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Wednesday, April 13, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Trick riders to be
featured at rodeo
The McMillan Family
Trick Riders are poised to
bring great family entertain-
ment to the 2016 Sisters
Rodeo.
There are 10 children in
the trick-riding family, four of
them the natural children of
Lynette and Mark McMillan
and six foster children.
Four of the 10 siblings
will be performing in Sisters,
ranging in age from 8 to 16.
Each with his or her own
horse, these youth will be
displaying their special skills
at a variety of stunts that tax
even the best of horse riders’
imaginations. Suicide drags,
vaulting tricks, one-foot drags
and several types of stands-in-
the-saddle fill the act.
“This is so great for these
kids,” says Lynette McMillan,
“they feel they’ve accom-
plished something when they
train and perform.”
The youth are also respon-
sible for many activities on
their home ranch in Soap
Lake, Washington, where the
family raises cattle, including
rodeo stock.
“We have the best job ever.
We get to travel all over the
country and see some pretty
amazing things,” 14-year-
old Callahan McMillan said
enthusiastically.
Lynette’s mother was a
professional trick rider in the
1940s, but she never allowed
her daughter to learn those
skills. As a mother herself,
Lynette sent their girls to a
trick-riding camp in Colorado
seven years ago. When the
girls came home, everyone
wanted to learn.
Riley McMillan, 16, is
pretty ecstatic about getting
the opportunity to perform.
“The best part of my job as
a trick rider is when I present
the American Flag, standing
up on my horse. I am not sure
if I will get as much joy and
satisfaction from any other
job!“
After a few performances
in small venues, the family
was encouraged to get pro-
fessionally licensed. This has
resulted in traveling rodeo cir-
cuits and other horse venues
to bring the thrill of unique
trick riding by young people
in feats of daring and wonder
from the backs of speeding
horses.
I am not sure if I
will get as much joy
and satisfaction from
any other job!
— 16-year-old Riley
It seems the entire family
likes the travel, the change of
setting and pleasing crowds,
but to at least one of the
youth, there is more.
“It makes me feel good to
make the crowd happy. I also
like to fish everywhere I go,”
said 11-year-old Davey. “I
have fished in seven different
states.”
The parents and their 10
charges also like to share their
stories of success in the world
of foster parenting, encour-
aging other families to take
this rewarding step of giving
a child a healthy home envi-
ronment in which everyone is
rewarded.
It makes me feel
good to make the
crowd happy. I also like
to fish everywhere I go.
— 11-year-old Davey
Sisters Rodeo will begin
June 8 with Xtreme Bulls,
followed by four rodeo per-
formances June 10-12. For
tickets and information, call
the ticket hotline at 541-549-
0121 or 1-800-827-7522,
or visit the ticket office at
220 W. Cascade Ave. in
Sisters. For information visit
www.sistersrodeo.com.
Quilt raffle funds Furry Friends
A quilt pieced by local
quilter Valerie Fercho-Tillery
is getting a second chance to
raise funds to support Furry
Friends Foundation in Sisters.
The quilt was originally
won by Sandy Layne, who
then donated the quilt back
again.
“We were delighted when
Sandy Layne came to our
booth at the 2014 Sisters
Outdoor Quilt Show,” said
Furry Friends Foundation
founder and director Kiki
Dolson. “A quilter herself,
she had been showing the
quilt she won from Furry
Friends at other quilt shows in
Oregon and Washington. She
let us know that she would
be donating the quilt back
at the next quilt show so we
could fundraise with it again.
And sure enough the quilt is
here on display at The Nugget
office.
“It was so generous of
Sandy to donate the quilt
back.”
Fercho-Tillery has now
donated three pet-themed
quilts to Furry Friends.
“The quilt was everyone’s
favorite,” Dolson said. “I love
the vibrant colors. Valerie’s
use of embellishments can
only be appreciated when
viewed in person. Her free-
motion quilting adds texture
and a dimension to the quilt
that makes you want to touch
it. The dogs are all even sport-
ing glasses.”
Raffle tickets are available
online at www.furryfriends
foundation.org and at The
Nugget Newspaper office.
photo by JiM Cornelius
Valerie Fercho-tillery pieced this colorful quilt for Furry Friends.
Tickets are $1 each, 6 for $5
or 25 for $20.
The quilt will be on dis-
play and tickets for sale dur-
ing the Sisters Outdoor Quilt
Show on the lawn by Sisters
Chamber, July 9.
The drawing will be held
after the Labor Day weekend,
September 5.
Get Ready For
Sprihg Break
4 Airbrush
Tahs just $99
Through 4-30-16
Sarah Rybka, Owner/Technician
473 W. Hood Ave., Ste. 101
Ih & out ih 10 mihutes
Lasts up to 10 days