CALENDAR

2       Board Meeting, NO BOARD MEETING THIS MONTH…………………….

7       Pierce County SAR Council, 35^th & McKinley, TPD sub station 1900 Hrs

11       Low Angle Rope Training. 0800 to 1500, TBD-Yahoo e-mail later

23       Training Meeting, PCC, 21^st & So Cushman, 1900 hours

24       ESAR Hike/Schriner Peak, (see info below)

24/25       White River 50 Mile Run, Buck Creek on Hwy 410, evening of 24^th

LOW ANGLE ROPE TRAINING:  7/11

Here is the opportunity for you to get some experience on Low Angle rope rescue. Everyone once in a while we have to use this system to lower someone in a litter. You need to know the do’s and don’ts about the system.  This is being taught by Joe Brentin, one of our members.  The information on location, time and rendezvous will be sent out on ESAR Yahoo Group. Check details at ng.pcesar.org. Contact Libby at Libby [at] ronhayward [dot] net or 253.851.1657. Plan on attending!

SCHRINER PEAD HIKE:  7/24

Rendezvous 0800 at So Hill Park & Rider. The hike is about 8.5 miles with 3400 ft elevation gain. Bring a day pack and lots of water, because there is none available on the trail. Contact Carolyn at carolyntyrrell [at] att [dot] net or 253.952.1130 if interested. Optional: This hike is near where we do the White River run. Bring your camping gear and spend the night at Buck Creek after the hike.

WHITE RIVER RUN:  7/24-25

Meet Friday evening and spend the night at Buck Creek.  Run starts at 0530 on Saturday morning and goes all day.  Help man the aid stations and get practice with the radios. This is a fund raiser for ESAR. Every member of ESAR can participate in this activity. More will be put ouT for the Rendezvous for the ride to Buck Creek.  The ESAR Fleet will be used to support this activity. 

LT. BRIAN BRADSHAW:

This is sad news for members of PCESAR.  Brian was a proud member of ESAR from 11/7/98 to 6/20/05.  Brian was killed in Afghanistan last week by an improvised bomb. He and other soldiers escaped without injury, but with the soldiers out of their vehicle, a passing truck detonated a second roadside bomb killing Brian.  He was a great young man and was dedicated to the out of doors. His memorial is planed for Monday, 1100 hours, St.John Bosco Churck,10508 112^th, Lakewood. He continued to serve in ESAR even while attend PLU and getting his commission from the ROTC program there. We will miss him involvement in ESAR and all the good he did as a member. The flags of the State of Washington are to be at half mast on July 1, 2009 in his memory. May you rest in peace.  (So Others May Live)

Thank you Brian for your service to ESAR and your country. (Check Saturday’s TNT for the article about Brian on the front page).

MISSIONS:

6/6       Skykomish, Snohomish County, evacuation of a person by litter.  8 people responded. Can not give you many facts as no report has been filed.

6/12       Capital Forest, Thurston County,34 year old biker missing.  She was found OK before we were able to start a call out.

6/28       McCleary, Grays Harbor County,  10 year old girl missing going home for a pool party. She had 4 blocks to travel but never made it home.  She has been missing since 6/26 at about 2115 hours. We were called in to assist the Gray Harbor County Sheriff search for her.  22 people responded to the mission, spent 366.5 hours, drove 13 vehicles, and traveled 1566 miles. First time we have used the new RV as the Operations Base. We search most of the town which has only 1500 people. There are no clues as to the directions she might have gone.  We did prove she was not in McCleary and we think that she did not run away, at least the information we received does not indicate she ran away. The only thing that is left is that she was taken by someone. No one in the area has come forward with clues or having seen anything.  Even the FBI has been used to help locate her.

Just on Sunday alone, there were 9 SAR missions in the state of Washington.  We were called for one in Jefferson County as we were getting ready to leave for McCleary. We decided to assist Grays Harbor and hope they were able to get help for the search in Jefferson County. We understand from Kitsap Co ESAR the person was found deceased.    

Just a note to those that respond to missions.  When we are in a rural and city setting, be sure and wear a hat, coat or shirt that shows you are member of ESAR.  When knocking on doors, people are not as reluctant to open the door if you can be ID’d thru the window. In King County, they are looking into Uniforms because of a problem that people did not recognize them as a SAR unit.  It may come to that in PCESAR, so be prepared to show you “colors”.

Secondly, get door magnetic ESAR signs if you drive.  Sometimes legal agencies want to know who you are and if you really belong behind the barriers.

SAFECO;

We only have one game left. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to work the Booth.  It is one of the biggest and best money makers for ESAR. Without this fund source we would have to charge everyone about $125 a year for dues.  SAR is an expensive hobby and money is needed to do the job we do. If you were not 16 and could not work, once you turn 16 we expect you to step forward to help out. We get some donations, but not enough to pay for the extra’s you receive as a member.  The food that the Commissary provides is paid for from the Safeco project.

NEXTEL CELL PHONES:

This is those of you looking for a new phone or hoping to get a Cell phone.  Nextel is having a sale on the i580 phones now ($0.99). For those of you who are new to ESAR, we have a government contract with Nextel. They reduce our costs for service by %24 per month.  The most popular service has been the one for @$37.00, reduced to @$31.00 per month. This gives you a Direct Contact (radio) with some members of PCESAR and the Sheriffs Dept and DEM. You get 400 minutes of cell, plus messaging for $.15 per message, but that can be reduced if you purchase and “unlimited Texting” for @ $5.00 a month. You then would get all the messages ESAR sends out about 7 times a month.  If you want more information, give me a call and I can advise you on the program. Smitty, 253.565.8980 or sarsmith3 [at] comcast [dot] net.

CELL PHONES & MESSAGES:

We have found out that some of you are not getting the text messages ESAR sends out for missions or activities.  On a recent mission call out, one of our members did not receive the call out on his cell phone for 45 minutes. If that is the case in your situation, you would not be able to respond in time for a rendezvous. We are going to have a test every month on the 1^st of the month. I do not have the time it will be sent, but once we establish a time, we want you to check and see what time you receive it.  If you do not receive the test message, we need to know that also. We are finding that the system we have is not perfect and we want everyone in ESAR to be able to respond to a mission. We will be checking with DEM to get the reverse 911 to call every member on their home phone, cell phone and computer.  It will ring until you answer.  We see that as the only way to be sure you are being contacted. Please help us help you in this mission to notify you of ESAR activity. If we are to continue to serve the community in SAR, we need everyone to respond to mission call outs.

Just some advice if you are really interested in responding to Search and Rescue missions.  TURN OFF YOUR ANSWERING machine at night.  All of our call people complain that all they get is answer machine responses and they will not take the time to leave a message.  If you really are interested in SAR, you will be ready to go either from a call to our home or on your cell phone. SAR is a life and death situation and if you are no longer interested, please let us know so we do not spend a lot of time calling. Many of our call out people after 3 or 4 calls and you do not respond or go on mission will not call you again. They will let you just drop off the list because they feel you are not interested.

Thanks to all of you who have participated in the activities of ESAR.  You have responded to missions, Safeco, Public Relations and helped to recruit new members.  Keep up the good work. You are invaluable to the program!!

Grant Smith (Smitty)

NOTEPAD EDITOR

Sarsmith3 [at] comcast [dot] net

253.565.8980