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Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Celebrating Early years in Sisters
the spirit
of Central
Oregon
By Carol Moorehead
Guest Columnist
Everyone who visits or
moves to Central Oregon
knows it9s a special place.
The natural beauty and out-
door recreation opportunities
attract the adventurous and
inspire the artistic.
A vibrant community has
grown up in this region 4
diverse in background and
outlook; entrepreneurial in
spirit. That community has
shown remarkable resilience
in tough times.
The Nugget is celebrat-
ing the bounty of the region
with a new magazine-for-
mat publication entitled
<Spirit of Central Oregon.=
In-depth stories will reveal
adventures, volunteer ser-
vice, artistic endeavors, culi-
nary explorations and other
aspects of the true spirit of
life in Central Oregon.
The magazine will be
inserted in The Nugget in
mid-October, and distrib-
uted in locations across
Central Oregon. It will also
be distributed as a digital
magazine.
For information on the
publication contact Vicki
Curlett at 541-549-9941.
Seeing the recent Nugget
article about the new Sisters
Historical Museum reminded
me of our history with Sisters.
Though we cannot trace our
heritage back to homestead-
ers, my husband and I moved
to Sisters in September 1976
and things did look much dif-
ferent than today.
Imagine a Sisters with no
Ray9s supermarket or even
Ace Hardware. It was before
Sisters had a city sewer and
developments like Tollgate,
Crossroads, or Sage Meadow
were only beginning to
emerge. Cascade Avenue had
few shops and our tiny library
sat across the street and west
of The Gallery Restaurant.
The Gallery Restaurant had
a payphone inside the vesti-
bule, we used it often, espe-
cially that winter.
We were just married and
both had jobs in the area. No
houses were immediately
available to buy or rent. For
two weeks, we camped beside
Whychus Creek (then called
Squaw Creek) and lived out
of our 1969 Volkswagen van.
Rod was in construction and
I was working at Cloverdale
School (part of the Redmond
School District housing
grades one through three).
Rod could wear the same
Levi9s day after day but I
needed to look clean and pre-
sentable for work. Seeking
more than a splash in the
creek, I made arrangements
to rent a room at the Sisters
Hotel. What is now the Sisters
Restaurant/Saloon was truly a
hotel at the time, with rooms
upstairs. I booked the room in
advance but when we arrived
the next day after work, the
doors were locked with no
one around. A local passed by
and told us we would likely
find the proprietor at the local
saloon.
The B Bar B saloon was
practically next door (what is
now Rancho Viejo). Entering
the dark, cavernous tavern,
my eyes slowly adjusted.
The carpet was nearly thread-
bare and stained, a layer of
tobacco smoke filled my nos-
trils, spilled beer left a sticky
sheen on the tables I passed.
Peering through the dusky
interior, I saw a few imbib-
ers seated at the bar. Among
them was the woman from
whom I had rented a room.
I hesitantly approached. To
my relief, she recognized me,
leaving the half-finished beer
she motioned to the bartender
to indicate she would be right
back to finish her quaff.
Once inside, our rented
room looked clean enough
and I was thrilled to see the
claw-footed tub in the bath-
room. With the anticipation of
soaking in a tub of hot water,
spir·it (noun)
A personal attitude and energy for
life or to other people...enthusiastic,
adventurous, determined…creating a
powerful independent community spirit.
O F CE NT RA L
RE GO N
SPIRITED DAYS ....... 7
A SIP & A SWIRL...... 9
COOKING IN
THE GREAT
OUTDOORS ...........16
ART ON THE
STREETS —
ROUNDABOUTS ..... 3
ARTISTRY
25
IN BAKING ................
PROTECTING OUR
17
RESOURCES ..............
TRAINING GROUNDS
6
OF CHAMPIONS ..........
The Nugget
Newspaper
MINING THE
14
OCHOCOS ..................
my body had already begun
to relax. I soon found the
exposed water pipes were a
bit too close to the toilet seat
and sustained a minor burn
on my thigh. After filling the
tub I lowered myself into the
steaming water feeling the
bliss of its warmth.
About five minutes later
my euphoria came to an
abrupt end. There was a
knock on the opposite door
from where I had entered. A
male voice asked me to let
him know when I was done
in the bathroom. Even with
only one other guest in the
establishment, the proprietor
had rented the room next door
sharing our bathroom. At first
annoyed, I then marveled at
her cleverness, there would
be only one bathroom to
clean. My respite disturbed, I
quickly finished up and gave
him a turn. The diversion I
sought was interrupted by
having to share the facilities
with a stranger.
Well, at least we had the
welcoming promise of a
beautiful brass bed with its
colorful handstitched cover-
let to warm us and support
our night9s dreams. But as
Rod and I sought our repose
and climbed into bed we both
rolled to the middle of the
well-used mattress. This was
not turning out to be a pleas-
ant and restful break from van
camping.
We looked at each other
and with a sigh of disappoint-
ment shrugged our shoulders
and removed ourselves from
the clutches of the offending
pallet. We had met the objec-
tive for cleanliness so we
packed up our belongings and
in the dark of night found our
way back to our campsite, and
a comfortable night9s sleep.
Why do people choose
to build their lives in
Central Oregon?
The answers might surprise you! Is it the chance to
let talent and passion soar in an entrepreneurial small
business? Is it the bounty of locally grown fresh food
and artisanal beverages? Is it the four-season climate,
proximity and access (without the traffic) to other
larger cities like Portland, Seattle, Boise and northern
California? Is it the interesting life stories of neighbors?
Is it the endless philanthropic opportunities? The short
answer is probably a spirited quality of life, but there’s
so much more to it than that.
25,000 COPIES PRINTED
(plus digital distribution)
• Inserted inside The Nugget mid-October to reach every
household in the Sisters School District.
• Distributed at strategic locations throughout Central Oregon.
• Digital magazine distributed year-round on NuggetNews.
com, Facebook, and issuu.com.
Spirit of Central Oregon is designed as a magazine-style “keeper” piece,
widely distributed throughout Central Oregon in mid-October.
Contact The Nugget Newspaper’s Community Marketing Partner,
Vicki Curlett to reserve your space, 541-549-9941 or vicki@nuggetnews.com