STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

State Farm is throwing a Customer Appreciation Party from 3 to 6 p.m. today at its Hailey Office.

And The Chamber is merging its Chamber Bucks program with Visit Sun Valley’s to create a new Valley Bucks program.

Those are among the topics that floated around the Wood River Sustainability Center Tuesday morning as The Chamber threw its monthly Wake Up Hailey networking event.

• Kimberly Shurtleff said that State Farms’ Hailey office at 831 N. Main St. will serve up food from Cowboy Cucina, Smokey Bone and Wood River Beef, in addition to drinks and auto chip repairs during the party today—Wednesday, Sept. 13.
• Chamber Director Jeff Bacon urged business owners to consider the new Valley Bucks. The former Chamber Bucks, available at Washington Federal Bank in Hailey, were like local gift certificates that could be redeemed at more than 70 local businesses.

   Often, he said, groups buy up large amounts. The Parent Teachers Association, for instance, has bought thousands of dollars worth of Chamber Bucks, using them to reward teachers.

  “The nice thing about the Valley Bucks is they keep business in the community,” he said.

• The Trailing of the Sheep is looking for volunteers to help with a variety of events over the four-day festival, including the sheep dog trials and the Sheep Folklife Fair, said GeeGee Lowe.

  “There are a lot of moving parts to the Trailing so if you have even a couple hours to volunteer it would be appreciated,” said Bacon.

• Wood River Sustainability Center will start its Farm to Table Dinners back up in October. “We were just too busy over summer to pull them off,” said Al McCord, the sustainability center’s director.

This month’s Business After Hours will be hosted by Wood River Land Trust from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at its Draper Preserve near Lions Park in Hailey.