14 Wednesday, February 14, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon AWARDS: Annual event recognizes achievements broke down into personal attacks in public and in the media.” C4C fosters civility and constructive communica- tion in public discourse. Holman has also helped to create a Senior Alliance in Sisters. “Nothing gives me greater joy than when I see people wanting to do something positive in the community,” she told the assemblage. A deeply moved Brett Miller accepted the Non- profit of the Year Award on behalf of Warfighter Outfitters. Miller, himself a wounded veteran of the war in Iraq, founded the organi- zation to promote healing for veterans through hunt- ing and fishing expeditions and “engagement missions,” which recreate the camara- derie of military life while conducting demanding work in national parks in the West. Continued from page 1 from a trip to Mexico to accept Volunteer of the Year honors for her work in building the organization Citizens4Community. “Robyn is a person of enormous energy,” said Jeanette Pilak in presenting the award. She noted that Holman is the kind of volun- teer who recognizes a need, pulls people and resources together to meet it, and works to keep the momentum going. That’s what Holman did with the founding of the community-building organi- zation. She recalled that C4C grew out of a fraught climate in Sisters a couple of years ago, where issues had divided people and “communication Miller expressed his appreciation to the Sisters community. “A nonprofit is nothing without its support and dona- tions, so you have made us what we are,” he said. The Customer Service Award went to a business that evolved out of a garage to become a destination spa at FivePine in Sisters. O w n e r Z o e Wi l l i t t s saluted the staff members who attended the banquet, who apply Shibui Spa’s ethic of customer service every day. “I’d like them to stand up,” she said. “I’m so proud of them.” She singled out Kendra Littrell as “a manager like no other.” She also thanked her hus- band, Bill Willitts, for the impetus to actually create a spa at FivePine, “because I’d still be in the garage.” Cris Converse accepted her Citizen of the Year Award in honor of her mother, Dorro Sokol, a pioneer of the Sisters business community who died last year. Converse was honored in part for her gift of $250,000 worth of municipal water rights from Pine Meadow Ranch. The donation, as presenter Lon Kellstrom noted, means that “the viability and sus- tainability of the community has been strengthened for decades to come.” “I love this town — this PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Lon Kellstrom presented the Citizen of the Year award to Cris Converse. town, this community is a really special place, with incredible people, differ- ent opinions,” Converse said. “It’s all good, because y’know what? We’re all here; we’re all committed to this community… The next well will be called ‘Dorro’s Big Drink!’” Bend/Sisters Garden RV Resort won Business of the Year. Owner/developer Celia Hung accepted the award, noting that, like a family, dis- agreements and frustrations in Sisters all are subsumed under one overarching real- ity: “It is the love that we have for this place that bound us together.” Hung credited her father with opening her eyes to her surroundings, an awareness she brought to bear in cre- ating the exceptional atmo- sphere at Bend/Sisters Garden RV Resort. “I took what God has given us, this whole com- munity, His creation, and dis- covered it and made it acces- sible,” she said. Hung says that she wants her visitors to feel like they have found a home away from home, that they are pulling their camper into their own garden. That kind of effort and that level of commitment to Sisters is commonly found — and yet remains excep- tional — and ensures that the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce always has a deep pool of potential honor- ees for their service to their community. PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Chamber director Judy Trego (left) with Volunteer of the Year Robyn Holdman at the annual awards dinner on February 8. NEW Tappy Hour Menu Tues.-Fri. 4-6 p.m. TASTY THURSDAY Zinfandels, Feb. 15, 5-7 p.m. LIVE MUSIC Sat., Feb. 17, 7-9 p.m. Cuppa Joe 391 W W. Cascade C ascade d A Ave Ave. | 541-549-2675 41 49 26 corkcellarswinebistro.com L e y r s mile! FURRY FRIEND S 501 ( c )( 3 ) FOUNDATION We can help. Come visit us today! Now located in the Sisters Art Works building (next door to Habitat ReStore) Excep о al Health, Preven о & Aesthe cs 204 W. Adams Ave., Ste. 109 Ben Crockett, d.d.s. Trevor Frideres d.m.d. p 541-549-9486 f 541-549-9110 410 E. Cascade Ave. • P.O. Box 1027 • Sisters Hours: Mon., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Tues.-Wed., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thurs., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Open Tuesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mailing address: PO Box 1175, Sisters, OR 97759 Phone number: 541-797-4023. This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper