Sandpoint Magazine - Summer 2021

SUMMER 2021

rocky

mountain

high Adventuring in the wilds of the Cabinet Mountains

INSIDE:

Sandpoint

visitor

guide 2021

SCULPTOR OTT JONES Creating adventure-inspired art

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THE SUNNYSIDE QUEEN Recreating an historic steamboat

FACING GNARly GROWTH Local boom has plusses, pitfalls

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www.TSSIR.com

Anytime Info

For recorded information or to speak to the listing agent, call 208.449.0071 and use the 4-digit property code.

www.LochHavenEstate.com | Sagle, Idaho ATI #1564 $13,500,000

www.StorybookMountainEstate.com | Sagle, Idaho ATI #1446 $8,950,000

www.LakePendOreilleWaterfrontHome.com | Sandpoint, Idaho ATI # 1379 $4,900,000

www.GlengaryWaterfront.com | Sagle, Idaho ATI #1239 $3,950,000

www.WestShoreEstate.com | Sandpoint, Idaho

ATI# 1227 $2,990,000

www.AboveHopeEstates.com

ATI#1287 Starting at $950,000

www.IdahoClubViewLot.com

ATI# 1545 $225,000

Cindy Bond, Associate Broker, GRI, CRS www.CindyBond.com cindy.bond@sothebysrealty.com 208.255.8360

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www.HomeAtForeverView.com

ATI #1463 $1,895,000

www.HopeWaterviewProperties.com

ATI #1020 Starting at $310,000

www.HolidayShoresMarinaCondo.com

ATI#1037 $510,000

www.ChestnutStreetLots.com

ATI #1261 Starting at $149,500

, Associate Broker, GRI, CRS 208.255.8270

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www.TSSIR.com

Iconic Lake Pend Oreille Chateau

This masterpiece sited on a 2-acre lakefront point consists of the main home, a 4-bedroom second/guest home and a well-protected boat house with sandy beach.

15 minutes to downtown and the Sandpoint Airport.

Exclusive Agent - Chris Chambers

Gold Creek - Clark Fork

Private 160 acre 1/4 section that is a 1/2 mile square. The year-round spring fed pond attracts all of the area wildlife seeking food and shelter. Off-grid on easily accessible NFS roads. This is a special property. Contact Chris Chambers

Ponderay Cottages - Coming Soon!

The Ponderay Cottages is a quaint neighborhood of craftsman style homes with optional garage apartments. Conveniently located next to McNearney Park and close proximity to major amenities and services. Thoughtfully designed by the experienced design team of Boden Architecture and Actus Projects.

Contact Chris Chambers

Elliot Bay

Elliot Bay Rd, Sagle, ID - 13 + acres with almost 1000 ft of waterfront. This peaceful retreat has multiple building sites with views from all locations. Water/ dock access is easy thru the property on cleared paths. Breakwater and seawall provide safe harbor access at private dock.

S ing d n Pe

Crystal Springs

350 Crystal Springs Rd - Newly remodeled Chalet in the Village is a premiere on-mountain property. Direct Ski In/Ski Out access. 2 master suites, 2 full bedrooms and a huge bunk room - this property can comfortably handle 20+.

Cooks kitchen, breakfast bar, living/family areas, huge heated garage with storage.

ale

Selle Vallley

3409 Selle Rd - Beautiful log home on 2.5 acres in sunny Selle Valley. 3390 sq/ ft with full basement accessed from the oversized 2-car garage. Mature trees and landscaping including sprinkler system front and back. Come for the sun; stay for the views!

Dedicated To The Extraordinary The Exceptional And The Unique.

Chris Chambers www.ExtraordinaryIdaho.com 208-290-2500 chris.chambers@sothebysrealty.com 200 Main, Sandpoint, Idaho

© MMVII Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Claude Monet’s “Marine View With a Sunset,” used with permission. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a licensed trademark to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated, Except Offices Owned And Operated By NRT Incorporated. Sandpoint office: 208-263-5101, 200 Main Street, Sandpoint, ID 83864.

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208.263.1808

www.sellevalley.com RCE-1102

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Sandpoint's Finest LUXURY VACATION HOME RENTALS

Villa Z Estate

Seasons at Sandpoint

Chadwick Place

For those that seek an exceptional life.

Pondering Pines

Seasons at Sandpoint

Villa Z Estate

www.StaySandpoint.com

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101 N. First Street, Ste 2, Sandpoint www.dm-vacations.com

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Becky Freeland 208-290-5628

Curt Hagan 208-290-7833

Charesse Moore 208-255-6060

Kathy Robinson 208-255-9690

Maddie Gill 208-597-3955

John Dibble 208-290-1101

Brian Jacobs 208-610-3188

Courtney Nova 208-290-7264

Chelsea Nova 208-304-8979

Ron Nova 208-304-2007

Danny Strauss 208-290-2946

Kris Kingsland 208-290-1509

Luke Webster 208-255-8597

Ben Geanetta 208-589-6290

Chuck Brewster 208-640-0964

“Top producing Independent Real Estate firm for the past 37 years!”

www.Evergreen-Realty.com // www.SchweitzerMountain.com Charlie Parrish 208-290-1501 001-09 Entry_SMS21.indd 6

321 North First Avenue, Sandpoint, ID Toll Free 800.829.6370 // Office 208.263.6370 // Fax 208.263.3959 Evergreen Realty is pleased to sponsor our local Habitat for Humanity

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features 38 93

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61 TOP, CLOCKWISE: FISHING AT SPAR LAKE BY JIM MELLEN. ACAI BOWL AT HEART BOWLS, COURTESY PHOTO. FESTIVAL AT SANDPOINT CREW, PHOTO BY CHRIS BESSLER. SIGN AT GROUSE CREEK FALLS, PHOTO BY CLINT NICHOLSON. MTB’ERS MAKING TRAILS. PHOTO COURTESY PEND OREILLE PEDALERS.

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sculptor ott jones

Turning a passion into a fulfilling career

MTB’ers Making tracks Trails are poppin’ with Pend Oreille Pedalers

Just what you need to hear Ten years of local radio

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The Writers, they keep on writing

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(don’t) dam it

New books for whiling away a summer day

Bring a cooler and skip the dam

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A heart to help

80 83

a labor of love

New name and one-stop-shop mission for local nonprofit

for the love of live music The Festival at Sandpoint is back in 2021

ted farmin

Regular guy, extraordinaire

upgrading our front yard

Increased access to natural waterfront planned for Ponderay

history mystery The hunt for the City Hall bell

let food be thy medicine

Medical practitioner turned farmer raises sheep and shares knowledge at Bah Bah Blacktail Farm Steamboat recalls history of Lake Pend Oreille

flammulated

A flame-winged owl of spring

main features 86

SUMM

91 92

sharing the view

The mountain goats of Scotchman Peak depend on rocky terrain and human respect to survive

Saving the scotchmans

Creating a wilderness future in the Scotchman Peaks

mountain lake collecting 101

Easy, not-so-easy, and really difficult lakes to reach in the Cabinets

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SANDPOINT

cky ro in ounta

MAGAZINE

high

m

ds the wil s uring in untain AdventCabinet Mo of the

S U M M E R 2021, VOL. 32, NO. 2

: INSIDE

On the cover:

Atop Scotchman, the reward is goats and views. Photo by Caren Bays

t Sandpoin

visitor

guide 2021

S OTT JONE art SCULPTOR ture-inspired adven Creating

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QUEE N YSIDE boat THE SUNNan historic steam Recreating

GROWTH GNARly FACING has plusses, pitfalls Local boom 5/11/21

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calendar

31 interview: breaking barriers

SHS grad Emily Thompson sets milestone

PUBLISHER’S FIRST HIKE UP SCOTCHMAN PEAK, IN 1984 WITH THE MISSUS (BEFORE SHE WAS THE MISSUS).

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Let us ponder, for a moment, those things that we might call Quintessential Sandpoint.

It could be attending a concert (or many) at the Festival at Sandpoint. Or spending a hot summer day at City Beach. Catching a play or a movie at the Panida. Getting on the snow at Schweitzer, going boating on the lake, taking in the Bonner County Fair...

The list goes on. And for most who have done it, “hiking up Scotchman Peak” is one of those quintessentially Sandpoint things.

Not that getting up the highest point in the northern Panhandle is an experience that comes easily. The trail is almost four miles to the top, with an elevation gain of more than 3,600 feet. Some sweat, fatigue and burning leg muscles will be required as a price of admission. But at the 7,009-foot peak there’s the grand payoff of spectacular vistas, the interesting remains of an old lookout, possibly some shaggy white critters – and ultimately that small sense of accomplishment for reaching a goal.

Scotchman Peak and other fine places in the Cabinet Mountains comprise our cover features this issue. Maybe they’ll provide a spark to get out and discover for yourself some of the magic in the mountains. And for those who don’t or can’t include a mountain hike in their summer itinerary – well, there’s much more here that is special to Sandpoint.

We hope you’ll find some inspiration in this magazine to go find your own Quintessential Sandpoint this summer. Enjoy.

- CB

85 Pictured in History: milltown was Humbird’s town

99 Photo Essay: waters of north idaho 128 marketwatch 131 natives and newcomers 152 the local dish 155 dining guide 160 Sandpoint of view

REAL ESTATE 102 welcome to MY Home

Sandpoint’s front porches are a bridge to community

109 gold creek schoolhouse

A neighborhood gathering point brings couple together

114 facing a gnarly future

Natural amenities draw ever more in-migration

125 the future is bright at taylor & sons

Auto dealer embraces green technology

EATS & DRINKS 138 the soul of a building

Brewpub restoration keeps character of iconic building

143 keys to the past A brief history of the Pend d’Oreille Winery’s antique piano 147 I’ll have it to go Local restaurants expand online ordering 150 Restaurant for the locals New cafe adds zest to Davis Market

Publisher Chris Bessler COO Jeff Lagges Editor Trish Gannon Assistant Editor Beth Hawkins Advertising Director Clint Nicholson Art Director Pamela Larson Design Team Nicole Rios, Robin Levy Social Media Laura Walsh, Jenifer Caudle Office Manager Susan Otis IT Manager Ethan Roberts

Contributors:Brian Baxter, Caren Bays, Bonner County History Museum, Sandy Compton, Susan Drinkard, Susan Drumheller,

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Dan Eskelson, Mary Franzel, Lisa Gerber, Steve Gill, Zach Hagadone, Dalton Hawkins, Kim Holzer, Cate Huisman, Patty Hutchens, Lyndsie Kiebert, Jennifer Lamont-Leo, Linda Lantzy, Brian Linkhart, Marianne Love, Doug Marshall, Jim Mellen, Kirk Miller, Mongol Horse Derby, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Valle Novak, Clint Nicholson, Ben Olson, Teresa Pesce, Nicole Phillips, Cameron Rasmusson, Owen Rust, Carrie Scozzaro, Dan Seward, Connie Shay, Katelyn Shook, U.S. Air Force, Corey Vogel, Hayley Weatherstone, Woods Wheatcroft

Sandpoint Magazine is published twice yearly, in May and November, by: Keokee Co. Publishing, Inc. 405 Church St., Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-263-3573 • www.keokee.com Printed in USA by Century Publishing, Post Falls, Idaho. ©2021 by Keokee Co. Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Subscriptions: $12 per year, payable in advance. Subscribe at www.

SandpointMagazine.com.

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Wildflower a Navajo prayer

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Robyn Hurley | Spa Manager Keisch Berrey | Owner Darra Collison | Marketing Manager

Wildflower

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r appto tors rs almanac ra

the fight of their 10

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Raptor Freedom Project aims to help North Idaho’s birds of prey

SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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CLOCKWISE FROM FACING PAGE: A BARRED OWL ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY. MYA AND TYLER JINRIGHT WITH A BARRED OWL THAT WAS FOUND SEVERELY MALNOURISHED ON SOMEONE’S PROPERTY. MYA JINRIGHT WITH A JUVENILE EAGLE. COURTESY PHOTOS.

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t Raptor Freedom Project in Clark Fork, the mission is simple: rehab and release. The process to get injured, malnourished, or lead-poisoned raptors back into the wild, however, is anything but simple.

Mya Jinright, with the help of her husband, Tyler, and mother, Judi Lundak, takes in struggling birds of prey, all the while aiming to keep them as wild as possible.

Jinright said a fighting spirit—even against humans attempting to help—is key to a raptor’s successful rehabilitation.

“If they hate you, you’re doing a great job,” she said with a laugh.

That hate is strong in a grounded great horned owl that Jinright rescued from Farragut State Park in early February, whom she has lovingly named Oscar the Grouch.

“He is one of the most aggressive owls I’ve gotten, which is awesome, because it means he is going to try hard,” she said.

“He is going to put in the work. He’s already come further than I ever expected.”

Oscar has garnered a fan club through Jinright’s Facebook page, where she shares updates. Some have gone so far as to donate to Oscar’s “mouse fund,” unprompted.

“I am overwhelmed because I don’t expect people to fund our project,” Jinright said. “It’s something that we do out of love, and we feel like it’s our job while on this planet.”

Jinright, a certified veterinary technician, began working closely with raptors when some health setbacks meant she’d need to transition from a bustling vet clinic setting to something more quiet and slow-paced.

“I was this totally normal, high-functioning person, and then I’m going through this health issue where I have to depend

“

He is going to put in the work. He’s already come further than I ever expected.” on everybody else. That is so humbling,” she said. “So I’m watching [a raptor] go from this wild animal to having to allow me to, say, hand-feed them, or clean up around their caged area, and they’re having to be accepting. It’s really humbling on their part, as well.”

Jinright works with Idaho Fish and Game, North Idaho Animal Hospital, and American Heritage Wildlife Foundation— another Clark Fork wildlife rescue, run by Kathleen St. ClairMcGee—to receive and treat raptors who end up in her care.

She’s also found a mentor in Dr. Jaime Samour, one of the world’s foremost avian medicine experts, who is based in Abu Dhabi.

Jinright called the chance to work with wild raptors “a gift.”

“It is the feeling on Christmas morning when you open a present, when I get to work on these eagles or hawks or owls— it’s that feeling,” she said, adding later: “And it is soul-crushing when I lose them.”

Only one in 10 wild raptors will survive to adulthood, Jinright said. Mortality stats among injured raptors are even more bleak. Still, Jinright has been fortunate to release many patients back to their true homes.

“These animals come in, and you think they’re on death’s door, and they’ll give you the fight of their life,” she said. “It is incredible. They are amazing creatures.”

Reach Raptor Freedom Project at 509-590-9437

-Lyndsie Kiebert SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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FURNITURE

Custom Design Available

Always Something New. Always Something

GALLERY

Over 100 Local Artisans

N O R T H W E S T H A N D M A D E . CO M | 2 0 8 . 25 5 .1 9 62

Over 25 years in Downtown Sandpoint • 308 N. First Avenue

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community skatepark

PHOTO BY WOODS WHEATCROFT

Adventure

Group works to expand skate opportunities

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he Bonner County Skatepark Association, formed as an Idaho 501c-3 in September of 2020, has set an ambitious goal of raising $25,000 through a Go-Fund-Me effort to help expand skateboarding opportunities for area skaters in the Sandpoint City Park system.

The city’s Master Recreation Plan calls for expansion of the existing skate park at Travers Field—opened in 2006 and considered to be one of the most used park facilities by square foot—by 18,000 square feet, almost triple its current size. Added apparatus and lighting, along with possible shade structures, are also anticipated. The plan recommends expanding skating facilities at Hickory Street Park as well.

Carl Preston, co-owner of Kodiak Advertising, is a member of the board which includes Rory Whitney, Jordan Carlson, Adam Hall, Dave Pecha, and Peyton Evans. “We’re just a bunch of old skateboarders,” he laughed, but these old skateboarders have a passion for the sport and for seeing its benefits brought to the area. “We formed the nonprofit initially to raise money to fix the kidney bowl at Travers,” he said, but they were approached by the city to become involved with efforts to do even more.

“The repairs at Travers are underway, so our first focus is to raise money and provide support for the construction of a street plaza at Hickory Park, plus some seating and landscaping,” he explained. The group is also hoping to raise awareness of their efforts and thus get more people involved in the effort.

Learn more at www.bcskatepark.com

-Trish Gannon SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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Almanac

OKAY, BOOMER! Innovia offers you a way to pay it forward

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THIS SPRING, AS PART OF ITS ANNUAL FUNDING, INNOVIA GRANTED $134,470 TO 14 LOCAL GROUPS, INCLUDING FROM TOP: SOLE ($10,000), PEND OREILLE ARTS COUNCIL ($5,000), SANDPOINT AREA SENIORS ($5,000) AND BONNER COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ($10,000).

passing of the baton is coming up as the Baby Boom generation ages, and its members decide how they will hand down their legacies to the next generation.

As has been true for many demographic trends forged by the outsized population bulge of the Baby Boom generation, when Boomers pass on they will leave behind an historically unprecedented amount of wealth to the next generation. Just in Bonner County, a huge sum–as much $1.7 billion in wealth— will be left behind by Boomers over the next 10 years, according to a study by the Innovia Foundation.

And as the region’s biggest community foundation that provides charitable giving to local nonprofit organizations, Innovia is launching an effort to help Boomers ensure that at least a small part of their life’s work can live on to do good in their community.

Innovia this spring launched a “5% Transfer of Wealth Opportunity” which asks Boomers to consider earmarking as little as 5 percent of the wealth they’ll leave behind to go in a community endowment that will continue to provide funding indefinitely to Bonner County’s nonprofit groups.

Innovia Chief Strategy Officer Aaron McMurray pointed out this is by no means only for rich people. Much of the Boomers’ generational wealth is held by folks who don’t consider themselves wealthy— workers, professionals, typical homeowners and small business people. If just 5 percent of the cumulative wealth transferring during the next 10 years in Bonner County went to a community endowment, it would provide some $85 million to be “invested in leaving stronger, healthier, safer, and more vibrant communities for the next generation,” said McMurray.

Since 1974, McMurray noted, the Innovia Foundation’s mission has been to “ignite generosity” that transforms lives and communities in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

This spring the foundation granted $134,470 to 14 local groups, including $4,950 for the Panida Theater, $8,000 for Food For Our Children, up to $20,000 for the Kaniksu Land Trust.

“We believe that philanthropy is most powerful when every person sees opportunities to give back to the place they call home,” he said. The 5 percent campaign is a call to action for generous, community-minded people to plan now to invest back into the community, with the type of commitment and legacy that will be remembered for generations.

“Imagine the impact,” McMurray added. “Imagine your impact.”

See more about the 5% Transfer of Wealth Opportunity at www.sptmag. com/5percent, or call the Innovia Foundation at 509-624-2606

-Chris Bessler

Welcome to the Ranch & Farm Store Aspen Farms & Fiber farm store offers alpaca products, organic produce and handmade wood products including bowls & gifts Come by for a farm tour! www.aspenfarmsandfiber.com

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local cornhole community

A HOLE LOT OF FUN! Building community around cornhole

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n its most basic form, the sport of cornhole consists of two facing boards with holes cut out of them, and players aiming to toss bean (or corn) bags into the hole opposite them. As some Sandpoint locals have proven, this simple sport can also be a conduit for connection.

“Our goal is to reach as many people as possible, from the novice player to the advanced player,” said Amelia Boyd. She serves as treasurer for the 7B Baggers cornhole club, and noted the club has also hosted fundraising events for local causes.

Aside from their regular Tuesday night tossing at MickDuff’s Beer Hall during the spring and summer months, 7B Baggers has several local cornhole events planned for summer 2021, including two tournaments at the beer hall on May 2122 and June 18-19, and one at War Memorial Field July 9-10.

“I have lived here all my life, and to host a tournament at War Memorial just shows how much the sport has grown,” said 7B Baggers President Frankie Goode.

When asked why they enjoy cornhole so much, friendship is a thread that runs through responses from several members of the 7B Baggers club.

“I enjoy cornhole mainly because of the people I get to meet and hang out with,” said Ryan Huffey, the club’s resident professional cornhole player. “I’ve made numerous friendships with many of the people I have met all because of the love of this game. Also, I am pretty good at tossing a bag in the hole!”

Learn more @facebook.com/7BBaggersCornhole

-Lyndsie Kiebert

RYAN HUFFEY AND MARK SCHMELZER. PHOTO BY OWEN RUST

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SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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CO-OP Gas & Supply Company is your farm, home, and hardware cooperative.

