News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters sparkled like a diamond for its 100th birthday celebration on Sunday, July 8.
Golden sun shone down from a clear, blue sky and a light breeze gently rippled the American flag as Jim Neal bore it on horseback at the head of the afternoon's Centennial parade.
Evocative of old-fashioned Founders' Day events of the 19th Century, the parade gave a visual history lesson as entrants represented key events in Sisters' past.
The first Indian inhabitants were followed by fur trappers and cowboys; a mail carrier represented the original Post Office at Camp Polk. The development of the community was played out, through ranching and farming and logging to the current tourist economy.
Sisters firefighters hauled hose along Hood Avenue, representing the disastrous fires that nearly destroyed the town in the 1920s.
The parade moved to the thumping bass and driving guitars of Big Eddy, performing old-time music from a flatbed trailer.
At the close of the parade, the crowd ambled over to the Village Green, where Sisters Rotary Club served ice cream and sarsparilla to hundreds of visitors at the Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social.
While they licked their cones and sipped their drinks, festival-goers enjoyed barbershop music and more bluegrass and old-time music.
Following the social, long-time Central Oregon residents told tales from the past at Paulina Springs Book Company.
Georgia Gallagher, who was born on a ranch two miles south of Sisters, recalled attending school with 20-30 other local ranch kids, riding to school on horseback each day.
She was taught by Tillie Wilson, who wrote the recently re-issued "That Was Yesterday," the primary book on the history of Sisters.
Other stories recounted the early days of Camp Sherman and the beginnings of Lake Creek Lodge and what was then called House-on-Metolius.
Centennial events will continue through July. On July 21, a historic wagon train will arrive in Sisters end encamp at Creekside City Park, where visitors are welcome to stop by and enjoy antique quilt displays and storytellers.
On Saturday, July 28, there will be a picnic in the park at Sisters Village Green, featuring games and entertainment.
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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