Art Smith's death was a loss to all hunters, youth

Dear editor:

On March 17, 2010, the community of Mountain Home, together with Idaho's Hunter Education program, suffered a great loss with the passing of Art Smith.

For many years, Art served as a volunteer Hunter Education Instructor, teaching and training Mountain Home-area youngsters. One of Art's teaching traditions involved providing a survival kit to every student graduating from his Hunter Education course. This kit provided necessary items that everyone becoming lost might need to survive until help arrived.

Art's family requested that this tradition continue. Thanks to contributions from many of Art's friends, the Idaho Hunter Education Instructors' Association (IHEIA) and Sportsman's Warehouse, survival kits will continue to be provided to future Mountain Home Hunter Education students.

The Hunter Education Instructors' Association would like to thank the family of Art Smith and all who donated for their help with this worthwhile project.

-- Fred Dixon, IHEIA president, and Jay Stark, IHEIA president-elect