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Table of Contents 5
Editor's Letter
6
31 Ready for Takeoff
Backcountry Helicopters: Heroes and Hair-Raising Views
Idaho LAUNCH program provides unprecedented career training support for Idaho high school graduates
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34
Contributors
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Jeté for Joy Dance for Parkinson's Idaho is On Pointe
16 Surviving the Storm: Faces of Hope
19 Change for Change
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Family Advocates: For the love of a child
36 Constitutional Conversations First Principles of American Constitutionalism
39 The Basis of All Good Skiing Olympian Alf Engen's Sun Valley Ascent
Innovation Blooms on Idaho Campuses
28 Ernest Hemingway's Basque Odyssey
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Dear Reader,
This summer, I woke my family up at 3 a.m. to begin the drive from our cabin in Island Park to Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley, hoping to arrive around sunrise. Sometimes referred to as America's Serengeti, the valley is where you’re most likely to see the best wildlife–the largest amount, biggest, and most rare. It didn’t disappoint. We saw a moose, bear, elk, bald eagle, and more. My favorite were the bison, which stretched in every direction, their guttural musings reverberating through the car, ragged coats adorned with tumbleweeds and calves by their sides. My own children, suddenly awake, stared out the window in awe. The bison, especially when viewed collectively, seemed to be in a state of constant movement. Though they seemed leisurely and at peace, bison can be unpredictable and fast, reactionary and impulsive. But they’re smart too. In a storm, they’ll turn into snow instead of drifting with the wind because it gets them out sooner. Instinctually, they use their massive heads to plow through the other side. In this issue, we’ve got stories of the same type of resolve and intuition. I had the pleasure of writing about Dance for Parkinson’s Idaho, which offers movement classes for folks with Parkinson’s and those who support them. They’re an excellent group of people doing big, important work, and they’re joined on our pages by Family Advocates, a Boise organization focused on ending child abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Look for a feature on Faces of Hope too, which provides crisis intervention resources for anyone experiencing interpersonal violence, including an interview with activist Drea Kelly, a domestic abuse survivor who will be speaking at the 2024 Faces of Courage benefit luncheon on April 9. We have stories of students preparing to fly high with the new Idaho LAUNCH initiative, which provides grants for Idaho students seeking continuing career education at a variety of places, including some of the schools featured in an article about innovation happening statewide. And if you’re interested in things that literally fly high, read an article on backcountry helicopter flights for business or pleasure, or explore the slopes of Sun Valley with a story on Olympian (and stuntman!) Alf Engen. The bison, once on the brink of extinction, cannot shy away from their history, so neither can we. IdaHome offers a story on Ernest Hemingway’s Basque odyssey and a scholarly exploration of the importance of constitutional conversations in maintaining the integrity of the republic. Finally, see how one woman is making old parking meters new, and giving to charity in the process. My children remind me that we’re coming up on Valentine’s Day. Despite global conflict of all varieties, there is still a lot of love to be had. As we begin the new year, I want to honor the bison. May we turn toward the storm. I’ll see you in the spring.
XO,
Heather Hamilton-Post Editor in Chief www.idahomemagazine.com
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JA N UA R Y/ F E B R UA R Y 2 0 2 4 publisher K A R E N DAY karen@idahorem.com editor H E AT H E R H A M I LT O N POST heather@idahorem.com art and design J A SON J AC OB SE N jsngrafix@gmail.com K A L E Y W R IGH T design@idahorem.com director of operations M A R IELLE W EST PH A L admin@idahorem.com staff photographer K A R E N DAY
cover photograph P U B L IC D O M A I N social media APRIL NEALE april@idahorem.com marketing, sales, and distribution LISA DU N N lisa@idahorem.com IdaHome Magazine, LLC P.O. Box 116 Boise, Idaho 83701 208.481.0693 © 2024 IdaHome Magazine. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed by the authors and contributors to IdaHome Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor and publisher.
Community + Culture + Recreation + Real Estate
ON THE COVER
Ernest Hemingway’s love affair with Idaho began in 1939 after an invitation to the new Sun Valley Lodge. From his 22-year relationship to and with Idaho emerged portions of some of his most famous work, including For Whom the Bell Tolls, Islands in the Stream, The Garden of Eden, and A Moveable Feast. An exhibit detailing the famed writer’s enduring affinity for Basque culture is now on display at the Basque Museum & Cultural Center in downtown Boise through September.
CONTRIBUTORS Drew Dodson, a Donnelly resident, is a newspaper reporter for the McCall Star-News, a try-hard ice hockey goalie for the local beer league, and a die-hard backcountry skier. He weaves tales on and off the ice, aspiring only to live life to the fullest and embrace happiness as it comes. David Gray Adler is President of The Alturas Institute, a non-profit organization created to advance American Democracy by promoting the Constitution, civic education, gender equality and equal protection of the law. A recipient of teaching, writing and civic awards, Adler has lectured nationally and internationally, and published widely, on the Constitution, presidential power and the Bill of Rights. He is the author of six books. Bianca Dumas grew up skiing in Utah, where she first heard about the marvelous Alf Engen. She’s a freelance writer who loves to research topics related to the American west. She’s been published in Cruising World, Artists and Illustrators UK, Family RVing, Oh Reader, and others. Mike McKenna is an award-winning author and journalist from Hailey. Mike’s writing has appeared widely, from Forbes, People, and Trout to numerous regional newspapers. He has served as the editor of The Sheet and Sun Valley Magazine and is the author of two prize-winning guidebooks, including Angling Around Sun Valley. Arianna Creteau is a freelance writer based in Northern Idaho. A dessert enthusiast, avid hiker and amateur runner, Arianna spends her weekdays working a desk job and weekends chasing adventure. Her previous work has been published in Boise Weekly. April Neale is an entertainment features writer and has read her work on NPR and Spoken Interludes and writes for various industry trades and entertainment websites. Neale is a member of the Critics Choice Association, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Hollywood Critics Association, Television Critics Association, and other professional entertainment organizations. Jodie Nicotra is a freelance writer based out of Moscow, Idaho. She writes for a number of different magazines, including Boise State Magazine, Whitman Magazine, and Central Washington U’s Crimson & Black. Tim Atwell is a lifelong Idahoan who enjoys writing about the fastgrowing food and drink scene in Boise. He works full time as a tech writer, but you can find him on nights and weekends exploring Boise and the surrounding area. He has contributed to publications including IdaHome, Edible Idaho, and The Blue Review. Outside of writing, he loves to barbecue, roast coffee, and try new recipes. Karen Day is a photographer and the fearless captain of our fleet of pages and mighty crew. A list of her creative passions and true job description risks making her appear insane, rather than insanely talented. Her habit of climbing onto the ledge of possibility offers us continuous adventures and little sleep. All aboard! Heather Hamilton-Post is a writer and editor in Caldwell. She holds degrees in both agriculture and creative writing and is herself surprised by that. When she’s not writing, catch her at a socially-distanced baseball game with her husband and young sons. Find her work across the web and buried in the lit journals you didn’t know you had.
