Community spirit is the true character of Sisters

It’s been hard to hold down breakfast while reading The Nugget lately. For some months, each week has brought another round of increasingly testy letters to the editor. Some are against fast food restaurants. Some are against newcomers to town. Some are against The Nugget itself for printing not enough or too many of these letters. Many are quite plainly personal attacks directed against the authors of the previous week’s letters. It’s as though the writers believe that by lobbing the last rhetorical grenade, they will deliver their adversaries a well-deserved comeuppance and win the day. In truth, no one wins.

I’ve heard the editor of this newspaper refer to this ongoing back-and-forth – these pointed attacks and the ill will they produce – as the “Culture Wars.” Personally, I have a difficult time with this term. It implies some sort of inevitability, as though our small town is fated to rend itself into polarized warring factions: the reds versus the blues, the haves versus the have-nots, the old-timers versus the newcomers. It’s as though we are headed toward the Hatfields versus the McCoys right here in Sisters.

Imagine instead that the last few rounds of letters had taken stock of those things that we are “for” in our community instead of those things that various people are “against.” I think we’d have found that old-timers and newcomers alike cherish the beauty of our natural surroundings.

People on both sides of the “formula food” issue are each proud of the children of Sisters, and committed to enriching our schools, academic programs, sports and other youth activities.

Locals’ commitment to volunteerism, as evidenced by several thriving service organizations (CATS, Habitat for Humanity, Kiwanis, Rotary, SMART readers, several church-affiliated groups and many others) brings neighbors from all stripes together to serve common needs.

I had the opportunity to attend an extraordinary meeting one week ago.

A group of nine people got together to discuss development guidelines, specifically ones that might apply to future restaurants in Sisters.

This alone wouldn’t have been remarkable, as this topic has been at the forefront of local public debate lately.

But the voluntary participants at this meeting included individuals (from both sides of the issue) who have been repeatedly pilloried in letters to the editor, and two who additionally suffered extensive property damage that some attribute partly to the deteriorating tone of our public discourse.

These folks represent a broad gamut of interests, professions, political leanings and tenure in town.

By committing themselves to working out a dignified compromise on one issue that has recently divided our community, they are demonstrating the genuine character of Sisters.

It’s clear from recent letters that a minority of townsfolk is steadfastly convinced that its points of view are more righteous than anyone else’s. Before these people limber their fingers to dash off the next diatribe, I hope they will take a moment to reflect on priorities. What’s more likely to improve the quality of life here in Sisters: scoring a few rhetorical points, or creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and learning how to get along with our neighbors?

My guess is that a silent majority of townspeople, who of late have found themselves buffeted by the back-and-forth shouting match, would like nothing more than a return to civility. I hope that more such voices of reason find the courage to stand up and be heard, so that we can move on to constructively resolving our differences and celebrating those things that bind us into a community.

Rob Corrigan serves on the Sisters School Board. He served as the facilitator of the meeting between the various factions in the formula food debate that may have struck upon a compromise solution.