The Nugget
Vol. XLII No. 48
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Sisters community raises its voice in song
Thorsett
appointed
to school
board
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
The Belfry was full of
laughter, good feelings, and
singing last Friday night as
about 200 community mem-
bers gathered for <Let9s Sing,
Sisters!=
The free event featured the
Low Bar Chorale band from
Portland and their dynamic
director, Ben Landsverk, who
fully engaged the assembled
crowd in renditions of pop hits
like <Hey Jude,= <Shadow,=
and <Maggie May.=
The crowd contained
every age and stage, from
school-aged kids and their
parents, to the whole range
of middle-agers, to plenty of
<experienced citizens= using
their phones as flashlights
to see the print on the song
sheets.
Board member of
Citizens4Community, Chris
Laing, had experienced the
Chorale twice before and was
responsible for encouraging
C4C and several other orga-
nizations to bring them to
Sisters for an evening of song
and community-building.
Sponsoring groups included
the Ford Family Foundation,
for your health.=
Marean Jordan of Sisters
concurred, <I9m here because
I love to sing, and I love the
community spirit when peo-
ple raise their voices to sing
together.=
Landsverk told The
The Sisters School District
Board appointed David
Thorsett to fill Position No. 2
after interviewing five appli-
cants for the open board seat
on Wednesday, November 20.
<We had a very difficult
decision to make because
each candidate was incred-
ibly qualified. Each spoke of
wanting to give back to their
community, and I hope each
candidate will consider future
openings,= said board chair
Jay Wilkins.
Thorsett had registered
to run for a board seat in the
May elections, but withdrew
his candidacy after learning
he would be running directly
against an incumbent board
member, Jeff Smith.
<I was excited to run in
the election process for a
board seat, but didn9t realize
it required you to run for a a
See SING on page 33
See THORSETT on page 31
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
The crowd at The Belfry made a joyful noise together on pop classics like “Hey Jude” and “Maggie May.”
Roundhouse Foundation, St.
Charles Health System, and
Sisters Folk Festival, along
with Citizens4Community,
The Belfry, Age Friendly
Sisters Country, and Sisters
Park and Recreation District.
Everyone appeared to
be arriving with the intent
of having a good time and,
indeed, a good time was had
by all, as evidenced by the
tapping feet, swaying bodies,
smiles, and harmonic voices
belting out each song.
<There9s nothing more fun
than singing, and especially
with a group of people,= said
local chiropractor Bonnie
Malone. <And singing is good
PRE-SORTED STANDARD
ECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Fire department putting Sisters cold weather shelter opens
engines into service
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
The Sisters-Camp
Sherman Fire District
(SCSFD) has purchased a
pair of 2008 model Pierce
Contender fire engines to
replace aging equipment at
the fire stations located in
Squaw Creek Canyon Estates
and Camp Sherman.
The engines in those sta-
tions are 25 and 35 years
old, respectively. The <new=
engines were purchased
through Brindlee Mountain
Fire Apparatus, a used fire
apparatus dealership based
in Alabama, for a cost of
$155,000 each.
<The decision to search
the used market for these
engines was made due to
multiple factors 4 the
most important factor was
Inside...
maintaining fiscal responsi-
bility,= said Tim Craig, dep-
uty chief of operations. If the
same engines were purchased
new, the cost would be in
the neighborhood of a half-
million dollars each. Both of
these stations are critical to
our operations, but they don9t
have a high call volume, so
it9s hard to justify the cost of
brand-new fire engines. By
purchasing used engines, we
are able to work within our
operating budget while main-
taining good quality, safe fire
apparatus that will meet our
needs into the future.=
Both of the stations receiv-
ing these engines are staffed
by dedicated community
See ENGINES on page 38
St. Charles Health System
recently provided a big boost
to Sisters Cold Weather
Shelter with a $5,000 dona-
tion to help support the
shelter9s mission of provid-
ing a safe, warm place for
unhoused people in Sisters to
get out of the winter weather.
The shelter was originally
scheduled to open December
1, but due to the recent cold
temperatures and the forecast
for snow, the shelter opened
on Monday, November 25,
at Shepherd of the Hills
Lutheran Church. Doors
open at 6 p.m. each evening
for dinner and the night, with
guests leaving by 7 a.m. the
next morning.
Mike Richards, director
of operations and ambulatory
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
St. Charles Health System donated $5,000 to support Sisters’ Cold
Weather Shelter, shared among four Sisters churches.
specialties, Carlos Salcedo,
manager of community part-
nerships, and Chloe Fief, who
provides community health
education in Sisters, were
all present representing St.
See SHELTER on page 38
Letters/Weather ................ 2 Obituaries ..............10-11, 32 Entertainment ..................13 Paw Prints ....................... 27 Classifieds ..................34-36
Meetings ........................... 3 Announcements ................12 Holidays in Sisters .......15-27 Crossword ....................... 33 Real Estate .................36-40