Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District has the opportunity to conduct a burn-to-learn training for our firefighters, using a portion of the old Sisters Middle School.

As you may know, the school is scheduled to be demolished in early February to make way for a new Sisters City Hall. In cooperation with the Sisters School District, the fire district is planning to burn the classroom portion of the school on Saturday and Sunday, February 7-8.

Approximate hours of the training exercise will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Currently, the fire district has 18 volunteers who have never experienced a controlled structure fire environment. This training is required by statute in order to respond to and fight fires in buildings in the district. This live fire training presents a rare opportunity to train our personnel with the assistance of approximately eight neighboring departments.

This training will help us be more effective when deploying our personnel and neighboring departments during a major emergency.

All safety precautions will be taken for the training burns. The building will have all hazardous materials removed, including any asbestos prior to our use of the building. The remainder of the gym complex will not be burned. The administration building facing East Cascade Ave. will be preserved and not demolished.

A community information meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 28, at 7 p.m. at the Sisters-Camp Sherman headquarters fire station located at 301 S. Elm St. in Sisters. The public is welcome to attend or you may call Chief Robertson at 549-0771 if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Tay Robertson

Fire Chief, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District

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To the Editor:

I would like to thank the Cloverdale fire department for coming to my rescue on Tuesday, January 6.

My Jeep caught on fire and the firemen were there Johnny-on-the-spot, thus saving me from a hysterical mess. It was very scary but the firemen were calm, cool and collected.

Once my husband showed up I cried. Well, the Jeep is still running and no more fire.

Thanks again,

Donna Lowry

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To the Editor:

The 2003 Holidays were very hectic for the Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank. Sixty-five families received food from the food bank during December and 137 families received food, toys and pet food during the Christmas Share project for needy families sponsored by the Sisters Kiwanis (food), Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department (toys) and The Nugget (pet food) -- up 35 percent from last year.

Without the support of the community, neither the food bank nor the Christmas Share project would be successful. We want to thank all the individuals who generously made cash donations and to all the individuals, churches, Sisters High School, Sisters Middle School, Hoodoo, Girl Scouts and anyone I may have forgot who donated food over the holidays.

God Bless you all and thank you for your ongoing support.

Glenn Keeran