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Wednesday, July 3, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Nicole Abbenhuis leaving Sisters for Las Vegas
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
A familiar face at Sisters
City Hall, Nicole Abbenhuis,
public works operations coor-
dinator, is leaving Sisters for
the big city 4 Las Vegas and
Los Angeles.
The girl who at age 17
came to the U.S. from the
Netherlands on her own to
work as a nanny in the small
enclave of Pinebrook, New
Jersey, has called Sisters
home since February 2005,
when she moved north from
Redondo Beach with her
young son, Orry.
Adjusting to Sisters took
some doing for Abbenhuis.
She describes herself as a
<city slicker who loves the
hustle and bustle of big cit-
ies like New York and San
Francisco.= She enjoys sitting
in a busy airport and watch-
ing all the people arriving and
departing. This self-described
impulsive extrovert thrives on
stimulation and lots of action.
<Driving to Portland makes
me happy,= she admitted.
Abbenhuis is thankful to
<the village= that helped her
raise Orry. At the top of the
list is Peter Storton, who was
her first employer at RE/MAX
Realty where she worked as
his administrative assistant
until the downturn in 2007.
<I will love that man for-
ever,= she said. <He is like my
adopted father.=
Abbenhuis has love and
respect for all her co-workers
at the City, where she started
working as a temp with the
Public Works Department in
April 2008 and was made a
full-time employee in July
2008.
< T h e P u b l i c Wo r k s
Department has an amaz-
ing crew,= Abbenhuis said.
<I hope the people of Sisters
know how lucky they are to
have this crew.=
She said the beauty of a
small team is that they all
work together and learn from
each other. She has worked
for five City managers in her
tenure with the City. Her first
job when she joined the Public
Works Department was to do
a complete inventory of all
the equipment and materials
in the Public Works shop.
<I didn9t know what any-
thing was called. Nothing
was organized,= she remem-
bered. One of her co-workers,
Josh, brought her up to speed,
teaching her all the proper ter-
minology, like the saddle is
the strap that goes around a
sewer pipe, not equipment for
a horse.
Abbenhuis has seen the
old shop replaced by the
new large facility out at the
treatment plant at the end of
South Locust. She has been
part of the establishment of
Fir Street Park, the Cascade
Avenue redesign, and most
recently, the construction
of the Barclay/Highway 20
roundabout.
<The roundabout art instal-
lation was my favorite project.
We began the process in 2016
with the selection of the art
committee,= she recalled.
Abbenhuis was particu-
larly pleased with the public
process of selecting the art by
a vote of the citizens.
<Explaining the models
that were in the lobby was
like being a tour guide again,
pointing out the features and
details of each piece when
people visited City Hall to
cast their votes,= she said.
The part of her job she
enjoyed the most over the
years was working with orga-
nizers on their special events
requiring assistance from
Public Works.
Abbenhuis loves the way
<people take care of each
other= in Sisters. She is espe-
cially gratified that Orry had
the opportunity to attend all
grades in the Sisters School
District. She made note of the
many special classes Orry was
able to take.
<Where else can your child
learn to make an Adirondack
chair, when in the second
grade perform on stage with
Mike McDonald in a Starry
Nights concert, make a guitar
in the luthier class, take four
years of Chinese, and travel
to China after his sophomore
year?=
Orry made good use of
his years in school, graduat-
ing with honors in June, and
receiving a renewable schol-
arship to the University of
Oregon, covering everything
but room and board.
During Orry9s junior year,
Abbenhuis opened her home
to one of the Chinese teach-
ers, Laura, who lived with
them. One of the added ben-
efits was the Chinese dinners
Laura prepared for them two
times a week.
Abbenhuis explained that
when she came to Sisters, she
was on a mission to success-
fully raise her son and get him
through school. Now that he
is leaving the nest for college,
Abbenhuis is returning to life
in a big city with a warmer cli-
mate and little snow.
<Snow freaks me out,= she
admitted.
Having been raised in
the Netherlands, Abbenhuis
is multilingual, fluent in
English, Dutch, French, and
German. That ability landed
her a job with American Tours
International in Los Angeles
in 1990 when she came back
to the states after return-
ing home to live and work,
when her year as a nanny was
completed.
She stayed with ATI for 15
years, working as a tour guide,
in the office, on the passenger
services desk, and with AAA.
After her son was born, she
was able to work from home.
In October 2001, follow-
ing the 9/11 attacks in New
York City, she returned to the
Netherlands for four months, a
move she called a big mistake,
which prompted
her to return to the
U.S. and ATI.
Growing up,
Abbenhuis9 best
friend was a Dutch
girl whose fam-
ily had lived in
Australia for years
and she credits the
time spent at their
house for her flu-
ency in English.
In return she
taught her friend
to speak Dutch.
Dutch TV is also
mostly in English
with Dutch sub-
titles so she grew
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
up hearing English
Nicole Abbenhuis has served the City of Sisters
spoken.
Her last day for several years.
at City Hall was
July 1. Immediate plans where they all grew up on
called for Abbenhuis to put land that was reclaimed from
her belongings in storage the sea.
Upon returning to the
until September. On July 10,
she and Orry are leaving for states, Abbenhuis is return-
Europe to visit his father9s ing to work for ATI, at least
family in Ireland and then temporarily, as a tour guide,
travel to Amsterdam. She living in Las Vegas and com-
is keeping their arrival in muting to LA. She starts right
Amsterdam a secret in order out with two back-to-back
to surprise her sisters, who
See ABBENHUIS on page 23
still live in the small town
Mark your calendar for Author Presentations...
Sat., July 6 • 6:30-8 PM
JOHN LARISON
Whiskey When We’re Dry In the spring of 1885
Jessilyn Harney fi nds herself orphaned on the family’s remote
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to reunite with the only kin she has left — a big brother turned
notorious outlaw. Told in Jess’ wholly original and unforgettable
voice, the story is an epic as expansive as America itself.
Wed., July 10 • 4-5:30 PM
KAREN BARNETT
Ever Faithful
Return to the height of the Great Depression when FDR’s
New Deal offers a glimmer of hope for unemployed young men. Nate Webber
is one of many to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to help provide
for his family, but it means leaving everything he knows in Brooklyn for the
untamed West. Elsie Brookes grew up a ranger’s daughter, but dreams of
being a teacher. She takes a teaching position in the CCC camp to help reach
her goal. Elsie is drawn to Nate, but has a secret that she keeps hidden. As their
friendship leads to romance, suspicious fi res casts a shadow over the park.
They race to uncover the truth before losing everything they have worked for.
Thurs., July 11 • 4-5:30 PM THERESE ONEILL
U Ungovernable
Feminist historian Therese Oneill is back to
educate
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baby!
Oneill conducts an unforgettable tour through the backwards,
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Fri., July 12 • 4-5:30 PM
JANE KIRKPATRICK
Everything She Didn’t Say
In 1911 Carrie Strahorn wrote a memoir
sharing the most exciting events of 25 years traveling and shaping the West
with her husband, Robert Strahorn, a railroad promoter, investor, and writer.
Everything She Didn’t Say imagines Carrie 10 years later, sharing what was
really on her mind during those years. Kirkpatrick’s rich imagination draws out
the emotions of living to give readers a window into the past and their own hearts.
Sat., July 13 • 10 AM-2 PM MARIE BOSTWICK
Join us as we host New York Times bestselling author Marie e
Bostwick for an in-store signing of her books, including her
newest, HOPE ON THE INSIDE .
I WANT YOU!
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