Based on community input, Citizens4Community launched the Sisters Country Civility Project in February 2016 to encourage civil dialogue and civic engagement throughout Sisters Country. The initiative is using 9 basic tenets offered by Speak Your Peace and P.M. Forni’s book “Choosing Civility.” Those tenets are presented on the Sisters Country Civility Project’s “9+1 Tool Cards.”

C4C welcomes our most recent Sisters Country Civility Project adopter—the Sisters Arts Association. Led by president, Bob Burgess, and vice president, Dennis Schmidling, the association formed in 2015. Its artists and supporters are dedicated to enriching Sisters' culture, to encouraging economic vitality, and to stimulating the spirit of togetherness that's essential to any healthy community.

Association membership includes more than 20 local galleries that, among other activities, host a city wide Gallery Art Stroll from 4-7 p.m. every 4th Friday. Strollers encounter amazing art, refreshments, live music and fun conversation along with occasional live demonstrations by working artists. It's a great opportunity to get out and about, meet your Sisters neighbors and enjoy our community. A map showing the Art Stroll galleries is available at the association's website HERE.

A little more than two years ago, we began meeting and gathering local input for what would become C4C and the Sisters Country Civility Project. Since then we have enjoyed wonderful participation—from our local adopters, sponsors and volunteers, to our lively audiences and the engaging speakers who have offered valuable insights at our free quarterly sessions.

During this holiday season, we want to pause and express our sincere appreciation to all of you.

Save the Date for C4C's next Quarterly Session, "The Paradox of Connection," set for 5:15-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15. Moe Carrick will deliver the keynote address, offering ideas for fostering meaningful connection in a "highly connected" world that paradoxically also encourages division and community disengagement. The evening will kick off at 5:15 p.m. with "Soup & Civility"—a light meal with your community neighbors.

C4C's next quarterly community-wide event is set for Jan. 25. The evening will explore the concept of what it means to "Be Agreeable"—one of the 9 basic principles of the Sisters Country Civility Project—and how to confront others respectfully and constructively when you don't agree with their words or actions.

Citizens4Community's next free, quarterly gathering is set for Oct. 26 at the Sisters Fire Station Community Hall, 301 S. Elm St, in Sisters. We'll be focusing on the topic of "Show Respect"—one of the basic tenets of the Sisters County Civility Project and Speak Your Peace. Find out about more about the fun and informative evening on our Events page...

Black Butte Ranch is a unique combination of residential community and resort. With more than 1,250 property owners, there are bound to be disagreements. In February, Citizens4Community Steering Committee member Clark Brody made a presentation to the Black Butte Ranch Board of Directors about C4C and the Civility Project. Dennis Tower, chair of the BBR Board of Directors, notes the board immediately saw the value of implementing the Project's 9 tenets of civil community engagement and passed a motion adopting those tenets. Since then, homeowners throughout the Ranch have been introduced to the tenets.

“My hope is that we would begin to have a dialogue in this country about the importance of civility. We can have strong differences, but it does seem to me that most of the country believes it’s gone to critical mass in what I would call the professional class across the political spectrum. ...”

— Tom Brokaw