Wednesday, March 30, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Texas songwriter to play at The Barn Assisted living
facilities still in limbo
Texas songwriter Sam
Baker will perform in con-
cert at The Barn in Sisters
on April 6, at 7 p.m. Playing
with Baker will be longtime-
sideman Chip Dolan, who
has toured with him through-
out the U.S., Canada, and
Europe, providing accompa-
niment on piano, keyboard,
and mandolin.
From small-town begin-
nings in Itasca, Texas to
headlining major music fes-
tivals, Sam Baker’s music
and story have been shared
throughout the world by
major media outlets includ-
ing NPR’s Fresh Air with
Terry Gross, Rolling Stone
magazine, and The Wall
Street Journal. He is a true
artist in every way, sharing
amazing life experiences
through music, story, and
visual art.
He was called the “Bard
of the Workaday World” by
The Wall Street Journal, and
“perhaps the most captivating
songwriter in America” by
Lone Star magazine. NPR’s
Robert Christgau describes
his music as “simultaneously
beautiful and broken … his is
a story that must be told...”
“Life is a gift,” Baker
says. “Gratitude for what
remains is more helpful than
resentment for what was
lost. Ultimately, I came to
understand that these days
are wicked short and terribly
beautiful. All I’ve got is this
one breath, and if I’m lucky,
I get another.”
Four albums into a career
that was ignited by a tragic
event in a foreign land, it is
life and its precious value
C
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Photo Provided
Sam Baker plays the Barn on April 6.
that carries Sam’s songs and
art into the hearts and minds
of his adoring fans.
Baker’s story includes
surviving devastating inju-
ries from a terrorist bomb
on a bus bound for Machu
Picchu, Peru in 1986. Most
of the passengers were killed,
including the German fam-
ily that he had befriended.
His injuries required him to
relearn how to walk, move,
and speak. Many years and
over 15 operations later, the
new Sam Baker sees beauty
in everything around him and
expresses his new-found life
every day, sometimes with
paint and canvas, a camera,
or a guitar and song.
Baker released his first
record, “Mercy,” in 2004,
the first in a trilogy of song
paintings with sparse instru-
mentation and poetic deliv-
ery. It was followed by
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“Pretty World” in 2007, and
“Cotton” in 2009. His latest
release, “Say Grace,” was
named one of the Top Ten
Country Albums of 2013
by Rolling Stone magazine.
Available at the show will
be the long-awaited box set,
“The Pretty World Trilogy,”
which includes re-releases
of his first three albums, art-
work by Sam, and a record-
ing of a 2014 interview by
Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh
Air.
Suggested donation for
the Wednesday, April 6 con-
cert is $20 adult and $10
youth.
The Barn is located at
68467 Three Creek Rd.,
three-quarters of a mile south
of town. Doors will open at
6:30 p.m. For show informa-
tion call 541-408-0200.
The saga of Pinnacle
Alliance Group of Yakima
versus McKenzie Meadow
Village continues.
The City recently
received word that a decision
has been reached on the first
two appeals filed by Pinnacle
with the state Land Use
Board of Appeals (LUBA).
The written decision should
be received by the City
sometime during the week
of April 11. The third appeal
is still to be heard by LUBA
and there is no indication as
to when that might occur.
On June 18, 2015, the
Sisters Planning Commission
approved the site plan for
MMV senior living facility
consisting of 45 senior living
units and 12 memory care
units. They also approved
the modification of the pre-
viously approved MMV
master plan, to accommo-
date the site plan’s shifting
of the location of buildings
by more than 25 feet from
where the buildings were
originally approved to be
located.
These actions were nec-
essary because a new plan
and new developer were
brought in by the owners of
MMV after Pinnacle’s fail-
ure to obtain financing for
its assisted living facility in
MMV.
Mark Adolf of Pinnacle
subsequently secured the
empty property adjacent
to the post office, between
Larch and Locust streets,
on which to build his larger
facility. He applied for and
received City permits for the
project.
The Planning Commission
easily and quickly approved
Adolf ’s application in
2015 and yet no construc-
tion has begun on the proj-
ect. Meanwhile, Adolf and
his attorneys have been
appealing every decision
made by both the Planning
Commission and the City
Council regarding requested
modification to the MMV
site plan.
Adolf requested that a
new master plan for the
entire development, which
consists of numerous phases,
and new impact studies be
done.
Given the change of cir-
cumstances since the issu-
ance of the original approval,
staff believed it was desirable
to approve the modifications
requested by MMV.
After the Planning
Commission approved the
modifications last June,
Adolf appealed their decision
to the Sisters City Council
and a de novo (new) hearing
was held in July 2015 regard-
ing the matter.
During the hearing before
a standing-room-only crowd,
See pINNAclE on page 21