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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2021)
The Nugget Vol. XLIV No. 46 P OSTAL CUSTOMER News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon www.NuggetNews.com PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15 Wednesday, November 24, 2021 Community In fine feather… ponders future of school site Sisters woman is grand slam champion By Charlie Kanzig By Jim Cornelius Correspondent Editor in Chief A new elementary school to replace the existing one in Sisters is scheduled to be completed to start the 2023 school year. That leaves the school district and the citi- zens of Sisters to answer the question: What should be done with the property and buildings on the current site? One of the first steps of the process took place on Monday, November 15, when the Citizens4Community (C4C) hosted a Zoom meet- ing to begin gathering input from interested members of the community. The 90-minute meeting Jennifer Banning has been knocking off mas- ters weightlifting titles at a torrid pace. Earlier this month, the elite Olympic weightlifter accomplished an exceptionally challeng- ing goal: She completed a grand slam, winning gold in USA Masters Weightlifting9s Nationals, PanAms, World Championships and the American Masters within a single calendar year. Banning competed in the 50-54 age bracket and the 55-kilogram weight class. She also won best lifter for the age group across Maybe not the best week to show off, but Sisters’ enormous turkey population likes to make an impression. PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT See SCHOOL SITE on page 12 See BANNING on page 29 New deputy joins Sisters contingent Sisters fire captain headed into retirement By Sue Stafford Correspondent By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Over the past three decades, countless Sisters area residents have called for aid in an emergency 4 and got a response from Captain Thornton Brown of the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District. As of December 1, Captain Brown will hang up his turnout gear and call it a career. His colleagues know that he9s leaving big boots to fill. <He9s been with the District since 1990, so his fingerprints are on a lot of this District,= said Fire Chief Roger Johnson. Brown managed the phys- ical facilities, from the central station to the District9s train- ing grounds to the outlying stations in Camp Sherman and Squaw Creek Canyon Estates. And he9s helped to train countless students and volunteers. Like most boys, Brown imagined himself as a Inside... firefighter, but he didn9t chase the career early on. <This has been an unex- pected career,= he said. <I just sort of fell into it. And I9m just so grateful to have it.= He <fell into it= at the urg- ing of his friend Ken Enoch, who served many years with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District, including as deputy chief. <He encouraged me to volunteer,= Brown recalled. His first interest was in the medical side. <I wanted to be an EMT and respond in the ambu- lance,= he said. Then the firefighting side of the service caught him. <I got in on a burn-to- learn and after that I was hooked on the fire,= he said. <That was exciting.= Brown served as a volun- teer for over three years, and then-Chief Don Mouser hired him as career staff in 1994. Brown notes that there are See BROWN on page 31 Deputy Josh Westfall is the newest face in the Sisters office of the Deschutes County Sheriff 9s Office (DCSO). He started out as temporary about a year ago while one of the other officers was on leave, but when she resigned, Westfall was able to transition to the Sisters office as his new full-time position. <I9m happy to be out here,= Westfall said. <I9m thankful to be able to serve the people of Sisters and have the opportunity to establish local relationships.= Westfall is a Central Oregon native, having grown up in Bend, graduating from Mountain View High School where he played football, and then graduating from the criminal justice program at COCC. He said that as he was growing up, he had <an intrinsic desire to help people and keep them safe,= but he wasn9t sure of a career path. He made the connection between helping people and law enforcement after reading PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD Deputy Josh Westfall is now a full-time member of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Sisters contingent. an article about people in their 20s being needed in the field. <When I took my first criminal justice class, I felt like I9d been shot out of a gun,= Westfall said. <I knew this was what I wanted to do.= He sees his job as a dep- uty being a calling. <Being a policeman isn9t for every- body, but I really enjoy it and you can9t put a price on satis- faction and happiness.= He began his career in law enforcement as a reserve officer with the City of Bend. In 2008, he was hired by the DCSO where he served as a patrol officer in the Search and Rescue (SAR) division, and the last year as a tempo- rary deputy in Sisters. In 2012-13, he was a deputy in the <west car,= which covered Sisters and other areas in the western See NEW DEPUTY on page 29 Letters/Weather ............... 2 Obituaries ........................ 9 Entertainment ................. 11 Fun & Games ....................21 Classifieds ..................27-28 Meetings .......................... 3 Announcements ...............10 Holidays in Sisters ..... 13-20 Crossword ...................... 26 Real Estate ................ 28-32