STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
One co-founded an annual potluck for 70 to 100 friends with “memory issues.” Another has kept the Wood River Valley supplied in school tablets and gift cards while helping to guide Hailey’s Main Street renovation.
Now, they’re among four Wood River Valley women who will be honored for their contributions by being named to the 2021 Heritage Court.
This year’s honorees are:
- Rosalie Kirkland, who was born into a pioneer family in American Fork, Utah, and moved to her husband Heber Kirkland’s family farm in Carey in 1972.
A kindergarten and first grade teacher for 20 years, she has been active in church work. She and her husband worked on a mission in Window Rock, Ariz., on the Navajo reservation, then served a stint in Nauvoo, Ill., where they dressed in 19th century costumes to lead tours to the area’s historical sites.
- Linda Vinagre grew up in Santa Monica when it was a lazy beach town but moved to Sun Valley for its four seasons while in her 20s. She worked as a waitress at the Continental at the Sun Valley Inn and then at Louie’s, which she loved even if it meant she went home smelling like a pizza.
She fell in love with Gary Vinagre, who arrived on a motorcycle to take her on a picnic on her first date and the two were soon married. And over the years she has taught a plethora of classes in clay sculpture, flower arranging and faux painting for valley children and adults.
She helped co-founded the annual potluck for those with “memory issues” as she neared 50 and realized things were not as easy to remember as they had been. People come from as far away as Europe to enjoy the party, which features plenty of tall fish tales, bingo and—of course—name tags for all.
- JoAn Walker is an avid horsewoman, her home filled with trophies, crystal bowls and mementos of the decades she and her late husband Jim spent raising and racing quarter horses. Their pride and joy: Zoomin for Spuds, the 2016 Champion of Champions.
JoAn managed the restaurant on the north shore of Magic Reservoir for a few years in 1969; then she and Jim moved further north to Ketchum and then Bellevue where Jim founded Walker Sand and Gravel.
- Jane Drussel, moved to the Wood River Valley with her husband Ken and four sons in 1970. With housing hard to find, the six of them crowded into a little Red Top cabin for a memorable summer until they were able to build their own home.
Jane and her late husband started Jane’s Paper Place in Giacobbi Square in Ketchum in 1985 and expanded the business to Hailey a few years later. Needing a break, she and her husband sold everything in 2004 and traveled the country in a motorhome as traveling reps for a carpet company.
They moved back in 2009, opening Jane’s Artifacts and Holiday House. In that role, Jane Drussel has been an advocate for business in the valley, serving as president of the Chamber of Commerce, an active member of Rotary and a continual fount of suggestions for the City. Through all, she’s managed to keep her finger on the pulse of the community—people’s penchant for hobbies cultivated during the pandemic, for instance, has persuaded her to turn the Holiday House into a stationery store to allow for an expanded selection of arts and crats supplies at her Main Street store.
This year’s Heritage Court agenda has been scaled back due to COVID. The women will ride in one parade--Hailey’s Days of the Old West Parade on Fourth of July—instead of four. And an invitation-only outdoor lunch at The Senior Connection will take the place of the Coronation at the Liberty Theatre.
Sadly, Teddie Dayley, who co-founded the Heritage Court 17 years ago, passed away on April 15. She herself never consented to be named to the Court, saying others were more worthy, said Mike Healy, who has served as Dayley’s right-hand man since the court was established.