Submitted By: Mel Rice, Public Relations Officer
The December meeting of the Beaverhead Search and Rescue took place on Wednesday, December 7. Commander Lawrence Morrisroe called the meeting to order at 7:10 with 32 members in attendance. The first order of business was to welcome two new probationary members to the unit. Their names are Keri Carson and Aaron Beard. Welcome aboard. When you see them out and about, please take the time to thank them for their service.
Next on the agenda was the critique of two searches/rescues the unit had in the last month. The first being the search for a 15 year old young man In the Warm Springs drainage outside Jackson, MT. The second one was a rescue of two gentlemen in the Gibbons Pass area west of Wisdom.
After discussion of the incidents, training officer Alex Dunn presented training opportunities for members that will be happening this month and next month. On December 9th there will be rope training put on by member Steve Mock and others. The next training will take place on the 12th of January. This is an Aerie Wilderness Medicine training sponsored by the UM Western School of Outreach. Then on January 27th there will be an Avalanche Rescue class.
Tara Remely, ice fish derby chairperson, talked about the upcoming derby. Tickets are available from S&R members and may also be purchased at various businesses around town. Once again it will have the same exciting payouts for the largest trout and ling by weight. There will also be two tagged fish that will pay big money if caught. The kids fishing contest is back, as well as the 50/50 pot splits and door prizes. Come join in the fun on the 14th of January, 2024…
After a lengthy discussion on communications, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45. After the general meeting, communications officer, Brad Wagner, had a short training explaining the use of our repeaters, locations of these repeaters, and the ground coverage of each repeater. Looking on a map of the coverage area for each repeater it is obvious there are multiple areas in our county that communication during incidents is very sketchy at best. Brad has been working very hard to improve our comm. coverage with the addition of new radios, repeaters, and working with the Forest Service to use their repeaters. Thank you Brad for your dedication and hard work. He puts in many extra hours to keep us up and running.
Even though our winter has been pretty mild so far, we can only hope that it will change at some point in time. Before that happens and catches everyone of guard, please get things and be prepared for whatever may come. Oh yes, get that ice fishing gear out and ready for some fun. “In the Business of Saving Lives”, your Beaverhead Search and Rescue.
