.

Well there is a lot to see and do in England, Ireland, Wales. And I had a great time. So I would like to thank everyone who supported me to go on this wonderful adventure.

Thanks a lot.

Rikki Glick

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