Wednesday, June 28, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
BBR Art Guild supports Sisters School District
By Jodi Schneider McNamee
Correspondent
Just one day before Sisters
Outdoor Quilt Show, the sev-
enth annual Black Butte Quilt
Show, aka Peggy’s Pin Pals,
will be held on Friday, July 7,
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the
Lakeside Lawn at the Lodge.
The event is a benefit for
Sisters School District stu-
dents who will pursue a col-
lege education in the fine arts.
The quilters adopted their
group name after Peggy Click
Taylor, a quilter who passed
away in 2010.
Taylor was a teacher at
an elementary school in
Vancouver, Washington and
lived in Black Butte Ranch
(BBR) half the year.
Taylor was instrumental
in organizing the making of
quilts which were raffled to
benefit Sisters High School
art students and scholarships.
“She inspired us to be pas-
sionate about quilting,” said
BBR resident and quilt show
organizer Judi Benson.
Benson began quilting
about 15 years ago when she
retired.
“I sewed my whole life
and had always wanted to
learn to quilt,” Benson said.
“So, I began taking classes in
Central Oregon, including at
the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters.”
The group displays their
unique quilts outdoors on
quilt racks for the public to
see and in coordination with
the quilt show, the Lodge
Gallery dedicates the whole
month of July as “Quilt
Month.”
In addition to the quilts
that are displayed every year,
the Pin Pals sell handmade
potholders. All proceeds from
the pot-holder sales also go to
Sisters School District stu-
dents. The tradition of mak-
ing and selling pot-holders
was a carryover from the
Camp Sherman quilt show,
and has evolved into a popu-
lar part of the quilt show each
year.
“We usually bring in
close to $5,000 which goes
to the Sisters School District
in Peggy’s name,” Benson
said. “Peggy thought it was
important to have art in the
schools.”
Every year Peggy’s Pin
Pals also get together to sew
the Opportunity Quilt, and
the sales from the tickets
goes to sponsor scholarships
and art programs for Sisters
School District students.
The Opportunity Quilt is
auctioned by the Black Butte
Ranch Art Guild during their
exhibit over Labor Day week-
end each year.
“The BBR Art Guild and
Peggy’s Pin Pals have long
been supporters of art pro-
grams and art scholarships in
the Sisters School District,”
said BBR Art Guild treasurer
Isolde Hedemark. “And this
year has been no exception,
and the Art Guild distributed
a total of $17,450 to art edu-
cation and scholarships for
the 2016/17 school year.”
The BBR Art Guild gives
scholarships to the SHS every
year through the Sisters GRO
PHOTO PROVIDED
The BBR Art Guild’s quilt show features colorful quilts in a stunning
setting.
program.
Next year through
the Graduate Resource
Organization (Sisters GRO)
they will be establishing a
scholarship in Ruth Ingram’s
name as the founder of the art
guild.
Ingram, who passed
away this year, studied art at
Marylhurst University from
1984-1985, and was instru-
mental in the early begin-
nings of the BBR Art Guild.
Ingram and a couple of
other artists, Alicia Knox and
Margaret Burnham, would
get together and hold art
shows in the old Pool Bistro
building and at the old fire
hall.
“Their goal was to get
together and appreciate art,”
Hedemark said. “Early in the
’90s they organized tours to
the Portland Art Museum.
Then when they started sell-
ing their art at the shows and
fairs, they began donating the
sales to the Sisters schools
and it evolved into what it is
today.”
Hedemark taught German
at Sisters High School and
technology at Sisters Middle
School for 15 years. She
retired in 2014.
To find out more about
the BBR Quilt Show in
July and Art at the Ranch
in September, where artists
and patrons enjoy the annual
event on the promenade
beside the Lakeside Bistro,
check out their website at
www.blackbutteranch.com.
5
Lightning
sparks
fires in
Sisters
Country
Firefighters reported
eight new fire starts from
lightning in the Sisters area
on Monday evening. Most
fires were immediately
out.
One fire burning in a fire
scar from the B & B fire at
Brush Creek in the Metolius
area poses challenges for fire-
fighters. The fire was burn-
ing around large, previously
burnt snags and it was unsafe
for crews to take direct action
due to the risk of falling
trees and limbs. Given the
hazardous conditions, crews
planned indirect firefight-
ing strategies to take on the
fire.
Abundant lightning
with little moisture early
in the week was expected
to make the potential for
additional fire starts very
high.
Watch www.nuggetnews.
com and The Nugget’s
Facebook page for updates
on fires.