Wednesday, April 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Celebrating 75 years through collaboration By Emme Shoup & Janel Ruehl Guest Columnists The Sisters Country Vision is a community-led vision project, first created with extensive community engagement in 2018, which continues to incorporate new community-led proj- ects. At the heart of imple- menting this community vision is supporting and cel- ebrating inter-community collaboration. As Sisters turns 75 this year, though we can9t have a big celebra- tion due to COVID-19 regu- lations, local organizations continue to find creative ways to highlight Sisters9 unique history and enduring small-town atmosphere. In partnership with the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, Three Sisters Historical Society, The Nugget Newspaper and other partners, the City of Sisters is coordinat- ing projects and events that commemorate its 75th Anniversary. The City9s event posters are popping up in businesses9 win- dows, and the blue banners throughout downtown high- light significant historical moments, landmarks, and people. If you9d like to learn the story behind those iconic photos, there will be many opportunities to dig into Sisters9 history and Celebrate 75! Explore the history of Sisters downtown by fol- lowing the self-guided walking tour brochure and the historic plaques on buildings, which serves as an abbreviated ver- sion of the Sisters History Museum9s guided tours. The Three Sisters Historical Society (TSHS) and the City9s RARE AmeriCorps volunteer, Emme Shoup, developed the brochure to highlight 18 historic loca- tions. A community part- ner grant from the Vision Implementation Team (VIT) helped TSHS add 13 new historical plaques this year. You can find the brochure at the Museum, or digitally on the City of Sisters9 history webpage. As you enjoy the historic walking tour, you may soon notice a new mural popping up later this June. On the west wall of the Sisters Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store, the mural will highlight imag- ery from the beginnings of Sisters through cur- rent times,= shares Dennis Schmidling of the Sisters Art Association (SAA). This project has been a significant collabora- tive effort, with TSHS providing the visual narra- tive of Sisters history, and the SAA working with the anonymous donor and the artist, Steve DeLaitsch, to gift the mural to Habitat for Humanity. Coming later this spring, TSHS with C4C (Citizens4Community) will be hosting a Murder Mystery Virtual Event to tell the story of a gold-hun- gry murderer, A. J. Weston, of Sisters in 1920. The Historical Actors Guild of Sisters will be re-enacting and directing the story, which is set to be filmed on the second floor of the Sisters Saloon Restaurant by the talented Sisters Middle School student and videographer, Jack Turpen. More event details will be announced later this spring! As a Tree City, Sisters celebrates Arbor Day every year at the end of April. This year, the City of Sisters is getting 75 ponderosa pine seedlings from the USFS nursery and gifting them to the Sisters Middle School