Cajun feed to raise money for avalanche safety group

November is Avalanche Awareness Month, and the Backcountry Avalanche Awareness Response Team is kicking it off with a spicy dinner and a hot snowmachine. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, BAART will dish up a Cajun feed and snowmachine raffle as part of its fundraiser at the Moose Lodge in Palmer.

The dinner, including seafood gumbo, beans and rice, corn bread, cake and punch, will cost adults $10 and children ages 2 to 12 $5.

Raffle tickets for a 2002 Polaris 550 Trail Touring snowmachine will sell for $10 each. The sled includes electric start, fan cooling and reverse. It was donated by Premier Alaska, Inc., Roland Kennerson. The winning ticket will be drawn at 6:30 p.m.

The group is also seeking donations for its silent auction, which will be held throughout the evening. So far, items to be auctioned include snowmachine helmets, avalanche beacons and safety glasses.

Organizers say they would like people to purchase tickets for the dinner ahead of time so they will know how many people they will be feeding. For more information about purchasing tickets or making a donation, people may call Patsy Coyne at 373-6406 or Emmet Heidemann at 373-3357.

All proceeds from the event will go toward the continuing efforts of BAART to raise public awareness of avalanche danger. The Valley-based group receives some state grant money, but also relies heavily on community donations.

"With all our members being volunteers, 75 percent of the grant funds are being expended directly toward public awareness and avalanche avoidance education," BAART said in its fund-raising letter. "The remaining 25 percent is used to provide training and equipment for BAART's response team."

Dollars donated by the community, however, can be used for a wider variety of expenditures.

"It gives us a little more leeway," said BAART member Patsy Coyne "It's to help with our education, to get our instructors down to Seward and other areas." Coyne said donated funds can be used for travel expenses and to provide places for the volunteer instructors to stay when they visit other areas of the state.

Since its inception three years ago, BAART has aimed to decrease the number of avalanche-caused injuries and fatalities. Targeting snowmachiners, backcountry skiers, snowboarders and other groups of winter recreationists, the group has worked to raise awareness of avalanche dangers and signs.

BAART's goals for this winter include expanding its education efforts in schools and at other organizations and events, promoting the use of basic avalanche gear, promoting Avalanche Awareness Month and organizing avalanche-recognition workshops around the state.

According to BAART, Alaska leads the nation in per-capita deaths due to avalanches.