As a member owned cooperative we pay dividends to our members annually on their purchases in profitable years. No other local farm and hardware store pays you dividends on your purchases. Being locally owned and operated means the money you spend here stays here, creating jobs for your friends and neighbors, and strengthening our economy as we have been doing for 86 years.

Why not drop by and see if membership at the CO-OP is right for you?

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PHOTO BY CAMERON RASMUSSON

vigilante studios

escape from the

real world

Vigilante Studios gives tools to build new worlds

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e all have needed an escape from the real world lately. And chances are good a graphic artist helped make that escape possible.

From video games to film and TV, computer-graphic environments and character renders make grandiose new worlds possible. Using tools like Unreal Engine 4, the only limit is an artist’s imagination and skill. Vigilante Studios is helping budding artists with both.

With locations in Bonners Ferry and now, with partners Luke and Laura Inman, in Sandpoint, Vigilante Studios serves two roles: training its students in the rapidly expanding world of computer graphics and connecting them up with good, paying work.

“The plan is the same since the beginning,” said Daniel Seward, studio founder. “Get the artists in here, get them trained up and move them in the direction they’re wanting to go.”

There’s no shortage of applications for computer-rendered graphics. Advertisements and professional presentations use both still and moving images. Films and TV shows, such as “The

Mandalorian’s” digital sets, depend on digital environments to present their alien worlds. And of course, 3D video games present entire digitally crafted environments to explore. With the introduction of new consoles and graphics cards, those worlds can achieve new levels of fidelity and sophistication.

Vigilante Studios prepares students for the cutting edge with hands-on experience in projects both big and small. With 12 workstations equipped with advanced PCs and rendering tools, students have the horsepower they need to let their imaginations run wild.

The studio balances contracted work with in-house projects.

Of particular note is “Oggy’s Army,” a game involving multiple character renders, assets, and a full digital world. Thanks to programmer Michael Marchetti, the studio anticipates building a prototype game and expanding the project from there.

“We always have that big project we’re working on, and there are a lot of little ones to go along with it,” Seward said.

Learn more at www.vigilantestudios.us

-Cameron Rasmusson SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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“Committed to Quality Craftsmanship”

“Our commitment to our customer is to provide exceptional quality and craftsmanship, an unmatched customer experience, the highest level of trust, while providing the best value.”

(208) 889-9196

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mongol derby

THE MONGOL derby

Local to race in the footsteps of Genghis Khan

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MONGOLIAN PONIES RUN HALF FERAL ON THE STEPPES UNTIL TIME FOR RACE DAY. TOP TWO PHOTOS COURTESY MONGOL DERBY AT WWW. EQUESTRIANISTS.COM. AT BOTTOM, LENA HAUG HAS SPENT MUCH OF HER LIFE ON HORSEBACK. COURTESY PHOTO.

ne thousand kilometers (a little over 621 miles) across the Mongolian Steppe, riding a series of somewhat feral horses, in what’s called the longest and toughest horse race there is. That’s what Sandpoint’s Lena Haug, a pilot who works for Tamarack Aerospace, has penciled into her calendar for August.

The race is called the Mongol Derby, an annual equestrian endurance event that recreates the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan in 1224. Haug says the sheer challenge is what attracted her. “It requires such a combination of skills,” she enthused. “Survival, navigation, fitness, wits, horsemanship, and entering a culture that’s very different.”

It’s a challenge for which she’s well prepared. Before Tamarack, she worked for the Bureau of Land Management, training wild mustangs. Based out of Sebastopol, California, she would often cross into Nevada, near Reno, to work with horses. “In my BLM days I routinely spent 10 hours a day in the saddle,” she said, and the backcountry is her favorite place to be on horseback. “I know I can do [this race],” she added, “but I don’t expect to be comfortable.”

She is slowly trying to up her time on horseback to prepare, though she still rides at least five hours every day, and said her employer is backing her in the effort. “My bosses love it, and have been so positive and supportive,” she explained.

Haug speaks German and Spanish in addition to English, and is also hoping to pick up some basic Mongolian phrases prior to race day so she can communicate with the families who provide fresh horses along the way.

Over a thousand people apply every year to participate in the race, and only 35 are chosen. The 30-year-old Haug’s background was obviously a plus on her application.

But she’s not the first Idahoan to do this: the 2019 race winner was then 70-year-old Bob Long of Boise. “Preparation trumps youth,” he told reporters at the time.

Long is now advising Haug on race tips; maybe preparation and youth will do the trick for 2021. And if not? “Honestly, I think just completing the race makes you a winner,” said Haug.

-Trish Gannon SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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Almanac

Art as Theater Returns to the Panida

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“NOCTURNAL LANDSCAPE,” BY SCOTT KIRBY, INSPIRED ONE OF THE PLAYS IN ART AS THEATER. COURTESY PHOTO.

leven years ago, an unusual play called “Red Tape” premiered at the Panida Theater. It was a combination of Sandpoint talent, featuring playwrights, artists, and musicians, christened Art as Theater—a play based on a story suggested by an artist’s creation. “Red Tape” drew audiences of over 200 and many came to see it again and again, thronging the stage after performances. “What I loved most,” said Director Deborah McShane, “was the sharing, the trust, the beauty of the interaction among everyone creating this unique moment of theater in our town.”

A new Art as Theater production, sponsored by the Panida Theater and the Pend Oreille Arts Council, will premier on the Panida main stage the first day of ArtWalk. The series of five original, one-act plays is inspired by the works of local artists Patricia Ragone, Suzanne Jewell, Connie Scherr, and Scott Kirby. Jewell, artist on “Three Houses,” when asked about this interpretation of her art, said “I’m in, flattered and completely intrigued by this idea! What a concept.”

Musician Dave Gunter of Bridges Home gave an open-arms welcome to the opportunity to create and perform a musical score inspired by the stories. “Our community is such a wellspring of talent and creativity, and I like the idea that Art as Theater brings them together in this way,” said Gunter. “It’s a fresh concept and it will be great fun!”

Art as Theater will premiere at the Panida June 18, including a 7:30 p.m. reception before the 8 p.m. performance. Play dates are June 18 and 19. Proceeds are dedicated to the Panida Theater.

Learn more at www.panida.org

-Teresa Pesce

! e r u t n e v d A Go We hope you won’t need us...

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(but we‘ll be here if you do). Proud to be your Hometown Hospital.

520 N. Third Avenue | Sandpoint, ID 83864

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Animal Shelter is better together

S

andpoint may be known for its gone-to-the-dogs lifestyle with petfriendly stores, restaurants, and a spectacular dog park, but it’s also known nationally for its progressive animal shelter. People from all around the region adopt their pets from Better Together Animal Alliance, formerly known as Panhandle Animal Shelter.

The name change was announced in early 2021, and better reflects the shelter’s goals. BTAA makes investments in owner support programs that help owners take care of their pets, has reduced barriers to adoption, collaborates with animal foster homes, and works with the community to reunite lost pets with their owners.

Even the term ‘shelter’ is being phased out because it’s only a fraction of what the organization does.

“What if shelters became animal care centers where the focus is keeping animals out of cages and in homes where they belong?” Executive Director Mandy Evans posed this question after she attended a national Humane Society of the United States conference in 2015.

Ever since, the organization has served more animals through community-based programs, and has tracked a decrease in the number of animals who enter the animal care center. Notably, in 2019, of the 8,500 animals helped through their various programs, only 2,500 ever entered the shelter.

The organization is also increasingly used for emergencies and for animals with nowhere else to go, including pets that need temporary assistance, like when lost, or for whatever reason an owner can’t take care of their pet anymore.

Learn more at www.bettertogetheranimalalliance.org

-Lisa Gerber

ARTHUR POLLOCK, HOLDING LUCY, AND HIS WIFE ANNIE. LUCY WAS ADOPTED IN 2020 FROM BTAA’S HOME TO HOME PROGRAM. PHOTO BY LISA GERBER

TWO LOCATIONS

213 Church St Downtown Sandpoint 208.263.5157

Schweitzer Mountain in the Village 208.255.1660

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Almanac

The Reel is

Back Theaters bring movies back to the big screen

I

f movie theaters are dream factories, then we’re all waking up from a dark, dreamless sleep.

The global COVID-19 pandemic hit theaters particularly hard from the moment it arrived in America in Spring 2020. Already under pressure from the popularity of home video streaming, theaters found themselves with nothing to show after Hollywood delayed release after release. With encouraging news on the pandemic front, however, movie lovers throughout the county are readying for a rip-roaring return.

“After so many movie releases were moved back, we’re seeing some titles move up in the calendar instead,” said Eric Plummer, co-owner of Sandpoint Cinemas. “That’s a really encouraging sign.”

Plummer and partner Mike Lehosit took over ownership of Sandpoint Cinemas in Fall 2020 after former owner Dale Reese determined it was time to close the curtains.

Had they not stepped in, the projector lights likely would have dimmed for good.

“One of the coolest things is when someone you don’t know tells you, ‘Thank you so much for keeping this going’, ” Plummer said.

“We have people coming in telling us, ‘This is our first movie we’ve seen in a year!’” he added.

Plummer and Lehosit knew they faced a lean few months while they waited for the Hollywood pipeline to kick back into gear. To generate some revenue while they rode out the pandemic, they rented the theater out for private screenings.

“That was a great way to get through what we knew would be a tough time,” Plummer said.

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WANNA WIN

TICKETS?

‘Bout time to get back to the theaters! To help everyone remember how great the big screens are, every week this summer we’re giving away two tickets to movies at Sandpoint Cinemas or the Panida Theater.

Enter at: www.sptmag.com/winmovietix

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theater returns to panida + new name for animal shelter

PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE: THE PANIDA’S KEELY GRAY IN FRONT OF A VINTAGE PAINTING IN THE THEATER’S UPSTAIRS OFFICE AREA; ERIC PLUMMER PUTS UP NOTICE OF NEW MOVIES AT SANDPOINT CINEMAS; PLUMMER SETS UP TO SHOW A FILM. PHOTOS BY CHRIS BESSLER.

Likewise, the board of Sandpoint’s historic Panida Theater is excited to open their doors once again. Events are lining up for the spring and summer onward.

Playwright Teresa Pesce has a stage production set for June. Now the priority, said Panida Board Chair Keely Gray, is to set the theater up for a new era.

“Everyone misses their theater,” Gray said. “They want it back.”

The Panida board is evaluating what kind of staffing they’ll need after reopening. They’re also turning to the public and professional planners for a roadmap on the theater’s future. A recent survey concerning these questions returned 600 responses. And the consensus is clear: People want the art house movies and live shows they can’t get anywhere else.

“It’s extremely rewarding to see just how much the community cares,” Gray said.

Ultimately, the movie theater provides an experience you can’t replicate at home. It’s not just the sound and image quality. Nor is it simply the immersion of a movie experience with few distractions and interruptions. There’s something magical about the communal experience of entering a dream world with an audience of strangers. And local movie lovers are committed to keeping the dream alive in 2021.

-Cameron Rasmusson

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NOTEWORTHY KANIKSU FOLK SCHOOL

As part of its mission of community conservation, Kaniksu Land Trust launched the first in a series of what is planned to be regular, small-group classes in traditional crafts and music through the Kaniksu Folk School. Classes for 2021 include basket weaving, spoon carving, leather tooling, leather crafting, and drop spindle wool weaving, all for adults. Classes are taught by qualified artisans. There is also a class available on Nature Connection for You and Your Children, a day-long adventure in Pine Street Woods enjoying exercises, activities, and experiences.

Other educational efforts by Kaniksu Land Trust include Camp Kaniksu, a nature-based summer camp for children; Wildcrafting, an after-school program for students to learn traditional crafting; and Remote Learning, a series of weekly, home-based lessons and crafts. Learn more at www.kaniksulandtrust.org

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LEFT TO RIGHT: SPOON CARVING AT KANIKSU FOLK SCHOOL; LUKE MAYVILLE TALKS TO SANDPOINT DURING THE RECLAIM IDAHO DRIVE; MAYA GOLDBLUM AND HER FATHER, ARTHUR, PERFORM AT EICHARDT’S; A NEW SEASON OF OSPREY AT MEMORIAL FIELD. GOLDBLUM PHOTO BY JIM MELLEN, ALL OTHERS COURTESY PHOTOS.

ROCK CREEK MINE

In April, U.S. District Judge Donald Malloy reversed the government’s approval of the first phase of the Rock Creek Mine. A proposed set of copper/silver mines in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness near Noxon, Montana, just upstream of Lake Pend Oreille, the mine has been opposed by vocal citizens’ groups since the early 1980s, including by numerous legal challenges.

In this latest case, opponents argued that the environmental review of the mine undertaken by federal officials was insufficient, and Malloy agreed. He ruled the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Environmental Protection Act by ignoring the impacts of the full mine proposal on threatened species in the area.

THROW ME IN

Sandpoint native Maya Goldblum spent three years in Ireland studying their music. Now returned home, she’s released

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her new single, “Throw Me In,” as well as an EP, “Sail From This Life,” which she recorded a week before she left Ireland.

“Sail From This Life”, she said, portrays the “tumultuous, transformative side of her time abroad and how she learned to “get out of [my] own way.” See queenbonobo.bandcamp.com

(recently limited by Senate Bill 1110) to expand Medicaid availability in Idaho, forcing the legislature to put the issue up to a vote of the people. The film tells the story of the last days before Idaho voters approved the measure with 61 percent of the vote.

Learn more at www.reclaimidahofilm.com

IDAHO FILMS

Osprey Cam

The Idaho Film Company released a mini-documentary this spring on Sandpoint’s Academy Award-winning cinematographer Erik Daarstad. Get a brief tour of his life as Daarstad talks about his work in films, and his book, “Through the Lens of History” in the 8-minute documentary. Daarstad, born in Norway, moved to Sandpoint in 1976. See it at www.sptmag. com/daarstad Meanwhile, first-time filmmakers Jim Kamoosi and his wife, Laura Wing Kamoosi, created the documentary “Reclaim Idaho,” about the grassroots effort utilizing the initiative process

The Center for

When Sandpoint city officials decided to replace outdated light poles at War Memorial Field in 2011, the crew at sandpointonline.com had a proposal: to install a webcam on the pole that had long served as an active osprey nest.

That proposal came to fruition, and the following decade brought an intimate look into the lives of some of Lake Pend Oreille’s most fascinating birds. The nest was moved nearer to the lake in Spring 2020 as the field underwent major renovations, and the resident ospreys arrived for their 2021 season on April 3. Watch at ospreys.sandpointonline.com

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summer 2021

EVENTS

calendar of

CHECK WWW.SANDPOINTONLINE.COM FOR AN UPDATED CALENDAR

June 2021 18 Schweitzer Opening Day. Schweitzer’s summer season kicks off with village activities, chairlift rides, hiking, biking. www.Schweitzer.com 18 ArtWalk Opening Receptions. Pend Oreille Arts Council presents its 44th Annual ArtWalk, with opening receptions from 5:30-8 p.m. at retail locations throughout downtown Sandpoint. Maps for the walking tour available downtown and online; the art displays continue through Sept. 6. www.ArtinSandpoint.org 18-19 Art as Theater melds visual and performing arts in unique live plays at the Panida Theater, 8 p.m. Tickets $15; proceeds benefit the Panida.

19-20 Father’s Day Weekend at Silverwood. Bring dad to the park and buy tickets online or at the gate and, dear old dad gets in free! www.

SilverwoodThemePark.com 24 Yappy Hour. Better Together Animal Alliance hosts a fun social hour for dogs and their people, 4-7 p.m. at the Ponderay PetSafe Dog Park, 870 Kootenai Cutoff Rd. in Ponderay. Free. www.BetterTogetherAnimalAlliance.org 208-265-7297 24 Summer Sampler. Hosted by the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, try tasty food and drink samples from area restaurants, enter to win raffle items, and enjoy live music. At Farmin Park, 5-8 p.m.; admission is free; food and drink items range from $3 to $7. www.

SandpointChamber.com 27 Race the Wolf. Ultra-marathon and trail race series at Schweitzer, with three distances: 52 km ultra-marathon, 26 km and 8km trail races. Rugged, challenging course with incredible views of lake and mountains. www.Schweitzer.com

July 2021

4 Fourth of July Celebration. Sandpoint Lions host downtown parades in the morning, festivities at City Beach in the afternoon, and a fireworks display over Lake Pend Oreille at dusk.

8 Pairings in the Pines. Hosted by Kaniksu Land Trust, wander the trails at Pine Street Woods and taste local bites from area chefs paired with different wines. Tickets at www.KaniksuLandTrust.org

10 Beerfest. Sample local and regional brews amid a festive beach party, noon-5 p.m., hosted by the Sandpoint Chamber. www.SandpointChamber.com. 208-263-2161 11 Jacey’s Race. Competitive 5k race for runners and walkers, and 1k fun run for kids, benefits local children with cancer or life-threatening illnesses. www.JaceysRace.com 13, 20 Toyota Tuesday at Silverwood.

The driver of any Toyota gets in free at Silverwood Theme Park when they bring an admission coupon from any Inland Empire regional Toyota dealer.

Coupon must be validated on arrival at Silverwood by a parking attendant. www.

SilverwoodThemePark.com 17-18 Northwest Wine Fest. Schweitzer hosts annual two-day summer tasting of fine wines from around the Pacific Northwest. www.Schweitzer.com 29 Yappy Hour. Better Together Animal Alliance hosts a fun social hour for dogs and their people, 4-7 p.m. at the Ponderay PetSafe Dog Park, 870 Kootenai Cutoff Rd. in Ponderay. Free. www.

BetterTogetherAnimalAlliance.org 29 The Festival at Sandpoint opens its 38th annual season with rock’n’roll act, St. Paul and the Broken Bones. Gates open at 6 p.m. Details and schedule on page 61. www.FestivalatSandpoint.com 30 The Festival at Sandpoint features country star Jake Owen with special guest Colby Acuff opening. Gates open at 6 p.m. Details and schedule on page 61. www.FestivalatSandpoint.com 31 Crazy Days. Downtown merchants offer big deals in annual sidewalk sale, sponsored by the Sandpoint Shopping District. www.downtownsandpoint.com 31-The Festival at Sandpoint features blues-folk-country-rock fusion artist Shakey Graves, with Tré Burt opening.

Gates open at 6 pm. Details and schedule on page 61. www.FestivalatSandpoint.com

FestivalatSandpoint.com 6 The Festival at Sandpoint Summer concert at Memorial Field. Details and schedule on page 61. www.

FestivalatSandpoint.com 6-7 Bonner County Rodeo. The fifth annual PRCA rodeo is held at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, 4203 N. Boyer Rd. Bull riding, saddle bronc and more, with women’s barrel racing sanctioned by Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. www.SandpointBonnerCountyRodeo.com 7 The Festival at Sandpoint Summer concert at Memorial Field. Details and schedule on page 61. www.

FestivalatSandpoint.com 7 Long Bridge Swim. Held annually on the first Saturday in August, the LBS is one of the premier open water swims in the Northwest, with swimmers as young as 7 … and some in their 80s. www.

LongBridgeSwim.org 7 Wings Over Sandpoint Fly-in. Regional pilots fly a variety of aircraft into Sandpoint Airport for this 16th annual fly-in hosted by the Sandpoint EAA Chapter 1441. Breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., with planes on display 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. 208-255-9954 8 The Festival at Sandpoint. Festival season finale at Memorial Field, featuring the Spokane Symphony. Opens with Taste of the Stars wine tasting.

Details and schedule on page 61. www.

FestivalatSandpoint.com 8 Huckleberry Color Fun Run and Walk.

This fun family event at Schweitzer is a great way to explore the trails and get showered with color all together! www.

Schweitzer.com

August 2021 1 The Festival at Sandpoint Summer concert at Memorial Field. Details and schedule on page 61. www.

FestivalatSandpoint.com 5 The Festival at Sandpoint Gladys Knight performs at Memorial Field.

Details and schedule on page 61. www.

Aug 18-21

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n da r alpeto rsr almanacca 14-15 Arts and Crafts Fair. Pend Oreille Arts Council’s annual fair features artist booths, food vendors, and a youth art arena all on display on streets downtown.

