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PEOPLE compiled by

Zach Hagadone

watching

“What’s your favorite Christmas movie — and one you could live without?”

“Favorite is obviously A Christmas Story. Love it.

Hands down. One I could live without is Jingle All the Way, with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I just prefer ‘you’ll shoot your eye out.’ It’s on 24-hours-aday; you know you’re never going to miss it.”

Glori Harmon Sandpoint “I love Bing Crosby and also the one with Santa Claus — Miracle on 34th Street.”

One you can live without?

“Can’t think of one, but I know there’s one.”

Jess Tenney Bonner County

“[G]rowing up it was the original cartoon of How the Grinch Stole Christmas — it doesn’t just come out and tell you the meaning of Christmas, you have to figure it out as it goes along.

One I could do without: The cartoon Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. The songs come out of nowhere and they make no sense.”

Samantha Berkey Sandpoint “The one I can do without is Jingle All the Way.” You’re the second person to tell me that. Two thumbs down for Jingle All the Way. “As for my favorite, A Christmas Story.”

William Normington Sandpoint “Favorite? A Charlie Brown Christmas. I love Snoopy. One I could go without? Santa Buddies.

Talking dogs are just creepy.”

DEAR READERS,

Writing these kinds of “notes” used to be the last thing we did before the final, drop-dead deadline — sometimes, back in the Old Days, even as the press was calling around dawn demanding our pages.

Well, times have changed. I’m writing this at the beginning of our production cycle, the sun is still up and this duty falls to me only because our illustrious, inimitable, irascible Leader and Publisher Ben Olson is away in Mexico with his girlfriend, Cadie.

I try not to be too bitter when the old grizzly bear sends me emails with references to secluded beaches, warm waters, cold beers and leisurely walks in the sunshine.

Regardless, I am here to report that Ben and Cadie are happy and well, enjoying some very much needed and earned R&R. In the meantime, we’re going to give all the fiction writers out there a little more time to submit their Fiction 208 entries. Submit to stories@sandpointreader.com anytime before Wednesday, Jan. 5 and we’ll put our celebrity judges to work assessing the submissions for publication in the Thursday, Jan. 13 edition (and for cash and other prizes). All it costs is $5 per entry, payable at sandpointreader.com under “Support Us” at the top of the home page. Happy writing!

– Zach Hagadone, editor

READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)946-4368

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson, Bill Borders Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Jen Jackson Quintano, Chris White, Darrell Van Dyken, Marcia Pilgeram Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $155 per year 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.

Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 300 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.

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NEWS

Schweitzer makes foray into employee housing Newly opened Hemlock House will be available to resort workers on a seasonal basis

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Though it may seem like the conversation surrounding workforce housing is relatively recent, concern among businesses both big and small about lack of affordability and its effect on their employees has been increasing for years.

For Schweitzer Mountain Resort — among the highest-profile employers in the county — the time to take serious action on the problem came earlier this year.

“At one point, I believe we had about five different managers or year-round employees in the company who in the springtime got notified by their landlords that either the house they were leasing or the condo they were renting was being sold out from under them or their lease price was increasing — in some cases almost doubling,” Schweitzer Human Resources Director Scot Auld told the Reader.

One manager, who’d been with the company for several years, had to leave the community — along with their spouse, who worked in the school district — finding that they just couldn’t make it work here with the extreme high costs of housing.

“Those sorts of things are happening and it really felt like a crisis at that time,” Auld added.

Feeling a strong sense of urgency to do something to ease the housing burden felt by employees, Schweitzer jumped on an opportunity during the summer to purchase the former assisted living facility at Hemlock Court in Sandpoint, fully renovating it to include eight bedrooms, each with their own half-baths and capable of accommodating up to two residents; four shower rooms; 4 /

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laundry facilities; a shared kitchen; and large living and rec rooms.

Dubbed Hemlock House, Schweitzer officials announced the opening of the employee housing project Dec. 14, with CEO and President Tom Chasse stating in a media release, “We believe this house, with its in-town location, will play a crucial role in helping our employees remain a vibrant part of the Sandpoint community.”

Schweitzer Marketing Director Dig Chrismer told the Reader the day after the opening that, “We’ve been working very hard on this issue behind the scenes for quite some time and trying to be really proactive, and I feel like a lot of those things are starting to fall into place. ...

“Obviously everybody is aware of the impact of affordable housing on our workforce; it’s sad that it got to this point, but I think a lot of people want to do the right thing. Schweitzer wants to do the right thing,” she added.

According to the resort, employees interested in living in Hemlock House will need to undergo an interview and screening process by human resources personnel, then sign an agreement pledging to follow house rules and get along with neighbors, housemates and their employer. Meanwhile, Schweitzer will maintain an on-site contact person to handle maintenance and other issues that may crop up.

Auld said the housing units will be reserved for seasonal workers — open for winter residency, then closed in the spring for cleaning and maintenance, filling back up with workers for the summer months and closing again for a fall-time round of preparations for winter.

“It really feels like a college dorm,” Auld said. “It’s going to be a better fit for someone

who’s going to be living there for three or four months at a time.”

Many other local employers have expressed a desire to do something similar for workers but found that prices are simply too high — or that if a suitable property does come onto the market, it’s snapped up almost as it’s listed.

“There were a lot of other properties we looked at and had that same experience,” Auld said.

However, luck was with the resort — coupled with several key people keeping a keen eye on local property websites.

“We like to troll the real estate listings and sometime last summer we stumbled across [Hemlock House] and said, ‘We need to jump on this,’” Chrismer said.

Auld remembered that Chrismer and a few other colleagues notified him — “on just about the same day” — that they’d found what looked like a perfect site for workforce housing, and, “We were very fortunate to see that and we decided that it was time to make a move,” he said.

“We had the willpower and the horsepower to make it happen.”

However, another potential challenge came with the renovation process itself, as local builders, contractors and tradespeople are booked solid for months. However, Auld said, when he told them that the project was to provide affordable housing for Schweitzer staff, “time and time again I heard, ‘Maybe I can get over there next week.’ I think this just goes to show that the need is known and people in the community are willing to go the extra mile to make it happen.”

Chrismer and Auld both credited Schweitzer Chief Development Officer Lance Badger with playing a key role in making Hemlock House a reality, in large part owing to his experience with resort development in other states.

“He was directly involved in making several other types of workforce housing and employee housing work in communities that are even farther down the gentrification pipeline than we are,” Auld said. “This can be done; there are multiple ways to

An exterior view of Hemlock House, Schweitzer’s new employee housing location. Courtesy photo. do it, and if you don’t do it now it’s going to be even harder in the future.”

Hemlock House isn’t the last word in Schweitzer’s efforts to help provide housing for employees. Though unprepared to provide details at this time, Auld said there are “bigger projects that I’m super excited about” currently in the works.

“A lot of other options are coming into play,” he said, including looking at how to offer worker housing on the mountain itself.

“Long-term we’re going to have a mix of solutions that are at the resort, in the community; some will be aimed at seasonals, some will be aimed at yearround staff, some at managers,” Auld added. “It doesn’t just affect one type of employee — it’s something we need to address in a more holistic way.”

Get more information at schweitzer.com/schweitzer-life/ press-room.

NEWS

Hoodoo Valley rezone stages comeback Daum Construction again requests 160-acre rezone for future development on Spirit Lake Cutoff

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Bonner County commissioners will hear a familiar file Thursday, Dec. 16, as Hayden-based company Daum Construction requests a Comprehensive Plan amendment and zone change of 160 acres in the Hoodoo Valley from agricultural/forestry to rural residential, as well as a 10- to five-acre parcel minimum — a proposal that has already spurred a slew of Bonner County hearings in 2021.

The Dec. 16 meeting, slated for 5:30 p.m. at the Bonner County Administration Building, is Daum’s second attempt at altering its Hoodoo Valley property, splitting the land into smaller pieces in an effort to prepare it for a possible subdivision development. The construction company, along with representative Jeremy Grimm of Whiskey Rock Planning + Consulting, argued that the acreage in question does not accurately reflect its current ag/forestry classification under the Bonner County Comp Plan.

“Unlike a detailed zoning map, the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map is intended to represent a watercolor or ‘fuzzy’ layout of potential land uses within Bonner County,” according to the company’s Comp Plan Map Amendment application. “The Future Land Use Map cannot possibly be applied at the same granular level as a zoning map, which is why an extensive narrative helps to describe the particular land characteristics in any given designated area.”

According to applications, the Daum property, which is located on Spirit Lake Cutoff, “has no mapped water bodies or water courses, is mostly flat and is” — as the applicant stated — “misclassified as Ag/Forest,” since the property doesn’t feature the “prevailing” steeper slopes, private roads, poor soils and hazard areas typical of that

zone type.

Because none of those characteristics are found on the site, and nodding to the Comprehensive Plan goals, including to “grow and support expansion of housing needs,” Daum and Grimm made the case that a rural residential, five-acre parcel minimum is “most appropriate” for the area.

Though the applications currently in question are only for land division and classification, Daum has been transparent about its plans for future homes in the area. For instance, in making the case for how the zone change would address “population” objectives under the Comp Plan, Daum’s application stated that it will help address the county’s current “population challenge by providing compatible rural housing opportunity.”

The applicant also points to subdivided parcels northeast of the property, where 35 of the 50 parcels are “already developed at or near the one dwelling unit per five-acre density.”

“We believe this feature alone is enough to clarify that the ap-

propriate zoning for this property should be R-5,” the zone change application stated.

Both the Comp Plan Map amendment and zone change applications are going before the Bonner County Planning and Zoning Commission for the second time. Earlier in the year, the commission followed planning staff guidance in recommending denial of the proposal. However, when the file went before the Board of Bonner County Commissioners for the final decision, commissioners approved it.

Following an appeal, commissioners voted June 24 to send the file back to the Planning Commission due to discrepancies between the original staff report and the one presented to the board. Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson said the action would “kind of reset the clock to make sure that everybody’s on a level playing field procedurally.”

Now, with the “clock reset,” planning staff once again asked agencies to comment on the proposed zone change. While the West Bonner County School District submitted an official

“no comment,” Idaho Fish and Game expressed concerns about possible impacts to wildlife and water sources should five-acre development be allowed.

“Hoodoo Creek is unique in the fact that its tributaries do not connect via surface water,” IDFG officials stated, “but go subsurface in the porous soils and join Hoodoo Creek through springs and hyporheic flow [beneath river or stream beds]. …

“Doubling the number of septic systems in close proximity to Hoodoo Creek could have negative effects to water quality due to additional nutrient input through the porous soils in the area,” the agency stated.

Additionally, the Spirit Lake Fire District has been a consistent voice of concern regarding any future development in the area. Chief John DeBernardi, in a Dec. 2 email to the Bonner County Planning Department, stated that “there are deficiencies in the current infrastructure that should be addressed prior to approving a split” of the Daum property.

