Stories

Do you fly fish, bird or visit Silver Creek Preserve? Are you interested in assisting with conservation? The Nature Conservancy wants to hear from you!

Silver Creek has long been recognized as one of the finest spring creeks in the country. A new enhancement plan seeks to make it even better.

The Nature Conservancy has announced that it will work with Ecosystem Sciences, a non-profit Boise-based consulting firm, to develop a comprehensive plan to restore stretches of Silver Creek and its tributaries that need most help, and to use the restoration methods that will have the most conservation benefit. The effort will result in habitat projects that benefit the fishery as well as many wildlife species.

“The goal of this project is to improve the fish and wildlife habitat on a watershed level at Silver Creek, and to make it the most resilient it can be for the long term,” says Dayna Gross, the Conservancy’s Silver Creek Preserve manager.

Ecosystem Sciences will create a comprehensive, integrated watershed plan for the...

Registration is underway for the Spring season of Girls on the Run.  The season will run from March 22 to May 22 and culminates on May 22 with the New Balance Girls on the Run 5k & Healthy Living Exop that is open to the whole community. 

Register online now! Also registration have been sent home from the schools, and downloadable English and Spanish forms are available at girlsontherunwrv.org. This Spring's sites will all be held on school grounds and include:

Hemingway Elementary, M/W, 2:45-4:00 pm

Hailey Elementary, T/TH, 2:45-4:00 pm

Woodside Elementary, T/TH, 2:45-4:00 pm

Bellevue Elementary, M/W, 2:45-4:00 pm

Full or partial scholarships are available, so please inquire, or fill out our scholarship form.  No girl will be turned away because of need.  Call Mary at 788-7863 or email mary@girlsontherunwrv.org if you have any questions.

Light on the Mountains Center for Spiritual Living is honored to announce that Cheryl Welch, owner of Chapter One Bookstore in Ketchum, is this year’s recipient of the Ann and Doug Christensen Humanitarian Award.  Cheryl was a driving force in creating the annual Sun Valley Wellness Festival, has sponsored the Hemingway School book fair for over 30 years and with Chapter One Bookstore, she has provided a platform and gathering point for many people and events in our community The Ann and Doug Christensen Humanitarian Award was created by Light on The Mountains Center for Spiritual Living as a way to honor people whose dedicated work has greatly influenced the quality of life in our local community and beyond.

This year’s luncheon honoring Cheryl will take place on Saturday, April 17, from 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, at The Lodge Dining Room in Sun Valley.  Tickets are $30 and reservations can be made by calling Shelley Coben at (208) 788-1498 or through email office@lightonthemountains.com<...

Swimming, movies, food and fun all in one night!  The YMCA will be hosting the first Flick and Float of the year on Saturday, March 20th from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Grab your friends and family for this special night of watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs while floating and playing in the pool.  Hot dogs, chips, and a drink is included in this fun night.  You won't want to miss out on all the fun, so call the YMCA to reserve your spot today.  Pre-registration is required to ensure that we have enough food and staff. 

Looking for something fun for your kids to do during Spring Break this year?

Music N Me in Hailey has the perfect answer: send them to a Staycation Mini Rock and Roll Camp! The popular summer camp has been modified to fit a one-week break that will include a performance in Hailey at a big "Staycation Bash" which will also feature a scavenger hunt.

The cost for the camp is $20 per day. Call Mitzi Mecham at 788-2494 to register or if you have any questions!

Staying home for Spring Break has *never* been so much fun!

Dynamite Marketing will deliver more than 2,000 pounds of its Super Premium natural dog food to the Idaho Humane Society on March 10 at 10:30 a.m. The donation is valued at $3,000 and is enough to feed the approximately 200 dogs for 125 days.

The gift is the result of Dynamite’s Facebook contest, in which Dynamite pledged to donate a pound of natural dog food for every Facebook fan who has signed up since Jan. 1.

In addition, Dynamite will enter the names of all Facebook fans into a drawing, and will donate 200 pounds of natural dog food to the shelter of the winner’s choice.

The gift is in keeping with Dynamite’s tradition of making charitable donations to motivate sales. Last year, the company offered its top distributors a choice of a personal prize such as a trip to Maui or double the value as a donation to charity. The result was $22,000 in charitable donations.

“People who buy our products are passionate about their animals and about making the world a better place,” said Callie Novak, Dynamite vice president....

