For those looking for a fun way to get the party started on New Years Eve, there is no better place to be on December 31st than the Ukiah Valley Conference Center, where “Comedy for a Cause” will feature an evening of delicious food, drawings, an auction and two comedy acts. All proceeds from the event will support an organization that is vital to a safe community: the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.
It takes about 6 months for volunteers to complete a wide variety of training modules to become deputized as a Search and Rescue Volunteer. The non-profit organization relies solely on community support to perform their work. (Contributed)The event is being produced by Total Bern Productions. Sponsors include Coldwell Banker/Mendo Realty, BFC, Summit Technology Management, 94.5 Kine, LG Electric, the City of Ukiah/Ukiah Valley Conference Center, Woida Property Development, Rino/Rinehart Oil Inc., Community First Credit Union, Fowler Auto Center and Ukiah Brewing Company, with special thanks to Cultivo, Days Inn, Ukiah Car Wash and Detail and the Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance.
The evening’s comedy headliners are DJ Sandhu and Sydney Stigerts. According to Jake Bernie, the evening’s host, Sandhu has performed here several times. “He did Comedy for a Cause events for both Ukiah High School and Willits High. He’s a very hard-working comic with over a million followers on Instagram. Sydney is a fan favorite and extremely funny.”
“We created this comedy platform to assist local, struggling non-profits. Our community gravitates toward the rule of reciprocity,” says Bernie. “If I call 100 people asking for a donation to Search and Rescue, maybe 3 will respond. If I put on a comedy event where people get done early enough to enjoy New Year’s festivities, people are happy to attend.”
Mayor Tom Allman will be the event auctioneer. “When Mayor Tom held his retirement dinner, he donated all the proceeds to Search and Rescue. This is an organization that receives no state, federal or county funding. They rely 100% on donations from our communities,” Bernie notes. “I’m excited. I’m sure this is going to be a sellout event.”
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Detective Jared Chaney is the Volunteer Commander for Search and Rescue. A longtime Mendocino County resident, Chaney’s grandfather was tasked as a teenager to herd 100 sheep from Nevada “to a place called Ukiah,” he smiles. He grew up rock climbing, backpacking and 4-wheeling, stumbling across Search and Rescue in 2009, joining in 2010 and taking over as volunteer Commander in 2016. “My first search as Commander was near Jackson State Forest- a mushroom hunter who got lost on Thanksgiving Day. She’s still with us.”
With the exception of Lt. James Elmore and a few other sworn liaisons with the Sheriff’s Department, “SAR” is composed entirely of volunteers. “These are some of my favorite people- folks willing to search for a complete stranger on a dark, stormy night, using their own purchased gear.” It takes a high degree of knowledge, training and skill to become a capable Search and Rescue volunteer.
The team currently consists of about 50 people possessing a wide range of skills. The organization is a 501(c)3 non-profit. “While we work hand in hand with the Sheriff’s Office- which deploys us for certain search missions and provides support, we are an independent organization. We are volunteers- responsible for raising funds and purchasing most of the equipment needed to complete the tasks asked of us,” Chaney continues.
“We are probably most known for our work locating missing persons. Sometimes they’re young kids, developmentally challenged people or seniors who walk away from home. We try to meet up and begin those searches immediately, because the danger to these types of people is so great,” Chaney explains.
The team conducts traditional wilderness searches- hikers, hunters, or foragers who become lost. “These often involve large areas to search, so they can become multi-day campaign searches.” Fortunately, notes Chaney, the advent of locator apps has reduced the number of lost hunters, but many wildlife and outdoor enthusiasts still haven’t made the transition to location apps.
The team assists with animal rescues. “Sometimes Animal Control needs help controlling wild horses, or there are animals on a roadway.” Some volunteers are specifically trained and certified to work with large animals. This came into play during the 2017 fires, when burned fences in the Redwood Valley area resulted in terrified horses running wild.
SAR members are deployed for water rescues, boating accidents and drownings. Other specialty services the team offers includes piloting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, mountaineering and swift water rescue. “We also have a dive team, but it’s not as prevalent as it used to be. We’ve unfortunately recovered a lot of deceased people from the water. John Woods is a veteran canine handler who leads our Search and Rescue Specialty Canine Team. We train our own Search and Rescue dogs,” Chaney explains. Other volunteers train to operate in rough wilderness terrain and are experts in orienteering by map, compass or GPS.
The SAR team’s close connection to the Sheriff’s Department is unusual. “We’re more tied to our Sheriff’s than any Search and Rescue in other California counties, primarily because we’ve developed a high level of trust,” says Chaney. This enables volunteers to accept complex tasks such as working with detectives to locate evidence. “Usually this involves a serious crime like a homicide, where detectives are looking for a critical clue. In one case, one of our members located a fingernail. When the county has a task they need done by a professional team that can execute a mission plan, many times they come to us- even if the task might be outside of our core training.” For example, during the Camp Fire, team members were deployed for 13 days for search and recovery.
