august 6, 2015 / Free / vol. 12 issue 29
Ag-Gag Bill defeated
dr. Forrest M. Bird:
Remembering a Sandpoint legend
Parking woes discussed with city
Bonner County Fair and Rodeo
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(wo)MAN
Susan Drinkard on the street compiled by
What was the best concert you’ve attended at the Festival at Sandpoint? “Pink Martini was my favorite.” Michelle Duhon Pharmacist Sandpoint
“The Blind Boys of Alabama.”
DEAR READERS,
It’s been a very full week here in paradise. The Festival at Sandpoint is readying for another great year. The tent is up, the lights have been checked, the flowers arranged. All that remains are the thousands of happy people, good food and drinks, a starry sky and some great tunes. In other news, the controversial Ag-Gag bill was shot down by the Federal Government, which claimed it violated the First Amendment. I think this was a great ruling and a fitting end to such a terrible piece of legislation. Hopefully this sets a precedent for other states to follow in the future. When you go up against the freedom of speech, you will invariably lose. This week also saw the passing of a Sandpoint legend. Dr. Forrest M. Bird leaves behind a legacy in this town that will never be forgotten. He was a man of character, vision and compassion, and we at the Reader wish the Bird family condolences for their loss, which is shared by the rest of the community. Read the story by Cameron Rasmusson on page seven for more information. See you all next week. Have fun out there... you’ve earned it. -Ben Olson, Publisher
READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724
www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editor: Cameron Rasmusson cameron@sandpointreader.com Zach Hagadone (emeritus) Contributing Artists: Ben Palmer (cover), Ben Olson, Daniel Cape, Susan Drinkard Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Tim Henney, Dyno Wahl, Scout Anatricia, Marcia Pilgeram Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com
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“The Michael Franti concert. It got everyone up dancing and everyone had a good time. He was so full of joy.”
Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
Syd Stern Junk Dealer Sandpoint
“Chris Isaac.” Kat Emery Manager/Super One Foods Sandpoint
LIVE MUSIC
Ev ery turday Friday & Sa summer
“Yellowman.” Jesse Jennings Geologist Sandpoint
“Cake.” Annika Hinds Senior at Forrest Bird Charter School Sandpoint
u gh N ight t hro Beer Hall @ the Thursday. August 13 @ 8pm
TENNIS
A special encore show of Sandpoint’s favorite dance band. $5 cover
BREWERY & BEER HALL 220 Cedar St. 209-6700 FAMILY FRIENDLY BREWPUB 312 First Ave.
255-4351
Lunch 11 - 3 Dinner 5 - 9
HAPPY HOUR! Mon-Sat 3-5pm
$1 off beer, wine & appetizer menu!
2 for 1 Huckleberry Mimosas! Mon-Fri 3-6pm
109 Cedar Street (In the Historic Farmin Building) Downtown Sandpoint
(208) BAX-TERS
Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 500 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers. Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook. About the Cover This week’s cover was drawn by Missoula-based artist Ben Palmer. Palmer was asked to create an original piece of art showcasing the Festival at Sandpoint and sent in this beautiful piece of art. Palmer is budget handsome and his favorite food will always be nachos. Thanks Ben!
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COMMENTARY As time goes by: The ‘Leap Second’ explained By Tim Henney Reader Columnist One of the major news stories of our time occurred recently and the world’s media barely mentioned it. That is because those who manage the world’s media lack the intellectual wherewithal to explain the event. I refer not to ISIS beheadings, the economic collapse of Greece or global warming. This is hotter than the California drought and the juicy rumor that Holmby Hills and Hancock Park big shots keep their pools full and golf courses green while commoners eliminate showers. It’s bigger than opening up Cuba or shutting down Donald Trump. As frightening as whacko shooters and the influence of the NRA. Bigger than the growing number of tipsy, explosive oil trains rumbling through Sandpoint. More cataclysmic than Tom Brady deflating footballs or what Taylor Swift had for breakfast. And with whom. We are talking about the addition by some weirdo Paris astronomers of a “leap second” to world clocks. Evidently astronomers at the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service “in Paris” add leap seconds whenever they become bored. No, that’s unfair. Whenever “Earth’s observed position is on track to be out of sync with Universal Coordinated Time by more than 0.9 of a second.” Excuse me? Few Sandpoint citizens other than this writer are sufficiently savvy to understand such complexities. John Harbuck might be. He has a degree from Stanford and a Ph.D from Cal Berkeley. Jim Spagon was a rocket scientist with TRW in L.A. so might also know about leap seconds. And both Micheles at Tierra Madre juice bar can construct crunchy kale and squash sandwiches that taste like truffles. If they can do that, they can probably understand leap seconds. We assume the leap second astronomers are in France. But they might be in Paris, Idaho. Paris, Idaho is possibly less known than Paris, France. It would be easier to secretly monkey around with global time in Paris, Idaho. Fewer snoopers. Paris is in the southeast corner of Idaho, adjacent to Bear Lake, Utah. Other strange things occur in and around Bear Lake. Residents say they’ve seen sea monsters there, just like in Scotland. Nerdy astronomers in Paris, Idaho could easily be into leap seconds. We sailed a sloop on Bear Lake for years. A perk of living in nearby Logan, Utah. Once, during a sailing race, a sud4 /
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den squall blew us backwards from one side of the lake to the other. Race officials opined that our skippering skills were laughable. Otherwise, they said, we would have scoffed at the howling gale, bounded nimbly from cockpit to cabin top and reefed the main. Then, they claimed, we would have sailed forwards into port, not backwards into large rocks two miles away. Upon reading about the addition of a leap second to global time by astronomers in Paris, a startling probability occurred to this observer. It is this: Not only are the goofball astronomers in Paris, Idaho instead of France, they are the same meddlers who caused the ferocious Bear Lake storm. If they know how to “measure earth’s rotation and compare it with the time kept by atomic clocks,” they probably know how to brew up a squall on Bear Lake. A squall timed so as to hit precisely as my crew and I were swigging Pusser’s British Navy rum and pineapple juice below decks. The storm hit so fast and furi-
ously we had no time to react. Like Chief Crazy Horse chasing Custer, we just hollered, “Today is a good day to die!” and guzzled more rum and juice. We limped into port about midnight. Leap year is an entirely different matter. Unlike leap seconds, leap years are valid entities of a recognized, accepted body of work we scholars call Leapscience. Leapfrog, which children once played prior to being hijacked and held hostage by texting and violent video games, was a species of Leapscience. (Regrettably, leapfrog went out with tree forts, marbles, jacks, balsa wood model airplanes, spinning tops and kick the can). Leapscience also included useful advice such as, look before you leap. The trouble with that is that timid souls who look before they leap often decide not to leap, and wind up broke and bored. Others take a leap in the dark and become billionaires. Still others, throwing caution to the winds, pursue their prey by leaps and bounds. One observes this at the Bistro Rouge bar, Eichardt’s, Idaho Pour
Authority and the 219 Lounge on any funfilled Friday evening. Literature owes much to Leapscience. Author Tony Hillerman’s central character in his novels about the Navajo tribe is Joe Leaphorn, a wise Native American detective. Superman has been “leaping tall buildings in a single bound” since 1938. And what would Little Orphan Annie be without her signature exclamation, “Leapin’ Lizards!” (Her dog, Sandy, beat her to the patent office with “arf, arf,” so she couldn’t use that). It’s high time The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service astronomers quit fussing with leap seconds. They need real jobs. They should be discovering new stars. Rush Limbaugh, for one, needs replacing. So do the Kardashians and repeat terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also naughty Lindsay Lohan. And how about a brighter star than Rick Perry, the former Texas governor and repeat GOP presidential candidate. They say he’s just like George Dubya Bush. But not as smart.
