News Briefs
May 2021 News Brief
Blaine County Recreational District Pump Track
Grantee Spotlight: Blaine County Recreation District
Blaine County Recreation District (BCRD)
The Blaine County Recreation District (BCRD) is working to meet community needs in the southern Wood River Valley by creating accessible, non-motorized winter and summer trails. Through a unique partnership with the owners of Quigley Canyon, the Wood River Land Trust and the City of Hailey, BCRD is developing a 110-acre property at the mouth of Quigley Canyon into a year-round outdoor recreation park. WRWF granted the BCRD $25,000 to fund planned work at the Quigley Trails Park, which includes critical infrastructure improvements such as a parking lot, landscaping, and fencing on BCRD’s 110-acre parcel.
Grantee Spotlight: The Senior Connection
Transportation to Valley events
Eighty percent of Wood River Valley seniors live alone. After concern for their health, transportation is the second largest worry that the elderly face as they carry out their day-to-day activities. The Senior Connection’s transportation services help meet the needs of local seniors as well as help to fight the isolation and loneliness that comes with living alone. Its thirteen-year-old passenger bus has, however, reached the end of its usefulness and must be replaced in 2021. WRWF granted The Senior Connection $15,228 to provide matching funds for a Federal Transportation Administration grant to secure a new fourteen passenger bus which will continue to provide much needed transportation for the Valley’s senior population.
WRWF recently connected with Graybird Foundation, an organization that donates marketing services to community-minded nonprofits. Graybird is providing WRWF with a pro bono grant to help us better understand the perceptions of our organization and guide our marketing efforts as we embark on our next fifteen years. It is vital for your voice to be heard as part of this initiative.
We have asked Graybird to reach out to all WRWF members to provide them with the opportunity to participate. Everyone should have received a request to share her opinions about the WRWF during an approximately twenty-minute telephone interview conducted by a Graybird Foundation researcher. Please know your comments will be kept entirely confidential and rolled up in aggregate form when used in this market research. If you haven’t already done so, please select a time slot on the Doodle Poll Wood River Women’s Foundation 2. Thank you so much for your participation in this important project. If you have any questions about the survey process, please contact Renee Spooner at renee@graybirdfoundation.org.
Blooming with The Senior Connection
Daffodils at The Senior Connection [photo credit: Karen Bossick]
The Senior Connection is planning a Daffodil Festival. In conjunction with the Sawtooth Botanical Garden, they are hoping to plant 10,000 bulbs this fall at the Garden. The blooming of the daffodils will celebrate spring, our seniors, and the Valley’s Garden. Read more about the festival and its benefits to our seniors here.
Member Event: Welcoming Summer with the BCRD
Blaine County Recreation District (BCRD) Aquatic Center
WRWF members are invited to tour two major Blaine County Recreation District (BCRD) facilities. During 2018 and 2019, WRWF granted $60,000 for the Aquatic Center’s revitalization project. This year WRWF awarded $25,000 to improve infrastructure at the south end of Quigley Trails Park.
Please join WRWF in celebrating the opening of the revitalized pool and see the exciting work at the new Quigley Bike Park. After the tour, members will enjoy refreshments poolside on the new patio.
BCRD/WRWF Partnership in Action
Monday, May 24, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
See directions below for meet-up location.
Current COVID-19 guidelines will be followed.
Limited spaces; registration required.
Register here or contact Christina Bauer at wrwcf1@gmail.com
Directions: From the highway driving south, turn left onto Fox Acres Road at the light south of the airport. Follow the road through the roundabout and proceed past the high school onto the gravel road, passing the yurt to the bike park trailhead. We will meet promptly at 4:00 PM and then drive back to the Aquatic Center which shares a parking lot with the Community Campus.
Save the Date: Annual Meeting
Annual Meeting at Trail Creek in 2019
Save the date for our 2021 Annual Meeting at Trail Creek, scheduled for August 4. This annual event has always been a special occasion for the WRWF, where we gather at a beautiful mountain setting to celebrate our nonprofits and all that we have achieved during the previous year. Last year, due to COVID restrictions, we had to cancel this important event, but this year we are planning to meet once again! Details are forthcoming, so watch for email updates. Information will also be coming through our social media sites, and of course, through News Brief!
