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Wednesday, January 18, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Shootout — somehow — came together
The first of the Sisters
Park & Recreation District’s
Sisters Shootout Basketball
Tournaments in 2017 got off
to a more stressful start than
usual.
Following the collapse of
an elementary school roof
in Bend, a chain reaction
of precautionary measures
rolled through the schools of
Central Oregon.
“On the evening of
Thursday, January 12, we all
got the call that the schools
were closing pending a struc-
tural inspection,” said SPRD
Executive Director Liam
Hughes. “Fortunately, I had
just got done shoveling snow
at my house for about three
hours, so I was too exhausted
for this news to send my
stress levels high enough to
put me over the edge. This
is one of the many times
in my life where I am con-
vinced that physical exertion
is the only thing that kept me
sane.”
SPRD had 43 teams com-
ing in to play in a tourna-
ment starting at 8 a.m. on
Saturday, and as of Thursday
night SPRD did not know if
they were going to be able to
play or not.
Hughes noted that “43
teams equals somewhere
between 400 and 700 play-
ers, which in turn would
mean about 800-1,400 par-
ents. Throw in step-dads,
grandparents, and aunts and
uncles, and we are talking
about close to 3,000 people
who already have plans to
make the trip to town. Some
have traveled from hundreds
of miles away and have
expensive rental accommo-
dation already paid for. So at
Police:
No injuries
in school
bus crash
near Oregon
ski area
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Sisters Outlaws and Summit fight for the ball in Central Oregon Shootout.
this point I am sitting there
assuming all will probably
want our heads on a stick
if we cancel on them this
late.
“This was also our first
tournament after I officially
stepped down as tourna-
ment director and passed
the reins to our program
coordinator Kelly Crowther,
which made me feel very
guilty that I had handed him
such a hot potato,” Hughes
said.
On Friday, SPRD got
word that a structural engi-
neer had cleared the build-
ings for use, and they were
able to send out an email
confirming the tournament
was still on.
Only one team was a
no-show.
Funds raised at the tour-
nament go to the Sisters boys
FINEFURNITURE
HALL
TABLE
S
basketball program. SPRD
is contracted to manage the
event. On the day of the event
all the high school players
work the scorers tables, with
the high school coaches and
parents taking spectator entry
fees. SPRD staff handle the
scheduling and tournament
director duties.
“Over the years it has
been a great partnership not
only for the school team
and the parks and recreation
district, but for all the busi-
nesses of Sisters who benefit
from the thousands of visi-
tors these tournaments bring
to town every year,” Hughes
said.
This year, an influx of
visitors was particularly wel-
come, as many businesses
have felt a deep chill as cold
and snowfall kept customers
away (see story, page 9).
GOVERNMENT CAMP
(AP) — No injuries have been
reported following a crash
involving a school bus car-
rying the Bend High School
cross-country ski team that
struck two vehicles, and then
was struck by a tractor-trailer.
Oregon State Police tell
KTVZ-TV that the bus driver
on Saturday afternoon went
into the oncoming lane of
State Highway 35 near Mount
Hood to avoid hitting backed-
up traffic but slid and struck
at least two vehicles.
The bus carrying 43 stu-
dents and two adults came to
a stop, but police say a trac-
tor-trailer tried to go around
the crash site and slid into the
bus.
Bend-La Pine Schools
spokeswoman Julianne
Repman says a Mount Hood
Meadows resort bus took the
students to the resort’s main
lodge where they waited
for another bus to take them
home.
NuggetNews.com
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