Sisters ski team hosts crab feed

The Sisters High School Alpine Ski Team held their 16th Annual Crab Feed Fundraiser at Aspen Lakes' Brand 33 restaurant on Saturday night, and has declared it a resounding success.

Despite the economic downturn, the ski team decided to continue with its traditional crab feed to raise funds for next year. Although the team members each submit a pay-to-play fee, because the Alpine Ski Team is a non-funded sport at Sisters High School, those dollars are not sufficient to cover all the costs associated with practice time at Mt. Bachelor, participating in regional league, and state-level race competitions.

Melodie Buell, with eight years of experience, coached the team this year with assistance from Nick Yopp and Ryan Burt. They took over following years of coaching by Todd Williver. The fundraiser was a lively event with the all-you-can-eat crab dinner provided by Sykes Mitchell and Aspen Lakes.

The team parents organized three different types of auctions, with the highlight being the bidding on an autographed football donated by Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts. The winning bidder, Carol Stotts, and the crowd reveled in the moment of her high winning bid as Dan passed the football to Mitchell, who proved to be an adept receiver.

Stotts reminisced about when her son was with the first Sisters Alpine Ski Team 15 years ago.

The current team members are seniors Eric Adler, Steven Enger and Levi Rodriguez, and freshmen Gabe Rietmann and Dillon Witt. Two former students of Sisters High, Haley Hancock and Ali Wimer, now at Cascade Academy, also practiced and joined in the fundraiser and celebration with the Sisters Ski Team.

Steven Enger and Haley Hancock qualified for the state finals this week at Mt. Hood.

The Sisters High School Ski Team thanked all of the contributors to the event, particularly Sykes Mitchell and the Cyrus family of Aspen Lakes and the staff for hosting the fundraiser for the second year.