Sisters puts spurs to new Western event

The Sisters community will celebrate its Western lifestyle and living history in a day of celebration with Ranch Life and Rodeo Show, May 30.

The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce has announced a full day of Western exhibits and entertainment planned for Saturday throughout the Sisters Country.

A portion of the proceeds from the show and art sale will be contributed to Equine Rescue services - helping out those who provide food and vet care for horses who have been abandoned or cannot be cared for any longer by their owners.

An artist reception will begin at 10 a.m. at the Sisters Art Works building, at 204 W. Adams Ave., with artists and craftsmen in attendance. Also at the Sisters Art Works Building, at noon, J. Chester "Skip" Armstrong will demonstrate his chainsaw sculpture. At 2 p.m., Jeff Wester of Ponderosa Forge will demonstrate his blacksmithing skills and horseshoe-making technique.

"It's going to be a huge, fun cowboy party with amazing art," said Kathy Deggendorfer, who first put spurs to the idea for the event. "The whole thing started with the idea that it would be fun to do a show that focused on Western art," she said.

Local art galleries jumped on board, and the Sisters Village Association ran with the idea to create a town-wide event.

"People must like the Western life around here," Deggendorfer said. "They all want to be cowboys!"

Jill Stanford, author of "The Cowgirl Cookbook," will provide food samples, chuckwagon food and cowboy coffee will be available for purchase all day.

As part of the event, Sisters Country restaurants will be holding a "Best Beef Contest." Competing restaurants include, but are not limited to, Black Butte Ranch, Bronco Billy's Ranch Grill and Saloon, Aspen Lakes Brand 33 Restaurant, The Gallery Restaurant, Coyote Creek Café, The Lodge at Suttle Lake, Ski Inn, SOJI Noodle & Rice, Scoots Bar and Grill, Sisters Harvest Basket, Three Creeks Brewing Company, Martolli's Pizza, Papandrea's Pizzeria and Ken's Old Fashion Pizza.

Sisters View Clydesdales owners Jenny and Jerry Andres will offer free wagon rides from the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce on Main Avenue to Sisters Art Works on Adams Avenue and back from 12 to 4 p.m. Line and square dancing, calling and clogging by Jessica Yankey, Emerald Ranch's manager, trainer and instructor will be held at Bronco Billy's Ranch Grill and Saloon from 4 to 6 p.m.

In celebration of Oregon's 150th Birthday, a reenactment of the stage coach ride between Bend and Sisters will be put on by the Deschutes Historical Society. The stage will leave from Sisters on Friday, going to Bend, and will ride back into town around 4 p.m. on Saturday.

COYO will be performing behind DonTerra Artworks from 4 to 6 p.m. COYO draws its sounds from indigenous sources connected to the rhythms and harmonies of the natural world. There will be a beer garden, featuring the handcrafted brews of Three Creeks Brewery, available for purchase at the event.

West of West, A Celebration of Ranch Life exhibition and sale will be hosted by High Desert Gallery with an artist reception on Saturday, at 281 W. Cascade Ave., from 4 to 7 p.m. and will include great art by regionally and nationally acclaimed Central Oregon Artists, refreshments and live music.

On Saturday evening Charley Engel, host of 106.7 KPOV's radio show "Calling All Cowboys," has wrangled a fine group of cowboy poets and musicians including: The Anvil Blasters; Rick Steber; John Grant and the Western Revue; Don Worthing; and Big Pine and Pitchtones. The music starts at 6 p.m at the Sisters Art Works building. There is a $10 suggested donation at the door.

Joanne Shook from Buck Haven Llama Farm will be bringing her llamas to town, and Cowgirls of the West Living History, a group of women dedicated to preserving cowgirl history from 1900 to the 1960s, will be at the Sisters Art Works building. They will provide historical education about cowgirls such as Lucille Mulhall, Vera McGinnis, Prairie Rose Henderson, Dale Evans, Alice Van Springsteen and many more women who were rodeo competitors, Wild West performers, vaudeville performers, screen actresses and singers.

For more information, contact the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce at [email protected] or call 549-0251.