Wednesday, November 13, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
29
Breakfast brings veterans together at elementary school
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
Veterans and their families
munched on bagels, donuts,
fruit, and hard-boiled eggs
in local-farm hues of green,
blue, and brown. Many wore
military gear, or jackets and
caps celebrating their service,
labeled with the branch in
which they served.
They drank coffee
and talked in the Sisters
Elementary School gym,
hosted by fourth-grade lead-
ership students and the Sisters
Parent-Teacher Community
group (SPTC).
Bill Phillips described
himself as active from 1965
to 1969, when he was in
the Army Airborne Special
Forces and First Cavalry
Division.
<He was a heavy-hitter in
Vietnam,= said his son Adam
Toney, a sergeant in the
Oregon National Guard and
father to students at SES.
Said Phillips of his mili-
tary experience, <Well, when
I first went into the ser-
vice I was a nice, clean-cut
Mormon boy from Utah.=
Serving in the Army <gave
me a better outlook on life&
I met a lot of nice people, lost
a lot of nice people. It was
awakening.=
The war made him appre-
ciate life, <more than any-
thing. We appreciate that
we didn9t die over there,=
he said of veterans like him-
self. <We9re all brothers and
sisters.=
To n e y s e r v e d i n
Afghanistan in 2006, and was
a Special Forces liaison in
Iraq, 201032011.
<I had a pretty positive
experience in the military,= he
said, though he lost friends,
<mostly to accidents after-
ward, but also there.=
He said he was a <trouble-
maker= before he enlisted;
Phillips used the word <ruf-
fian.= Toney said that since
he first entered service in
2003, <There9s a lot of things
that can raise the hair on my
neck.=
He described seeing both
the positive and negative
effects of military interven-
tion on the ground in the
Middle East.
<Seems like politics gets
in the way of doing what9s
right,= he said.
John Ferguson is a local
veteran who attended the
breakfast. He served in the
Air Force.
<I was an E-4, which was
a sergeant in the Air Force
back then,= he said. <I was
in for a commitment for six
years, October 1967 through
June 1973, and two years for
active reserves. It was during
the Vietnam War, but I was
lucky. I served at Naha Air
Base in Okinawa in support
of the war.=
The experience of entering
the military made him grow
up fast.
<You come out of high
school after being taken care
of your whole life, you get
into boot camp and you9re
PHOTO BY TL BROWN
Leadership students at Sisters Elementary School served a continental breakfast buffet to veterans at an event
presented by SPTC.
on your own,= Ferguson said.
<It9s kind of instant maturity.=
Local veteran Earl
Schroeder said, <It was with
great delight that the school
district office put up new
flags for Veterans Day.=
The old ones had been
Wherever you spend
this holiday...
D ESIGNERS & B UILDERS of D ISTINCTION
541-549-1575
Mayfi eld Realty
y
809 SW Canyon Dr., Redmond
d
CCB#194489
Khiva Beckwith
Broker, 541-420-2165
khivarealestate@gmail.com
www.khivasellscentraloregon.com
BLACK BUTTE REALTY GROUP
EAST MEADOW 29 • $1,125,000 • mls 201902536
Wildlife haven with breathtaking views of Black Butte
is pleased to welcome
CORRIE LAKE
to our team of Realtors.
Contact Corrie At:
Phone: 541-521-2392
corrielake.realtor@gmail.com
ROCK RIDGE 77 • $849,000 • mls 201905481
Well-built home with studio apartment and views of common area.
414 W. Washington Ave.
C o m m e rc i a l | R e s i d e n t i a l | F a r m | L a n d
Exclusive Onsite Realtor for the Ranch
Don Bowler, President and Broker 971-244-3012
Gary Yoder, Managing Principal Broker 541-420-6708
Ross Kennedy, Principal Broker 541-408-1343
Carol Dye, Broker 541-480-0923 | Joe Dye, Broker 541-595-2604
Corrie Lake, Broker 541-521-2392
Land & Homes Real Estate
Sandy Goodsell
Jonathan Hicks
Principal Broker
Principal Broker
ABR, CDPE, CIAS, GRI, SRES
560 NW Birch Ave., Redmond
<I made sure all the vet-
erans knew what they were
doing, and I helped set the
bagels up,= she said.
<My grandpa worked in
the military, in the Air Force,=
she said. <I just felt like I
really wanted to do this.=
Serving Sisters Since 1994
Our agents have served Central Oregon for over 30 years.
541-923-0855
looking worn. Who pro-
vided the flags? Schroeder
gave a wink and said not to
tell.
Leila Jarvis, a fourth-
grader in the school9s leader-
ship program, stood proudly
beside the buffet table.
541-480-0183
sandygoodsell
@gmail.com
Jennifer King
Broker
865-335-6104
jwhicks000
@gmail.com
541-923-4567
jenniferkingsisters
@gmail.com
LICENSED BROKERS IN THE STATE OF OREGON
Open daily, 9 to 5, by the Lodge Pool Complex
541-595-3838 Black Butte Ranch
541-549-5555 in Sisters, 414 W. Washington Ave.
see all our listings at blackbutterealtygroup.com
