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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2020)
The Nugget Vol. XLIII No. 16 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com COVID-19 shuts down Sisters Rodeo PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, April 15, 2020 Sign of the times… By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief The Biggest Little Show in the World is standing down this year, due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. Sisters Rodeo President Curt Kallberg told The Nugget on Wednesday, April 8, that the Rodeo Board of Directors made the difficult call to cancel the 2020 rodeo by a unanimous decision at a meeting Tuesday night, April 7. <It was a terrible decision Even the horses that welcome folks to Sisters are observing their pandemic protocols — although they might need to work on their interval. A little bit of wry humor has brought a smile to quite a few travelers who pass the iconic sculpture on the Lazy Z. See RODEO on page 22 PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT Sisters schools empty until fall City discouraging visitors during pandemic By Charlie Kanzig Correspondent By Sue Stafford Correspondent Sisters usually throws out a welcome mat for visi- tors 4 but in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, that welcome mat is being pulled. The City of Sisters is releasing an administrative order strongly discouraging visitors from coming to town 4 the same kind of order already issued at the Oregon coast, the Columbia Gorge, and in the City of Bend. It will be in effect through May 15. The order will be sent to all short-term rental property permit holders. Most hotels/ motels are already totally closed or only making a few rooms available for essential personnel and workers tempo- rarily here who need lodging. See VISITORS on page 22 As parents and students lined up in their cars to pick up materials at Sisters Elementary School last Friday, the sadness was palpable. The reality of school being shut and dis- tance learning being put in place really began to sink in following Governor Kate Brown9s announcement on Wednesday, April 8, to close schools for the remainder of the year. Sisters School District staff worked all throughout last week to make contact with students and families via phone calls and emails in order to begin the transi- tion to distance learning, and once Brown made the announcement Wednesday school staff faced head-on a challenging and emotional reality. Elementary Principal Joan Warburg acknowledged the emotional aspect of the abrupt change. <There were many tears and a lot of grieving as our team realized there would be no community again with their classes in the building,= she said. <Education is pri- marily about relationships, and the loss of those daily connections has been felt by students, parents and staff alike. The parent and stu- dent connections this week via phone call and on Friday during materials pick up were wonderfully affirming and helped all of us begin the rebuilding process. We are looking forward to the time when we can all come back together once again.= High on the list of ques- tions Governor Brown addressed in her announce- ment was the status of seniors in high school. According See SCHOOLS on page 19 Operation Inspire steps up to help By Charlie Kanzig Correspondent When St. Charles Health System put out a call for 10,000 masks to protect med- ical personnel as the COVID- 19 outbreak ramped up, Wes Fisher of Credit Associates in Bend answered. <One of the people who works for me& they own a garment business here in town,= Fisher told The Inside... Nugget. <I hooked up with them to do 2,000 masks.= The masks are cut and sewn to meet St. Charles9 specs. Luan Pham, chief revenue and marketing officer for Laird Superfood in Sisters knows Fisher and he got wind of the project 4 and Laird jumped in with a commit- ment to produce an additional PHOTO BY CHARLIE KANZIG See INSPIRE on page 14 Teachers showed their spirit to parents and students in Sisters. Letters/Weather ............... 2 Sisters Naturalist .............. 8 Sisters Country Birds .......14 Sudoku ............................18 Classifieds ................. 20-21 Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements ...............10 Stars over Sisters ............16 Crossword .......................19 Real Estate ................ 22-24