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BACKCOUNTRY HELICOPTERS: Heroes and Hair-Raising Views BY MIKE MCKENNA
PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. LUKE’S HEALTH SYSTEM
www.idahomemagazine.com
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. LUKE’S HEALTH SYSTEM
Idaho is home to some of the most harsh and remote wilderness in the country. If you live here, no matter how long it has been, you know that our backyard is pretty incredible. But as beautiful as it is, much of Idaho is still wild, rugged, and remote. There are a lot of places that aren’t easy to access—unless, that is, you have a helicopter and a skilled pilot. From “Bucket List” scenic tours to lifesaving backcountry rescues, helicopters play an important role in the Gem State. BACKCOUNTRY HEROES From the “sagebrush sea” to the jagged peaks of the Northern Rockies to the dense forests of the panhandle, nearly two-thirds (62%) of the land and waters of Idaho are public. These lands are home to a variety of industry and endless recreational options. But as appealing as they are, much of the land is wild, rough, and unforgiving. In Idaho, it’s easy to get off the grid and get into trouble. That’s why helicopters have played a big role in critical care here for decades. Blaine Patterson didn’t think much about helicopters when he was growing up in Carey, playing eight-man football, moving irrigation pipes, and feeding cows. But he did have an interest in doing something important with his life. That’s why he volunteered to be a First Responder back in his hometown. 10
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Patterson became a paramedic and one day he helped out with a critical incident in Carey that changed the projection of his life. An air ambulance team came in to take the patient from them. “The professional manner they came in with and the way they saved that life, that was next-level helping someone and I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Patterson recalled. A few decades and educational degrees later and Patterson is now the Director of EMS for Air St Luke’s. He has provided critical care on helicopter crews since 2001 and currently directs a team of 164 EMS providers across the southern part of the state. His team provides critical care through helicopter, airplane, and ambulance transportation from Boise to McCall, from the Wood River Valley to the Magic Valley and beyond. “We’ve got pockets of people all over the place, especially in the warmer months, and if you have something that’s time sensitive a helicopter is the fastest and best way to help,” Patterson said. “We’ve had full recoveries for people in catastrophic states that would not have survived otherwise. Helicopter medicine definitely has its place in Idaho.” Mountains, deserts, rivers and old dirt roads—there are lots of places in the Gem State where people can get to, but can’t get out of if they get into trouble. Helping people in Idaho’s massive backcountry is one of Air St Luke’s most important roles. “Helicopters can get you into some pretty hard-to-reach places,” Patterson said, explaining why it’s vital to have a top-notch crew.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. LUKE’S HEALTH SYSTEM
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SILVERHAWK AVIATION ACADEMY
The typical three-person helicopter crew consists of a critical care nurse, critical care paramedic, and a pilot. The first step in the process is to make sure the pilot can safely get the helicopter there and back. Weather, wind, and visibility are some of the things the pilot has to quickly assess. Once the calculations have been made the crew then has to gather their gear and get aboard. They have to be prepared for almost anything. “Most of the time it’s pretty rapid-fire. We’re often heading somewhere and we don’t know what we’re going to have to deal with when we get there,” Patterson said. “When you get out of the helicopter, you’re on stage. Basically, everyone present is watching your actions with the mindset of, ‘Hey, we called you to get us out of this mess.’” One of the most dramatic rescues Air St Luke’s took part in recently occurred at the Malad Gorge Bridge. A truck attached to a camper had gone over the railing and was hanging on by a chain, dangling 800 feet above the rocky river bottom. A Hollywood action scene in real life took place, except this time the heroes weren’t wearing capes. Along with the other members of SORT (Special Operations Rescue Team) of the Magic Valley, they helped save two adults and even their dog. As challenging as that rescue was, it’s really just another day at the office for the Air St Luke’s team. “It’s a very dynamic job. Every day, every call is different,” Patterson said.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SILVERHAWK AVIATION ACADEMY
“The more time I can spend in the air the better. Flying helicopters is a lot of fun,” he said. “Every flight is different and unique.” BUCKET LIST John Grommet is a helicopter flight instructor with Silverhawk Aviation Academy in Caldwell. Originally from Kansas, Grommet is amazed by his new home state every time he flies. “The beauty of Idaho is really something else and it’s so diverse,” Grommet said. “There’s something magical about flying over the Sawtooths or the Owyhees or over the Snake River and the high desert.” Grommet has certainly seen some impressive terrain in his life. He served in the Army as a paratrooper for the 82nd Airborne Division and made 25 successful jumps. While jumping from helicopters piqued his interest in vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts, it wasn’t until a chat with his mom that he found his true calling. www.idahomemagazine.com
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SILVERHAWK AVIATION ACADEMY
“She suggested I might like being a helicopter pilot and it clicked,” Grommet recalled. “That was it. That was what I was going to do.” Grommet used the G.I. Bill to help him earn a degree in Applied Sciences at Treasure Valley Community College, which teams up with Silverhawk Aviation Academy. Grommet’s career as a pilot took off from there. “Helicopters are these weird beasts that make sense when you understand the science behind them, the physics, the aerodynamics,” Grommet explained. “They are amazing machines.” Unlike fixed-wing aircrafts, helicopters have much more maneuverability and are actually considered safer—ideal traits for Idaho’s diverse and divergent landscapes. “They’re very safe. Even if you lose your engine you can pretty much land in someone’s backyard, if you needed to,” Grommet quipped. In addition to being an instructor, Grommet also flies monthly charters to do things like measure snow depths in the mountains, and flies scenic discovery tours around the region. Flying people around Idaho’s backyard is certainly one of his favorite parts of the job. 12
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“People will instinctively get a bit nervous. They just don’t know how to feel. Helicopters move in three-dimensions, which is a different experience,” Grommet explained. “But I’ve never had someone who didn’t like it afterwards. It’s just such an incredible experience and way to see the world. It really imprints. It should be on everyone’s ‘Bucket List.’”
y o J r o f é t Je Parkinson’s Idaho Dance for is On Pointe
Sondra and Albert Shryock PHOTOS BY KAREN DAY
BY HEATHER HAMILTON-POST
Sondra Shryock pushed an invisible ball. Sunlight streamed through the windows and her limbs, stretched gracefully forward, guided the unseeable sphere into the arms of Sarah Powell, the teacher who heads the improvisation and class. In Sarah’s grasp, the ball was suddenly larger, the full span of her outreached arms, very bouncy, and headed toward Barbara Morgan, a retired neurologist who caught it in her palm and gently blew it to Georgiann Raimondi, President of the Board of Directors for Dance for Parkinson’s Idaho. The organization has been in the state since 2014, and seeks to bring dance, music, movement, artistry, and grace to Idaho’s Parkinson’s community. Sondra, who has attended since the beginning, has Parkinson’s and uses the class to help mitigate the effects of the disease. Taught by professional dancers trained in the Dance for PD method, the class, which originated in New York, is one of over 300 movement classes across the U.S.which addresses the specific concerns of Parkinson’s, including balance, flexibility, coordination, gait, isolation, and depression. Before class, the dancers asked each other about mutual friends. Over the years, they’ve said goodbye to a few folks, which is difficult, given the tight and supportive community that they’ve formed.
