Beaverhead Search and Rescue News

Beaverhead Search and Rescue News

Submitted by Mel Rice-Public Relations

The Beaverhead Search and Rescue held their monthly meeting last Wednesday January 4, 2023. It was called to order by commander Lawrence Morrisroe at 7:15 PM. There were 40 members in attendance. The first order of business for the evening was the election of 2023 officers. Before the election process began, there was much debate on whether to change our current By-Laws to permit the Commander of the unit to serve more than two 1year concurrent terms. After lengthy discussion, it was voted on and passed to allow 4 consecutive terms. None of the other officers have limited term but must be elected each year during our January election process.

Having said that the election of officers took place and here are the results.

· Commander-Lawrence Morrisroe

· Vice Commander-Shane Puyear

· Secretary-Kolby Malesich

· Treasurer-Jennifer McKay

· Communications-Brad Wagner

· Equipment-Evan Helle

· Training-Alex Dunn

· Public Relations-Mel Rice

· Board of Directors at Large-Mike Clarke, Trent Cottom, Cody Schnee

When you see these ladies and gentlemen out in your travels please thank them for their service and dedication to your search and rescue. As many of you know these can be very thankless positions. We have elected a great slate of officers for the New Year. A side note at this time makes reference to our outgoing treasurer Brian Vinson who has served as the unit’s treasurer for many years. Thanks Brian for your dedication to that position. Brian is going nowhere; he is just going to shift his energy to another position in the organization.

The next order of business was the voting on 4 probationary members to move them to permanent membership status. Congratulations to Darby Peterson, Adam Norlander, Mick Paffhausen, and Steve Mock. These individuals are full-fledged members now. This really means nothing new to these individuals. They have been very active since day 1 of their probation and will continue to be outstanding members.

Members of the unit will have several training opportunities coming up in the next couple months. Ruby Valley S&R had a multi-agency training at the Dillon YMCA on the 5th of January. This was a raft and water training for river and lake rescues. BVHD S&R will be having advanced medical training sometime in the near future, avalanche training on the 12th of February, and “Managing the Search” training in March. The Montana SAR will be sponsoring Search Manager training January 14-16, and Lost Person Behavior training January 28-29. Then on the 24, 25, and 26 of February the National SAR Expo is to be held in Tucson AZ. There are lots of opportunities coming up for our members to pick up some great training.

The last order of business was a recap of the search efforts for the 37 year old man presumed drowned in the Big Hole River somewhere around the Maiden Creek fishing access. The unit spent two days in conjunction with the Ruby Valley swift water rescue team searching a section of the river under the ice which is currently covering that section of the river. A big thank you to the Ruby Valley S&R and members of the Beaverhead S&R for their efforts in trying to locate the young man. Beaverhead S&R members participating in the search efforts were, Day 1: Dan Cahill, Lawrence Morrisroe, Adam Norlander, Brian Vinson, Park Scott, Chuck Maddox, Clint Rouse, Steve Mock, Cody Schnee, Dusty Crowe, James Mathews, Mark Smith, Mike Clarke, Nathan Freeman, Shane Puyear, Tommy Goins, Trent Cottom, Wade Bush, and Trevor Hyland; Day 2: Alan Holt, Tommy Goins, Jaime Trivette, Joe Reyes, Nathan Freeman, Steve Mock, Tara Remely, Trevor Hyland, Wade Bush, and Zane Wood.

This Sunday is the S&R’s 37th annual Stan Shafer Memorial Ice Fishing Derby. It takes place at Clark Canyon Reservoir. There is a lot of money to be had by the luckiest fisher persons, $750 split between the 4 largest trout by weight and $750 split between the 4 largest ling by weight. There are also door prizes galore including one for $150.00, 50/50 pots, and two tagged fish which pay big bucks. There is also a fish contest for kids 12 years and younger which splits $150 between the 3 largest trout by weight and the $150 between the 3 largest ling by weight. So come on out and enjoy the day with us. You never know, you might just be one of those lucky winners.

We would like to remind everyone who sleds, cross country skies, snow shoes, or just goes to the mountains, the snow conditions are not very good and the chance of avalanche is very high. Be extremely cognizant of the conditions you’re playing in and have the proper equipment with you at all times. Enjoy the great outdoors but by all means be safe… Your Beaverhead Search and Rescue “In the Business of Saving Lives”.