Last month I pointed out that when things are slow it can feel like maybe we aren't really needed. Lately we have needed every responder that we can get. Everything that you do for Cibola matters, especially when we have a lot of missions and a lot of team activity. This is true whether or not you are actually in the field. Handling callouts (Thanks Aidan), dealing with pager problems (Thanks Tom and Lili), hauling gear all over creation (Thanks Tony), putting on trainings and evals (Thanks Tom and Steve), or responding to two missions in one 24 hour period (Thanks Mark and Kevin), it all matters, it mattered to the subjects, it mattered to their families, and it matters to your teammates. As I've watched this team responed over the last couple of weeks, I've been proud to be part of a group of people that respond so consistently and professionally to the needs of others. Keep up the good work, you are a great team!!

Boots and Blisters

by Steven Buckley, Training Officer

I just got done reviewing our training records for the first half of 2003. Overall we had very good participation this half. Here are some statistics:

Members meeting or exceeding the requirements (2 or more)--80% Members exceeding the requirement (3 or more)--62% Members doubling the requirement (4 or more)--45% Members tripling the requirement (6 or more)--20%

There are six people entering the second half with a training deficit status. Three are members and three are prospective members. Let's work to get the six caught up this next half.

Overall, I am very pleased with the attendance of our training program. Thanks for all of the support. I am also very pleased with all of the support that you provided in running the training program. Our training program was much stronger for the contributions from all of you conducting training events. Thanks so much for that much needed support. The quality of our training program was stronger and my workload was a lot lighter thanks to all of you willing to help out.

Now for the kudos...

High training attendance goes to Robert Baker and David Chapek with seven training events attended. Second place goes to Mike Dugger, Tony Gaier, and Aaron Hall with six training events attended. Third goes to Terry Hardin, Tom Rinck, and Tom Russo with five training events attended. Finally fourth place goes to Mark Espelien, Aidan Thompson, and Lili Ziesmann with 4 training events attended.

Thanks to you all for making sure I never got the answer to "what if I held a training event and nobody attended?"

Now for a short commercial announcement: I need help! I sent out our revised training schedule for 2003. As you can see by careful study, the second half entries are missing a lot of trainer names. Please help me, and the team, by volunteering for those positions.

Thanks again for the great support for our training program for the first half of 2003. You are not off the hook for the second half.

Business as Usual:Meeting Minutes

by Joyce Rumschlag, Secretary

Minutes of the 12 of June 2003 Business Meeting

Pre-meeting lesson was presented by James Newberry. Highlights of his talk included the following: He informed us that the Resource Director 2003 was now available. We need to get media attention at our trainings. Since Sunday is a slow news day, he suggested inviting them to a training for a "feel good" story. CERT is still in the works. FEMA training is essential if we are to get where we need to be to work Homeland Security. Because mission numbers are going down, it is expected that we will be losing team members as well as teams. We need more FC's. The training will take two long weekends. He asked us to all think about taking the training.

President's Report

Aaron Hall began the meeting with the usual introductions. Under old business, he requested that the Land Nav. Committee have a report for the next meeting.

Vice-President/Training

Aaron reported for Steve Buckley. He reminded us about the Ham training next Saturday at the Sandia Ranger Station at 0900. Since Tom Russo wiil be conducting the training, he also added highlights of the content of the training. Reminder about the Mock Search in mid September. Steve is looking for help with planning and logistics.

Treasurer

Lili Ziesmann reported that expenses for last month were for ESCAPE

Equipment

Tony Gaier reported that we have a new stokes litter and wheel. We now have two litters at the fire station and one at his house. The new litter is exactly like the one it replaced with the exception at it has a back up strap in case the pins came out. Supplies are going well.

P.R. Committee No meeting this month. The next meeting will be on the third Wednesday of July at 1830 at the Frontier Restaurant.

New Business

Tom Russo mentioned that because of multiple problems with assorted pagers, he would be conducting a pager test for the following week. He briefly explained how the test would work.

Aaron Hall suggested that we do a once a month test page using the 611 pager code. Tops of trees will call their trees and members will respond also.

Lili Ziesmann reported that both physical pagers one and two have been replaced. She suggested that we review pager procedures (they are on the web). Additional PACE patches are available for your extra shirts for $5. They are for those members only who have passed the PACE exam. Please be sure to wear the orange shirt when on a mission. They are visible as well as professional

Meeting adjourned at 2030.

Public Relations

by David Dixon

There are three P.R. events coming up in August. Our annual Open Space "Sunset Chat" will be the evening of the 23rd at Elena Gallegos Picnic Ground. We'll do our usual presentation on Outdoor Preparedness including the 10 Essentials, hopefully to a large interested group. The next morning we sponsor a short Hike which usually includes a brief lesson or talk on some aspect of the outdoors or sar. Both of these events are great fun and good P. R. and recruitment for us. The August P. R. meeting comes after these events so we will be planning for them this month. Finally on the 29th is UNM Welcome Back Day on the Mall. We'll set up a booth and try to recruit some young, eager students. It runs from 9-2 but if we have enough volunteers no one needs to work more than a few hours. We need help with all of these events. If you're interested come to the meeting or contact me soon.

I'll be out of town this month on the usual last Wednesday so the P.R. Committee meeting has been changed to the 23rd, always at 6:30 p.m., Frontier Restaurant across from UNM.

Disclaimer and Copyright notice

the Editors

The contents of this newsletter are copyright © 2003 by their respective authors or by Cibola Search and Rescue, Inc., and individual articles represent the opinions of the author. Cibola SAR makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in these articles, and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Articles contained in this newsletter may be reproduced, with attribution given to Cibola SAR and the author, by any member of the Search and Rescue community for use in other team's publications.