Search and Rescue raises $24K
By John Hales
4-9-08

The Sanpete County Search and Rescue had what it calls a banner year of fundraising during last week’s annual April Fools Jeep Posse Day.
Through donations and bail posted at five Coca-Cola “jails,” the organization raised over $24,000.
In comparison to previous years, this year’s donations were “right up there,” said Kerry Deuel, who leads the posse each year from the microphones of KMTI radio station.
“It was a lot better year than I anticipated, with the economy the way it is. But they come through every time. God bless Sanpete,” he said.
All five of the Coke jails—where people are “imprisoned” by the Search and Rescue until they raise money for “bail”— were busy, Deuel said.
“Some years we’ve had some be slower. Several of them ran clear out of product, which is unusual.”
The money raised, said Deuel, will go toward annual charges for pagers, maintenance on equipment, and some will be set aside for a planned expansion of the Search and Rescue building in Mt. Pleasant.
Deuel said the Search and Rescue is busier than most people realize. For example, he said, the crew carried out three rescues in one day alone—at the same time, in fact—on the opening day of the deer hunt last year.
Visitors from outside Sanpete account for most of the organization’s activity.
“About 90 percent of actual rescues are people from out of the county,” he said, who are overzealous in 4-wheeling or snowmobiling and get themselves in situations they can’t get out of.”