Show shoots up its own smoke

Cascade Avenue between Oak and Pine streets was taken back to a time when the "Old West" was alive and well. With 140 feet of Western town façade, folks did a double take and sat for a spell to watch the Deschutes Desperados, formerly The Pine Mountain Posse Reenactment Players, and a rowdy bunch of new players entertain with skits for the 5th annual Sisters Wild West Show last weekend.

The Deschutes Desperados reenactment player Mick Howard, aka Mojave Mick, was back again as the town's sheriff, ready to incarcerate the worst hombres. Howard has been in re-enactment for eight years and with involved in cowboy action shooting for over 20 years.

"Re-enactments are only a small part of Pine Mountain Posse, which is the cowboy action shooting club that I belong to," Howard told The Nugget. "We decided to separate ourselves as re-enactment players, so I came up with the name Deschutes Desperados."

The Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) is an international organization formed to preserve and promote the sport of cowboy action shooting, a competitive shooting sport that originated in Southern California.

Spectators got to step back into the wild age of gunfighters, saloons, and cowboys, like a scene out of a classic Clint Eastwood Western that came alive. The Deschutes Desperados performed nine Western performances, skits, and shoot-outs.

Before each show, event organizer Richard Esterman talked about safety and explained that the guns used are real, but there would be no real bullets, only black-powder blanks.

However, the gunshots sounded real and the kids were advised to cover their ears - and they did, along with a few adults.

On Saturday, the first shootout performance was at high noon and every hour until 5 p.m.

Characters, from Annie Oakley to Tetherow Tex La Rue dressed in authentic or authentic replica clothing for their skits. Kathy Howard, aka .38 Kate, provided the costumes. The firearms were pre-1900 replicas.

New Sisters resident and first-time performer Evan Leiser, aka Deputy Duke, portrayed the town deputy who stood by his sheriff at all times.

Tony Schultz, aka Tony Two Toes, hung up the Western façade and James Hawkins, a longtime member of Pine Mountain Posse jumped back into his role of Tetherow Tex La Rue.

First-time reenactment player Mark Richardson, aka Shady Silver, from Redmond, looked realistic dressed as a cavalryman. Tim Barrier, aka Tumbleweed Tim, from Sisters and his 12-year-old granddaughter Taylor Barrier, aka Tricky Taylor, enjoyed their first time as re-enactment players during the Wild West Show.

"I liked how we could make things up as we went through the performance. Kind of like improvisation," Taylor said.

Nine-year-old Zeke Esterman played Tricky Taylor's brother Zeke the Sneak.

"It was fun when I had to run before the bad guys started with their gunfire," Zeke said.

It was a family affair for Richard Esterman, aka Rawhide Rick, with his grandson Zeke and brother Brian Esterman, aka One-Boot Brian, performing in all the skits.

And new player Susan Moss, aka Sassy Sue, from Sisters reveled in playing Annie Oakley.

In between shootouts folks got to browse through Western art, crafts, and clothing.

With a background in cosmetology, vendor Johnise Thomas from Redmond showcased her booth of handcrafted hot-pressed soaps.

"With cold-press soap the oils will cook out," Thomas said "All my oils stay in the soap. I use hemp oils, olive oils, grapeseed oil, Emu oils, coca butters, and we have our special tribute to the eclipse. "The Great American Eclipse" soap and it is activated charcoal hot-processed soap. Toxins stick to the activated charcoal, so it makes a good candidate for a deep-cleaner and detoxifier."

Scott Brown and his band cranked it up for the country western dance Saturday evening, while Bad Boys Barbecue provided the grub.