Starry Nights goes back to the future

The Sisters Starry Nights concert series, which has raised over $1 million for the Sisters Schools Foundation over nearly 20 years, came full circle Sunday night.

The inaugural Starry Nights performer, Karla Bonoff, took the stage at The Belfry for an intimate evening of song. Her first appearance on the Starry Nights stage was in 1997, the year that Starry Nights was formed to raise funds to preserve programs in the face of budget cuts.

"To put it in perspective, I wasn't even born in 1997," said Sisters High School senior Maggie Bidasolo, who was master of ceremonies for the event.

Bidasolo noted that Sunday evening's event was the 39th Starry Nights show, the second held at The Belfry. Funds raised through the concerts - in which the performers donate their time and talents to the cause - have provided everything "from a pitching mound to a saxophone," Bidasolo noted.

The concert series is run by volunteers, including co-chairs Jeri Fouts, Novella Swisher and Susan Arends. Schools Superintendent Curt Scholl noted, "These kinds of community partnerships and events are what make Sisters special."

Bidasolo concurred, noting that "I would not trade growing up in Sisters for anything." And she says that her peers all feel the same way - grateful for "community caring and commitment."

In her fourth Starry Nights appearance, Bonoff transitioned seamlessly between acoustic guitar and piano, taking her audience back to the halcyon days of the Hootenanny at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, where she honed her songwriting chops among greats such as Jackson Browne and Neil Young in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Bonoff covered Browne's "Something Fine," and had the crowd singing softly along with her self-penned hits "Isn't It Always Love" and "Tell Me Why."

The singer-songwriter was accompanied throughout by ace guitarist Nina Gerber, who wove textured electric guitar around Bonoff's lyrics in a way that accented and complemented each piece.

The event featured an intermission that was as entertaining as the music - in its own unique way.

Melvin Herburger conducted the live auction, assisted by Dan Fouts.

Fouts announced to a somewhat bemused Herburger that "We're the bats."

"The what?" Herburger asked.

"The bats in The Belfry."

That set the bantering tone for the auction, conducted in Herburger's trademark style. Auction items included a signed lyric sheet of Karla Bonoff's "All My Life," signed CDs, and Jackson Browne tickets. The bidding was hot for that first item, which set the tone for an evening of generous bids on fine art, a wine country adventure, golf with Dan Fouts and more.

In all, the evening raised roughly $40,000 to support Sisters schools.

The beneficiaries of that largess got their time in the spotlight, too. Megan Rose and Sedona Lauren opened the show, showcasing their collaboration developed over years in the school district-Sisters Folk Festival education partnership, The Americana Project. And guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres prepared by students of the Sisters High School Culinary Arts program, under the guidance of their teacher, T.R. McCrystal.

For more information, visit http://www.sistersstarrynights.org.