The fire department is

A map of the Hoodoo Valley area, with the 160-acre Daum Construction property highlighted in blue. Courtesy of Bonner County Planning staff report. encouraging that there be “two points of access/egress” in the area; a traffic analysis be conducted on Spirit Lake Cutoff “due to the increase in home density”; and the speed limit of the roadway “be evaluated and adjusted due to density and road conditions.”

Spirit Lake Fire also shared in its comment letter that “there has been a 10% increase in vehicle crashes (injury and non-injury) in the past year” and “ due to the current traffic load, our emergency response has been hampered in those areas.”

The Planning Commission will hear the file in the first-floor meeting room of the Bonner County Administration Building, located at 1500 Highway 2 in Sandpoint.

View Daum Construction’s applications, as well as other current Bonner County Planning projects, at bonnercountyid. gov/departments/Planning/current-projects.

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NEWS

Council appoints P&Z members, funds housing study and lobbyist

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sandpoint City Council members took up a number of growth and development-related issues at their regular meeting Dec. 15, including new appointees to the Planning and Zoning Commission, acceptance of grant funding for a study on housing, and putting general fund dollars toward a multi-city effort to hire a lobbyist focused on representing the interests of resort communities at the Idaho Capitol.

First up, Mayor Shelby Rognstad presented his picks for the P&Z Commission: Amelia Boyd, John Hastings, Ben McGrann and Luke Omodt.

Rognstad noted that more than a dozen applicants put forth their names, “and never before have I seen anywhere near this number of applicants, and from very qualified candidates, many of them.”

Boyd, McGrann and Omodt would fill seats being vacated by Commissioners Cate Huisman, Tom Riggs and Chairman Jason Welker — the latter joining the City Council as its newest member in January.

Hastings currently serves as vice chairman and so would be a reappointment.

Rognstad said Boyd already has experience serving the city on the Parks and Recreation Commission and has demonstrated her familiarity with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Hastings, as a reappointment, has already shown his abilities on the commission while Rognstad pointed to McGrann’s experience with local development and development management as attractive qualities for P&Z. Meanwhile, Omodt — who ran an unsuccessful campaign for City Council in the most recent election — impressed the mayor with his consistent presence and comments on critical issues at council meetings.

Council member Joel Aispuro expressed a desire to table confirmation of the appointments until the council could fully vet all the applications received by the city, suggesting that “it just seems like there were more qualified candidates.” While stressing that he wasn’t casting aspersions on those selected by the mayor, he added that “the future coming up is going to be very intense” in terms of growth and development, and wanted to be sure he’d seen all the available options before casting a vote.

Council President Shannon Sherman and Council member John Darling joined Aispuro voting in favor of tabling the appointment vote, triggering a tie with Council members Andy Groat, Kate McAlister and Deb Ruehle voting “no.” Rognstad broke the tie with a “yes” vote.

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Boyd, Hastings, McGrann and Omodt were appointed 4-2, with Aispuro and Darling voting “no.”

The council later unanimously voted to accept a $20,000 grant from the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation’s Community Health Academy Program, which would fund a housing and land use study — and pay a contract facilitator — to analyze the findings and recommend future actions geared toward improving access to affordable and workforce housing.

Rognstad said he’d been working with Blue Cross on housing issues for more than a year, and such a study could not only further the work of his Workforce Housing Task Force but inform the long-awaited Comp Plan update, which is expected to get underway after the new year.

“We have not done an independent study like this in the past,” said City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton, noting that Boise-based consultant Phil Kushlan and Portland, Ore.-based Leland Consulting have been identified as qualified parties to steer the study.

“This would give us some outside data and analysis to an extent that we haven’t had in the past,” she said.

The study would be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Finally, Rognstad presented a proposal that Sandpoint join as many as 16 other “resort cities” around the state to pool their resources toward hiring a lobbyist in Boise to press for their issues at the Statehouse.

Sandpoint’s share would be no more than $2,000 — “a small price to pay, I think,” Rognstad said — for taking steps to ensure smaller, amenity-rich communities in the state don’t get forgotten or even potentially harmed by legislation in the upcoming session.

“This is money that will be spent for the long-term interests of Sandpoint,” he said.

Aispuro and Darling both worried about the proposal; the former saying, “I have a hard time believing 16 cities having the same goals, the same principles, the same beliefs,” and the latter expressing “grave concerns” that the city could end up lobbying against the interests of its own property owners, specifically in the case of short-term rentals.

Rognstad said, “The directives of the lobbyist will be directed by the cities,” and included a provision in his motion that Sandpoint’s financial contribution would be contingent upon seeing an advance lobbying agenda.

Aispuro, while pledging to keep a sharp eye on the direction of the lobbying efforts, voted “yes,” along with Groat, McAlister, Ruehle and Sherman. Darling cast the sole dissenting vote.

Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling: According to NBC, officials brought federal resources to bear after 35 tornadoes and otherwise severe weather conditions tore through southeastern and midwestern states. Total deaths have yet to be determined; meanwhile, Kentucky’s governor said it was “the most devastating, most deadly tornado event” in that state’s history. FEMA reported the massive event may become a “new normal” for December.

The U.S. House has approved raising the debt ceiling with a simple majority vote, CBS reported. Republicans have resisted raising the ceiling, which pays for existing — not new — bills. Congress raised the debt ceiling three times during the administration of former-President Donald Trump.

Failure to raise the ceiling jeopardizes Social Security payments and risks calamity for the economy and national security. A Senate vote is expected this week.

A New York Starbucks store was recently unionized — the first of the company’s 8,953 coffee shops in the U.S. According to national columnist and former-Labor Secretary Robert Reich, Starbucks’ revenue “soared” to $20.9 billion in the first nine months of 2021. While the CEO made nearly $15 million last year, average hourly wages for employees are $14.

Former-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has ended his cooperation with the House investigating committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection. The committee recently learned his private cell phone records were not transferred to the Records Administration, as required by law. Info already submitted by Meadows included an email about a 38-page PowerPoint presentation, which included various options for scrapping the valid election results and retaining Trump, and was shared with various members of Congress prior to Jan. 6.

Hopes for then-Vice President Mike Pence to help skew election results were denied. (The day included protesters chanting “hang Mike Pence.”) Pence’s former chief of staff is now cooperating with the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.

In a televised meeting, the committee read aloud text messages sent Jan. 6 to Meadows, wherein Republican lawmakers and members of right-wing news media begged Trump to stop the out-of-control protestors, fearing both violence and saying the mob put a bad face on the Republican Party.

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

Committee members indicated they have a vast trove of info that includes names of lawmakers and staff involved with the day’s events. Historian and author Heather Cox Richardson commented: “The fact that members of the president’s inner circle actually prepared a presentation for an audience about how to overturn an election crystallized just how close the nation came to a successful coup on Jan. 6.”

The Jan. 6 committee released a 51-page document Dec. 12, which alleged Meadows said only pro-Trump protesters should be protected by National Guard troops, and includes Jan. 6 texts with congressional members about how to undermine election results. Sources: Politico, The Guardian, The Washington Post, the Jan. 6 committee, The Hill and CNN. Of the nation’s reported 43 omicron COVID-19 variant cases (as of Dec. 14), the CDC reported that 80% were fully vaccinated, ranging in age from 18 to 39, and 14 had travelled internationally. Symptoms were mostly mild, but some also experienced nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath and loss of taste or smell.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, if the Build Back Better infrastructure bill is passed, millionaires will see their tax rate go up 3.2% next year and 6.4% by 2031. Shifting the tax burden to wealthy and corporations is expected to raise more than $600 billion when offshore tax loopholes are closed. Meanwhile, a “millionaires surtax” would raise $228 billion from those with the highest incomes; $412 billion would be raised by closing two significant loopholes for rich business owners; and another $400 billion would be raised when wealthy tax cheats pay what they owe, American for Tax Fairness stated.

The nation’s highest deficit — $3.13 trillion — occurred in 2020. This year it is $2.77 trillion, while the government collected $627 billion more in tax revenues than it did in fiscal year 2020 for a record high of $4.05 trillion, according to The New York Times.

Inspired by Texas’ new abortion law, California’s Democratic governor says he’s preparing a similar law to allow people in his state to sue manufacturers and sellers of assault weapons. Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted: “If TX can ban abortion and endanger lives, CA can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives.”

Blast from the past: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning American author William Faulkner, 1897-1962.

PERSPECTIVES

I feel like I spend ropes and knots and a lot of time in this blocks are necessary and column focusing on the in what configuration fears and frictions genso that we don’t squish erated by the interplay a house). The stakes of my work and myself. at work are sometimes From my feelings on quite high. I start most work/life balance and days with a knot in my gender roles, to constomach. cerns about finances and Then, having found health, my relationship my edge, I also find my with my vocation is rhythm, my confidence complex. And since a and my stamina. The portion of my day can end of the day arrives be mindless grunt work and a beer is well-de— dragging branches served. from Point A to Point I love my job beB — I have the time cause it pairs well with to think these things beer. Not on the job, of through (on good days) course (yikes), but afterJen Jackson Quintano. or perseverate (on bad ward. There is no better days). way to prepare one’s palette for a cold I am, by nature, an introspective one than by first becoming bone-weary person, sometimes to a fault. On days and cortisol-depleted. of monotony at work — cut, haul, chip, I love my job because I am bone-wearepeat ad nauseum — I can get sucked ry at the end of almost every single day. down some deep rabbit holes. (However, As someone who is addicted to physical I am also capable of replaying episodes of exertion and the resultant endorphin rush, Parks and Recreation in my head all day; I’m kind of a junkie for my job. Hardly my brain has many tricks up its sleeve.) a workday goes by without me hiking The beauty of my work as an arborist, between five and 10 miles from trees to though, is that every single day is differchipper. I play tug-of-war with tangled ent. The monotony never lasts. Just when ponderosa limbs. I toss firewood rounds I get really drawn into some compelling around. In looking at the events for the line of self-critical thinking (or rememWorld’s Strongest Man competition, I do bering a Ron Swanson monologue, a.k.a. a variation of each of them, but with trees “Swanologue”), it is time to direct all instead of anvils or cars. My job is my my attention to a new task, whether it be gym. Hooray for that. rigging for a complex limb removal or And my gym is outside. I love my planning workflow so we’re not playing job because I am outdoors all day, every a terrible game of pick-a-stick at the end day, rain or shine. I get to witness North of the day.

Idaho in all her shades of season. I get I love my job for its variety. to take note of the details — which birds I love it, too, for how it challenges me nest when, the arrival of each season’s every single day. I am always at my edge mushrooms, the waxing and waning of at work, sometimes physically (bringing wildflowers and weeds, the shift between a giant ponderosa from lake’s edge up a various pollens on the wind, the seas of narrow stairway to the far-away drivegreen in June and the islands of gilded way), and many times mentally (which larch in October. I come home covered

in sap and sawdust, smelling of soil and cedar. I am awash in this place, and I’d have it no other way. I enjoy an intimacy with the landscape that feeds my heart and soul.