Artwork exhibited includes sculpture, ceramics, metal, fiber, photography, paintings, mixed media, wood, crafts, and more. Free; hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 14, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 15. www.

ArtinSandpoint.org 18-21 Bonner County Fair. Old-fashioned country event at the Bonner County Fairgrounds with exhibits and judging of farm animals, produce and crafts, great food booths and entertainment, plus signature events, the Challenge of Champions bull riding on Friday, and the Demolition Derby on Saturday. www.

BonnerCountyFair.com. 208-263-8414 20-21 Spokane to Sandpoint Relay. Two day, 200-mile relay adventure begins at Green Bluff north of Spokane, and finishes on the beach of Lake Pend Oreille in Sandpoint. www.SpokanetoSandpoint.com 21 Priest River Sprints. Non-motorized watercraft races at Priest River from 7 a.m.4 p.m., hosted by the Pend Oreille Rowing and Paddling Association and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Staging at the Priest River Recreation Area, aka the Mudhole park. Bring your single human-powered watercraft for fun races and get to know fellow rowers and paddlers. www.PORPA.org 21 Cybeline. Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will perform Cybeline in Sandpoint.

Venue TBA. There will be pre-play performances, so pack your picnic and get ready for some literary fun this summer!

Sponsored by Lost Horse Press. www.

LostHorsePress.org 26 Yappy Hour. Better Together Animal Alliance hosts a fun social hour for dogs and their people, 4-7 p.m. at the Ponderay PetSafe Dog Park, 870 Kootenai Cutoff Rd. in Ponderay. Free. www.

BetterTogetherAnimalAlliance.org

September ‘21 4-5 Coaster Classic Car Show.

Classic cars from across the Northwest converge on Silverwood Theme Park during Labor Day Weekend. www.

SilverwoodThemePark.com 11 CHAFE 150. Sandpoint Rotary hosts the annual 150-mile CHAFE bike ride through Montana and Idaho, along with a 40- and 80-mile options plus a Family Fun Ride. www.CHAFE150.org 11-12 Grandparents’ Weekend at Silverwood. For each grandchild that purchases a ticket, they will be given one free ticket for grandpa or grandma. www.

SilverwoodThemePark.com 13-18 WaCanId Ride. Annual supported bicycle tour takes cyclists on paved

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roads encircling the Selkirk Mountains of Washington, Canada and Idaho, ergo the WaCanId. The six-day ride covers 370 miles along the route of the International Selkirk Loop. www.WaCanId.org 18 Ponderay Neighbor Day. Familyfriendly community carnival, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. at Harbison Field behind the Hoot Owl restaurant in Ponderay. Free activities include kids crafts, pony rides, petting zoo, inflatables, carnival games, tastings, demonstrations, and live music. Free.

Sponsored by the City of Ponderay. 208265-5468 19 Scenic Half. Annual run, with 13.1mile half marathon and 10K distances and beautiful routes across and alongside Lake Pend Oreille. Presented by the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce. www.ScenicHalf.com 30 Yappy Hour. Better Together Animal Alliance hosts a fun social hour for dogs and their people, 4-7 p.m. at the Ponderay PetSafe Dog Park, 870 Kootenai Cutoff Rd. in Ponderay. Free. www.

BetterTogetherAnimalAlliance.org

jul 29 - Aug 8

October 2021 Sept. 30-Oct. 30 Scarywood. Each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night preceding Halloween, Silverwood Theme Park morphs into a play of terror, with five haunted attractions, seven scare zones, and most of Silverwood’s signature rides in the dark. www.SilverwoodThemePark.com Oct. 1-2 The Follies. Angels Over Sandpoint’s annual wild ‘n’ wacky fundraiser at the Panida moves to autumn this year, with proceeds benefitting the charity’s good deeds in the community.

Tickets go on sale Labor Day. www.

AngelsOverSandpoint.org 2-3 Panhandle Preparedness Expo. Bonner County Fairgrounds, 4203 N. Boyer Rd., hosts two days of preparedness, demonstrations, presentations and vendors. The focus of the expo is to help the community in ideas of preparedness for any kind of manmade/natural disaster. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. www.

PanhandlePrep.org 3 Bay Trail Fun Run. Annual familyfriendly 5K and 10K run and walk along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille and Sand Creek in Sandpoint. www.POBTrail.org 9 Run for the Woods. Kaniksu Land Trust hosts a fun run/trail run at Pine Street Woods. www.KaniksuLandTrust.org 9 Harvest Fest. Sandpoint Farmers Market closes out the season with entertainment, food booths, activities, displays at Farmin Park. www.SandpointFarmersMarket.com 208-597-3355

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breaking SHS grad Emily Thompson is first female to fly F-35 in combat

by Dalton Hawkins

S PHOTOS, TOP: THE F-35 FLYING IN FORMATION. ABOVE: CAPTAIN EMILY THOMPSON. PHOTOS COURTESY U.S. AIR FORCE.

andpoint High School alumni Captain Emily “Banzai” Thompson made aviation history books in June of 2020 as the first female to fly the F-35A in a combat mission when based out of Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. Thompson was supported by an all-female crew prior to taking off, marking a milestone in an historically male-dominated field.

Thompson is the second daughter of William and Heidi Thompson, now of Coeur d’Alene. William was in the army and SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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Interview th o m p s o n

stationed in Germany when he met Heidi, and Emily was born on March 1, 1991, in Germany. The family moved back to the States when Emily was about 4. She graduated from Sandpoint High School in 2009, where she participated in cross country, band, National Honor Society, Academic Decathlon, Math Club, and track, among other activities. One identifying feature for many students at Sandpoint High at the time was the fact that she often drove her motorcycle to school in the fairer months.

After high school, she attended the University of Kansas on an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship where she studied aerospace engineering, graduating in 2014.

Her senior year she was selected to pursue the pilot track of the Air Force and quickly began to shine like a rising star.

Airmen and women in the pilot program often are put into two tracks following basic flight school, either heavy or fighters, though there is a rise in drone pilots being selected as well.

Following her completion of the training program, Captain Thompson went to Kunsan Air Base in South Korea for two years, flying the F-16. During that time she had the opportunity to fly to many countries and participate in a multitude of exercises. Near the conclusion of her time in Kunsan she was

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PHOTOS AT LEFT RIGHT, TOP: CAPTAIN THOMPSON PREPARES FOR TAKEOFF. BOTTOM: THE F-35 TAKING OFF IN FORMATION. PHOTOS COURTESY U.S. AIR FORCE.

selected to go back to the States and train on the F-35. She eventually wound up with the 421st Expeditionary Fighter Wing out of Hill Air Force Base in Utah, where, after an extended period, she found herself on the way to Al Dhafra Air Base. While she was stationed there until December 2020, we were able to connect with Thompson to answer some questions about this achievement and growing up in Sandpoint.

SM: In general terms, what creates the classification of a combat mission, and what does that involve?

ET: Our squadron was picked up to deploy to the Middle East, so we were stationed out of Al Dhafra. We were deployed there as the 421st EFS (Expeditionary Fighter Squadron) with expectations to be deployed there for 6 months in CENTCOM. Any flights we’re doing out there are considered combat missions. You’re carrying live munitions on the aircraft, and you’re going out in support of U.S. interests and our partner nations in the area.

SM: So the difference between that and flying in the States is the live munitions?

ET: Mostly yeah, the big difference is that when we’re in the

States we are doing training. We might have live munitions if we’re doing live munitions training. Everything at home station is training.

SM: Before taking off did you know that you would be added to a list of firsts or was it going through your mind?

ET: Honestly, no. Throughout this entire process, I’ve just wanted to fly. When I graduated college I wanted to fly fighters but never with the ambition to be the first. Leading up to the sortie, and stepping up to the aircraft, there were so many who were excited and interested, especially other women. It never really dawned on me that this was a first for someone. I never really thought about it or considered it, it just really didn’t cross my mind until someone else actually brought it up, saying that this might be the first combat mission for a female in the F-35.

We did a little research and sure enough, that was the case. It really didn’t impact anything as, just like the other guys with me and all the other females in the past that have flown in combat in other fighters, we’re just going out to do our job. It’s what we train for every day here at Hill, and so it’s just another day on the job once we get out there. It was just another day at

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Interview th o m p s o n work. I’m just another fighter pilot out here doing my job.

SM: Were your ambitions to always be a fighter pilot? When did that change and what did you want to do before that?

EMILY THOMPSON IN FLIGHT, BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER. PHOTOS COURTESY U.S. AIR FORCE.

ET: I think I took a pretty non-standard route. If you talk to a lot of the guys here they have wanted to fly fighters their entire lives, they watched the Thunderbirds when they were 6 or they had other family members who were fighter pilots. I don’t have that inspiring story. I went to college planning on becoming an engineer and 100 percent thought that’s what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. It wasn’t until I was in ROTC I realized that not only can you design and build aircraft, but obviously there are others out there who fly them.

It wasn’t until college where I got to go out and fly with some of the others in Cessnas and other planes, as a lot of them had their private pilot’s license at that point. It was then that I realized that while I loved engineering, I loved flying even more. So I figured why not, might as well put my application in and see if I can get a pilot slot. I got selected and went to pilot training. You start in T-6s, which is just a two-seater prop aircraft, and from there you split into either fighters or heavies. I realized pretty quickly I want to be in an airplane by myself, going fast, and drop bombs. That’s when it dawned that the fighter pilot track is what I wanted to do.

SM: What was your experience with flight school?

ET: Stressful, and extremely challenging. I think I was lucky, coming from an engineering background, as a lot of pilots are engineers. [In engineering] you study a lot and work really hard in college, and pilot training was just an extension of that. The expectation is 12-hour days for a year’s duration. The expectation is that it’s on you to study and prepare for both ground training and flights. It was stressful; it was the first time I had ever flown

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besides just having fun with friends. I honestly felt a little behind, just because it was so new to me, and there were a lot of people that have a good amount of experience going into it, so it felt like I was playing a little bit of catch up for the first couple of months. It was an awesome experience though, the Air Force does a great job of knowing what you need to know and they get you the information quickly and effectively.

SM: What’s the story behind the callsign “Banzai?”

ET: So I can’t tell you the story, it’s a fighter pilot rule that if you want to hear my story you have to get a drink at the bar and we can sit down and talk about it. But I can tell you, for fighter pilots, it’s something you earn, and it’s something that stays with you the rest of your life. No one calls me Emily here, it’s just Banzai. It becomes your new name. I got mine in Korea. Typically you go through a two-month MQT (Mission Qualification Training) as soon as you arrive, at least in the F-16. Within the next few months, they’ll have a naming night, so all of your instructors and peers will come up with a list of names; typically this is something silly you did or mistakes you made. Oftentimes it’s something you did incorrectly and they build it into a funny story or acronym. It followed me to the F-35, though they can ‘hostile rename you’ if you do something worse than what you got your original name for. Typically, though, you’ll have that the rest of your life.

for the future?

ET: Right now I have about five years left in my commitment, and I don’t plan on switching out of flying fighters any time soon. I feel like I just started flying, which is weird because I’ve been in the Air Force for a while now. Especially because switching to the F-35, it feels like the beginning. It’s a lot of work and is super stressful, and I think everyone who does this works very hard. In the end, it’s worth it though; I get to take out an

expensive aircraft every day and fly for our country which is an awesome experience. But to answer your question, at this point I’m not sure. Typically people think 20 years for a career, I’m not opposed but it’s also not ‘the thing’ I’m going to do, it might depend on my next assignment and how that goes and the one after that.

As of right now I enjoy it very much and don’t plan on going anytime soon.

SM: Do you ever just sit there while you’re flying

rustic

modern

timberframe diverse

SM: Where all have you been stationed and what did you fly?

ET: First I went to an F-16 B course in Tucson, Arizona which is about nine months. From there my first assignment was to Kunsan Air Base in South Korea for about 18 months flying the Viper.

From there I was selected for the F-35, so had a five-month transition course at Egland Air Force Base in Florida. From Florida I went to Hill; I’ll probably be here another year before moving once again.

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SM: What are your plans SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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Interview th o m p s o n and think about how you’re flying A super expensive piece of equipment?

ET: Not really. I don’t know what people think we do up there, but it’s not Top Gun. When you get in the aircraft and start the engine, it is really busy and all business. You don’t really remember you’re up in the air at 30,000 feet doing the training. It’s almost like you’re at your desk doing your job. You are just so focused on working your sensors, shooting, or dropping your bombs. You’re just so busy doing your tactical mission, that you kind of forget like ‘oh I’m in a fighter jet right now, which is awesome.’ You really have to take a second when there is a lull in the fight or maybe while you’re going to or from the airspace to just say ‘look outside’ or ‘look at those wings behind me, that’s what I’m flying on.’ You honestly forget that sometimes, which sounds crazy, but you’re really focused on doing the job and doing it well, you kind of forget that you’re airborne and in an aircraft.

SM: Have you broken the sound barrier in either the F-16 or F-35? What is that experience like?

ET: We get that question quite often, it’s really the most uneventful thing you’ll experience. We go over Mach 1 often, and you might notice the nose of the plane moving a bit but that’s about it. Unless your eyes are on the readout you might miss it, which can get us in trouble as we aren’t supposed to.

SM: moving to your life in Sandpoint, was there an experience, or group of people, that inspired you to join the Air Force or become a pilot?

ET: The big step was getting into engineering and I think our teachers at the high school, like Mrs. Search, were a great support. There were so many people in our high school that were super supportive and kind of pushed us in that direction but in a good way. I would say the teachers at the high school were a big part of that.

Additionally, I would say Matt and Angie [Brass] were such a positive influence on all of us growing up to build up a strong foundation of friendship and mentorship. I think that was a big part of it too because we [the class of 2009 on the Cross Country team] had such a good group of individuals that were all super driven and focused on good careers, good paths, good choices. So I would say it’s a combination of that, both the teachers pushing in that direction and suggesting careers for us as well as the extracurricular support.

SM: Do you think your life in Sandpoint helped prepare you for this?

ET: SERE [Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, located at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington] was kind of enjoyable because I had this mindset of ‘Hey, I’m in my

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SHS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM WITH, COACH ANGIE BRASS, DALTON HAWKINS, EMILY THOMPSON, KAT OWENS (FORMERLY VARDELL), AND COACH MATT BRASS. COURTESY PHOTO.

backyard’ versus being from the city and not having the true outdoors experience. The rural living outdoors and outdoor lifestyle was very helpful for that.

SM: What were some of your favorite things to do when you lived in Sandpoint?

ET: Skiing at Schweitzer. I don’t think I ever realized how awesome we had it in Sandpoint with Schweitzer, [how] in the wintertime we all went skiing, and then had this huge lake in the summertime, and then hiking, and backpacking. There are just so many opportunities to do so much there. Maybe not going out to the city, but that isn’t my thing anyway. Just so many things to do outdoors there.

SM: If you could say something to young people, and maybe even more specifically the girls, in Sandpoint, what would you say?

ET: First, don’t doubt yourself. If there is anything that remotely interests you, go do it. If that means leaving the Sandpoint area, or the state of Idaho, just go do it. You only get so many opportunities. Don’t be scared to just go out and do it.

Then, once you’ve set your mind on a path, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. You are more than capable, the people that are naysayers aren’t the people you should be listening to anyway. There are lots of other people out there who are very supportive about you doing whatever it is you want to do.

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features s c ul p to r

Sculptor Ott Jones Turning a passion into a fulfilling career

by Patty Hutchens

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tt Jones grew up in Spokane, but it was the trips to his family cabin in Sandpoint that shaped his future. It was here, in the beauty of North Idaho, where Jones developed a passion for wildlife and the outdoors. He coupled this passion with his love of art, which eventually evolved into a career that has brought him international acclaim.

“Our family would go to Lake Pend Oreille almost every weekend in the summers,” shared Jones. “It’s where I learned to fish and where I also enjoyed exploring in the woods.” It was during these times when Jones developed a keen interest in, and fascination for, wildlife and outdoor adventure. Jones also went on several climbing and backpacking trips throughout the Selkirk Mountains and spent many winters skiing the slopes at Schweitzer Mountain Resort.

He credits his parents, Ott Sr. and Elita, for facilitating a passion for art. Elita was an accomplished painter and both she and her husband took Jones along to many local art shows. Jones said it was his parents who taught him to fish and hunt [and] to respect living creatures.

After attending Washington State University on a tennis scholarship and graduating with a degree in education, Jones was unsure of where his future would lead. He ventured to Alaska and worked as a fishing guide for those first few summers.

“Guiding in the Alaskan wilderness, seeing the salmon runs and abundant wildlife, was such an inspiration and important part of my early development as an artist,” said Jones. After a day of guiding, Jones would return to the bunkhouse and create sculptures of the various Alaskan wildlife. “At one time during the summer, I was camped out in the bush for six weeks. At night I sculpted by candle light, occasionally hearing grizzlies walking through the camp.”

The owners of the lodge where Jones worked allowed him to display various creations. When clients began to purchase pieces, and even entire editions, Jones realized that he could turn his passion for art into a career. One of his first clients was the late singer John Denver, who purchased one of his early sculptures of a bald eagle in flight, titled “On the Wings of Freedom.” Eventually, Jones left Alaska but not without giving back to the state that had given him so much over the years.

“In my appreciation of the great experiences that Alaska gave me, I donated ‘Spirit of the Wilderness’ to the state,” said Jones. “This sculpture depicts a lunging grizzly bear bobbling a sockeye salmon in its paws.” It is on permanent display in the Anchorage Airport.

Jones’s career as a bronze sculptor received a large boost in the mid 1980s when he had sculptures on display in a local fly shop near Aspen, Colorado. It was there that actor Robert Wagner and his wife, Jill St. John, initially purchased a couple of Jones’ sculptures. “We became good friends, and they started collecting my work,” said Jones. “They invited my wife Joan and I to come down to their Bel Air home for a private showing of my work. The show was an incredible boost to my career.”

Jones, who has worked full time as an artist and lived in Bozeman for the last 34 years, has received international notice as well. One of his friends, Robert Milner, owns the famed Duckhill Kennels in Somerville, SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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PREVIOUS PAGE: “MORNING MAYFLIES.” ABOVE: SCULPTOR OTT JONES WORKING ON “THE GREAT ESCAPE.” BELOW, TOP: JONES’ SCULPTURE “BIRTH OF THE LABRADOR” WAS COMMISSIONED AS A GIFT TO QUEEN ELIZABETH II, WHO SENT HIM A NOTE OF THANKS WHEN SHE RECEIVED IT. THE QUEEN BREEDS LABS AND SPANIELS IN ADDITION TO HER BELOVED CORGIS. BOTTOM: JONES WORKS ON “ARRIVAL OF DUSK.” COURTESY PHOTOS.

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Tennessee, where he breeds and trains some of the finest British Labrador retrievers in the world. “He gets many of his labs from Queen Elizabeth’s kennels in England,” said Jones. Milner’s love of Labradors and an interest in the history of the breed is what prompted him to commission a sculpture from Jones titled “Birth of the Labrador.”

Milner presented Queen Elizabeth with Jones’ sculpture as a gift of appreciation. “In 2016 this sculpture was included in an exhibition at the United Kingdom’s Kennel Club Art Gallery and it now resides in the Queen’s vacation home in Sandringham, England,” said Jones.

Jones said that what he enjoys most about his work is plain and simple–sculpting and creating a piece of work. But it doesn’t come without challenges.

“For me the two most challenging aspects of being a wildlife sculptor are designing a strong composition and creating a sculpture that is not a carbon copy of Mother Nature’s creatures,” said Jones. “I want the viewers to enjoy the many elements of a composition including form, shape, mass, line, negative space, and movement. It’s crucial that my subject’s anatomy is accurate, but I don’t want to sculpt in every single hair, feather, or scale. My philosophy is that less is more, and I don’t want the viewer to get distracted by repetitive and unnecessary detail.”

Jones’ experience in sporting and the outdoors has been vital in portraying subjects accurately in sculpture, both anatomically and physiologically. “I need to know my subjects’ personality, behaviors, unique gestures, and habits. For me this has been obtained from a lifetime of studying and observing animals,” explained Jones.

Jones has created hundreds of pieces during his career.

The piece he is most proud of is his life-size fly fisherman and Labrador retriever, “Stream Side Companions” which sits in front of the Bozeman/Yellowstone International Airport.

