26
Wednesday, June 3, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
BANNERS:
Community stepping
up for 2020 grads
Continued from page 1
project has been in the works
for about a month, and the
banner project fundraiser
officially kicked off Monday,
June 1, with an online Go
Fund Me campaign and a goal
to raise $1,600.
C4C, the City, SHS, stu-
dents, parents and others are
collaborating with the goal
to gift each graduating senior
with a keepsake banner.
Organizers envision the
festive, cheering effect of
having more than 100 banners
4one for each senior 4 fly-
ing from lampposts through-
out downtown Sisters on or
around Graduation Day, June
12.
Banners are set to feature
students9 first names and pho-
tographs. After they are dis-
played, the banners will be
offered to the graduates as
keepsakes.
C4C9s youth board mem-
ber, Olivia Bertagna, first
suggested the project as a way
to boost community spirit and
recognize local students dur-
ing what has been a difficult
period.
<COVID-19 has taken so
much away from local stu-
dents,= said Bertagna, a junior
at Sisters High School. She
said the senior class espe-
cially has missed out on many
once-in-a-lifetime activities.
<This project will show the
seniors their community loves
and supports them through
this time. It gives them some-
thing new to be excited about.
We really want to give them
and the whole community
something to celebrate,=
Bertagna said.
Bertagna joined the C4C
team this past winter. As
youth board member, her
goal has been to find ways
to strengthen ties between
students and the greater
community.
She had seen the banner
idea implemented well in
Sweet Home. Bertagna said
she was inspired by that and
further encouraged by C4C9s
recent Let9s Talk! discussions,
where the focus has been on
finding ways to mitigate the
impacts of Covid-19 and to
help people, businesses and
community morale in general.
C4C has donated $1,250
as seed money toward the
project, which will cost about
$2,850 in total. The project
team hopes to raise the addi-
tional $1,600 this week. Any
donation amount is welcome,
and donations are 100 percent
tax deductible.
<This type of fundraiser
unites us as a community as
we come together to honor our
senior class,= said Bertagna.
<I hope to see the community
want to help and to give the
seniors something special as
their high school experience
wraps up.=
The fundraising cam-
paign can be found online at
Go Fund Me under the title:
<Sisters High School 2020
Graduate Banners.= Any
money raised beyond the
$1,600 goal will be set aside
for future collaborative proj-
ects with the high school.
For its banner project,
Sweet Home was able to
fund-raise around $3,000
within days, Bertagna said.
She and other organizers are
hoping for a similar commu-
nity response in Sisters.
Organizers have reason to
be optimistic, Bertagna said,
noting response to project
outreach efforts has been very
positive. <Everyone seems
truly thrilled that the com-
munity is working on this for
the students. And students are
eager to see the banners hung
up.=
<We all want to help offer
our Class of 2020 a warm-
hearted community send-off,=
added C4C board member
Amy Burgstahler.
<We think of our local
graduates as the ultimate
expression of 8Made in
Sisters.9 We9re glad to have
them representing our home-
town as they go out and take
on the next chapters of their
lives.=
Bertagna and Burgstahler
both also serve on the
Sisters Country Vision
I m p l e m e n t a t i o n Te a m .
B u rg s t a h l e r n o t e d t h e
Sisters
Dental
WE
ARE
HERE
FOR
YOU!
Trevor Frideres, D . M . D .
Greg Everson, D . M . D .
541-549-2011
491 E. Main Ave. • Sisters
www.sistersdental.com
Hours: Mon., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tues.-Thurs., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri., 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
Visioning process included
an informal survey of soon-
to-be graduates. While most
students said they planned to
leave after graduation, they
also hoped to return to live in
Sisters within 10 years.
<This banner project is an
investment in that possible
future,= Burgstahler said. <It9s
one small way to say not only,
8Hey, Congratulations!9 but
also: 9Yes, please do come
back home to Sisters!9=
Usually Sisters Rodeo
banners fly on street poles
this time of year. But with
the rodeo canceled, the rodeo
offered its banner space to the
Class of 2020.
<We really appreciate
the rodeo9s support,= said
Burgstahler.
SHS Principal Joe Hosang,
Registrar Lynne Fendall
(also a Class of 2020 parent)
and yearbook advisor Susie
Seaney are among the many
community members who
have offered valuable sup-
port. And the City9s Public
Works crew has volunteered
to install the banners.
Bertagna and Burgstahler
said several people have sug-
gested that Sisters repeat the
High School banner project
every year 4 that maybe this
project marks the start of an
annual tradition. It would take
another good collaboration,
Burgstahler said, noting that
access to banner space will
be different when next year9s
summer events resume.
<But it9s definitely a great
cause4honoring our home-
town students4so maybe the
community can find a way to
PHOTO PROVIDED
Olivia Bertagna originated the
banner project.
make that happen in 2021.=
As a nice bonus to that
idea, she added: <Then we
could make a banner to honor
Olivia. She9s a Class of 2021
student, and without her this
year9s banner project would
not have happened.=
(Note: If donors would
prefer to send in a check
for the banner fund-
raiser, they can mail it to:
Citizens4Community, P.O.
Box 2193, Sisters, OR, 97759.
Put <Banner Project= in the
memo section. For more
about the nonprofit C4C, visit
citizens4community.com).
SISTERSAREA
BUSINESSESARE
At Your
Service
LOOKFOR
THESPECIAL
SECTION
June 10 & 17
INSIDETHE
NUGGET
This special business
feature section tells
the stories of what’s
special about our
participating local
businesses.
Meet your neighbors
in the pages of
our community
newspaper!
The Nugget
N E W S PA P E R