News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Visitors to Sisters will soon be greeted by the Stars and Stripes as they drive into town from the east.
Carla Booher, who owns Espresso Junction and Papandrea's Pizzeria with her husband Rudi, is spearheading a drive to raise a 35-foot flag pole near the "Welcome to Sisters" sign on land owned by the City of Sisters.
The Sisters City Council authorized the pole on Thursday, September 27, and kicked in $500 toward purchase of the pole and an appropriately sized flag. The city will also maintain the site and provide electricity to light the flag at night.
Booher said she expects the project, including flagpole installation, to cost under $5,000. The site will include a memorial plaque, dedicating the flag to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Booher and her husband are also donating funds to the project and have received a positive response to the idea. Funds may be donated to Memorial Flag project, account 04341511 at the Sisters branch of Bank of the Cascades.
Gauging the enthusiasm she has seen so far, Carla expects the fund-raising to go quickly.
Any excess will be donated to the families of New York City firefighers lost in the attacks.
Booher hopes to see the flag waving above Sisters by December. Booher said she was motivated to undertake the project during a trip to the coast with Rudi.
"We went through a lot of towns and I noticed that, in their welcome area they have a flag pole," she said.
Noting the lack of such a symbol in Sisters, Booher decided it was up to her to do something about it.
"I'm just a really patriotic person," Booher said.
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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