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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2020)
6 Wednesday, February 19, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Circle of Friends is looking for new mentors By Helen Schmidling Correspondent <Oh, to play like a kid again & and know what I know as an adult!= Has that thought ever crossed your mind? The Circle of Friends (CoF), a volunteer mentor- ing organization in Sisters, is looking for a few new men- tors. See the smiling faces in the photograph? They are some of the current men- tors who work with Circle of Friends, and they welcome you to join them as they join in activities 4 they love to <play= 4 and they teach and guide at the same time. A mentoring open house will be held Thursday, March 5, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Circle of Friends clubhouse, 164 N. Elm St., in Sisters. This event is open to poten- tial mentors and anyone inter- ested in volunteering their time to lead special activities. Staff and current members will be available, and refresh- ments will be served. The CoF motto is <Transforming Lives, One Child at a Time.= But no doubt, the lives of the mentors are transformed as well. Sisters resident Art Blumenkron became a mentor last year, after reading a story in The Nugget about a middle school boy in need of a new mentor. He was familiar with Circle of Friends because his wife, Anna, mentors an eight- year-old girl. <The article inspired me to help out,= he said. <My childhood in Southern California wasn9t the smoothest,= he said. His mother, <the crazy art- ist type,= left when Art and his brother were aged six and four. <David and I were on our own a lot.= His dad remarried, but his stepmother was bipolar; that marriage did not last. When he was 12, his father married again, and Art and his brother had a stable family life thereafter. <I would encourage new mentors, because you get as much or more out of (mentor- ing) than the kids do. It makes you feel like you9re doing something worthwhile,= Art said. The Blumenkrons have two grown children, a 31-year-old son who is run- ning the family wood-milling business in Portland, and a 28-year-old daughter soon to be married in Florida. <Anna and I have been married going on 32 years, and our kids had a very stable childhood,= he said. Art is an avid mountain- biker, and as it turns out, so is his mentee. <We go three or four times a week, to Peterson Ridge, Suttle Lake, and all over. He9s gotten taller, thin- ner, and stronger,= Art said. <I9ve introduced him to J.R.R. Tolkien9s »The Lord of the Rings,9 and we9ve done Lego robotics at the clubhouse. <It9s great for the kids,= he said, <if you can change one child9s experiences when they9re young, it can change their whole life.= Last year, Circle of Friends worked with 48 children in the Sisters area, kindergarten through high school. These are vulnerable young people Looking for fun activities for your kids over Spring Break? Check out SPRD’s Spring Break Camps Day Kids Camps (Grades K-5) • • Non-School Starshine Theater (Grades K-8) STEM Bonanza (Ages 5-12) • V View i ew S SPRD P R D activities actti viit i e s & cl classes, lassse s and register online at www.SistersRecreation.com 1750 W. Mckinney Butte Rd. | 541-549-2091 SNO CAP MINI STORAGE Sisters Industrial Park 157 Sisters Park Dr. • 541-549-3575 www.SistersStorage.com • State-of-the-art Security Technology • Sizes from 5x5 to 12x40 • Individual Gate Codes • Long-term Discounts • On-site Manager who have experienced at least one adverse childhood experi- ence. Many live in single-par- ent homes, or with guardians other than a biological par- ent, and without supervision, spend their after-school hours alone. CoF mentors guide and encourage the young men- tees, helping them to achieve their greatest potential. Mentors also receive guid- ance from CoF in a program built around nine core assets that aid youth in develop- ing resiliency through learn- ing. Ideally, a mentor-mentee relationship will span many years, developing a bond of respect and friendship. And, ideally, the mentor and men- tee will meet a couple of times each week. Programming at the club- house in downtown Sisters also includes ukulele classes, cooking, sewing, crafting, art, and manners. The manners workshops culminated in a dinner, where the young peo- ple demonstrated all they9ve learned, from cooking to set- ting the table and eating a proper meal. There are also regular hours set aside for homework and tutoring. <I know that more aware- ness of our program and the need for mentors is beneficial for CoF and for our kids who are waiting for a mentor,= said Scholl. The mentor open house is an opportunity for interested parties to meet current men- tors and staff, and see if the program is a good fit. PHOTO PROVIDED Mentors make a big impact on the lives of youth in Sisters. <We currently have eight kids without mentors, with the highest priority in match- ing our five elementary-aged boys: one fourth-grader, one third-grader and three first- graders. The need for men- tors is high 4 it only takes one caring adult to change the life of our kids,= Scholl concluded. If you think you might enjoy working with a young boy or girl, contact Kellie Scholl kellie@circleoffriends oregon.org or 541-588-6445. Serving Sisters Since 1976 For all your building needs right here in Sisters! Lumber • Hardware • Paint • Siding Doors & Windows • Fencing & Decking FREE Local Delivery Hours: M-F 8 to 5, Sat. 8 to 4, Closed Sundays 440 N. Pine St. • 541-549-8141 • www.hoyts.net