Be safe when cutting trees
The U.S. Forest Service announced this week that while it encourages people to buy Christmas tree permits and cut down trees on public lands, those doing so should be careful not to get injured or lost while searching for the perfect tree.
“Trees from your national forests brighten homes across the country every year,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “We encourage people to be aware of changing weather conditions, dress accordingly and always follow safe cutting practices.”
The service reminds those cutting trees to always tell a friend when and where they are going; to dress warmly and make sure their car’s gas tank is full before setting out; to keep tire chains handy; to use eye protection and heavy-duty work gloves; and to remember that chainsaws are prohibited on the national forests unless the user has a shovel and fire extinguisher.
Christmas tree permits are available at the Sawtooth National Recreation Area headquarters north of Ketchum on state Highway 75 and at the Ketchum Ranger District office on the east part of Sun Valley Road.
Give the gift of hunting
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is urging gift-buyers this year to consider a hunting and fishing license.
License gift certificates are available at all regional offices throughout the state. The licenses themselves must then be purchased by the person who will be using it, as he or she will need to show proof of residency. Gift certificates can only be redeemed at regional agency offices.
Lifetime licenses cost from $276.75 to $1,113, depending on the age of the recipient. A hunting license costs $12.75, a fishing license is $25.75 and a combination license is $33.50 for one year.
A sportsman’s package, which is $124.25 for a year, includes hunting and fishing licenses, tags for deer, elk, bear, mountain lion, gray wolf, turkey, salmon and steelhead as well as archery and muzzleloading permits.
Group offers college scholarships
The Idaho Community Foundation has more than 60 scholarship opportunities for students seeking assistance with the cost of higher education. The deadline to submit a scholarship application is April 1.
An application and information about all Idaho Community Foundation scholarships is on the its website at HYPERLINK "http://www.idcomfdn.org/scholarships" www.idcomfdn.org/scholarships.
In 2012, Idaho Community Foundation awarded about $159,000 in scholarships to more than 100 students representing 26 Idaho counties.
For more information, contact Elly Davis at 208-342-3535, or HYPERLINK "mailto:edavis@idcomfdn.org" o "blocked::mailto:edavis@idcomfdn.org" edavis@idcomfdn.org.
Learn to improve your posture
St. Luke’s Center for Community Health will present a Brown Bag Health Talk titled “Use Your Noodle to Improve Your Posture” on Thursday, Dec. 6, from 12:15-1:15 p.m.
Physical therapist and Feldenkrais practitioner Mary Kay Foley will bring foam rollers and pool noodles to use as exercise equipment. Participants can learn how to use these tools to improve their posture, massage muscles and trigger points, and challenge their balance. People should wear comfortable clothing and be ready to move around.
The talk will be held at St. Luke’s Wood River south of Ketchum.
All Brown Bag lectures are free and no preregistration is required. Call St. Luke’s Center for Community Health for information on this or other educational programs, 727-8733.
First flu-related deaths reported
Public health officials report that three women have died from influenza-related causes; one from Southeast Idaho and two from Southwest Idaho. All three were over age 50.
This year’s influenza season has hit earlier than in previous years, making it even more critical to get the vaccine as soon as possible, state health officials said. It is especially important that people at high risk for complications from the flu and anyone in close contact to those people are vaccinated, they said. People at higher risk include infants, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart disease and people 65 and older.
The flu vaccine protects against three strains of the flu likely to be circulating, so even people who have had the flu are still vulnerable to other strains of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months and older should be vaccinated unless they have a severe allergy to chicken eggs or have had a severe reaction to the flu vaccine in the past.
Most people who get influenza recover after a few days, but it’s possible to develop serious complications. One is bacterial pneumonia, another vaccine-preventable respiratory illness. Those over age 65 and people with certain chronic illnesses or weakened immune system are at a high risk for that illness and should receive a pneumonia shot at least once. The pneumonia shot can be given at the same time as the flu shot.
For information about influenza, visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu" www.cdc.gov/flu. For information about bacterial pneumonia, visit www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/streppneum_t.htm.
YMCA installs new board members
The Wood River Community YMCA welcomed five new board members in 2012. Executive Director Jason Fry said they will help drive the mission of the Y with a focus on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.
“These new volunteers are working closely with a strong board of directors and staff, placing the Y in its strongest position since opening in 2007,” Fry said.
The new board members represent a diverse set of skills from within the community.
Doug Webb is a 40-year resident of the Wood River Valley, having founded the now employee-owned Webb Landscape. Webb and his wife, Julia, have been strong supporters of the Y since its inception and now enjoy spending time with their grandkids in the pool.
Dan Turner and his wife, Christiane, discovered the Wood River Valley in 1995. Turner spent his professional career as an equities trader, beginning on the Pacific Stock Exchange in 1981, and then went on to found market-making firm Rubicon Securities. He later founded Rubicon Capital Group, a private investment fund. He is an active member of the Y’s development committee.
A native of Montana, Cody Langbehn moved to the area in 2012 with his wife and children to take a job as CEO of St. Luke’s Wood River. His wife, Lisa, works as a massage therapist at the Y, having done the same at the Billings, Mont., Y prior to their move.