The Expedition Inspiration Fund for Breast Cancer Research is pleased to present the Fifth Annual Twilight Snowshoe; Sunday, March 21, 2010 at the Valley Club in Hailey, Idaho.   Participants will set off on a lovely snowshoe course through the magnificent foothills on the second day of spring. The popular the effervescent “Bubble Bar” awaits at the end of the trek. The Elephant’s Perch will generously provide guests participating in the optional snowshoe with equipment for the evening.   
 
Cocktails and wine provided by Cline Cellars, hors d’ oeuvres and a full course dinner await guests inside the newly remodeled Valley Club and prepared by Chef Mike Diem.  
 
A silent auction follows outdoor festivities with an array of items both functional and fantastical.  Hosting the live auction, Larry Flynn will offer enticing adventures including a 7-night stay at a luxury beachfront villa in Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, a Mackay hideaway fishing excursion, and...

By kikikenwood: On March 4, 2006 Teresa Hukari's life changed horrifically when a routine run on her home mountain (the famous Bald Mountain in Sun Valley, Idaho) resulted in a spinal cord injury that forever altered the future as she'd imagined it. The tightly knit mountain community rallied to stage a fundraiser the following April 15th, and her then-employer, Smith Optics, made this video, including taped narration by the fallen skier from her hospital room. Later, the non-profit Bald Mtn. Rescue Fund was formed in her honor. More information is at web.me.com/bhukari/site

Hi all you Alliance supporters!

We have a great educational and fun event coming up on Thursday, March 11th in Ketchum. Can you please forward this email everyone you know who lives in or near the Valley and would be interested? Here are the details:

The Snake River Alliance, Idaho's only nuclear watchdog and advocate for clean energy, presents...

 Who: Walkin' Jim Stoltz

What: Enjoy a light dinner and an evening of storytelling, photographs, music and poetry about the last of America's wild places

When: Thursday, March 11th from 6:30-9 pm

Where: Wood River YMCA Community Room

Cost: $25 and tickets are available at Chapter One Books, Iconoclast and through the Snake River Alliance at 208-344-9161

Family friendly, educational and fun! Walking' Jim gets his name from nearly 27,000 miles he has walked through the wild country of North America.

Carrying a guitar and writing his songs along the way, his lyrics express a great love and respect for the Earth and the wild places he knows so well.

Known for his powerful baritone...

Four years ago, March 4, 2006, my life ended. Right here in this valley, enjoying the bejesus out of the signature sport many of us came here to pursue, I got pulled up short on I-80, and everything changed in an instant. Every single thing about the way I lived, loved, laughed, breathed, worked and otherwise acted out my existence stopped, and it’s never coming back.

Nearly a month ago, as my dubious anniversary date approached, another little drama played out among a small group of us, right back here in this beautiful place. It was my first foray back into the mountains I love, and I don't believe I'd have had the strength, resilience or redemption of spirit to do it any sooner.  It was a just little tiny trip into the hills, but a big milestone in what I hope will be a continual unfolding of possibilities. I’m posting this as a way of saying thanks to Ketchum and to all the people who helped me make the circle.

Recently visiting with one of two coworkers who’d skied several runs with...

By Amanda Kumiko Kent; University of Idaho Blaine County Extension - Associate Extension Educator

The first annual Blaine County 4-H Hairy Horse Show was a success, Saturday, February 27 at the River Sage Stable and Indoor Arena south of Bellevue.

Miss Rodeo Idaho 2010, Measha Gittens, of Dayton came not only to judge the event, but to provide an open atmosphere in which the youth could ask for suggestions to improve their horsemanship skills.  Previously a 4-Her, Measha has made it her focus for 2010 to work with youth throughout the state to show them that if, “you set clear goals and work toward them you can achieve success.”

The “Golden Curry Comb,” donated by Sawtooth Tack and Feed of Bellevue, was awarded to Giovanna Leslie, age 10 of Bellevue, and her 25 year old POA gelding, ‘Bitsy,’ for the Hairiest Horse of 2010.

Other award recipients included Emmis Griffin, 17, of Hailey for Showmanship at Halter and  English Equitation,  Megan Young, 12, of Hailey for Quality, Connor Clark, 10, of...

Papoose Club’s Annual KinderCup ski race is happening this Saturday, February 27th. This fun and free ski race for children ages 3 to 13 will be held at Dollar Mountain. There will be a fun race base and swag, and each racer will be photographed.  Registration is from 8:30 – 9:30 am sharp at Dollar Lodge. Races begin at 10:15 am. Medal ceremony is at 12:30 pm.  Parking is available in both Dollar lots, and overflow in the Pavilion lot.  This exciting race has been running for decades. Come join your neighbors and cheer on the Valley's future Olympians!

