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Wednesday, March 28, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
hhe people behind hhe Nugget...
Patti Jo Beal has a genuine
interest in people — which
makes her a natural for a posi-
tion as an advertising repre-
sentative with The Nugget.
She’s been at it for just short
of two months now, and she’s
enjoying the interaction with
customers and clients.
“I love people’s stories,”
she says. “I chat people up in
the grocery store.”
Beal managed Old West
Collectibles in Sisters for four-
and-a-half years until owner
Len Gratteri died in 2016 after
a long battle with Parkinson’s
Disease. Beal loved the work,
which combined her passion
for antiques and Western heri-
tage with the opportunity to
hear fascinating stories from
her customers.
“I loved the history, loved
the connections,” she recalled.
“Old West Collectibles
was one of my favorite places
in Sisters,” said Nugget edi-
tor-in-chief Jim Cornelius. “I
knew Patti Jo from the store
and was always impressed
by how genuinely interested
she was in her clients. When
she applied for the position at
The Nugget, I knew that she
would be great at establishing
relationships with our adver-
tisers — which is the key to
everything.”
Beal knows first-hand the
challenges faced by shop-
keepers and business owners
in Sisters, and she brings that
experience and her natural
empathy to bear in helping
clients craft effective market-
ing for their businesses.
Beal takes her preferred
title of “community marketing
partner” seriously.
“I want the people who
say they shop local to shop
local,” she says. “And I want
to help businesses to succeed,
to bring people through their
doors. If they succeed, I suc-
ceed. And it feel good to see
people be successful.”
Beal has spent most of her
working life in various retail
capacities, and she saw the
sales position at The Nugget
as an opportunity to make a
change and to serve the com-
munity she calls home, even
though she lives in Redmond.
“I honestly always loved
The Nugget,” she said. “I love
the community and I wanted
to be out in the community.”
She notes that being in
retail leaves you “strapped to
Patti Jo Beal
your store 10 to 5,” and she’s
relishing the opportunity to
get out and discover more of
Sisters.
“It’s nice to get out and go
into the shops and discover
the amazing boutique-style
shops we have,” she says.
The job has its challenges.
“Who knew there’d be so
much paperwork?” she said
with a rueful laugh.
But Beal likes her work
environment.
“What I love most, and
what I tell people is how awe-
some the staff is, and how
supportive.”
Patti Jo recalls being
drawn to history and to
antiques since she was just a
girl. In recent years, her inter-
est in history has led her into
the field of Civil War reenact-
ment. She participates in the
reenactment staged the third
weekend of May every year at
Metolius Meadows, and she
plans to do several events this
summer.
She described a powerful
sense of frisson getting out of
her car and looking down on
the encampment at Metolius
Meadows her first year there.
A Confederate battle line was
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Patti Jo Beal wants to help local businesses to be successful.
moving into position, fife and
drums beating the tattoo.
“I got goosebumps,” she
recalled. “And I got teary. I
got a sense… for the first time
I got the sense of what it must
have been like. I was sur-
prised at the emotional impact
it had on me.”
In addition to reenact-
ing, Beal continues to sell
antiques, and enjoys hiking
and fishing.
And if you’ve got an inter-
esting story to tell, she wants
to hear it…
Now you can help The Nugget
continue its journalistic mission
The Nugget
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PHOTO BY GARY MILLER