I love my job because it nourishes me. It keeps my body healthy (if a tad overworked). It keeps my mind agile.

Nearly every day I learn something new about the trees themselves or the methods of their removal. I am a student of these forests. It keeps me feeling young and it keeps me rooted in this place and down to earth.

I love my job because it teaches me humility. I am humbled by all the skills I have yet to learn. I am humbled by the limits of my body. I am humbled by the tasks that require me to check my ego at the door: painstakingly raking twigs out of a gravel driveway, scooping dog poop from the work area, gathering hundreds of spruce cones by hand from an immaculate lawn. I am sometimes humbled by the trees themselves, their perseverance and strength and size and age.

I do this work because I love trees, and it is supremely humbling to cut one down and discover it was as old as our nation. This work is good at providing perspective and helping me understand my smallness in the grand scheme.

I love my job because sometimes wearing a Metallica shirt to work is enough to garner respect and cooperation from nearby heavy equipment operators.

I love my job because sometimes my clients have hidden talents or knowledge that make my world broader

and brighter.

I love my job because sometimes there is no closer heaven than a peanut butter sandwich eaten in a field of oxeye daisies, the warm sun piercing cool air, swallows swooping overhead, quiet camaraderie with coworkers and muscles grateful for respite.

Beyond the fears and frictions my work creates, I love my job because it fills my cup. And that is something worth drinking to… after work, of course.

Jen Jackson Quintano writes and runs an arborist business with her husband in Sandpoint. Find their website at sandcreektreeservice.com. See more of Quintano’s writing at jenjacksonquintano.com.

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Thanks from the Waterkeeper...

There’s long been a trend on social media where people are prompted to share their pet’s name, along with all the names they actually call them.

With the recent introduction of the “Add Yours” Instagram story format — which prompts users to add their input to a larger network of stories — the trend has experienced a renaissance.

I, an obsessed dog mother, am a sucker for such prompts. My dog’s name is Mac, but you better bet I call her anything but: Baby Chick, Boogie Lou, Honey Bean. I use the “Add Yours” sticker to be sure my post reaches the broader dog parent community. My friends do the same, and the evils of social media subside for one joyful moment.

Another popular “Add Yours” prompt recently caught my eye: “What people call me and how I rate them.” I’ve rarely stopped to consider the many nicknames I’ve earned over my life, but leave it to the ’gram to prompt some introspection.

At home, I am “babe” or, if the dog is in the room, “mama.” These names come from my husband, so they get a 10/10.

There is the classic “Lyndsie Kay” and, while legally correct, seems to always come with a tone of disbelief or irritation — usually from a parent, no matter my age. I’ll give this name an 8/10 for sentimental reasons.

There was a phase in college during which friends dubbed me “Leilani Keebler.” There was almost always alcohol involved. This gets a 9/10, for the memories.

There is “Mrs. KC,” which is what my students call me at the school where I serve as a paraprofessional two days a week. I don’t see what’s not to love here. 10/10.

A new addition is “TT,” short for “Auntie” — a name I earned in the past two years after my best friend had a baby. My heart melts every time I hear it. 11/10.

Finally, there is my first nickname: “Nin” or “Ninny” — the result of my little sisters being unable to pronounce my name. It persists to this day. I don’t often reflect on the names people call me, but this is undoubtedly my favorite. 20/10.

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Dear editor, As the year comes to an end, we tend to reflect on all that has happened in the past 12 months. Here at Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper, what stands out the most is how supportive our community has been throughout the year.

2021 was the 10th year of our Water Quality Monitoring Program. Since 2012, volunteer citizen scientists have helped us develop a robust and reliable set of water quality data. The data are then used by state and local agencies to keep Lake Pend Oreille beautiful and enjoyable for years to come.

Without these dozens of dedicated volunteers, this program would not be possible.

This year, we were able to host six cleanup events around our shoreline. In 2021, over 250 volunteers removed 1,500 pounds of trash — the most we’ve ever picked up in a single year! These cleanup events have truly made a difference and hopefully will inspire fellow community members to take action in order to protect our lake — and show others just how easy it is to do!

Over the summer, local ladies Lily Simko and Niah Brass volunteered their time and skills to our educational and monitoring programs before returning to Montana for college. I am so grateful for these wonderful women and I’m excited to see where they go in their careers!

LPOW board and staff cannot say “thank you” enough to all of the incredible individuals who have volunteered for our organization. Thank you for your time, your dedication, your inspiration and your commitment to keeping Lake Pend Oreille swimmable, fishable and drinkable for future generations.

The work we do depends on our volunteers’ kindness, knowledge, and compassion for clean water. You are the reason Lake Pend Oreille endures as the sparkling gem of north Idaho and the heartbeat of our community.

Carolyn Knaack Associate director, Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeper Sandpoint

‘It’s A Wonderful Life’...

Dear editor, Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life turns 75 this December. We likely can agree that this story of one man’s journey to witness life as if he had never been born makes us admire and appreciate the George Bailey character portrayed by Jimmy Stewart.

My question is this: If we admire George Bailey so much for his honesty and integrity, and wish him well when he is faced with financial hardship and contemplates suicide to cash in his insurance policy — if he is the common man that rises above the fray — then why is it that there are so few George Baileys? Why don’t more men emulate his qualities and demeanor?

I’m sure there are an array of answers.

I’ll offer my own, having experienced the re-

sponse of people and being a suicide survivor.

Old Man Potter says, “You know it is all over town you’ve been giving money to Violet Bick.” Here in Sandpoint, I’ve learned that no good deed goes unpunished. Most recently, I offered four homes free, full-size, pole-mounted American flags and got permission to install them just before Memorial Day. One recipient, who accepted the offer, had the Sandpoint police sent to my home and still flies the flag from their porch.

The fervent, divisive nature that has become so prevalent in our community too often offers only pain and suffering for those who put others before themselves and share simple acts of kindness. I’ll continue to endure these “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” but my resolve has been weakened by those in our community who question and disallow acts of goodwill and the greater good.

Despite Ross Hall’s wintery First Avenue in a 1934 B&W photo, captioned, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” sadly, Sandpoint is no Bedford Falls.

Victor Kollock, aka, George Bailey Sandpoint

‘DUH-versity’…

Dear editor, A few thoughts about the “Editor’s Note” in last week’s issue after the letter about the recent rash of graffiti around town [Letters, “Rattle can rascals,” Dec. 9, 2021]. Your comments are egregiously off base. According to Webster’s Dictionary, diversity simply means variety, whether in ideas, elements, cultures or races. The word doesn’t state if this variety is a positive or a negative, but we’ve been seeing a helluva lot of the latter this past year.

A crushing influx of well-heeled urban corporate refugees relocating to Sandpoint, driving up housing prices past the point of affordability for the locals? Diversity. All those newcomers discovering our beloved trails and campsites, leaving their rubbish behind? More diversity.

A couple of bored urban hipsters expressing their cultural norms and inner strife through vandalism with unintelligible or vulgar glyphs?

You wanted DUH-versity, you got it.

The Reader also stated that punishing these “street artists” with a spanking is silly. Do you honestly believe the normal slap on the wrist these crimes are given has been a deterrent?

If so, let’s just rename our town Little Portland and get it over with. Sandpoint isn’t going down some whimsical rabbit hole of wokeness, it’s going straight down the toilet. Defacing private and public property is a crime, last time I checked, and crimes deserve punishments.

If you’re going to champion diversity and throw a race card into the game to signal your virtue, at least have the integrity and fairness to acknowledge the negatives as well as the positives. It ain’t all rainbows and unicorns — just ask any of my fellow Native Americans how well that diversity thing worked out for us back at Plymouth Rock.

Jim Littlebird Sagle

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PERSPECTIVES

Risking for your life

By Chris White Reader Contributor “If you want to be brave and reach for the top of the sky, and the farthest point on the horizon, and you know who you’ll meet there: Great soldiers and seafarers, artists and dreamers who need to be close to the light. They need to be in danger of burning by fire — and I want to get there.”

– Carly Simon, ”Touched by the Sun” Late one winter, in my 20s, I landed back in Fairbanks after a 30-day solo adventure in northern Alaska’s Brooks Range. Like all those who face their big fears and take reasonable risks, I felt vibrantly alive. I had taken a risk into the unknown and discovered the importance of risk in honoring the journey of self-discovery and finding our purpose. I was different after my vision quest: more confident, more appreciative of our planet’s fragile beauty and, to the point here, determined to seek more of this feeling and not linger on the safe side of life.

Today, more than ever, we seek out social and political groups to “like us,” give us a sense of safety and, unfortunately, a false identity. We lose our individual uniqueness in this quest; we get personally diluted. Taking risks can help us stay in touch with who we really are.

Facing fears and taking risks is not owned by mountain climbers or ocean sailors. Risk is the teacher for all of us. It demands we dig in and discover unaccessed strengths and weaknesses, undiscovered potential. We can marvel at the physical ability of Alex Honnold soloing El Capitan without a rope, but personal risk is always about an inner journey.

The sources of fear are everywhere.

We fear failure, loss, pain, humiliation and judgment. Fear can be found entering or leaving a relationship, starting a new job or, for some, getting out of bed each day presents fear enough to flinch. On a grander scale, we fear planetary environmental failure of our planet. Very sadly, today, in the face of threats to our very democracy, and perhaps not felt to this degree since the Civil War, we fear each other.

Yet, without taking risks, how else can we test ourselves, plumb the depths, leave the safe and secure, shatter the illusions of who we think we are and discover our authentic selves?

As a society we spend huge amounts of time and energy shielding ourselves from failure, pain and death. Our personal fears lay scattered before us, obscuring the trail like downed limbs after a storm. Our fears of

the unknown imprison us as we freeze, like a deer in headlights, in inaction. We get stuck.

In psycho terms, our small mind ego wins by keeping us in the known zones of control and safety. The truth: Real freedom lies in stalking straight down the throat of fear.

Inventions would not exist had someone not followed a path into the unknown. The dark, overgrown trail is rarely the safest but it is where we discover critical revelations and life changing epitomes. Thus, there are good reasons behind the madness of risk-takers because it leads us to the marrow of life’s mysteries and the real measure of our mental and emotional fiber. At root for everyone who accepts a risk — large or tiny — is the belief that taking the chance beats the fear of failure. Be assured, we’ve all been risk heroes when, as a child, we took our first steps. We showed fearless courage in the face of unstoppable curiosity. We staggered forward in pure desire to explore and know more.

So, what of the inevitable failures? The irony is that breakdowns do lead to breakthroughs. Protective shields shatter when we already have a bloody nose. It is here that delusion dissolves. Knowing our weaknesses through failure helps us pull that anchor and move on with the current toward our purpose.

