16 Wednesday, January 7, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon LETTERS Continued from page 2 to do that is because of the generosity of the Sisters community. Thank you to all of you who support SPRD. Liam Hughes SPRD Executive Director s s s To the Editor: Last January, Sisters City Council adopted five goals for 2014. No. 5 was to improve public outreach. Council’s idea “to better engage and inform the public” was a bi-weekly Letter from Sisters City Hall in The Nugget, which only tells us what they want us to know, not what’s really going on. Last spring a number of people requested that meetings be made available on the City website at no cost (CD recordings are $10) and in a more timely manner than recordings (takes several weeks) for the convenience of those unable to attend meetings so they can be informed and engaged. Council assumed (never assume anything...) because only 4 people requested CDs, they were the only people in town interested in what’s going on at City Hall. Wouldn’t you think the outcry over the amphitheater and Creekside Campground would have indicated otherwise? In June, Council decided to make audio recordings available for download “within the next several months.” Councilor Frye came up with a solution that seemed to satisfy all parties to the discussion and promised to stay on top of it. He wrote that the City’s website was also being updated and was expected to be online “within two months.” A request by me for an update from Councilor Frye in September revealed a situ- ation with the web designer and the IT com- pany and the cost of the project. He said he’d get back to me. Which he did, in October. Council told him the new goal was around the end of November. Well, lookey here, it’s December 31 and in the year-end Letter from Sisters City Hall there’s an update — “Council has been reviewing the ‘rough draft’ of the new web- site, which is scheduled to go online in the next few months. The new website will have meeting recordings available for download.” Rough draft? Few months? I look forward to new City Council leadership that prioritizes informing the pub- lic and strives to achieve goals over the spe- cial interests of its members. Diane Goble s s To the Editor: Dear Serendipity Gang: Thank you, thank you and thank you again. In regards to an envelope left at my door on Christmas eve: Yes, you made me and my daughter smile. Yes, you made me and my daughter giggle. Yes, you made our day. We even laughed out loud! But most of all, you’ll be happy to know, you allowed us to make someone else’s day as well. Happy New Year, Serendipity Gang. You rock! Kimber Finney s s s To the Editor: A special thanks to all the wonderful peo- ple who enjoyed Hoodoo’s New Year’s eve fireworks. It was a great group of people cel- ebrating the holiday. I left after the fireworks, eastbound to Sisters, in a line of over one hundred cars all leaving Hoodoo. I saw the traffic and thought that this was going to be a calamity, mainly due to my past experiences with aggres- sive, dangerous drivers. Everyone drove at a safe speed, with plenty of stopping dis- tance between cars, and no aggression. I was amazed and proud of this group, as we were all from the Hoodoo fireworks celebration. I just want to thank all of you who were in this party for a safe trip down the mountain. Tom Egan Director Hoodoo Ski Patrol s s s To the Editor: To the nice lady from Norway who lives in Aspen Lakes and has a Rhodesian Ridgeback named “Thor” — thank you for finding my Yak Trax at Peterson Ridge Trail in the snow and bringing them to Eurosports for me. With great gratitude, Karen Kassy Quality Truck-mounted s s s See letters on page 20 — NEW FOR 2015 — Now offering Aveda ™ Skin & Body Care! Quality Cleaning 13 years in ! Reasonable Prices Sisters hair | massage | nails facials | makeu6 Licensed • Bonded • Insured • CCB#181062 541-549-1784 RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL 161-C N. Elm St. An intimate cottage offering a Southern France inspired dining experience. Heads or Tails… You Lose Loaner Cars Deductible Assistance Windshield Replacement 541-549-DENT 5 4 1 5 4 9 D E N T 332 W. Barclay Dr. Sisters Do your New Year ’s Resolutions include updat- ing your food preservation skills? Want to learn how to safely can, dry or freeze your garden’s bounty? Oregon State University Extension Service invites you to enroll in Preserve@Home, an on- line food preservation class to teach individuals how to safely preserve a variety of food products. Participants learn how to produce high- quality, preserved foods and the science behind food pres- ervation and food safety. The registration deadline is Monday, January 12, at noon. The first class of the six-week course opens on- line on Thursday, January 15. Each lesson includes online text that can be downloaded and printed, online bulletin board to facilitate participant discussion, and a real-time weekly chat to interact with classmates and instructors. The weekly online chat ses- sion for the first lesson will be on Thursday, January 22, from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Topics to be covered include: food-borne illness — causes and prevention, spoil- age and canning basics, can- ning high-acid foods, canning specialty high-acid foods — pickles, salsa, jams, jellies, etc., canning low-acid foods, and freezing and drying. Supplemental materials this year will include materials on planting varieties for food preservation and one on cold storage and root-cellaring. OSU Extension/Deschutes County will provide a hands- on lab experience for Central Oregon participants at the OSU Extension office in Redmond. Students will prac- tice pressure canning, water- bath canning and dehydrat- ing. The optional hands-on lab will be held on Saturday, February 28, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cost of the course is $50 plus the cost of required supplemental materials. Many of the supplemental materials are available free, online. Class size is limited. This course has been devel- oped and is offered collab- oratively with University of Idaho Extension Service and extension. Call 541- 548-6088 to reserve your space, and submit materials by Monday, January 12, at noon. For more information and registration materials visit http://extension.oregon state.edu/deschutes/food- preservation or contact Glenda Hyde, OSU Extension Senior Instructor at glenda. hyde@oregonstate.edu or call 541-548-6088. Let me show you how much you can save this year! Call Jason Rybka, 541-588-6245, , for a free quote! 257 S. Pine St., #101 www.farmersagent.com/jrybka A��� • H��� • L��� • B������� CARPET CLEANING ENVIROTECH 541-771-5048 s Learn food preservation through OSU Extension Open Wednesday through Sunday beginning at 5 p.m. 541-549-2699 | 403 E. Hood Ave., Sisters www.jensgardenmenu.com