“For a long time after, we kept an empty chair in memory. It was a hard loss,” said Georgiann. The group nods in agreement, smiling faintly, silent in a moment of collective remembrance and then resuming their smiles. They’re here for a reason. “I’ve been fighting,” laughed Sondra. “And I really appreciate having the ballerinas do this for us.” Liz Keller, the Idaho organization’s founding and current director, started teaching Parkinson’s classes on tour with Trey McIntyre Project, which sought to involve performers in the communities they were present in. Her passion for teaching, combined with the first Dance for Parkinson’s class she observed, fueled her desire to make the class a success here. “These people had trouble walking in, and after class, were literally able to tango out of the room. I called Trey and told him that we need to bring this to Boise,” Liz said. Liz dove into the research and began meeting with program founder David Leventhal every week. She learned that movement, especially when paired with music, works to change the neural pathways—it bypasses the part of the brain deteriorated by Parkinson’s. “And next time they can’t do something like reach a can of soup, they might have the rhythm and music in their head and they’ll do salsa fingers, and they’ll grab that can. It’s incredible,” said Liz. www.idahomemagazine.com
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Left to Right: Ann Smith, Georgiann Raimondi, Liz Keller. PHOTOS BY KAREN DAY
The current core group (Sondra and Arnold Shryock, Troy and Ann Smith, and Barbara Morgan and Kurt Martyn) have all celebrated over 50 years of marriage. “To have the opportunity to come as a couple is a real gift,” Georgiann said. The Boise program is unique in that it encourages care partners to participate in the class. “It happened organically, and it has been really special,” said Liz. “It has been really beautiful to see relationships change and evolve, even as a person might deteriorate with this disease. There are moments in class when two people connect—they lock eyes and nothing has changed. They’re 25 again.” Parkinson’s disease affects everyone differently, although freezes and stiffness occur frequently. Sometimes, facial or vocal muscles are affected, which makes talking difficult. Some are more impacted in the body. But through movement, Liz explained, they communicate. “It’s a different language,” she said.
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Nate Powell, who showed up fresh off a plane that brings him home from a performance, glided into class where he, urged by the participants, kissed Sarah, his wife. They didn’t miss a beat. “I remember a couple who came to class, and his Parkinson’s was quite progressed—he was just sitting in a chair, but it was something they could do together. He was an avid fisherman, and during an improv exercise, which he usually didn’t participate in, he lifted his arms as though to cast. Usually, he wasn’t moving, but he was hearing. That moment was so important to him and to his wife,” recalled Georgiann. The class, currently taught by Sarah Powell, Nate Powell, and Adrienne Kerr, begins seated and follows the dancers. Sometimes they’ll spend significant time on their feet, but other days the energy is different.
“We’re structured toward anyone with any type of movement,” Nate explained. And each instructor brings something special. Sarah, who enjoys the feeling of connectedness the class creates, brings a gentle energy that participants enjoy. Adrienne offers the kind of encouragement that motivates dancers to reach just a little higher, and Nate leads the group on wild adventures. “When we (the teachers) have something going on in our lives—a performance or something else—those moves work their way into class. One day we are birds, or we’re swimming,” Nate said. “It gives us a chance to be as expressive as possible.” Right now, about ten people attend class, but that number has been as high as 30 or so. When Dance for Parkinson’s Idaho began, the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation had a larger presence in Idaho, and hosted a caregiver conference that made it easier to get the word out.
The goal, along with adding a class at the VA, is to grow the group. Liz also dreams of coordinating with assisted living facilities to provide travel for residents, and, through a collaboration with Boise State University, is bringing back live musicians to accompany the class in real time. Georgiann explained that, although it can be difficult to watch people decline, the goodness that comes from the class is what she’s left with. “I just feel very blessed,” she said. For Sondra, the class means that she’s able to fight Parkinson’s, in part, through dance. Arnold said that there’s a difference in the way she moves now. The ball, so heavy that first go round, is now light as air. For more information, visit http://www. danceforparkinsonsidaho.org/.
Below, last two photos left to right: Troy and Ann Smith, Barbara Morgan and Kurt Martyn
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PHOTOS BY KAREN DAY
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Surviving the Storm:
FACES OF HOPE BY APRIL NEALE
Domestic abuse exists in places you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find it, including Idaho. And the stories are chilling. A seventeen-year-old girl accidentally glued her eyes shut after a battering that left her nearly blind; she was trying to soothe her eyes and reached for the wrong bottle. “After he had punched her in the face, she grabbed her super glue for her nails, put it in her eyes accidentally, and immediately her eyelid was closed together,” said Paige Dinger, Executive Director of Faces of Hope. “She asked her boyfriend for a week, ‘Can I please go to the hospital?’ He wouldn’t let her go because of the tell-tale bruising on her face.” One week later, this teen came into Faces of Hope. “She checked her phone repeatedly because he monitored everything, but her eye swelled shut,” explained Dinger. “We contacted our doctor, Dr. King, who took a look at that eye and said, ‘I don’t have the right equipment. We need to get her into an optometrist.’ Finally, we got her to the optometrist, who was able to get her eyelids separated, and a week later, she came back and received counseling. After receiving counseling and medical support services, she had a different outlook on life. Initially, she believed that she got what she deserved. In the end, a light went off, and she knew she didn’t deserve this. It was not her fault, and this situation is the hard part about working at a trauma center; it’s ultimately up to everybody that we serve whether they are going to leave their partner or not. And this one, we didn’t see her come back in.” Faces of Hope, a nonprofit, was created by three attorneys who saw the dead ends and futile system that women, children, and sometimes elders, often without any resources or help to escape an abusive situation, face. In 2004, Ada County Prosecuting Attorney Greg Bower, along with Prosecuting Attorneys Jan Bennetts and Jean Fisher, convened a multijurisdictional planning body to develop a community victim-assistance center that combined law enforcement, medical providers, and social service Faces of Hope Foundation features Drea Kelly as the keynote speaker at the 2024 Faces of Courage benefit luncheon in Boise, Idaho. PHOTO COURTESY OF DREA KELLY
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agencies. It also included a local strategic planning firm and an architectural firm to design a multi-agency facility to serve clients. In 2006, Ada County incorporated FACES Family Justice Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. The doors opened the same year. Today, Faces of Hope is a proactive, teamorientated, victim-centered wraparound team of many Treasure Valley nonprofit players.