Arts and Crafts Fair kicks off this weekend at City Beach By Scout Anatricia Reader Intern Concurrent with the Festival at Sandpoint’s musical arts will be the display of visual arts. In fact, over 120 regional artisans will be swarming City Beach this year with colorful and vast displays of their art. Pend Oreille Arts Council will be hosting their 43rd Arts and Crafts Fair at City Beach on Saturday, Aug. 8, from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. The selection of art for purchase is expansive, including five to 20 artists in each category: ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, painting, photography, woodwork and miscellaneous. Metal sculpting seems to be the hot new item this year, according to Debbie Love of Pend Oreille Arts Council. Love takes great pride in the event, which she has been running in recent years. Pleasing the public is important, and Love says that public feedback on the Arts and Crafts Fair in the past has been positive and uplifting. “It’s a free event, so [the public] loves attending,” Love said. “They also love that it’s at City Beach, so if they get hot, they can just jump in the water and then continue shopping.” Of course, the event couldn’t happen without the artists, who Love admires
greatly. Over 70 percent of them have been returning for the last decade and plan to continue. Many are local, but others come out of the woodwork from seven different states and two provinces. The artists are really what inspires Love’s enthusiasm for the event. She gets a kick out of hearing where they’ve come from and where they plan on going next. “Their stories are just fascinating,” she said. One artist who lives in continual summer is Sheryl Tolman. For the past 15 years, Tolman camps in Sandpoint for nine weeks in the summer and travels to area art shows around Montana and Coeur d’Alene. After the summer season is up she and her husband travel, eventually heading back to Arizona to continue making their living. Tolman is a watercolor artist on large canvases, which she revels in selling at the annual Arts and Crafts Fair. She was referred to years back by another artist. Ever since she migrates up to her “sum-
mer home” in Sandpoint. “You just can’t have a better place for an art show,” Tolman said. “It’s always been a positive experience. We like it here a lot, and it’s a good little show.” In addition to the artisans and their displays, there are also quite a few food booths and kids’ booths. This event is for the community, supported by the community and rewards the community as all proceeds benefit POAC’s visual arts and art education programs. For additional information, contact Love at www.poac@sandpoint.net
PERSPECTIVES
A welcome from the Festival at Sandpoint’s Dyno Wahl
By Dyno Wahl Reader Contributor
If you are reading this today, I hope you will join me at The Festival tonight! Each August The Festival at Sandpoint welcomes world class performers to our special venue on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. We win them over with our relaxed, waterfront setting and the friendly embrace they receive from the Sandpoint community. It’s no wonder music critics and industry insiders have dubbed us “The Best Fest in the West.” Artists love to play here and it shows! This year’s line-up includes award-winning legends Arlo Guthrie, Vince Gill, Wilco and Ziggy Marley, the sensationally popular Lake Street Dive, and hot tickets The Devil Makes Three and Trampled by Turtles. I am also passionate about using our platform to launch emerging artists as opening acts—I challenge you not to fall in love with: The Barefoot Movement, Jonatha Brooke, Maw Band, Troy Bullock, Owen & McCoy, Vetiver and The Ballroom Thieves. Our venue is blessed by natural beauty and a welcoming atmosphere that sets us apart from other outdoor venues across the country. It is a customized concert experience without equal: You can enjoy fabulous food and beverages on “Festival Street” with 13 juried food vendors and two full service bars, or you can bring your own picnic basket and cooler from home… including alcohol… no kidding! You can stretch out on a blanket, cruise in a lawn chair (bring your own or rent ours), sit in the grandstands or let loose in our dancing areas. Best of all, The Festival is up close and personal.
People tell us it feels as though the artists are playing in their own backyard—imagine a private concert for you and yours. We are celebrating 33 years of eclectic music under the stars, on the lake. This year’s festival artwork, “Symphonic Aurora” by Lucy West, celebrates our connection to the “celestial festival” that plays above and around us, accompanying the musical performances here each summer, enhancing The Festival at Sandpoint experience. Our spectacular, mercurial night skies are such an integral part of an evening at the Festival. Just looking up during a concert reminds me of how lucky we are to gather here in this incomparable venue where we can enjoy music with the unique beauty, joy and camaraderie that Festival fans cherish. The stars, under the stars, are all of the people that make this rare Festival experience possible: I thank my amazing festival staff (Tone, Wingnut, Tamara, Molly, Delaina, Diane) and 15 undaunted board members who plan and fundraise year ‘round with their eye on the prize; Our indefatigable production crew headed up by Dave Nygren and Paul Gunter; volunteer chairpersons and their tireless teams who go above and beyond; contributors and community partners who give so generously; inspired musical artists who share their gift with us; and, most of all, the die-hard Festival fans who are the reason we are here! I am grateful to share these musical nights with you—I hope to see you at The Festival tonight!
The Festival at Sandpoint’s Exectuvie Director Dyno Wahl.
Dyno Wahl, Executive Director, The Festival at Sandpoint
New Approach Idaho Initiative: 1) Legalize Medical Marijuana 2) Decriminalize 3 ounces or less 3) Allow Idaho Farmers To Grow Hemp
in November, 2016 You may sign at the following locations: •Common Knowledge •Vapor Planet •Vapor Depot •Eichardt’s Pub
Let’s all be part of Idaho’s shift to common sense. www.legalize208.org The iconic Festival tent before a happy crowd. Photo by Chris Bessler.
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NEWS
Controversial Ag-Gag bill struck down by U.S. Court By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
The Idaho state government suffered a major legal defeat today with a federal court striking down its controversial “ag-gag” law. The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho ruled against the controversial 2014 law Monday, saying it “violates the Equal Protection Clause because it was motivated in substantial part by animus towards animal welfare groups, and because it impinges on free speech, a fundamental right.” “The remedy for misleading speech, or speech we do not like, is more speech, not enforced silence,” wrote Judge B. Lynn Winmill in the ruling. “The Court finds that [the Ag-Gag law] violates the First Amendment.” A broad coalition of animal rights and civil liberty organizations, including local group Sandpoint Vegetarians, was in-
strumental in fueling the effort to overturn the law. “Sandpoint Vegetarians is proud to have been part of the coalition led by the Animal Legal Defense Fund to repeal Idaho’s notorious ag-gag law,” said organization co-founder Stephen Augustine. “With the ruling by federal judge Winmill, the governor and legislature of Idaho have been found guilty of trampling on the constitutional rights of the citizens of Idaho.” The ag-gag bill effectively criminalized any documentation of Idaho factory farm operations, a law particularly targeting journalists and animal rights advocates seeking to expose instances of cruelty or unhealthy practices. Those prosecuted for recording audio or video with “the intent to cause economic injury” at any agricultural facility could be punished with an up-to-$5,000 fine and a year of imprisonment. Compare that
to Idaho’s animal cruelty law, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail for first-time offenders. “[This] was their attempt to criminalize citizen action geared towards humane treatment of animals and concern for our collective well-being,” Augustine said. The court ruling is a big victory for animal rights groups like Mercy For Animals, whose activities prompted the law in the first place. In 2012, group members secured employment at one of Idaho’s largest dairy farms, Dry Creek Dairy. Over the course of a few weeks, they recorded video of cows being beaten, whipped, kicked and even sexually molested. From the beginning, the ag-gag law was controversial. Sandpoint Vegetarians co-founder Eric Ridgway saw it as an example of government favoring moneyed interests over citizen well-being, and he
bristles over the public cost of enacting and defending the legislation. “The citizens of Idaho deserve better management of their tax dollars than for the creation of laws that were bound to be overturned, and that were enacted strictly to benefit the profits of corporations over the health of citizens,” he said. One of the key points in Winmill’s ruling against the law centered on the fact that while agricultural recordings may take place on private property, food production is far from a strictly
private issue. It’s a point that recalls those made by Augustine and Ridgway, who say the public has a right to know how their food is made as much for public health reasons as ethical reasons. “What a huge victory for justice this is,” Ridgway said. “The good people of Idaho do not support cruelty towards animals, nor the covering up of agricultural practices that try to keep secret how our food is processed.”
New fire reported near Cape Horn Parking woes addressed with at city workshop By Ben Olson Reader Staff A new wildfire named Three Sisters Fire has broken out just three miles northwest of the town of Bayview, and a mile and a half north of the old Cape Horn Fire perimeter. As of print time, the fire was burning actively in heavy timber and had covered an area of 150 acres, and was listed at zero percent contained. Idaho Department of Lands engines responded within 15 minutes of the first report, which came in at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 4. Over 200 fire personnel are currently working on containment, which includes four 20-person hot shot and Idaho Department of Lands crews, five engines, two dozers, two helicopters and two other air resources. There are indications that the blaze was human-caused, as it was located near a recent logging site. With prevailing winds from the south, the fire growth is predicted to 6 /
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Photo by Mike Peck.
continue heading north. The nearest structures are one mile away and are not considered threatened, but structure fire engines have been staged as a precaution. The east end of Road 22 and Cherokee Road at Perimeter Road have been closed and residents of the area are encouraged to register to receive information about emergency situations in Bonner County via phone or email. For more information, go to www.nixle.com or check the Reader Facebook page for updates.
