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Spirit Way gala raises nearly $15,000

Volker Beckmann, volunteer project co-ordinator with Spirit Way, is calling their annual gala, which took place at the Thompson Inn's North Star Saloon on Nov. 12, a big success.

Volker Beckmann, volunteer project co-ordinator with Spirit Way, is calling their annual gala, which took place at the Thompson Inn's North Star Saloon on Nov. 12, a big success.

The gala served as an opportunity for people to learn more about Spirit Way, hear from two guest speakers from Idaho and bid on auction items with all the money going towards the initiative.

To start the evening off Beckmann brought people up to date on how the Spirit Way initiative is going, talking to them about the GPS wolf hunt and plans for a wolf park enclosure in Thompson.The guest speakers for the event were Jim and Jamie Dutcher, the founders of the non-profit Living with Wolves organization. The organization looks to re-establish wolves as part of natural ecosystems. Jim, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker and cinematographer has produced three documentary-style films with his wife Jamie, called Wolf: Return of a Legend; Wolves at Our Door; and Living with Wolves, the latter of which audience members at the Spirit Way gala got to see footage from.

All three movies, which won Emmys for cinematography, outstanding programing and sound recording, focused on the wolves in the Sawtooth pack. These wolves were socialized with the Dutchers from the time they were mere pups, bottle-feeding them and allowing the couple to gain the animals' trust and acceptance. Their films span six years of living in the remote Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho observing the intricacies and mysteries of wolf behaviour.

The Dutchers talked about what watching and interacting with the wolves taught them, and explained to the crowd the history of persecution wolves have faced and the interesting way they show distinct personalities, vocalization and body language.

"Our project began over 18 years ago when we started construction of a huge enclosure in a remote area of Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains," Jim explains. "There have been other studies on wolves and there have been other films, but none have taken such a long and intimate look at the social structure of the pack."

The enclosure that the Dutchers built was the largest of its kind and offered a mixture of subalpine terrain. They lived there for six years in a tented camp within the territory of the Sawtooth pack. Jim says the most significant observation the couple made was the care and love members of the wolf pack showed towards one another.

The Dutchers also gave some positive feedback about the Spirit Way initiative. Jamie says she's happy to see that the project has captivated the entire community of Thompson.

"We're so impressed with how wonderful a community project this has become. Everybody's just really involvedand it's not only important locally for you, or province-wide or even country-wide. This is important for everyone, everywhere in the world. You guys can be the example," she says. "For us, it is my wish that in the lower 48 states, especially in the Great Lakes area and the western United States, that people can take a page from what you're doing and learn to respect wildlife, especially wolves, and realize that wolves are a tremendous asset to our wild community and we really need them in our lives."

During the gala Manitoba Community Services donated $15,000 to go towards the construction of a wolf park. The event in itself, according to Beckmann, brought in about $14,800.

The past four Spirit Way galas were held in June, and Beckmann says that made a difference and led to a slightly lower audience this year. Despite this, he says he is happy with the amount of money that was raised, and that he is also hopeful that the Dutchers will help spread the word about what Spirit Way is doing in their travels.

"They have a huge following in the USA and Thompson is now on their radar screen. They were impressed with what we have been doing with wolves here," he explains. "They gave the audience a better appreciation of wolves, which we take for granted in our wilderness."

Beckmann says he is excited about the idea of Spirit Way being able to show the world how to manage wolves properly.

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