“Another sculpture that I’m proud of is “Jim Bridger-King of the Mountain Men,” which sits in front of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce. This piece, being an historical work, took a lot of research and makes one realize how difficult and dangerous it was living in the Rocky Mountain wilderness in the 1800s.”

Jones’ career has spanned 34 years over which time he has created hundreds of pieces. “Each piece was created from my heart and soul and brings back memories of a certain time, place and experience,” said Jones, who adds that it takes a lifetime to complete a sculpture. “The knowledge I’ve obtained over decades and the time I’ve spent observing and photographing my subjects is all part of creating a piece.”

Jones and his wife Joan live in Bozeman, Montana, where they raised four children. They also enjoy spending time at their place in Dover Bay, where they are carrying on the family tradition of exploring the outdoors with their own children and grandchild.

Learn more at www.ottjones.com

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Sandpoint ARTFULLY

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Tour artists’ studios within the greater Sandpoint area.

Check out the schedule, dates and more information on the tour at: arttourdrive.org SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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MTB’ers Making tracks

Trails are poppin’ with Pend Oreille Pedalers

by Cate Huisman

PHOTO ABOVE: MEMBER VOLUNTEERS CELEBRATE THE COMPLETION OF SOLAR ECSTASY, A SECTION OF THE WATERSHED CREST TRAIL, AT “POP POINT,” A 6,100FOOT PROMONTORY ON ULEDA RIDGE HIGH ABOVE THE LITTLE SAND CREEK WATERSHED. COURTESY PHOTO.

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wenty years ago, mountain bikers around Sandpoint found that areas they had been using for years had started to fill with houses and were shut down. Each summer seemed to bring new closures to familiar trails and trailheads. A decade ago, a popular approach to trails above town was literally excavated and carried away when the new highway bridge was built across the railroad at Dover.

But then the tide seemed to turn. A couple of generous landowners who were also enthusiastic cyclists made land available for public trails. The Pend Oreille Pedalers, the local biking club, built and maintained trails in what is now the Sherwood Forest section of the Syringa trail system. When Kaniksu Land Trust made the adjacent Pine Street Woods available to the public, POP built trails there too. Another section just becoming available is called VTT—an acronym for velo tout-terrain or “all-terrain bicycle,” the French term for a mountain bike. (The owners providing use of this land have enjoyed riding in France.)

In addition to these trails in the Syringa area, more trails opened up north of town.

The city of Sandpoint warmed to the idea of a trail constructed around the crest of its Little Sand Creek watershed. It gave POP a license agreement to maintain trails in a 523-acre zone within the watershed as well, in what is now called the Lower Basin.

By the summer of 2020, the number of trails (and trail parties to work on them) seemed to explode. Not coincidentally, that was when POP hired its first paid staff member, Jason Welker. Since then, more grant funds for trail construction have flowed in from private and government sources, volunteers have worked weekly through SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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pedalers

the snow-free weeks of the year, and massively growing numbers of riders have taken to ever-increasing miles of trails. Welker points out that POP’s trail cameras recorded 1,950 mountain bikers over a 10-day period in July 2020 in the Lower Basin alone.

“When you have somebody leading the organization, you’re going to get a lot more done,” said Welker, guessing that having his funded position has shortened the timeline for getting trails built from 10 to 15 years down to two or three. “There’s so much pent up energy and excitement for something like this in Sandpoint.” POP’s membership has been growing rapidly, and members don’t just ride bikes—they build trails.

Last year, from April through October, nearly 200 different volunteers worked to build trails in the hills around Sandpoint. Work parties got together 32 Thursday nights in a row, as well as on several weekends. Trail construction was a great activity for social distancing.

The trails aren’t built entirely with human power. POP’s army of Thursday night volunteers first clears a corridor of branches and small trees. Then a micro-excavator scours out the initial tread: “A Kubota can do more in one hour than 15 volunteers can do in 10 hours,” Welker explained. After the tread is cut, the army returns to smooth out the surface, rake away rocks, and cut off protruding roots.

With such careful construction, some of the new trails POP built in Pine Street Woods last year are ideal for families, beginners, and elders. Kinsley Lieven (then age 5) and sister Sloane (then age 3) started last summer able to ride just one time around the 1.5-mile meadow loop in PSW with their dad, and both were doing two loops by the end of the summer. Their neighbor, more than six decades their senior, found the new rockless, rootless, dropless Owl Trail was easy on her replaced left knee, reconstructed right foot, and deteriorating elbows. Meanwhile, the masses at other skill and ability levels could find more challenging terrain in the increasing number of trails in the wider Syringa system.

POP’s volunteers also worked on the long-dreamed-of Watershed Crest trail, extending it out on Uleda Ridge to a place they named POP Point, in an area known to Schweitzer side-country skiers as Solar Ecstasy. The next phase of work on this trail will extend it onto land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. “BLM is all for trails, but it’s complex,” said Welker. This is in part because work on BLM land will require an environmental study. Nevertheless, POP plans to complete the Crest trail by 2025, building about four miles a year as funds become available.

This summer’s projects include completion of a trail around the perimeter of PSW as well as construction of a beginner trail in VTT. Later in the summer, the action will shift to the Lower Basin, where increased use has brought conflicts between those riding (slowly) uphill and those riding (much faster) downhill. A new trail will be constructed to provide a gentler grade for those on the way up.

There are some who are a bit overwhelmed by all this activity, wondering if so

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FACING PAGE: COACH KATIE BRADISH AND PARTICIPANTS IN POP’S YOUTH SUMMER MOUNTAIN BIKE CAMP. ABOVE: EZRA STAFFORD (FRONT) LEADS VOLUNTEERS BACK TO THE PARKING LOT FOR BEERS AFTER A GRUELING EVENING OF CLEARING CORRIDOR IN PINE STREET WOODS. COURTESY PHOTOS.

many trails and so much use are actually good things. Welker responds that the trails serve to conserve the land. The economic activity generated by recreational use addresses the loss of tax revenues that might otherwise have come from logging or development. That activity is reflected in the business community’s support of POP: When Welker first put out a call for sponsors last summer, 28 local businesses signed up within a month.

Anyone looking for a way to spend their Thursday evenings could do a lot worse than volunteer on a POP trail crew. It’s good exercise, it can be socially distanced, and you’re out with a friendly group. And for kid members, POP will repeat its series of mountain-biking camps that were immensely popular last year, expanding them to include 32 participants weekly, up from 24 last summer.

Welker summed up reasons for the group’s achievements: “When you have opportunities to build trails, and you have committed volunteers, and you have a business community that supports it all, it’s a really successful recipe.” He added that runners and hikers, as well as cyclists, have been enthusiastic users and builders of trails. So it certainly appears that Sandpoint’s network of trails is going to continue to pop.

See more at www.pendoreillepedalers.com

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Learn more: www.frontyardproject.org

SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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K R FY R a d i o

JUSTneedWHAT YOU to hear

KRFY marks 10 years on air

by Susan Drinkard

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he studio for community radio station 88.5 KRFY is located just a couple blocks from the breathtaking glacial Lake Pend Oreille. The station mirrors the magic of the lake with its opportunities for experiencing a different kind of depth and breadth; if the lake is the heart of our community, the radio may reflect its soul.

Just as the deep lake offers its restorative energy to individuals, so does the radio station, which offers a personal, even curative balm with its eclectic music shows, many produced by locals who seem to know just what you need to hear.

KRFY celebrates its 10th anniversary on the air this year, and that it has managed to survive and thrive without the ads played on commercial radio is solely due to the generosity of local underwriters, individual donors, and a host of volunteers who have worked to build a station and keep it going.

KRFY’s roots actually go back even further in time, to December 2006, when a community radio station was just a glint in the eye of Scott Daily. Daily met with others including Jeff Poole, Kelly McTavish, and Barry Barush for a beer at Eichardt’s pub, to discuss the rather improbable dream of starting a commercialfree alternative radio station for North Idaho.

In October of 2007, the Federal Communications Commission opened a seven-day application window to allocate full-powered

community radio frequencies, and the Sandpoint volunteers jumped at the chance. The small group of dreamers spent the next year and a half fundraising, networking with community members and creating engineering plans, said Suzy Prez, station manager.

Construction of the studio and equipment acquisition began in 2009. Originally licensed as Sandpoint Community Radio, the station went live January 25, 2011. Daily and Barush have sadly since passed away, but Jim Healey, now vice president of the station’s board of directors, joined the station in 2011. “At that time there were just Jeff Poole and me,” he recalled.

From the start, Charlie and Donna Parrish came on as underwriters to provide the studio space in downtown Sandpoint.

“We liked the idea of providing a forum for the community to learn about local issues and nonprofit efforts,” said Charlie. “The news and discussions are a valuable service. Donna and I just saw an opportunity to help get the station off the ground.”

Charlie Parrish is now president of the nonprofit board that governs the station. He said he especially enjoys the locally produced shows such as “The Morning Show” and “Community Conversations,” current affairs programs which feature rotating hosts who interview guests across the spectrum of community interests. The past year, due to COVID-19 precautions that closed the SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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features s c ul p to r PRECEDING PAGE, AT THE SOUND BOARD IS CONNOR BIRD, HOST OF THE “CP AT 3” SHOW FOR SANDPOINT HIGH STUDENTS, WITH STATION MANAGER SUZY PREZ AND FOUNDING BROADCASTER JIM HEALEY. AT LEFT, THE LATE BARRY BARUSH WITH FIRST STATION MANAGER JEFF POOLE, FLANKING NATIONALLY SYNDICATED BROADCASTER DAVID BARSAMIAN IN 2012; AND THE LATE SCOTT DAILY PROVIDED THE SPARK THAT STARTED IT ALL. COURTESY PHOTOS.

Ready to Go exploRinG?

studio, the interviews have been conducted through Zoom and with three part-time paid staffers, and more volunteers with a recorded, but live interviews will return in the coming months.

G e t o u t t h e r e , w i t h l o c a l g u i ddesire e b otoo do k sradio t oareswelcome, h o w ysaid o uPrez. t hShe e wnoted a y that ! learning Healey observes that the station has evolved in its programming. the mechanics of broadcasting and production takes some effort, “The station is now on the air 24/7. In its early days the station would for which the station has developed a three-part training for go off the air overnight,” he said. “Now the station has programming beginning broadcasters. by locals who share their love and knowledge of jazz, blues, spoken But from those volunteers springs a wealth of varied listening word, folk, local and regional music, and show tunes.” Prez noted the interests. station plays an eclectic mix of world music to broaden and enrich Sunday’s late-morning “Harriette Pink and the Morning listeners, as well as national programs such as “Woodsongs Old-Time After,” showcases Ricci Witte’s mellow musical compilations. And Radio Hour,” “Juke in the Back,” and “Bird Notes.”

“Velma’s Hump Day Café” show is a favorite of many; after all, “And we stream all over the world now,” Prez said—to which she is also known as the “Queen of Fun.” Healey can attest. He met two of his Italian cousins on a Camino “Songs, Voices, and Poems” is Jackie Henrion’s creative broadde Santiago pilgrimage in 2016. “One of them occasionally tunes cast on Sunday evening; her songwriting experiences and ongointo my folk show on Thursday nights from Genzano di Roma, a ing study of poetry are revealed during this one-hour treat. small town south of Rome,” he said.

Those are just a few of the regular shows; there are many Parrish and the board’s goals for the station include opportuni- more. After 10 years, KRFY provides a steady stream of educaties for the town’s youth to create their own programming. Prestional and culturally enriching opportunities in which to wade, ently Connor Bird, a Sandpoint High School student, produces an and currents of diverse musical shows to stream.

Hear KRFY at 88.5 FM, or stream it live from anywhere at impressive weekly show, “CP at 3,” tailored for young people.

Packed with history, lore Guide to 100-plus trails, Definitive guide to more www.krfy.org The station currently has 12 volunteer broadcasters, along and guides, a bible of including the Cabinet than 170 hikes and rides information for our lake Mountain Wilderness in the the Selkirks • $26 • $19.50 • $16.50

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Geological field guide to the gigantic floods Packed with history, lore right … that originated and guides, a bible of here! • $26 information for our lake • $26

Take a lush photographic journey around the remarkable International Selkirk Loop. Map and delightful narrative, too. • New price! $24

Guide to 100-plus trails, including the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness • $16.50

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LI TER A RY A RTS

The Writers, They Keep on Writing

Local authors produce an abundance of new books

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any of the musical and visual artists who make their home in North Idaho will attest that our glorious natural environment is an inspiration for their muse. The community of writers here might say the same thing. Or maybe they’d chalk it up to something in the water.

What is true is that writers in Sandpoint, or connected here, continue to produce a large variety of new books, both in fiction and fact. Here’s a batch that has made it into print (and in some cases, as e-books) in the past year. If a title piques your interest, most of these are available in Sandpoint’s two fine bookstores, The Corner Book Store and Vanderford’s Books; and in Bonners Ferry at Bonners Books. Or find them online at www.KeokeeBooks.com or other e-retailers.

Tales from the High Lonesome

L. Scott Hancock 131 pages, $7.99 paperback

People locally acquainted with Scott Hancock know him as the former owner of Goose Point Construction, or remember him tooling around town in either his motorcycle (which he drove from the sidecar) or his specialty van, before rolling out in his wheelchair for his regular, weekly “liars’ club” meeting with several friends. But in his first published book, Hancock takes readers back to his cowboy roots, with a series of tales about the people and places that populated his life.

In the pages of “Tales from the High Lonesome” you’ll read about Winston Churchill, and Yellowstone (where he grew up), and the Pig

The Dog With His Head on Sideways

Sandy Compton 214 pages • $15 paperback

Okay, there’s more to the title of this book, which continues: “And nineteen other sappy sentimental stories.” Author Compton is one of Sandpoint’s most prolific writers, with at least eight other books under his belt in both fiction and nonfiction, not to mention a long-running column, “The Scenic Route,” among other frequent writings in the Sandpoint Reader, this magazine, and others. This newest tome is a collection of stories written from the 1980s through last year, and they cover a lot of ground geographically as well as chronologically. He presents them in four collections: dog stories, love stories, “Purely

Someday we will

Lady. There’s the Snake River, and pheasants, and fishing, and dogs, and more. A former local journalist, Kevin Keating, wrote a review of the book and opined, “It’s enlightening to sit with Scott, as I and many others have, to hear his boisterous, exuberant voice while he fusses with his unruly mustache perched over a mischievous smile. But the next best thing is to read them.” Added Keating: “The stories in this book are true—yet almost unbelievable.” Hancock, who retired and moved with his wife Colleen to be near family in southern Idaho, is hard at work on his second book.

Shoreline,” and potpourri. The title story was inspired by a village dog Compton encountered near the Siberian oil town of Nizhnevartovsk in March 2001 just months before 9/11 changed the world; the newest stories were finished in 2020 as the pandemic wrought its own global changes. In between, Compton relates a series of his self-described sentimental, possibly sappy, but well-told tales that are often centered around or connected to the fictional town of Shoreline, Idaho—a small town on a big river somewhere in our state. Sounds suspiciously similar to another shore-hugging town we might know.

Pam Webb, illustrated by Wendy Leach. 32 pages • $14.97 hardcover

Although written before the word COVID entered our vocabularies, “Someday We Will” seems created for these times: A reflection on all the activities a grandparent will undertake with their grandchildren when “someday” they’ll be together again. The book came about from author Pam Webb’s wish to spend time with her grand-

daughter, Zara, who doesn’t live in the area, and her planning for what they could do together. Webb, a high school AP English teacher at Sandpoint High School and former trustee on the local library’s board of directors, has published in numerous publications, and was an Author of the Month for “Highlights” magazine. This is her first picture book.

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ss owner. When

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r County Museum.

b o o ks

Hope, East Hope and Clark Fork’s Early History Gary L. Pietsch Ho pe, East Ho pe & Clark Fo rk ’s Early Histo ry • A story of h ow p ion e e rs carve d t h re e cit ie s ou t of a wild e rn e ss

son of North Idaho

etired newspaper

features

Hope, East Hope & Hope, East Hope & Clark Fork’s Early History Clark Fork’s Early History A STORY OF HOW PIONEERS CARVED THREE CITIES OUT OF A WILDERNESS A story of how pioneers carvedBYt hree cit ies out of a wilderness by GARY L. PIETSCH Gary L. Pietsch

G ary L. Pietsch

In this followup to his first book, “Sandpoint’s Early History,” retired newspaper publisher Gary Pietsch delves into the local history just a bit farther to the east, in Hope, East Hope, and Clark Fork. Pietsch utilized the vast collection of personal histories and experiences gathered by the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum in telling the stories of the area’s early pioneers and settlers—folks seeking their own piece of land during the Western expansion. (And as Pietsch

Squirrels & Heaven

Stardust and the Bitter Moon

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van on a trip of self knowledge and absolution, fraught with memories and references to his hippie days. The new novel has so far garnered 4.9 out of 5 stars from Amazon reviewers, where one called it a “trip fantastic” and remarked, “For all of us who stumbled through the ‘60s and ‘70s, this was a great tribute to carefree days gone but not forgotten.” This book is available only as a Kindle edition at present, though a print edition may be in the offing.

William J. Craddock 414 pages • $19.95 paperback Speaking of the ‘60s, here is one of the era’s definitive works. This 50th anniversary edition of Craddock’s classic 1970 book capturing the birth of the psychedelic revolution, which fell out of print in subsequent decades, was published in association with Sandpoint’s Keokee Books through personal ties of the late author that stretched back more than 30 years. The book’s journey is an anomaly; it garnered high praise from reviewers in 1970, with the Los Angeles Times declaring it “superb” in the tradition of the era-defining works of Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, and Hunter Thompson, while the Chicago Sun Times called it “an astounding book, so good it

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them forever. Rickel chronicles his near-death experience, and his long recovery reaching the lowest of the lows, before resolutely climbing back up through unshakable faith and realizing he “would never consider myself to be handicapped.” If you’re curious about the title, that’s all the more reason to give this petite-sized but uplifting book a quick read!

Dominic Cvitanich 239 pages • $5.99 Kindle

The first thing for local readers to know about this book is that Dominic is the given name of a fellow better known as Dick, as in former Lake Pend Oreille School District Superintendent Dick Cvitanich. Now retired, Cvitanich’s first foray into novel writing is a meditation on the hippie culture of the 1960s and ‘70s. It is the story of Anton, a child of the ‘60s who in the present day is a successful father of three girls but a failed husband who is now facing his own mortality. He embarks in his iconic 1973 Volkswagen

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aptly notes in his preface, “We are all immigrants from somewhere else.”) The compilation of stories and photos also includes chapters on the 1894 Lake Pend Oreille Storm, which destroyed homes and interrupted train service for several weeks, and the building of the Cabinet Gorge Dam in the 1950s, including awe-inspiring photos. Here’s a chance to learn some local history—and help it, too, as all profits from book sales benefit the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum.

Randall Rickel 118 pages • $7.50 paperback

This true story of “survival after calamity” is North Idaho resident Rickel’s personal account that begins on a bright summer day in 1972, when he was a teenager working with a friend moving irrigation pipe on their farm in North Idaho. The tragedy that struck with some 72,000 volts of shocking power nearly claimed their lives—and most certainly changed

be not content

95 pages • $19.95 paperback

defies praise.” Yet after its initial small press run by Doubleday sold out, the publisher abandoned the book. Craddock died in 2004 but his book has been brought back for this 50th anniversary edition by his friend and literary executor, Jay Shore, who wrote a new foreword and included additional photos and writings that give more insight to Craddock’s rare talent. The story is Craddock’s contemporaneous, mostly true account of riding with the Hells Angels beginning as a 16-year-old before going, deeply, into the acid-freak movement of 1960s San Francisco. It’s one of the most authentic, lived-in narratives of the early days of the psychedelic revolution.

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Upper Columbia Fur Men

LI TER A RY ARTS

Mike Reeb • Available July 2021 in paperback

In this upcoming sequel to his first book, “Inland Salish Journey: Fur Trade to Settlement,” Reeb delivers a unique account of the FrenchCanadians fur trade era, tracking the careers of pioneer fur men in the primitive Northwest from 1800-1860. With illustrations, maps, and rare photographs, Reeb documents the trappers’ quest for furs—an adventurous and risky enterprise that often resulted in accidents, disease, and violent deaths for the trappers, as well as both conflicts and harmony with the indigenous peoples of the frontier. What differentiates Reebs’ book from others about the early fur trade era is that he digs back to its earlier roots.

