![\"Maddison](\"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/x-maddison-gittens-MG_20130530_193924_152-300x169.jpg\")
<\/b>Maddison Gittins, a 12-year-old Wood River Valley girl, has raised $1,200 from supporters at Atkinsons\u2019 Market in Hailey and from friends and family to help find a cure for the disease.<\/p>\n
According to her mother, Kim Gittins, Maddison was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three and a half years ago and now plans on becoming a diabetes researcher with the dream of finding a cure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to thank everyone who donated so generously and made a difference in her dream and for the 2 million others living with T1D,\u201d Kim Gittins said.<\/p>\n
The disease attacks the pancreas, eliminating its ability to produce insulin, and making it impossible to digest food without taking insulin shots, which can number as high as 10 a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaising awareness in our community by a child is incredible,\u201d Kim Gittins said. \u201cWe are very proud of her for taking the initiative to tell supporters her story and why it\u2019s so important to get donations for the research and for T1D treatments and getting closer to a cure and making \u2018type one, type none.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
SILVA ELECTED CHAIR OF SKI ASSOCIATION<\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>Sun Valley Resort announced on May 26 that Tim Silva, the resort\u2019s general manager and vice president, has been elected as chair of the board of directors of the National Ski Area Association. The election took place at the association\u2019s annual convention May 18-21 in Nashville, Tenn. The election is for a two-year term<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier to have Tim Silva as the new chair of the NSAA\u2019s board of directors,\u201d Michael Berry, president of the association, stated in a press release. \u201cSilva brings tremendous value as the chair of the board, including his insights and experiences from both Sun Valley and Northstar-at-Tahoe. He brings an important voice to the northern Rocky Mountain region as our new chair.\u201d<\/p>\n Silva said he considers it an \u201chonor and a privilege to be elected to this position. I\u2019m looking forward to the next two years working with the NSAA board of directors, organization and members.\u201d<\/p>\n SUN VALLEY RESORT WINS SAFETY AWARD<\/b><\/p>\n For the fifth year in a row, Sun Valley Resort has won a National Ski Areas Association \u201cSafety Champion\u201d award, an honor intended to recognize a resort employee \u201cshowing exceptional dedication and enthusiasm toward educating and promoting safety to guests and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n Linda Bowling, the resort\u2019s mountain guest services manager, is the award recipient. The resort reported in a press release that Bowling was \u201crecognized for her efforts with the use of short radio pieces to increase safety for both guests and employees, which was noted as very creative.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of Linda and her guest services staff for this accomplishment,\u201d said Sun Valley Resort Vice President and General Manager Tim Silva. \u201cIt recognizes the continued focus of the entire resort staff to create a community dedicated to safety awareness and enjoyment of the mountain lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n The award was presented at the National Ski Area Association\u2019s national convention May 18-21 in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n MARKETING ALLIANCE LOSES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR<\/b><\/p>\n Arlene Schieven, executive director for the Sun Valley Marketing Alliance, has announced her resignation from the organization to return to her native British Columbia, Canada, where she previously worked in tourism at Whistler ski area.<\/p>\n Schieven has now accepted a job as CEO of tourism at Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops, B.C.<\/p>\n Schieven had served as executive director to the Marketing Alliance since its founding in 2010, evolving from the earlier Ketchum-Sun Valley Chamber of Commerce. The Marketing Alliance, which operates the Visit Sun Valley website and the Sun Valley Visitor Center, is a nonprofit organization that promotes tourism in the area and is funded by local municipalities, local option taxes and various Idaho tourism grants.<\/p>\n ZIONS BANK REWARDS TEEN FOR GOOD GRADES<\/b><\/p>\n Zions Bank announced May 27 that Wood River High School freshman Jakson Albright has received a $100 scholarship savings account as a regional winner of the spring drawing through the Zions Bank \u201cPays for As\u201d program.<\/p>\n Albright qualified for the drawing by bringing his report card to Zions Bank. Through the program, students are paid $1 per A on their report card to be deposited in a savings account. Students can also opt for cash, but receive 50 cents per card instead.<\/p>\n For each A on their report cards, students are entered into a drawing to win one of 150 regional $100 scholarships or a grand prize worth $1,000 in each state.