IOGA to host book-signing event, "The Thaw" live auction Dec. 13
[caption id="attachment_85" align="aligncenter" width="584"] The IOGA annual dinner and auction always is a fun event where you can buy super-cool outdoor trips and equipment. Don't miss it![/caption]
Five Idaho authors, including several from the state's outfitting and guiding industry, will be signing books at a special IOGA event on Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Boise Hotel & Conference Center, 3300 Vista Ave. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
The book-signing event, which runs from 2:30-4 p.m. on Dec. 13, is a great opportunity for people to get autographed books for Christmas gifts. The event foreshadows "The Thaw," the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association's annual dinner and auction, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at the same location. About 10 live auction items are up for grabs, including an AIRE inflatable kayak, wilderness whitewater trips, guest lodge trips, fishing trips and jet boat scenic tours. The Thaw is a benefit dinner for IOGA and the Idaho Natural Resources Foundation. It costs $30 per person. The authors featured at the book-signing event are: Jo Deurbrouck, a former river guide from Idaho Falls who just received a National Outdoor Book Award for her new book, Anything Worth Doing: A true story of adventure, friendship and tragedy on the last of the West's great rivers. Deurbrouck recounts a white-knuckle tale of three men running the Salmon River at flood stage, 96,000 cubic feet per second. One of them drowned. [caption id="attachment_76" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dick Linford[/caption] [caption id="attachment_74" align="alignleft" width="150"] Bob Volpert[/caption] Bob Volpert, owner of Idaho River Journeys, and Dick Linford, with ECHO, the Wilderness Company, penned a collection of river stories titled Halfway to Halfway & Other River Stories. Most of the tales are centered on events and happenings on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and Main Salmon River, two of the best wilderness river trips in America, and places where these guys have spent nearly a lifetime running trips as outfitters and guides. Stan Potts, longtime big game outfitter and guide, will be signing copies of The Potts Factor's - This Olde House, his fourth book. Potts is a former rodeo competitor who also has guided many successful hunts for wild sheep, elk, deer, black bear, mountain lion and mountain goats in the Salmon River Country and Lost River Range. Richard Holm Jr., a commercial pilot who resides in Boise and McCall, just completed his second book, Bound for the Backcountry: A History of Idaho's Remote Airstrips. Holm details the construction and history of more than 100 backcountry airstrips in Central Idaho, including those in the Salmon River country, Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, and Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Gary Brookshire, left, and Alison Steen, IOGA board president On Wednesday, Dec. 12, the IOGA annual meeting will feature a luncheon presentation by David Brown, executive director of America Outdoors, about the state of the outfitting and guiding industry, and expected trends in leisure travel in the coming year. This will be a must-see presentation for people who have an interest in leisure and travel trends in the United States. During the Thaw, a Ducks Unlimited 75th anniversary Kimber 8400 .300 Win. Mag. will be raffled off. Tickets are $10 each or three for $25. The gun has a 26-inch match-grade barrel, select-grade walnut stock with classic checkering, an Ebony fore end cap, special DU serial number and DU logo on the floor plate. To get tickets for the Thaw, you can sign up online at this link: https://ioga.org/member-information/thaw/tickets/ or call 208-342-1438 or email [email protected] for more information.