SOAR to change its name

Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation (SOAR) is changing it's name. The goal of the name change to Sisters Parks and Recreation District is to help the organization develop an image of serving youth and adults alike.

The new name will be filtered in over the next year, SOAR executive director Carrie Ward told The Nugget.

"It's a really important step for us to take, so that the organization can continue to grow along with the community and provide parks and recreation services to the whole community. The name change puts us in the position to start planning for the future," she said.

According to Ward, today when people hear of SOAR, they automatically think: 'Oh, they do all the recreation programs for children. I always get the SOAR catalog, but I don't look in it because it's all for kids,' she said.

"The new name will change all of that. It will give people a better understanding that we are more than a child care program, that we are a fully functional recreation district wanting to enhance that part of what SOAR is," said SOAR board chair Dr. Bonnie Malone. "It's a re-branding for clarification."

Although it will take time, Ward sees the new name as helping the organization focus on future planning and the development of recreation facilities. How such future planning will relate to the creation of a senior center in Sisters, Ward is unsure.

"That's kind of a project in its planning stages now. It's going to take a lot of support from the seniors, and I honestly don't know that that support is there at this time," said Ward.

SOAR was founded in 1995 as a non-profit organization with the purpose of providing recreation, sports and enrichment programs to youth and families. In 1998 area voters approved the formation of the SOAR District, and SOAR evolved from a non-profit into a public local taxing district, just like a fire district or a school district.

Today SOAR serves about 14,000 residents in Sisters and its outlying areas and is governed by a board of five elected officials.