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff As far as local complaints go, there aren’t many of them more long-lived or persistently contentious than downtown parking. It’s a little like the Hydra— cut down one problem and two more rise to take its place. The Sandpoint City Council tackled its latest effort to rein in the mythical beast Wednesday at their regular meeting. A handful of local business owners and residents shared their concerns about the state of downtown parking, which included space sizes, con-
fusing curb markers and timed free parking that encourages business employees to do the socalled “two hour shuffle.” According to citizen testimony, the problem with downtown parking is that most of it is occupied by employees, who skirt the time restriction by driving around the block right back to their original space every two hours. That limits the spaces available to business customers, the elderly or the handicapped. Other issues include a lack of spaces designed for compact cars and confusing curb painting
Welcome to America, HitchBOT It was a social experiment doomed to end in tragedy. No doubt Canada meant well when it sent friendly little robot traveler HitchBOT past U.S. borders. After all, the immobile robot capable of limited conversation had already completed cross-country trips in Canada and Europe with its requests
that drivers take it along toward its next destination. In July, HitchBOT began its journey from Boston toward San Francisco. It got as far as Philadelphia, where it was kicked, bashed and beheaded by citizens of brotherly love in the early morning of Aug. 1. America’s tragic history of robotism is
that confuses some drivers, causing them to eat up more parking space than need be. Council members used the opportunity to take notes for potential parking changes to enact down the road. Representatives of Diamond Parking, the company that enforces the city’s policies, were on also hand to hear locals’ comments. “Our goal is just to do what the city wants us to do,” said Dan Geiger, regional vice president for Diamond Parking.
alive and well, clearly. No one knows why Philadelphians wanted to kick HitchBOT’s ass, but no one is really surprised, either. Still, HitchBOT 2.0 may make another attempt next year. You could call it an exercise in tempting fate,, but then again, where would we be without optimism? [CR]
FEATURE
Dr. Forrest M. Bird: Remembering a Sandpoint legend By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff When Pam Bird first began seeing her eventual husband, Forrest Bird, years ago, they inevitably found themselves at airfields. Perhaps in a bid to impress, the renowned aviator, inventor and medical doctor would take her in the air for a spin. On one occasion, she remembers him stopping to pick up an earthworm, moving it from the runway to a place of safety. It’s a small moment—insignificant when set against the achievements Bird charted over his lifetime. But it also captures something personal about a man who became a legend. It reveals a gentleness that may have motivated his life’s work. “He believed that everything deserved life,” Pam Bird said. That’s as fitting a eulogy as any for a man who bent his sharp intellect and insatiable curiosity toward medical technology, producing inventions that would ultimately save millions of lives. Bird died Sunday morning at his home in Sagle at the age of 94. Pam said that rather then spending his final hours in a sterile hospital room, he chose the spectacular views of Lake Pend Oreille from his home on as his last sights. Condolences from around the world have flooded the Birds’ home. Publications as auspicious as the The New York Times covered his passing. “I think there’s been a tremendous feeling of loss,” Pam said. “People realize how special he is.” The Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center is a testament to his unique qualities and passion for science. A celebration of aviation, aerospace technology and innovation through invention, the museum has inspired untold numbers through family visits, field trips and the annual Camp Invention, a summer camp dedicated to inspiring kids toward a love of science and mathematics.
But Bird also inspired people on a much more personal level. Bird Museum volunteer Beth Brubaker said the scientist is single-handedly responsible for putting her son, Blake Alfson, on the career path he pursues today. “I firmly believe that Blake is where he is today because of Forrest’s influence,” she said. It was a rainy afternoon, of all things, that first crossed Alfson and Bird’s paths years ago; bored by the bad weather, the mother and son decided to visit the museum. It made such an impression on Alfson that he put himself forward as a museum volunteer. He credits Bird’s mentoring with his achievements as a young scientist, which have earned him the Congressional Award for Leadership. When he received the award in Washington, D.C., the Birds flew out to attend the ceremony. “[His meeting with Bird] was so serendipitous,” Brubaker said. “Who would have thought that stormy day would change both our lives?” Indeed, serendipity seems to follow the doctor throughout his life. Pam’s daughter and Bird’s stepdaughter, museum manager Rachel Schwam, is another living example. It was Bird’s Baby Bird medical respirator that kept her alive when she was born prematurely. It’s no surprise, then, that she was extremely close to her stepfather, so much so that she had two dads walk her down the aisle on her wedding day. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here,” Schwam said. “I wouldn’t have kids of my own.” It’s hard to find a person who hasn’t had a loved one impacted by Bird’s inventions. That widespread impact on the worldwide medical community is why Alan Millar, former principal of Sandpoint’s charter school, sought the Bird’s permission to rename the school after him. The family was initially reticent. “Forrest told me, ‘People
don’t have schools named after them until they’re dead,’” Millar said. Over a period of three years, Millar would occasionally revive his request. In 2012, the Birds called him from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, to finally grant permission. Millar’s persistence wasn’t to secure money or funding from Bird or his company. Rather, he wanted to establish a role model for his students. Bird provided an example of a man whose achievements were the product of intellectual curiosity and hard work. “We view him as the classic American inventor,” Millar said. “He wasn’t in this for the money—he was in it to save lives.” The work that blazed Bird’s pioneering trail began as a young man when he became a certified pilot by age 16. During World War II, Bird studied the impacts of high altitude flight on fighter pilots, a project that transitioned directly into his work on respirators. It also helped inspire his abiding passion for veteran’s issues. The Women Airforce Service Pilots monument at the Aviation Museum is just one example of that work. Bird’s success with medical respirators and several other inventions built the Bird Corporation, initially based out of Palm Springs, Calif. Longtime Bird Museum volunteer Bill Hertzberg remembers exploring the Bird Corporation hangar as
Above: Dr. Forrest M. Bird doing what he loved. Below: Dr. Bird and wife Pam.
a child 50 years ago, ultimately meeting Bird while sneaking around in one of his modified Consolidated PBY Catalina aircrafts. He later befriended Bird’s daughter, Cathy, and went to high school with her. When their class completed an entire house as a part of a wood shop project, it was Bird who put down money to purchase the structure. Hertzberg said it was a simple kindness from a humble man, an image that often gets lost in his legend. “When a guy has all these accouterments, he can seem distant, but that wasn’t Forrest,” he said. “This was a guy who couldn’t have known where [his work] would take him.” Pam agrees that for Bird, wealth and recognition were never motivating factors, even as he received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President George W.
