BOC contributes $2,500 to displaced employees

Folks in Sisters have been contributing to an account set up at the Bank of the Cascades to aid the families of employees displaced after a ponderosa pine tree crashed through the Ski Inn on December 1.

Last week, the Bank of the Cascades itself kicked in $2,500 to the fund.

Bank officials presented a check to Ski Inn owners Dan and Vern Palmer on Thursday.

The Palmers have owned the Ski Inn since 1972; they believe the restaurant has been in operation since 1965. Vern Palmer told The Nugget that a structural engineer was looking at the building to determine whether it could be rebuilt or would have to be demolished.

A mighty gust of wind uprooted the pine that stood next to the Ski Inn on Cascade Avenue in Sisters at about 2:20 p.m. on Sunday, December 1, sending the trunk crashing through the front of the restaurant. Several people were inside when the tree came down; all escaped serious injury.

The name of the BOC account is The Ski Inn Employee Donation Account 4409957. Donations may be sent to P.O. Box 520, Sisters, OR, 97759 or dropped off at the branch. For more information call 541-549-2061.