Contribution and responsibility

Cris Converse, formerly of Pine Meadow Ranch, made an extraordinary bequest to the City of Sisters last week, in the memory of her mother, Dorro Sokol, longtime owner and operator of PMR.

After negotiating with the City to allow the acquisition of 2.1 cubic feet per second of quasi-municipal water rights, Converse on Thursday zeroed out the $250,000 price tag, in effect giving the City the water.

Sokol was one of the people who shaped the community of Sisters - an outsized presence that belied her physical stature. She served Sisters on its planning commission and as a Rotarian. She felt strongly about what made Sisters a good place to be - and she was never reticent about expressing herself on that subject.

Converse's largess was offered in the spirit of service - of contribution and responsibility.

"The world is a little whacked out," she told the City Council. "But I believe that we, by being responsible and contributing, can make a difference."

She's right. The national discourse has grown so bizarre and toxic that it sometimes feels like everything is coming apart at the seams. It's easy to feel like your voice doesn't count; that it's not even heard amid the maelstrom.

We're fortunate to live in a community that's small enough and tight-knit enough that anybody who feels responsible for the quality of their community can contribute and make a difference. Many, many Sisters residents do, every day. Contributions of time and talent are every bit as valuable as any donation. We're not all in the position to make a quarter-million dollar donation to the citizens of the town - but we can all do something.

And we can all tip the hat to Cris Converse for offering up a gift that honors a legacy of service.

Jim Cornelius, Editor