“There’s been lots written on the subject over the years, but it’s mostly been written about the Americans,” Reeb said. “They didn’t come onto the scene for 25 years. The Canadians had complete control of the western United States; they played a leading role.” Reeb has spent many years in retirement researching the history of the fur trade. A resident of Ponderay, the career forester and part-time trapper—along with his wife, Joy—has revisited many key locations of the fur traders and indigenous peoples. Luckily for history buffs, Reeb’s passion and vast knowledge of the subject matter are now documented for all to enjoy.

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Don’t let a Montana mine spoil our Idaho treasure.

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ecla Mining Co. calls the Rock Creek ore deposit “world-class...with 229 million ounces of silver and two billion pounds of copper.”

That should terrify all of us in Sandpoint.

Because Lake Pend Oreille is far more precious than any amount of precious metals. And getting to those deposits will create a monster mine that sends a stream of daily pollutants downstream, right into our Lake.

And also leave behind a 100 millionton pile of toxic waste to leach into the Clark Fork River, our Lake’s main tributary!

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We’ve been fighting to prevent this catastrophe for 22 years—through four mining companies and multiple court decisions. Unfortunately, things are heating up again and we need help to cover ongoing legal fees.

Lake Pend Oreille is the treasure that supports our tourism, recreation, businesses and real estate. If it’s precious to you, please help us protect it.

R O C K CR EEK ALLIANCE

Visit our website, become a member, offer a donation.

208.610.4896 rockcreekallian ce.org

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Don’t

dam it Bring a cooler and SKIP THE DAM

by Susan Drumheller

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fter the winter snows have melted off the mountains, and the days become drenched in sunshine, mountain streams settle into their slower summer pace.

The heat draws picnickers and campers to the hills, where they cool their feet and beer in the creeks, while the kids play in the woods or in the shallow waters.

Sometimes these visitors forget that they share these waters with a myriad of other creatures, among them the mighty bull trout.

With its understated salmon-colored spots, the bull trout isn’t as colorful as its flashier cousins, westslope cutthroat and rainbow trout, prized in fly fishing circles. Yet, bull trout also are exciting to catch, mainly because they’re relatively rare—and they can grow large.

It’s not legal to harvest (a gentle word for kill) bull trout in Idaho, because this native trout is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The streams and lakes of the Panhandle are considered critical habitat for the fish.

But sometimes the harm that comes to bull trout isn’t through poaching or accidental harvest, but through the innocent actions of families just trying to cool down and relax.

A popular pastime in some streams is to build rock dams to create pools for wading or for parking a lawn chair with some creek-cooled beverages. This beaver-like behavior is not good for bull trout, however.

Tom Whalen, a retired Idaho Fish and Game officer, used to spend a fair amount of time dismantling the low, cobble and rock dams while patrolling the tributaries of Lake Pend Oreille.

“I’ve torn out dams on nearly every tributary of this lake,” Whalen said. Typically, he finds them near dispersed camp SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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sites or popular hang-out spots. One perennial problem spot is Grouse Creek Falls.

Whalen once waded into Grouse Creek below the falls to tear apart a recreational rock dam and found an adult bull trout crushed beneath one of the rocks that dislodged from the loosely built structure.

“You could tell it was trying to get upstream, but part of her body was downstream,” Whalen recalled. It was a sight rarer than a live bull trout, yet it illustrates the problem these barriers present to native fish.

Each fall, mature bull trout spawn in the upper reaches of cool mountain streams. They swim up their natal stream, sometimes in midsummer, guided by a homing instinct. When it’s time, with a few sweeps of their tail, they tuck their eggs into nests of gravel (redds), which hatch in the early spring.

After two or three years in their natal stream, the young bullies make their way downstream to feed and grow in lakes or rivers. They’ll spend the next three or four years putting on a few pounds (in January 2021, a 39-inch, 31-pound bull trout was caught in Lake Pend Oreille), then make their way back to their birthplace to repeat the cycle.

Barriers, like man-made rock dams, can keep them from reaching their spawning habitat.

“The fish will still try to get through because their drive is so

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PREVIOUS PAGE: A SIGN NEAR GROUSE CREEK FALLS WARNS VISITORS AGAINST DAM CONSTRUCTION. PHOTO BY CLINT NICHOLSON. THIS PAGE: ROCK DAMS IMPEDE THE SPAWN OF ENDANGERED BULL TROUT. PHOTO BY MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE AND PARKS.

strong, and those rocks are still loose, they haven’t had time to naturally settle,” Whalen said, explaining how the fish can be crushed.

The dams typically wash away in spring runoff, and so they don’t usually stop the spring spawners, like the westslope cutthroat trout. But bull trout spawn in the fall, after the annual recreational dam construction season.

While fish can make their way over natural barriers, like Grouse Creek Falls, the low, man-made rock dams pose a more difficult challenge, explained Sean Stash, a fisheries biologist with the Sandpoint Ranger District.

The problem is, it’s too shallow below the rock dams.

“There are deeper pools throughout the falls,” Stash said of Grouse Creek Falls. “When you have deeper pools, fish can jump obstacles fairly well. They get a running start ... It’s amazing what adult fish can make it up.”

Fishing for bull trout in the Panhandle, like westslope cutthroat trout, is by catch and release only. Idaho Fish and Game is trying to build back a robust bull trout population so they can be harvested along with other trout species. But that requires ample quality spawning habitat and a way for bull trout to reach that habitat in the fall.

Still, the Idaho Panhandle is considered a stronghold for bull trout, while across the border in Montana, the population

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is struggling. There, fisheries managers don’t allow fishing for bull trout even under catch and release rules.

The mantra for bull trout recovery is the four C’s: stream habitat that’s cold, clean, connected, and complex. Management actions include stream restoration efforts to improve the four C’s, and outreach and education efforts to get the public’s support in protecting bull trout.

Most people value native fish; they just might need more knowledge of fish needs, according to Dustin Masin, who took Whalen’s place as Idaho Fish and Game’s Bull Trout Officer.

“It’s important for people to recognize that fish use these streams as highways,” Masin said. “Rock dams are something in the way that’s going to kill a few of them.”

In addition to learning to properly identify bull trout—to avoid accidentally catching one for keeps—the public can also help their recovery by practicing the Leave No Trace ethic when camping and visiting the woods: i.e. take only pictures, leave only footprints.

In this case, don’t alter the waterways and leave no sign of your visit to the bull trout’s home.

And if you’re lucky, you might one day get the rare pleasure of spying—and perhaps catching— one of these plucky bulls in a high mountain stream.

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A HEART Help TO SCRC takes on bigger mission as new EnVision Center service hub

by Carrie Scozzaro

T

he glossy brochure photos in magazines and on travel industry websites touting the beauty of the Sandpoint area only paint part of the picture. The mountains and lake are indeed majestic, but the scene for a growing number of people struggling to make ends meet is bleak.

According to a recent United Way study, nearly 40 percent of Idaho households still struggle to afford such essentials as housing, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare, and all-important telecommunications. This includes people at or below the poverty level, which in 2016 was $11,880 single, $24,300 for a family of four. It also includes people in what the United Way calls the ALICE category—asset limited, income constrained, employed—who are above, yet perilously close, to the federal poverty level. And in 2016, Idaho’s ALICE households hovered around 32 percent, despite a statewide and national trend from 2007–2018 towards slightly higher wages and lower unemployment.

In Bonner County specifically, the struggle is real. The United Way data for 2016 (published in 2018) and 2018 (published in 2020) both show that local households are still at or slightly worse off than statewide numbers with—again—close to half of all households unable to provide for basic necessities.

The numbers for 2020 are expected to be even worse.

“We doubled the number of people we served last year,” said Linnis Jellinek, executive director of the former Sandpoint Community Resource Center, which recently announced its transition to the Community Resource EnVision Center.

The foundation for the Center was laid in 2009 by community members Dave Peitz and Rich Crettol, who saw a need for a clearinghouse connecting the area’s numerous non-profit agencies—roughly 300 of them, SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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at least half of them active. In 2011, Sandpoint Community Resource Center was born.

When COVID-19 hit, however, organizers saw a need of a different sort.

SCRC was more geared towards handouts, than a hand up, said Jellinek. As an information hub for such things as utility assistance, and securing food and housing, the onus to physically obtain services was still on the person in need to get themselves to various places and navigate the system on their own.

The new CREC, by contrast, is like a one-stop-shop for a range of necessities with the flexibility to adapt as needs arise.

In a major move this spring to 10,000-square-foot offices adjacent to the Litehouse corporate offices in Kootenai, the CREC moves beyond a virtual hub to something concrete. They have room for up to eight like-minded organizations, which will sublet for low rent, free WiFi, and access to common space, said Jellinek. Organizations will still function independently, bringing people on site as needed—twice a week for a training session, for example—yet will also have opportunities to collaborate with CREC. “If we can help someone when they’ve only got one issue, before it spirals and becomes several, it saves time and energy,”

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said Jellinek. That’s better for the client, the community, and numerous organizations trying to get to the root of the same issue and potentially vying for the same dollars or resources.

The transition from SCRC to CREC is more than just a matter of a new name and location. The Center joins nearly 100 Housing and Urban Development EnVision Centers, which harness the federal government’s vast network of resources, including USDA, Department of Labor, Americorps/VISTA, and Veteran’s Administration.

The Sandpoint-based CREC is the second in Idaho and third in the Inland Northwest, alongside one in Spokane and one in Coeur d’Alene run by St. Vincent De Paul of North Idaho.

“The challenges our agency faces never take a day off,” said St. Vincent De Paul Executive Director Larry Riley. Although their thrift stores were closed to follow pandemic guidelines, their organization still worked to tackle homelessness and poverty in Kootenai County.

Being a HUD EnVision Center has been a great experience so far, said Riley.

“Especially this last year, it’s good to know that you have partners willing to stand with you or help catch you in a fall.”

For SCRC, becoming an EnVision Center amplifies what

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PHOTO PAGE 57 SANDPOINT COMMUNITY RESOURCE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LINNIS JELLINEK, MIDDLE, WITH HER TEAM OF SARA HENSEL AND JACKIE CARTER AT THE NEW, MUCH EXPANDED ENVISION CENTER OFFICES. RIGHT: THE TRIO OUTSIDE THE NEW OFFICES. PHOTOS BY CHRIS BESSLER.

they’re already doing and provides all kinds of support and access, said Jellinek, who brought the idea of becoming an EnVision Center to the SCRC Board.

As the CREC, program goals align with the four pillars of HUD’s mission: economic empowerment, educational advancement, health and wellness, and character and leadership.

So, for example, CREC might provide counseling, budgeting, and financial wellness support; partner with local organizations to assist with GED preparation and job skill development; and facilitate suicide prevention and crisis management support.

The fourth pillar is the most valuable, said April Durrant, HUD’s Boise-based senior program analyst.

“We desire to speak to the greatness that every human being carries inside of them, and we want to start with the young people.”

To meet that goal, CREC might offer courses on public speaking, goal setting, and other ways to break the cycle of generational poverty.

Generational poverty is another huge issue, said Jellinek, who believes that by maximizing efficiency and working together, the CREC can change people’s lives for the better.

“I just have a heart for that,” she said.

Learn more at SandpointCommunityResource.com

“

The new EnVision Center is like a one-stop-shop for a range of necessities”

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New website coming soon!

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for the love of live music

Through adaptation and dedication, the Festival at Sandpoint is back in 2021

by Lyndsie Kiebert

A

fter a 2020 hiatus due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Festival at Sandpoint is due to return July 29 through August 8, 2021—a highly anticipated comeback after nearly two years of challenges coming from all angles.

Between COVID-19, major infrastructure updates to the annual concert series’ home—War Memorial Field—and a pair of lawsuits challenging their weapons policy, it’s been nothing short of a troubling era for the Festival. However, those troubles appear to be passing: the widespread availability of the COVID-19 vaccine marks a major turning point in the pandemic, the Festival has worked closely with city officials to adapt to the artificial turf now on Memorial Field, and the judge in the first case regarding the event’s gun ban ruled that Bonner County— the plaintiff—lacked standing to bring the suit.

Festival leadership has also changed since artists last graced the iconic tent, with the appointment of Executive Director Ali Baranski in early 2021.

Baranski, who served as interim director for 14 months starting in late 2019, said she is most anticipating “experiencing some normalcy again, seeing people’s happiness and excitement to finally get to enjoy live music again, sharing the magic

PICTURED FROM LEFT, FAS PRESIDENT BOB WITTE, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT AMY BISTLINE, OFFICE MANAGER CAROLINE HAWKINS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ALI BARANSKI AND PRODUCTION MANAGER PAUL GUNTER AT MEMORIAL FIELD. PHOTO BY CHRIS BESSLER.

of the Festival with my kids this year, and seeing almost two years of hard work, long hours, and sacrifice to ensure the Festival’s future finally coming to fruition.”

Baranski isn’t the only one excited to see all that planning pay off in 2021.

“Oh man, yeah, it’s been a lot,” said Board President Bob Witte. “In this past year and a half, just when we’d think we’re okay, the world would throw another hard curve at us, but we’ve been able to get up, dust ourselves off, and dig in.”

Digging in has meant making some obvious changes. First and foremost, the safety of Festival attendees has been top priority for the nonprofit’s leadership. Baranski said they have been working closely with the Panhandle Health District and plan to follow national and local guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus. Additionally, the Festival will go cashless and contactless in 2021 by implementing the Noble App, with which users will be able to order their food, drinks, merchandise, and even chairs from their phones—all while receiving notifications when their items are ready.

Second, the physical changes undertaken at War Memorial Field over the past year—particularly the shift from grass to artificial turf—has created the need for some new policies. Baranski SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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The Festival at Sandpoint’s 38th annual summer concert series returns to Memorial Field. After a hiatus last year due to Covid concerns, live music fans are eager to enjoy this exceptional lakeside event! Tickets are available online at FestivalatSandpoint. com. Gates open at 6 p.m. (5:45 p.m. for early entry ticket holders), and concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. Get tickets and info at www.FestivalAtSandpoint.com.

Thursday, July 29 - St. Paul and the Broken Bones jake owen

The rock and roll soul sound of St. Paul and the Broken Bones is a high-energy way to kick off the Festival! The Alabama-based band has toured the world relentlessly, including opening for The Rolling Stones and headlining two nights at the Ryman Auditorium. Lead singer Paul Janeway’s fearless showmanship, thoughtful lyrics, and dedication to his performance are paired with the inventive and skillful direction of co-band leader Jesse Phillips, as well as a full eight-man roster. Opening the show is The Dip, an electrifying seven-piece ensemble from Seattle that melds vintage rhythm and blues with classic pop storytelling. Don’t miss this performance and our re-introduction to live music by the lake!

Friday, July 30 – Jake Owen shakey graves

Country artist Jake Owen returns to the Festival stage, bringing new hit songs that will make you want to get up and dance! Owen has been recognized as the “Top New Male Vocalist” and “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” by the Academy of Country Music and American County Awards. His new single “Made For You” is at the top of the Billboard Country Airplay charts, and he has eight #1 songs to his name including “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” and “Barefoot Blue Jean Night.” Opening is Colby Acuff, a Coeur d’Alene ‘country boy’ with southern roots. He’s been performing since he was 11 years old, and his sophomore album “If I were the Devil” was released in February 2021.

Saturday, July 31 Shakey Graves gladys knight

Austin-based singer, songwriter and guitarist Alejandro Rose-Garcia (aka Shakey Graves) combines blues, folk, country, and rock and roll making for a truly unique sound. Starting out as a one-man-band, Rose-Garcia used foot pedals to keep a beat with tambourines and a drum he made himself. Rose-Garcia recently reissued his hit debut album Roll The Bones X, which has reached the U.S. Billboard 200. Opening is Tré Burt, whose album Caught it From the Rye showcases his literary songwriting and lo-fi, rootsy aesthetic.

Sunday, Aug. 1 – TBA

As of press time, May 20, this act was not announced. Get the latest on this, and details on all the acts, at www.festivalatsandpoint.com COLBY ACUFF

Thursday, Aug. 5 – Gladys Knight

The Festival at Sandpoint is honored to host the legendary Gladys Knight to the stage! The seven-time Grammy winner has enjoyed #1 hits in pop, gospel, R&B, and adult contemporary, and has also triumphed in film and television. In 1995, Gladys Knight & The Pips were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 Knight received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual BET Awards ceremony. Her chart-topping hits include ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ and ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ among many more.

Friday, Aug. 6 – TBA As of press time, May 20, this act was not announced. Get the latest on this, and details on all the acts, at www.festivalatsandpoint.com

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Saturday, Aug. 7 - REO Speedwagon

One of America’s most iconic rock bands, REO Speedwagon, takes the Festival stage for an unforgettable evening of music and memories. Fronted by iconic vocalist Kevin Cronin since 1972, REO Speedwagon’s explosive Hi Infidelity album contained the massive hit singles “Keep On Loving You” and “Take It On the Run.” The band has sold more than 40 million albums around the globe, and continue to electrify audiences worldwide in concert with hits and fanfavorites including “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and “Time For Me To Fly.” Don’t miss this journey!

Sunday, Aug. 8 – TBA (as of presstime, May 20)

Sunday, Aug. 8 – TBA As of press time, May 20, this act was not announced. Get the latest on this, and details on all the acts, at www.festivalatsandpoint.com

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main features | said glass will not be allowed on the field, with the exception of wine bottles. The Festival’s annual wine-tasting event will be adapted, and there will not be a brewfest in 2021.

Additionally, Festival Street—the group of food booths formerly left of the Festival stage—will be relocated to Lakeview Park, behind the grandstands.

The purpose of the move is two-fold, according to Baranski: it opens up more space for distanced seating on the field, and also decreases the risk of damage to the turf. As always, patrons will be allowed to bring their own food or drink from home.

Witte said he’s proud of the Festival’s “small but mighty staff and positivethinking board of directors,” going “above and beyond the call of duty” to get the concert series ready for its 38th rendition in summer 2021.

“Through all of the changes and challenges we’ve been able to adjust with fresh ideas and new ways of looking at things,” he said, “and we’re confident that the Festival will continue to be the world-class event that we love and one of the major highlights of our Sandpoint summer.”

The 2021 lineup is being announced on social media throughout May. The artists set to rock the big white tent this summer are sure to bring “a great blend of musical styles” to the Idaho Panhandle, according to Witte.

“I’m so looking forward to getting the buzz back that we get around Festival time, and after this past year or so we need it so bad,” Witte said. “I’m also looking forward to seeing old friends again— even ones I pretty much only see at the Festival—and having something to celebrate. Since the end of the 2019 season the obstacles that we’ve had to overcome have been immensely challenging and I can’t wait until we see all of this hard work come to fruition.

“I am so proud of our town, especially during those two weeks,” he added.

“There is really nothing like the Festival at Sandpoint and I’m super excited for this summer.”

Learn more at www.festivalatsandpoint.com

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Ted Farmin Regular guy extraordinaire

by Marianne Love

D

irect descendants of founding pioneers might consider themselves “bluebloods.”

Not Ted Farmin.

Throughout his 80 years in Sandpoint, he has taken his family history in stride while consistently making his own unique mark on the community.

Ted’s paternal great-grandparents, Sandpoint founders L.D. “Lorenzo” and Ella Mae Farmin, settled here in 1892, working for the Great Northern Railroad.

After homesteading 160 acres, L.D. laid out a town plat in 1898. The couple later gave land to schools, churches, and for other municipal needs.

Ted’s maternal grandparents, Karl and Dora Greef, arrived in 1921 and also made significant community contributions, including Karl’s role in introducing Kamloops trout to Lake Pend Oreille.

Though he can easily cite nuggets of local history from family lore, Ted maintains a humble outlook on his prominent

TED FARMIN, ABOVE, WITH THE PLANE HE BUILT WITH HIS SON TIM. PHOTO BY MARIANNE LOVE.

Sandpoint ancestry.

“Sometimes I feel that I get too much attention from it,” he said. “Hadn’t really thought about it, but … (I) tried to be a regular guy.”

Ted’s “regular guy” contributions tend to be extraordinary.

While ancestors set the stage, this proud father of three has spent his life embracing virtually every outdoor opportunity the area offers.