Participation in the training is free of charge, and it is open to anyone interested in developing listening skills, including listening to youth,  and learning about the dynamics of crises such as family violence, alcoholism, codependency, depression, child abuse and neglect, mental illness, sexual assault, suicide and more. 

The training sessions will be given by professional health care specialists.  Those involved in the training will also find out about the many organizations within our community that offer services and support such as The Advocates, St. Luke’s Center for Community Health, NAMI, Hospice, Public Health, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and many more. 

The training runs from March 2nd to March 30th every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 PM, at the Light On The Mountains Spiritual Center,  12446 State Highway 75, just north of Gimlet Road.

Please call the business office of the Crisis Hotline 788-0735 to sign up for the training.

This is your personal invitation to come join us at Ketchum Dry Goods in our support for the Wood River YMCA's Y Partner's Campaign.  The fundraising campaign benefits the YMCA's open door policy - the program that allows individuals and families to obtain membership to the facility regardless of income.  All money raises stays local and supports locals.  While you shop and enjoy libations, hors d'oeuvres, snacks and treats, Ketchum Dry Goods will be donating 10% of the pre-tax portion of every item purchased from 6p - 9p on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 to the Y Partners Campaign.  So come treat yourself to some fun, new clothing and accessories while supporting an important community program! Bring your friends for a fun night out.  You deserve it!

What: Fundamentals of Color Art Class

Location: Sawtooth Botanical Garden (11 Gimlet Road, Ketchum, ID. 83340)

Date: Friday, March 12^th, 2010

Time:  2:00-4:00 P.M.

Cost: Member $5, Non-member $7

Ages: Kids 7+

Contact: To register or for more information, call Teresa at (208) 726-9358

More Information: Spring Break is right around the corner! Have Blago, a gifted contemporary artist from Blagojce Fine Art Gallery, help your kids get their break started in a great way at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. There is an early release for public schools on Friday, March 12^th, so come to the Garden to have an awesome time learning basic painting concepts in our beautiful greenhouse. The last class Blago taught was a hit, so you don’t want to miss out this time. Sign up today to join in on the fun!

Volunteers who spend a total of eight hours taking shelter dogs on outings can receive a one-day pass to Disneyland or Walt Disney World under a new cooperative program between the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley and Disney Parks.

Disney is making one million passes available through the program. Shelter volunteers are eligible until all tickets are distributed or until Dec. 31.

To sign up, go to ww.disneyparks.com and click on “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day” at the top of the page.

 “This is a wonderful donation by Disney, and give us the opportunity to something special for our volunteers,” said Jo-Anne Dixon, D.V.M., executive director and medical director of the shelter.

The Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley, the first “no kill” shelter in Idaho, promotes companion animal welfare by providing temporary shelter for homeless animals, adopting them to qualified homes and reducing animal abuse, neglect and overpopulation through community education and spay/neuter services. More than 90 percent...

Google joins Facebook in majorly screwing up the rollout of a new feature that can have a severe impact on one's privacy. The focus of this post, however, is focused on kids. Users of Gmail had a new service rolled out to them called Google Buzz that most kids (and adults too) won't realize the implications of. Charlene Li is a well-regarded Internet Industry Analyst and also a parent. In her piece, she opens with this.

Like many parents, I try to take steps to keep my kids safe online, making sure that they understand not to share personal information online, or even to use their real names. They know how to write appropriate emails, and I constantly monitoring what they do, the emails they send, and most importantly, engaging in a constant dialog with what they are doing online.

She goes on to share her nightmare (and real world) scenario.

Without an overhaul and the addition of true parental controls in Gmail, this will remain a problem for Google, and a potential PR nightmare. Imagine parents (and...

Theresa Castellano-Wood and Benjamin Wood, the co-chairs of the Wood River YMCA Capital Campaign, recently shared some of the impressive results of the effort that they led.  In the midst of an extremely tough economy, they shared how generous our community has been as well as how broad the reach of the Y is in the valley. A full 25% of the Wood River Valley are members of the Y which is unprecedented anywhere in the country.

The following are some of the figures Theresa and Benjamin shared:

• $23M Raised for the Capital Campaign to build the Y
• 4.5 years to raise the money
• 1800 pledges showing the diversity of support throughout the valley
• 85% of those 1800 Pledges paid to date (the remainder are multi-year pledges)
• 1% default rate - even in the most robust economy, this is exceedingly low
• 55,000 SF building
• Open for 2 years
• 4,500 current members -- this doesn't include the 100's of tourists who visit the Y during weeks such as President's Day Week. This continues to go up as lodgers offer Y...

