Central Oregon turns out for Harvest Faire

A record crowd flooded Hood Avenue this weekend for the 36th annual Sisters Harvest Faire, thankful for the sunshine and sampling some autumn food treats and unique artisan goods from over 150 Northwest craft vendors. Whether shopping for early holiday gifts or discovering a must-have trinket or piece of inspiring artwork, visitors and locals prowled the booths and tents with caramel apples in hand and enjoyed one of Sisters' oldest and best-loved October traditions.

Attending the festival since 1991 as a seller, Linda Soeby brought her latest collection of handmade Father Christmas figures, each one detailed and dressed according to their country and time period.

"I make each one completely by hand and sculpt each face individually," Soeby said. "There are different regions and attire for the different figures, whether it's Father Christmas, Kriss Kringle or Saint Nicholas. I've been doing this for 27 years and add a new design each year for the season. This year's is called The Joy Of Christmas and based on a 1904 postcard image depicting a Santa dressed in purple robes, playing a violin and delivering musical instruments. We love this fair, the crowds have been good and it's so nice to see everybody come out."

Gwen Acker of Eugene leaned in close to admire the incredible detail work of Soeby's Christmas collectibles.

"Well we were just on our way home from Sunriver and decided to park and spend some time looking around," she said. "We just started down the street so there's a lot to still look at. We always stop in Sisters whenever we can."

Down the street, Sisters Park & Recreation District set up a colorful Kidszone with bounce castles, cookie and pumpkin decorating stations, do-it-yourself dreamcatchers and watercolor face painting. 

SPRD director Anne Heath applauded the spirit of her volunteers and thanked the community for coming together to make it fun for all the kids and their parents.

"It was really awesome, all made possible by the leadership classes from the middle school and high school," she said. "They all donated their time to come help the children and work the booth. One of the hottest items we sold were the cookies on a stick. And the winner of our scarecrow contest was Little Buckaroos Fabric. They won a silver sponsorship for all our SPRD sports tournaments."

Jill Dyer of Sisters, arms loaded with a bag of kettlecorn and carton of mini-donuts, watched her five-year-old son Baylor paint a spooky pumpkin. Baylor carefully drew eyes and mouth on the orange skin and plans on dressing up as a black ghost come Halloween night.

"This has been so much fun," she said. "We walked all around and did the bounce house and now we're bringing home some donuts for Daddy. These kinds of events are what makes Sisters so special."

Redmond Humane Society volunteers Chelsea and Michelle Lane sat in the sun with a lapful of dogs.

"We did two adoptions this weekend and a few other possibilities," said Michelle. "There were so many people who came by to pet the dogs and ask questions. Some came with their dogs they'd adopted from us in the past."

Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce events director Jeri Buckmann was all smiles and commented on the bountiful turnout.

"Wow. This was our best Harvest Faire in years. It was a huge crowd all weekend," she said. "We had a fantastic group of high quality vendors, sales were up, everyone was happy and the weather helped a lot. It just made for a really great weekend and a perfect way to end the season on such a high note."