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know it takes extra time and effort to earn high marks, so we\u2019re proud to recognize the achievements of students like Jakson through the Pays for As program,\u201d said Vaelene Bryant, manger of the Zions Bank Hailey Financial Center. \u201cOur goal is to help students focus on schoolwork and motivate them to earn good grades.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018LUNCH IN THE PARK\u2019 STARTS JUNE 20<\/strong><\/p>\n The Hunger Coalition has announced that \u201cLunch in the Park,\u201d a federally funded program to ensure that kids have nutritious meals in the summer, begins on June 20 and will run through Aug. 19.<\/p>\n Through the program, The Hunger Coalition provides free sack lunches from 12-1 p.m. on weekdays to all children under 18. The lunches will be served at the Balmoral apartments play field in south Hailey. No pre-application or identification is required; kids can simply show up for meals. Parents and guardians can also have a sack lunch for $1.<\/p>\n The program is funded by the Blaine County School District with a grant for about $13,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program, the same program that provides funding for free or reduced-price lunches for children when school is in session.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen school ends, hunger begins for many local children who rely on school lunch as the one meal a day they can count on,\u201d said Naomi Spence, associate director of The Hunger Coalition. \u201cThat\u2019s why we started the Lunch in the Park program as a way for kids to come together, get a free, healthy sack lunch, play in the park and enjoy their summer.<\/p>\n \u201cWith more than 450 children living in poverty in Blaine County, and hundreds of local families struggling to make ends meet, Lunch in the Park ensures our children have access to the nutrition they need.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hunger Coalition reported that free activities will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in conjunction with Lunch in the Park. Conducting the activities will be staff from the Hailey Public Library, St. Luke\u2019s Wood River, Blaine County 4-H and the Environmental Resource Center.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n WRHS SOPHOMORE RECEIVES SYMPHONY AWARD<\/strong><\/p>\n Jorgen Lawrence, a sophomore at Wood River High School, has received the Carol Nie Outstanding Music Student Award from the Sun Valley Summer Symphony.<\/p>\n The award, given to a student each year, includes a $1,000 stipend. The award is named in honor of Carol Nie, former board president of the symphony and co-founder of the symphony\u2019s School of Music, which provides free year-round music education for students ages 9 through 18.<\/p>\n The symphony reported in a press release that Lawrence has studied violin since the age of 8. As a part of the Harriman Quartet, he works directly with the string trio Time for Three during their residency and mentorship project with the School of Music.<\/p>\n Lawrence also performs with the high school advance chamber orchestra, sings with the B-Tones and accompanies the vocal group Colla Voce on violin.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the School of Music, I have learned and continue to develop the kind of work ethic that can only be understood after spending hours perfecting one passage of music,\u201d Lawrence said. \u201cThis type of work ethic is vital to playing music and it transfers to almost every other aspect of life.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LUKE\u2019S ANNOUNCES NEW ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON<\/strong><\/p>\n St. Luke\u2019s Wood River announced on May 27 that orthopedic surgeon Dr. Matt Kopplin will join the staff at St. Luke\u2019s Wood River Medical Center later in June.<\/p>\n Kopplin, who specializes in joint replacement, comes to the hospital from Billings Clinic, in Billings, Mont., where he serves as department chairman of orthopedics and has practiced for the past 14 years.<\/p>\n St. Luke’s reported in a press release that joint replacement surgery makes up about 80 percent of Kopplin\u2019s current practice, but he also practices general orthopedics and participates in the emergency call rotation of a 304-bed Level II Trauma Center that serves all of central and eastern Montana as well as much of northern Wyoming.<\/p>\n St. Luke’s reported that Kopplin will join Dr. Alison Kinsler at St. Luke\u2019s Clinic \u2013 Sun Valley Sports Medicine.<\/p>\n \u201cI look forward to working together to optimize the care we can provide,\u201d Kinsler said. \u201cHis [Kopplin\u2019s] experience and familiarity with various techniques and options for joint replacement surgery will be a welcome addition, filling a major need for the active patients in this Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SENIOR BASH PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY TO WIN A CAR<\/strong><\/p>\n The Blaine County Community Drug Coalition has donated a 2002 Mercedes ML 320 as a grand prize for a drawing to be held at the Senior Bash on Friday, June 10, immediately following graduation ceremonies at Wood River High School.<\/p>\n The car will be awarded to a graduating senior who makes the choice to avoid alcohol.