Parents give rescue job high marks
Jim and Lori Sturgeon of Fergus Falls, Minn., picked up their phone on Jan. 3 and found themselves in the middle of what they said was their worst nightmare. They were told that their 22 year-old son was reported missing while skiing on Big Mountain.
Jeff Sturgeon was on a ski vacation with friends. They had been skiing on the ungroomed back side of the mountain, when he became separated from the group. He then tried cutting across to meet with them but became lost.
As darkness settled in, Sturgeon built an igloo, using his ski poles to prop his body up off the snow and his skis as a roof support. He then spent the next several hours shivering uncontrollably and thinking about his folks.
About 3 p.m. that afternoon his friends notified Big Mountain Ski Patrol which, after an initial sweep of the area, enlisted the Flathead County Sheriff's Office, search-and-rescue teams and the Flathead Valley Nordic Ski Patrol. Each group took a different strategic tack on Big Mountain's slopes; by skis, snowmobiles and helicopter.
Rescuers located Sturgeon not long before midnight, very cold and very wet but otherwise unharmed.
The Sturgeons wrote to express their deepest gratitude to the nearly 40 people involved with their son's rescue:
"Special thanks to Tom Snyder, search and rescue coordinator for the Flathead County Sheriff's Office, for your command in turning our nightmare into a miracle. To Brian Schott and the Big Mountain Ski Patrol, the Nordic Ski Patrol, North Valley and Flathead Valley Search and Rescue, ALERT, police dispatcher Jennifer and her relief dispatcher, and the physician who treated Jeff throughout the night after he was found. Mission accomplished, well done, and may God bless everyone! Our humble thanks."
Dan Keneally, director of operations for Town Pump Inc., expressed his appreciation in a letter to Whitefish Chief of Police Bill Dial for the department's prompt and thorough investigation of the Nov. 28 robbery at the Whitefish Town Pump and subsequent arrest of the perpetrators. He added, "Congratulations and many thanks on a job well done."
Hoofbeats in Harmony, a local women's equestrian drill team, thanks all the area businesses who sponsored the team's recent trip to state competition in Hamilton. The team took fourth place in its first year of competition. The various drills are all performed to music and most maneuvers are done at a lope.
Hoofbeats in Harmony practices weekly. If you've got an agreeable horse and a hankering to join the team, call Kaye Groesbeck at 862-3737.
The Glacier Area Special Olympics sponsored its third annual Holiday Bowl last month at the Pin & Cue in Whitefish. The event is organized and directed by Flathead Industries.
More than 90 bowlers turned out for the event, representing Kalispell, Libby, Plains, Bigfork and Whitefish.
Libby bowlers took first and second place at the competition. Mike Morris bowled a 173 and Brenda Burke came in with a score of 147.
Special thanks go to Terry Siefke, area director, and to Mike Allen, recreation director, for their role in making the Holiday Bowl a rewarding, fun event for all involved.