Pateros, OCLTRG welcome IRIS NCW Community Success summit

PATEROS – The North Central Washington Community Success Reception and Summit was held at Pateros High School last Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 14-15.

Hosted by the City of Pateros and the Okanogan County Long Term Recovery Group (OCLTRG), the two-day event opened with a reception Thursday evening that included refreshments, the “Smoke and Reflections” exhibit, and the debut of the 40-minute documentary film “Twisp: The Power of Community.”

Produced by TwispWorks partner and filmmaker Leslee Goodman, with the help of an Artists Trust Grant for Artist Projects (GAP), The Power of Community explored “the people and values that make Twisp a thriving community, rather than another abandoned farm town or commercialized strip of interstate,” the TwispWorks website said.

Friday’s Community Success Summit hosted by the Initiative for Rural Innovation and Stewardship (IRIS) in company with the City of Pateros and partner/sponsors, was a day-long celebration including music, refreshments, sponsor displays, and stories from around the region highlighting the spirit and cooperation that brought the community together following the devastation of the 2014 Carlton Complex wildfire.

On Friday, Nov. 16, OCLTRG volunteers led a tour of two more homes that have recently been passed on to fire survivors. The tour departed Omak’s United Methodist Church for destinations on Pine Creek Cemetery Road and Talkire Lake Road in Tonasket.

OCLTRG is currently in the final stage of home rebuilds for fire survivors with three projects that will completed over the winter months.