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Wednesday, July 13, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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
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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
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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.