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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 2016)
2 Wednesday, July 13, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N The sound of freedom By Jeff taylor Guest Columnist Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: My wife and I visited Sisters in June 2016 and stayed at the Sisters Creekside Campground. While there I went for a run on the Peterson Ridge Trail. Unfortunately, I fell and needed EMT and ambulance assistance to retrieve me and take me to the hospital in Bend. A few days later I had surgery to repair a ruptured quadriceps tendon, am spending two weeks in a hotel in Bend recovering and returning to the orthopedist for the follow-up visit, and then will return home to Colorado to begin physical therapy and continue healing. I am writing to thank so many people in the community who helped us: the bicycle rider who happened upon me laying on the trail and then went for help; the three EMTs; the police department person who connected me with the bicycle-rider angel; the staff at Creekside who looked for creative solutions to move and store our fifth-wheel trailer; the company that towed our trailer to storage; the storage place that accepted our trailer before they were officially open for business; the campground guest who loaded my bike into our truck; the veterinarian who cared for our sick cat; the owner of a second-hand store who offered the use of her ranch to store the trailer; and in Bend the emergency room and orthopedic doctors and nursing staff. So, in sum, we are very grateful to so many residents in the Sisters community who reached out to us in our time of need. It made a wonderful impression and a lasting memory. I am very grateful and was deeply touched by the outpouring of support and assistance, especially from total strangers. Thank you for the warmth and hospitality extended to my wife and me during our time of need. We’ll be back. With deepest thanks, Ted Settle Fort Collins, CO s s s See letterS on page 18 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Mostly sunny Mostly sunny 79/43 81/45 79/44 75/45 73/45 71/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. About that noisy Sisters airport… I was able to spend the better part of last Sunday at the Sisters Airport 4th of July party. Boy oh boy was it noisy. Can you hear a smile? I like to think you can. If so, those smiles were loud. I heard old friends reconnecting, new friends being made. I heard grownups acting like children, gleeful while being able to look over a hot rod or an airplane. I heard children acting like grownups, getting to sit in an airplane for the first time. Listening to a pilot explain the controls and instruments with attention. Asking intelligent ques- tions. Soaking up informa- tion like a sponge. I heard the owner of a 1940s aircraft explain why he continues to step up to keep the old girl going. The aircraft is older than he is, and will likely outlive him. He explained that his name may be on the registration, but he is simply a caretaker. Keeping the past alive for future generations, passing it along to the next care- taker when the time is right. I heard the humble pride of a friend showing off his hot rod. He didn’t buy it, he built it. He scrounged and fabricated and borrowed nearly everything on the car. It took him years of sweat and actual blood to make it. I’m embarrassed to say I thought he’d never be able to see it through. But he did it. There may be fancier or shinier cars, but none like his. I heard the words of a proud mother watching her helicopter pilot son show a child how his aircraft works from afar. He’s from Sisters, and now an instructor work- ing his way up the aviation ladder. He was there early, stayed late and has a grown- up’s haircut. How’s that for one of our oft maligned millennials? I heard the airport own- ers and their team busily keeping the show going. Happy to sacrifice their time and money to bring this varied community together. I heard people softly singing along with the National Anthem. Watching our flag coming to earth via skydiver. I heard people cheering for the drag races. I guess the world has changed when a whisper-quiet all- electric Tesla is putting the beat down on some pretty quick cars. I didn’t think about it until later, but do you know what I didn’t hear? Complaining. And not a word about Hillary’s emails or The Donald’s hair. I heard grownups acting like children, gleeful while being able to look over a hot rod or an airplane. I did hear the occasional aircraft engine and propel- ler straining against air, pulling airframes skyward to their next adventure. Of course most of the planes were simply being flown to their home airports to be safely tucked away in their hangar on a decid- edly breezy afternoon. But do you know what? That was their pilot’s choice. There are 360 degrees on a compass, leading to mil- lions of destinations and experiences. I heard children acting like grownups.. asking intelligent questions. Soaking up information like a sponge. And those, my friends, are the sounds of freedom. There is an inherent problem with freedom. Our freedom in America is so ever-present, so all-encom- passing, so pervasive that it becomes almost like white noise. We simply take it for granted most of the time. If you don’t, you are a bet- ter person than I. Freedoms paid for by both my grand- fathers, both my broth- ers, friends and neighbors. Probably yours, too. On my 4th of July, the sound of freedom was deafening. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.