Women in the Woods One Health heads to Hope

Event features free wellness services for both people and pets

By Reader Staff

Better Together Animal Alliance, Bonner Community Food Bank and Bonner Partners in Care are hosting a free wellness event for the whole family on Saturday, June 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hope Elementary School (255 Hope School Road). Services being offered include:

•From BTAA: brief physical health exams, dog and cat vaccines, free microchipping, and free dog and cat food (limited to the first 75 participants);

•From Bonner Community Food Bank: monthly food boxes and other perishable and nonperishable goods (while supplies last);

•From Bonner Partners in Care: blood pressure screenings, free blood pressure cuffs and health resource information;

•Door prizes and giveaways.

The One Health event is free to the public. To learn more about this event and others, visit bettertogetheranimalalliance.org/events.

Friends of the Library hosts monthly book sale

By Reader Staff

The Friends of the Library will be holding its annual book sale Saturday, June 3 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the East Bonner Library District Sandpoint Branch (1407 Cedar St.).

< AVIATION, con’t from Page 16 > ways Daher reaches out to the next generation of aviators and aircraft mechanics and builders.

This month there will be many science fiction and audiobooks available. Also, computer systems and audio/visual gear will be on sale.

Proceeds from the book sale help support the library.

“In Sandpoint … maybe 40% of students go onto college while the other 60% stay here, live with their parents, maybe flip burgers and find some kind of minimum-wage entry level job,” Perkins told the Reader. “They may not have a great future unless they do something unique.”

Perkins said Daher benefits greatly by hiring students from high-school aviation programs for a number of reasons, but mainly because of the head start aviation students obtain from those classes, as well as difficulties obtaining workers requiring a move to the area.

“If I want to hire an assembler to work on our planes and he has to move here from somewhere else, how easy is that going to be in Sandpoint, Idaho?” Perkins asked. “That’s going to be a tough sell with how the economy is and with what the median real estate prices are like now.”

With local students, however, Perkins acknowledges it can be a win-win situation right out of the gate.

“If I can somehow help the North Idaho

By Reader Staff

More than 30 women convened at Pine Street Woods on May 19 for Women in the Woods. Organized by the Idaho Department of Lands and University of Idaho extension, the event drew women from a wide range of ages and backgrounds to learn how to care for their forestland.

community have a pathway for someone to stay here and work and live here, I think that’s a win for both the community and Daher,” Perkins said.

Because of the meticulous nature of building airplanes and the endless safety precautions, Perkins said training a new employee who has never worked in aviation before usually takes six months, which means productivity slows.

On the flipside, if Perkins can hire a former aviation student who knows a bit more about what to do before they even start work, “I can shrink that six months of training down to six weeks. Then we’re an even better employer and company for it. To me, that’s a win-win. That’s why Nicolas [Chabbert], our CEO, is convinced we need to invest in these programs.”

Perkins confirmed that Daher would have representatives on hand June 3 at the Sandpoint Airport to answer questions and potentially plant the seeds of future careers in prospective young employees.

With an ambitious goal to build 30 planes a year, Perkins said Daher’s desire for talented workers won’t go away any time soon. Perks that Daher offers its

Topics from tree identification, measurement and forest health, to pruning techniques, equipment demos and burning safety were explored through hands-on exercises in small groups led by experts. One attendee commented that it was refreshing to learn these skills from knowledgeable women in the field.

“We hope that our partners at employees are attractive, such as teaching skills that can easily be transferred into other industries, and also offering not just Sandpoint as a location to work and live, but any of their plants scattered across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Even with 262 employees in Sandpoint and another 35 contractors, Perkins said he still “can’t find enough people, because, in truth, Daher has plans to grow manufacturing until we’re at full capacity. We’d love to bring on a second shift, so we’re trying to find people.”

With such promising careers in aviation right here in our backyard, Larson looks with fondness over the past 10 as a time when he and fellow aviation mentors have instilled their love of flying to the next generation.

“The mentors we work with are all amazing people with so much experience in airplane building,” Larson said. “Ted Farmin is kind of a legend around here. Ed Meyer has built an airplane and is on our board of directors. Tom Dean was an engineer at Boeing and he volunteers here on Saturdays. They’re all locals and they all love to devote unbelievable amounts of hours to those students.”

IDL and U of I will make Women in the Woods an annual event. It was so much fun,” said Kaniksu Land Trust Conservation Director Regan Plumb.

There was no cost to attend the event sponsored by KLT and catered by Spud’s Waterfront Grill.

Larson also acknowledged that Sandpoint has for years been known as an aviation-friendly town.

“Not only is it aviation-friendly, but several people who have come through here for conferences and such have remarked on how many women pilots we have here,” Larson said. “Over half of our students are female, both in flight training and aviation and airplane building. We have girls as young as 12 years old. There was one group of three or four girls who rebuilt an engine with a cutaway, so when you move the propeller you can see the internal parks working. They did that when they were 12 years old and it took them two years to complete. That’s impressive to me. Those are our students.”

For students interested in learning more about a potential career in aviation, attend the “Ten Years of Success” open house Saturday, June 3 at the Sandpoint Airport. To learn more about the North Idaho High School Aerospace Program, visit highshoolaerospace.org.

Live Music w/ Matt Lome

6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Rock, jazz, blues, country

THURSDAY, june 1

Cribbage Night 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge

June 1-8, 2023

Live Music w/ Doug Bond & Marty Perron

4pm @ BlueRoom

Sandpoint’s guitar/mandolin duo!

FriDAY, june 2