Bush in 2008, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama in 2009 and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1995. What mattered to Bird, Pam said, was a quiet life with friends and family while inspiring the next generation of innovators. That, more then anything else, is the legacy his family aims to preserve. “The foundation and footprints have been left by him to carry on,” Pam said. “We’ll push harder and stronger to continue his legacy for generations to come.” A celebration of Forrest Bird’s life will take place 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 at the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center. The event is open to the public. August 6, 2015 /
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Bouquets: •The crew of the Festival at Sandpoint has done a hell of a job for us this year. I think 2015’s lineup is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and the entire staff all the way from Dyno down to the dozens of volunteers have outdone themselves making this Sandpoint tradition shine yet again. I’m looking forward to the shows, and of bringing you, our readers, some web-exclusive interviews with artists, as well as a full photo essay of all the performance dates. And keep posted on our Facebook for a special post on Friday to see with your own eyes just how much work goes into putting this shindig together. Barbs: •Let’s talk about car alarms and how much I absolutely despise them. What exactly is the point of an alarm that raises no alarm? When you see an alarm going off, do you dial 911? Chase the perp down an alley? Or do you glare at them and actually hope someone is stealing their vehicle just to bring peace and quiet? We’ve become so desensitized to a car alarm going off, it seems they have the opposite effect more often than not. When I was on tour a few months back, we were sleeping in after a late show and listened while the same alarm went off for TWO HOURS. I’ve never wanted to seriously harm another human being, but that guy almost didn’t live to see another day. Here in Sandpoint, what exactly is the use of arming your car? I don’t have the exact figures, but I imagine the amount of cars stolen in Sandpoint in the last two decades could fit in a redneck’s driveway. Stop with the alarms people, you’re polluting us with noise. Got a bouquet or barb you’d like to offer? Write me at ben@ sandpointreader.com with “BB” in the subject line. 8 /
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k e e w This the at A quick guide to the great shows for the first week of the Festival at Sandpoint. In next week’s Reader, we’ll list the second week’s line-up. -Thursday, August 6-
-Saturday, August 8-
Arlo Guthrie
We’re in for a treat the opening night of the Festival. As a folk musician, songwriter, activist, Arlo Guthrie carries on the legendary work of his father Woody Guthrie. From his roots at Woodstock, to his collaborations with such luminaries as Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and John Prine, Guthrie’s show under the stars in Sandpoint is heavily anticipated. Guthrie is known for such hits as “Alice’s Restaurant,” (he also appeared in the 1969 film), “City of New Orleans,” and “Coming into Los Angeles.” Opening for Guthrie is singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooks,
-Friday, August 7-
Ziggy Marley
Grammy award winning reggae artist Ziggy Marley carries on the tradition of his father Bob Marley with a fun, energetic, positively charged performance on the “Fly Rasta Tour.” From his earliest days, Marley has been guided by his keen social awareness and driving compassion, earmarks of his work
Vince Gill
Country Music Hall of Fame singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Vince Gill headlines a Super Country Saturday show. Gill has recorded more than 20 studio albums, charted over 40 singles on the U.S. Billboard charts, and has sold more than Photo courtesy Arlo Guthrie. 26 million albums. He has been honored by the Country Music Association with 18 CMA whose 2008 album “The Awards, including two EnterWorks” pairs her original music tainer of the Year Awards and with previously unheard lyrics five Male Vocalist Awards. Gill by Woody Guthrie. has also earned 20 Grammy Tickets are $44.95 and the Awards, more than any other Brew Tasting tickets will be $10 male country music artist. and starts at 6 p.m. The concert Opening for Gill is The Barbegins at 7 p.m. foot Movement, award winners and his journey. His message, at the 2013 Telluride Bluegrass clearly evident in his music, is Festival, draws from styles of one of friendship, finding oneself, and a unifying devotion to love. -Sunday, August 9This is a dance show, so come prepared to shake what your momma gave you. with the Sandpoint Opening is the Maw Band, an infectious, acoustic driven Community Orchestra The Festival presents its rock band out of Jackson, WY. All tickets are $59.95, with Family Concert, “Season’s $1 of each ticket going towards Greetings” (not as in holiday Marley’s charity U.R.G.E. The music but rather as in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons!) featuring the concert begins at 7 p.m. Festival at Sandpoint’s Community Orchestra and Studio One Dancers. Favorite pre-concert activities include the popular Instrument Petting Zoo (where kids can try-out playing various instruments with guidance from high school musical mentors), an animal petting zoo, pony rides, clowns, face painting, games galore and the most appreciated Parents’ Corner where moms and dads can
Vince Gill. Photo by J.Wright.
bluegrass, folk, acoustic rock and Americana. Also opening is Sandpoint-based country singer Troy Bullock, a high energy country performer who has lit up stages in Nashville and Las Vegas. Tickets are $54.95. The doors open at 4:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 6 p.m.
Family Concert
Ziggy Marley live. Photo by Roxanne Haynes.
take a break from the chaos for a complimentary mini-shoulder rub from local massage therapists. All tickets are only $6.00. Activities begin when the gates open earlier this year at 2:30 p.m. and the performance starts at 5:00 p.m.
SCOTT BORTZ
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event t h u r s d a y f r i d a y s a t u r d a y
Broadcasting in Sandpoint on 106.7 FM and in Digital HD
s u n d a y m o n d a y t u e s d a y w e d n e s d a y t h u r s d a y
$40/show or $120 for all 4
Doors @ 8:30p Show @ 10p (all shows) www.LiveFromTheHive.com 10 /
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Festival at Sandpoint Opening Night w/ Arlo Guthrie! 7:30pm @ Memorial Field It’s finally here! The opening night of the Festival with Arlo Guthrie. From his musical roots at Woodstock to famous collaborations with everyone from Pete Seeger and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot to Judy Collins and John Prine, an evening with Arlo bridges political, religious and social gaps and displays a continued life of inspirational songwriting and service to all. Brew tasting starts at 6pm.
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Festival at Sandpoint presents Ziggy Marley 7:30pm @ Memorial Field Grammy Award-winning reggae and world music icon Ziggy Marley in concert at Memorial Field with openers the Maw Band. This is a dance show, so bring your headbands and prepare to shake something
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Festival at Sandpoint presents Vince Gill 7:30pm @ Memorial Field Country Music Hall of Fame singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Vince Gill headlines the Festival at Sandpoint’s Super Country Saturday show at Memorial Field with special guests The Barefoot Movement and Troy Bullock. All tickets are $54.95. Gates open at 4:30 p.m., and the music starts at 6 p.m.
Sandpoint Farmers Market 9am - 1pm @ Farmin Park Featuring music by Ruff Shod
Arts and Crafts Fair All day @ Sandpoint City Beach Hosted by POAC, this annual juried art exhibit has more than 120 artists’ booths, kids’ activities, hourly live entertainment and more. Free admission Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Suzen Fiskin Book Reading 5:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Trivia Night 7pm - 9pm @ MickDuff’s Bingo Night 6:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Bingo, beer, popcorn, friendly bartenders, a nice courtyard. Seriously, what else do you need? Dollar Beers! 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Good until the keg’s dry
Teen Summer Reading: Nerf Battle – Heroes Vs. Villains 7pm - 8:30pm @ Sandpoint Library
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D 8p
M 6p
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Bonner County Rodeo 7pm @ BoCo Fairgrounds Live Music w/ Miah Kohal Band 10pm - 1am @ 219 Lounge Patio Live Music w/ Ron Kieper Jazz 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Aftival presents Yonder Mountain 10pm @ The Hive With more than 17 years of redefin this progressive bluegrass band w wanting more! This show will feat cia’s Takamine E360s - the first time been played in public since the famo Jerry Garcia Band Lunt Fontanne ru
Arts and Crafts Fair All day @ Sandpoint City Beach Hosted by POAC, this annual juried art more than 120 artists’ booths, kids’ activ ly live entertainment and more. Free ad
Family Concert with the Festival Communit 2:30pm @ Memorial Field Enjoy musical fun for the young and young a Festival at Sandpoint presents its Family Co Seasons’ Greetings (not as in holiday music in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons!) featuring the Fest point’s Community Orchestra and Studio O Favorite pre-concert activities include the po ment Petting Zoo, an animal petting zoo, and ets are $6. Show starts at 5pm
Karaoke Night 9pm - Midnight @ 219 Loun
Sandpoint Farmers Market 3pm - 5:30pm @ Farmin Park Live music by Bridges Home Charley Packard & Friends 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Come on down and see the one, the only, Charley Packard. He’s back, baby!
