News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The year 2011 brought some changes to Sisters Country.
Sisters Fire Chief Tay Robertson and Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony each announced their retirement after long service, as did Sisters educator Dennis Dempsey.
The Sisters School District bade farewell to Bob Macauley, while welcoming his successor at Sisters High School, Joe Hosang.
Sisters Habitat for Humanity said good-bye to co-founder Julia Hammond, and celebrated 20 years of providing quality, affordable housing in Sisters Country.
The local economy and real estate market continued to be sluggish, but with some encouraging signs of life, as house sales picked up and new businesses continued to open as people pursue their dreams of making a life in Sisters Country. Meanwhile, Gutenberg College stepped back from plans to relocate to Sisters, due to difficulty in raising the necessary funds.
Sisters could not escape a nearly annual nemesis - a wildfire broke out in the late summer in the Mt. Washington Wilderness, plaguing the area with smoky days. Sisters forests, however, continued to get healthier, with Forest Service projects in partnership with many diverse organizations bearing fruit. The Sisters Ranger District closed 2011 with a prestigious Chief's Award for its forest health projects and efforts in riparian restoration.
The Deschutes Land Trust also played its part, preserving still more acreage along Whychus Creek in an effort that will culminate in the return of steelhead and salmon runs.
While the Sisters City Council wrangled over a variety of issues, including water rates, the city moved forward with plans to enhance the downtown corridor with a multi-million-dollar project on Cascade Avenue/Highway 20.
Sisters schools continued to face challenges in funding as the state education budget shrank. However, the school district continued to garner statewide attention for innovation as it brought online a new biomass boiler to heat Sisters High School.
Sisters also came to national attention as a woman who had lived in Sisters 40 years ago came forward with claims that the legendary D.B. Cooper hijacking had been planned by her uncle in Sisters.
Sisters athletes excelled, with master swimmer Tom Landis continuing to set records (and trekking across California). Sisters residents Kara Calmettes and Gregg Geser won the grueling, non-stop 515-mile 2011 Race Across Oregon in July.
The Lady Outlaws soccer team made it to the state championship game, which they lost in a heartbreaker. It marked the pinnacle of another strong year for Outlaws athletics.
Signature events like the Sisters Rodeo, the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, and the Sisters Folk Festival continued to entertain people from all over the world while enhancing Sisters' reputation as a center of arts and culture in the western U.S.
The year drew to a close with Sisters' annual outpouring of community support, as dozens of volunteers came together to provide Christmas cheer for 215 families in need.
Folks in Sisters Country entered 2012 hoping for better times ahead - and waiting for snow.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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