STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Business leaders huddled together and discussed how President Trump’s tariffs have hurt even Mom and Pop shops in the Wood River Valley.

Jane Drussel told how she is hosting a closing party this spring after decades of supplying the Wood River Valley with everything from printer paper to Christmas tree decorations.

Hockey fans talked about how NBC had somehow dropped the ball at the Hilary Knight watch party at the Sun Valley Culinary Institute earlier in the day, cutting away to a picture long after most attendees had gone home while those at watch parties in three other towns were shown jumping for excitement at Team USA’s winning goal over Canada.

This is just a sampling of the door prizes at the February BAH.

And Chamber Director Mike McKenna described how this year’s Fourth of July Parade will focus on the theme of America’s 250th birthday with all four cities in the Wood River Valley represented. McKenna also said that the Chamber is brainstorming how to create a progressive car show in Hailey that would be coupled with musical acts.

That was the last Business After Hours held at DL Evans Bank in Hailey. Attendees had the opportunity to win from a table full of door prizes, including a Mary Roberson Painting, cutting board made by former high school wood working teacher Kevin Lupton, a Tom Pestatnik bird house, a pillow cover crafted by Jane Rosen travel package, puzzle from Jane’s Paper Place and a variety of travel packages and gift certificates.

That particular BAH was hosted by the Hailey Rotary Club, which has given out $37,000 in scholarship money to local youth in the past 16 months. The scholarships made it possible for one student to attend a San Francisco Opera workshop and for a robotics team to attend competition.

An Ezra Pound scholarship is making it possible for Monique Tellez to attend an oil painting workshop at the Art Institute of Chicago and for Lexi Obland to attend an Intensive Law and Trial program at Stanford Law School. Other beneficiaries of the scholarship are Tristen Ballis, who will attend a forensic psychology course at Cambridge University, and Elle Davis, who will work with a marine conservation program protecting loggerhead turtles and their breeding sites in Greece.

The Chamber has a new calendar out that marks dates for such events as Hailey Rocks, the Ketchum Arts Festival and the Fourth of July Parade and Antique Fair.

In addition, the service club, which holds its lunch meetings at DL Evans Bank, gave $10,000 to the Wood River Land Trust as part of its successful bid to preserve and protect Hailey Hot Springs Ranch in Cry Canyon, said member Joan Davies.

The next BAH, open to the public, will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at The Senior Connection in Hailey. The Connection’s Chef Sky Barker will serve up bites and Senior Connection representatives will have the opportunity to talk about their March for Meals campaign to raise money for Meals on Wheels and their gala fundraising dinner later in the spring.

The next day--on Friday, March 13--J McLaughlin shop in Ketchum, will host a Sip & Shop to benefit The Senior Connection and Meals on Wheels.

The store will donate 10 percent of sales from its new March collection between noon and 4 p.m. today--Friday, March 13--at the store at 520 E. 4th St. in Ketchum. Mardi Shepard, Trish Wilson and Jovita Pina will be on hand to provide the sips and discuss the work that The Senior Connection does.

"The program is so impressive. It's 100 percent community supported and delivers 300 meals each week from Warm Springs to Picabo," said store manager Sarah Howe. "More than 40 volunteers assist in this vital community program. We're honored to do our part to help support this vital local cause."