Submitted by: Mel Rice-Public Relations
The Beaverhead Search and Rescue held it monthly meeting last week. The meeting was called to order by Commander Lawrence Morriroe at 7:02 Wednesday evening. There were 29 members present. Guests attending this month were Eric Rush and Weston Helle.
The first item of business was a report on the up and coming trainings and a couple trainings that may take place if enough members commit to them. Tara Remely and Steve Mock attended a training exercise that presented different scenarios that teams had to evaluate and work through. This training was put on by Madison County S&R. A course that the Beaverhead unit is looking to put on is “Managing Lost Person Incident. This course is approximately 40 hours in length. There will have to be 8 to 10 individuals commit to this in order to make it cost effective both for the instructors and the unit. Each year we try to have a summer campout which includes 2 ½ days of training. This year’s campout is scheduled for June 10-11. It’s a great time to bring a number of our families together.
There was one rescue during the past month. It occurred in the upper reaches of the Horse Prairie. Two gentlemen from Great Falls had slid off the road into a snow drift and could not get out. The SOS call was received around mid-morning. Russ Sigman was the IC of the incident. Trent and Cole Cottom were in the area hunting so after communicating with Russ, they were dispatched to the coordinates. A tow truck had been dispatched as well but took a wrong road and never did arrive. Therefore, the Cottom men were able to winch the vehicle back on the road and sent the two gentlemen on their way. Other members who were on hand were: Adam Norlander, Tyler Grover, and Jason Ericksen. It turned out to be a simple and quick fix.
On the membership side of things, BVHD S&R brought on board 5 new probationary members. They will have to serve for a period of 1 year on probation. At the end of the year it will be determined whether to grant each of them full membership. During their probation they will be expected to participate in all activities of the unit but without voting rights. New probationary members are: Trevor Hyland, Joe Reyes, Jaime Rawson, Jaime Trevette, and Charles Weidow. Congratulations and welcome aboard. The unit had one member resign. Tom McKnight has indicated his desire to step down due to an abundance of other commitments. Tom appreciated his time with the organization and likewise the group appreciated Tom’s commitment. Thank you Tom for all that you did for Beaverhead SAR.
The Stan Shafer Memorial Ice Fishing Derby is on again to start off the new year. The date for the next derby is January 15, 2023. That may sound like a long ways away but it is actually next month. Get those augers out and sharpened up. Don’t think ice is going to be a problem this year. Everything is the same as in the past. The derby is at Clark Canyon Reservoir starting at 7:00 AM and ends at 4:00 PM that afternoon. There are two tagged fish, one worth $5000 and a second one worth $8500. We will be splitting $750 four ways on the largest trout and $750 four ways on the largest ling by weight. The kids’ contest is back as well. On trout we pay kids $75 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place, and $25 for 3rd place by weight. The same is true for the top 3 ling caught by kids…
The last order of business for the evening was the nomination of officers for the year 2023. Nominations remain open until the January meeting. At the January meeting other nominations will be accepted and voting will take place.
After conclusion of the business portion of the meeting, Alex Dunn completed a short training on “What should be in your winter packs.” Each member should have special items in their packs not only for aiding someone else but for their own safety as well. He discussed a number of item that are light weight, easy to pack, but could very easily make the difference between survival and not. Thank you, Alex.
At this time the Beaverhead Search and Rescue would like to thank our community members and businesses for your continued support. Without you we would not be able to do the things we do and take care of business at hand the way we do. Thank you so very much. Your BVHD S&R “In the Business of Saving Lives”.
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