Fire doesn't deter Sisters Fall Street Festival visitors

Despite the obvious orange haze hanging in the air, weekend shoppers came out in force to enjoy the annual Sisters Fall Street Festival off Cascade Avenue on Saturday and Sunday.

A colorful blend of nearly 60 arts and crafts vendors lined the streets and sidewalks, offering glazed nature mugs, sequined sunglasses, hand-tooled leatherwork, bamboo paddleboards, stone-based picture frames, laser-cut metal sculpture and artisan jewelry temporarily took people's minds off the growing Pole Creek Fire smoking in the distance. Malivanh's Thai Food and Bad Boys Barbecue provided a tempting one-two lunch punch for hungry browsers and guests.

The weekend was also a fundraiser for the Sisters High School visual arts program, with dozens of silent-auction items generously donated by the assembled merchants and artists.

Donna Klimas of DJ's Jewelry hauled her wares over from Vancouver, Washington, and was pleased with the abundant turnout.

"I hand-make all sterling silver, gemstone, freshwater pearl and shell jewelry," she said. "I've been doing it now seven years full-time and usually travel to 45 different art shows a year. We heard about the fire in Sisters but Richard (Esterman) reassured me it was okay and I'm so glad I came. It's really been a beautiful weekend and I've been nicely surprised, most everyone here is very friendly and there's a lot from out of town. Last night the wind came up and even cleaned all the ash off our canopies."

This is year number five for organizer Richard Esterman's downtown autumn festival and he was extremely happy with the continued support from the community and tourists.

"The show is full and you can't ask for anything more," he said. "We had a cancellation or two due to erroneous media reports, reminding you that you can't always believe what you hear on TV. We've got a great mix of art and crafts this year and the show continues to evolve and become a popular tradition in Sisters' September events calendar. I already had one vendor completely sell out and go home on Sunday. I just want to thank everyone for coming out this weekend and making the street fair such a success."

Traveling out from Brownsville, artist Richard Gardner relaxed in his booth and greeted guests admiring his varnished wooden belt-buckles, old-fashioned wood toys, and leather purses and coin bags adorned with butterflies, coyotes, stars and peace symbols.

"This is our first time selling in Sisters and decided to come out and give it a try," he said. "We really enjoy coming to this area, and this is just another reason to come back. My sister does the chainsaw carvings right next door to us here. The fire didn't stop us at all and the turnout has been great. Look, my wife has asthma and even she came this weekend."