“...I never want my children to remember the storm. I want them to remember how I came out of it because that’s the important part.” Dinger has served Faces of Hope since 2016. “We’re opening our second location in Meridian. It was designed and modeled after a familiar service in California with wraparound services for victims. They knew that the victims they encountered going forward in legal processes had some support from other organizations, and they would be more likely to cooperate with prosecutors and law enforcement. The idea was to help take care of their basic needs,” she said. The statistics reveal how prevalent domestic abuse still is, as the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence site reveals that, on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States—one in four women, one in nine men, Black women more than white women, and completely under-reported in the Hispanic community for fear of deportation and cultural pressures. According to Dinger, Faces of Hope serves about 20 people daily— between 80 and 100 people a week, totaling about 1,500 people a year. Faces of Hope Foundation chose Drea Kelly as the Faces of Courage keynote speaker at the 2024 Faces of Courage benefit luncheon on April 9. Drea has become a powerful voice for survivors, featured in the Emmy-nominated Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.” Her story of survival and transformation resonates with many, making her an influential figure in the fight against abuse. Drea has transformed her personal experiences of marital abuse into a relentless mission to be “a voice for the voiceless.” Drea’s professional background is in dance, and she hopes to bring her stage show, “La Belle Jetè Cabaret,” to Las Vegas. Drea is also the mother to three children who witnessed her suffering emotional, sexual, financial, and physical abuse during some of the thirteen-year marriage. R. Kelly was jailed in 2022 after being found guilty of sex trafficking, racketeering, and child sexual abuse, though the accusations of sexual misconduct were overlooked for decades.
“What was really important for me was breaking generational curses, but we only think within our family; you have to think breaking generational curses means beyond your family,” explained Drea, who watched her Baptist pastor grandfather beat women. “God, love, and pain were one for me. I did not choose to leave, and my son grew up in a household where he thought that that behavior was normal; when he becomes a husband, guess what? He’s going to repeat that behavior with someone else’s daughter,” Drea said. Like most of us, she wants better for her daughter, and explained that she doesn’t want her children to see abusive relationships and think they’re normal or healthy and then repeat that cycle. “The second thing was I never want my children to remember the storm. I want them to remember how I came out of it because that’s the important part. If we continue to think about the storm, we’ll never have the courage—or wherewithal to fight that thing through the end,” Drea said. It isn’t that she’s trying to hide anything from her children, Drea explained. In fact, she acknowledges that seeing her struggle and cry—her human side—is valuable. “I teach my children that just because it’s hard doesn’t mean there will not be good days, either. It took a long time to get here. I will say that because when you’re a survivor, coming forward was about validating these women’s stories,” she said.
Paige Dinger is the executive director of the Faces of Hope Foundation. PHOTO COURTESY OF FACES OF HOPE
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Browse Inspiring Works By Idaho’s Best Artists Wednesday - Saturday 11 AM - 6 PM
211 E. Pine Ave • Suite 108 • Meridian, ID 83642 208.733.4134
www.idahoartgallery.com
Change forChange BY ARIANNA CRETEAU
Parking downtown can be expensive, but at FireFusion Studio & Delia Dante Gallery, paying to park supports the community. Five unique vintage meters line the parking lot, each dedicated to a local nonprofit. With each coin and turn of the dial, the meter changes to say “thank you” for your donation. “I had this crazy idea that I’d love to have these parking meters painted for certain nonprofit organizations around town to help support them financially and just add fun, you know? But I’m not a painter. I’m more of a sculptor,” said owner and artist Delia Dante. Individual meters are painted with bright colors and given a detailed personal touch commemorating each nonprofit. Through the meters, patrons can support the Boys and Girls Club, the Women’s and Children’s Alliance, Camp Rainbow Gold, The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, and the Idaho Food Bank. Donations are matched by the gallery. To bring the project to life, Dante commissioned local Artist Emma McCoy. “I learned so much about adapting art to threedimensional surfaces,” said McCoy. “It’s really cool to repurpose such a solid design. It has brought a lot of awareness and joy to those that do donate because it’s just another form of donating that wasn’t out there before.” McCoy, an artist and suicide hotline prevention volunteer, first met Dante while painting her window for Treefort. “Emma gets so much credit for the design, the three-dimensional design, and the inner mechanism work. She knocked it out of the park! She’s really into helping the community, supporting the community, and helping nonprofits. So I paid her to work with me for a couple of years now. We’ve just installed the meters, so we’re really excited about it,” said Dante. When Dante’s dad, Steve Rizzoi, a welder and collector, first gifted her a vintage parking meter for Christmas, she had no idea what to do with it. Fast forward to 2019, after purchasing the current gallery and studio location in downtown Boise, Dante found the perfect space for her art and her beloved parking meter. Now, she needed more and they had to work. Dante tasked her dad with finding four more meters to complete the parking lot’s collection and asked him to fix the mechanisms to accept change. Because the meters have only recently been installed, Dante isn’t sure how much change they can hold, though she’s excited to see how popular they become. “I’m always encouraged to contribute in whatever way I can as an artist to support nonprofit organizations, especially ones that have to do with helping children,” said Dante. A former Boise art teacher of 12 years, she is inspired by youth, her daughter, and public art. Titled “Donation Meters” this fun, interactive, and meaningful art piece has drawn in nearby neighbors to donate, but Dante encourages the whole community to visit and participate. “I am encouraged to create more public art, at least around my building, that can support nonprofits or just be an interactive piece that the community can find enjoyment with,” said Dante.
“It’s really cool to repurpose such a solid design. It has brought a lot of awareness and joy to those that do donate...” PHOTOS BY KAREN DAY
www.idahomemagazine.com
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Learn more about LAUNCH as well as The Idaho Opportunity Scholarship. Go to GO.UIDAHO.
EDU/IDAHOME
Innovation Blooms on Idaho Campuses
BY TIM ATWELL
Idaho’s higher education system has undergone a series of unprecedented challenges in just a few short years. From the COVID-19 pandemic to technological advancements in AI that may fundamentally reshape classrooms, schools have been forced to retool their practices and re-examine their priorities. Across the state, educational leaders are banding together to ask, “What’s working? What’s not?” And most importantly, “What’s next?” The result has been an unwavering commitment to move forward and find innovative ways to adapt. From new high-tech laboratories to hands-on experience in the workforce, students across the state are making breakthroughs in various disciplines and redefining what it means to learn and grow in the 21st century.
Above: Mechanical engineering graduate students Daniel Revard and Nagendra Tanikella. PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO Below: Dr. Marlene Tromp, Boise State University President. PHOTO BY KAREN DAY
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Above and left: Boise State University’s Innovation Lab. PHOTOS BY KAREN DAY
industry that’s really significant in Idaho and will help advance not only the U.S., but the state.” These certificates seem especially relevant in the metro area around Boise State, which is just a few miles from headquarters of one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, Micron Technology. Students seeking the certificates aim to be better equipped to make an impact in the growing semiconductor field and manage cyber threats that are a growing concern in our increasingly interconnected and data-driven world.
BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY ENCOURAGES ALL STUDENTS TO EXPLORE TECHNOLOGY Semiconductors and cybersecurity have a profound impact on the daily lives of average people, often in ways that are not immediately obvious. Smartphones, computers, and cars all rely on these technologies. However, the inner workings of our devices remain a mystery for most of us. “We have programs like Cyber for All and Semiconductor for All that allow any of our students to add a certificate in cybersecurity or in a semiconductor industry to their degree,” said Dr. Marlene Tromp. “We see it as our responsibility to help ensure that we’re getting students ready to be a part of this 22
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THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO UNEARTHS THE SECRETS OF DEEP SOIL FOR AGRICULTURAL ADVANCEMENT Dirt is one of the easiest things to find in the state of Idaho, yet it is also one of the most mysterious. How exactly do a complex range of environmental factors influence soil, and what impact does that have for the plants and animals on the surface? Though decades of soil research has led to breakthroughs in food supply management and farming, most of the data is focused on the top 12 inches of soil. The University of Idaho aims to take the research deeper by launching a new Deep Soil Ecotron facility in 2026. This state-of-the-art facility will contain 24 soil containers, each 10 feet deep, designed to monitor and study how the soil reacts to changes at lower levels.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
“What we’re going to learn from this [facility] truly will help us continue to be able to secure our food supply going forward,” said University of Idaho President C. Scott Green. “It’ll help us manage yields, deploy low water usage technologies, and understand the impacts of the environment on plant health.” The ecotron will apply its findings directly to Idaho’s food supply, helping local farms discover the best way to manage their resources. But the benefits also will spread far beyond Idaho’s soil, as the school plans to partner with organizations around the world to work toward more sustainable food supplies. THE COLLEGE OF IDAHO DOUBLES DOWN ON LEADERSHIP AND HANDS-ON LEARNING At The College of Idaho, innovation takes a unique form in both the leadership and educational approach. The private college distinguishes itself with a novel copresidential model, electing to have Doug Brigham and Jim Everett share the responsibilities of the president’s office.
“Doug called me and said I’ve got a crazy idea. What do you think about us doing this together?” said College of Idaho Co-President Jim Everett. “We’re not saying it’s the new innovation, that it’s the new way to go. But it is a different kind of thinking.” That philosophy of bringing a new kind of thinking to traditional ideas carries over to the school’s academics, where students are asked to find ways to apply their learning outside of the classroom. “Now all of our students are required to go out into the field and try things,” said Everett. “Before you enter med school and find out you don’t like blood, it’s probably a good idea to see whether this really does feel like the right thing. We’re training people to be adaptable and at the same time think about innovation.”
Left: Salmon Society fosters hands-on learning. Right: College of Idaho’s co-presidents, Doug Brigham and Jim Everett. PHOTOS COURTESY OF COLLEGE OF IDAHO
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IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY COMBATS HEALTHCARE STAFF SHORTAGES In response to the escalating healthcare staff shortages in Idaho, particularly in rural and northern regions, Idaho State University is taking steps to expand its medical and healthcare education programs. This strategic move comes at a time when Idaho, like much of the nation, is grappling with a significant deficit in healthcare providers. A key element of ISU’s strategy is partnering with LewisClark State College to establish a physician assistant training cohort in Northern Idaho. The new cohort will enable 15 students to train across 21 clinical sites in areas like Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene. Simultaneously, ISU is broadening its nursing education efforts to Northern Idaho. Moving forward, students who graduated ISU with a bachelor’s degree will have the option to return to school to train in Coeur d’Alene to become a registered nurse, whereas before, the program was only offered in Meridian and Pocatello. In late December, the school also announced Dr. Robert Wagner as the 14th president of Idaho State University. He will begin his tenure on January 29, 2024. In a press release, Board Member Cindy Siddoway noted Wagner’s sincerity. “He cares deeply about ISU and its campus community. He’ll work hard to establish strong relationships with alumni and community leaders, and he will build on ISU’s recent momentum and be an outstanding leader and advocate for higher education in Idaho.” NORTHWEST NAZARENE UNIVERSITY FOCUSES ON PURPOSE-DRIVEN PURSUITS Northwest Nazarene University keeps its Christian mission at the forefront, constantly asking, “How can we transform students into creative and redemptive agents who are making the world a better place?” Seeking answers to this question, students at NNU are encouraged to look for ways to spend time seeking solutions to real-world problems. For example, their engineering students recently developed a robot to harvest fruit in local Idaho orchards, while their computer science students used AI to read brain scans and help physicians detect early signs of cancer. “NNU continues to be steadfast in its transformative educational experience that blends the latest technology and cultural awareness with our history of timeless values, enabling students to become creative and redemptive agents in the world,” Northwest Nazarene University President Joel Pearsall said. “This mission-centric approach leads to innovation in ways that are essential to who we are as a university and pushes our students to think critically and 24
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respond with compassion, clarity, and excellence when they enter Idaho’s evolving workforce as competent adults.” Moving forward, NNU plans to continue evolving its curriculum to meet the shifting needs of the world at large. In this respect, NNU has much in common with the other schools in Idaho who look to the challenges in the world around them to guide their next big idea.
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Ernest Hemingway’s BASQUE ODYSSEY
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BY DREW DODSON
In life, Ernest Hemingway illuminated the brilliance of Basque culture, one short sentence at time. In death, he is keeping with the tradition. An exhibit detailing the famed writer’s enduring affinity for Basque culture is now on display at the Basque Museum & Cultural Center in downtown Boise through September. The exhibit can be viewed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The exhibit comes to Idaho courtesy of Euskal Herria Museoa, a history museum in the Basque Country, which is a region in northern Spain that encompasses an area about twice the size of the Treasure Valley. The series of panels in the exhibit were translated from Euskara, the Basque language, into English for its year-long residency in Idaho. Amaya Herrera, the curator of Boise’s Basque Museum, said that the exhibit is just the most recent way Hemingway’s celebrity has helped promote and preserve Basque culture. “That’s part of why we’re excited about this exhibit,” said Herrera, whose family immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s from the Basque Country. “It opens up our audience a bit more.” The exhibit chronicles Hemingway’s life through the lens of his passion for Basque culture, which he discovered in 1923 while covering the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona as a journalist for the Toronto Star. The festival sparked Hemingway’s rise to fame through his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, which portrays PUBLIC DOMAIN the annual festival’s famous bull run through downtown Pamplona. The novel foreshadowed Hemingway’s lifelong passion for Basque people and customs that manifested in places as far as Cuba and Idaho. In the late 1930s, Basque culture came under attack during the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway reported on the conflict from Spain for the North American Newspaper Alliance. The three-year conflict gave way to the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who made great efforts to wipe Basque culture from Spain and reigned until his death in 1975. “During the Franco dictatorship, you couldn’t speak Basque, you couldn’t dance or practice any kind of outward
expression of Basque culture,” Herrera said. “The regime went through old paperwork and voided it if it was done in Basque, and would even go to cemeteries and chip off Basque names.” Meanwhile, Hemingway helped immortalize Basque culture through his work, which commonly featured characters inspired by his Basque friends and rich descriptions of Basque traditions. It was after the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 that Hemingway first came to Idaho after being invited, alongside other celebrities, to promote Sun Valley Resort. There, in Suite 206 of the Sun Valley Lodge, Hemingway finished writing For Whom the Bell Tolls, a novel inspired by his time covering the war in Spain.