“He has always tried to give back to the community as Ella Mae and L.D. did,” said daughter Terri Farmin-Cochran.

An admitted daredevil, Ted excelled at water skiing, ran heavy equipment in the woods, won snowmobile racing trophies, rode motorcycles, co-owned the Sandpoint Marina for 32 years and, so far, has accumulated 2,000 hours of flying time in planes and helicopters.

His mechanical and operating knowledge transcended simple enjoyment. Driving a snowmobile with a sled behind, Ted helped deliver groceries to Selle Valley residents after the SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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s cdul p to fa r mri n features features te blizzard of 1968-’69 shut down county roads for several days.

On another occasion, he flew Dr. Fred Marienau on an urgent night flight to Spokane Airport to retrieve medicine which saved a young woman’s life.

Spending more than half his life with a prosthetic leg may have slowed Ted down physically but had little effect on his passion for flying.

A 1979 plane crash northeast of Sandpoint resulted in serious injuries and an eventual amputation.

“FAA regulations required that I prove I could fly with an artificial leg before my pilot’s license was reinstated,” Ted said.

“Four years later, I held my instructor’s license for single-engine land and sea planes as well as gliders.”

Later, with encouragement from renowned inventor Dr. Forrest Bird, he earned his private helicopter rating, flying Bird’s Bell 47 from the Glengary Bird Air Lodge.

After Ted’s certification, Bird, recognizing his natural aviation ability, encouraged him to continue flying the helicopter, just for pleasure, to maintain his license.

“Even though I did not own a helicopter, I wanted to set an example to help other handicapped people see what can be achieved,” Ted noted.

Setting an example as marina owner, Air National Guardsman, skilled mechanic, all-around fix-it man, airplane builder,

and mentor evolved easily for the young boy who sat looking out classroom windows, daydreaming about working with engines.

When parents Ted, Sr. and Barbara bought him a power lawnmower for $130, Ted paid back every cent by mowing lawns. That sense of fiscal responsibility has influenced his kids to follow their dad’s example.

As a youngster, Ted also helped his father feed sawdust and shavings to the family-owned Central Heating furnace, which supplied heat for Farmin properties on First Avenue and other local buildings.

A boat-cleaning job at the marina led to following his father’s footsteps, operating a tugboat on two different projects.

“I towed deadheads from the Humbird Mill Pond on Kootenai Bay through both bridges to a portable mill where Condo Del Sol is now,” he recalls. “At the time, it was a hay field.”

Later, he ran the tugboat, moving barges and towing pilings for a repair project on the railroad bridge.

Recently, Ted’s son Tim was hired as tugboat captain with Ames Construction Co., the firm building the second railroad bridge across Lake Pend Oreille.

With help from Terri, Ted has been compiling his memoir, which includes observations on the building of Cabinet Gorge Dam and airplane trips with his dad to Canada for fishing. He also tells of a road trip with friends where $100 for gas in the

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PHOTO, FROM LEFT: TED SR, TED JR, AND BOB FARMIN FISHING ON LAKE PEND OREILLE IN 1952.

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glove box of his 1956 Chevrolet allowed the group to drive to Ensenada, Mexico, and back.

Nowadays, Ted’s typical daily routine includes morning coffee with friends at Sandpoint Airport, where he’s been a regular since 1949. As often as possible, he enjoys flying a plane that he and Tim built.

Saturday mornings at the airport also involve mentoring students assembling an airplane in the Sandpoint High Aerospace Center of Excellence program.

To ACE board members, he’s a legend; to students, he’s a helpful teacher.

“He’s a good mentor,” said SHS junior Blake Stevens. “If you need to ask a question, he gets right to the point and shows you how to do it right the first time.”

Ted views this involvement as paying it forward.

“It’s important to me that young people have the opportunity to be introduced to the aviation field as I was,” he said. “They can then choose to go into the

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s cdul p to fa r mri n features features te This one-day bicycle ride with 150-, 100-, 80-, 40- and 25-mile routes is presented on September 11, 2021, by the Sandpoint Rotary Club to benefit literacy and after-school reading programs for the Lake Pend Oreille School District and other Rotary community service projects. The 150-, 100- and 80-mile routes incorporate a newly paved route through Montana, alleviating traffic congestion on the customary routes leading into Clark Fork, Idaho

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PHOTOS, TOP: TED FLYING IN THE PLANE HE BUILT WITH HIS SON. PHOTO BY WILLIAM LEONARD. NEXT: A YOUNG TED WITH HIS FATHER.

field as a career or have it as a lifetime hobby as I have.”

To friends and especially his children, the “regular guy” description vastly understates Ted Farmin.

“He has always gone the extra mile, whether it’s snow blowing the neighbor’s sidewalk or fixing their lawnmower,” said his daughter, local artist and realtor Tammy Farmin.

“I’m thrilled that at 80, he continues to do what he loves, remains active and engaged in the community. I couldn’t be more proud to call him my dad!”

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UPGRADING our front yard Increased access to waterfront planned for Ponderay at Black Rock

by Lisa Gerber

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here are a few easy beach access options on Lake Pend Oreille near our population base. Local spots like City Beach, Dog Beach, and Dover Bay, to name a few. But what if you want to take a walk, enjoy the peace and quiet of beautiful Lake Pend Oreille, and explore and linger along the way? Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail is your best bet as it hugs the shoreline before it breaks out of the trees into expansive views of the lake and mountains. One will find runners, dog walkers, baby strollers, and bikers enjoying our beautiful scenery on any given day.

But, at the 1.5 mile mark, the trail rather unceremoniously ends at a gate marked “private property.”

No trespassing.

Without thinking, maybe because we are deep in conversa-

SLAG HEAPS LEFT FROM THE REFINING PROCESS MIMIC NATURAL FORMATIONS ALONG THE LAKE FRONT AND GIVE THE AREA ITS POPULAR NAME. PHOTO BY STEVE GILL.

tion or perhaps lost in thought, we touch the gate to mark our “completion” of the trail and turn around to head back.

What if we didn’t have to turn around? What if we could keep going, and this trail connected to the communities of Kootenai and Ponderay, extending to iconic Black Rock?

That is the vision for Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail, a collaboration with the City of Ponderay, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and the LOR Foundation. The Front Yard Project aims to make this vision a reality, to extend our natural waterfront by creating a stunning two-mile trail for everyone to enjoy.

“Although most of Lake Pend Oreille shoreline is public land, easy beach access is limited. With limited access comes crowding,” said Ponderay City Planner Erik Brubaker. “We live here for many reasons, one of them being our lake, and we like SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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access to nature and water, a natural waterfront.”

The Front Yard Project has many moving parts, including the purchase of privately held property beyond the gate, the cleanup of toxic soils in and around Black Rock (the site of the former Panhandle Smelting and Refining Company), and the eventual development of a railroad underpass.

WHAT IS BLACK ROCK? The Panhandle Smelting and Refining Company was built in 1904 and operated sporadically from 1907 to 1909, processing lead/silver ore. The company established the town of Ponderay (first called Panhandle), building a hotel, school, office buildings, and homes in addition to their processing facilities. In 1922, the plant was dismantled, and all salvageable materials were scrapped. Today, all that remains are a crumbling foundation,

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AT LEFT: ONLY A FEW FOUNDATIONS ARE LEFT TODAY FROM THE PANHANDLE SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY. PHOTO BY STEVE GILL. ABOVE: THE SMELTER OPERATED JUST A FEW SHORT YEARS, YET LEFT TOXIC RESIDUES IN THE LAKE AND ON THE LAKESHORE. PHOTO CIRCA 1908 COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORY MUSEUM.

brick piles, ore and waste piles, and a slag heap known as Black Rock.

The smelter’s operational history was relatively short, but its impact is ever-present.

“I grew up in Sandpoint,” said Idaho Department of Environmental Quality analyst Steve Gill, “and we came out here to Black Rock when I was a kid. We didn’t know what it was. It seemed like a volcano or something mysterious but natural.”

The remnants of the refining company look interesting, but most don’t realize what it is. The

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s c ul np tto yarr d features fro ground in and around the site is dangerously high in lead and arsenic levels. In 2012, a study of the area around the smelter revealed the soil contained heavy metals (primarily lead) at concentrations exceeding EPA Residential Screening Levels.

That’s not the only unsafe component. When residents and visitors access the area from the town of Ponderay, they cross railroad tracks with good intentions, but they put themselves at significant risk.

“In 2019, we installed a game camera at the railroad crossing to get an idea of how much use that access is getting. We found several hundred people crossing it for a period of two weeks.

They were carrying things like fishing poles and kayaks or bikes. This reinforced for us the need to have safe access,” said Friends of Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail President Susan Drumheller.

In 2019, Ponderay residents passed a 1 percent sales tax, with revenues designed to support the construction of a railway underpass, and the Field of Dreams complex, along with associated infrastructure.

Funding is also in place for the property purchase and cleanup. In June 2019, Ponderay was awarded an EPA Brownfields multipurpose grant of $840,000 to plan, assess, and clean up the property. Ponderay is one of 11 recipients of this grant nationwide.

The purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields program is to redevelop abandoned properties in a sustainable way. The program encourages communities and

landowners to reuse and redevelop land that was previously contaminated and turn it into public parks and other uses that make communities safer and greener while offering more jobs to their residents.

Since 2008, the Brownfields program has brought just under $1.7 million in total funding to the Front Yard Project.

Corresponding with the Brownfields cleanup, an Idaho Department of Transportation BUILD grant has funded the design and engineering of the potential railroad underpass.

When complete, the community will not only have increased access to the lake, but a non-motorized connection between the three communities of Sandpoint, Ponderay, and Kootenai, as well.

WHAT WOULD THE FRONT YARD LOOK LIKE? “We called it the Front Yard Project because it’s a place for our community to gather, to play, and to relax. But it’s also a complicated cleanup project, and it will get messy when cleanup gets started,” said Drumheller.

“We want to do this in a way that preserves our connection to the past,” said Ponderay Mayor Steve Geiger. “We get to make a difference in this community and add two miles of public shoreline. If we engage in a collaborative cleanup effort, we engage in our community’s legacy and create something our community can be proud of for generations to come.”

Learn more at www.frontyardproject.org

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The hunt for the original City Hall bell

by Hannah Combs, BCHS Administrator This is the first of a series of mysteries from our local history that we’ll be featuring each issue, in concert with the Bonner County Historical Museum. Stay tuned for future mysteries ... from our past!

B

onner County’s history is comprised of thousands of stories—some are true, others are tall tales and many of them are mysteries. As the stewards of Bonner County history, solving these mysteries is one of the important things we do at the Bonner County History Museum. From property records and maps to personal diaries and well-worn shoes, our collection contains millions of clues. The answer may be easy or impossible to find—it just depends on what information has been preserved over the years.

This spring, we would never have imagined that one such History Mystery would turn into a full-blown treasure hunt.

In March museum Executive Director Heather Upton was working with Karin Wedemeyer, executive director of the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, on the historic preservation plan for the conservatory’s newly acquired building at Main Street and Second Avenue. They agreed it would be the project’s crowning glory to locate the bell that originally graced the top of the building when it was built as City Hall.

After asking the community for help, we were astonished the following day when longtime volunteer Bob Camp told us that the bell was at Way Out West Antiques in Spokane. The

cast iron bell in question seemed to fit the description from City Hall, but it was important that we verify the provenance of the bell before hauling it all the way back to Sandpoint. This set us off on an intense hunt for the critical information.

The legendary bell was installed in a cupola atop City Hall in 1911, but it wasn’t an easy process. Someone had mis-measured the belfry aperture, and the bell would only squeeze through either by shaving down the sides or by unscrewing the hanger at the top.

The problems didn’t stop there. “[The bell] was originally intended as a signal for fires, but the deep tone did not carry well in certain weather conditions,” said BCHS researcher Dan Evans. It also rang in the evenings as a curfew signal and for special celebrations like the end of WWI and WWII. But by 1944, the bell was largely out of use, as the vibrations were damaging the building when the bell was rung. The bell and belfry were ultimately removed over the winter of 1951-52, which relieved the building of eight tons of weight. Newspapers hinted that the bell would be sold, but no bill of sale remains.

For most Sandpointers, the story ended there, but the saga was just picking up in Spokane Valley.

George Doepke, a bell collector from Spokane Valley, acquired SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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PREVIOUS PAGE: PHOTO POSTCARD OF CITY HALL IN THE FINAL PHASES OF CONSTRUCTION, DATED 1911. THIS PAGE, TOP: WILL VALENTINE AND BOB CAMP EXAMINE THE BELL AT WAY OUT WEST ANTIQUES. ABOVE: A 1952 PHOTO IN THE SPOKANE CHRONICLE SHOWS A ROSS HALL PHOTO OF THE BELL BEING REMOVED FROM CITY HALL. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORY MUSEUM.

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a 54-inch cast iron bell in the early ’50s, and it soon became a prized piece in his collection. The bell was periodically featured in the Spokane papers over the next six decades. A 1959 article in the Spokane Daily Chronicle humorously relates an incident in which the bell boomed out in the middle of the night in a “patriotic awakening” protest against raising taxes. During their adventure, the protesters inadvertently damaged the bell’s 100-pound clapper and had to repair it.

When Doepke passed away in 1974, his son Stan inherited his bell collection, and the bells moved to his property, nicknamed “Bell View Acres.” In 2004, Stan’s widow Sally began selling the bells, and she sold the 54-inch behemoth to Mike Ferguson at Way Out West Antiques. Ferguson proudly hung the bell on his property amid the dinosaur, dragon, and flying saucer statuary along I-90. He had no intention of selling the bell, though he received many offers.

Though all of the newspaper articles indicated that the bell at Way Out West was the same bell that had once hung at City Hall, with no bill of sale from the City of Sandpoint to Doepke, we were still hunting for other hard evidence. The welding marks on the clapper were a clear indication that Ferguson’s bell was the Doepke bell, but how could we prove that the Doepke bell was the Sandpoint bell?

One article from 1952 threw us off by calling the bell “bronze” instead of iron, but as nearly all bronze bells had been seized during WWII to melt into arms and munitions, it seemed more likely that the reporter was simply referring to its painted color, and not that a bronze bell had survived the war effort.

The assumption supported the story, but could we find more?

Dan Evans used historic photos and Google Earth to calculate that the measurements of the bell’s mouth and clapper were a match, within 1/8 of an inch. Wondering if the original challenging installation into the City Hall belfry would have left any physical scars, Will Valentine and Bob Camp visited the bell at Way Out West. There were no clear “shaving” marks on the outer edges of the bell’s mouth, but they did confirm that the bell’s handle was able to unscrew. Sans the handle, the bell measures 35 3/8 inches, just narrow enough to squeeze through a 36-inch archway.

Though no single piece of evidence was able to confirm the bell’s identity, the cumulative mountain of supporting information has led our research team to conclude that this bell did indeed once grace the roof of City Hall, and thanks to the passion and combined efforts of the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint and the Bonner County Historical Society, it will once again.

The bell, now purchased by MCS, will be installed in Lakeview Park until the belfry is rebuilt atop its historic building and the bell comes home at last.

The recovery of the bell would not have been possible without the assistance of Bob Camp, Hannah Combs, Dan Evans, Mike Ferguson, Chuck King, Kathi Samuels, Heather Upton, Will Valentine, Jim Watts, and Karin Wedemeyer.

Visit the museum Tuesday-Friday at 611 S. Ella Avenue in Sandpoint; or online at www.bonnercountyhistory.org

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LETthyFOOD BE medicine Medical practitioner-turnedfarmer raises sheep and shares her knowledge at Bah Bah Blacktail Farm 76

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by Carrie Scozzaro

T ABOVE: SPRING IS LAMBING TIME AT BAH BAH BLACKTAIL. AFTER DELIVERY, MAMA AND BABIES BOND. TWINS AND EVEN TRIPLETS ARE NOT UNUSUAL AT THE FARM. TOP RIGHT: KATAHDIN SHEEP ARE PRIZED IN SMALL HOMESTEAD FARMS FOR THEIR FLAVOR AND EASE OF HANDLING. NEXT PAGE: TESS HAHN BOTTLE-FEEDS A YOUNGSTER AS ANOTHER LOOKS ON. PHOTOS COURTESY TESS HAHN.

he majestic Great Pyrenees who safeguard the flock on Tess Hahn’s Cocolalla farm aren’t the only ones with tenacity, bravery, a keen mind, and quick reflexes. Consider this story about Hahn, who breeds, raises, and sells Katahdin sheep on her Bah Bah Blacktail Farm: “The first time I ever applied a tourniquet was as a young [licensed vocational nurse] in a metropolitan medical center,” said Hahn, whose pre-farming career was in medicine.

“A psychiatric patient entered brandishing a hunting knife, threatened others, and then slashed her wrist in front of us. I ripped a telephone cord from the wall, took away the knife, and used the cord to stop the bleeding and also tie her to a post ‘til I could get a doctor,” said Hahn.

Amazing, right? Wait, there’s more.

After completing her pre-med studies at California State University in the ‘70s, Hahn considered veterinary school but instead pursued a three-year doctoral program in Oriental medicine. She learned Chinese while completing her residency in ’80s-era Beijing.

Afterward, while backpacking along the ancient, 4,000-mile trade route connecting Asia with the Middle East and southern Europe known as the Silk Road, she met a handsome European named Rolf Hahn.

They eventually married, and Tess joined him in his native Germany, where she worked as an acupuncturist.

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e e p to farr m c ul features s h In 1985, the couple relocated to California where Rolf practiced periodontic medicine and Tess completed her doctoral studies in neuro-immunology related to acupuncture.

And they contemplated a different life, becoming two of the nearly 30,000 emigres to the Gem State from the Golden State in 1992.

Hahn brought with her a strong desire to give back to the community, first in medicine, later in farming. In addition to running a small medical office in Careywood, Hahn served on Idaho’s State Acupuncture License Board, which earned her the Governor’s Award for Distinguished Public Service in 2005.

“It was partly because of how I stood up for our state when representing Idaho in Washington, D.C.,” said Hahn, who also served as national commissioner for acupuncture and Oriental medicine until 2015. During that time she helped facilitate increased acceptance of acupuncture, including its funding through Medicare and as a viable treatment for the nation’s veterans.

The transition from medicine to farming was, pardon the pun, an organic process.

For 25 years, the Hahns had been friendly with neighbor Jess Bennett, who especially enjoyed rides in Tess’ horse-drawn buggy. A longtime cattle rancher, farmer, logger, and railroad enthusiast, Bennett hand-built the farmhouse that still stands on the property and which housed an extensive model railroad display he also built from scratch.

“When [Bennett’s] land eventually came up for sale, I couldn’t bear the thought of the place being chopped up and not staying a farm,” said Hahn, who purchased his 60 acres in 2012. The sheep, she reasoned, were a natural, sustainable way to rehabilitate depleted pasture lands.

Having walked much of the acreage several times over, said Hahn, she still discovers new things. Accompanied by a native plant society specialist, the pair found some relatively rare species in an area she had designated as nature preserve in her forest management plan.

“I believe it is important to set aside pristine areas for wildlife and was delighted to learn that native flora thrive there too,” she said.

Bennett’s presence on the property can still be felt, from the springhouse to the old-timer’s ingenuity, like using a weighted chain to keep a door closed. Throughout her routine and when she encounters a problem on the farm, Hahn tries to “listen” and understand why Bennett might have done things a certain way, she said. Usually it’s not long before she discovers there was a darn good reason for the way Bennett built or situated things.

Still, there are some innovations that are all Hahn.

Ram bingo, for example, is part of her meticulous approach to recordkeeping. She tracks and breeds the best rams, which she rents out to customers who have bought ewes, both of which are in high demand.

“At lambing time we watch which ram’s set of ewes gave birth the soonest, indicating his libido,” she explained with a smile. “He wins ram bingo.”

Hahn’s recordkeeping extends 10 generations, including

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breeding dates, births, weights, and more. She also keeps extensive notes on food, which as anyone who has raised livestock (or teenagers) knows, is a big deal and perhaps the largest bite out of the budget.

“The single most important date on the farm calendar is the grass date,” said Hahn, explaining how the rate of grass growth, the 6- to 8-week weaning period for baby lambs, and other data, all drive birthing and breeding schedules to coincide with an early May “grass date” when the hungry ruminants can munch without long-term damage.

