Wednesday, April 5, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
KALLBERG: Served
many years on the
chute gates
Continued from page 1
a community that instead
takes action and conquers.
The timing of his move to
Sisters was part of that per-
fect storm.
In 1996, the father of
two attended a school board
meeting that was focused on
overcrowding in the elemen-
tary school. The prospect of
ugly modular classrooms
seethed through the meeting.
There wasn’t a budget to con-
struct more classrooms.
A character who likes
simple solutions, Kallberg
asked, “Why don’t we just
build them?” His question
shoved a snowball off the
crest of the mountain.
The following morn-
ing, he got a telephone
call from Sisters School
District Administrator Steve
Swisher. “Do you really
think this could happen?”
was all Swisher had to say.
The confessed adrenaline-
junkie jumped in as the cata-
lyst to satisfy the school’s
need. Kallberg naturally
became the informal project
director.
“So many people and
businesses got involved,”
Kallberg recalled. “It was
the greatest bunch of people.
They rolled up their sleeves
and did what was good for
the community.” There were
far too many people, contrac-
tors and businesses to list, he
said, his eyes sparkling with
appreciation.
“I met Bill Willitts at
this time, and this project
cemented my friendship with
Bill Reed, whom I had met
socially when we moved here
in 1990.”
The three men became
partners in a development
project focused on a vision
for the future of Sisters.
Four new classrooms
were ready in five months,
finished for the winter term
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Sisters Art Works Building
of 1997. It was accomplished
with donated labor, materials,
equipment and fundraising.
“One volunteer’s wife
brought us chocolate chip
cookies at least once a week,”
he said, drifting momentarily
with the memories of that
project. He had seen the best
in citizens emerge, in daily
surprise and wonder, to get
something done.
Kallberg was raised in
Gresham, Oregon. He and
his father frequented the
racetracks in Portland, which
created his life passion. The
lover of speed built his first
car, a 1968 Camaro, in 1971.
As soon as he was 18, he got
his racing license and has
been on racetracks all over
the nation since.
There are more trophies
than he can remember.
When co-racer and reporter
Erik Dolson asked him
about a specific turn on a
Portland speedway, Kallberg
responded, “It’s not bad …
until the car comes back to
the ground.”
In the summer of 2016,
he was invited to race at
the Indianapolis Speedway,
every car-guy’s dream.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Curt Kallberg in his element.
“We got to kiss the
bricks,” he said.
And then he raced against
Al Unser, Jr. and Bill Elliot
in the Indianapolis Historic
Race. They drove Cobras,
Corvettes, and Mustangs.
Qualifying 18th, Kallberg
finished in eighth place.
“Not bad for a rookie
on that track,” he gleefully
added.
The world of wild horse
racing opened to the young
man when he and friends in a
Portland saloon talked about
forming teams in 1983. They
formed racing teams, com-
peting in rodeos all over the
Northwest.
“When you’re waiting
for that gate to open and the
horse to come out, you’re so
pumped up,” he explained.
“Then, in the rush of saddling
a wild horse and finishing,
you just want to go back and
do it again.”
His team competed at
Pendleton four times, and
won at Crooked River
Roundup, Sweet Home, and
the Deschutes County Fair
and Rodeo. In 1988, he suf-
fered a leg fracture, which
ended his wild horse racing
career.
He became a member of
Sisters Rodeo Association
in 1990. He has been a chute
boss since. He was elected
to the rodeo board of direc-
tors in 1995. He served
as vice president until he
retired from that position in
2014.
In 2015, chute boss
Kallberg was pummeled by a
bull after a ride, knocked to
the ground and then butted
by the bull while bullfighters
and arena crew tried to draw
the gigantic animal from
his prone body. He suffered
more contusions and abra-
sions than he’d ever suffered
in wild horse racing. Even
that hasn’t kept him out of
the arena.
An icon of enthusiasm,
Kallberg said, “Between
rodeo and racing, that’s
where my friends are. Racing
is not nearly as important as
the fellowship,” adding that
both experiences have intro-
duced him to people who
find a way to work hard and
have fun doing it.
Kallberg is a third-genera-
tion carpenter and contractor.
His grandfather was a car-
penter, and his dad owned a
construction company.
“I followed him to the
23
PHOTO BY JEFF SPRY
Curt Kallberg is a builder — and car guy.
race tracks and into build-
ing,” he said. “None of us
had much sense.”
He has built many
commercial buildings in
Central Oregon, along with
Craftsman homes. His son,
Dustin, is on his crew, mak-
ing this a four-generation
endeavor.
His daughter, Lauren,
has been a summer fixture
at Richard’s Produce since
she was old enough to work.
Lauren is finishing her col-
lege studies in California
after also attending college
in Australia.
Kallberg shares a home in
Madras with Patty Cordoni,
now board member of Sisters
Rodeo. The large farm
required a major remodel
of a dilapidated old farm-
house. His business keeps
him in Sisters most of the
week.
If he’s not working at the
farm or on the rodeo grounds
on his weekends, Kallberg is
behind the wheel of a racecar
on a fast track of a life lived
fully charged, pedal to the
metal.
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