Chaney recalls a deployment during the pandemic. “The very first drive-up Covid testing took place at Plowshares in Ukiah. We worked with Adventist Health, who was looking for people who understood the risk and the proper use of PPE. We successfully guided people through that testing event during a very uncertain time.”
Searches often occur in rugged terrain, day or night, in all weather conditions. “Although your specialties may be in a particular area, every member can expect to be called upon to join a search on foot if necessary. One of our biggest successes is making sure everyone’s a ground searcher first.
“The most important component of being a Search and Rescue volunteer is knowing you are part of a team,” says Chaney. There are many roles for Search and Rescue volunteers. “Not everyone can hike down into a canyon. I don’t want the person doing a body recovery to be someone for whom this would be too traumatic, so we play to people’s strengths. What I look for is people with the right spirit who will do good by our team and community. There are plenty of roles for non-physical team members. People can be home looking at maps, providing us with an essential service or logistical support.”
During every disaster, well-meaning folks contact Chaney, wanting to help. “Without training, for liability reasons, we have to turn people away. We are empowering our volunteers to be useful and helpful to their community. To do that, pre-planning and commitment is required to make a real difference.” He invites interested people to attend a monthly Search and Rescue meeting. “We have a public ‘All-SAR’ meeting on the 4th Wednesday of the month at the Sheriff’s Office. There’s usually a training component, and people are welcome to observe.”
Being a volunteer requires a commitment of time as well as training. Canine teams train twice a week, and ground teams train weekly. Additionally, one full Saturday is an all-day training day. Overnight trainings occur twice yearly following the graduation of new volunteers. Members must obtain and maintain valid First Aid and CPR cards, and are also expected to complete four FEMA Incident Command System classes.
Two volunteer trainings are offered, in the fall and spring. Following the passage of a background check, “bootcamp” can include training in navigation, running radios and wilderness rescue techniques.“It generally takes 3 to 6 months to be sworn in as a SAR volunteer.” Throughout the year, other optional training opportunities are offered such as tracking, rappelling, the use of specialty vehicles, land navigation and more. There are no member dues or fees. Once sworn in as a Disaster Service Worker, all members are covered by state worker’s compensation and disability benefits during training and on missions.
Mendocino County is legendary among other search and rescue teams statewide “because we lose people really well here,” notes Chaney, adding, ”It’s pretty hard to get lost in urban areas,” he smiles. People from other SAR Teams come to Mendocino County to assist with large searches and realize, “We have some of the most difficult non-alpine terrain to search in all of California.”
Thankfully, says Chaney, this year has been relatively quiet. “In our busier years, we’ve had around 68 missing person missions in a year- more than one weekly.” The lower mission count has allowed SAR to focus on training. One of the overarching goals of SAR is providing closure for families. “Of course we want to rescue everyone, and statistically, we’re very good at doing that. But there are still cold cases out there. If there are new leads, we’ll organize weekend trainings at the location of a cold case. Someday, one of those trainings will net an actual find.”
The Sheriff’s Department heartily supports Search and Rescue. “They buy our gas, which sounds insignificant, but when you drive multiple vehicles for four hours to get to a search site, it adds up.” When trucks belonging to the Sheriff’s Office were decommissioned, they are often donated to Search and Rescue. “We have four now, but that’s still not enough to get our entire team to a location. Howard Hospital donated a 4-seater side-by-side, which has been great. All of the Rotary programs donated more than $30,000 to provide raingear for our volunteers, which was awesome.” Federal grant funds have dried up, and it is up to the community to keep SAR supplied, equipped, and trained.
“We have developed a cadre of highly trained civilians who are out in the field because they want to be there. They are asked to do missions- sometimes dangerous ones, and there’s no money to pay them,” Chaney smiles. “When I took over the team, it was a pretty humble group. Ten missions a year was a busy season back then. My focus has been to up the functionality of this group for the benefit of our community, and we’ve done that. There are few, if any people in our county who are more ready to act as a team, who are trained in rescue, search and recovery operations and who can hit the ground running. Our volunteers have zero expectation of credit or acknowledgement for what they do.” The upcoming fundraiser is the perfect opportunity for the community to express their gratitude for the hard work of the Search and Rescue volunteers.
Event attendees may purchase a general admission ticket with dinner, an individual ticket or a reserved table. Drinks offered by the Ukiah Lions Club will be available. The event is for adults 21 and over. Doors open at 5:30, with dinner from 6:00-7:00 PM. Drawings and the live auction take place from 7:15-8:00, with the comedy show taking place from 8:00-9:00. There will be a limited number of dinner tickets available at the door. Dinner consists of brisket, chicken or a vegetarian option, and guests may sample all three main dishes.
Dinner reservations must be received by December 27th. Tickets are available at the Mendocino Book Company and online through Eventbrite. Listen to KWINE or MAXX the week before the show to win tickets to the event. For information about the fundraiser, phone (707) 367-2370.
For more information about Search and Rescue, visit their Facebook, Instagram or website at www.mendosar.org.
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