Knotty Pine Gazette - January 23, '09

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and it is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Eph. 2:8-10

I think Ranger Bill would agree that this would be an excellent theme verse for the program. Bill, Stumpy, and Gray Wolf are Christians who are saved solely by the love of God through the blood of Jesus. And the new life that comes from faith in Christ has a new nature that produces good works that give Jesus all the glory. Simply Ranger Bill and we love because Christ first loved us.


Winter Loosens Grip
According to the weather service, the weather in and around Knotty Pine and the Big Pine Forest should be easing somewhat and returning to more seasonal temperatures and snow fall for the next few weeks. That is good news for road crews, including forest ranger plows, who have been working just about around the clock trying to keep most major roads open. With record snows and temperatures hovering around zero, plows have been unable to keep many of the side streets and back roads cleared even with help from Ranger Bill Jefferson's crews assisting with the road work.

Fighting Cabin Fever
Cabin fever affects many residents of the tri-county area, if not the entire state, this time of year. Most cities in the area have organized volunteers to deal with the effects of being shut in during these winter months.
Knotty Pine's Meals on Wheels have been bringing groceries and hot meals to elderly and handicapped city residents. Drivers stop to chat with residents as well as to deliver food. Often this human contact is more important to and needed by citizens than even a hot meal.
The mayor's office and several churches in town have organized entertainment nights. Family friendly movies; dances; visiting choirs; as well as amateur nights with comedians, singing, and bands of all kinds; are all scheduled for this winter. Weather permitting, there will be at least one astronomy night. People are encouraged enjoy the telescopes provided by the Big Pine Astronomy Club and bring their own telescopes as well. The city is offering lost-cost trips to Canyon City and Central City, weather permitting.

Prayer for Our Leaders
Beginning tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 24, Chief Ranger Bill Jefferson will be leading, not one, but three prayer breakfasts this week. The focus of these prayer events will be to pray for our national leaders, especially our presidents. Ranger Bill will begin each breakfast with prayer for our new President Obama that God will lead and guide the president to make decisions that are in line with His holy will. Ranger Bill also will pray for now former president George Bush that God will give Mr. Bush new purpose now that he is out of office. Ranger Bill also wants to thank God for blessing us with a godly leader like Mr. Bush. Finally Ranger Bill will focus prayer for our country that we as a nation live according to God's will and that Jesus would be preached to everyone in our country and to the world. Ranger Bill will hold other breakfasts on the following Wednesday and Saturday. They will be held at Knotty Pine Church in their multi-purpose room. The food will be served by the ladies of KPC lead by Agnes "Mom" Jefferson.

Survivalist Rescue
Famed TV survival expert Todd Stiner literally dropped in on Big Pine National Forest earlier this week by helicopter. With permission from Chief Ranger Bill Jefferson, Mr. Stiner jumped from an army chopper onto the slopes of Old Baldy to survive three days and nights with nothing but a small backpack of survival tools, a canteen of water, and a two-man camera crew. Using nothing but his marine survival training and his wits Todd travels around the world competing against extreme climates - jungles, deserts, wilderness, even on a raft adrift in the ocean - and shows how the experts survive these dangerous environments.
Todd had explained his plan fully with Ranger Bill. Todd and his crew were to start on Old Baldy, climb down to the Shady Valley, then hike back to Ranger Headquarters. Ranger Bill having had marine survival training himself agreed to Todd's trek with the stipulation that all three men carry GPS units in case of emergency.
Unfortunately for Todd, the record-heavy snows and cold created icy conditions on Old Baldy. near the end of the team's decent, one of the crewmen slipped and fell, breaking his leg. Mr. Stiner radioed for help. Because of the location of the men, a helicopter rescue was not possible. So Bill and his team drove, hiked, and then climbed to the Stiner team's position. The injured man Allen Ramsey is reported in good condition at Knotty Pine Hospital and should be released in a day or two. Ranger Bill has given Mr. Stiner permission to come back to Big Pine with the condition that he, Bill Jefferson, join Todd on his next attempt at Old Baldy.