Get ready for Hailey Fourth of July celebration
The Hailey annual Fourth of July Parade theme is “Let freedom ring with Western splendor,” and participants are encouraged to get creative, show their patriotic spirit and have some fun with it.
Last year’s event drew thousands of spectators sitting, standing and dancing from Myrtle Street all the way to Cedar Street.
Floats, wagons, bikes, vehicles and two feet are still needed from businesses, community groups and residents alike.
The parade starts at noon on Thursday, July 4, on Main Street just south of the Wood River Inn and marches through downtown Hailey showcasing each entry to all until it reaches the Blaine Manor and exits onto Cedar Street where the Blaine County Heritage Court gives a final round of applause to all contestants.
The panel of judges this year will be the exuberant Red Hatters (among the winners of the 2012 parade). The ladies will award first-, second- and third-place prizes for five categories: Best Float, Best in Equestrian/Wagon Group, Best in Antique/or Decorated Vehicle, Best in Theme and Best Organization.
Applications are available now online or at the chamber office in the Welcome Center. Early discounted entries ($25) must be turned in by June 15. Entrants registering after June 15 will pay $45. For more information, contact the chamber office at 788-3484 or visit website
www.haileyidaho.com and register online.
Challenge issued for photographers
From now until Sept. 3, a “Wilderness Forever” public photography competition will accept entries of images illustrating the majesty, diversity and value of our nation’s wilderness areas. This professionally juried contest is being conducted by the 50th Anniversary National Wilderness Planning Team (Wilderness50), Nature’s Best Photography and the Smithsonian Institution. About 50 winning contest entries will be chosen for display as large-format prints in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History as part of a 2014 exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.
“This is a great opportunity to show off the beauty and diversity of Idaho,” said Dan Buckley, superintendent of Craters of the Moon National Monument. “We’re excited to share the public’s visions of Idaho’s beautiful wilderness lands and we encourage visitors to submit photos of these special places.”
Professional, amateur and student photographers may submit their photographs accompanied by personal stories and memories about the scenes depicted. Contest guidelines and entry instructions are online at
www.naturesbestphotography.com/wilderness.
Get in the swim at Hailey BAH
The June Hailey Business After Hours will be held Thursday, June 20, from 5-7 p.m. at the Blaine County Recreation District’s Aquatic Center.
The Hailey Chamber of Commerce invites businesses and the public to the Aquatic Center, 1020 Fox Acres Rd., to enjoy the pool atmosphere, light fare and refreshments. Bring business cards for the monthly raffle.
This free monthly networking event is a great way to make new contacts and learn about the community businesses.
Call 788-3484 for additional information
Sustainability Center grand reopening
Join the Hailey Chamber of Commerce for the grand reopening and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Sustainability Center on Friday, June 21, from 3-7 p.m. at 308 S. River St.
The Sustainability Center produces, promotes and sells local sustainably farmed food by supporting local farmers and home gardeners.
The center provides gardening supplies, including appropriate seeds for this climate, seedlings produced locally and compost. Also offered are classes on gardening, raising chickens, cooking and composting.
The center features a meeting space, a commercial kitchen and library stocked with books and DVDs on everything from whole-hog cooking to home composting.
Snacks and beverages will be served.
For more information, call the Hailey chamber at 788-3484.
Still time to get discounted advance tickets for the NRMF
Discount tickets for the 36th annual Northern Rockies Music Festival are available online until they are gone at www.northernrockiesmusicfestival.org.
Headliners include Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster, Hayes Carrl, the 44s, and Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams. The music festival will be held Friday, Aug. 2, and Saturday, Aug. 3.
Tickets are 15 percent less online than they will be by show time. Online tickets are $17 for Friday, $28.50 for Saturday and $38.25 for both days.
Friday’s show features Up a Creek, Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams and Hayes Carll. Saturday’s show starts with Paddy Wagon, Captain Dano & the Nobodies, Steph Sloan & Elephant Parade, George Devore and the Electric Cigarettes, The 44s and headliner Ruthie Foster.
Join author Mike Medberry for a chat “On the Dark Side of the Moon”
In spring 2000, Mike Medberry, a longtime advocate of conservation with American Lands, The Wilderness Society and the Idaho Conservation League, suffered a stroke in the remote wilderness of the Craters of the Moon in Idaho. He was rescued after lying for hours alone and contemplating death in a harsh but beautiful landscape.
Medberry was flown to a nearby hospital from the stroke about the same time that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, on behalf of President Clinton, came to support an expansion of the unique national monument, a conservation effort in which Medberry himself had already been involved.
This story interweaves Medberry’s own struggle to speak, walk, write and think with the struggle to protect this brutal, lava-bound, but for him, gentle landscape. Medberry’s recovery from his stroke and his struggle to protect Craters of the Moon is a story of renewal, restoration, accommodation and, ultimately, of finding workable compromises to some of life’s most difficult problems.
Meet the author back near the scene of the drama as he shares some passages from his new book. Medberry will present a reading on Saturday, June 22, at 2:45 p.m. on the Visitor Center patio. He will also provide a longer presentation at 9:30 p.m. in the campground amphitheater that evening.
Medberry has served as a senior environmentalist for several local and national conservation organizations and holds a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Washington. Over the past 20 years he has written nonfiction for Northern Lights Journal, High Country News, Black Canyon Quarterly, Hooked on the Outdoors, Stroke Connection and the e-magazine Writer’s Workshop, as well as short fiction.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/crmo/planyourvisit/events.htm or call 208-527-1335.
Wood River Community Orchestra leader honored, concerts announced
This summer, Brad Hershey, conductor of the Wood River Community Orchestra, will be among the 30 or so people admitted to the prestigious Conducting Workshop Summer Program presented by the Julliard School in New York City. The three conducting faculty and four seminar teachers presenting the program are distinguished in their musical field.
Hershey begins his third year as conductor/music director for the Wood River Community Orchestra this fall and is head of the music department at the Community School in Sun Valley.
The Wood River Community Orchestra has a lively schedule for summer, including a full performance at their donor party, Music & Margaritas, on Sunday, June 30, from 5-7 p.m. in the garden of Jon and Linda Thorsen.
The donation is $50 per person for music, margaritas and fiesta food. To make reservations or obtain further information call 720-7281.
Other musical opportunities for the summer include three performances, Wednesdays, at 5:30 p.m. at the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens. Pack a picnic and a blanket and head for the gardens off state Highway 75 at Gimlet Road on June 26, July 24 and Aug. 28.
The last performance of the summer season will be at Ketchum Town Square on Friday, August 30, at 5 p.m. to kick off the Labor Day weekend.
The orchestra will begin its seventh season in the fall. All past concerts can be heard and viewed at www.wrcorchestra.org. Any questions can be sent to info@wrcorchestra.org.
Want to join the orchestra? Use info@wrcorchestra or call 720-7281. The orchestra is always happy to add new musicians.
