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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2020)
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 5 Poet and essayist featured at Fireside Evening presentation By Sue Stafford Correspondent Jarold Ramsey will share his love for history and for his native Central Oregon in the third Fireside Stories Evening of the year on Thursday, March 5 at FivePine Conference Center. The Three Sisters Historical Society hosts Ramsey, an award-winning essayist and poet, as well as a published playwright and a respected authority on tra- ditional Native American literature. Ramsey9s talk is titled <In Praise of Doing History, S i s t e r s I n c l u d e d . = H e describes his talk as <dealing with local history as some- thing valuable, challenging, and important to do, with an eye on the auspicious begin- nings of the Three Sisters Historical Society, and with some suggestions about their undertaking.= Ramsey grew up on a ranch at the edge of a can- yon north of Madras, where his grandparents were early homesteaders. His life and writing have been shaped by his growing up between Madras farming coun - try and the Warm Springs reservation. In 1902, Ramsey9s grand- father moved his family west from Missouri to Agency Plains north of Madras. Their farm had once been a way station for bands of Wascos, Warm Springs, and Paiutes who lived on the reservation and traveled back and forth to the Ochocos to dig camas bulbs and hunt. As his father plowed the fields, Ramsey and his brother would follow along behind, watching for any Indian artifacts that might turn up. According to Ramsey, that was <the root cause of my lifelong interest in Native history and tradi- tional culture.= When Ramsey9s father sold the farm on which he had been a dry-wheat farmer, he kept the family home and purchased an old sheep ranch to the east, renamed it Sky Ranch, and switched to rais- ing Herefords. Ramsey9s higher educa- tion began at the University of Oregon, where he earned his bachelor9s degree, served as editor of the Oregon Daily Emerald, and was elected to the national honorary Phi Beta Kappa. He then earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington. In 1965, he accepted a position with the English department at the University of Rochester in New York state, where he taught S h a k e s p e a r e , m o d e r n poetry, creative writing, and American Indian litera- ture for over 30 years. He ended his career as professor emeritus, before he and his wife, Dorothy, moved back to the family home on Agency Plains in 2000 3 the home where Ramsey grew up. During their 35 years in Rochester, they raised three children 4 Kate, Sophie, and John, who now visit the ranch with their families, which include five young and very lively grandchildren. Since returning to Oregon, he and Dorothy helped found the Madras Saturday Market. Ramsey is a past president of the Jefferson County Historical Society and has served on the editorial boards of the Oregon Historical Society and the Oregon Encyclopedia. He is also the publisher of The Agate, the journal of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Ramsey has engaged local history, focusing on the homesteading and rail- building era of Central Oregon. This interest led to <New Era: Reflections on the Human and Natural History of Central Oregon.= A companion book of essays, <Words Marked by a Place,= 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 was published in 2018. In 2017, Ramsey received the Charles Erskine Scott Wo o d D i s t i n g u i s h e d Writer Award for Lifetime Achievement from Literary Arts. Other honors include the Lillian Fairchild Award, NEA and Ingram Merrill grants, the Helen Bullis Award for Poetry, and the Quarterly Review of Literature International Poetry Prize. His books on Indian lit- erature include <Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature from the Oregon Country,= and <Reading the Fire: The Traditional Indian Literatures of America.= He has written six volumes of poetry, most recently <Thinking Like a Canyon: New and Selected Poems (2012).= Ramsey says that his poetry grows out of his love of the austerely beautiful range and hill country of his native Central Oregon, and out of a delight in the ener- gies of colloquial speech. He likes to think of poems as ceremonies of love, praise PHOTO BY DOROTHY RAMSEY Jarold Ramsey will talk history and story at the Three Sisters Historical Society Fireside Evening on March 5 at FivePine Conference Center. and remembrance. A number of Ramsey9s books will be available for sale the night of his presen- tation. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the program beginning at 7 p.m. Members of the his- torical society are admitted free of charge as a benefit of membership. General admis- sion is $10. Individual mem- bership fees are $25 and $40 for couples/families. We cover all types of farm insurance… …including hobby, hay and hemp! AUTO • HOME • HEALTH • LIFE • BUSINESS • FARM • RENTAL 541-549-3172 1-800-752-8540 704 W. Hood Ave., Sisters Special Limited-Time Off er! Your passport to a world of fine cuisine... HURRY Move in by March 31! FR ANCE Wednesday, y March 11, 3-4 p.m. Enjoy a demo of some tasty food, play trivia, and win prizes! RSVP to 541-549-5634 by Th ursday of the prior week. Your presence at each dinner earns you $250 credit as a future Seasons Free to nvite resident.* Attend three consecutive e; i everyon iend! dinners and double your credit; a fr bring a friend and triple it! *Must be 62 years or older and move in before 12-31-20. 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