STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Tickets are going fast for the 22nd Annual Galena & the Trails Winter Benefit.
The benefit, with a sit-down dinner, silent and live auction and dancing to the High Street Party Band, will be held 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at Sun Valley’s Limelight Room.
Jim Keating said tickets have already exceeded 300 and he expects it to easily be a sellout.
And deservedly so. Hundreds of Wood River Valley skiers and snowshoers and out-of-town residents flocked to the cross-country ski mecca over the holidays, cars practically bumper to bumper on the highway, since the snow in the south valley was marginal at that time. Cross country ski teams have come to the lodge from as far away as Utah, and even Dartmouth to train this season.
This year’s live auction items include a stay for eight at a private penthouse in Punta Mita, Mexico; a private dinner with restaurateurs Anne and Scott Mason; a private party for 30 with the Harriman String Quartet; a nosh in Senate Meadows, and a private wine pairing dinner for 16 at Galena Lodge featuring the culinary talents of Galena Lodge proprietor Don Shepler.
The auction will conclude with a Stand for Galena paddle raise.
The benefit was started two decades ago to raise funding to maintain the rustic Galena Lodge and the world-class grooming of the Nordic trails, which do not utilize tax dollars. In recent years the event has also helped support the mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding there that was greatly improved by the building and reconstruction of 47 miles of summer trails.
“This fun-filled evening of great food, drink, music and dancing brings our Nordic, hiking and biking communities together to help raise the crucial funds for our beloved Galena Lodge and surrounding trail systems,” said organizer Jenny Busdon.
Tickets are $100 per person with tables available for eight and 10. Reservations can be made at www.bcrd.org or by calling 208-578-5455.
The evening is sponsored by the BCRD, the Galena and the Trails Advisory Council and Tastevin Wines.