Reggae Wed 9pm -12am @ Come down ams on the p
Festival at Sandpoint presents Lake Street D 7:30pm @ Memorial Field The indie pop, jazz and soul band Lake Street D year’s best new band.” The opening band is th “Dive Bar specials” will be featured in the Fest and the Lakeside Lounge. All tickets are $36.95
ful
August 6, 13, 2015
mueger ridgonal
Dollar Beers! 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Monarch Open Mic 6pm - 9pm @ Monarch Mountain Coffee Live Music w/ Truck Mills 10pm - 1am @ 219 Lounge Patio
and tio
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of redefining bluegrass, s band will leave you will feature Jerry Gare first time this guitar has e the famous and historic ontanne run in 1987
ach juried art exhibit has kids’ activities, houre. Free admission
Community Orchestra
d young at heart as the amily Concert themed ay music but rather as g the Festival at SandStudio One Dancers. ude the popular Instrug zoo, and more. Tick-
Cards Against Humanity 7pm - 9pm @ Neighborhood Pub Mystery Novel Discussion: I Can’t Breathe 5:15pm @ Sandpoint Library Meet the author, H.M. Bowker for a lively presentation and Q & A about her epic novel based on events that took place in Libby in the 1950s Live Music w/ Marty Perron & Doug Bond 5pm - 7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 7pm @ La Rosa Club
Celebrate Life Fun Run/Walk Wings Over Sandpoint Fly-In 9am @ Dog Beach 8am @ Sandpoint Airport A fundraiser where participants walk across Sandpoint EAA Chapter 1441 the Long Bridge. This is a gathering of family, hosts breakfast and invites refriends and neighbors. In 10 years, $185,000 has gional pilots to fly into Sandpoint been raised for Sandpoint and surrounding com- Airport and display a variety of munities through to help our friends, family and aircraft. Free and open to the neighbors affected by cancer. Early registration public. Breakfast is 8am -10am is $25 adults, $20 youth ages 6-16 until July 31; and airplane viewing to 1:30pm after that date, registration fees increase by $5. Summer Sounds Registration on the day of the event starts at 8 4pm - 6pm @ Park Place Stage a.m. To be a sponsor call 208-255-9628. Featuring tunes from Broken Whistle King of the Cornhole Tournament Old Galvi Warehouse Sale 1pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 10am - 3pm @ Old Galvi Warehouse See who will be crowned king of cornholio Come down and search through a Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip great stack of antiques. Sunday too 5:30pm - 7:30pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Chris Lynch Live Music w/ Harold’s IGA 6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante 10pm - 1am @ 219 Lounge Live Music w/ Josh Hedlund Indie rockers on the patio. The more 7pm @ La Rosa Club you drink, the better they sound
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UPCOMING EVENTS Aug. 13 - Lake Street Dive @ The Festival at Sandpoint Aug. 14 & 15 - Melvin Seals and JGB Aug. 14 - The Devil Makes Three and Trampled by Turtles at the Festival at Sandpoint
ggae Wednesday at the Niner m -12am @ 219 Lounge Patio me down and groove with Josh Ads on the patio. Ya mon!
e Street Dive
Reader recommended
Aftival presents the Funky METERS 10pm @ The Hive Their trademark sound blends funk, blues, and dance grooves with a New Orleans vibe. With over 31 years of musicianship, this will be a show not to miss
Mountain String Band
219 Lounge
A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com.
Clark Fork Teen Summer Reading: End of Summer Reading Party & Prize Ceremony 7pm @ Clark Fork Library Participants in the Clark Fork Teen Summer Reading program celebrate a summer of reading with fun, food and prizes. For more info. Contact Morgan 263-6930 ext. 1245.
Cards Against Humanity 7pm - 9pm @ Neighborhood Pub
ke Street Dive was called “This band is the Ballroom Thieves. Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs n the Festival’s bar - Conlan’s - 10pm - 1am @ 219 Lounge Patio are $36.95. Gates open at 6 p.m. Local talent with a deep repertoire
Find out why we’re a
A DOWNTOWN FAVORITE! Try a YUMMY Grilled Wrap today @ the Cedar St. Bistro
Live Music w/ Tennis 8pm - 12am @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Sandpoint’s favorite dance band is back for an encore show at MickDuff’s. The last show drew a great crowd, so here they are for more! $5 cover
located on the historic
CEDAR ST. BRIDGE in Sandpoint, Idaho
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www.cedarstbistro.com August 6, 2015 /
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To submit your own pet photos, please send a photograph and a little bit of information about your special friend to ben@sandpointreader.com. Please put “PET PHOTOS” in the subject line.
-DrakeMy name is Drake, and I was left at the Panhandle Animal Shelter. The folks there really loved me and I loved them. Two weeks flew by. On June 25, two days after my third birthday, Nathan, my Shelter trainer and BFF took me to Yappy Hour at the Pine Street Bakery. Fun times with other pups, families, kids, music, and a swimming pool. My mission (and I chose to accept it) was to find me a home. I looked good. Who could resist my smiling puppy face? Drake Dude, here I come! And here they came... Wowza! As soon as the Mr. and Mrs. arrived in that convertible I knew that this was my ride home! I got them at ‘hello,” but I let them get a drink first. They knew a lot of folks at the Yappy Hour, and said they came to listen to the Misty Mountain Boys (their friends). I tagged along with them, sticking like glue. Funny thing, they talked to me and called me by name (thanks to Nathan). The Mrs. was a softy. She gave me treats when I shook her paw (oops, shook her hand). We talked, we danced, ate, drank and played… the usual social scene. Then the Mrs. got a bit nervous when she couldn’t find the Mr. (I told him to get the adoption paperwork completed before someone else wanted me, cause I wanted them!) I kept the Mrs. calm until Mr. signed the documents. And then…I am going home with them. Sweet! So, the Mr. and Mrs. have a cat, and no dog accessories. (What am I going to do?) Never fear, our next stop was Camp Genoff—aka the Docs—(met my new dog friends, Belle, Lippy and Pepsi). These guys had extra accessories for me to borrow until my new parents figure it out; a bed, crate, bowl, leash, etc. The shelter gave my new mom a bag of food, so I’m all set now. The Mrs. says she needs a dog shower. More hugs, then onto my new home—on the lake—beach, grass, good food, friendly folks, a kitty that allows me to kiss her nose, (she was there first) and the most fabulous new Mom and Dad ever! Phyllis Foro Sandpoint 12 /
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Local climber aims to bag all 66 ‘14er’ peaks in contiguous U.S. By Ben Olson Reader Staff Don Otis is always trying to reach a higher place. Two weeks ago, he completed two Fourteeners (peaks above 14,000 feet), and has set his sights to bag the final peak later this month, completing all 66 in the contiguous United States. The list of climbers who have bagged all 66 is most likely short, though it’s difficult to determine the exact number. “There are probably 3,000 people that have done all of Colorado’s Fourteeners,” he said. “The Sierras are much more difficult. I imagine there are maybe 300 people that have done them all [in the nation]. I can’t seem to locate the numbers, because they don’t post online or at the summits.” Otis never set out with any specific goal in mind to climb all 66 but now has the elusive feat in his grasp. “I don’t think I really stopped to say I could do all of these,” he said. “It wasn’t until I moved to Colorado in 2007 and spent five years there before coming back to Sandpoint that I thought, ‘Maybe it’s possible not just to get all of Colorado’s, but maybe I can get the rest of them, too.’” From an early age, he’s been drawn to the mountains and backcountry, seeking that summit view where life somehow makes a little more sense. “When I was a kid growing up in Los Angeles,” said Otis, “I was always trying to climb something. We would con my mom into taking us up to the foothills in North Los Angeles and dropping me and a couple buddies off so I could scurry up some of those canyons. I just liked to do stuff; if it wasn’t hiking and climbing, it was seeking adventure any way I could find it.” The adventure began over 40 years ago with Mt. Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous U.S. “I did Whitney with a friend of mine when I was 17,” he said. “We had a tube tent and old, crappy sleeping bags, and
spent a freezing ass cold night at 12,000 feet, talking about how miserable it was. On the way back down to L.A., he said to me, ‘Wasn’t that great?’ and I said, ‘That’s cool! We’ve got to do that again.’” Over the years, Otis checked a few more peaks off his list, but it wasn’t until moving to Colorado, where 53 of the peaks are located, that his quest kicked into high gear. “It was 2010 or 2011 when it became a serious thought to start ticking them all off,” he said. “The last year I lived there, I did 22 peaks. It was just constant.” Part of the challenge is not always in the climb, but in finding people to hit the backcountry with. “You’re always looking for someone to do them with you,” he said. “You’re thinking, ‘God, I don’t want to go up there by myself.” Some hiking partners are old friends, like Jeff Beeman, Ken Emerson, and Genny Hoyle. Others came from near catastrophe. While descending Mt. of the Holy Cross in Colorado one season, Otis tripped and fell, splitting his head open on a chunk of granite. “This ER doctor was sewing my head up afterward and said, ‘If you want to climb sometime, let me know,’ and I said, ‘What are you doing next week?’,” said Otis. “He ended up doing some of the really hard ones with me. It was great, I’ve got my own ER doctor with me now.” Nonetheless, Otis has climbed 34 of the peaks solo. “You have to be smart about it,” he said. “You have to look at the weather, to be prepared for anything. When were in the Sierras a couple weeks ago, we had nothing but trouble with the weather. We had snow, we had hail, we had a couple of good windows and took them. Otis and his climbing partner ended up getting down the mountain just in time. “We got off about 30 seconds before two major thunderstorms just hammered it,” he said. “You don’t want to be on top of a mountain when a storm hits.”