The gains acquired as a result of risk-taking soften the pain of failure or mistakes.

The whole journey is more important than the parts. Further, in failure is born humility, which teaches us critical lessons in under-

standing and compassion for the shortfalls we all suffer.

How tragic to arrive at the far shore of this life burdened with regrets for not having tried. Overcoming the prison of fears that stifle our evolution and keep us from our highest purpose is not for the faint of heart, but it is the real game. The sweet reward on the other side of facing our fears is strength from accomplishment, which bears confidence. More faith and trust enter our lives; seeming miracles appear, unexpected support arrives and life flows more smoothly.

Moving ahead reveals a wonderful dividend that helps loosen destructive death grips on blind allegiance to groups that espouse an us-vs-them credo. The great irony is that, as we find our personal truth and more independence, there emerges a prioritized awareness of the deep unity we all share on this planet and that we are at our best cooperating and working together as a whole for our common good. Risking brings us home again.

Once we take a risk and leave the safety of our controlled environment, we can never be the same again. You might find that the many miles traveled have really been about gaining the strength and wisdom to travel the twenty inches from your head to your heart — and there you are.

This piece is a modern renovation of an essay (same title) from the author’s book, Wind, Waves and a Suicidal Boat.

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Mad about Science:

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist

cardboard science

Your Amazon box may have a big smile plastered across the front of it, but that does little to ease your frustrations when trying to cram 50 of them into your waste bin. Surely there’s something you can do with the immense amount of cardboard delivered to your doorstep this holiday season.

There is: Science!

Solar oven This one may be a little trickier to manage this time of year, but in case you’ve ever wanted to cook smores using an Amazon box and a bit of tinfoil, today is your lucky day.

This works best with a pizza box, but any box with an articulating lid will do. Cover the inside of the lid with tin foil and the bottom and interior of the box with black construction paper. Place some marshmallows on a plate inside and cover it with some translucent plastic wrap. Adjust the lid until you can see the concentrated sunlight pointing directly at your food, then secure the lid so it doesn’t move.

In about 30 minutes, you should have some perfectly roasted marshmallows that are great for smores. If this seems like a really long time to wait for a single smore, build more solar ovens! Experiment with different shapes and sizes and see if you can design a more efficient solar oven.

The sound of (cardboard) music Fancy yourself a musician?

You can convert that pile of 10 /

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Brought to you by:

Amazon boxes into a guitar, a violin, a harp or a lyre, if you’re feeling particularly magical.

Let’s start with a harp. Trace a triangular shape on a piece of paper, then trace a smaller one inside that shape. Cut this out and you’ve created your template, which you will use to trace onto a cardboard box. Cut the shape out of the cardboard, then rinse and repeat at least four times.

Glue your cardboard pieces together to form the body of your harp, and put three to six screws along the top and a matching number below.

Now string some rubber bands between the screws and voila!

You are the proud owner of one of the oldest instruments produced by humankind.

If you plan on building something like a guitar or banjo, this process is very similar, though you may want to use something like a tissue box as the body. This hollowed out core produces a unique sound when the strings are plucked.

Try loosening or tightening the strings of your newfound instrument and see how the sound might change. Of course, you could also take a page from Pete Townshend’s book and send your axe to rock-and-roll heaven one swing at a time.

Terminator hands Cardboard makes for a quick and inexpensive introduction to robotics. While it might be tempting to throw a cardboard box over your roomba and say you developed a car, what if I told you that you could create a robot arm with nothing but an armful of

cardboard boxes, a few plastic tubes, some hot glue and thread?

Trace an outline of your hand to your forearm on a flat piece of cardboard, then cut it out. Make bends in the cardboard where the knuckles of your fingers would normally be.

Glue the plastic tubes between each of the knuckles, so that there are three for each finger.

Put your thread through the plastic tubes and run them to the wrist. Create a few small cardboard rings and wrap the base of the thread around them, and you’re done. Let the world quake beneath the awesome might of your two-foot extended grip!

If you really want to step up your robot game, find a way to connect those threads to motors governed by a microcontroller, like a Raspberry Pi, and program your new robot hand to perform all sorts of different tasks.

This is a great first step into the world of robotics and shows how anyone can create a functioning robot on a shoestring budget.

Armor Who wouldn’t relish the thought of dressing up as a knight or samurai? If the $30,000 price tag of a fine set of Milanese platemail is holding back your aspirations of slaying dragons and storming the castle, don’t fret. A pile of delivery boxes, a measuring tape and a box cutter can get you where you need to be.

The malleability of cardboard allows for a wide variety of skill levels to be employed when constructing a set of

armor. Anyone can stuff their arm into a cardboard box, but it takes patience and perseverance to create a form-fitting set of armor that can be used to win a costume contest.

Creating a set of your own armor applies a number of skills that can be used in numerous other professions, from tailoring and mending to hobby crafting and even blacksmithing. Some of the most presti-

gious cosplayers make extensive use of cardboard when crafting armor for show.

You might be tempted to undergo an all-out brawl in a set of cardboard armor; I certainly wouldn’t advise it.

Unless you’re brawling with cardboard swords, your armor isn’t going to stop any meaningful impacts.

Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner etoe?

Don’t know much about mistl • Mistletoe is known for its power to produce smooches around Christmastime, but the plant is also important to wildlife, and may have critical value for humans, too.

Extracts from mistletoe have been used in Europe to combat colon cancer, for example.

• There are 1,300 species of mistletoe worldwide, with more than 20 species listed as endangered.

• All mistletoes grow as parasites on the branches of trees and shrubs. The genus name of North America’s oak mistletoe is phoradendron, which is Greek for “tree thief.”

• Ancient Anglo-Saxons noticed mistletoe often grows near where birds leave droppings, which is how it got its name. In Anglo-Saxon, “mistel” means “dung” and “tan” means “twig,” hence “dung-on-atwig.”

• Mistletoes produce white berries, each containing one sticky seed that can attach to birds and mammals to help propigate the species. The ripe berries of dwarf

We can help!

mistletoe can explode, ejecting seeds at an average speed of 60 miles an hour and scattering them as far as 50 feet.

• As they mature, mistletoes grow into thick, rounded masses of branches and stems until they look like little baskets. They are sometimes referred to as “witches’ brooms” and can reach five feet wide and weigh upwards of 50 pounds.

• Mistletoe berries are toxic to humans but favored by mammals such as deer, elk, squirrels and porcupines. Many bird species such as robins, chickadees, bluebirds and mourning doves also eat the berries • The kissing custom may date to at least the 1500s in Europe. It was also practiced in the early United States. Washington Irving referred to it as “Christmas Eve” from an 1820 collection of essays and stories. In Irving’s day, each time a couple kissed under a mistletoe sprig, they removed one of the white berries. When the berries were all gone, so was the sprig’s kissing power.

PERSPECTIVES

Calling all Selkirk School alumni and our community

By Darrell Van Dyken Reader Contributor We all remember being in pre-K or kindergarten, even if that was 10, 20 or 30 years ago. As we know, the early years of life are some of the most important foundational years of our lives. For many of us in the community we are lucky enough to have had the privilege to either have attended Selkirk School as a child, or like myself, be a proud parent of a Selkirk student.

My wife and I stumbled across Selkirk School after having driven past it many times when we lived in that neck of the woods. We inquired about its culture with our growing brood of three girls, ages 3 months, 22 months and 4-years old.

We were drawn to the school because on any given day when we drove past, we couldn’t help but smile as we watched kids scattered about the four-acre playground. Be it racing around on Big Wheels, kids on some sort of play mission in the far corner of the property under the trees, on the tire swing, going up the climbing wall or excavating in the sandbox. Witnessing this kind of innocent play and joy, made it an obvious wish for us to have our kids attend and to get that kind of educational experience.

The Selkirk School has been serving the Sandpoint community since 1978. Dedicated to fostering the love of learning to preschool and kindergarten children, Selkirk School operates as an independent, nonprofit school.

As a nonprofit, this incredible school and the families who are part of it depend on the participation and contributions of our valued community members.

I have seen firsthand how the school has struggled through the pandemic. In 2020, the shutdown

prevented the school from carrying out its biggest fundraising event, an in-person auction. This, coupled with other canceled fundraising activities, crippled the school’s ability to raise money, leaving them with half the amount a normal year would have generated. This funding helps sustain the level of teaching that Selkirk is known for, and each day I see the positive impact it has on my child’s life.

Dante and Tara Rumore shared their experience saying: “Once we were part of the school, we experienced the value and joy of being a member of a community school. Not only did our child experience significant growth from his time at Selkirk, but we learned to be better members of our community.”

Fundraising is a huge part of the sustainability of any school, be it raising money for new structures, purchasing supplies and furnishings for the classrooms, and scheduling class field trips. This will continue to be the case with the rising price of goods, the expansion of the current curriculum and offerings, and the continued growth of the four-acre

Selkirk School students smile for the camera. Courtesy photo.

school property for the kids to play, roam and explore.

With 43 years of alumni and a strongly connected Sandpoint community, I deeply believe in investing in our children. When we work together, we knit together our social fabric and support fundamental opportunities for education, like the Selkirk School offers our children.

If you are an alumnus, alumna or a community member who cares about investing in our schools, please consider this a worthy investment for the future of Sandpoint.

Please donate now and use this link, charityauction.bid/SelkirkSchoolGives, or scan the QR code to join us at our fundraising page where we are looking to sustain the health of the Selkirk School and build our future generation of kids.

Hovering over this code with your smartphone camera will take you directly to the school’s fundraising website.

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FEATURE

A wild tradition

Thunder’s Catch offers ‘deck-to-dish’ wild caught Alaskan salmon products

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Taran White has literally been fishing all of his life — his first trip aboard an Alaskan fishing boat occurred when he was just 2 months old.

“My mom has a picture of me on her back while she was picking salmon off the back deck,” White said. “We kinda grew up playing on the bluff mud fjords in Bristol Bay; tundra as far as you could see.”

As with many Alaska fishermen, White got into business through his parents, Chris and Char. They would travel from their home in North Idaho to Bristol Bay, one of the world’s most prolific wild salmon habitats, fish like maniacs for a couple months with very little sleep, then return home to prepare for the next season, selling their wild-caught salmon to local restaurants in the meantime.

White started working for his parents when he was a teenager, paying for his ski pass at Schweitzer with the money he made in Alaska.

“It was neat to learn about a commission-based industry, where everyone had to work as a team,” he said. “It was my whole family, so everyone had to work together.”

Looking back on his introduction to the fishing lifestyle, Taran wasn’t always sure he wanted to fish for a career.

“Originally I didn’t really enjoy fishing with my dad,” he said. “It was always cold, and I remember hugging the smoke stack to keep warm. Back in those days the weather 12 /

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was worse than it is now. It’s getting warmer and warmer now.”

