Siskiyou Daily News
Printed Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Fundraiser to benefit Butte Valley ambulance service
By JAMIE GENTNER
Daily News Staff Writer
DORRIS – When most county residents call 911 for medical help, it is assumed that an ambulance will come to their aid within minutes.
“People take for granted that they’ll call and an ambulance will be there quickly,” Ted Swain, a Dorris resident and California Highway Patrol sergeant with the Dorris/Tulelake resident post, said. “We haven’t always been that lucky.”
The Butte Valley Ambulance Service has provided medical service to the Butte Valley area since the early 1970s.
Their service area includes approximately 1,200 square miles in the northeastern part of the county. Included in that area is 40 miles of U.S. Highway 97 and about 45 miles of the Union Pacific rail lines north from Weed to the Oregon border.
Last year, the ambulances that serve residents in that coverage area broke down the weekend before July 4.
“I’m in the line of work that you’ve got to have an ambulance,” Swain said. “If we would have needed one in a hurry, we would have waited for one from Merrill, Oregon, or Mount Shasta, which would mean waiting an extra 20 or 30 minutes. It’s not good to have that added delay.”
Last year, Swain decided that something needed to be done. He put together a fundraiser and was able to raise $50,000 in just five weeks.
Those funds, coupled with a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant, helped purchase two ambulances: one new one and a used one with less than 20,000 miles on it.
But now, the Butte Valley Ambulance Service has run into another problem. Not only do they need another ambulance, but they need a new building - because the new vehicles are too big for the existing building.
“We now have the crew to staff the vehicles and the building, we just don’t have the number of ambulances that we need or a building we can be in,” said Jacquiline Swain, Ted’s wife and an EMT in Dorris.
According to a fact sheet assembled by Jacquiline, the building was built by members of the community, and it was big enough at the time for the station wagon hearse that transported patients.
However, the new ambulances stand too high to clear the doorway and are too wide to fit in the building. Right now, they are parked under the Dorris Fire Department’s bays until a new building can be built.
A new building would allow for ample parking for the ambulances, a training and meeting area for volunteers, a business office and the storage room that isn’t currently available in the existing structure.
Thus, Ted and other volunteers have set out to raise money again.
The Butte Valley Ambulance Service is currently in the process of a grant request that will help with the situation, but the grant requires matching funds.
The goal they hope to reach is $35,000 for a new building and more for another ambulance.
Jacquiline estimates that about $40,000 will be needed for the ambulance, which will be a 2000 or 2001 model. The current ambulances are 1997 and 2006 models, so the service wants another in-between model in order to stagger replacement times so they don’t end up in the same position as they did last year.
To raise those funds, the second annual barbecue and auction fundraiser will be held on Saturday, Aug. 18.
The event will begin at 11 a.m. at Dorris City Hall with a lunch. For $3, visitors will get a pulled pork sandwich, cole slaw and a drink. Coffee bean, saddle maker and antique vendors will also be set up at that time.
Then, at 5 p.m., a barbecue dinner will be served and will include tri-tip, chicken, sausage, salad, bread and a drink for $5. Children under 5 years old eat free.
Also at 5 p.m., a drawing will be held for several prizes, including a Browning automatic rifle donated by Porterfield Ranch, a Benelli-Max 4 Super Nove 12 gauge donated by Wayne Frost, a Marlin .17 HMR donated by Mr. and Mrs. Dave Dudley, a big screen TV donated by Michael Ray of Harvest Ford and 1/4 beef donated by Prather Ranch. Many more prizes will be available.
Tickets for the drawing may be purchased at Butte Valley Saddle Co., City Hall, Primo’s Mini-Mart and Merrill Lumber in Dorris; Sharon’s Shell in Macdoel; Parker’s Rod and Gun Rack in Klamath Falls; and Stidham Trucking in Yreka.
Ticket prices are as follows:
• One ticket: $5;
• Three tickets: $10;
• Eight tickets: $20;
• 30 tickets: $50; and
• 100 tickets: $100.
Because the Butte Valley Ambulance Service is a community non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, those who buy 100 tickets or donate $100 or more will receive a letter for taxing purposes so the donation can be written off on taxes.
For those who don’t win something in the drawing, or who want something more, silent and live auctions will follow dinner.
Among the live auction items are numerous jewelry items, a barbecue pack worth $250, 20 pounds of dog food a month for a year, a condo for a week in Cabo San Lucas, three-day event tickets to the Dodge/Save Mart Nascar Nextel Cup Roadrace, blocks of hay, a guided bird hunt, a photo shoot and more.
Silent auction items include a year’s subscription to the Butte Valley Ambulance Service, PHI Air Ambulance subscription, a United States flag flown over the U.S. Capitol, dinners at local restaurants, eye exams, 50 pounds of Nutrena horse feed every month for a year, a fishing trip on the Columbia River and more.
All the prizes have been donated, and Jim McGilvray of Bonanza, Ore. will conduct the auction.
Last year, Ted said, about 450 people from all over Siskiyou County and Oregon showed up, and the auction alone brought in $26,000. This year, they are hoping for even more success.
“I’ve been with the CHP for 36 years, and I know a community can’t be without an ambulance,” Ted said. “We really need everyone’s help to make this happen. ... We want to make it a situation where everyone wins.”
For more information about any of the events, or to request a vendor booth at the events, call Ted Swain at 397-2700 or the Butte Valley Ambulance Service at 397-2105.
