Sisters salutes...

• Former city councilor Shawna Bell wrote:

"My name is Shawna Bell and Thursday was my final city council meeting serving as your city councilor. It has been an honor over the last 20 months to serve the citizens of Sisters in this capacity. It was a dream of mine to serve in public office since I was in my early 20s and I am so glad it finally came true in this wonderful city of Sisters.

"I would like to thank the city staff for the hard work they do for this city. To Lisa, thank you for the work you have done to bring more stability to the financial reporting system. To Eric, your dedication to open communication with the citizens and development community is very beneficial.

"To Brad, I love your 'can do' attitude and creativity in getting more 'bang for the buck' in public works projects. (I will miss our weekly chats about the Beavers.) To Kathy, thank you so much for your tireless work for the council; delivering the packet to me each week in the rain, snow, etc... and the wonderful food you prepared for our workshop meetings was such a treat.

"Eileen, you are an amazing asset to this city. You work behind the scenes with very little recognition, but the impact you have made by creating a professional city hall staff and the work they are doing is tremendous.

"To my fellow councilors, Mayor Brad Boyd, Councilors Sharleen Weed, Bill Merrill and Lon Kellstrom, I have a much better understanding of the work you put in each week to study the issues to make informed decisions to serve the citizens. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with each of you.

"I wish the new council the best of luck. It is not always an easy role to be in but one that I will never forget and will always be proud to say that I participated in."

• The students, faculty, staff and parents of Black Butte School thanked the Camp Sherman community for making this year's Christmas bazaar such a success. It would not have happened without the generous support of volunteers from the community. They willingly gave their time and talents to make sure that the traditional Thanksgiving weekend bazaar was held again this year.

Judy Sims stepped up to coordinate the event, while BBS parent Rochelle Curtis took on the huge task of chairing the construction of the handmade Christmas wreaths.