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Wednesday, August 1, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Rotary Hoedown offered family fun at its best
By Jodi Schneider
Correspondent
Hundreds of folks came
to enjoy live entertainment,
great food, a silent auction,
live auction, and raffle draw-
ings on Saturday evening for
the third annual Sisters Rotary
Hoedown.
Folks dressed to impress in
their Western best for the fam-
ily-friendly event and were
ready to kick up their heels
to live music by Dry Canyon
Stampede.
The huge indoor horse
arena located on Cloverdale
Road was donated for the
evening by Julie and Vito
Bartolotta.
Rotarians Kathryn Godsiff
and past president Rand
Reitmann joined forces as co-
coordinators for this year’s
event.
“We played each other’s
strengths,” Reitmann said.
Reitmann, being a two-
time past president, has expe-
rience with fundraising and
handled sponsorships and
details, while Godsiff took the
reins in the public relations
arena.
Sisters Rotary had several
committees that handled the
auction, set up the arena, and
served food and beverage.
“This is a fun, large event
that only works because every
Rotarian and our nonprofit
partners pitch in to get it
done,” Godsiff said. “We are
so appreciative of the arena
owners, the Bartelotta family,
and their managers, Kelly and
Alicia Lettenmaier. It truly is
a community event.”
There was a wide variety
in the silent auctions. Art, hos-
pitality packages, hours in the
flight simulator, gift baskets
and more.
And the live auctions
ranged from multi-night stays
at a couple of beach homes
to two nights locally at Lake
Creek Lodge to a western
saddle.
The event was a bulk
fundraiser for the four non-
profit organizations that were
invited to partner with Sisters
Rotary for the event. They
were Seed to Table, Sisters
Band of Brothers, Circle of
Friends, and Sisters High
School Flight Science Class.
Each nonprofit had an infor-
mation table and a color-
coded silent auction table with
items donated from artists and
businesses around Sisters.
Sisters Band of Brothers
replaced Harmony Farm
Sanctuary.
“Band of Brothers have
been great partners for us,
very proactive in promot-
ing the event and organizing
raffles for their organization,”
Godsiff added.
Sisters Band of Brothers
member Jerry Johnson noted
that the event is a very good
means for them to raise
money for the deserving vet-
erans that need it. This year
the event hired a professional
auctioneer for the live auction
items — Ramona Hulick from
Turman Auction Services.
Sisters Flight Science
instructor Sheryl Yeager was
on hand to answer questions
about Sisters High School
Flight Science Program, while
the Flight Science students
shared the responsibility of
selling cupcakes made by
Sisters Bakery.
Executive director for
Circle of Friends, Nicky
Merritt, staffed their table
selling bricks.
“We are advocating for our
new building,” Merritt told
The Nugget.
Circle of Friends recently
purchased a permanent club-
house in Sisters for the men-
tors and their children.
The Sisters Park &
Recreation District Zumba
class practiced a few dance
steps before coming to the
event, getting ready to line
dance with Sisters Zumba
instructor Carol Ast, who has
PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER
The Sisters Rotary Hoedown raised funds — and the barn roof — on Saturday night.
been teaching the aerobic fit-
ness program for 10 years.
“This year we wanted to
get more people up and danc-
ing, so I learned some line
dancing by watching a video,”
Ast said, laughing. “I checked
with my Zumba class and
asked who was going to the
Hoedown and some agreed
to come and do the line danc-
ing with me. I also called
Kurt Silva of Dry Canyon
Stampede and asked if they
could play some songs that
would go along with my line
dances and he agreed.”
The group learned the
“Electric Slide” and “Any
Man of Mine” and some brave
folks of all ages two-stepped
out on the dance floor and
joined them.
Prineville Band of
Brothers presented the colors
with member James Taylor
in the lead. Audrey Tehan,
director of Seed to Table, ser-
enaded the crowd with a beau-
tiful rendition of the national
anthem.
Seed to Table is in its fifth
year of operation serving the
Sisters community and is in
transition waiting for their
nonprofit status.
“We’ve become a really
established organization and
we are really excited about
that,” Tehan said. “We are
really expanding our founda-
tion that we can keep growing
from.
“We’ve grown about
30,000 pounds of produce this
year on our acre-and-a-half.
And within that program we
started Harvest Fresh Meal
Kits with High Desert Food
& Farm Alliance for Food
Bank recipients. It’s one of
the first programs of its kind
in the nation. We are taking
fresh produce and combin-
ing it with meal kits that have
other staple items like pas-
tas and canned soup, so we
are incorporating more fresh
ingredients into the kit. This is
its first year, so it’s been about
three months.”
This year, the event also
featured a Kids’ Corner,
with games and activities for
youngsters and a Wine Wall
for the big folk.
After a little food, a little
dancing and a lot of fun, folks
were ready for the live auc-
tion. Each nonprofit donated a
couple of items that were up
for bid.