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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2020)
2 Wednesday, May 20, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N A time for good neighbors It’s springtime in Sisters… By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS 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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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: Save Sisters9 trees! It was shocking to learn that what I thought was simply the limbing up of a monumental ponderosa pine by the City or C.E.C., was actually a majestic ponderosa pine being felled by a Redmond company, with no City permit to do so, hired by a property owner who wrongly believed the tree was his. On the morning the magnitude of this majestic tree claimed its final resting place along Larch Street, our entire house and those of my neighbors reverberated from its now dead weight. I cried. This corpse lies witness to the decision-making of one overzealous res- ident. Its neighbors await the City9s response. We are a <Tree City.= So why is it that Sisters residents are cutting down huge, shelter-giving ponderosas? Because they9re messy? Inconveniently located? Unless the illegally-felled 150-year-old ponderosa on Larch Street was your neighbor- hood tree, you would likely have no idea of the shelter and beauty this elder pine provided. I9m sure the folks who live and walk on Pine Street, where a similar extermination took place last year, share our collective, sobering grief. At this historic time in history, when nature affords most of us the single most restor- ative antidote to the craziness, why are some Sisters residents interested in turning our tree- lined streets into treeless, urban walkways? If these huge ponderosas are such an incon- venience, please consider living elsewhere and leave Sisters trees standing tall for future generations. Kay Grady s s s To the Editor: A gentleman passed last week, alone in his truck in the Deschutes National Forest; we believe he was approximately 86 years old. Bill was a proud man. He spoke often of his service to our country as a U.S. Marine for 25 years, and of his three daughters. What we know about his past is only what he told us; we cannot attest to his accounts. We are, how- ever, comfortable in describing Bill as a good man, at times a little difficult and a bit loud but a man who was sensitive and wanted friend- ship. We met Bill last year while hiking the Deschutes. My dog came upon him, startled him for a moment, and then this strong Marine revealed a gentle and loving nature as he inter- acted with Cassy. I need to believe that Bill passed peacefully and that he has other friends in Sisters who will pray for him and remember him. We certainly will. Lt. Chris Salisbury, USMC Foundation See LETTERS on page 12 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Partly Cloudy AM Clouds/PM Sun Partly Cloudy 56/40 52/34 55/33 Saturday Monday Sunday Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy 67/41 68/46 70/43 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 Curlett 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. Sisters is <reopen- ing= along with the rest of Deschutes County as restrictions imposed to slow the spread of COVID- 19 are eased. We9re a long way from a return to <nor- mal,= but it feels good to see some of the traditional vibrancy of the community return. It9s been a long, sad cou- ple of months, as local resi- dents confront the lingering fear of disease, the loss of livelihoods, the cancella- tion of cherished events and activities. At the same time, it9s been a time of innova- tion: Local businesses find ways to improvise and stay in the fight; citizens find ways to support each other, even at a <social distance=; and Sisters9 key nonprof- its continue to pursue their missions of community support and enhancement. Local citizens have been magnificent in their efforts to sustain local businesses 4 buying gift cards and take-out meals, and sup- porting a GoFundMe drive to save our local indepen- dent book store. They9ve contributed to the Kiwanis Food Bank and to local nonprofits. Some citizens have made a point of donat- ing to businesses that have not been able to stay open during the lockdown. It seems that Sisters has generally avoided wad- ing into the Big Muddy of politicizing a pandemic. It9s hard to believe that so many Americans have found a way to make pan- demic disease a front in our ongoing Culture War; it just goes to show how deep pervasive division and dis- cord has become. Apparently, there9s nothing that won9t send folks running for their ide- ological corners these days, even a virus, which, let9s face it, doesn9t care who you voted for. Here9s hoping that Sisters folks can continue to stay focused on simply being good neighbors to each other. Our outlook on this terrible scourge that has wounded our lives doesn9t have to be partisan 4 or political at all. It is entirely possible 4 indeed, com- pletely reasonable 4 to simultaneously fear a new and potentially devastating disease, while also caring deeply about the serious economic dislocation and the potential for authori- tarian governmental over- reach associated with the lockdown. This is a complex situ- ation, unprecedented in our lifetimes, and the path forward isn9t clear. For some, especially those at particular risk from this kind of illness, it may feel like we9re <opening up= too soon. The pandemic is far from over, and there is a risk that increased interac- tion will bring on a <second wave= or a spike in cases. Others, whose liveli- hoods are on the line, may feel that we stayed locked down too long, especially in a region that is far from being a hot spot; that <flat- tening the curve= has risked flattening our future. We should not judge each other harshly on our individual take on a situa- tion that has offered only fraught alternatives at every turn. People who fear COVID-19 are not cow- ards; people who fear eco- nomic devastation and the erosion of liberty are not heartless. Perhaps as we move forward into a future shad- owed by the lingering cloud of COVID-19, we can act with compassion, understanding and a dose humility. None of us has any answers. We can only do our best to face adver- sity each day, and help one another as best we can. We can inoculate our- selves against cultural con- tagions spread by black- guards working agendas that have nothing at all to do with bettering our lives and everything to do with their own aggrandizement. We can decide that we are not going to allow our- selves to be pulled into inane conflicts that turn facemasks into battle flags. A mask need not be flaunted as a badge of civic virtue, nor scorned as emblematic of a knee bended to a tyrannical state. A mask is simply an implement, one that may have some utility in inhibit- ing the spread of disease. If a Sisters business encour- ages wearing of masks and asks their employees to do so, I9ll wear one. It9s the neighborly thing to do. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.