Welcoming New Members
New members of the WRWF are invited to provide photos and a bit of information about themselves to share in the News Brief. We are delighted to welcome all new members whether they elect to participate or not. A warm WRWF welcome to all who joined this month!
Meg Chambers
Meg Chambers has been coming to the Wood River Valley since she was twelve-years-old. Raised in Ogden, Utah, she lived in Great Falls, Montana and Portland, Oregon with her four children, before returning to Ogden.
Meg worked as a financial consultant for ten years, before becoming an elementary school teacher and ski instructor. Now retired, she is currently transitioning to full time status in the Valley and is excited to get involved with the community.
Jamie Bullock-London
Jamie London discovered Sun Valley as a young child while attending a skating competition. The appeal of the valley left an impression, and she was fortunate to grow up here soon after.
Jamie lured her husband Jeff to the Wood River Valley in 1999. Together they have enjoyed raising their teenage boys in an area filled with amazing opportunities: sports, camping, and most of all, friendly people.
As an educator for more than twenty years, Jamie spends most of her time investing in the lives of future generations.
When Jamie’s stepmom, Terri Bullock, told her about the new Future Forward membership, she was excited to become a part of an organization that has had such a wonderful impact on our beautiful valley.
Jessica Menzies
Jessica was introduced to the Wood River Valley by her husband, John, who grew up in Sun Valley. In 2020, she moved from San Francisco and is extremely grateful to call Ketchum her new home.
Jessica coupled a career in finance and technology with volunteer and advisory roles for a number of nonprofit and professional development organizations focused on women. She is an avid traveler and has lived and worked in several developing countries.
When she’s not chasing her five-year-old daughters, you’ll find her honing her skills on the mountain, on the tennis court, in the garden, or in the kitchen.
Cathy Swink
Cathy Swink has been living in the Wood River Valley for nineteen years. She received a B.A. in Biological Sciences in 1994 from the University of Southern California. In 1999, Cathy completed a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, also from USC. She is co-owner of Valley Apothecary.
Cathy is an avid hockey/baseball/volleyball/lacrosse mom to her son, Will, and to her daughter, Jesse. In her free time, Cathy loves to ski, golf, and hike.
A Big Welcome to These Additional New Members!
Jayne Emory – Ketchum
Joanna Sattler – Sun Valley
WRWF President’s Closing Message
WRWF President, Terri Bullock
As COVID restrictions in the State of Idaho, and the Wood River Valley continue to relax, so, too, will the Wood River Women’s Foundation. Some like me may still feel somewhat disconnected. Even though we are now meeting friends for coffee and hiking outdoors, the disconnect is from the collectiveness of being part of a larger entity. Social interaction, the feeling of real connection, brings inestimable benefits to our mental, emotional and physical well-being.
This was evident as our Membership Committee began organizing tours and walks with Valley nonprofits. Registration quickly filled up within days of these events being announced. We even had waitlists. As WRWF plans social gatherings in the coming year, please watch your email and go to our website for the latest information.
On May 24, we will be touring the Blaine County Recreation District Aquatic Center’s revitalization project and the Quigley Trails Bike Path. WRWF provided partial funding for both of these projects. Due to a fifty-person max attendance limit, please go to our website and register as soon as possible for this tour, where you will be able to say HI to friends and enjoy a beverage on us.
Speaking of upcoming gatherings, I’m happy to announce that we’re going back under the tent at Trail Creek for the WRWF Annual Meeting and Celebration of the grantees. Mark Wednesday, August 4 on your calendar for this special event. As planning continues, you will hear more about it.
Until next month –
Terri Bullock
Many thanks to members who have designated WRWF as their selected charity on AmazonSmile! To link Wood River Women’s Foundation AmazonSmile to your Amazon account, click here and get signed up. Then, whenever you shop Amazon, use the AmazonSmile website.
