Sisters woman stands strong, offers thanks

As the Sisters Rodeo Parade moseyed down Cascade Avenue under the Saturday morning sunshine, Peggy Dorsett stood watching, feeling exceedingly grateful.

Thanks to an outpouring of community support, the owner of Sun Buster Video recently underwent hip replacement surgery, and she has ditched her walking cane for good.

"I have so many people to thank," says Dorsett. "It was life-changing."

Peggy came dangerously close to losing her ability to walk altogether due to a deteriorating hip joint. Two years ago, a doctor told her that the surgery was her only option. In her mind it wasn't an option at all because she had no way to pay for it.

But members of the community, and organizations including Volunteers in Medicine, reached out to help make the impossible possible.

While Peggy recovered from surgery, family and friends kept Sun Buster Video open and operating.

"My daughter Erin and three ladies - Loretta Schmidt, Denise Cristiano, Michelle Ehr - were absolute angels. They just stepped in."

Encouragement came from all directions, says Peggy. People she had never met brought her meals, and there were anonymous donations.

"I feel so blessed," she says.

It's not the first time Peggy felt the generosity of her community. Ten years ago, as a single mother, she became a first-time homeowner with the help of Sisters Habitat for Humanity.

"I never really had much of anything," she said, noting that her own mother was also a single mom who never owned a home. "So I was overwhelmed by it all. I felt so loved. That was transforming. I think that was instrumental in deciding what direction my life could take."

Peggy sensed that Sisters was special when she first moved here from Southern California, sight unseen, in 1988. A friend persuaded her husband to visit Sisters; he reported back to Peggy that he was sure she would love it.

"I prayed about it and had a real strong heart tug," she says.

Nine days later both she and her husband had jobs at Sisters General Store (now Space Age Fuel).

"I thought it'd be a good place to meet people," she remembers. "All the local guys came by for coffee and donuts."

Peggy gave birth to her sixth child after moving to Sisters, but a divorce followed; she has been managing as a single mom for the past 20 years. Her kids' ages now range from 21 to 43; she has six grandkids.

"A friend once said, 'It doesn't matter if you have a Ph.D. If you love it enough to stay here you'll do what it takes, even if it means working three or four jobs. You learn to find your niche.'"

She cleaned houses and worked retail before finding hers 15 years ago, when the owner of the now-defunct Video Corral brought her on full-time.

"I've always been real interested in movies," says Peggy.

Her movie expertise grew, and seven years working at Sisters Video followed. Then two Terrebonne women with a small chain of Central Oregon video stores opened Sun Buster in the Three Wind Shopping Center at the west end of town. According to Peggy, Sisters' increasingly competitive video rental market wasn't quite what the absentee owners bargained for, but they believed it had a good shot as an owner-operated venture, so "they let me slide into it.

"In 2004 it was mine," says Peggy, "and I've been here seven days a week ever since - except for the couple months I had off for my hip."

She moved Sun Buster to the east end of town, adjacent to Subway, in 2008.

Despite the broadening availability of movies through different media, Peggy says that her video store hangs tough because "a lot of people still like to come in and chitchat, touch the movies and see what they're about."

On a recent evening, a regular customer needed advice with her selection. "Help me, Peggy!" she called from the Drama section. Peggy posed her standard question: "What's your mood?"

Individual customer service is one thing that defines her market niche.

"I pay attention to the kind of movies people like and dislike." And she'll offer her honest opinion of a film, if they ask.

Also, Sun Buster boasts a deep supply of catalog (older) movies and sections dedicated to TV series and special interests: documentaries, music videos.

"I have Cirque Du Soleil, and Chris Angel with his weird magic ... things beyond mainstream," says Peggy.

Teachers have always been invited to borrow educational movies for their classes at no charge.

"I love interacting with the people. Movies bring up different things about life and it makes for interesting conversations," says Peggy.

What's more, she looks for opportunities to give encouragement back to the community that she feels has given her so much. Gesturing to her store, she says, "That's what this facilitates."

Peggy's personal journey and her involvement with the Central Oregon Partnership to End Poverty helped seal her philosophy: "There are a lot of people out there who want to help, but you have to have the eyes and ears to see it. You have to be open to receive it. There are ways and means to get help if you aren't too proud to ask.

"The biggest thing is to always have hope."