Hemingway regularly visited Sun Valley for the rest of life and developed deep connections with Basque migrants who fled economic plight and Franco’s regime in Spain. In Idaho, many Basque people found a landscape reminiscent of home and one ideal for sheepherding, a pillar of Basque-American heritage. The Wood River Valley became Hemingway’s permanent home in 1959. He died by suicide in 1961, after which several local Basque friends handled his funeral arrangements and kept media members away to preserve the privacy of surviving family members. Today, Boise boasts the world’s largest concentration of Basque people
in the world, outside of the Basque Country itself. The city’s Basque Block is home to several festivals and events each year, including the annual Sheepherder’s Ball, which Hemingway himself once attended. Basque culture is, by all accounts, thriving. Part of the culture’s success is owed to its ability to naturally draw people in with jovial gregariousness and a deeply rooted love for celebration. It is also due in no small part, Herrera said, to Hemingway’s influence. “He gave us a voice when we didn’t have one,” she said. “He was one of the people who actually stood up and recognized us and our culture for what it was and how important it was.”
Above: Boise’s Basque Museum & Cultural Center welcomes an exhibit, translated from Euskara, exploring Ernest Hemingway’s relationship with Basque culture. The display is on loan to Idaho for one year. Below: A global explorer, Hemingway’s travels took him from Sun Valley to Spain, barstool to bullfight. PHOTOS COURTESY OF BASQUE MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BASQUE MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER
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Idaho LAUNCH program provides unprecedented career training support for Idaho high school graduates
BY JODIE NICOTRA
Idaho high school seniors now have an improved range of post-graduation options, thanks to a new state grant program called Idaho LAUNCH. By giving graduating high school seniors financial support for post-secondary career training, Idaho LAUNCH hopes to improve high school “go-on” rates—which measure how many graduating high school students continue with post-secondary education— and address Idaho’s skilled labor shortage. Idaho LAUNCH gives graduating seniors up to $8,000 of tuition and fees for a wide range of post-secondary education and training. The only stipulation is that the training must be connected to an “indemand career,” defined as any occupation with 50 or more job openings in a given year in Idaho.
“While state funding for postsecondary help isn’t abnormal, Idaho LAUNCH is charting new ground in prioritizing funding for in-demand careers,” said Matthew Reiber, policy advisor to Governor Brad Little. “The governor and legislature’s goal was to help students focus on good-paying jobs that will be able to support them and their families, right here in Idaho.” In-demand careers in Idaho are plentiful. The LAUNCH website lists over 240 possible careers, encompassing everything from actuaries and adhesive bonding machine operators to word processors and zoologists. Students can also apply for grants to support apprenticeships in skilled trades like plumbing, electrician work, and carpentry.
IMAGE COURTESY OF IDAHO.GOV
“LAUNCH provides help to students who traditionally wouldn’t have had help with their workforce training or degree,” said Reiber. “It also helps students who never would have considered going on because of the costs associated with getting additional education and training.”
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The grounds for Idaho LAUNCH were laid by Idaho Senate Bill 1167, passed earlier this year by the state legislature. The bill amended an already-existing program, aimed at helping working adults access short-term training to improve their employment prospects. That program has been very successful, creating an average of $15,000 in wage growth one year post-training. By creating a more inclusive program for graduating high school students, the Workforce Development Council hopes to address Idaho’s weak go-on rate. A 2022 story in Idaho Education News reports that despite the State Board’s 60% go-on rate goal, Idaho go-on rates have consistently declined since 2017. Last year’s go-on rate was 37%. As with the adult-focused Idaho LAUNCH, the program also aims to address the shortage of skilled labor in the state. In 2021, a blog post on the Idaho Department of Labor website called the scarcity of skilled workers “intense.” Already a problem prior to 2020, the pandemic made the labor shortage even worse. The shortage affects many employment sectors in Idaho, but hospitality, construction, trades,
healthcare, and information technology feel the pinch acutely. Idaho LAUNCH has already generated excitement among Idaho high school seniors. To date, over 12,500 students have started or applied to Idaho LAUNCH— over half the seniors in Idaho. Vicky Shubert, a high school counselor at Middleton High School, called the program a “game changer” for many students. The grants have helped those who would be unable to afford college or other post-graduate training visualize a different future. “I have to tell you, it’s been so much fun,” Shubert said. “I get to talk to students who thought they couldn’t afford to go to college or do anything beyond high school. And then you tell them, ‘No, you can get a certificate in HVAC, and it’s going to be essentially paid for.’ It changes them from ‘Oh, this is something I can’t do,’ to ‘I guess I can do it.’” Shubert and her colleague Cheryl Keithley, a college and career counselor at Middleton, have made sure that every student in the senior class knows about the LAUNCH program. “We’ve worked so hard, and it’s just neat,” Shubert said. “I’ve met individually
with every student to make sure they’re aware of the program, and in some cases we’ve applied right then and there. And Cheryl has followed up with a lot of students who hadn’t applied right away.” Shubert and Keithley’s efforts have paid off. Currently, 72% of the Middleton graduating class has applied for LAUNCH grants, compared to 45% statewide. To be eligible for the Idaho LAUNCH grant, students must be high school seniors and Idaho residents when they apply. Grants can be deferred if students plan to go into the military, complete a religious mission, or take a structured volunteer opportunity like the Peace Corps or Americorps. But students have to apply while they’re still in high school. Idaho LAUNCH applicants must apply to an in-demand career program at an eligible Idaho institution. In addition, they must complete a Career Pathway plan or its equivalent. Students can change plans after they apply, as long as they’re still pursuing an eligible in-demand career. The application window for Idaho LAUNCH is open until April 15. Interested high school seniors can find information about the program and application process at https://nextsteps.idaho.gov/
Left to Right: Kameron Gearhart, Alyson Gravett, John Grow, Ellie Foy. PHOTO COURTESY OF VICKY SHUBERT, MIDDLETON SCHOOL DISTRICT
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FAMILY ADVOCATES: For the love of a child
BY DREW DODSON
Kathryn Seebold has seen plenty of tragedy, but is thankful to also know triumph as well as anyone. Seebold leads Family Advocates, a Boise organization focused on strengthening families and ending child abuse, neglect, and abandonment. At the heart of Family Advocates is a cadre of 121 volunteers who staff the organization’s Court-Appointed Special Advocate program. The volunteers, known as guardian ad litems, are assigned to children entering foster care to escape abusive or unstable households. In 2023 alone, Family Advocates’ guardian ad litems worked with 380 children referred by the Fourth Judicial District Court, which has jurisdiction over Ada, Boise, Elmore, and Valley counties. The guardians ensure that each child has an adult to advocate for their best interests in a court system that, frankly, is not tailored to the needs of children. “The judge considers these guardians to be his eyes and ears in the life of a child,” said Maggie Thompson, who oversees day-to-day operations for the program. “To know that there is specifically someone out there, just looking out for that child when they’re in those situations, it’s just amazing.” Idaho law broadly defines child abuse as “circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or unjustifiable physical pain.” Anyone who witnesses or suspects child abuse must report it to police or the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, under state law. However, the law’s ambiguity means that it can take months, if not years, to investigate and resolve reported cases. Meanwhile, the children involved can be overwhelmed with a revolving door of people who are trying to help, but have a limited capacity to do so. “A lot of kids, they don’t trust adults that have been involved in the situation,” Seebold said. “They just feel like the world is against them.” “But their guardian listens to them and fights for them. That’s what they do,” she said. Guardians build relationships over time by regularly meeting with their assigned child, while also learning as much about the child’s circumstances from parents, neighbors, teachers, or anyone else close to the situation. Foster parents, social workers, counselors, and judges may change, but guardians do not. Each guardian remains with their assigned child until the case is resolved, or until the child turns 18. That consistency, Seebold said, is part and parcel to the success of the program. “The one constant these kids have had in their life through the entire thing is their guardian,” she said. 34
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PHOTO COURTESY OF FAMILY ADVOCATES
Cases may be resolved within months or a few years, but can also last for a decade or more. Over time, relationships built between child and guardian can prove to be transformative. Seebold recalled the story of a man who served as the guardian for one child for over eight years. Upon adoption by a new family, the child bestowed the ultimate honor on his guardian. “He said he wanted his guardian’s name to be his middle name,” she said. “This is not a little boy—this is a young man. He’s old enough to recognize the impact of making that decision.” Family Advocates has not turned away a court referral in the last three years, during which guardian ad litems have advocated on behalf of more than 1,000 children. Many of these guardians and their success stories will be celebrated during the second annual For the Love of a Child Gala on Feb. 9 at Chateau des Fleurs in Eagle. Last year, the gala raised more than $150,000 to support the guardian ad litem program as well as educational classes offered to families by Family Advocates. The event will feature live music, dancing, a luxurious dinner, multiple auctions, and formal remarks from Family Advocates’ staffers and volunteers. Tickets can be purchased in advance at familyadvocates.org/events/ “There are children in our community that need your help,” Seebold said. “Anyone who is interested in making a difference in the lives of children that live in their community should attend.”
