Sisters Library family of the year

Don and Lee Kappelman were chosen as this year's "Family-of-the-Year" at the annual Friends of the Library (FOL) potluck dinner held at St. Edward's Catholic Church.

Library staff, Friends and guests warmly applauded this popular choice.

Lee has been treasurer for five years with FOL and became vice-chairperson this year. Don has taken on many tasks at the library as needed. He helps with the library's outside lighting at Christmas season. Both he and Lee have helped in the leaf rake-up in the library garden and walks during summer and fall. Don shovels snow off the walks in winter.

"The Kappelmans are super people," said Sisters assistant librarian Sandy McDonald. "They do so many of those jobs behind the scenes that have to be done."

Other tasks accomplished by the couple are taking the discard books to the dump after book sales. They are also the "shoppers" for library replacement item needs -- doing the research to check for the best pricing. This includes selecting a coffee maker and buying coffee.

Don has volunteered to help build birdhouses for the next Christmas party -- as gifts for library volunteers. He also has adjusted the sprinkler system to work more efficiently in the library garden.

They have made the colorful posters for the winter FOL speaker series that you see around Sisters.

"I'm a non-meeting person and don't like a rigid schedule," said Don. "I'd rather be working on something and get the job finished when I want to. Whatever comes up at the library, we're glad to help."

Both Don and Lee retired from federal government jobs before moving to Sisters. Don was a physicist working on research and development of missiles. Lee worked in the area of assessing missile effectiveness.

"There are great people in the FOL organization," said Lee. "They are friendly but not demanding."

Today, when they have spare time, Lee enjoys her sewing, particularly machine embroidery. Don spends time on his woodworking projects.