Jackie Flanigan has been an enthusiastic supporter, a member and volunteer. Along with Dan Turner, she co-chairs the Y’s development committee.
David Holmes resides in Hailey and has served as head of school for the Community School since 2011. Prior to that, he was executive director of the Lee Pesky Learning Center. In addition, he serves on the boards of Riverstone International School, the Blaine County Education Foundation and the College for Every Student national advisory board, and is a consultant to Escola SESC de Ensino Medio, a new national boarding school in Brazil for low-income students.
Learn about indigenous art
Boise State University Assistant Professor Edward Test will give a free presentation on “Mexican Feather Work and the Indigenization of European Culture” today, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. at the Community Campus in Hailey, Room 301.
Test will show images of Mexican feather work and discuss how the feather came to represent the Americas’ indigenous peoples during the period of European exploration following Columbus’ first encounter with the New World. He will describe how feathered objects were exported to Europe for adorning hats, dresses, procession horses and the buildings of the aristocracy. Ultimately, Test argues, feathers from the New World changed the culture of Europe.
Test, an assistant professor of English, has published multiple essays on Mesoamerican culture in English literature and is a translator of Spanish, having published several pieces by Cuban writers.
The lecture is sponsored by CSI and the Consulate of Mexico in Boise. For more information, contact the CSI office at 788-2033 or visit the website at www.csi.edu/blaine.
Opera presents ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’
Join Sun Valley Opera at the Bigwood Cinema in Hailey for a tale of intrigue when “Un Ballo in Maschera” is performed live in high definition from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The live broadcast begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8.
Accompanied by a thrilling score, Verdi’s vivid characters grapple with life and love, betrayal and death. Director David Alden’s dreamlike setting provides a compelling backdrop for this dramatic story of jealousy and vengeance. Marcelo Alvarez stars as the conflicted king; Sondra Radvanovsky is Amelia, the object of his secret passion; and Dmitri Hvorostovsky is her suspicious husband. Kathleen Kim is the page Oscar, and mezzosoprano powerhouses Dolora Zajick and Stephanie Blythe take turns singing the fortuneteller Ulrica. Fabio Luisi conducts.
Runtime is four hours. Tickets are available at the theater box office at 801 N. Main St. in Hailey. Cost is $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and $18 for students.
Candlelight service series to begin
Tonight, Dec. 5, at 5:30 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church will begin a series of Taizé services for the winter. Everyone is welcome. The dates are Dec. 5, 12 and 19; Jan. 9, 16, 23 and 30; and Feb. 6.
The services are patterned on the worship style of Taizé, a small religious community in France founded in the early 1940s to promote ways to heal the divisions among Christians of all faith traditions and among people in general. Its ecumenical mission is for reconciliation and peace in the world.
Taizé is a meditative prayer service that incorporates simple, repetitive song and chant, scripture reading and periods of group silence in a setting of peace and soft light that fosters communion with God. People are handed a service booklet and a candle as they come in the door, where they gather quietly in the gently lit worship space. At the front, a few lighted candles sit along with an icon of Christ. For the next 30 to 40 minutes, there are chanted songs, silence, scripture and prayers of the people and prayers for peace among all people.
St. Thomas is located at 201 Sun Valley Rd. For more information, call 726-5349.
‘Searching for Sugar Man’ inspires
“Searching for Sugar Man” is a documentary film that inspires hope, inspiration and the resonating power of music.
Considered the greatest ’70s U.S. rock icon that never was, a man named Rodriguez, momentarily was hailed as the finest recording artist of his generation after, in 1968, two celebrated producers in a Detroit bar believed they had discovered a Chicano Bob Dylan. The producers were struck by the charismatic Mexican-American musician’s soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics.
They recorded an album, “Cold Fact,” which bombed, and Rodriguez disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. However, a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and in the following decades became a phenomenon.
Two fans set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation led them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez.
Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, “Searching for Sugarman” has won numerous awards, including the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
“Searching for Sugarman” opens at the Magic Lantern Cinema in Ketchum on Friday, Dec. 7, at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. with matinees Saturday, Dec. 8, and Sunday, Dec. 9, at 2 p.m.
YMCA Giving Tree is up
The Wood River YMCA and the Advocates have installed a Giving Tree in the front lobby of the YMCA in Ketchum. Hand-crafted ornaments provide suggestions of gifts for children of local families in need. Stop by the Y to pick an ornament of your choice and return the wrapped gift and the ornament back to the Y by Dec. 21. The YMCA and the Advocates will make sure the gifts are delivered before Christmas Eve.
For more information, contact Danna at 928-6701.
Bellevue decoration contest starts
The third annual Light Up Bellevue Main Street holiday lighting contest is underway. Bellevue residents and businesses are invited to deck out their buildings in as festive a style as they can.
The winner of the contest will receive $250 as well as an engraved trophy, bragging rights for one year and a one-year membership in the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. The winner will be announced at the ninth annual Bellevue Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 15, from 3:30-7 p.m. on the corner of Main and Cedar streets
Children will have an opportunity at the ceremony to have photographs taken with Santa, take a holiday hayride and listen to local Christmas carolers while roasting marshmallows around the fire.