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS First Principles of American Constitutionalism
SCENE AT THE SIGNING OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES – HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY, PUBLIC DOMAIN
BY DAVID GRAY ADLER
Freedom of Speech. Equal Protection. Impeachment. Insurrection. “Tis funny about th’ constitution,” said Mr. Dooley, the legendary, philosophical Irish bartender created by Finley Peter Dunne. “It reads plain, but no wan can undherstant it without an interpreter.” Since the dawn of the republic, Americans have engaged in spirited, often heated debates about the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. This is not surprising for a nation whose very origins lay in fundamental disputes with England about the nature and purpose of constitutions. Arguments about the Constitution, it may be fairly said, are in our DNA. They raise questions of great moment for a nation committed to the rule of law, equal protection, and democratic values. Do 36
women possess a right to govern their own reproductive organs? Is the president immune from criminal prosecution? Is the president subordinate to the law and amenable to judicial process? Constitutional conversations are vital to the health, maintenance, and integrity of the republic. Informed citizens engaged in public debate, the framers of the Constitution believed, can scrutinize and improve governmental programs, policies and laws with valuable criticisms, insights and recommendations. Concerned citizens—“Madisonian Monitors,” in honor of James Madison, Father of the Constitution—can insist on the employment of facts, evidence, and truth in public discourse. Constitutional conversations, moreover, are integral to the
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fulfillment of the premises, promises, and principles of American Constitutionalism: Government based on the consent of the governed and governmental accountability both to the rule of law and the citizenry. For that matter, constitutional conversations that reflect a working grasp of those principles serve the founders’ historic dream, as expressed by Alexander Hamilton in No. 1 of the Federalist Papers, of a nation governed by reasoned discussion and debate, rather than one ruled by force and oppression. Americans regularly declare their affection, admiration, and even reverence for the Constitution, but too few can claim knowledge of it. Civic literacy—a functional knowledge of the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, the
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JOHN ADAMS, NATIONAL GALLERY OF ARTS, PUBLIC DOMAIN
“The United States is entirely a creature of the Constitution. Its power and authority have no other source. It can only act in accordance with all the limitations imposed by the Constitution.” content and purposes of the Constitution, a familiarity with the powers of the three branches of the federal government, and a working grasp of the implications of defining moments in our history—is alarmingly low. The deficit in civic literacy threatens the future of the republic. Many citizens cannot name half the rights and liberties protected by the Bill of Rights or a third of the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court or explain the constitutional amendment process or the mechanisms of the Electoral College and the clerk-like role of the vice president in counting electoral votes. Civic literacy in a republic should be brought center stage. It is never too late to start, never too late to become a Madisonian Monitor, a student of the Constitution and an effective citizen. Where to begin? John Adams, second President of the United States, a man of letters, statesman, diplomat, and drafter of the world’s oldest written constitution—the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780—enshrined in his state’s governing document words of wisdom for our time: “A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles
John Adams, a spectator in court that day, because he wanted to observe the young firebrand lawyer at work, said of Otis’s argument that “then and there the child independence was born.” Otis had supplied the colonists with a powerful constitutional tool with which to challenge English laws and practices that they perceived to be oppressive. Otis’s life was cut short and he didn’t live long enough to see the triumph and implementation of his idea by the framers of the Constitution, but his influence was unmistakable. Titans of the founding period—Washington, Madison, and Hamilton—walked across the bridge that he built. As president, Washington was at pains to explain in letters to friends that he sought, more than anything else while in office, to avoid being characterized as a “usurper”—a president who exceeded the limits of his authority and violated the Constitution and the laws of the land. Our first step in becoming Madisonian Monitors is to embrace Adams’s reminder that the way to preserve the Constitution is to make frequent recurrences to fundamental principles. www.idahomemagazine.com 37
of the Constitution,” he wrote, “is absolutely necessary to preserve the advantages of liberty and to maintain a free government.” Among those “fundamental” principles is the first principle of American Constitutionalism: Government has only those powers—enumerated and implied—granted to it by the Constitution. As Justice Hugo Black observed in 1957, in Reid v. Covert, “The United States is entirely a creature of the Constitution. Its power and authority have no other source. It can only act in accordance with all the limitations imposed by the Constitution.” That foundational principle, set forth by the brilliant Revolutionary War attorney, James Otis Jr., in the landmark Writs of Assistance Case in 1761, chartered a distinctly American conception of what constitutes a constitution. In contrast to the English idea of a constitution, which reflected governing practices and a loose assemblage of all the laws that had been enacted across the centuries, Otis asserted the revolutionary idea that a constitution grants and limits all governmental power.
