The Nugget
Vol. XLIII No. 35
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
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Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Sisters
has new
preschool
offerings
GREEN RIDGE FIRE
has challenged firefighters
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
The Nugget.
The Incident Management
Team conducting the fight
against the blaze reported
Monday that <Firefighters
continue to make progress
Preschool offerings in
Sisters Country have changed
and expanded for the 2020-21
school year, giving parents
more options than ever at a
time of heightened need.
Preschool will be offered at
Sisters Elementary, Wellhouse
Church, and through Sisters
Parks & Recreation District
(SPRD).
Thanks to the award of
a state-funded Preschool
Promise grant Sisters
Elementary School will be
operating a program indepen-
dently this year. For the past
number of years, SPRD oper-
ated preschool at the elemen-
tary site in cooperation with
the school district for 3 and 4
year olds.
See FIRE on page 16
See PRESCHOOL on page 17
PHOTO BY CODY RHEAULT
The Green Ridge Fire was driven by high winds, hot temperatures and dry fuels in tough terrain. Air assets worked the fire all week.
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
The Green Ridge Fire,
sparked by lightning on
Sunday, August 16, foiled
firefighters9 early efforts to
quell it and 4 driven by
gusty winds and fueled by
hot temperatures and dry
conditions 4 marched east-
ward last week.
The fire grew to 4,169
acres as of Monday morning.
After several days of chas-
ing the fire, firefighters got a
Sisters Folk Festival
plans live music event
Sisters Folk Festival is
planning three days of live
music over the traditional
festival weekend, September
11-13
<Close to Home 2= is
designed to be a comfort-
able, socially-distanced out-
door concert at the Sisters
Artworks venue located at
204 W. Adams Ave., in down-
town Sisters.
Artists all hail from
the Pacific Northwest.
Performers on the bill
include: Judith Hill, John
Craigie, Thunderstorm Artis,
AJ Lee & Blue Summit,
Kristen Grainger & True
North, Caleb Klauder and
Reeb Willms, and Central
Oregon9s own The Parnells.
Each day will be a
slightly different variation
of these artists, with daily
lineup to be announced soon.
Organizers plan to announce
at least one more artist in the
Inside...
coming week.
<Close to Home 2 will
deliver great songwriters
and musical artists to Sisters
for the weekend,= said SFF
Creative Director Brad
Tisdel. <As an organization,
we have needed to reimagine
how to produce live shows
amidst the ongoing COVID-
19 challenges, and will con-
tinue to innovate and create
new opportunities, while
keeping patrons, artists, pro-
duction staff and volunteers
safe. Between Close to Home
2 and our creativity camps,
we continue to serve our mis-
sion in the best way possible,
with more to come.=
Under the current Phase
2 reopening in Oregon,
the entire gathering will
be limited to a 250-person
maximum, including ticket
holders, musicians, staff,
See MUSIC on page 14
reprieve from high winds and
hot temperatures over the
weekend and were able to
halt the fire9s progress.
<The team is making good
progress on it, getting a lot
of line around it,= Sisters
District Ranger Ian Reid told
First Story dedicates new homes
Three families in Sisters
celebrated new home own-
ership last week in a physi-
cally-distanced key dedica-
tion ceremony in Hayden
Homes McKenzie Meadows
development off McKinney
Butte Road.
<All three families are
the first in their families to
own their own home,= noted
Claire Duncan, Executive
Director of the nonprofit
First Story.
Two of the three fami-
lies currently live and
work in Sisters. First Story,
Hayden Homes9 nonprofit
charitable arm, along with
NeighborImpact, reached out
to the Sisters community to
seek applicants and to help
prospective homeowners
prepare for the responsibili-
ties of homeownership. The
first three families are gradu-
ates of Neighborlmpact9s
HomeSource Program.
First Story, Hayden
Homes, Neighborlmpact and
the City of Sisters worked
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
The Christensen family celebrated taking the keys to their new Sisters
home on Thursday.
together in the project in
order to provide affordable
homeownership opportuni-
ties in Sisters.
Among the homes
built in the three-phase
Hayden Homes community,
McKenzie Meadows Village,
will be 10 homes dedicated
to affordable housing for
families qualifying at the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
threshold of 80 percent or
below of Adjusted Median
Income (AMI). The homes
See HOMES on page 15
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Sisters Naturalist .............. 4 Announcements ...............10 Obituaries .......................18 Classifieds .................. 19-21
Meetings .......................... 3 Stars over Sisters ..............7 Entertainment ................. 11 Crossword .......................18 Real Estate .................21-24