Harvest Faire draws thousands

For 39 years folks from all over Oregon and the Pacific Northwest meet up in Sisters to celebrate the changing season with the Sisters Harvest Faire, hosted by Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce.

The annual Sisters celebration last weekend included good old-fashioned shopping fun featuring 175 quality vendors with handcrafted items, great food, and free music.

The faire is the last hurrah of the summer season, and has continued to evolve from its modest beginnings.

Jeri Buckmann, event coordinator for the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, looked happy as she commented on another successful faire.

"What a turnout: blue skies, warm temperatures and thousands of people attending the Sisters Harvest Faire. It means a lot to me to see people not only enjoying the event but strolling the streets of Sisters shopping and dining in many of our fine stores and restaurants. I am proud of what this event has become," she said.

The scent of caramel apples, kettle corn and comfort food lingered in the air as folks browsed through quality handmade items from textiles and wood-carvings to pottery and glasswork.

Autumn décor added to the ambience with handcrafted pumpkins made from glass and homemade placemats accented with fall leaves.

Mt. Vernon resident and first-time vendor Jessica Moore, owner of Backwoods Soap Company, is a second-generation soap-maker having grown up with her mom's handmade soap, and is now following in her footsteps using the same base recipe that has been tested with time. And Moore's 9-year-old daughter, Timber, is also becoming involved in the family business by handcrafting lip balms also made with essential oils.

With over 25 fragrances, Moore has a large variety of soaps all made with gentle oils. Each bar contains the finest saponified oils of olive, coconut and palm.

"I started about two years ago and love using the essential oils and I make all of my soaps at home," she said.

There were samples for the pooch at The Doggie Bakery booth as loads of dogs and their pet parents browsed through it. All-natural cookies, cakes, chews, chicken breast and beef liver jerky made especially for a furry friend.

First time vendor Rebecca Trapnell from Klamath Falls showcased her handcrafted colorful pottery bowls made especially for fiber artists, homemade plum jam from her plum trees, and yarn harvested from alpaca wool.

Trapnell said, "I use a plethora of colors in my stoneware that stands up to the amazing colorful dyed yarns that the fiber artists use. There are two holes in the pottery bowls for the knitting or crochet needles."

Man has valued the beauty and versatility of wood for centuries, and craftsmen have coaxed everything from functional gadgets to stunning works of art from this rich and abundant resource.

Vendors Gary and Cathy Williams fashion very unique ice cream scoops designed out of colorful plywood.

"We purchase painted plywood from an East Coast company that uses the wood for gun stocks," Gary Williams told The Nugget. "They ship us the sheets of colored plywood."

Musical entertainment on the Songbird Stage provided by Dry Canyon Stampede on Saturday enhanced everyone's shopping experience. Bill Keale played on Sunday.

First-time vendors Robert and Linda Cutler are originally from Alaska. She is a Native American who treasures her time creating wooden jewelry in the studio with her husband of 40 years. Cutler and her husband owned a gallery in Kenai, Alaska for 25 years before moving to Oregon.

"I make earrings and bracelets from Alaskan wood and mix them for contrast," said Linda.

Robert Cutler is a renowned, award-winning woodturning artist whose work is in the White House and Smithsonian Museum.

"I grew up in Alaska before it was a state," Robert said. "I love the excitement of creativity I experience when I am close to nature."

His first project was a clock made from a burl on a tree in his backyard. Twenty-five years later he is still working with Alaskan woods. He is known for his attention to detail and intricate inlays of prehistoric mammoth tusk, moose antler, ancient "found" walrus tusk, sheep horn, silver, copper and brass.

Stone Vases & Functional Pottery by Dee and Barbara Adams from Pacific City is one vendor that folks can always count on seeing every year at the Harvest Faire.

"We've been vendors at the Harvest Faire for 38 years," said Dee Adams. "We missed the first year but got our start the second year in 1980 with four inches of snow on the ground! It might have been smaller in size, but people still came and bought our merchandise."