Commander’s Corner

 Thanks to all who responded to the mission in Strawberry. It was a good turnout, and we covered about a square mile in rough terrain in a short period of time, and maintained good lines throughout.

Thanks to Dave Pirtle for officially taking on the office of fundraiser. He has done an outstanding job getting us prepared for this years fundraiser. He put together a beautiful package of quad and trailer that will do a lot to sell itself. Check it out on our website. Our first opportunity to sell tickets is coming up shortly – Feb 4 in Tonto Basin at the outdoor show. Thanks to all who have signed up to help. We’ll see you there!

Just a community service thought – due to the very dry winter this year I have heard that moisture level in the vegetation is already approaching June levels. While out and about, be alert for abandoned campfires, odd smokes rising where they shouldn’t be, etc. Maybe a rain dance wouldn’t hurt either.

Bill Pitterle 500
 

Don’t forget; the meetings this month are February 7th
for the Board and February 9th for the General Meeting.

Volunteer Hours

Each month Les Hulse records the hours that our members spend doing something for the Squad. Those figures for 2005 are:

TRSAR Volunteer Hours – 2005
 

  Next month we will show you a comparison of 2005 hours against previous years.

VIP MEMBER PROFILES

 IRA GIBEL 532


This profile is about one of TRSAR’S real contributors. His willingness to serve and instruct have been exemplary.

Ira came to TRSAR from Long Island, New York. That’s about as far East as you can go without starting to swim. Ira didn’t say that he was born there but a major part of his life was spent there. High school, Boy Scouts, college, and 32 years of Health Education teaching, took much if his early life. Ira was a coach for several sports including, wrestling, tennis, JV football, soccer, and lacrosse. He also certified students in First Aid and CPR. COPE (challenging outdoor physical encounter) was another teaching accomplishment.

Roz came into his life when they married just before Christmas of 1967. They have raised two well educated sons, Keith and Brian. Both of the boys were very good athletes and obtained the rank of Eagle Scout as well.

Ira has done a lot of unusual things in his lifetime. He obviously loves to travel and his adventures in Panama as a Peace Corp volunteer, which he has written about in this newsletter, were just a part them. This spring he and Roz plan to visit their son in Seoul, Korea.

Locally, his time is again spent volunteering. The Take Pride Project in Pine and Strawberry is one of his favorites and we all benefit from his leadership in making the little communities look better. Ira has been so willing to take on the Squad’s Safety Officer’s job and has been available to teach First Aid and CPR. He keeps us all updated on the latest techniques and medical information available to help make TRSAR the best in the state.

Ira was just elected as Board Member at Large and then confirmed by the Board to assume the vacancy of Vice Commander. We can be assured the tasks that Ira takes responsibility for will be handled in a professional and efficient way. Ira, we really appreciate your involvement.

John E. Boyles 510L

VYNETTE SAGE 519

Tonto Rim SAR is fortunate to have now and in the past some very active husband and wife members. Cliff and Vynette is one pair of tremendously active members. Since I grew up with the idea that “ladies come first”, I’ll profile Vynette before Cliff.

Vynette is an Arizona native having been born in Douglas. After those early years in Southern Arizona, she attended Los Angeles County General Hospital School of Nursing.

She was able to live in a dorm at the hospital and graduated with a specialty of ICU/CCU. When she moved to Payson, Vynette worked at both nursing homes and Payson hospital. After forty years of night nurse, she retired several years ago. She now has more time to devote to other interests.
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During all those years of work Vynette had time to raise three children and of course they all live here in the west.

Vynette has several blue ribbons given at County and State Fairs for fine crochet and other handwork. She volunteers as a transcriptionist of historical and genealogical records for Cochise County, Arizona, and a county in Northern Ireland. Vynette truly likes traveling, with an Alaskan trip with Cliff and a Yucatan trip with a son topping her list. One day a week is dedicated to volunteer work at the LDS Temple in Mesa.

As you can tell Vynette has and does considerable volunteering, but we are most familiar with her work with TRSAR. She is certified as a tracker and technical rope rescue. Her skill of organizing has been so very helpful to the Squad in many ways. She is currently Librarian, on the New Member Committee, backup database, and always available to assist with duties assigned on missions. She has served as Vice Commander, the only lady to serve in that position as long as I have been a member. Vynette’s tracking abilities are exceptional. She had contributed often at tracking certifications for other trainees. Being short has been helpful to her seeing clues on the ground. Vynette Sage is a very valuable asset for TRSAR.

John E. Boyles 510L
 

CLIFF SAGE 516


Cliff Sage was born in Kanab, Utah and lived his early years across the line in Fredonia, Arizona. Around 1950 he moved to Kaysville, Utah near Ogden, north of Salt Lake. He got a job with the US Forest Service after getting out of high school. Upon leaving USFS Cliff worked for the City of Kaysville, and retired as Superintendent of Public Works after thirty years. He did take a two years break to serve in the United States Army Signal Corps. And then to round out his working career in Kaysville, he took a job with the Kaysville Volunteer Fire Department, retiring as Assistant Fire Chief. Cliff moved to Arizona in the middle of a snowstorm the next day after his retirement party. Now I think a Utah snowstorm would be enough to get me out of town too.

