Check on canceled events
The Sun Valley Artist Series performance with pianist Susan Spelius Dunning at the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood in Ketchum on Saturday, Jan. 8, has been postponed to an as-yet unscheduled date. For details, e-mail info@svwas.org.
In addition, the Sawtooth Botanical Garden talk on solar energy scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 11, has been canceled. For details, call 726-9358.
Christmas tree collection benefits WRHS bands
The Wood River High School concert, jazz and Dixie bands will provide Christmas tree recycling on Saturday, Jan. 8. This is a fundraiser for its trip in April to Anaheim, Calif., for the Heritage Music Festival and Competition.
The Wood River High School music department sends seven groups to the Heritage Festival every two years. That includes the three band groups, three choir groups and the orchestra. Band director Tony Randall and choir director Max Stimac, along with many parent chaperones, accompany the kids on the bus trip to Anaheim. In 2008, 130 kids in three buses attended. The groups earned four gold and three silver medals at the competition.
Each music student must individually raise $475 to pay for his or her trip, which has been a challenge in this sluggish economy. For $10, students will pick up your tree and take it to Ohio Gulch for recycling ($20 for trees over 8 feet tall). Call Sandra at 481-0389 to arrange for pickup.
Save the date for Galena benefit
The Blaine County Recreation District will hold the 15th annual Galena and the Trails Winter Benefit on Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Sun Valley Inn Limelight Room. The benefit kicks off the weeklong Sun Valley Nordic Festival, Jan. 29-Feb. 6. The evening features a three-course dinner with wine, live and silent auction and a raffle for a combined Sun Valley ski pass and a youth bike donated by Scott USA. This year, the event features live music by All Night Diner. Tickets are $85 before Jan. 15 and $100 after. For details, call 578-5455.
Sun Valley Opera presents live HD screenings
The Sun Valley Opera and Bigwood 4 Cinema in Hailey will present the Los Angeles Philharmonic in HD live with Gustavo Dudamel conducting from Walt Disney Concert Hall. The program will be screened Sunday, Jan. 9, at 3 p.m. In addition, "The Met: HD Live" will present "La Funciulla del West" at the Bigwood 4 Cinema in Hailey on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 11 a.m.
Tickets for each show are $22 for general admission, $20 for seniors and $18 for 18 and younger, and are available at the theater.
Disabled youth forum scheduled
The Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities seeks youth applicants for its Idaho Youth Leadership Forum—a weeklong leadership and career-development program for high school juniors and seniors with disabilities—to be held this summer.
Students gain information about disability history, self-advocacy and resources related to assistive technology, community support, career development and civil rights.
Activities include job shadow experiences, meeting local, state and federal policymakers, and social activities. Each delegate will have the chance to develop a personal leadership plan for the future.
Selected students serve as delegates from their communities at the six-day conference, held at Boise State University. Each student's needs are met with support staff and accommodations to ensure full participation. All expenses, including travel, are paid.
The forum is from July 11-16.
Applications are available online at the council's website www.icdd.idaho.gov. The deadline for applications is March 25. For information, contact Beau Stiles at (208) 334-2178 or (800) 544-2433.
Kiwanis receive anonymous donation
The Kiwanis Club of Hailey and the Wood River Valley has received an anonymous donation of $2,000 through the Heart of Gold Fund in the Idaho Community Foundation. The donation is intended to be a matching-fund donation.
Kiwanis International is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. For information about membership in the Hailey club, contact Jim Spinelli at (208) 481-1112.
Snake River worth protecting
The Snake River basin has been named one of the top 10 habitats worth protecting in the United States by the Endangered Species Coalition.
The national wildlife advocacy group cited the basin as being in need of protection because it's the largest, highest and most intact salmon habitat in the lower 48 states. Three endangered species—Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon and steelhead—inhabit the basin.
According to a report by the coalition, the basin is currently threatened by increasing temperatures, which salmon cannot adapt to.
Advising on advisories
Janet Kellam, former director of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center, will give a lecture next week on how to make sense of the avalanche advisories that the center issues daily.
Kellam will speak Wednesday, Jan. 12, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Idaho Conservation League office on the corner of Fourth Street and First Avenue in Ketchum.
Kellam has 30 years of experience in the avalanche field and is currently the president of the American Avalanche Association.
P&Z members reappointed
On Monday, the Ketchum City Council unanimously reappointed Planning and Zoning Commissioners Steve Cook and Sam Williams to three-year terms. Cook has served on the P&Z since 2008, and his three-year term was set to expire. Williams has been a commissioner since May 2007, when he filled a vacant seat. He was appointed to a three-year term in 2008, which was also set to expire. The council's approval extends their terms to January 2014.
