Outlaws continue winning
streak on the diamond page 4
BBS students ‘pay
it forward’ page 14
The Nugget
Vol. XXXVIII No. 18
High Desert Chorale performance
set for weekend page 23
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Kids get their hands dirty on the farm
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Sisters students know
something that too many
Americans in the 21st cen-
tury have forgotten: Food
doesn’t just magically appear
in the grocery store.
A group of sixth-graders
got a hands-on lesson in
where their food comes from
on Friday, through the Seed-
to-Table program. The kids
piled out of busses at the
Seed-to-Table Farm adjacent
to Mahonia Gardens on the
southeast edge of Sisters. The
farm plot is located on land
donated by the Tehan fam-
ily and funded by commu-
nity sponsors and the Sisters
Science Club.
The students had already
done some work on the proj-
ects that would absorb them
through the morning. They
had started seedlings of kale,
radishes, spinach and more in
a greenhouse, and now they
were going to put them in the
ground under the supervision
Fire district election
turns contentious
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Fire district elections are
usually quiet affairs that
garner little attention. But
this spring’s election for
the Cloverdale Rural Fire
Protection District board has
gotten heated. Candidates are
placing ads and putting up
yard signs across the district
in what has turned out to be a
contested — and contentious
— election.
Incumbents Jerry B.
Johnson, current board presi-
dent John Thomas, and Tom
Barrier are seeking reelection,
campaigning on their success-
ful shepherding of a $2.475
million bond to replace fire
engines and replace the
Inside...
Griswold. “Seed-to-table!”
Griswold supervised and
assisted the students as they
See Seed TO TaBle on page 29
See MOTH on page 28
photo by Jim Cornelius
Cloverdale Road fire sta-
tion, and for renovation of
the George Cyrus Road fire
station.
Johnson is challenged by
Rob Malone, who is director
of golf at Aspen Lakes, and
Barrier is facing a challenge
from Alycia Downs, who has
been volunteer secretary for
the fire district.
Backers of Downs have
alleged that Barrier intends
to resign if elected, allowing
the board to appoint another
member and circumventing
the election process.
Barrier heatedly denied
that. He said he had planned
to retire from the board, but
was talked into running again
See eleCTION on page 31
“You’ll have to keep your
eyes peeled in the cafeteria,
because this very spinach,
kale … radishes might turn
up in your salad bar,” said
Sisters
set to
celebrate
the arts
Sisters’ biggest celebration
of the arts kicks off on Friday
with a parade and an art stroll,
featuring works that will be
auctioned the following day at
a party at Ponderosa Forge &
Ironworks.
The annual My Own Two
Hands celebration of the arts
is not only a way for the com-
munity to enjoy and rejoice in
the exceptional arts and music
scene that has developed here
over the past two decades —
it is also a primary fundraiser
for the programs offered by
Sisters Folk Festival (SFF).
The Americana Project, the
guitar-building program and
other endeavors are all funded
through the sale of works
donated by a who’s-who of
Sisters sixth-graders planted seedlings at the Seed-to-Table Farm at the edge of town.
of Lauren Griswold, a Seed-
to-Table coordinator.
The seed-to-table concept
is literal: the students will be
eating their own produce.
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
County declares drought emergency
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Everybody who irrigates
knows it — and last week the
Deschutes County Board of
Commissioners made it offi-
cial: There’s a drought emer-
gency on the Three Sisters
Irrigation District (TSID).
The county declaration
is, in effect, a recommenda-
tion that will be passed up to
the state level and requires
the signature of Gov. Kate
Brown. The declaration is
expected to be approved by
the state drought council in
their May 16 meeting.
“The purpose of the
drought declaration is mul-
tiple,” said TSID manager
Marc Thalacker. “Once it is
in place and the governor
declares a drought for us, that
kind of opens the door for our
photo by Jim Cornelius
Whychus Creek didn’t get the snowmelt runoff it should this season, which
poses a crisis for irrigators.
farmers to avail themselves of change their point of diver-
local and state programs.”
sion or to switch to irrigating
The declaration expedites
processes for irrigators to
See drOUgHT on page 28
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Announcements ................12 Gotta Have It .................... 19 Obituaries ....................... 24 Classifieds .................. 25-27
Meetings ........................... 3 Movies & Entertainment ....13 Student of the Month .......20 Crossword ....................... 24 Real Estate ................. 27-32