But, when he turned 18, White realized fishing was in his blood.

“As my dad always said, ‘There are only two jobs in the world you can make this amount of money with this little amount of time: drugs and fishing,’” White said.

“Now, I would do this even if it didn’t pay anything. I love it. I love being my own boss, the adrenalin. It’s not about the money at all anymore.”

White purchased his first fishing boat when he was 26, which he referred to as “the slowest boat in Bristol Bay.” Now onto his third boat — The F/V Thunder, which is arguably the fastest boat in Bristol Bay — White established the business Thunder’s Catch with the help of his wife Kara Berlin.

Before moving to Sandpoint, Berlin didn’t have any ambitions about spending her future on a fishing boat in Alaska. She studied business and marketing at Gonzaga and secured a job at Coldwater Creek in Sandpoint while the company was still solvent.

“I came to Sandpoint for Sandpoint, but Coldwater Creek was just a means to be here,” she said.

After Coldwater Creek closed locally in 2015, she worked a few random jobs — one at a psychotherapist office, another for a startup company — because she was sure about one thing: She wanted to remain in Sandpoint.

“I just kept finding ways to stick around Sandpoint, because I wasn’t here to work,”

she said. “I was working so I could be here.”

Berlin met White through his sister, Tyga, who also followed in the family tradition by fishing in Alaska. Tyga and Berlin first became friends while working together at Coldwater.

“Tyga invited me on their family sailboat in the fall of 2014,” Berlin said.

“I definitely didn’t go with any intent of falling head over heels for Taran, but Tyga thought we might hit it off so she arranged our time on the boat together and we totally hit it off.”

After they came back to “reality” after sailing in Greece together, White and Berlin were inseparable. White was working in Bellingham, Wash., at the time and ended up packing all his belongings to move back to Sandpoint “for a job at Schweitzer” teaching snowboarding. The real reason, of course, was that he had to see about this amazing person he spent time with on the sailboat.

After traveling together, White and Berlin solidified a plan of action to make Thunder’s Catch a true “deck-to-dish” business promoting wild-caught Alaskan salmon sourced directly from those who harvest sustainably.

Thunder’s Catch sells a variety of salmon products from its wild-caught harvest, including sockeye filets in full and individual portions, smoked king salmon in three different flavors, sockeye lox and smoked salmon spread, jerky and more. New this season is a smoked salmon chowder that is preserva-

Main: The view forward of the hectic Bristol Bay fishery from F/V Thunder.

Inset: Taran White and Kara Berlin showing off their packaged wild-caught sockeye salmon filets. Courtesy photos. tive-free and shelf-stable for two years.

“We’re really excited about this new smoked salmon chowder,” Berlin said. “You can take the pouch on a four-day backpacking trip or serve it at home with a hunk of Bluebird Bakery bread and a green salad and white wine — it’ll totally knock your socks off. I’d totally serve it to guests for dinner.”

The annual salmon harvesting takes place from June through most of July, which often sees White and Berlin working long days with very little sleep between shifts. The steps to catch salmon in the wild include setting nets; reeling them in; bleeding the fish; throwing them into refrigerated seawater; then taking them straight to a processing plant on shore where they’re boned, fileted, vacuum packed and flash frozen before being shipped to Seattle.

“Fishermen are allowed to buy back their catch after that,” White said, and it’s this “buyback” stipulation that helps fishermen sell their fish in their own communities, turning seasonal jobs into year-long vocations.

Thunder’s Catch currently offers its products in Winter Ridge, Super One, Yoke’s and the Litehouse retail store. It’s also on the menu at several establishments around town, including Idaho Pour Authority, Matchwood Brewing Co., Eichardt’s and MickDuff’s.

< see THUNDER, Page 13 >

< THUNDER, con’t from Page 12 > Thunder’s Catch will be holding its “Salmon Stock Up” ordering event Friday, Dec. 17-Saturday, Dec. 18, when customers can purchase stocks of frozen filets and smoked salmon to stock their freezers this winter. To order, visit thunderscatch.com.

Orders are either available for pick-up or can be shipped anywhere in the U.S. “Thunder’s Catch is donating 10% of all December’s sales back to the Bonner Community Food Bank in the form of wild Alaska salmon through our One:One Salmon Love program,” Berlin said. “Eating wild salmon makes us feel happy, healthy and strong in our body, mind and spirit, and we want to share that feeling with as many people in the community as possible. We’re super appreciative of our customers’ support in our efforts to share the salmon love with those in need.”

For White and Berlin, promoting sustainable salmon fishing is an important part of their lives. The couple said it’s critical to read the packaging whenever purchasing salmon in grocery stores to make sure you are buying wild caught instead of farmed salmon.

“There is so much environmental stewardship with our fishery,” Berlin said. “The consumer can vote with their dollar. When you buy wild-caught fish, you’re supporting efforts to maintain the fishery. The fish that we catch aren’t as important as the fish we don’t catch.”

Another reason to eat wild-caught salmon is that their flesh turns pink naturally from the food they consume, while farmed salmon’s flesh only turns pink because their food is dyed by farmers to make it look similar to wild species.

What started as a summer gig to pay for a ski pass has morphed into a full-time business, which White and Berlin hope will keep them coming back to Alaska every summer for years to come. Already the pair have established themselves in the cutthroat industry as one of the top producers in Bristol Bay.

In 2019, White’s crew pulled in the biggest harvest of the entire fleet, earning major bragging rights among the fellow captains.

What’s more, a documentary crew recently filmed on board the F/V Thunder for a show called Battle on the Bay, in which they followed the Bristol Bay fishermen in the annual harvesting efforts. The show is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

“A lot of the drama on the show is fabricated, like any reality TV,” Berlin noted, “But they did a good job touching on the sustainability of the fishery and really got some amazing footage. Our friends have no idea what Taran does and it’s really cool for them to see some tangible visual footage to pair along with the stories they hear.

“Taran is one of the best captains in the bay,” she added. “He pays the most money to his crew, rotates crewmembers, gives them good amounts of rest, but he works them hard. Taran is relentless.”

“At the end of the season I totally wear down, though,” Taran said, smiling. “When we’re fishing the adrenaline says I don’t need to sleep, but after we’re through I’m very tired.”

Both White and Berlin said they were thankful this community supports their efforts by purchasing wild-caught salmon when they can.

“It takes a lot of intention for a customer to vote with their dollars and go out of their way to support us,” Berlin said. “For a restaurant not to check mark the salmon on the Cisco truck, instead sourcing the fish intentionally, that speaks volumes for the community. It’s incredible.

“The ability to share what we do and have customers who send us text messages of their dinners with our products — that means the world to us,” she said. “It makes all our hard work worth it. We get to help put this incredible, nutritious food on their table.”

To learn more about Thunder’s Catch or to stock up Dec. 17-18, visit thunderscatch.com.

A young Taran White steers while his father Chris White looks on in Bristol Bay, Alaska c. 1980s. Courtesy photo.

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LITERATURE

Turning a new page

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

For someone who firmly classifies herself as a book lover, I sure spend a pitiful amount of time reading.

Don’t get me wrong — this job requires an immense amount of reading. I keep plenty busy with research for my writing, but court documents, county code and other news outlets do not make up my wildest literary dreams.

I want to — no, need to — read for fun. Leisure reading seems to evade my life in recent years, and it is time I do something about it. Luckily, the start of a new year is the perfect excuse to form new habits, and there’s no better time than a sloppy, cold North Idaho almost-winter to crack open a book.

However, like most efforts to develop a healthy habit, it is easier said than done. Our productivity-over-everything society has me fully indoctrinated. The thought of reading on the couch when there are dirty dishes in the sink or work emails to be answered? The self-sabotaging, self-created guilt is immediate.

To truly become a better reader in 2022, it’s going to take some concrete tips and tricks. For this, I first went to the internet.

My favorite advice came from an NPR article titled “How to Read More Books” — a Life Kit story from 2019.

I might see my goal as to “become a

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better reader,” but NPR put it more simply, and realistically. I want to read a damn book for fun. Possibly several.

Now how can I do that?

The NPR piece featured three keys to accomplishing this goal: read in the morning; read wherever, whenever; and tailor the book to the situation.

I am a habitually early riser, even on the weekends, and I almost always reach for my phone or laptop first thing as I’m waking up. Maybe a simple swap for a book is a good idea.

Reading “wherever, whenever” mostly has to do with keeping a book on you at all times and consuming pages throughout the day as you’re able.

“We have in our imagination, like ‘oh, reading time is like this luxurious thing and I’m in my armchair sipping scotch,’” Kevin Nguyen, a literary critic, told NPR. “You have to make it a more regular habit than that because if you just wait for all those moments you’re never gonna finish a book.”

OK, Kevin, I hear you.

Finally, tailoring books to the situation may mean reading more than one book at once. If you think that sounds blasphemous, you’re not alone. But maybe the lighthearted novel we read at the beach isn’t the same as the nonfiction work we read in bed at night. It might be worth a try.

I also made an effort to reach out to consistent readers in my own life.

Utilizing a Facebook “book club” group created by my older sister, Cassie, I asked members their own tips and tricks for reading more for fun.

Practical habits for being a better leisure reader in the new year

Cassie told me she makes a goal to read 50 pages a day. A personal challenge to compete against? I can work with that.

Others chimed in on my post to share that they seek out anthologies of short stories; they set an allotted amount of time before bed to read; and one works through author names at their local library in hopes of discovering new gems, checking out a book from either

Courtesy photo. end of the alphabet each month.

A popular suggestion among my friends was to ditch your cell phone in favor of a book during select parts of the day — especially at bedtime.

The phone tip, combined with a daily page goal, will be my initial game plan for being a better reader in the year to come. Please wish me luck in this new chapter.

COMMUNITY

Ponderay Rotary names Vasquez October member of the month

By Reader Staff Larry Vasquez, better known as Yogi, has been named Ponderay Centennial Rotary Club member of the month for October, the organization announced Dec. 9.

“Yogi dives into every project we do with a smile, great ideas, and is truly the hardest worker ever,“ said Club President Kari Saccomanno.

According to a news release from the Rotary Club, Vasquez contributes much time, care and positive action working with club members to support the community. Currently he is the club’s Service Project chair and a member of the scholarship committee.

“I really enjoy participating in the many projects and events that our group takes on, and best of all, I enjoy working alongside our club members,” Vasquez stated.

He joined Ponderay Rotary for its small size and hands-on attitude; as a re-

tired teacher, he especially appreciated the club’s dedication to educational scholarships in conjunction with its commitment to local service projects.

For 20 years, Vasquez built and managed a successful insurance brokerage.

Ready for a career change, he transformed himself into a secondary school teacher, well-loved by many. Besides teaching, Vasquez coached sports and also founded the Sandpoint High School welding program.

