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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2020)
2 Wednesday, April 1, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Time to get into other people’s business By Kema Clark Guest Columnist STAY HOME. SAVE LIVES. #CentralOregonCares Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Letters 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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 10 a.m. Monday. To the Editor: A message to the citizens of Sisters 4 STAY HOME! Yesterday (Saturday, March 28) I was appalled to see literally 75 to 100 people walking around the downtown core visiting restaurants and shops! Just because it seems that the virus has NOT reached our small community yet does not mean that it can9t or won9t. Because if it does it will rip through our tiny and much-loved hamlet leaving a wake of dead elderly and very sick adults. The anger I felt driving through town on my way to pick up some essentials from the Bi-Mart was palpable! I have been locked up in my house for seven days with my fiancée and two kids and it has been far from easy. However I do this, not to protect myself, but to protect the elderly or immune compromised that live here in <our= Sisters. To see these flocks of people out walking around in arms length of each other just literally blew my mind. The false sense of security is shameless and we need to do something to change this. If the virus takes hold here it will rip through our largely elderly community with impunity and we will be virtually helpless to stop it. The ONLY way to stop it is to take away that which it feeds on. And that is peo- ple! If there are no people in town and people are ONLY going out for groceries or medical then we can HUGELY REDUCE the chances of this virus making its way here. I am a 47-year-old healthy male who cares about this town and this community but it seems there are many who do not and that angers me greatly. Now that being said many of these people may not be from here and may be people who are driving through town. Well this is what SCARES me the most. Somehow, some way we need to get the message out that people need to stay inside. See LETTERS on page 15 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Monday Sunday Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy PM Showers Rain/Snow Showers Partly Cloudy 42/25 45/25 45/26 46/31 46/30 48/31 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Email: 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 Creative Director: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partner: Vicki Curlettl Classifieds & Circulation: Lisa May 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 pro- hibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. 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 unconditionally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper9s 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. Who knew we would get to the point that it9s a good thing to be the irri- tating person who gets in other people9s business? Well, we9re there. Even though you may have been a private, mind-your-own- business kind of person for your entire life, it9s time to change. Let9s start with sons and daughters getting in their parents9 business. You probably hated when your parents stuck their noses in your life and business when you knew you were grown and had a brain. You wanted them to stay out of things that you felt didn9t concern them. You also tended to stay out of their business because you knew how irritating it was on your side. You were probably right. Most of the time. But today, in this time of crisis, you9re wrong. You need to at least text or call your par- ents daily. A text takes the least time and effort, but it will be worth a lot to your parents. It9s very lonely and quiet when older people can9t go about their usual routine, do the volunteering they used to do and go to the grocery store or library and browse for a while. Older people think about <suppose I get this virus and can9t call anyone and no one checks on me and I9m in my house sick for two days before anyone even knows?= That makes older people even more depressed than they already are at being cooped up. Be the son or daughter that does the right thing and check with your parents every day. Do the same for aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc. Make a daily list and send a text each morning 4 you can copy and paste the text to save some time. Everyone on your list will know some- one cares. OK. Now to the older people out there. Don9t be that person who just sits around and watches the news all day. First off, watching the news all day can make you crazier that you already feel. Especially if you only watch one sta- tion all day. Try different channels to get a different perspective. But, the best idea is to not watch the news all day. Check in maybe at lunch and dinner, but during the rest of the day watch a <how-to= show, watch a few <Too Cute= episodes on the Animal Planet, watch the replays of good base- ball, football and basket- ball games. Nat Geo Wild is great. Forensic Files is very interesting, but don9t watch too much or you9ll get really paranoid. Read a book. Work a crossword or sudoku puzzle from The Nugget. Put the television on mute and turn on some music 4 radio, CDs, Alexa, whatever you have. Play the music that makes you want to get up and dance. Then get up and dance. If you can9t get up and dance due to physical problems, turn the music on anyway and tap your finger or bob your head and sing along. It9s all good and will make you feel a lot better. Lastly, don9t think just because you9re the older person, you don9t need to check on people. Make a list to text or call each day, just like I described earlier for the younger generation. People need to know that others are thinking about them. You don9t want to be that neighbor or friend or relative who thinks your feelings are all that matter. When you put yourself in other people9s shoes and try to lighten their load, you9ll also lighten your own load. Love, hugs and positive thoughts to everyone out there. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.