Letters to the Editor 11/23/2022

The urbanization of Sisters

To the Editor:

Nugget reporter Bill Bartlett brought up many good issues in his recent article about not turning Sisters into Bend. As the developer of ClearPine, and the soon to be completed ClearPine Building, let me offer an alternative for Nugget readers to consider.

When I was developing ClearPine, I wanted to bring a different look to a part of the city, away from the Western theme of downtown. As it turns out, ClearPine really flourished, and I have had many kind words from the 200 or so residents who live there about the variety of housing styles, especially the 19 cottages. The new ClearPine Building will also have a different, more modern feel, in contrast to the many “pole barn” industrial buildings you see all around town.

My point is that Sisters can absorb a variety of design elements as it evolves into the future, and for many residents of the city, this will be welcomed.

Peter Hall

STARS needs drivers

To the Editor:

Sisters Transportation and Ride Share (STARS) is grateful to Sue Stafford and The Nugget for helping us reach passengers and volunteers. We sincerely wish we could expand services to include grocery shopping as mentioned in the November 2 Partners in Giving article, but currently we only do non-emergency medical and local pharmacy rides.

During COVID restrictions we expanded our grocery services, and helped deliver for Meals on Wheels. But now we have a larger number of passengers needing medical rides, and our resources are not sufficient to expand. We need more drivers, dispatchers and administrative support and encourage those interested in helping to go to our website starsride.org to apply to volunteer. We have funding to reimburse mileage so potential drivers need not be concerned about gas prices. We have dedicated and generous volunteers and welcome anyone who wants to join our team.

Rennie Morrell, STARS program manager, [email protected]

Thanksgiving

To the Editor:

Thank you for writing about the historical background to the celebration we now call “Thanksgiving.” I’m especially interested in this history of the English colony at Patuxet/Plimouth, since some of my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower and were part of the “mutual aid” agreement with the Wampanoag. It’s estimated that there are now 35 million Mayflower descendants — that’s 10.7 percent of the U.S. population! That’s a lot of us who owe our survival to the Wampanoag people’s generosity and trust.

The Wampanoag people are still living in their homeland, but they continue to face tremendous challenges to their survival as sovereign nations. I want to do what I can to redeem our mutual aid agreement. I’ve donated to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to help them retain their trust lands. I’ve given money to the Aquinnah Cultural Center to support the preservation, and educational efforts of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head.

I’ve also started growing the indigenous heirloom corn and bean varieties that my Mayflower ancestors most likely grew at Patuxet/Plimouth. The flint corn is called “King Philip’s,” and the dried beans are called “Succotash” and “Seneca Cornstalk” (which is often mistakenly called “Mayflower”). These crops have been preserved for generations through organizations like the Seed Savers Exchange. By growing, eating, and handing down these sacred seeds, we can help keep indigenous foods flourishing. We can also donate to groups like the Seed Savers Exchange and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.

I hope others will join me in doing what we can to actively support and thank the Wampanoag people this Thanksgiving.

Lauren Davis

One vote

To the Editor:

July 21, 1969: the first man lands on the moon. Present day: Intel semiconductors contain approximately 3 billion transistors on one processor chip. November 24, 2022: Epoch Times headline reads, “Uncounted Votes on Overlooked Memory Card Flips Election in Georgia.”

How is it that our technology has advanced so much, and we can’t count votes in a way that eliminates recounts, extended counting times and overall mistrust in a process so important? We are a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people, not the desire of a particular party’s method, or the press, or Google’s use of censorship, or even the desire of the FBI and Justice Department’s senior management.

I believe I have one vote, and that it’s not unreasonable to ask for identification, given the numerous other situations we deal with that require ID. Would be interested in what others believe as solution.

Jeff Mackey

Happy Girls run

To the Editor:

In regards to the article from a couple weeks ago (November 9) about the Happy Girls run... I unfortunately was quite disappointed to read about this women’s-focused event, and see that the male participants were mentioned, and even their finish times were featured before any of the women’s!

Aptly titled, this event is to celebrate women runners in the area and their camaraderie and sportsmanship, and I believe recognizing the male finishers in the article was an insult to the 875 women who proudly ran and walked. The real story was missed here!

Instead of stating the facts about if there were aid stations and what participants paid to sign up, it really would have been nice to hear about how 28 of the racers were our very own Sisters residents.

Or that we saw girls as young as 5 or as old as 79 proudly crossing the finish line.

How wonderful if you could have celebrated the stories of the women who ran...

mothers and daughters together, sisters or best friends keeping in stride with one another, new runners, and seasoned race veterans.

To see almost 1,000 women and their supporters celebrating and inspiring one another to get active and be healthy on a very chilly day, with a spirit of encouraging camaraderie — that was really what took place that morning!

Also, to my dismay, as I went to go see our posted results to verify my facts (published at eclecticedgeracing.com), I was shocked to find out all the wrong time results were published in this Nugget article. Finish times and racer names from the 2020 Happy Girls run were incorrectly cited, instead of this year’s results.

As a new runner, I was so inspired by everyone’s spirit and energy, and I don’t doubt my daughter(s) and I will continue to sign up in future years. Congratulations to all the women who crossed the finish line this year!

Kristen Hansen