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M a r c h 2 7 , 2 0 1 3 • V o l . 6 • N o . 1 3 • w w w .T h e W e e k l y S u n . c o m
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s t a n l e y • F a i r f i e l d • S h o sh o n e • P i c a b o
From Bones to Books: Community Library Hires New Director Page 3
Sara Baldwin Talks About Helping Meals on Wheels
Passover and Easter Photos and Stories Page 9
Enter to Win This Week’s Giveaway Page 10
read about it on PaGe 20
Mother-Daughter Team Impact Local Skiing STORY & PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
S COURTESY PHOTO
Higher Ground client, Abby Jansson, spends the day painting pottery at The Bead Shop.
National Autism Day to be Observed With Blue, Art Reception BY KAREN BOSSICK
H
igher Ground Sun Valley is asking school students, staff and faculty in the Wood River Valley to wear blue on Tuesday, April 2, in observance of World Autism Awareness Day. In addition, Higher Ground will hold a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at the new Velocio in the old Tully’s at 615 E. Sun Valley Road. Those who stop by will have a chance to view artwork from schoolaged kids between the ages of 6 and 12 who have been diagnosed with autism/autism spectrum disorder. The kids created bowls in a special afterschool get-together at The Bead Shop in Hailey. Refreshments will be served. April 2 was named World Autism Awareness Day by the United Nations. It is one of only four official health-specific days the United Nation calls attention to. The disorder affects tens of millions worldwide. Higher Ground has about 39 clients with some type of autism, according to Ally Weihe, Higher Ground’s AmeriCorps volunteer. Two percent of U.S. schoolchildren—or about a million children— have been diagnosed with some sort of autism, according to the latest government report issued last week. Autism describes a range of conditions and disorders, ranging from mild social awkwardness to severe, debilitating symptoms that prevent children from interacting or learning in a normal way. Some children with autism may have been classified as mentally retarded in the past. Some are highly intelligent. Some may be considered merely quirky. Higher Ground staff hope that having the community show its support by wearing blue will be a step toward shining more light on autism, said Cara Barrett, a spokesperson for Higher Ground. The 2006 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has made many more programs and resources available for children dealing with some tws aspect of autism.
un Valley got more than a student and hotshot skier when Laurel Fiddler enrolled in the fledgling Sun Valley Ski Academy this year. The community got a top-notch coach—a former Olympian—as well. The motherdaughter combo of Nancy and Laurel Fiddler has made an impact on Sun Valley’s Nordic community. Laurel, who finished fourth out of 113 girls in the state cross-country finals, helped the Sun Valley Nordic ski team rack up the medals as she enjoyed the best year of her ski career. And Nancy Fiddler introduced a bevy of fresh ideas, such as her balancing trick known as The Gorilla, while coaching the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s Devo program, the Vamps and private lessons at Galena Lodge. “Nancy has more than 30 years coaching so she has a lot to contribute,� said Joan Scheingraber, a Nordic coach and former member of the Bonnie Bell ski team with Fiddler and Betsy Youngman. It takes courage for a girl to pull up roots her senior year. But The Community School Ski Education Foundation offered Laurel what she couldn’t get at home in Mammoth, Calif. Her
and Nancy Fiddler, who is spending the school year and ski season in Sun Valley with her daughter Laurel, says the cross-country ski terrain in Sun Valley is optimal for working on race skills.
home school couldn’t give her the academics she needed. The Sugar Bowl Academy in Truckee, Nev., had no one on its Nordic team to push her. But Laurel’s mother knew Sun Valley’s head Nordic coach Rick Kapala from her own work coaching junior Nordic racers. And she had lived in Sun Valley during the late 1970s and early 1980s while ski racing. “By the time I called The Community School, Rick had already been on the phone,� said Nancy, who introduced crosscountry skiing to youth at Mammoth Lakes. Soon, Laurel found herself hiking with Sun Valley racers 10 miles up a glacier near Canmore, Alberta, staying in Quonset huts while they practiced twice daily on summer snow. “After last year I had given up on myself,� said Laurel, 17. “I’d lost my love of skiing so I had to reignite that love. I trained super hard this fall. I told myself: ‘You’re in good shape. You’re ready to go.’ And Sun Valley offered such a nurturing environment—all the athletes are so supportive. That helped a lot.� It paid off. Laurel took third in J1 at Soldier Hollow against a field of skiers from all over the nation as the season started. After a first and a bunch of other topfive finishes in other races, she and teammate Maggie Williams took gold in the 3-by-3.3km classic relay race at Junior Nationals in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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