ESCAPE: ESCAPE 2012 Info | ESCAPE 2011 Highlights | ESCAPE 2010 Highlights | Ralph Dawdy Memorial Award
ESCAPE 2011 Highlights
WHEN: May 13-15, 2011
WHERE: Ruidoso Convention Center, Ruidoso, New Mexico.
Dear NM SAR Community,
The New Mexico Search and Rescue Council (NMSARC) is proud to have hosted 205 Search and Rescue (SAR) Volunteers, including 52 instructors and guests in Ruidoso, NM, at ESCAPE 2011. Represented at our 71 sessions were our own NM SAR community, the Border Patrol, the Department of Public Safety, the Bureau of Land Management, the Civil Air Patrol, the National Weather Service, the New Mexico National Guard, the New Mexico State Police, and the Sheriffs’ Mounted SAR.
Thanks to everyone who turned out and made ESCAPE 2011 an extraordinary SAR conference!
If you weren’t able to attend, read on for the highlights, and we’ll see you next year at Glorieta! If you were there, I hope you had the kind of positive experience that celebrates a replay of the highlights—and we’ll see you, too, next year!
Congratulations to Charles (Chuck) Melvin of K9 Search and Rescue who received the Ralph Dawdy Memorial Award. We are honored and proud to have given this award to such an outstanding Search and Rescue Volunteer.
Special thanks to John Gallegos, our ESCAPE Chair, and to the rest of the NMSARC Board Members for the endless hours invested in the planning and communication that brought us all so seamlessly together. And great job to all who made ESCAPE 2011 possible including Tony Gaier – Basic Track Lead, Frankie Benoist – Management Track lead, Tom Bemis – Communications Track Lead, Zack Libbin – Technical Track Lead, Laura Mae Williams – Medical Track Lead, Cindy Oliver – K9 Track Lead, Rogers and Boedeker – Ham Radio Track Lead, Belt and Kimberley – Horse Track Lead, and to NMSARC Board for the Advanced Track and the Show and Tell.
Speaking of hours of on-site time and/or planning, many thanks to Bob Rodgers, Michael Valverde, and Brian Fuller for the opportunity to discuss the future of SAR in NM at Friday’s Forum and to Bob Rodgers, Pat Seiser, and Tom Bemis for stepping in at the very last minute with an impressive cave rescue presentation on Saturday night and thanks to Mike Bilbo for an awesome hike on Sunday.
Here’s a shout-out to Barbara Zabriskie, Carrie Hale, Travis Willett-Gies, and Uli Blann for their untiring organization of the Silent Auction—and thanks to everyone who shopped, cleaned their shed, or sacrificed a duplicate piece of gear! We displayed over 160 items and earned over $3,300 that will go back to the SAR community! What a record! Another record was set with the nicely done ESCAPE 2011 T-Shirts and merchandise netting an additional $1,744.02. Make sure to visit Café Press at http://www.cafepress.com/NMSARC/7628755 and http://www.cafepress.com/NMSARC/7628892 to see what all the craze is about.
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Our vendors pitched in generously, as well! Durham Communications donated three SAR-ready hand held radios; Search Gear gave us a Timex Expedition watch with an altimeter, and Tooth of Time Traders set us up with a Kelty backpack for our Door Prizes. Next time you need radios or gear, get in touch with these supporters of NM SAR! Other auction table sponsors included Albuquerque Donations, Arc’Teryx, and NMSU Outdoor Recreation Center to list a few.
Sacred Grounds Coffee and Teahouse, along with Savories Catering of Ruidoso earned accolades from everyone—best conference food ever with a perfect 5 out of 5 rating on every evaluation form. Wow!
Thanks to our Trillium sponsors; White Mountain SAR for the valuable contribution of local knowledge and hard work, Sacred Grounds Coffee and Teahouse, Santa Fe SAR, and The Organ Mountian Technical Rescue Squad for supporting NMSARC. In fact, everyone in attendance contributed his or her enthusiasm, expertise, perspective, questions, and ideas, and it’s that kind of collegiality that makes not only a great conference, but a great community.
ESCAPE 2012 will be held in Pojoaque, New Mexico on May 4-6, 2012 at the Buffalo Thunder Resort, Spa, and Casin. Click here for more information.
Vendors and Door Prize Sponsors:
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 Tooth of Time Traders |
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Auction Prize Sponsors:
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