Don Otis climbing Wetterhorn Peak in Colorado’s San Juan Range. Photos courtesy of Don Otis.
Of all the 65 peaks he’s bagged, Otis looks back on a few that were especially challenging. “The hardest was the North Palisades in California,” he said. “It’s just a big ass peak. Colorado has got a couple of difficult ones. Capital Peak is notorious for what’s called the ‘knife edge.’ You’ve got to cross this ridge and there is a dropoff of a couple thousand feet on one side.” Looking back, Otis is astounded at the statistics from his mountaineering. “Just doing the Colorado Fourteeners took more than 500 miles on trails,” he said. “It’s 206,000 vertical feet. That’s like doing Mt. Everest 17 times from base camp, or 19 marathons at 11,000 feet. That’s just the Colorado peaks.” The remaining peak Otis has left before he bags all 65 is Split Mountain in California. “It’s a class 3 Fourteener,” he said. “I’m not sweating buckets over it, though it has 7,500 feet of elevation out of desert on the worst trail of any Fourteener in California.” For his “day job” Otis owns a public relations agency called Veritas, which facilitates radio and television interviews for their authors. He also works with several nonprofit organizations
in Sandpoint, and is plugged into the climbing and outdoor network in North Idaho. “I love hiking around here,” he said. “I look at Scotchman’s or Mickinnick, or Gold Hill and I think, ‘We’ve got so many amazing places here in North Idaho and really terrific hikers, climbers, athletes here that I’ve met that are far better than I am.” In addition to his outdoor activities, Otis is the author of five books. His topics range from political treatises, to fitness guides, to cathartic explorations of morality.
But overall, Otis finds his peace standing atop a summit. “Some people are all about the fear,” he said. “I chase after the physical challenge. I love being on high peaks. There’s nothing quite like it. There’s just something magical about it.”
Crossing the infamous “knife-edge” on Capital Peak outside of Aspen. August 6, 2015 /
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By Scout Anatricia Reader Intern
Photo courtesy Bonner County Fair.
Maybe you’re the kind of person who can’t get enough of wrestling greased pigs. If so, don’t just sit around hoping for one to run through your yard. Head over to the Bonner County Fair Aug. 11-15 for all the pig chasing you can handle. What’s more, a multitude of other activities and events are ready for the whole family to enjoy. Just about everyone should get a kick out of the carnival hosted by Paradise Amusements from Aug. 12-15. Everything from kiddie rides to games to teen and adult rides will be ready to thrill the family. Pre-sale tickets are on sale at www.bonnercountyfair.org. It wouldn’t be a fair without livestock, which will be shown throughout the week with the Market Animal Livestock Sale taking place on Saturday, Aug 15, at 9 a.m., indoor arena. Bringing the festivities to an end will be the demolition derby which is also taking place on Saturday, Aug. 15, at 7 p.m. Pre-sale derby tickets can be purchased online or at the fair box office. This year’s fair activities include the Silver Buckle Challenge, Passport to Ag, photo booth, cookie jar contest, livestock video contest, Farmathon, karaoke contest, backseat
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driving, sewing contest, turkey calling championship, 5K run or walk, So You Think You Can Sing, pizza eating contest, spud decorating contest, tae kwon do, swine costume contest, digital camera shootout, beef bowl quiz, floral challenge, survivor competition, A Dream is a Wish Princess Party, Greased Pig Scramble, mini animals and pony rides, pie eating contest and so much more! Performances include Cecil’s Magic, Pippi the Clown accompanied by her followers, Josh the Juggler (and fire-eater), and Glenna & Gub Gub the Performing Pig. You’re going to want to get out your best boot-scootin’-boogie shoes in time for all of the entertainment that the fair has to offer this year, including Devon Wade Band, Monarch Mountain Band, Owen & McCoy, Lee Jackson, Crab Creek Wranglers, Country Plus, Peggy Carter and the 20th Bashful Dan’s Dance Party on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. As always, the fair is all about supporting 4-H activities. These programs invite the younger generation to try their hand at showing and selling livestock as well as other agricultural staples. 4-H events include interview judging, pocket pet show, dog show, fashion revue, archery, round robins, market animal sale and the parade of champions. Aislynn Robertson, former fair princess and fair queen, is known for her 4-H market swine and her place on the junior fair board. She has been the face of the fair in years past, and she still continues to participate today with enthusiasm and drive. “I enjoy having a week away to just be at the fair doing what I love,” she said. “I also really enjoy volunteering and spending time with the younger 4-H kids and helping them out.” Robertson still holds her spot on the junior fair board, but royalty this
year goes to Kellee Knopp as fair princess and Abigail Nelson as fair queen. Congratulations, ladies! If you are interested in entering a 4-H animal or testing your cooking skills, be sure to pick up a fair book, which holds the forms as well as the details on each activity and contest. The book also contains schedules for each individual contest, exhibit and event. For additional information contact Rhonda Livingston at the fair office at (208) 263-8414. If the fair isn’t rowdy enough for you, give the Bonner County Rodeo a shot. In years past, the rodeo has been an amateur event, but not any more. This year’s rodeo teams up with the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association) and WPRA ( Women’s Professional Rodeo Association) barrel racers on Friday, Aug. 7 and Saturday, Aug. 8 at 7:00 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Top bullfighters Rowdy Barry and Ryan Manning will be competing with Ash Cooper as barrelman and Blake West and David Lewis as pickup men. Pro Rodeo events this year include bareback, steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping, bullriding, saddle bronc and barrel racing. Hopping on top of a 2,000 pound beast equipped with hooves, horns and muscle doesn’t sound like something that most people do voluntarily. However, this adrenaline rush of a sport is one of the top attractions at the rodeo that the cowboys and fans alike go crazy for. The Challenge of Champions Tour Bull Riding will be firing up the arena with some of the top bulls in the country and 25 to 35 bull riders on August 14 at 7:30 p.m. Challenge of Champions has been a successful business offering an average of 30 professional riders from the Pacific Northwest region. Their vision is to offer a fun, educational event that focuses on traditional bullriding and the way of the cowboy. Following the Challenge of Champions performance is Devon Wade’s Band. Wade is
Photo courtesy Bonner County Fair.
Bonner County Fair and Rodeo: a downhome good time
Aislynn Robertson at the Fair. Bottom left: Aislynn Robertson crowned Miss Bonner County.
a singer and songwriter from Sandpoint. The show includes a dance contest as well as a best-fitting jeans contest. Also following the bullriding competition is the opportunity for ladies over 21 to pay $30 to attend a behind-the-scenes tour and do a meet & greet with the bull riders.
Pre-sale tickets for the Challenge of Champions as well as Pro Rodeo are offered at a reduced price at www.bonnercoutyfair.com or at Carter Country & Feed, Columbia Bank, Les Schwab Tires and Sandpoint Super Drug. They may also be purchased at full price at the gate.
