News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Piedad Cortes. Folks who stick to their long-time jobs in Sisters tend to have a lot in common: Each day feels fresh and exciting and they come to see their co-workers and customers as friends and family.
"Your customers become your extended family," said Piedad Cortes, who has cut hair at The Hair Cache for a dozen years. "I love the energy they give me."
Cortes has customers she has known for as long as she's been a hairstylist.
"They've watched my family grow, they've watched me grow; we've been through ups and downs," she said.
In turn, she's seen little ones grow up into fine young adults.
The relationships are worth far more than the pay Cortes receives for her craft. She feels she has learned from the wisdom and strength of many of her older clients, who share the benefits of their life experience.
Carol Woosley.
"At they end of the day, I feel like they've given me more than I've given them," Cortes said.
Michael and Carol Woosley use almost exactly the same words to describe the customers who dine at the Lodge at Black Butte where the couple has waited on tables for some 17 years.
"It's like a big extended family here," Carol said.
Year-round residents and second homeowners become friends. They share birth announcements, family occasions and family history.
As Michael pointed out, many of the teens who work in the restaurant are sons and daughters of customers -- kids they have watched grow up.
Michael Woosley.
The Woosleys enjoy the lifestyle afforded by working at night in the Lodge Restaurant. Their days are free and they take advantage of the winter season by traveling.
And sometimes they visit with second-home owners in other climes -- places where "snowbirds" have flown for the winter.
"I love my job," Michael said. "It's the funnest job I've ever had, by far."
Phyllis Johnson would likely say the same about her position at Common Threads. She's stayed there for 17 years.
"I was just having a good time," she said.
She's cut back now to working just a few days a month -- often to spell her co-workers, with whom she has a wonderful rapport.
Phyllis Johnson.
"I really love working with all the people and we have such nice girls here to work with. We always have had," she said.
Like others, Johnson has built relationships with customers.
"We have customers that come back year after year and they've just become good friends over the years," she said.
The work itself is constantly exciting to Johnson. There is always something new -- whether it's new customers or new merchandise.
That sense of excitement and newness keeps cake decorator Becky Hartford going after 15 years and thousands of cakes created at Ray's Food Place (and formerly the Sentry).
Hartford started out decorating cakes for family and friends, then parlayed her talent into a long-time position at Sisters' only supermarket deli.
Becky Hartford.
She has created some exquisite cakes. One in particular stood out: a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for a wedding at Black Butte Ranch.
"It just had tons of pink roses on it," she said. "It was beautiful."
Whether she is making a cake to order or decorating one for the cold case, the creative aspect of the work is sustaining.
"You take nothing and make it into something pretty," she said. "It's fun."
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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