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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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.