While it’s always busy on the farm—moving fences for rotational grazing, cleaning and repairing pens, tending to sundry mishaps that are part and parcel of farm life—spring lambing can be intense. This year, Hahn had her hands full with nearly 70 lambs, many of them triplets.

After birthing, the ewes get three days to “mother up” and bond with their babies, before moving to what Hahn calls the kindergarten area.

“Playfulness abounds!” said Hahn, who joyfully shares her process in numerous ways, from 4-H students to would-be homesteaders like frequent visitor Dan Ohmann of the Grass-fed Homestead, who often takes photos and videos at Blacktail.

“The most fun of all is to schedule farm tours so that children/visitors can open the gate and watch the stampede of happy sheep,” said Hahn, who in 2018 even held a sheep derby patterned after the Kentucky horse race with hat judging, a sheep race, and lots of laughter.

Another message she likes to share, said Hahn, is the immense benefit of working in concert with nature.

“Ultimately,” said Hahn, “what I am proud of most of all is proving that one can raise animals humanely, organically, and in a fashion that is sustainable and improves the land quality rather than depleting the soil.”

The byline of Bah Bah Blacktail Farm, said Hahn, is “Happiness you can taste.”

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ROWERS AT AN EARLIER HEAD OF THE PEND OREILLE REGATTA. PHOTO BY CHRIS BESSLER.

Rowing in the Panhandle

by Cate Huisman

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mong the many boaters who ply the Panhandle’s numerous waterways, rowers are not well represented. There are far more kayakers, canoeists, and sailors, not to mention wakeboarders and waterskiers who travel behind motorized boats.

But rowers are a dedicated group. Having learned the skills of competitive rowing in sleek racing shells, typically on a club or school team with access to a relatively quiet river or lake, they tend to want to row again whenever and wherever they happen to be around water.

So it’s little surprise that rowers have surfaced in Priest River, where the hardy members of the Pend Oreille Rowing and Paddling Association navigate both the Pend Oreille and Priest rivers in shells that accommodate from one to eight rowers. While big rowing clubs back East and on the coasts launch their boats from a boathouse with a dock, PORPA members instead step into the chilly waters of the Priest River to board their craft. They must have the most modestly named launch site anywhere: The Mudhole, a Corps of Engineers recreation site just outside of town. And while others return from their watery exertions to shower in their boathouse and perhaps relax on leather couches under portraits of historic oarspersons, PORPA rowers return their shells to racks on the shore, sheltered only by trees.

Their hardiness gives them a pleasure unknown to most rowers. Those big boathouses elsewhere are often located on murky or polluted urban waterways that traverse crowded landscapes.

But PORPA rowers skim across clear, cold water as they pass below forested mountains. “It’s beautiful and relaxing, and there are great views,” said Gayne Sears, PORPA’s current president. “I can’t even put words to it,“ she added, recalling the slanted light of early summer mornings on the Pend Oreille River.

Rowing is different from paddling in a couple of ways: Paddlers face forward and hold the full weight of their paddles in their hands while rowers, in contrast, face backward, pulling on the handles of oars that pivot on a “rigger” or frame attached to the side of the shell. They sit on sliding seats that enable them to

use their legs to propel their blades through the water, avoiding the twisting strain on the back and shoulders that can come with paddling. The body is fully aligned throughout the stroke, and the lower body as well as the upper body gets a workout.

So the sport has appeal as a lifelong competitive activity.

For many years, PORPA hosted the Head of the Pend Oreille Regatta each fall, attracting crews from around the region for the kind of long-distance race that is traditional in the fall. But wind and choppy waters often forced the competition onto the shorter racecourse of the more-protected Priest River. At least once, falling snow sapped competitors’ enthusiasm.

And in 2020, there was COVID-19. So PORPA pivoted, with admirable effects.

There is no way to socially distance in a four-oared or eightoared shell. For the 2020 season, PORPA acquired the use of more singles (boats for one rower) and doubles (for two). It set up an online system so rowers could sign up to use the boats in specific time slots. There was no HOP regatta with large numbers of rowers at once, but on some days last summer, PORPA’s boats had as many as 30 socially distanced users.

No one knows what the summer of 2021 will bring, but PORPA is confident it will include more rowing opportunities.

The annual cleaning and maintenance meeting, when members gather (outdoors) to work on the shells as they bring them out of winter storage, is scheduled this year for May 31. “Moving the boats back to Mudhole is an all-club event,” said Sears, who noted it is one of many social gatherings the club holds throughout the year. (Last year they were mostly on Zoom.)

Instead of a chilly fall head race, this year PORPA plans to hold a regatta in the likely warmer weather of Saturday, August 21. “ We hope this event will entice people who know nothing about the sport to give it a try,” said Sears. “We’ll have some rowing shells for people to sit in, to feel, to take a couple of strokes.” Word has it that the Spokane Canoe and Kayak Club will also participate, and the Kalispel tribe will bring a traditional canoe to provide a historical perspective to the festivities.

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Steamboat recalls history of Lake Pend Oreille

by Patty Hutchens

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adison Finlay was 16 when he first visited Sandpoint in the 1930s. His daughter, Maria Larson, said that her father enthusiastically shared stories of the magical steamboats whose whistles blew and graced the water of Sandpoint’s magnificent lake. “He said there were about 100 steamboats on the lake at that time delivering mail, lumber, and groceries,” she recalled.

Madison returned in the 1950s and saw only a handful of steamboats remaining; he was saddened a decade later when he settled here to find all the steamboats he had grown to love had become extinct. But that would not last for long.

“My father had learned to sail at about the same time he learned to walk,” recalled Larson. “I asked him if he was going to get a sailboat as his home was in a harbor out in Sunnyside.

He said instead he was going to build a steamboat.” And so his adventure began.

Three years after his arrival in 1961, Madison began to build what later became known as the Sunnyside Queen. During those first three years, he did a great deal of planning. “He was awake every night from 2 to 4 a.m. He did his best thinking then,” said Larson.

In 1964 he built the hull and fashioned the keel, and on August 5, 1966, he launched the hull. As much work as Madison put in over the years constructing the boat, he never considered it a finished product, spending years making adjustments and improvements.

“Because he never considered it finished, he never christened it,” said Larson. But in 2006, 40 years after it first launched, Larson and her family encouraged their dad to finally have it christened and invited several in town to join them in the celebration.

Because it was such a unique vessel, they had difficulty finding someone to insure the Sunnyside Queen. “My dad was very reluctant to give people rides on it because it was not insured,” said Larson. “But one of his friends told him ‘Sometimes you just have to say what the hell.’ ” And that was all the encourageSandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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features s c ul p to r PREVIOUS PAGE: THE SUNNYSIDE QUEEN AT HER “CHRISTENING” IN 2006. PHOTO BY KIRK MILLER. AT LEFT: MADISON FINLAY AT THE CONTROLS OF THE SUNNYSIDE QUEEN. BELOW: FINLAY WITH HIS FAMILY; WIFE MARIANNE, AND HIS DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW, MARIA AND LARRY LARSON.

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“My father had learned to sail at about the same time he learned to walk,” recalled Larson. ment Madison needed.

“He rose to the occasion and ended up giving rides all day long,” said Larson of that special day.

Not long after, her father was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and died the following spring on Easter Sunday.

The boat remained in storage after Madison’s death until one day Larson was introduced to Matt Janssen. “The fact Matt is a steam expert and lived in Sandpoint was unbelievable,” said Larson. Janssen took a look at the boat and thought he could repair it. He asked the family if he was able to do so, could he have a ride on it. They did one better—they sold it to him for $1.

Janssen’s interest in steam-driven equipment began when he was a young boy. “I saw the S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien’s steam engine for the first time when I was about nine,” recalled Janssen of his first introduction to what was later to become a lifelong passion.

Although he has never previously owned a steamboat, Janssen had done technical consulting regarding the S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien, S.S. Badger, and Battleship Texas, all of which have reciprocating main steam engines as well as piston-driven auxiliary engines and pumps.

“The technologies employed on the Sunnyside Queen are within my field of study and work. I have studied the texts Madison used, received technical support, and read considerably about design, construction, maintenance, and repair of light steel small vessels. A steamboat, as opposed to a ship, has all the same technical features and problems of a ship, just somewhat simplified and on a smaller scale,” said Janssen.

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Janssen describes the Sunnyside Queen as a “light steam” vessel and said a lot of the hobby-grade mechanicals are fussier than the efficiency gain from their presence is worth. “So I have simplified and continue to simplify the steam plant for improvements in maintenance requirements, reliability, and availability,” he said.

Janssen estimates he has put in about 100 hours into the hull and 100 hours into the steam plant to get caught-up, and about 20 hours of work per year. “(It is) more of an overhaul and repair that was needed than a restoration. Keeping the boat out of the water as much as possible limits hull corrosion and the dry layup the boiler is in most of the year limits boiler corrosion to help extend the life of the vessel as much as possible as well as reduce maintenance requirements.”

As a contractor, inventor, and father of twins, Janssen’s time is limited. Each year, though, he works towards operating two cruises in June when the water is up and the fire danger low.

As for Larson, she is thrilled that her father’s boat ended up with Janssen.

“He was the perfect match for the boat, and he is so much like my father. Janssen is who needed to have it. It needed to be in loving hands,” said Larson. “I didn’t think it would ever come back to life. Janssen is the hero of the story. The sad part is he never was able to meet my dad. They would have had lots to talk about!”

Idaho Public Television produced a 9-plus minute documentary on the boat, which aired in December of 2020, for season four of the series “Idaho Experience.” It can be viewed online at www.pbs.org.

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FLAME-WINGED owls of spring

by Brian Baxter

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ate April, May, and early June days and evenings can be particularly sweet in the wild. All life is welcoming spring, rejoicing and warming up, moving about and secretly, semi-invisibly, or obviously watching and interacting with neighbors. It’s time to check out the critters across the draw, in a manner of speaking.

In the world of birds, some seasonal migrations are really getting geared up and nesting sites are searched for, relocated, or located for the first time. Males and even some females are adorned with colorful mating plumage. Most females are in camouflage mode, to protect themselves, the nesting site, and the young ones soon to come into this world. Territories are set up or returned to, and viciously defended. Territorial and mating calls, sometimes the same or very similar, begin their music. As light from the sky between full night and sunrise, or between sunset and full night transitions, the music becomes

A FLAMMULATED OWL GAZES STEADILY AT THE PHOTOGRAPHER. PHOTO BY JAMI BOLLSCHWEILER.

more complex and diverse. In northern Idaho and northwest Montana, as darkness settles in the Ponderosa pine/Douglas fir forest, a low, smooth note can barely be heard every couple of seconds. Flammulated owls have returned to breed and raise their young.

The Flammulated owl is one of the smallest owls in North America, and at five to six inches in height and weighing in at two to three ounces is roughly comparative in size to a small Northern Pygmy owl. The tufts are small but evident, and the eyes are dark brown, unlike most yellow-eyed owls. Bills on these owls are grayish-white. Two color phases generally exist: in the northern part of its range it is gray, and they have a reddish-brown color phase in southern ranges.

This owl’s facial disk colors correspond to the color phase.

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PHOTOS TOP: PROFESSOR BRIAN D. LINKHART EXAMINES A 5YEAR-OLD MALE FLAMMULATED OWL DURING A LIVE CAPTURE. LINKHART IS SOMETIMES CALLED MR. FLAMM, AS HE HAS BEEN RESEARCHING THIS UNIQUE SPECIES FOR OVER FOUR DECADES. ABOVE: A WILDLIFE TECHNICIAN GENTLY HOLDS A FLUFFY FEATHERED FRIEND NESTLING. PHOTOS COURTESY BRIAN LINKHART.

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rusty colored shoulder spots, creating a line from the shoulder down and across the sides of the wing. In flight, these rusty, reddish-orange markings are visible and somewhat flame-shaped, giving this small but mighty owl its name: Flammulated, from the Latin word flammeous, or flame bearing. These flame-like features usually also appear on the rim of the facial disk.

This generally nocturnal owl hunts insects, primarily moths, grasshoppers, beetles and crickets, and migrates at night. Its semi-aeroacoustic silent flight cuts through the dark skies.

The Flammulated owl is considered one of the most highly migrating owls in North America as it travels from wintering grounds located from Central Mexico south to the highlands of Guatemala and El Salvador to breeding areas in the western U.S. and Canada. In our general area, Flamms breed locally from southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, north central Washington, and northwest Montana. The approximate flight distance from San Salvador to Sandpoint is 3,700 miles.

Some of the most important tools in attempting to locate Flammulated owls in this region are timing migration movements properly, being in the right habitat conditions, and imitating or playing accurate mating/territorial calls to receive responses. Given this owl’s small size, detailed camouflage mixes of grays, browns, and orange color combinations, its preference to roost close to the semi-orange color trunks of Ponderosa pine, and furrowed gray Douglas fir mature trees, and the fact that it is generally much more active at night makes spotting them in daylight particularly difficult.

Three decades ago, the Flamms being considered for a species of special concern, wildlife biologists and technicians would head out in our area for night calling sessions to try to locate these amazing little owls. Teams or usually individuals, would head out in late afternoon into mature to old growth, south-facing stands of Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir with some openings and numerous snags/dead trees, along with high insect volumes in the immediate locations. Many of these snags had been utilized by Pileated woodpeckers and red-shafted flickers, and had excavated cavities that the Flammulateds were believed to use as nest sites. It was not an easy mission, as the “flame-bearing” owl’s call is described as a ventriloquial, because it can be so difficult for humans to locate the birds from the sounds.

The call of this owl has been described as a “Boop, boop, boop...,” given softly and slowly at approximately two-second intervals. These low hoots are sometimes compared with the sound one can make by blowing in the top of a bottle slowly and evenly. This territorial/mating call makes this tiny owl sound much bigger than it actually is. After trying both recorded and imitated calls in numerous locations, an accompaniment of low, smooth notes were finally heard coming from the darkness of the forest, as the Flammulated owls had completed their spring journey.

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Milltown

by Jennifer Lamont-Leo

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ach time you drive along Fifth Avenue, you’re driving through the heart of a neighborhood that once looked very different. To catch a glimpse, let’s flip back to the early days of the local lumber industry.

Sandpoint’s earliest sawmills were small, family-run operations. But when the railroads chugged through in the 1880s, connecting Sandpoint with the rest of the continent, the lumber industry boomed. In December 1900 the Humbird Lumber Company was formed, absorbing the Sandpoint Lumber Company. Soon, operations filled 120 acres sprawled between Lake Pend Oreille and Sand Creek, with a robust workforce. As the urgent need for cheap and plentiful worker housing became clear, Humbird sought to build a “company town,” a concept already familiar to heavy industries such as logging and mining.

Humbird management chose a tract of land just north of the Sandpoint city limits, bordered by Sand Creek and Boyer Avenue to the east and west, and from Larch Street to points north, where they built 80 houses and a large general store.

“If you worked for Humbird, you got a coupon book you could trade out in the store,” recalled Ole Jennestad, an early resident.

“You’d get some cash at the end of the month, too,” he added, clarifying that Humbird workers weren’t forced to shop at the store, as in some company towns, but were free to spend money where they pleased. In turn, the Humbird Store served the general public as well as employees.

Because it was not part of the city, Milltown, as it came to be called, had its own system for numbering the lots. One lived at “#15 Milltown” or “#6 Milltown” instead of a street address. The houses were nearly identical, each with a small yard suitable for a modest vegetable garden or a fruit tree. The typical Milltown house was a two-story, peaked-roofed, wooden-framed cottage constructed of white pine and fir, with a “lean to” jutting off the ground floor. Each contained a stove-heated living/ dining area and a kitchen, plus two bedrooms upstairs. Notably lacking was a bathroom. Instead, each lot boasted an outhouse.

The rental price of $7 a month included water and electricity,

ABOVE: THE VIEW OF SANDPOINT AND MILLTOWN TAKEN CIRCA 1911.

PHOTO COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORY MUSEUM.

Most homes sheltered a single family, but a few entrepreneurs ran boarding houses, including Anna Sund, whose boarders included Ole Jennestad, then a young, single mill worker. Years later, after he’d become a prominent Sandpoint retailer, Jennestad recalled that Sund’s house boarded about six workers and served “good food.” Upon his marriage in 1912, he and his bride rented a Milltown house before purchasing a home for $500.

For ease of commuting, a footbridge crossed Sand Creek just south of Larch Avenue, connecting Milltown with Humbird’s mills and yards. At the east end of the bridge stood a boarding house managed by Amanda Nesbitt, as well as Sandpoint’s earliest cemetery. When the company needed more space, it purchased land for Lakeview Cemetery and paid for the graves to be moved there. Four graves were overlooked and discovered only during recent excavation for the byway. These remains have since been reinterred at Lakeview.

The Great Depression did not spare the lumber business.

Humbird Lumber Company closed in 1930. Those workers who wished to stay in Sandpoint, and could afford to, purchased their homes. A sizeable portion of Milltown was annexed to the city of Sandpoint in 1936, the rest in 1972, and the lot-numbering was changed to conform to Sandpoint’s current streetnumbering system.

Over the years, Milltown cottages were repaired, remodeled, and razed. Not surprisingly, an indoor bathroom was usually the first improvement to be made. Sometimes kitchens were added and the original kitchen remodeled into an additional bedroom.

Today, very few original Milltown houses remain, having been replaced by more modern houses or torn down to make way for the businesses that line Fifth Avenue north of Larch.

One mill remained active in various hands until 2004, when Louisiana-Pacific sold it to a redevelopment company. Now dubbed Milltown Park, the site presently holds Super One Foods and the Milltown Apartments, with further development underway to refresh a neighborhood that many who live and work in Sandpoint call home.

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Sharing the The mountain goats of Scotchman Peak depend on rocky terrain and human respect to thrive

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by Lyndsie Kiebert PHOTO BY KIM HOLZER

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drive into the woods outside of Clark Fork followed by a four-mile hike up to the highest point in Bonner County—Scotchman Peak— is enough to make anyone feel as though they’ve ventured into the unknown.

Another reminder that hikers are far from home? The majestic and mysterious creatures who live there: mountain goats.

These white, horned creatures embody the toughness, skills, and fortitude it takes to live in the most barren, rocky places that mountains have to offer; places that predators avoid, and which rarely see human activity. In the case of Scotchman Peak, that human activity is elevated.

Those goats have become the impetus for a robust education campaign, spear-

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mountain g oats headed by the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. The nonprofit established its Goat Ambassador Program in 2016 after a human-goat interaction in 2015 ended with a severe bite and a temporary closure of the trail. Encounters with aggressive goats had become more frequent, so it was decided: hikers and goats needed a break.

The trail closure and push for further education points to a broader issue, which is the role that space and respect play in the lives of mountain goats. Luckily, with the application of some simple etiquette, people and goats alike can enjoy the unmatched views of Lake Pend Oreille from Scotchman Peak.

THE MAKINGS OF A MOUNTAIN GOAT The Scotchman Peak mountain goats are part of what the Idaho Department of Fish and Game calls the Cabinet Population Management Unit—the herd living between Lightning Creek and the Montana border. Most of the herd, estimated at about 50 to 80 goats, resides in Montana. Last summer, hikers counted 16 goats at Scotchman Peak.

Laura Wolf, a regional wildlife biologist who served as team leader on IDFG’s 2019-2024 Idaho Mountain Goat Management Plan, said she’s been fascinated with the cliff-dwelling beasts since she participated in the 2007 translocation of 23 goats from Utah to the Lemhi Mountains near Salmon, Idaho.

Mountain goats can be easily spotted on Scotchman, thanks to their stark white coats. They have wide, cloven hooves—ideal for negotiating rocky ledges— and both males and females have seriously sharp horns.

“Nothing has quite the, basically, swords on their heads that the goat does,” Wolf said.

Unlike other horned ungulates, mountain goats aren’t known to use theirs often. They may come into play, however, if a subordinate goat is encroaching on a more dominant goat’s space.

“If another goat is in that spot, then they will do something, but usually it’s a toss of the horns,” Wolf said, adding that these interactions rarely result in violence. “But if it does, they have super tough … armor on their rear ends that protects them from horn jabs, which we don’t have.”

Humans’ general lack of body armor is just one reason to leave mountain goats alone. Especially at Scotchman Peak, it’s important to know that the goats aren’t afraid to get friendly.