LITERATURE
Local writer’s book promises rare glimpse inside Playboy Mansion
By Scout Anatricia Reader Intern
Wanton escapades, sultry parties, celebrity guests: Suzen Fiskin saw it all at the Playboy Mansion in the 1970s. Now she’s here in sleepy Sandpoint with a new memoir of her experiences available for purchase. The author of “Playboy Mansion Memoirs” reveals the good, the bad and the risque in her book, along with a few lessons learned from the front lines of the sexual revolution. You might say a good girl with bodacious tatas just can’t stay a good girl. One day in 1975, Fiskin was serving sandwiches at an upscale office building. That same night, she was whisked off to a party at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion by one of her customers. And so her alternative lifestyle began. A student at UCLA and a proclaimed independent woman, Fiskin didn’t reside at the mansion. She simply delved into the pleasures it had to offer, such as tennis matches, movie nights and parties. At the same time, she explored bisexual relationships as well as affairs with men like Warren Beatty, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robin Williams and many more. Beatty, remembered by Fiskin as a “hot, as well as incredibly brilliant” man, holds a special spot in her memories. She also recalls her star-struck awe as a sweet young Jewish girl who was quickly exposed to all the mansion had to offer. “I was a poor girl at Beverly High School and saw all this unattainable fame, and then all of a sudden one day there was all the fame, all around me,” she said. However, Fiskin’s soft spot wasn’t just for famous, hot men. She currently has a female partner, Patricia Wentworth, who runs the local community garden and who supported and edited Fiskin’s book. The memoirs prove that Fiskin was a trailblazer for a woman of her time, and she believes that Hefner was groundbreaking for a man of his time. He not only changed sexual exploration for the world but also defied many social norms. Hefner supported gay rights, women’s rights and racial equality. He used Playboy platforms to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to
the Kinsey Institute and to Masters and Johnson, scientists on the cutting edge of research in human sexuality. He used his television show to promote racial diversity. And while most know Playboy as a skin magazine, Hefner’s original intention was to create a lifestyle publication that only partly focused on sex. Fiskin, and everyone else that participated in the Playboy world, contributed to the “good life” of that era. Though some may disagree with the “lifestyle” magazine or have their own views on the Playboy empire, no one can take Fiskin’s memories and spiritual journey away from her. In fact, she has received nothing but encouragement, praise and gratitude in response to the book. Her goal with her memoirs was to open hearts and minds, and she believes that goal was very much achieved. Readers from their late teens to late 80s have thanked Fiskin for her courage and insight. The book has even generated interest from Hollywood producers as the basis for a potential television series or movie. “Different people respond to different aspects of the book and I can really appreciate that,” Fiskin said. Fiskin has worked as a life coach and motivational speaker since the early 1990s. For a while, she lived in the Seattle area but decided to move inland, first to Coeur d’ Alene and then beautiful Lake Pend Oreille. She used her winters to write and complete “Playboy Mansion Memoirs.” If you haven’t yet read Fiskin’s book, I encourage you to pick up a copy! If you aren’t the reading type, then join Fiskin at the Pend d’Oreille Winery Aug. 10 at 5:30 p.m. for a book reading. She will also be appearing at the Saturday Farmers’ Market (across the street) to sign copies of her book from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
A book by Allan Bopp
BUY AND READ THIS BOOK OR THE TERRORISTS WIN! "Here are to be found timeless questions that loop round and round like an infinity symbol. Pick up the book, open to any page and read a question. Close the book and think about your answer. Here's one taken at random: "Is God separate from His creation?" Hmmm... It’s good mental Rinso." -Rapid Lightning Reader “Unexpectedly cool and insightful.” -Richard Lane, Amazon Review Now available at Vanderford’s, Common Knowledge, Bonner’s Books and Amazon www.watermelonskin.com
The author Suzen Fiskin.
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FOOD
The Sandpoint Eater How does your garden grow?
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Fool Columnist The seventh season of the Sandpoint Community Garden is producing some bodacious vegetables. It’s a garden that nourishes our community; not only foodstuffs, but a keen sense of kinship too. Recently I met with Pat Wentworth, the extraordinary woman who coordinates plots and plotters, and we took a walk through the garden. She introduced me to a few seasoned plotters who shared with me stories and gardening tips relating to weeding and watering their thriving plots. Pat praises her tireless volunteers and key city employees for this successful garden initiative. Nearly every implement, from spades to hoses, along with the shed in which they are housed were donated or purchased through Pat’s tireless grant writing efforts. As she explained the application procedure for renting a plot, I wasn’t a bit surprised that the process was relaxed and straightforward, quite like Pat herself.What I am astonished by is the bounty in this small urban garden adjacent to the Festival of Sandpoint office. The plots are either 7’ x 7’or 4’ x 8’, and while they’re small, the generous natures of these plotters/gardeners are huge. Some plotters tend a plot or two for themselves and up to five additional plots to raise delicious and wholesome produce for those in need. The plot tenders are as diverse as the plants they grow; some single plots are shared by friends, while a family with small children each tend their very own bed. This is no ordinary garden, and while I’ve seen a lot of great gardens the past couple of weeks, this is the blue ribbon winner. Many vegetables looked like props for an organic garden magazine. Huge, perfect cabbage caught my eye and I inquired of Pat about the garden’s secret ingredient. What makes it grow? “Just love,” she responds. I believe it. If I ever go missing, 16 /
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you’ll probably find me stretched out somewhere between the warm raised beds, just watching this magnificent garden flourish. If you haven’t been by, do yourself a favor and go have a look. Everyone’s welcome to come, meander, sniff and take photos. But please don’t pick. It’s tempting, I know, but the vegetables belong to the plotters, who’ve paid for, planted and nurtured these plots. Closer to home, l need only look out my kitchen window to gaze at another productive garden, but regretfully, it’s not mine. It belongs to my neighbor, Eric Paull. Gardens make some of us wax nostalgic, and it’s apparent with Eric. We’ve had “over the fence conversation” for years, and mostly when he talks of his garden or the sturdy little picket fence that surrounds it, he reminisces about his grandparents and says most of the vegetables in his garden are the same varieties he helped them tend years
ago. He told me he devotes about two hours a week to his garden, though this made me (and another neighbor) chuckle, as he’s out there at least twice that much, but apparently time flies by as he tends to each row. Though he credited his fertile garden to hand watering and vigilant weed eradication, it’s apparent there’s a lot of love going on in this garden as well. For years, on early morning walks along Ontario Street, I have been known to pop a ripe plum or two into my mouth. The other day I spent some time with Jenni Roberts and had a look at those plums, from the legal side of that old wooden fence. Jenni’s “Yarden” is an overgrown jungle of fruits and vegetables, primarily winding vines bearing more than twenty varieties of plump, heirloom tomatoes. But the first thing that caught my eye on Jenni’s two acre farm was a sunflower that would rival Jack’s beanstalk. Without an inch of the
Irish embellishment I am famous for, this plant was clearly twelve feet tall. I asked Jenni her secret for growing this monster. She took no credit and enlightened me with the simple truth, “It’s a volunteer, a gift from God.” I rarely had time to ask a question because she force fed me through every row. “Taste these peas,” she insisted, dropping a small handful into my waiting palm. “Aren’t they delicious?” I tossed them into my mouth and yes, they were deliciously sweet and crunchy. Jenni is creative with her non-traditional sales efforts and has a handful of “share” customers, who, for $25 a week, are provided with a generous bag of beautiful and organic vegetables. It’s also not uncommon to see someone wander in, pick a few things and leave a note with a few bucks attached. She also provides specialty herbs, like Thai basil, for Shoga and other restaurants. Here’s
another garden I could call home. Her only rule? You must be happy before you can enter the garden. I am struck by the old adage, right in your own back yard, because in my own back yard, besides Eric, I am surrounded by generous neighbors who share all that is theirs: Raspberries, picked and devoured by all my grandchildren, grape leaves for pickle-making, basil for pesto, and rhubarb for a plethora of wonderful creations. And did I mention tomatoes, in every direction I look? This extra hot weather has delivered an early and abundant crop, and everyone is in a sharing mood. Ken Keeler, an old friend with yet another productive garden, thrusts a bagful of tomatoes upon me every time I see him. They’re like this season’s zucchini. More than once, I’ve come home with an armful of tomatoes and a heart full of happy, so grateful for all the gardeners in my life. The following recipe is my favorite tomato salad. I hope you’ll like it as much as I do.
