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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2020)
2 Wednesday, January 22, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Meet me at the Fair By Bob Collins, Cal Allen, Kathy Campbell Guest Columnists Mr. Coyote is raiding Mother Nature’s refrigerator for a snack. PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: I am writing to thank Sisters residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season. Because of the generosity of donors in Sisters and across the United States, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan9s Purse, collected more than 8.9 million shoe- box gifts in 2019. Combined with those col- lected from partnering countries in 2019, the ministry is now sending 10,569,405 shoebox gifts to children worldwide. Through shoeboxes 4 packed with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items 4 Sisters volunteers brought joy to children in need around the world. Each gift-filled shoe- box is a tangible expression of God9s love, and it is often the first gift these children have ever received. Thanks to the generosity of donors, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 178 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 coun- tries and territories since 1993. It9s not too late for people to make a dif- ference. Though drop-off locations serving Sisters are closed until November 16 3 23, 2020, information about year-round volunteer opportunities can also be found at samaritans- purse.org/occ or by calling 253-572-1155. Thank you again to everyone who partici- pated in this global project 4 many who do so year after year. These simple gifts, packed with love, send a message to children world- wide that they are loved and not forgotten. Dana Williams Operation Christmas Child s s s To the Editor: I am not alone in being seriously disap- pointed about the direction Sisters is taking in its growth. I understand that the City cannot legally bar Dollar General, however surely the City can recommend to the developers that their store is entirely out of tune with what has made Sisters a desirable place to visit and to live. It9s time for the City Council and the See LETTERS on page 23 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Rain/Snow Showers Showers Showers Showers Showers 46/39 50/38 48/35 47/37 48/35 47/35 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Graphic Design: Jess Draper & Lisa May Community Marketing Partners: Vicki Curlett & Patti Jo Beal Classifieds & Circulation: Kema Clark Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Owner: J. Louis Mullen The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $55; six months (or less), $30. First-class postage: one year, $95; six months, $65. Published Weekly. ©2020 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. Each spring for the past nine years, members of the Sisters Science Club have sung this Judy Garland lyric as they began prepara- tions for the annual Sisters Science Fair. Now that the Sisters School District has decided to suspend the Fair (hopefully for just a year), let9s consider the wondrous benefits of a community- wide science fair. First, for the students, the fair provides an oppor- tunity unique in the District for students in all grades, K-12, to come together and interact in a way that is educational, competitive, and simply a lot of fun. And they do this in the nucleus of the adult community, engaging parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and mentors in their experience. Second, for the teach- ers, the fair provides three unique opportunities. Teachers can instruct (and can grade) their students on how to present scientific data to the public, in tri- fold posters, experiments and demonstrations. They can see what other teach- ers and students are doing throughout the District. And they can learn them- selves of the richness of science in the exhibits from club members and the community. Third, for the commu- nity, the fair not only offers the opportunity to see stu- dents show off their stuff and the opportunity to learn science themselves by see- ing and doing experiments, but perhaps most impor- tant, the fair engages com- munity members in helping produce it. And the partici- pation has been phenome- nal; in many years we have had more volunteers than tasks. And, for every year, c o m m u n i t y o rg a n i z a - tions have contributed exhibits: Kiwanis, the U.S. Forest Service, St. Charles Medical Center, Mohr Solutions, Sisters Astronomy Club, Rocket Club, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Energyneering, OMSI, and the High Desert Museum. And finally, over the years, many families have joined their students to create experiments, design cata- pults, or just explore exhib- its together. Fourth, the fair hon- ors and demonstrates the importance of science in society. At the time of the first fair in 2011, the acronym STEM had not yet been coined 4 there was no unified movement in education for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Today, Sisters schools are part of a national effort to adopt a rigorous new science curriculum that runs from kindergarten through high school called NGSS 4 Next Generation Science Standards. Finally, the Science Club9s lecture series at The Belfry, with more than 50 presentations so far, has stimulated science education in the schools. Many speakers visit the schools for presentations and classroom activities. Many teachers give credit to students who attend the lectures. This interaction has resulted in exhibits at the fair that have been on the forefront of scientific thinking, such as Einstein9s model of gravity. In addi- tion, several lecturers have initiated and/or sup- ported student field trips to the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Flight Science program and the Seed-to-Table organization. The greatest discovery of science has been that science itself is a way of exploring the world that discloses its secrets and reveals facts that can be verified by others. The exercise and application of science is our best hope, perhaps our only hope, for addressing global warm- ing, cancer, drug addiction and many other current and future problems. All of us, students and community members, must become citizens of sci- ence if we are to be fully engaged in our world. The Sisters Science Fair gives all of us the opportunity to participate. We hope you will meet us at the Fair in 2021. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.