Sisters lights its Christmas tree

Barclay Park shined with Christmas cheer Friday night for the seventh annual Sisters Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. An enthusiastic crowd of out-of-towners and residents stood listening to a pre-lighting medley of carols performed by the Sisters Bell Choir on a drippy, rainy evening.

Jeri Buckmann and Erin Borla welcomed all revelers and thanked the Deschutes Land Trust for their generous donation of the beautiful 30-foot white fir cut from the Metolius Preserve.

"This here tonight is our Sisters community, and we're so fortunate to live here with the forests and mountains and rivers and all the wonderful people," said Borla. "You make my job so easy."

Mayor Lon Kellstrom expressed his honor in speaking at this annual event at "our little pocket park in Sisters."

"Merry Christmas and thank you for coming," he said, before talking a bit about the steelhead's predicted triumphant return to the Whychus Creek watershed in 2012.

Brad Chalfant, executive director of the Deschutes Land Trust, announced a big Christmas present to the City of Sisters in the form of a two-mile stretch of Whychus Creek about to be protected with funding completed by the end of the year (see related story, page 1).

Once again, the land trust provided the Sisters Christmas Tree from its Metolius Preserve.

Traditional Christmas favorites were sung by a unique potpourri of singers from various churches and parishes in the Sisters area who meet once a year for this special occasion, directed by Si Simonsen.

Havilah Hilbish brought a Great Dane named Barnabus, who seemed more interested in catching snowballs in his mouth than music and speeches.

"I love the carolers and the whole holiday atmosphere," said Hilbish. "It's such a great sense of community. It just reminds me of the movie, 'A Christmas Story.'"

An inspirational message was delivered by Reverend Ted Rodrigues.

"What's a Christmas tree lighting ceremony without a little dedication and prayer," he said. "May the joy and youth within us all be a hearty Merry Christmas."

An expectant hush fell after the third stanza of "Silent Night" and the tree blazed forth in all its glory to a cheering mass.

Eleven-year-old Zack Barnett was here with his whole family from Seattle.

"The tree is really cool," he said, tossing another snowball to Barnabus. "We just got back from cross-country skiing at Black Butte golf course. It was a lot of fun and I was the fastest there."

His father, Dave Barnett, echoed the sentiments: "This is such a great town," he said. "We've driven past many times before but never stopped. Great community feeling, great people. We wish we could live here."