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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2015)
8 Wednesday, May 6, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon SCHOOL BOARD: Election is set for May 19 Continued from page 6 certainly take a look at that,” he says. Karan Swaner Like many parents, Karan Swaner came to Sisters for the schools. After a lengthy career in the foreign service, which took her all over the world, Swaner chose Sisters Country to settle in and raise sheep. “My daughter graduated last June,” she says. “We moved here because of the school district. I think the school (district) is the glue that holds us all together. The schools define, to me, the Sisters Country.” Swaner’s work with NGOs and the State Department brought her family into a range of different types of schools — public, private, international, large and small. That breadth of experience gives Swaner a unique per- spective on the possibilities of education. She is also a strategic thinker, and she believes the school district needs that in this time of transition and challenge. “That is an area where a superintendent often needs more support from a board,” she says. Swaner was initially acti- vated by talk of consolidating Sisters schools with a larger district — a prospect she cat- egorically rejects. “I absolutely believe that Sisters School District must remain independent,” she says. That requires squarely facing up to challenges Kalin Emrich & Katie Crabb 541-549-2882 — including enrollment that is no longer climbing precipi- tously, but which is still not strong enough. “I am a firm believer that we should not be anticipating growth,” she says. Sisters has a harder time attracting young families than it does retirees. “When I look around I see a lot of new residents who are my age,” she says. She recognizes that the district will have to decide what to do with the aging Sisters Elementary School building and will have to con- tinue to find ways to deliver mandated services for spe- cial-needs students. It is not easy to maintain a high level of academic achievement while accom- modating the varied needs of students — some of whom are headed for Ivy League schools, some of whom will go to community college and some of whom want to get straight into the work world. Swaner comes into her candidacy with little baggage, which she believes will help her dispassionately and strate- gically take on difficult deci- sions ahead. “I’m not coming in with any special affiliations … to any particular program or sport,” she notes. Voters have ballots in hand for the election. They are due May 19. Festival welcomes two songwriters Two outstanding song- writers will be performing in a double bill at The Belfry in Sisters (302 E. Main Ave.) on Saturday, May 16, at 7 p.m., presented by the Sisters Folk Festival (SFF). Steve Poltz has thrilled audiences worldwide with his wacky, over-the-top stage per- formance and heart-wrench- ing, soul-stirring songs. At the SFF in 2013, Steve engaged festival audiences through- out the weekend, at one point even crowd-surfing — a first for SFF. As a road-tested trouba- dour armed with whimsy, curi- osity and a healthy respect for the absurdities of existence, he is unafraid of saying yes, unafraid of letting his relent- less, giddy energy fill a room, and he is unafraid of letting his streams-of-consciousness take him wherever he needs to go. Poltz is legendary for his improvisational songwriting and timeless, original classics. Oh, and he’s a pretty good gui- tarist too. His shows are the stuff of legend — no two are alike — and can take an unsus- pecting audience from laugh- ter to tears and back again in the space of a single song. Since first emerging in the early ’90s as the front- man and songwriter of the Kick Yor Hools Up! LIVE MUSIC DJ Chris, out of Bend D Friday, May 8 at 7 p.m. NO COVER! Opon Opo p Wodnosday thru Sunday • Closod Monday & Tuosday 190 E. Cascado Avo., Sistors • 541-549-RIBS ( 7427 ) CONCEAL CARRY PERMIT CLASS OREGON - UTAH VALID 35 STATES Friday, May 15 1 p.m. & 6 p.m. Best Western Ponderosa Lodge: 500 Hwy. 20 W., Sisters OR/UT (valid in WA) $80 or OR-only $45 360-921-2071 | Call or Text FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com www.FirearmTrainingNW.com internationally acclaimed trio Grant Lee Buffalo, Grant Lee Phillips has been drawn to the conflicts at the heart of the American experience. Origi- nally from California, Phillips signed to the Boston-based indie label Rounder Records and launched a solo career, issuing Ladies’ Love Oracle online in 2000. His first full- length LP, “Mobilize,” was released to critical acclaim in 2001. Being praised as much for its gentleness as much as Buffalo were for their rock, it featured Phillips’ talents on many instruments, includ- ing both dreamy pop and dark but comforting ballads. He says of his most recent record, “Walking in the Green Corn,” released in 2012 and his seventh solo recording, “History and legend have often found their way into my songs, but sometimes I don’t have to look quite so far to find inspiration.” The album’s 10 songs are drawn from photo provided Steve Poltz. Phillips’ intensive investiga- tions into his native lineage. Phillips, who is Muskogee (Creek) Indian, explores the intersection of past and pres- ent, personal and political. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www. sistersfolkfestival.org/sff- presents, or call the festival office at 541-549-4979. Tick- ets are $20 advance, $25 at the door, and $10 for youth 18 and under.