The Nugget Vol. XLVI No. 26
POSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Big Ponderoo sets mood for summer
Quilters gather in Sisters next week
By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
As the last acts cleared the stages Sunday night, fans lingered, basking in the glow of the Big Ponderoo. The threeday event that began Friday with musicians blending with gallery-goers can best be described in one word: mellow. That was the common utterance among the hundreds of attendees. Along with “sweet,” “smooth,” “full,” and “rich.” It was fueled by music, pure and simple. That, too, was the sentiment of the laid-back audiences. Ashley Henry of Portland said: “I was thrilled to see that both War and Treaty and Lone Bellow were on the lineup. I saw Lone Bellow the night before the lockdown in March 2020 and had great memories of dancing to War and Treaty the summer before at Pickathon. Plus June in Sisters! What more could you ask for?” Not much, it would seem. She picked up a new hat from one of the dozen or so vendors as did many of the concertgoers to ward off the sun. Both venues — Three Creeks Brewing Company’s lawn and the lawn behind Sisters Art Works — were fully
Correspondent
If price is any indicator then the hay grown around Sisters is tops. Every week the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) puts out a market report for all commodities including hay. Last Friday’s report confirmed what hay growers locally and equestrians throughout Oregon already know. Premium+ grade alfalfa was fetching $350 a ton. That compares to $220-$285 in Minnesota, $250 in Montana, and $220-$235 in neighboring Washington. Only Texas came close at $340 and that’s due to drought, not quality. For grass hay, Oregon
Inside...
See PONDEROO on page 8
See QUILTERS on page 18
Dust Bowl Revival turned in a stirring and crowd-pleasing set at the Three Creeks Brewing Co. stage at Big Ponderoo last weekend.
This year’s hay crop is looking good By Bill Bartlett
did the temperature dropped from an already splendid 74 to the upper 60s. Sunday was full sun except for occasional, pastoral clouds with a high of 77. Fans were gentle.
Sisters explodes in color on July 8 with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show — but town will be full of quilters for a week before that. Some 1,200 to 1,400 artists will be headquartered at Sisters High School for a week of classes and engagement known as Quilters Affair, running Monday-Friday, July 3-7. The centerpiece of Quilters Affair is a range of classes taught by some of the luminaries in the field: Violet Craft, Sarah Fielke, Tula Pink, Giuseppe Ribaudo, Latifah Saafir, Jennifer Sampou, and Sue Spargo. Quilters Affair is sponsored and staged by the Stitcin’ Post in Sisters. The teachers come from all around the country — as do the students. Fielke is coming all the way from Australia. Attendees can fully
PHOTO BY ROB KERR
exposed to the sun’s intensity. “The only thing more creative than the bands’ music was the regalia,” said Toby Marks of Maupin in describing the headwear and other improvised sunscreening. “Hey, tell me a better place where I can work on
clocked in at $360, whereas Iowa was fetching $225$260 and South Dakota ringing up $200-$225 a ton. More specifically, in Sisters Country, first-cutting premium alfalfa was garnering as much as $400. Alfalfa, as opposed to generic “hay” grasses, has about 16 to 20 percent protein, double hay, and two to three times as much calcium. Alfalfa is actually a legume. Timothy, also grown in Sisters Country, is a grass. Legumes have more leafiness with less structure, producing more nutrients. Farmers in Sisters See HAY on page 5
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Meetings .......................... 3
my tan,” joked Mara Kilreade from Chiloquin. Indeed sunscreen was being slathered even as a roughly one-hour rain shower around 1:30 p.m. Saturday dampened spirits and sent many to any makeshift shelter. The rain passed, and as it
PRE-SORTED STANDARD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sisters, OR Permit No. 15
Sisters set to celebrate 4th of July By Bill Bartlett Correspondent
The annual Sisters Eagle Airport Rumble on the Runway will take off Tuesday, July 4, starting with a pancake and sausage breakfast starting at 7 a.m. Rotary Club of Sisters will flap the jacks as vintage, experimental, and assorted aircraft land in the background. As diners chow down in the cool of a hangar, all manner of cars and trucks will inch into their stalls. Most are for show waxed and polished to a glaring sheen. They will be as old as 80 or 90 years in some cases — classic roadsters, coupes, sedans and hot rods. Most will be American made models with a sprinkling of foreign entries. This is about as Americana Announcements...............10 Stars & Stripes ............11-14
PHOTO BY GUILLAUME NORMAN
A CH-47 Chinook helicopter will make its powerful presence felt at the Fourth of July Rumble on the Runway at Sisters Eagle Airport. as you can get — with a uniquely Sisters brand on it. Machines that roar and defy gravity are a July 4 fixture here. It’s a family affair that last year saw hundreds of young families line the Entertainment .................15 Of A Certain Age ............... 17
runway. Add in empty-nesters, singles, tourists of all stripes, and some 2-3,000 attendees dipped in and out of the affair throughout the day. See 4TH OF JULY on page 20
Crossword .......................21 Classifieds................. 22-23