“My best career decision ever was returning to teaching,” he said. “The students energize me.”

Vasquez is now enjoying his retirement, but that doesn’t slow him down. He still works with Sandpoint High School on projects and as a substitute teacher. He built his own home and loves supporting his children and grandchildren in their different endeavors. During his “off” time, he plays Sudoku puzzles and builds and

repairs anything he can get his hands on.

Thriving on critical thinking and problem-solving, Vasquez loves to use his hands to fabricate and fix things.

His primary hobby is overhauling and building hot rods. He was the creator of the memorial bench for charter member Pat Gavin and one of the founders of the club’s Lawnmower Races.

Vasquez hopes that his biggest influence in the community will be teaching kids and students to work hard for what they want in life and not take the easy way out.

“If you didn’t earn it, you don’t deserve it,” he said, adding that he most admires people who would rather accept a hand-up rather than a hand-out.

Vasquez is most happy when he is with his wife Pamela “Pixie”; two sons, Jeremy and Jamad; and his grandchildren. He feels they have had the biggest impact on his life. Pixie and Yogi have been married for 45 years and are both proud of their hon-

Yogi Vasquez and Debbie Love, director of the Bonner Community Food Bank, helping organize apples and peanut butter that the Ponderay Rotary Club donated.

Courtesy photo.

est, successful, hardworking children.

His life tip for success: “Work and compete to be the best you can.”

Museum exhibit explores Sandpoint’s mercantile history

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff As President Calvin Coolidge said in 1925, “the chief business of the American people is business.” The same could be said of Sandpoint, dating back more than 100 years, when the community was as much a mercantile center as a railroad hub and logging town.

The Bonner County Historical Society and Museum is paying homage to this entrepreneurial tradition with the unveiling of a new exhibit Thursday, Dec. 16, titled “The One Who Went to Market: The History of Mercantile.”

Heather Upton, executive director of BCHS, said museum staff is “thrilled” to launch the new exhibit, which also serves as the general opening of the museum for the season.

Not only will the museum display visual records of unique stores from Sandpoint’s history, but explore the stories of the people who were behind the scenes, as well as items such as catalogs and other material that illustrates the experience of shopping in bygone eras.

“That’s a very interesting and very long history,” Upton said, referring

specifically to legacy merchants like Jennested and Larson’s, as well as stores like E.E. Teape, Piggly Wiggly, Economy Grocery, Crescent Pharmacy, Northern Mercantile Co. and others that once filled downtown Sandpoint.

“You could get everything you could imagine in those two blocks,” she said.

“There was no need to go to Spokane. …

You could get everything from a canary to a piece of candy.”

Beyond the storefronts, Upton emphasized that what Sandpoint merchants were really doing was building “the heart of the community. They were creating a community, and it’s really the people who made those stores so special.”

The exhibition will be introduced as part of the BCHS Holiday Open House, which is scheduled to run from 3:30-5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16 at the museum, 611 S. Ella Ave. In addition to “The One Who Went to Market,” a collection of children’s books will be on display, with Humbird Coffee for sale.

Upton is excited to see how the exhibit progresses into the future, as she hopes to see what kind of other material may surface from locals.

“Everytime I do an exhibit it’s a beginning,” she said.

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HOLIDAY

2021 Gift Guide

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

With the holiday shopping season rapidly approaching critical mass, many of us are left scrambling to find the perfect gift for our loved ones. Last week, I offered three suggestions for handmade gifts. This week, it’s all about the love, baby.

Here are some ideas for gifts that can help spice up your love lives this winter.

Massage table Nothing says “I love you” like giving your sweetie a massage. There are many talented massage therapists in town to choose from if you’d like to give your boo a professional session, but if you like to give massages at home, why struggle with the lumpy bed or couch when you can have a professional massage table ready to use anytime?

Professional massage tables have adjustable heights, so you can give an hour-long massage without throwing out your own back, and the ergonomics of the headrest make a world of difference when the person receiving the massage doesn’t have to bend their neck to avoid smothering themselves

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in a pillow.

A home massage table folds up and can be stored easily out of the way when not in use — plus, it can be set up and broken down by anyone.

The best thing to look for when purchasing a table is sturdiness. There are some cheaper options out there, but make sure they will support both of your weights. We purchased the Earthlite Harmony DX portable table last year and it turned out to be a worthy investment. It takes just a minute to set up and turns a home massage from a hohum affair to a deeply satisfying experience.

Complete the gift by dedicating a sheet to cover the table’s surface, which can be washed between uses. Also, find a good massage oil that your significant other enjoys and you’ll be VIP this holiday season.

Acid-etched wine glasses Personalize a gift of wine glasses to your special someone by using acid etching, a technique that creates a “frosted” look on the glass.

First, create a stencil of the design you’d like to etch onto the glass. Use adhesive-backed vinyl and carefully cut the posi-

Gifts for lovers

tive part of the image (the part that will end up being frosted after the acid etching), leaving the rest of the stencil intact.

Use glass cleaner on the wine glass to remove oils or fingerprints, then apply the adhesive stencil with the positive parts cut out onto the glass, smoothing out any wrinkles from the center moving outward. Apply masking tape around the edges of the stencil to prevent any spills on the glass.

Next, apply acid etching cream, making sure to cover your skin with gloves. The chemicals will burn your skin, so don’t be careless. Apply the cream to the exposed areas of the glass using a popsicle stick to push it around. A little bit goes a long way. Allow the glass to settle for 10 minutes, then dunk the glass into water, using your gloved hands to remove as much white residue as possible.

The engraving will look faint at this stage, which is normal.

Remove the masking tape and stencil and rinse again to remove any residue. Once your glass dries, the engraving will show up much clearer.

Box of date night ideas Here’s a fun one that you can make at

home with materials at hand. Start with a small box and cover it with hand-painted paper to give it a personalized touch. Then cut out small circles or squares from any leftover materials you might have around the home, such as thin wood slats or card stock.

Now the creative part: fill out each circle or square with a fun date night suggestion and, next time you have a date night with your partner, reach in the box and draw a suggestion at random.

The suggestions can be fun, sexy or adventurous — whatever fits your relationship the best. Some suggestions include: “revisit a special place where you shared a moment together,” “bar crawl around town” or “spend a quiet night at home without any distractions.”

Have fun with this one and hopefully it’ll help spice up your love life.

STAGE & SCREEN

Dog eat dog

Streaming on Netflix, The Power of the Dog is a psychological Western drama

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog. Courtesy photo.

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Films seem to appear out of nowhere these days, popping up with little to no fanfare on various streaming services. That can be good or bad — in the latter case, it’s easy to miss the good ones when they emerge overnight out of the digital cabbage patch; in the former, it sets up the viewer for a truly surprising experience.

The Power of the Dog, which premiered Nov. 17 on Netflix, falls in the “good” category. Strike that, in the “excellent” category.

Based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage and brought to the screen by director Jane Campion, this one’s a doozy — a quiet film that fairly simmers, and whose acts of brutal pettiness compound until they ease into monstrousness.

For my money, this is what makes a “Western” truly first rate: We too often forget just how sinister and violent our history is in this region.

First, a note on genre. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 1980s and ’90s in North Idaho, when most us had only a handful of channels and all of them seemed stuck in the ’60s or ’70s (Grizzly Adams, Gunsmoke and The Lone Ranger were all still on TV as reruns back then), but I have what I like to think of as a “healthy aversion” to Westerns.

All mythologizing, no reality.

We aren’t a lot of generations removed from dirt roads, steam locomotives, stump farms, active displacement of Indigenous people and all other “winning of the West” stuff that makes up the spurs-and-saddle mythos.

Regardless, that so much cultural output can be so close to a historical moment and still be so full of romantic nonsense is as sad as it is impressive.

All this preamble is to say The Power of the Dog drinks deeply (in many cases literally) from the mournful well of Western life, chock full of loneliness, aggression and arrogance, manic striving and the struggle

to create an identity out of a relationship with place.

The film focuses on a family of wealthy ranchers in 1920s Montana, running their business from an enormous mansion that rises ominously from the otherwise empty plains. Populating this windswept world of cattle work is a small army of rowdy cowboys lorded over with terrifying intensity by Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch, in what many critics call his finest work to date) and his brother George Burbank (Jesse Plemons), an altogether much softer soul who moons around the ranch in a bowtie and city slicker shoes.

Phil is single-minded in his devotion to the ranch, refusing to wash the dirt and cow pies from his clothes and plunking ominously on his banjo at night. Into their world comes innkeeper Rose Gordon (a widow shattered by the suicide of her hard-drinking husband and played with heart-breaking sorrow by Kirsten Dunst) and her deceptively effete son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee).

When George takes Rose as his wife and moves her and Peter to the Burbank spread, Phil sees the newcomers as existential threats not only to the business but his iron grip on the family. His bullying of Rose and Peter plays out with escalating menace, tipping Rose into an alcoholic spiral that only worsens as she sees Phil’s attitude toward Peter morph in complicated ways.

Phil has many secrets stashed away in the wilds outside the ranch and, it turns out, there is much more to Peter than meets the eye.

Critics have raved over the film, giving it a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes and earning seven nominations in the 2022 Golden Globes, including for best drama, best performances for Cumberbatch and Dunst, and best writing and directing for Campion.

For being essentially a small ensemble film, The Power of the Dog is as expansive and vaguely threatening as its rural Montana setting — these are all large characters inhabiting a vast stage against which their appetites and desires roil them like a prairie storm.

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events

December 16-23, 2021

THURSDAY, december 16

Museum Holiday Open House 3:30-5pm @ Bonner County History Museum Enjoy wine and cider while browsing children’s books written by local authors, as well as a selection of local history books and gifts. Also view the newest exhibit, “The One Who Went to Market: The History of Mercantile in Bonner County” LHG Herb Night 6:30pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center Join the Ladies Homestead Gathering to learn about bay leaf. Free for 16+

FriDAY, december 17

Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin 7-9pm @ The Back Door Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Christmas Singalong 6pm @ Sandpoint Church of God Six classic Christmas carols plus one vocal and one instrumental performance. 208-265-4839

SATURDAY, december 18 Live Music w/ BareGrass 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

The Storytelling Company 7:30pm @ Di Luna’s “True and note so true stories from the West,” featuring some bluegrass, gospel and a sing along with Heckle and Jeckle.

See ad on Page 19 for more information

Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 7-9pm @ The Back Door

Winter Solstice Event 4-10pm @ Granary District Live music, dance performances and more at this free event

Live Music w/ Nick Wiebe 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Hope Marketplace Co-Op 11-5pm @ Hope Market Open Thursday-Sunday

Live Music w/ The Miah Kohal Band 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge

SunDAY, december 19

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am

Jingle Jam 4pm @ Cedar Hills Church Christmas story, games, and fun

monDAY, december 20

Group Run @ Outdoor Experience 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome, beer after Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s Restaurant “The Spirit of Santa: The Legend, the Love, the Lowdown.”