Join Dale Bates of Living Architecture & James Reed of Onsen Farm: Winter Gardens for an exciting weekend beginning with an interactive workshop and ending with a greenhouse tour. Presented by Idaho's Bounty and the Banbury Institute.

Workshop: Saturday March 6th - 9:30am-5:00pm

Dale Bates and James Reed will facilitate this two day Greenhouse Workshop and Tour. Bring your projects or ideas and share them with others in the group. You will be exploring a variety of greenhouse concepts, along with looking at several existing working greenhouses in the area.

The workshop will be located at Steve and Kathleen Wilson's home in Bellevue Farms (South of Bellevue) at 122 Quarter Horse Dr.

Tour: Sunday March 7th - 12:30 to 4:00pm

We will meet at Arden Schmitt's farm, 1421S-1800E Gooding, at 12:30 to see his greenhouse, then we will drive to Onsen Farm: Winter Gardens, 4799B River Road B. Hagerman, the starting off point of our walking tour, visiting three other greenhouses.

Both Days:

 $35 for both days/$25 for Saturday'...

What: Spring Break Snow School

Location: Sawtooth Botanical Garden (11 Gimlet Road, Ketchum, ID. 83340)

Dates: Monday, March 15

Time:  9 A.M.-2:30 P.M.

Cost: Member is $20/day, nonmember is $25/day, with 10% off if you register for the entire week

Ages: 4-12

Contact: Teresa at (208) 726-9358

More Information:  Are your kids upset about not going away this Spring Break? Tell them to turn those frowns upside down, because the Sawtooth Botanical Garden is offering a stupendous Spring Break Snow School! We will not only teach your kids about seasonality, winter, snow, the water cycle, and how plants and animals survive in the winter, but we’ll also be having a blast participating in outdoor games and activities, including snowshoeing. Have your kids say “goodbye” to winter the right way. Sign them up as soon as possible.

What: Fundamentals of Color Art Class

Location: Sawtooth Botanical Garden (11 Gimlet Road, Ketchum, ID. 83340)

Date: Friday, March 12

Time:  2:00-4:00 P.M.

Cost: Member $5, Non-member $7

Ages: 7+

Contact: To register or for more information, contact Teresa at (208) 726-9358

More Information: Since your kids are released early from school on Friday, March 12

The Advocates for Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault today announced it has appointed Carol Jensen, CPA; Eeva Pregitzer and Katherine Schroder to The Advocates’ Board of Directors.

“The addition of Carol, Eeva and Katherine strengthens The Advocates’ solid foundation of leadership by complimenting and increasing the organization’s depth and breadth of financial and fund raising expertise, and diverse life experience,” said President Margery Friedlander.

Carol Jensen, CPA, has nearly 30 years of experience practicing in the areas of tax, estate planning, management and eldercare consulting; and volunteering with multiple community organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Jensen serves as a board member of the Seattle-based Bayview Manor Foundation, which provides subsidies that allow residents to remain in their homes and is a legacy advisor for Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, Seattle. Jensen has held leadership positions on several...

 Hailey Chamber of Commerce Announces 2010 Executive Committee

The Hailey Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 2010 Executive Committee for the Board of Directors.  The Board will be lead by Krista Gehrke, owner of Blaine County Fitness.  Members of the Hailey Chamber Executive Committee are:

Krista Gehrke, President
Blaine County Fitness

Lisa Emerick, Past President
Friedman Memorial Airport

Dale Ewersen, Vice President
Splash N’ Dash

Kathy Harrison, Treasurer
Harrison Insurance 

Karen Scheurmier, Secretary
Avis Rent-A- Car

In the words of one coach...

Last year was my first time coaching GOTR.  There was a girl that struggled with the running part and yet she worked sooo hard.  Every session she was the one struggling. During the 5k she still struggled. As I approached her in the race, I patted her on the back, ran with her for a bit, and encouraged her.  She told me how excited she was. Her smile extended from ear to ear.  At that moment I knew it was okay to pass.  As I did I started crying... finishing the whole 5k with tears in my eyes. It is so hard for me to put into words the feelings I went through that day, but being a GOTR coach is probably one of the MOST rewarding things I have done. It is an amazing program, the things it does not only for the young girls but for their coaches.  ~ Amber, Mother of two handsome little boys, Wife of ten years, Accounting guru at Blaine County Recreation, and GOTR coach.

Come make a difference! You will...