Letters to the Editor 09/07/2011

To the Editor:

The gifts to our school district are hard to see when large and looming headlines speak of cuts in education. The Sisters Schools Foundation is one such gift which provides thousands of dollars each year in the form of materials, tools and technologies to all three divisions of our schools. There are other gifts glimmering.

Governor John Kitzhaber has proclaimed September 11-17 Arts in Education Week in the state of Oregon.

It is time to celebrate the Americana Project, the educational outreach of the Sisters Folk Festival. It is a program bringing music, history and folk arts to our entire community throughout the year. On the eve of the Festival, economic tourism is in full swing. An astounding number of community volunteers work to help unwrap the three-day event. Festival musicians will visit Americana classes and give a concert assembly at each school. Not one visiting musician in eleven years has failed to comment on how lucky our students are and how they wished they had been given the opportunities our young people have in arts education.

And then there is another gem that shines at Sisters Middle School.

The ARTS Discovery class is independently funded to benefit underserved seventh- and eighth-grade youth.

Every school day this class, a gift to the district, is students in action creating, exploring, working with visiting artists, meeting adults with experience in a wide variety of careers and discovering how to be leaders in their own lives.

Kit Stafford, the core teacher, gathers the funds to make this gift possible.

Through this arts class the health of our community is served by giving voice to young people at a critical time in their lives.

Students learn to build toward a positive future.

Community organizations, foundations and individuals contribute tax-deductible donations to ARTS Discovery through the Sisters Schools Foundation.

We have reason to celebrate: arts, education and beautiful days in beautiful Sisters. And now it's official.

Kit Stafford

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To the Editor:

The other day as I drove down Adams Ave., I was shocked to note the dead and dying birch trees as well as other dying or diseased trees.

Having lived in many communities which have tree-lined streets, I have always been aware of the beauty added to city streets by having trees. Having lived in the area for nearly 23 years, I am keenly aware of the interest added to downtown for residents as well as tourists. I cite Wall and Bond streets in Bend.

I am aware of the ages of some of the ponderosas and ancient junipers in the downtown area but also aware of the beauty and interest added to any downtown by addition of low-residue trees such as locust and others.

Thinking of Adams, Main, Cascade and Hood, should we not have a tree planting program to make our area more tourist-friendly? It also adds to the pleasure of living in our charming area. I would venture a guess that you might find willing volunteers to assist in such a program - much as Claudia Grooney and her garden group have done in the past.

Russell B. Williams