Wednesday, July 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
COMMUNITY: Residents
and organizations
stepped up to help
Continued from page 1
was the scene of a <paint-in=
last Friday morning with about
40 adults and children gather-
ing to create 75 signs thanking
the firefighters and support
personnel on the Grandview
Fire. Citizens4Community
organized the event and art-
ist Kit Stafford rounded up
the art supplies and provided
guidance for the effort on
Friday. Superintendent Curtis
Scholl and Sisters School
District provided the venue.
Volunteers posted the signs
throughout Sisters and the
surrounding area where fire
personnel would see them.
A group of eight girls aged
8 to 12 from Sisters Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints had planned a bike ride
for Friday. When they heard
about the sign-making proj-
ect, they decided to ride their
bikes to the high school and
participate.
Cheryl Scheer, Yvonne
Suckow, and Ben Cogdill
were the adults riding with
the girls. The bikers were:
Kate Cogdill, Elin and Kinley
Faldmo, Fiora Dunham,
cousins Paige and Campbell
Lydell, Riley Davis, and
Wyatt Keifer.
Two stories to come out
of this fire event began with
negative situations, but ended
with remarkable acts of caring
and generosity:
Glen Corbett, longtime
resident of Camp Sherman,
has been a summer fire look-
out since 1990, serving in
Central Oregon lookouts atop
Henkle Butte, Black Butte,
Wolf Mountain, Green Ridge,
and Lava Butte. After many
years, she retired but returned
this summer to Henkle Butte,
which is located north of
Sisters, off Wilt Road.
A day after the Grandview
Fire erupted on July 11,
Corbett left her post and went
home for the night. Two teen-
age boys from the surrounding
neighborhood climbed Henkle
Butte for a view of the fire.
Trespassing over the second
story railing of the lookout
and through the locked trap
door, they climbed to the roof.
While on the deck, they
apparently stole a pair of West
Marine binoculars, purchased
by Corbett for her work. The
boys were spotted by two
radio techs who had come up
to the butte to install a com-
munication system for the
Grandview Fire personnel so
they can communicate with
dispatch and each other.
The techs yelled at the
boys to get off the roof, and as
they left, the techs noticed that
one young man had a pair of
distinctive blue West Marine
binoculars. In response to a
question about where they
lived, the boys pointed off to
the community below Henkle
lookout. The next morning,
another lookout reported to
work, only to discover the bin-
oculars were missing. Having
no binoculars puts a fire look-
out at a distinct disadvantage
for spotting new wildfires.
But there was a happy end-
ing. A family in the adjacent
neighborhood heard about the
missing binoculars, went into
Bend REI, bought a new pair
of the exact same binoculars,
and were waiting for Corbett
to arrive at the butte the next
morning to present them to
her.
The thieves should know
that Corbett reported the
theft to Lt. Chad Davis,
of the Sisters Deschutes
County Sheriff9s substation.
She doesn9t intend to press
charges because she <doesn9t
want the boys to have a
record.= She would appreciate
a face-to-face meeting with
the boys so they could admit
what they did was wrong and
apologize for their actions.
She would also love to have
the binoculars returned. She is
asking everyone to keep their
eyes open for a pair of blue
binoculars.
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Maret Pajutee shared her
thoughts about the theft.
<Lookouts keep an eye out
for you and your home,= she
said. <Stealing the tools of
those who protect your home
is especially wrong.=
The owner of Chops
Bistro, Tracy Syanovitz, had a
special opportunity last week
to show her appreciation for
the work being done to protect
Sisters from the Grandview
Fire.
On Tuesday evening,
July 13, Syanovitz and her
employees were just finishing
up for the night around 9 p.m.
Her chef, Troi Frankheizer,
made a quick trip to the
Chevron station at about the
time a group of 22 firefighters
were attempting to buy din-
ner at McDonald9s, the only
restaurant open at that time.
The crew had just come off a
15-hour shift.
They were not able to get
food, so Frankheizer called
Syanovitz to see if she could
bring some firefighters to
have dinner. The reply was a
resounding yes.
The chef returned and
opened the kitchen. Employee
Jade Kennedy stopped her
cleaning and created 22
Caesar salads. She and server
Brian Goly, Syanovitz, and
her friend Mary served the
firefighters 22 flat iron steak
dinners, which can be ready in
PHOTO COURTESY GLEN CORBETT
Former Forest Service employee Rod Bonaker and longtime fire lookout
Glen Corbett, with her blue West Marine binoculars, scan the forest.
10 minutes.
<Those guys were
exhausted and so appreciative
of the dinner,= Syanovitz said.
<Call me naïve but I thought
everyone would do what we
did.=
Due to limited staff
because of the pandemic
closure, Chops has had to
limit their hours and days of
operation. They are now fully
staffed and open six nights
a week, being closed on
Sun-Wed 11-9 • Closed Thurs • Fri-Sat 11-10
541-549-RIBS | 190 E. Cascade Ave.
Wednesday. The lounge opens
at 4:30 p.m. and the restaurant
at 5 p.m., with the last reser-
vation taken for 8 p.m.
Syanovitz said her phone
hasn9t stopped ringing with
calls thanking her, making
reservations, with families of
firefighters saying they will
come for dinner after the fire
season. She has also received
copious emails and Facebook
posts. Oregon Senator Betsy
Johnson gave her a donation.
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