The Basis of All Good Skiing ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH J. WILLARD MARRIOTT LIBRARY SKI AND SNOW SPORTS ARCHIVES - ALAN ENGEN SKI HISTORY COLLECTION
Olympian Alf Engen’s Sun Valley Ascent BY BIANCA DUMAS
It was 1940, and the slopes of Sun Valley had become a movie set. Champion skier Alf Engen was dressed in costume as Major Scott Landis, acting as a stunt double in the film My Reputation. In the scene they were to shoot, starlet Barbara Stanwyck was supposed to jump into the Major’s arms. He would carry her while he skied downhill, making for a spectacularly romantic scene. But Stanwyck would have none of it. What was worse, her stunt double also refused to do the job, stating that it was just too dangerous. Filming ground to a halt. Evelyn Engen came to the rescue. She had total confidence in her husband’s skiing ability, having watched him win title after title in international ski competitions. The director got the film rolling, and it was Evelyn, dressed in Stanwyck’s costume,
who jumped into Alf ’s arms while he skied down Ruud Mountain. Decades later, when Alf was inducted into the Intermountain Ski Directors Association Hall of Fame, Evelyn said, “When Alf proposed to me he said, ‘I’ll take you on the ride of your life,’ and he really meant it.” Alf and his two skiing brothers, Sverre and Corey, would star or work as stunt doubles in eight ski films, two of which were filmed in Idaho. One, called Northern Pursuit, was a war movie starring Erroll Flynn, in which Nazi spies sneak into Canada on skis. Alf and Corey worked together as stunt doubles, Alf playing the protagonist and Corey playing one of the spies. The film shows them hitting huge freestyle jumps, sometimes in tandem, as they race down the mountain, their faces concealed in the hoods of their fur coats. www.idahomemagazine.com
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Alf and Evelyn had come to Sun Valley in 1937 to help plan the ski resort. They lived in a tent that first summer while Alf led a crew that cleared timber for the Warm Springs run. Later, the couple moved into the Sun Valley Lodge. Movie stars of the day were their frequent floormates, as Sun Valley founder Averil Harriman promoted his resort to icons like Gary Cooper and Clark Gable. That’s when Alf was tasked with developing a ski jumping hill on Ruud Mountain. His son Alan remembered, “Dad would take me out and build a takeoff at the outrun of the jumping hill, and I would watch the big boys jump and try it out on my own at the bottom.” Alan was five years old. Alf believed that going airborne was the basis of all good skiing. “My father was the one that told me this,” he once said, “You have to get up in the air in order to be good in any sport. You can pick your sport later on, but you gotta learn how to jump.” Alf was right. Alan became an NCAA All-American skier, a member of the United States Military CISM ski team, and a Master’s champion. Alf played a lot of roles at Sun Valley; another one was as a promoter of ski competitions. In one written promotion, Alf encourages the athletes to compete for the Bradley Plate, given to the best skier in a Four-Way meet. “In my opinion,” he writes, “the Four-Way meet is one of the finest competitions a skier can enter, for in order to be high man, the winner must have a knowledge of skiing in every field.” Alf knew what he was talking about. Over his career, he won sixteen U.S. National Championship titles representing all four ski disciplines—ski jumping, cross country, downhill, and slalom. He also won the single meet where these four disciplines were combined to confer the title of Ski Meister on the winner. And he won that title twice. He was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1959 and was followed in this honor by both brothers and Alan. Alf had come from sturdy Nordic stock. His father, a fine skier and ski jumper in Norway, would load all three of his sons on his back to swim the river. Alf and his brothers skied to school, and Alf set several ski jumping records in Norway. As a competitor on the American ski jumping circuit, Alf would break the world ski jumping record over and over, sometimes more than once in a single day. He gathered over 500 trophies and titles in his career. But in an interview filmed during his later years, Alf remarked that there was more to life than winning. “I hope they’ll say I’ve done a pretty good job and that I loved everybody,” he said. “I would be happy if they remember some of the records I made, but that’s not the most important thing. I think it’s the way that you are inside.” Clockwise from top: Engen brothers - Sverre, Corey, and Alf preparing to make a triple jump together - circa mid 1940s. Engen brothers jumping on Ruud Mountain jumping hill in Sun Valley circa early 1940s; Alf and Alan Engen ski jumping at Alta circa late 1940s; Alf and Evelyn Engen, Sun Valley, circa late 1937, just after they were married. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH J. WILLARD MARRIOTT LIBRARY SKI AND SNOW SPORTS ARCHIVES - ALAN ENGEN SKI HISTORY COLLECTION
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Cold Cut Cured Meats with Thinly Sliced Posciutto, Capicola, Spicy Calabrese, Sopressata on Gaston’s Ciabatta with Basil Pesto Mayo, Arugula and Fresh Tomato
SALADS
BOLOGNESE
MAC & CHEES
24-month Aged White Cheddar, Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, Fontina
HOUSEMADE SAUSAGE LASAGNA All-Natural Italian Sausage, Fennel, Marinara, Herbed Ricotta, Mozzarella, Toasted Focaccia
RICOTTA GNOCCHI
House-Braised Beef Ragu, Chianti Broth, Shaved Garlic, Fresh Parmesan
MORE FINE PIE Gluten-Free and KETO options available
ALFREDO THE GRATE
Alfredo, Grated Parmesan, Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke Hearts, Roma Tomatoes, Chives
CHOPPED VEGGIE
Zucchini, Squash, Asparagus, Portobello, Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Shredded Mozz, Goat Cheese
CARAMELIZED ONION & FENNEL SAUSAGE
Roasted Kale, Mozzarella, Sautéed Portobello, Fontina, Parmesan, EVOO
PEPPERONI, SAUSAGE & PORTOBELLO
ITALIAN WEDGE
All-Natural Italian Sausage, Cupped Pepperoni, Herbed Portobello, Fior di Latte
CHICKEN ARUGULA BASIL
Meat, Meat and some Meat… oh yeah, and Cheese!
Baby Iceberg, Red Onion, Roma Tomatoes, Sweet & Spicy Bacon, Creamy Gorgonzola Dressing Spring Mix, Pine Nuts, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Red Onion, Celery, Fontina, Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette
CLASSIC CAESAR
Our Legendary Caesar Dressing, Chopped Romaine, Fresh Parmesan, Focaccia Croutons (Wood-Roasted Chicken additional)
CAPICOLA, ITALIAN SAUSAGE & SOPRESSA BBQ CHICKEN
Fontina, Bleu Cheese, Red Onion, Green Onion, Cilantro
BIANCO MAGNIFICO
Chicken, Fior di Latte, Olive Oil, Garlic, Creminelli Prosciutto Crudo, Caramelized Onions, Balsamic Glaze
BOWN CROSSING • 3139 S BOWN WAY, BOISE • (208) 343-4177 EAGLE ISLAND MARKETPLACE • 6700 N LINDER RD, STE 192, MERIDIAN • (208) 501-8567 FLATBREADPIZZA.COM
A TRADITION OF TRUST Alicia C. Ralst
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208-850 -7 63 8
420 102 co m ww w. W ra lsMAIN to ngrSTREET ouppr· SUITE operties. BOISE · IDAHO 83702
Alicia C. Ralst
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208-850 -7 63 8 www. rals t ongroup p rop er ties.com ww w. ra ls to ngr ouppr operties. co m 420 W Main
S treet · Suite
10
2 · Boise
Id aho 83 70 2
191 Sun
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02 · K
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