For the week of December 10 - 16, 2003

Ski for Charity on
Great Reindeer Hunt

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A brand new ski—or board—for charity event planned this year for children and teens in the Wood River Valley combines charitable giving and prominent local role models with fun and prizes.

Two valley church administrators, Teresa Gregory of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church and Susan Springer of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, both in Ketchum, are organizing this nondenominational event. The Great Reindeer Hunt on Skis for Charity takes place on Bald Mountain Saturday, Dec. 20, and is open to all students in elementary, middle or high school.

Here’s how it works: Children and teens are invited to join in raising money for charities that benefit children, and have a blast in the process. A number of notable local people have volunteered to serve as Santa’s nine reindeer and ski on Baldy from 1 to 4 p.m.

Skiing as Santa’s reindeer will be Ketchum Mayor Ed Simon as Cupid, Sun Valley Mayor-Elect Jon Thorson as Blitzen, Hailey Mayor Susan McBryant as Dasher, WRHS Principal Graham Hume as Donner, Community School Middle School Director Nigel Whittington as Prancer, WRMS Assistant Principal Fritz Peters as Blitzen II, St. Thomas Rector Father Brian Baker as Rudolph—yes, he’ll wear the nose—Community of Faith Lutheran Church Pastor Neal Collins as Vixen, Idaho state Rep. Wendy Jaquet as Dancer and Idaho state Sen. Clint Stennett as Comet.

Each "reindeer" will wear antlers, and a ski-race bib with his or her reindeer name. In addition to purchasing their lift ticket, kids, or "hunters" pay $10 each to participate. Entry fees go to support four organizations that benefit children, including Sun Valley Adaptive Sports, which provides ski and snowboard lessons and summer camp for disabled youths; Camp Rainbow Gold, which provides a summer camping experience for Idaho children diagnosed with cancer; Silver Creek Alternative School, providing at-risk youths a second chance at earning a high school degree; and YAK! Youth Adult Konnection, which serves local youths, including at-risk youths, with asset-building programs and services.

Registration for hunters begins at noon at River Run Base Lodge, followed by a rules and safety briefing. The reindeer will be introduced and "crowned" and then get a 10-minute head start up the lifts to spread out and ski the mountain. The "hunters" follow, each armed with a blank Christmas card in a Zip-Loc bag. It’s the job of each hunter to find all nine reindeer and get their signatures on the Christmas card. Several "back-up" reindeer are skiing so that the hunters’ chances of 100 percent success are enhanced.

At 3:45 p.m. all hunters and reindeer report back to River Run Lodge for pizza and awards. Hunters who successfully find all nine reindeer are eligible for drawings for prizes donated by local businesses. Even those hunters who aren’t so lucky will still be eligible for other prize drawings. The completed Christmas cards will be donated to Blaine Manor and Blaine County Senior Center to help brighten the holiday of the older folks in our valley.

The Great Reindeer Hunt on Skis for Charity is a way to teach kids about charitable giving and features notable people modeling charitable behavior by giving the gift of their time. For more information, contact Springer at 726-5349 ext. 10 susanspringer@cox-internet.com or Gregory at 622-3432 or olsp3432@aol.com.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.