Sisters salutes...

•â¯Kathy and Frank Deggendorfer wrote:

Many thanks to the Rotary Club of Sisters for their support for the Vision Project on Taveuni Island in Fiji. Rotary really is a wonderful organization! Rotarians put action into their desire to help others (readers of The Nugget Newspaper might remember that $1,500 from the Wine in the Pines event was earmarked for the Fiji Eye Project).

When Frank and I were in Fiji with the Casey Eye Institute volunteers last November, I made a promise to the Tavenuni Rotary Club (organizers of the Fiji Vision Project) that I would help them with funding for some replacement equipment and ongoing costs of operation.

I wasn't quite sure just how big of a project I had taken on, but I felt compelled to honor my promise. In January, the Rotary Club of Sisters generously offered to let me make a presentation about the work being done by Rotarians in Fiji. I asked them to contribute, along with The Roundhouse Foundation, to this rotary project that is helping cure blindness by doing free cataract surgeries in this remote part of the world. The rest was really magic.

A time was set up for me to speak to the Rotary Club of Bend High Desert, and the ball was rolling. Sisters Rotarians did the really hard work of writing grants, filling out the paperwork and securing more funds. With help from these Rotary Clubs: Bend High Desert, Medford Rogue, Bend Mt. Bachelor, Corvallis and the Rotary Avoidable Blindness Fund and other individuals, we were able to raise over $46,000 for the Taveuni Eye Project and ensure that this good work will continue in Fiji. Funds were also secured to allow a resident from Casey Eye Institute to return to Taveuni this November and assist with more surgeries and training of local medical teams.

A big shout-out to the Rotary Club of Sisters! If you ever consider joining a service club, try Rotary... it is a powerful organization that makes good things happen for the least fortunate in our world.

•â¯John Ferguson, Vice Commander American Legion, and Dale Coats, Sergeant at Arms, American Legion:

The Sisters Veterans group, consisting of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion Posts, held their second annual Chili Feed this past Saturday at Sisters Community Church. Billed as the "Great American Chili Feed," attendance was up by almost double over last year and the Sisters Veterans group would like to thank the community of Sisters for their support.

We would also like to thank a few individuals and organizations for their support and donations to the success of this year's event. They include Sisters Community Church for the use of the church, and Dale Kinzer and Scott McKittrick for the slide presentation featuring local active-duty servicemen. Liz McKittrick did a great job on the decorations with a patriotic theme.

Wendy Bachmeier designed the Chili Feed poster, and Peter Storton donated the printing. Chili cook Mim Burke and her crew of Steve Olson, Bill and Nancy Sampson, and Barbara Ferguson cooked and served the chili. Hamburger for the chili was donated by Murl Holm. The corn bread mix was donated by Ray's Food Place and home-baked by the Sisters Community Church Bible study group. Dessert was cake and ice cream, with ice cream donated by Sno Cap Drive In, and the cake baked and donated by Yuridi Durantes. Coffee was provided by Sisters Coffee Co.

The "Great American Chili Feed" was supported in typical Sisters fashion, where the community came together to support the military veterans and their endeavors. We are looking forward to next's year's event.