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

tuesDAY, december 21

Winter Solstice Party 3-6pm @ Hope Market Art-co-op gathering with refreshments

wednesDAY, december 22 ThursDAY, december 23

Are you Yeti for Christmas?

All day @ Downtown Sandpoint The Yeti will be wandering town reminding people to get their last-minute shopping done and passing out treats/coupons/little gifts. Stop by Pend d’Oreille Winery from 2-2:30 if kids would like to stop in for a photo with Yeti and a Christmas treat.

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STAGE & SCREEN

Panida hosts pair of classic holiday films

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

would never allow it — and his grouchy Old Man is too preoccupied with the various hassles of the season to give it much Few films pack as much nostalgic punch thought — Ralphie engages in a series as the aptly titled A Christmas Story. From of hapless subterfuges and subliminal the Battle of the Lamp to the Deranged Eas- attempts to plant the idea in his parents’ ter Bunny outfit to the Bumpus’s dogs and minds that he needs his own trusty “Old their marauding of the holiday turkey, the Blue” with which to snipe the bad guys iconic film directed by Bob Clark and based and otherwise attain the Red Ryder status on the novel In God We Trust, All Others that he’s sure should be his.

Pay Cash is a staple of the Populating Ralphie’s season. world “of kid-dom” are A Christmas Story is so A Christmas Story his goofy school pals, his (PG) steeped in tradition, that whiny little brother and the it’s sometimes easy to for- Saturday, Dec. 18, 7 p.m.; various dangers of back get that despite its setting Sunday, Dec. 19, 2:30 p.m.; alley bullies and intransiin 1940s Indiana, it’s not $12. Panida Theater, 300 gent anti-BB gun teachers.

N. First Ave., 208-263-9191, all that old — premiering Very few things seem to panida.org. in theaters in 1983. Chalk go Ralphie’s way, be it up its deep associations getting good grades on his with the holiday to the school essay, evading his timelessness of its themes; nemesis Scott Farkus or that is, the desperate otherwise navigating the wish for a treasured gift The Nightmare many obstacles standing so ferocious that only a between him and his covBefore Christmas child’s imagination could eted 200-shot repeater.

(PG) conceive of it.

The result is a series of Wednesday, Dec. 22; Indeed, A Christmas hilarious screwball misThursday, Dec. 23; 7 p.m.; Story has probably done adventures that culminate $12. Panida Theater, 300 with the Big Day when more for Red Ryder BB N. First Ave., 208-263gun sales than any single Ralphie’s dreams may — 9191, panida.org. piece of product marketor may not — come true. ing ever — despite its The Panida Theater all-to-reasonable caution will bring this unassailable that “you’ll shoot your eye out.” classic to the big screen Saturday, Dec. 18 If any of this is unfamiliar to the reader, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 19 at 2:30 p.m. we’d be honestly pretty surprised. For the Bonus: Don your favorite Christmas sweatsomehow-uninitiated, the film centers on er and enter into the prize running for best/ Ralphie, a precocious 9-year-old who wants worst holiday outfit at both screenings. more than anything to unwrap the above If that’s not enough Christmas movie named BB gun on Christmas morning. goodness, head to the Panida for screenKnowing full well that his mother ings Wednesday, Dec. 22 and Thursday,

Dec. 23 — both at 7 p.m. — of the beloved Tim Burton holiday creepshow The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The gloriously spooking stop-motion animated film (which is only 10 years younger than A Christmas Story, if you can believe that) tells the story of Jack Skellington, who serves as the skull-faced king of Halloween Town — that is, until he feels like he’s stuck in a seasonal rut and takes some drastic measures to shake things up.

It all goes sideways when, on a nighttime sojourn through the woods Skellington gets sucked through a portal from his own ghoulish domain and into the frosty, brightly lit world of Christmas Town.

There, Jack is transfixed by the sounds and smells of the most festive time of the year, and decides to take it over — supplanting Santa Claus for an ill-fated Hal-

Oh, Ralphie. Courtesy photo. loween-infused version of the holiday that (without necessarily spoiling anything) doesn’t quite go as planned.

Aside from the inventive and beguiling artistic vision, The Nightmare Before Christmas features the distinctive musical score of Burton’s long-time collaborator, Danny Elfman, for an overall effect that is an achievement of the artform as much as it is fun-loving, slightly subversive, take on the “holiday” genre.

Theater capacity for screenings of both A Christmas Story and The Nightmare Before Christmas is limited to 200 audience members per show. Advance tickets are recommended, but not required. The theater management also strongly encourages guests to wear a mask, regardless of vaccine status, while attending performances.

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FOOD

The Sandpoint Eater Time for the table

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

Since my last column, I can’t get the Johnny Cash lyrics, “I’ve been everywhere, man,” out of my head. My first stop (en route to Cannes, France, to attend the International Luxury Travel Market) was an overnight stay in sunny Nice. While most tourists headed to the ultra-luxury brand stores splayed along the Promenade des Anglais, my travel companion Yannette and I headed to Carrefour, a giant gourmet grocery and home goods mecca.

Yannette and I have similar backgrounds and make great travel companions. Besides being in the travel business, she is a cookbook author and former staff member at the Sunset Magazine test kitchen. We’ve traveled the world together, spending an excessive amount of time perusing international grocery shelves. It’s no surprise that we planned our (slim) convention wardrobe accordingly, leaving lots of space in our luggage for this highly anticipated outing that would also include time to stroll through the Nice Christmas Market.

It was hard to find a starting point at Carrefour, but I began in the confectionary aisles. That’s right, aisles — and aisles — towering with chocolates and sweets of every genre. Foil-wrapped panettones (sweet Italian bread), classic marron glacés (candied chestnuts), liqueur-filled chocolates, bonbons, truffles, pâte de fruits, solid dark chocolate Santas and every flavor of macaron imaginable were mine for the price.

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dinner — green olives, huge capers, Niçoise olives, pâté de foie gras, sardines, anchovies and mustards. Yannette hit the cheese cases pretty hard, but I refrained. Unfortunately, when I last brought cheese home, my bags were delayed for two days. It was not a pleasant reunion. Now I tend to stick to shelf-stable items in my checked luggage.

Our next stop was Cannes.

Fortunately, we still had a little space left in our luggage; as soon as we dropped our bags at the hotel, we went exploring and found another charming, openair Christmas market filled with music, beautiful crafts and irresistible treats (my favorite was gruyere cheese-filled crepes).

The next four days left no time for shopping, filled instead

with back-to-back meetings with hoteliers and destination specialists. I love meeting with potential partners who focus on gastronomy experiences: truffle hunting, harvesting and pressing olives, cheese-making programs and market tours. Often these experiences are provided by small, family-run properties anxious to share their ancestors’ recipes and techniques.

I was lucky enough to snag an invitation to a small, Greek-learning luncheon. No one is more passionate about food and country than the Greeks. Our lunch was lively, and the offerings were fresh and delicious. Every time I thought our meal was over, another course appeared on our crowded table, filled with cheeses, seafood, octopus, lamb, lemon

potatoes, pita bread and assorted dips.

My host said traditionally many courses are served not only for nourishment but for the time it allows friends and family to gather around the table — sometimes lasting for hours.

Regrettably, we couldn’t linger that day, but I will long remember the sentiment.

Typically, when I’ve traveled as far as I did, I stay a few extra days to do some exploring, but not so with this trip. Instead, I had a date back home in Idaho, where my 11-year-old grandson, Will, was starring as Tiny Tim in U of I Theater’s production of A Christmas Carol.

Now that daughter Casey is nearby in Spokane, her young family came to Moscow for Will’s debut, too. Ryanne spent

the day before we came making lots of delicious food for all of us. We gathered around her Amish-crafted pine table (originally mine, the softwood marred with telltale heavy pencil marks, made by young hands). I knew it would be a great weekend when she served us steaming bowls of Greek garbanzo bean soup.

Dining tables (far, near and theatrical) seemed to be the theme of my past week, and each one brought me immense pleasure, embodying the spirit of family gatherings, food and drink and generosity.

I hope your holiday table fills you up. Ryanne’s soup recipe is a great way to start. Take time for your table. Then, linger even longer with those you love. Happy Holidays!

Revithia: Greek garbanzo bean (chickpea) soup

A cup of this lemony soup is a perfect starter for a Mediterranean dinner or serve in a large bowl, with side of pita bread for a filling supper. Vegetarian and gluten free. Serves 6.

INGREDIENTS: • 1 1/2 cup dried chickpeas • 1 onion, chopped • Juice of 2 lemons • 1 tsp oregano, dried • 1/3 cup olive oil • 2 bay leaves • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS: Sort and rinse chickpeas thoroughly, soak overnight. Strain the chickpeas and rinse well, rubbing briskly to remove the hulls (skins).

Place chickpeas in a pot and bring to boil for 2-3 minutes. Strain and rinse well under cold tap water. Remove the last remaining hulls. Rinse pot, return chickpeas to pot and add enough water to cover.

Add onion, oregano and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until chickpeas are tender, about an hour. Add more water if needed.

When chickpeas are soft enough add the salt. In a food processor, emulsify the lemon juice and olive oil and pour in a slow stream into pot of garbanzos. Stir until well incorporat-

ed, cook for 10-12 minutes until the soup thickens and season to taste.

Let it simmer on low heat a few more minutes so the lemon-olive oil-chickpea flavors can develop.

Remove from heat and serve hot.

Drizzle with additional olive oil and serve with fresh oregano garnish and lemon wedge.

MUSIC

Full moon mountain culture Cedar Tooth, Headwaters, dance troupes and more to light up Granary District’s Winter Solstice gathering

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Sandpoint’s Granary District, located between Church and Oak streets and home to Matchwood Brewing and Evans Brothers Coffee, has become a popular hub for community gatherings in recent years.

Brietta Leader, dancer and owner of the local Embody Center for the Healing Arts studio, recognized the opportunity for a community-wide solstice celebration, and decided the Granary District would be the perfect place to make it happen.

With support from the district’s businesses and Mattox Farm Productions, Leader is bringing Sandpoint its inaugural Winter Solstice Full Moon Gathering, slated for Saturday, Dec. 18 from 4-10:30 p.m. following Evans Brothers’ annual Procrastinator’s Market, happening 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

“It feels like we’re just a little hungry for gathering in larger groups,” Leader said, noting that the event’s outdoor nature makes it relatively COVID safe. “Just to honor the seasonal shift, bring back the light — also bring the snow.”

The Granary District’s Winter Solstice event will feature live music, dance performances, raffles and more. Leader said the theme is a “celebration of our mountain culture.”

READ

... your old journal writings.