<\/p>\n Eligible to attend the Senior Bash, an annual event to provide seniors with a graduation celebration free of alcohol or other drugs, are graduates from all local high schools, including WRHS, Silver Creek High School, Carey School, Community School and The Sage School.<\/p>\n \u201cThis event has proven to be very effective for reducing the amount of incidents on graduation night,\u201d said Blaine County Sheriff Gene Ramsey. \u201cI think it is great for the kids to have one last inclusive, positive interaction with each other before starting the next chapter of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Senior Bash organizers reported in a press release that several local businesses assisted in getting the car ready for the drawing. Sun Valley Auto Club provided detailing, Impact Auto Body repaired the bumpers and Evans Plumbing donated funds for other repairs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n KETCHUM COUPLE ASSISTS WITH AIDS FUNDRAISER<\/strong><\/p>\n Ketchum couple Rick and Lynn Flickinger will serve as \u201croadies\u201d for the third straight year to help some 2,500 cyclists in a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angles to raise money for AIDS prevention. The AIDS\/LifeCycle event will be held June 5-11.<\/p>\n The Flickingers reported in a press release that AIDS\/LifeCycle is the world\u2019s largest single-event AIDS prevention fundraiser and will involve participants from every state in the U.S. and from 18 foreign countries. They are among some 600 roadies that will assist the cyclists.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are committed to AIDS\/LifeCycle because we want to see an end to HIV\/AIDS,\u201d the Flickingers stated. \u201cWe signed on as roadies in 2014 to learn more about our daughter\u2019s passion for her job.\u201d<\/p>\n Their daughter, Kristin Flickinger, is director of the AIDS\/LifeCycle, Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the power through education, prevention and treatment to stop HIV transmission in our lifetime and AIDS\/LifeCycle plays an important part in making this happen,\u201d the couple stated.<\/p>\n The Flickingers reported that participating cyclists will raise an average of $6,000 each through the event.<\/p>\n Additional information on the event is available at aidslifecycle.org.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SOLARIZE BLAINE ANNOUNCES FIRST INSTALLATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n Solarize Blaine, a solar energy initiative managed by the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience, announced Friday that nine solar installations now underway have achieved the program\u2019s first price break, saving property owners involved in the program an average of $1,000 each.<\/p>\n Solarize Blaine reported in a press release that the first customer, Bellevue resident Joe Miczulski, \u201chad been considering installing panels for years, but it wasn\u2019t until the Solarize Blaine program that he took the plunge and put 14 solar panels on his roof.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had been thinking about it for a long time, just waiting for the price to make sense, and with Solarize Blaine it finally did,\u201d Miczulski said. \u201cThe upfront cost of my 4.55-Kw [kilowatt] system was about $18,000, but with the Solarize Blaine price discount and tax deductions, I\u2019ll only end up paying about $10,000.\u201d<\/p>\n With the Solarize Blaine program, the more people who install solar energy systems, the cheaper the installation for those who participate.<\/p>\n \u201cOne hundred and fifty people have already signed up to have their home or business evaluated,\u201d said Solarize Blaine Program Director Katie Bray. \u201cWe want to reach 40 signed contracts before July 31 so that everyone gets the cheapest pricing possible and saves about $3,500 on their system. With these first contracts we\u2019re well on our way to achieving that.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional information on the program is available at www.solarizeblaine.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SCHOOL TRUSTEE SETS COMMUNITY \u2018CONVERSATION\u2019 Blaine County School District Trustee Rob Clayton has scheduled a \u201cconversation with the community\u201d from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, in the library at Hemingway Elementary School in Ketchum. According to a press release, the public meeting is intended for residents of the district\u2019s Zone 4, which Clayton represents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,18,36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-in-brief","8":"category-news","9":"category-slider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Tim](\"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/x-tim-silva-ca719ce4-22e2-406a-824a-a5ace259959a-221x300.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/hunger-PR_SFP_05_27_16-300x204.jpg\")
![\"Lawrence,](\"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Lawrence-Jorgen--300x233.jpg\")
![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Kopplin-casual-225x300.jpg\")
![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/senior-bash-car-donated--300x225.jpg\")
![\"Rick](\"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/flickingers-070-225x300.jpg\")