Local businesses support troops

Many Sisters business owners show support for local troops, each giving in an manner that means most to them.

Grabbing the gusto of the annual Girl Scout cookie drive, Tami Jones, owner of Metamorphosis, and her daughter McKenna, have to date pulled in 110 boxes of those delicious and memorable treats to give to our deployed troops from Sisters.

McKenna has been with the Girl Scout organization for four years, and is enjoying this year as a Brownie and being able to give to the men from her hometown who are serving our country.

"Selling out of the shop is lots of fun for all of us," said Jones, who, along with all the other stylists that work with her in her shop offer to their clients the chance to purchase Girl Scout cookies and buy a box or two for the troops. "It's making everyone happy to do something for our troops. We have about 125 boxes left to sell, so come on in."

Every year Girl Scout troops pick out who they will give the cookies to that have been donated by community members.

Even those who don't want a tasty little Thin Mint or a scrumptious Samoa cookie lurking around the house to wake them in the middle of the night calling from pantry shelves, can surprise and delight a soldier - who can wolf the whole package down in 30 seconds flat but will share his gift with his unit till the last cookie is gone.

McKenna has a goal of getting 200 boxes for the troops and with the help of her mom's shop and the many generous clients that come through "the Met" she has a good chance of meeting her goal. The Girl Scout cookie drive is over at the end of March.

Sisters has troops currently in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. By Easter there will be Girl Scout cookies in the packs of these men as they head off for another day in the desert.

Tate Metcalf, owner of Sisters Athletic Club (SAC), has been quietly serving our troops by giving them club privileges on the house. Active duty troops home on leave are welcomed by Metcalf and his staff at SAC and have full use of the facilities.

Staying in shape, even while home on leave, is a large part of being "active duty."

"I'm happy to help out service people because I'm actually thanking them for the work they do for us," Metcalf said.

Home on leave in January, Sgt. Jacob Merrell, USMC, was at the club daily to keep on top of his game.

"The services that SAC offered were extremely beneficial to me," he said. "Spending time at SAC helped me to keep my physical fitness requirements in check and gave me something to do while in town on leave. All the equipment was pretty amazing! It was really very generous of Mr. Metcalf. I greatly appreciate all he did for me."

Peter Storton, Principal Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Town & Country Realty, has devised an in-house plan for donations of goods from himself and his staff to send to our troops.

Storton recently told The Nugget, "Personally I have total admiration for America and for all persons that serve in the Armed Forces. And, so it is with RE/MAX Town & Country Realty. We are in total respect for all that serve and especially those sons and daughters from our own community. We miss them, respect them, and with that send notes of admiration and packages to show our appreciation. We wait for their safe return."

Deployed Army Sgt. John Roberts said, "It's always great getting packages and notes from home, from the people I love and who love me. But, when I opened up a package from an organization that I don't even know all the people, well, that was especially great. The goodies came out and got shared with my guys and it's all good."

Bank of the Cascades is active in the community and supportive of a number of local projects, including our troops.

"I am proud to continue the support of our troops through the Hero Board that Joy Caldwell, previous bank manager, began at the Sisters branch," said new branch manager, Davina Luz. "We will continue to post the names and the faces of our soldiers that are serving our country in different positions throughout the world and keeping us safe."

The Hero Board is located in the lobby of Bank of the Cascades. Contact Luz to post a photo and bio on a troop from Sisters at 549-2061.

The Military Parents of Sisters will be hosting a "Pack-Out" on Wednesday, March 18. They are inviting the community to join them any time after 5 p.m. to pack boxes with donated items (all new) and get them ready to ship to our deployed troops. The MPS have many items (including those Girl Scout cookies) to pack and will gladly take anything else the community wants to give, including letters. The location for the event is the community room at Ray's Food Place.