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Szabo Reflects in the Habitat: How to Surmount Heartbreak Hill
the weekly
Page 4
Bug Zoo Offers a Closer Look at Critters
Senior Connection Honors Leslie Silva for Her Work Behind the Scenes Page 14
Vee Riley Embraces the Earth in This Week’s Health Column Page 17
read about it on PaGe 3
A p r i l 2 4 , 2 0 1 3 • V o l . 6 • N o . 1 7 • w w w .T h e W e e k l y S u n . c o m
COURTESY PHOTO: WARHWAK AIR MSEUM
The Hailey Memorial Day Ceremony Looks for Sponsors to Support This Year’s Flyover
BY MAGGIE SPRINGER, FOR THE WEEKLY SUN
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he Hailey Memorial Day Ceremony Committee is looking for sponsors for a flyover of the 2013 Hailey Memorial Day ceremony. Due to budget cuts, the military will be unable to provide a flyover this year. The Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa has said they will provide a flyover of the ceremony using two P-51 vintage WWII aircraft, one being the P-51C Mustang, called the “Boise Bee,” the other a P-51D Mustang. Unlike the military flyovers that were free, a flyover by the Museum does require a donation to them to cover fuel and museum costs. The donation to the museum is tax deductible and the total donation is $2,500. Both U.S. Air Force and Idaho Air National Guard have done flyovers of the Hailey Memorial Day ceremony for the last six years. Organizers continue to strive to receive a flyover every year because it is ultimately the highest honor that can be shown to a fallen soldier. Having a flyover of the ceremony helps to honor the nearly 400 Hailey veterans laid to rest at the Hailey Cemetery and the over 60 men and women from Idaho who have passed away during conflict since 2001. Organizers are doing everything they can to retain the flyover of the ceremony so that we may continue to show respects to all those who’ve served so selflessly and are now laid to rest here. This year will be the 10th annual ceremony and organizers are striving to make it the most honorable yet. This year’s theme, “More Than a Name,” is focused on the Vietnam era. The ceremony will be dedicated in honor of SP4 Gary Boushele, one of four men born in Blaine County who was killed in action during Vietnam. There will be members of four out of the five military branches participating, providing such duties as keynote speaker, emcee, Color Guard, wreathbearers, firing party, and much more. If you’re interested in being a sponsor, please contact Maggie Springer for more information at 208-309-1959. tws
STORY & PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
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hey said it couldn’t be done when Earl Holding proposed a giant picture window in River Run Lodge looking out on Baldy. Holding didn’t pay them any mind. Using his own engineering skills, he figured out how to use steel covered with logs to achieve what he wanted. Sun Valley owner R. Earl Holding died in Salt Lake City Friday night at the age of 86. But not before propelling himself into one of the richest, most successful men in America with his vision and hard work. In the process, he transformed Sun Valley into a world-class resort. “Earl Holding has given us so much to work with,” said Mark Thoreson, who attends ski shows around the country touting Sun Valley’s high-speed quads, extensive snowmaking and long ski runs. “Selling Sun Valley is easy. I can’t imagine representing a ski area that doesn’t have the backing he’s given us. He brought a solidness to the community.” Sun Valley was not the stuff of glass chandeliers from Milan and handwoven wool carpets from England when Earl and his wife Carol purchased the resort for $12 million in 1977. The resort had closed a month earlier than usual, thanks to the most disastrous snow year in history. Employees had to vote themselves a 20 percent pay cut because they couldn’t make payroll. And Disney executives, who had drawn up plans for an RV park on the site of the Sun Valley Gun Club, abruptly broke off negotiations to purchase Sun Valley after two years, leaving Sun Valley residents wondering what the future held. In stepped Holding who decided to check out the resort after his wife Carol spotted a small article in the Wall Street Journal about Disney’s interest in Sun Valley. Wally Huffman, who would later become general manager of the resort under Holding, spent three days showing the Holdings the resort. The property had depreciated to the point where bathtubs in the inn had worn through to black cast iron and snowmelt ran down the fireplace at the lodge apartments. Huffman learned he had a new boss
Carol Holding, Earl’s wife of 64 years, spoke for her husband during the ribbon cutting for the gondola a few years ago. She once said she cut short her husband’s lucrative poker playing career because, she said, he shouldn’t be taking other people’s money.
when Holding instructed him to have a crew throw away the mattresses and furniture in the employee dorm. “He was so disgusted by the conditions there,” Huffman recalled.” I excused myself to call (then owner) Mr. Janss and apprise him of what was going on. Bill told me, ‘If I were you, I would do what he tells you.’ That’s when I found out Sun Valley had been sold.”
“Hero” is a four-letter word, too
No one had a clue what this intensely private man with a shock of white hair and steely blue eyes would do. Rumors flew that the new Mormon owners would close the bars, bring in college kids from Brigham Young University to run the resort and install diesel pumps in front of the lodge. Holding quickly established his handson management style. He had employees, managers included,
Make sure your dogs are ready to enjoy the great outdoors with you this summer! Stop by 5B Paws n Claws for our Ruffwear Spring Gear show, this Saturday, April 27 - and check out all the gear we have for your active lifestyle.
See page 3 for details…
plant 7,000 spruce, aspen and birch trees on the then-bare Sun Valley Golf Course and around the Sun Valley Mall. He roamed the fields in his trademark Norwegian sweater like a general, pointing out where he wanted each tree planted. “Work is God’s gift to man, and God is generous.” Holding told them as he started introducing employees to “The Gospel According to Earl Holding.” Even though he did not ski when he bought Sun Valley, he and Carol learned how. It took just a few short lessons for him to realize how much the resort needed snowmaking to steel it against low snow years. He hired the best snowmaking company in the world to install snow guns. Then he suggested ways to improve their system so his wife would not turn black and blue falling on the ice that snowmaking systems tended to pump out in those days.
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