Tomato Burrata Salad with Basil Vinaigrette Fresh from the vine tomatoes and Burrata cheese combine for a sensational summer salad. If you are not familiar with Burrata, you’ll find it near the mozzarella at most markets. Made from mozzarella and cream, the outside is solid and the center is filled with soft, rich cream. Once you’ve cut into a round, it doesn’t keep long, so it’s best to use it up right away. Serves 4
INGREDIENTS: •1/2 cup of the basil vinaigrette •*4 large heirloom tomatoes, cut two medium slices from each and coarsely chop the remainder. •1/2 red onion, finely chopped
DIRECTIONS: •Combine the chopped tomatoes, lettuce, basil and onion. Drizzle with dressing vinaigrette, and toss gently. Mound onto 4 salad plates. Top each mound with 2 medium slices of tomato, sprinkle with sea salt and top with slice of Burrato. Drizzle a bit of dressing over the top and garnish with basil ribbons and croutons. *Do not refrigerate tomatoes. Flavor is much better at room temperature.
•3 cups lettuce, chopped •1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced into thin ribbo ns (reservea fe w forg arnish) •1 round fresh Burrata, cut into 4 even slices (let this warm to room temperature before slicing, and slice just as you are adding to the salad) •1/2 tsp sea salt •Good quality croutons
Basil Vinaigrette INGREDIENTS: •1 small garlic clove •1 cup packed basil l eaves, coarsely c hopped •1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil •1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar •1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar •1 tsp Dijon mustard
DIRECTIONS: In a food processor, pulse the garlic until chopped. Add the basil and pulse until finely chopped. Add the oil, vinegars and mustard and process until smooth. Season with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
MUSIC
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
Bart Budwig’s kickstart to a new album By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
Bart Budwig is no stranger to collaboration. An audio engineer who has worked with bands across the Northwest, he’s helped with many artists bring their projects to life. The value of a little teamwork isn’t lost in his own music, either. It informs every aspect of his upcoming album, “The Moon and Other Things,” for which Budwig launches a Kickstarter that goes live Aug. 11. Those familiar with Spokane-based outfits like the Marshall McLean Band or Mama Doll have probably already had the chance to appreciate Budwig’s talents as an audio engineer. However, Budwig himself is also an auspicious songwriter and performer, drawing from the rich legacy of traditional country and folk music to inform songs that speak to modern day trials, tribulations, joys and heartaches. In the past three years, Budwig has gone through a lot of changes. He’s moved to Enterprise, Ore., a stretch of country short on people and flush with cattle. While he’s enjoyed a little rustic living and some of the best hamburgers he’s ever eaten, the change of scenery has also been good for his songwriting. Perhaps inspired by the setting, “The Moon and Other Things” heralds back to the beginnings of outlaw country. To that end, Budwig employed a recording process that reflected those old roots. The album was recorded in the OK Theater of Enterprise, built in 1918. The album was recorded on a fourtrack device built in the 1970s. Despite the focus on the past, however, the album shouldn’t be inscrutable to modern sensibilities. “My goal was to capture the sound of production of outlaw country from the 1960s … but sound polished enough to appeal to a general audience,” Budwig said. But for Budwig, it’s the in-
fluence of friends and fellow artists that has truly enriched the album—an osmosis that has occurred both directly and indirectly. Budwig’s artist friends, for instance, contributed artwork for special runs of the new album. Then, of course, there are the musicians who recorded with him. Individuals like electric guitar player Kuke Ydtsie, best known for work on projects like Blind Pilot and Hook & Anchor, give the album a depth that Budwig is eager to share with audiences. “I’m really excited with how this album turned out,” he said. Budwig said the recording process was remarkably organic. Rather than recording each instrumental part separately and fiddling with them endlessly in post-production, some of the best moments were captured when a bunch of musicians and their instruments crowded around a microphone. There’s an authenticity there that is often lost in the minutiae of studio production. “A lot of music today is extremely precise,” Budwig said. “With this approach, there’s a kind of humanity to it that, even if its not exact, it’s really good.” Just as important to the final product are the little inspirations that crystallized in Budwig’s mind over the past three years. He remembers one occasion when a concept for a song popped into his head. A melody soon followed. Later, he found himself talking with fellow songwriter Marshall McLean,
READ
I’m a sucker for novels about families, especially when the families are strange and unusual. “The Risk Pool” by Richard Russo follows the coming-to-age tale of young Ned Hall, bounced between his mother’s nervous breakdown and his father’s hilarious barroom antics. Russo is a master at portraying small town life, and he once again succeeded in introducing the reader to a bevy of great original characters that remind us all of someone in our own lives.
LISTEN
and their conversation set his mental gears working. Before long, a fully-structured song had taken shape. Now Budwig pursues another type of collaboration to complete the “Moon and Other Things” journey: crowd funding. The Kickstarter campaign that launches Tuesday will fund the production of CDs, vinyl, T-shirts and more. For Budwig, Kickstarter is a great platform to use as essentially a pre-order system. It gives him set dates and deadlines to work toward while providing money up-front to finish the project. As a bonus, those who support the Kickstarter will receive the album in September—several months before
it will be widely available. “Kickstarter puts me in a position where I need to create rewards and product design,” Budwig said. “You have to have a video, you have to have rewards. That helps me to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before a release the album.” Keep an eye out for Budwig’s Kickstarter when it launches Tuesday, Aug. 11. And check out more of Budwig’s work at www. bartbudwig.com.
Crossword Solution
A good band name is worth its weight in gold. Or rubles. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (yes, that’s really their name) from Missouri (yes, that’s really where they’re from) got my attention first from the name. Then I listened to their work and enjoyed the enthusiasm to this indie pop alt-weird band. Their latest album, “The High Country,” is full of catchy licks and lyrics that don’t make you vomit. Imagine that.
WATCH
Nearly a decade after the final episode of “Deadwood,” aired, the HBO original series still lives on strong. The show is a gritty, gruesome and sometimes absurdly hilarious tale of the famed mining camp of Deadwood’s early days. The characters in the series are mostly based off of real life personalities, including Wild Bill Hickock (who was killed in Deadwood), Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, the notorious pimp and saloon keeper Al Swearengen (played by Ian McShane who won a Golden Globe for his performance). My only regret is that the series only lasted three seasons. And that when I was traveling in Deadwood I lost $300 to the poker table. Sigh.
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w o N & Then compiled by
Ben Olson
Each week, we feature a new photograph taken from the same vantage point as one taken long ago. See how we’ve changed, and how we’ve stayed the same. Historical information provided and verified by Bonner County Museum staff and volunteers. The Museum is located at 611 S. Ella — (208) 263-2344.
Sandpoint City Hall and Fire Station at the NE corner of Second Avenue and Main Street in the 1950s.
CROSSWORD
Copyright www.mirroreyes.com
1950s
ACROSS
The same view today. The Sandpoint Music Conservatory currently occupies the top floor of the building. Living Faith Church occupies the ground floor.
2015
Corrections: No corrections this week. Go jump in the lake!
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1. Throb 5. Wanes 9. Cleave 13. At what time 14. Broods 16. Brother of Jacob 17. French for “Names” 18. Electronic letters 19. Vipers 20. Pig 22. Most astute 24. Alike 26. Water vapor 27. A mild powdered seasoning 30. A lightweight cord 33. Disciple 35. Strict 37. Foot digit 38. Units of force 41. Chief Executive Officer 42. A jet of vapor 45. Offered 48. Renter 51. Modern sing-along 52. Ancient Greek marketplace 54. Shocked reaction 55. Retaliations 59. Flora and fauna 62. Ear-related 63. Provide with a permanent fund 65. Dash 66. Shower alternative 67. Display 68. Sediment 69. Remain
Solution on page 17 70. At one time (archaic) 71. Sounds of disapproval
DOWN 1. Barley beards 2. Grub 3. Half of a sphere 4. Trap 5. East southeast 6. Backsides 7. Feelings of boredom 8. Women’s garments 9. Allow in again 10. Being 11. Short sleeps
12. Powdery dirt 15. Mixture of rain and snow 21. Arab chieftain 23. Armed conflicts 25. Barely managed 27. Taps 28. Take as one’s own 29. One or more 31. Cemetery 32. Hellenic language 34. Explosive 36. Connecting point 39. Startled cry 40. Catch
43. Lawlessness 44. A sharply directional antenna 46. Blah 47. Least difficult 49. Snouts 50. Hypnotic state 53. Birch relative 55. Steals 56. French for “State” 57. Falafel bread 58. Male offspring 60. Chat 61. Picnic insects 64. Damp
When Gary told me he had found Jesus, I thought, Ya-hoo! We’re rich! But it turned out to be something different.
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