Cliff got a chance to play in the mountains for a while, but when the man plays and the wife works that can cause issues to arise. (I know from experience) So he took a job with ADOT for five more years, and two years volunteering with Pine/Strawberry Fire Dept.

Cliff joined TRSAR the spring of 97. Since that time he has chosen for the most part, to keep a low profile. However, let that not deceive anyone into thinking Cliff isn’t dedicated to assisting the squad. Long ago he took on the task of highway clean up, became certified Technical Rope Team member, very good as a Hasty Team Hiker/ Tracker, and is the one person most likely to show up to assist during any TRSAR activity regardless of the tasks at hand. Cliff never seeks notice, but quietly does the necessary jobs overlooked by so many. Ever wonder why the Squad building and grounds look so neat and well maintained. Cliff is probably involved. He was high on the list of members who supported me through my recovery period, and I’m proud to claim him as one of my very best friends. Cliff Sage’s quiet, efficient, thoughtful approach to the task at hand makes him an important part of TRSAR.

Johnny Boyles 510L

Fundraising

What we see in FUNDRAISING.

Patt and I have taken on the fundraising since we joined the squad in 1998. At that time we had very little funds to work with for the squad and in the equipment we needed. I remember carrying the three 4X4s to the edge of Pine Canyon for use as the tripod for over the edge. I must give real credit to those on the rope team in those days as to how creative and efficient they were to get it set up and for the safety in its use. I can still remember going over backwards off the training tower at the squad building. However I did manage to get to the bottom of Pine Canyon with the litter and back up only short of breath.

Our first fundraising effort was in Phoenix at the Mule Deer Expo at the Civic Plaza. If I remember right we had a quad, trailer and several other items such as a hunting bow and a black powder rifle. We even had an awesome bear, carved with a chain saw by one of our members. We did other events in Payson at the Business Showcase, Safeway and the Pine Arts & Crafts and N. Gila County Fair. That year we started a mail out program also. We did fairly well the first year which gave us a jump start for the future events. Each year thereafter we cleared up to 10 to 15 K profit. One year we raffled a Jeep and once a camp trailer. The trailer ended up to be the biggest profit maker. We purchased the trailer at cost from Payless Auto & Camper Sales, Danny Fults, in Phoenix. He helped us get into three shows in the Phoenix area with the International Sportsman Expo being the best. We have been in that show since they started down there and have covered our cost at that one show alone.

In 2005 we handled the Project Lifesaver events together with Terry Hudgens from the Sheriff's Office and we seem to be adequately funded for the time being.

Now for this year we are back to doing a raffle for a quad and trailer. We will kick off at the ISE show in March at the fairgrounds in Phoenix. That is a great fun show as it is centered on the outdoor enthusiast.

Here are a few reasons for the fundraising efforts. People have come to look for us as we have made fantastic strides for public awareness through the shows and our YES program. In addition we have gained a great respect from the Media and our local paper for the great articles on our searches and rescues. Now the Roundup has donated their booth to us for the Business Showcase for the last three years.
As you can see all this is the reason for being so successful in the results in the recent mail outs. We have come a long way and everyone can really be proud to be a member of such a great organization.

Look around at your fellow members, the great equipment, training and dedication and realize we are a special team, important to our community.

We thank each and everyone who has stepped up and helped with this important effort.

Sincerely,
Don and Patt Peters
 

Citizen’s suspicions lead to arrest.
A haunting look from a little girl in a convenience store prompted Tracie Dean to search missing children Web sites, even review surveillance tapes until finally one police officer trusted Dean's gut.

Dean stopped into an Alabama convenience store, saw a little girl roaming the aisles alone, and something didn't sit right with her. The little girl left with an older man. Dean took down the license plate on the truck they drove off in.

She then spent a week calling the police, checking missing children's Web sites, even contacting “America's Most Wanted”. Nothing. Finally she decided to drive back to the convenience store many miles away and ask to look at the surveillance tape. While she was looking at it, Sheriff's Deputy Bryan Davis walked in.

Dean told him her concerns. He launched an investigation, which brought them to 58-year-old John Wiley and his wife, 40-year-old Glenna Faye Cavender, who are now charged with multiple counts of sex crimes and child abuse against the little girl and a 17-year-old boy found in their trailer.

Tonto Rim SAR Members can now have your very own email address through our site. Just contact our Webmaster at Mail for the TRSAR Webmaster  to arrange for it, no cost to you or us.


We are promoted and you’ll also find our newsletter on the Rim Country Volunteer site;
http://www.inpayson.com/TRSAR-Payson-Rim-Country-Area.htm