As a writer and traveler, I usually keep a little notebook in my back pocket and write down whatever inspires me from time to time. It’s always fun to pore through these old notebooks and read my mind’s dialogue. Quite often, we fill these notebooks with our scribbles and never read them again, but you can track your progress as a writer (and a human) by revisiting these notes from long ago.

LISTEN

“Art is our culture,” she said, adding that the purpose of such gatherings is “to remind ourselves that that is super important.”

A schedule for the Winter Solstice gathering kicks off with music from local band BareGrass — going by new name Headwaters — from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Next, there will be dance performances from 5:30-6:30 p.m. featuring Fusion Belly Dance with Julie and Lacey, fire spinners and a ballroom dance lesson with Morgan Douglas.

Heading into the 6:30-8 p.m. time slot, Portland, Ore.-based band Cedar Teeth will rock the Granary District with the group’s distinct blend of stomp grass, indie rock and folk.

Following Cedar Tooth will be

more belly dancing, a slideshow from photographer Woods Wheatcroft and a candle dance from Leader’s dance troupe Gypsy Divas, all happening 8-8:30 p.m.

From 8:30-10:30 p.m., DJ Frost will spin the tunes.

Mandala Pizza will also be there, slinging wood-fired pies, and attendees are encouraged to “dress in your favorite fur wear” and bring a nonperishable food item for the Bonner Community Food Bank. There will also be raffle items benefiting the food bank, with winners announced around 8:30 p.m.

“I’m looking forward to being in this collective of community — people that I’ve known for a long time, people I don’t know — just to share in this way,” Leader said, adding that

The Gypsy Divas dance troupe.

Courtesy photo. hosting events is something she loves. “I’m excited to share the Gypsy Diva dance. I don’t know if there’s one word that would sum it up — it’s more about just sharing a little spark of love through the arts.”

For a complete schedule of events, visit the Embody studio website: embodysandpoint. love. Also see event updates and learn more by following Embody’s Facebook page: facebook.com/embodiedsouls.

Listen to Cedar Teeth, the Oregon band coming to the Winter Solstice gathering, at cedarteethband.com.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint Festival at Sandpoint Youth Orchestra, Sandpoint library, Dec. 20 It’s sometimes easy to forget that the Festival at Sandpoint does a lot more than put on its annual summer concert series. Iconic as the event may be — with its signature tent and host of featured artists over 38 seasons — the nonprofit organization’s overall mission to enhance the local arts, particularly for youth in the community.

Alongside scholarships for area students, the FAS Youth Orchestra

This week’s RLW by Ben Olson

is one of its most vital programs.

Catch a special performance by the artists of the future, supported by the Festival at Sandpoint at the East Bonner County Library Sandpoint Branch, and see (or hear) what the Festival is really all about.

— Zach Hagadone 4:30 p.m., FREE. East Bonner County Library Sandpoint Branch, 1407 Cedar St., 208-263-6930.

The Miah Kohal Band, 219 Lounge, Dec. 18 Most North Idahoans have enjoyed the unique privilege of making memories at a Miah Kohal show. Especially when such an occasion graces the 219 Lounge, the energy is sure to be high and beer is sure to be cold.

What’s not to love?

The Miah Kohal Band is Sandpoint’s most active outlaw rock band, bringing classic rock ’n’ roll and country sounds to venues all over the panhandle year round. The band keeps

the party going all winter long, having just wrapped up gigs benefiting the local food bank and Toys for Tots drive.

The Miah Kohal Band is made up of local guys who just want to help locals have a damn good time. As the Niner notes on its online promo for this upcoming show: “You know you want to.” I know I do.

— Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey 9 p.m.-midnight, FREE. 219 N. First Ave.; 208-263-5673; 219.bar.

When is the last time you danced like a fool in the privacy of your own home? I don’t often find myself in these situations, but the other day while listening to the Future Islands album Singles, I just couldn’t help myself.

Powered by the gruff and emotive voice of frontman Samuel T. Herring (also known as Hemlock Ernst), Future Islands is everything you want in an indie pop album. Just try to listen without tapping your feet. I dare you.

WATCH

When I first discovered Hunter S. Thompson’s writings, it was like a door opened in my brain.

Known for his gonzo journalism and wild writings that captured his lifestyle perfectly, Thompson was one of the most iconic writers ever to punch a typewriter. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson is a documentary that delves deep into the mysterious character that he became. Thompson is an icon that only America could produce, and this documentary only scratches the surface, but it’s a fun watch.

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BACK OF THE BOOK

Confessions of an office junkie I never want to work from home again

From Northern Idaho News, Dec. 24, 1918

SANDPOINT BOY GETS CROSS FOR BRAVERY CAPTAIN JOHN HUMBIRD CITED FOR RESOURCEFULNESS AND COURAGE The distinguished service cross has been conferred upon Captain John Humbird by the war department, in recognition of his “marked gallantry and meritorious service.” Captain Humbird was four times cited for the cross, the second citation crediting him with “wonderful resourcefulness and indomitable courage” displayed at Chateau Thierry. In addition to this honor he was promoted on the battlefield from the rank of first lieutenant to that of captain.

Captain Humbird entered the war as a second lieutenant, having had military training at an eastern academy and attended the first officers’ training camp at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

He served with British and French army units, and later with the 102d American machine gun battalion.

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By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Working from home sucks. I get it that many people — including many smart, capable, driven people — absolutely flourish while farting all day into their sweat pants, sending emails from the couch and simultaneously streaming various kinds of media from their phones, tablets and TVs. I’m not that way, but I get it.

I used to love working from home; that is, when it only happened a couple of times a year. Then it was a luxury that felt like a mildly transgressive marker of success.

Spending 20 goddamn months doing it, however, has been — to put it mildly — a trial.

What started as a curious early-pandemic realization that I not only liked working in the office but needed to had, by the beginning of its second year, become a borderline existential crisis. Nearing a full 24 months of “commuting” downstairs from my bed to my tiny home office desk and back, I now understand that I was perilously close to losing it.

Thankfully, Reader Publisher Ben Olson agreed at the beginning of this month that it was time to return to our newsroom above Cedar Street and it’s hard for me to describe the thrill I felt while clearing away the dust and grime that had settled on my workspace since March 2020.

No joke: It looked like we’d all showed up to work one fine spring day and suddenly been raptured away. I had open notebooks caked in dirt on my desk bearing names and phone numbers for stories I’d been working on that are now history. A tea bag left in my office mug had become mummified, and I had to scrape it out with a screwdriver. The papers stacked on my windowsill were curled and yellowed by the sun of two summers, looking like they should be under glass in a museum.

I tore through all this junk over the

STR8TS Solution

course of three manic-yet-blissful hours on a recent Saturday and could barely sleep that Sunday with the excitement that I would drop off my kids at school the next morning and actually go to work.

Returning full-time to the office has meanwhile prompted a profound improvement to my mental health. It was pure relief — the unwinding of a level of tension I hadn’t fully understood. Whereas I had been angrily stalking around the house at whatever passed for “quitting time,” full of undispersed energy and routinely waking up between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., panicked that I should go downstairs at home and start working, I now happily put in my time downtown and, upon returning home, actually feel for the first time in almost two years that I can relax.

Put simply: I feel like a normal human being again. Yet, in this passion for 9-to-5 office labor, I am apparently a weirdo.

According to an excellent piece published Dec. 7 by Bloomberg, “From the Great Resignation to Lying Flat, Workers Are Opting Out,” more than 24 million people in the U.S. quit their jobs between April and September this year, and the same thing is occurring to varying degrees everywhere from Germany to China and Japan.

Drilling into those numbers, Bloomberg reported that two-thirds of the so-called “millennials” who quit in 2021 did so for “mental health reasons” and upwards of 81% of Gen Z workers cited the same reason for doing the same thing.

Bloomberg referred to this generally as “global burnout,” in which employees as old as their mid-40s are looking at the amount of time they spend working compared to how much they’re earning and realizing that they will still never be able to get ahead, whether it be buying a home or even — perish the thought — retiring with anything remotely like the security all but guaranteed to previous generations of workers regardless of

employment sector or education.

I get all that, too. I mean, what fool thinks they’re ever going to work their way into home ownership here on a prevailing wage? That didn’t used to be a laughable idea, but now it’s regarded as embarrassing naivete.

Maybe I’ve come to accept that. Maybe I’m hopelessly institutionalized into thinking of work as a place and an identity as much as an activity. Maybe I’m already so fulfilled in my job that I don’t need to “rethink” my working life into some squishy, idealized form of semi-profitable freedom.

Maybe my office is just that cool. I think it is, as I feel such fondness for my desk phone and dictionary; affection for my pen holder and the big white board. Hell, I get warm-fuzzies just looking out the window at everyone going about their business on the street below. Who wouldn’t want to spend all their days there? I don’t know.

What I do know is that it’s good to be back and I’m never going home (to work) again.

Crossword Solution

Sudoku Solution

Love is not something that you can put chains on and throw into a lake. That’s called Houdini. Love is liking someone a lot.

Solution on page 22

Solution on page 22

nebbish

Woorf tdhe Week

By Bill Borders

/NEB-ish/ [noun] 1. a pitifully ineffectual, luckless and timid person.

“The lovestruck nebbish took a deep breath and attempted to approach his crush, but chickened out and retired to the corner booth to drink beer.”

Corrections: Nothing for us to be embarrassed about this week (at least that we know of).

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matter

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Shore 6. Bird sound 11. Mad 12. Ottoman 15. High regard 16. Interpret 17. Greatest possible 18. Make larger 20. Attempt 21. Apply 23. Angers 24. Parts of aprons 25. Constellation bear 26. Nets 27. Maguey 28. Biblical garden 29. Conceit 30. African antelope 31. Prickly 34. Hurt 36. Genus of macaws 37. Composer Jerome ____ 41. Remnant 42. Immediately 43. Type of sword 44. Tall woody plant 45. Pace 46. Agreeable 47. Dawn goddess 48. A car on a freight train 51. Atlantic food fish 52. Formerly known as Azote

Solution on page 22 54. Blood vessel 56. Paddle-wheeler 57. Drudgery 58. Twosomes 59. Donkeys

DOWN 1. Illegitimate child 2. Excite 3. How old you are 4. Algonquian Indian 5. Song of praise 6. Tasks 7. Suspends

8. Existence 9. Eastern Standard Time 10. Share 13. Inhibited 14. Lock openers 15. Provide 16. It makes soft drinks bubbly 19. Feudal lord 22. Wailer 24. Char 26. Join 27. Former boxing champ 30. French for “State” 32. Dowel

33. Muse of love poetry 34. Canny 35. Plumed 38. Effeminate 39. Phonograph disks 40. Poverty-stricken 42. Swords 44. Anagram of “Nest” 45. Wagered (archaic) 48. Unwakable state 49. Epic 50. Makes a mistake 53. Beam 55. It is (poetic)

December 16, 2021 /

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