“They love salt—that’s one reason why you have this human habituation issue.

People do also feed them, but I think it’s the draw for salty people and salty urine that’s left on trails,” Wolf said, adding: “It’s basically like their candy bar.”

EDUCATION IS KEY The FSPW Goat Ambassador Program depends on volunteers to staff the Scotchman Peak trail on weekends and holidays throughout the busy season.

Ambassadors are tasked with educating hikers about proper etiquette while visiting mountain goat country. The program’s mission is to lower the likelihood of negative human-goat interactions.

“Most people don’t seem to realize that these goats are not at all like the cute little goats you see at farms or in people’s yards ... They’re very large, wild animals and need to be recognized as such,” said Goat Ambassador Wendy Lawrence.

Wolf said that the number one rule in avoiding habituation is to never feed mountain goats, or any wild animals. Second, make an effort to keep space

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“Nothing has quite the, basically, swords on their heads that the goat does,” Wolf said.

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between yourself and the goats. Hikers have been known to allow goats to lick the sweat from their skin, which is dangerous for all involved.

“A goat may decide to come over to you and now it is too close to you, in your bubble,” Wolf said. “That may mean moving away … or it may mean throwing rocks at it, clanging your hiking poles—that sort of thing, to try to deter it from getting closer.”

Some goats—billies, in particular—may need more encouragement, Wolf said. Don’t be afraid to toss rocks in their direction— Wolf said the goat’s thick hide will keep it from being hurt.

“It goes for anything that’s becoming habituated—doing things that will help it realize that it shouldn’t want to hang around people,” she said. “That doesn’t mean severely injuring them, but it can mean doing something that is a little bit scary or a little bit uncomfortable to encourage them to move on.”

As for appropriate distancing when goats are present, Wolf suggests the “rule of thumb”—hold up your thumb and close one eye.

“If you do that … and you can still see the goat on either side of your thumb, then the goat is too close,” she said, “and on Scotchman, they’re usually too close.”

Goat Ambassador Mark Cochran said he was once speaking with a youth group near the peak when three goats appeared nearby.

“One young gent, probably about 10 years old, was a bit frightened by the goats, yet fascinated,” Cochran remembers. “He told me he was ‘lovingly terrified’ of the nearest goat, a big ol’ billy.”

PRESERVING THEIR FUTURE Beyond the adverse effects of human-goat intermingling on the animals’ well-being, climate change is likely going to have an impact on their preferred habitat. It might already have, according to Wolf.

“We have seen declines in a lot of native herds across the West in the last couple decades,” she said.

Hotter summers mean less abundant foraging opportunities in the bare rocks atop Scotchman. Mild winters and less snow should increase over-winter survival, but possibly not enough to make up for the severely dry conditions predicted during the warm season.

“They really are tied into these cliffs,” Wolf said. “They’re vulnerable to predation if they’re wandering through the forest.”

Decreased resource availability combined with habituation could be a detrimental combination for the goats of Scotchman.

Mountain goats may be tough, but being mindful while visiting their turf is vital to their survival.

Ideally, hikers would experience the goats as Lawrence once did on a quiet day, summiting Scotchman with her husband.

“There were very few people, and the goats didn’t seem stressed or nervous having us up there,” she recalled. “There were a few mama goats and babies and everyone just kind of hung out together for a while. It was really lovely.”

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PREVIOUS SPREAD, TOP PHOTO BY DOUG MARSHALL, BOTTOM PHOTO BY CONNIE SHAY. THIS PAGE, PHOTO AT TOP BY NICOLE PHILLIPS PHOTO ABOVE BY DOUG MARSHALL. WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING GOATS, PLEASE DO AS THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS DID AND USE THE ZOOM FEATURE ON YOUR CAMERA, OR A SPECIAL LENS. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE, AND DON’T ALLOW THE GOATS TO APPROACH.

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Saving the Scotchmans Creating a wilderness future in the Scotchman Peaks

by Zach Hagadone

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ummiting Scotchman Peak is—or should be—a must-do for anyone who lives in or visits here. At 7,009 feet, it is the highest point in the county. Shaggy goats, huckleberries, and stellar vistas aside, it’s also the namesake for an 88,000-acre roadless area that has long captured the imagination, as well as politics, of communities locally all the way to the capital cities of Boise and Washington, D.C. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service as a “recommended wilderness” since 1987, the Scotchmans—as they are colloquially known—are as much an idea as they are a geographical reality.

Since January 2005, the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness has advocated for officially designating the rugged area on the Idaho-Montana border as a wilderness. The effort has yet to reach its goal, though the proposal was the subject of an advisory vote in 2018, which U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, vowed he would follow in deciding whether to support wilderness designation in Congress.

FSPW Executive Director Phil Hough recognized that while the vote resulted in a majority opposing wilderness designation, “I would suggest that it was not an accurate assessment of where our county was on the issue.”

That said, Hough added that the 2018 vote provided an important lesson: “What we learned is that a single-issue land use bill isn’t likely to get enough support in Congress. … When approaching land use, it’s important to look at the big picture.”

Among the biggest parts of that big picture for FSPW is building local support for wilderness that then translates into political necessity among members of Congress.

“To satisfy the delegation means you have to have local support. That’s why the role of a citizens group is so important to getting a bill forward,” Hough said.

Organizations that represent outdoors user groups are essential to those efforts—even, and maybe especially, if their constituencies stand to gain little direct benefit.

Jason Welker serves as executive director of the Pend Oreille Pedalers, which promotes area mountain biking and performs a wide range of services including educational programs and vital trail maintenance. He said his organization supports wilderness designation for the Scotchmans while also understanding that its status—not to mention its dramatic terrain—makes it off-limits to cyclists.

“Bikers are interested in maintaining access to those areas,

but also protecting them from mining and logging and those kinds of activities—mountain bikers aren’t just mountain bikers, they’re hikers, too,” he said.

“The last thing we’d like to see is more roads go in there.

“I love wild places,” Welker added, “and I love the idea of having that corner protected forever—even if it means no biking in there.”

Sandra Mitchell, who serves as the public lands director of the Idaho State Snowmobile Association, echoed Hough’s conclusion that “the days of the stand-alone wilderness bills are long gone,” and the critical component to getting federal action is to address a wide swath of communities’ and groups’ needs.

“Respect everybody’s needs, wants, and desires, and look at what’s best for these communities—we live in these communities,” she said. “Not only are we talking about quality of life, we’re talking about economic stability.”

As a roadless, non-motorized area, the Scotchmans both now and in a potential future as a federal wilderness would be closed to snowmobilers—yet, “I do want them to be protected,” Mitchell said. “I would like to see the community better off, the users better off, with action taken by Congress.”

Now may be a better time than most in the long history of the Scotchmans wilderness effort, in large part because more people have taken to the great outdoors amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“What we saw last year was an increase of about twofold over 2019,” Hough said, adding that FSPW trail ambassadors interacted with a daily average of between 100 and 140 individuals on the Scotchman Peak trail in 2020.

“And a lot of the people were from out of the area,” he said.

Hough doesn’t see that changing, as more people have rediscovered “what a great release it is to be out of doors, hiking.

We’re not going to go back to pre-2020 levels in terms of usage.”

Whether that interest and use can be leveraged into federal action remains to be seen—but bringing all those pieces together is the task before Hough and FSPW. “Wilderness work is and always has been bipartisan,” he said, noting that the 1964 Wilderness Act passed 374-1 in Congress. “It was built upon collaboration and compromise.”

Indeed, collaboration and compromise are as much in the spirit of the Scotchmans as its iconic place in the landscape of the Inland Northwest.

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Three alpine lakes for any hiker’s collection

by Sandy Compton

O AT LEFT: ONE SIDE OF SNOWSHOE LAKE IS CRAGGY ROCK WHILE THE OTHER OFFERS THIS GENTLE VIEW. PHOTO BY JIM MELLEN. ABOVE: “THE SLAB” MAY REMODEL YOUR SANITY SLIGHTLY ON THE HIKE INTO SNOWSHOE LAKE. PHOTO BY JIM MELLEN. P. 94: MANY HIGH MOUNTAIN LAKES, LIKE LITTLE SPAR, ARE READY FOR THE VISITOR TO TOSS IN A LINE. PHOTO BY JIM MELLEN. P. 95: LAKE DARLING IS ONE OF THE EASIEST LAKES TO HIKE TO, MAKING IT A POPULAR FAMILY DESTINATION. PHOTO BY MARY FRANZEL.

ne of our large blessings in the “Emerald Empire,” as my grandparents called the space between Spokane and Thompson Falls, is water. The wettest place in Idaho is Bear Mountain, in the upper reaches of Lightning Creek in Bonner County. Bear Mountain receives annually about 90 inches of water in various forms— rain, sleet, snow, rain, hail, grauple, and rain. The dampest place in Montana is just to the east in Sanders County. Interestingly enough, the driest place in Montana is also in Sanders County, at Hot Springs. But we aren’t looking for dry spots.

A blessing within the blessing is a large collection of lakes, ranging from 43-mile-long, 1,158-foot-deep Pend Oreille to tarns of less than an acre and shallow enough to wade across—if you don’t mind getting muddy. And cold. Most mountain lakes are not so swimmer-friendly, though there are those who insist on jumping in anyway. I’ve witnessed acquaintances drop through a hole in the ice—on purpose. But I know lots of crazy people.

And, I’ve been to a few lakes with them. And without them.

Today, class, we’ll look at three levels of lake collecting: easy, not so easy, and “this is stupid.” Many of the best lakes fall into the “this is stupid” category. And I’ll save best for last.

Entry Level Lake Collecting: Lake Darling

In the upper reaches of Lightning Creek (close to Bear Mountain) are lakes Darling, Moose, Gem, Estelle, and Blacktail.

Getting to the first two is about 1.5 on a 10-point difficulty scale.

Roads run close. Trails are short and low aspect. And, they are trails, not manways, which we’ll discuss later.

Lake Darling is easiest to get to. The lake—less than 20 acres and less than 30 feet deep—is on Forest Service Trail #52, at the very end of Forest Road #419, 18 miles north of Clark Fork.

Distance from the trailhead is about 2 miles with an elevation gain of 600 feet. My first mountain lake campout was at Lake Darling. Boy Scout Troop 111 camped there and at Moose Lake during my enlistment.

If you like to fish (and have your license), the lake is full of brook trout.

If any of the party feels extra ambitious, Mount Pend Oreille is another two and a half miles or so and 1,200 feet vertical. It offers great views of the Selkirks, the Scotchman Peaks—and Lake Darling.

Pro tip: In season, there are huckleberries along the trail.

Darling and its companions are the ultimate headwaters of Lightning Creek. There are several spots to camp near the lake, and the hike is easy enough that the 5-year-old can probably haul her own sleeping bag, extra clothes, and teddy bear. It’s SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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little Spar Lake an entry-level trip. Take mosquito repellent—lots of it. Camp at least 50 feet from the water. Use the provided facilities to bear-proof your food. And don’t bother the moose. Just stay out of their way.

Not-So-Easy Lake Collecting: Little Spar Lake

Over on the other side of Lightning Creek and the Scotchman Peaks are several not-so-easy examples, including Little Spar Lake. Little Spar is the only lake of any size in the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness; about 50 acres of incredibly clear aquamarine H20 that thaws about the first of July and refreezes at the end of October. Its elevation is just short of a mile. The setting is lovely. A headwall rises abruptly 1,400 feet out of the south edge of the lake. The depth is undetermined, likely because no one has stayed in the water long enough to find out. Little Spar is glacially formed, so it is likely to be deep in the middle.

To get there, take National Forest Road #384 (Lake Creek Road), just east of Troy on U.S. Highway 2. There are other

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routes, but #384 is the most straightforward. When you reach the turnoff to Spar Lake Campground, don’t. Keep going a couple of miles to the end of the road, after which Trails #143 and #324 share an old roadbed for the first bit. Trail #324 veers off to Spar Peak while #143 goes on to the lake. From the trailhead, it’s four miles and 2,000 feet of vertical gain. That’s a 10 percent grade—relatively easy if it was constant, which it ain’t.

There are ups and downs, including some serious up where the trail follows the fall line during the last rise to the lake. There is a good section of up on the return trip as well, just because.

Trail #143 follows Spar Creek and crosses it once, pretty easily once the flow drops in mid-July.

The trail is easy to follow, but the footing in some places is a bit tricky. In the lower reaches, seeing your feet can be challenging because of thick vegetation that includes devil’s club and big patches of monkshood. On the scale of difficulty, I would give Little Spar trail about a 5.5. It’s an eight-mile round trip. There are several well-used campsites at the lake. Camp at least 50 feet from the water and use existing fire rings. Mosquitoes are not so terrible here.

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Lake Collecting for the Stu . . . uh, Hearty: Snowshoe Lake It’s really not stupid to go to Snowshoe Lake in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. Really. It lies just west of 8,738-foot Snowshoe Peak, the highest point between the Cascades and the Mission Range. The place is incredibly beautiful, almost otherworldly in its isolation. But, before a hiker gets there, they might think to themselves, “This is stupid.” They might even say it out loud.

The first two miles follow the remains of Forest Road #2722 from its intersection with FR #410, which leaves MT Highway 56 at mile marker 16. Road #2272 was rendered impassable (for vehicles) by floods in 2006. This will seem extra stupid when walking out. But at the end of #2272 is the very nice Trail #972 that continues up the North Fork of Bull River for two miles to Verdun Creek. At Verdun Creek, things get stupid.

I mentioned “manway” a few paragraphs ago, and it is a manway that continues past Verdun Creek. The best thing I can say about it is that it’s relatively easy to keep track of. It’s not easy to navigate. From Verdun Creek to “the slab,” the way resembles a survey for a rollercoaster track that never got laid.

It traverses a steep, brushy hillside upon which a collection of trees has fallen like a giant pile of jack straws. Some trees have their tops in the creek. Some have their roots in the creek. All of them are in the way. Hikers mumbling, “This is stupid,” make their way down one side of larger specimens and back up the other, because that is the way the last man went, and the man before that, and the man before that. And, not a few women.

They could be called “peopleways.”

Then, after a few hundred yards of blissful relief in a bit of open forest, comes “the slab.” The peopleway abruptly stops

there, and so do some people, because the slab looks like a cliff.

It’s actually navigable, but not enough people have traversed it to wear a crease in it. It’s not quite vertical, and actually has a tree or three growing out of it. And some brush. The slab is also preferable to traversing the jungle that crowds up to both edges.

Once your fingernails, the toes of your boots, and your opinion of your own sanity have been remodeled by the slab, the peopleway continues in a relatively benign passage through open forest, huckleberry, and occasional patches of jungle to— ta-dah!—the lake.

Snowshoe is about a third of the size of Little Spar, and 1,000 feet higher. Places along the north side are flat and clear enough to put up a tent. Camp at least 50 feet from the water, and please use existent fire rings. Above the lake are gorgeous alpine meadows for not-so-stupid exploring. If you decide to go on to Snowshoe Peak, you will find increasingly stupid hiking along the way.

I would give a trip to Snowshoe Lake an 8.5 on the difficulty scale. If you want to try for a 10, they’re out there. Some don’t even have peopleways leading to them. Little Ibex Lake, for instance, or the unnamed tarn in the headwaters of Chippewa Creek.

In any case, a trip to one of our many mountain lakes is a recommended way to spend a day or three. The five-year-old will eventually forgive you for having to haul her own teddy bear. Try not to touch the devil’s club or monkhood. And, a few days or weeks after your return, you may come to realize that sometimes stupid isn’t.

Check out “Trails of the Wild Cabinets” from Keokee Books to learn more about high mountain lakes in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness and how to reach them. www.KeokeeBooks.com

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Fire lookout frenzy

by Sandy Compton

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fter the 1910 fire (over 3,000 fires collectively called the Great Fire, or the Big Burn) burned up the timber inventory in North Idaho and western Montana—plus a few towns and 78 of the men who went to fight it—the five-year-old Forest Service established what became longstanding policy: extinguish every fire as quickly as possible. To carry out this mandate, the Forest Service called upon a cadre of new rangers, many of whom were tough, brave, reliable men hand-picked by Teddy Roosevelt himself or Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the service.

The rangers responded by building tens of thousands of miles of trail and establishing thousands of lookouts, from which other tough, brave, reliable men—and women—watched for the enemy during fire season. Many lookout posts began as a pile of rocks on a height with a good view. There might be a cabin nearby—more likely a tent—where the lookout lived, isolated from the world. Their connection—if there was one— was often a miles-long strand of 12-gauge wire hung from trees along trails, connecting them by crank telephone to a ranger

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station somewhere out there. The cairn might sport a mount for an Osborne alidade fire finder. The Osborne is a survey instrument adapted to locate fires. It features a map centered on its resident lookout and sights on its outer ring to determine compass azimuth and horizontal angle to a smoke. Using triangulation, data from two lookouts can determine very closely from where smoke arises.

Lookouts looking at lookouts By the beginning of World War II, there were fire lookouts everywhere. Of the almost 8,800 listed nationwide, North Idaho and western Montana had scores. Idaho, in fact, led the nation in lookouts with 989. Montana was a distant fourth with 639. (Oregon had 849, Washington 656. Only Kansas had none.) Some were still only a seasonal tent with a good view, but many were replaced by mountain-top cabins and towers where lookouts lived and worked with some of the comforts of home—and an alidade in the middle of the room to remind them of what their job was: spot, locate, and report smoke. The

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CLOCKWISE FROM FACING PAGE: LADDIE THE LAB VISITS STAR PEAK. PHOTO BY SANDY COMPTON. ABOUT ALL THAT’S LEFT NOW OF THE SCOTCHMAN PEAK LOOKOUT IS THE OLD STACKED ROCK STRUCTURE THAT WAS THE PRIVY. PHOTO BY SANDY COMPTON. THE LOOKOUT ON DELYLE RIDGE WAS STILL STANDING INTO THE NEW CENTURY. PHOTO

BY COREY VOGEL. THE SCOTCHMAN PEAK LOOKOUT WAS ALMOST BRAND NEW WHEN THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM THE SOUTH APPROACH IN 1927. PHOTO COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM.

permanent structure might be a cabin or a cabin on a tower, both very often the ubiquitous prefabricated L4, delivered in crates by mules and assembled on-site.

The hamlet of Clark Fork was protected by a galaxy of permanent structures; Scotchman Peak, Antelope Mountain, Schafer Peak, Howe Mountain, Bee Top, Delyle Ridge, and Squaw—now Star Peak. Just in case those lookouts were snoozing, there were outposts on Pend Oreille, Lunch, and East Fork peaks; Lightning and Packsaddle mountains, and even the humble bump of Fatman. Surrounding Star in an arc from due north to southeast were stations on Spar, Dad, Chicago, Gem, and Trout peaks, and Keeler and Berray mountains. In an area 45 miles square, there were more than four dozen lookouts.

STAR, DELYLE AND SCOTCHMAN Of them all, the last to be occupied for the purpose of fire watch is Star Peak. Then-wilderness ranger Kari Dameron spent Labor Day weekend of 2006 there during a surge of lightning storms. By then, the others were abandoned in favor

of daily plane patrols and radio communication.

The lookout on Star is arguably the oldest in Forest Service Region One, established as an unimproved observation point in 1906, then as a cairn with an alidade in 1907 by Granville Gordon, first ranger on the Cabinet National Forest. Gordon and his wife Paulina, with help from the mysterious Coyote Kid, then built in 1909 the stone cabin that resides there still. In 1930, an L-4 replaced the cairn, and this was replaced in 1952 by another L-4 elevated by a seven-foot concrete foundation.

Scotchman Peak lookout was established as a cairn with an Osborne in 1922. In 1926, a cabin with a cupola was built atop the summit. It saw use until the ’50s, when it was abandoned to the elements—particularly lightning storms, after which not a few people hired as lookouts left the business the next day. By the 1970s, it was in ruins. Not much of it is left now excepting a few boards and anchor cables, and the stacked rock foundation of what was once the privy.

Across the Clark Fork from Scotchman, the lookout on Delyle Ridge was also an L-4, built in 1935 and abandoned about the SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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TOP LEFT: THE ’30S WERE A BUSY TIME FOR LOOKOUT BUILDING; THIS MAP SHOWS JUST HOW MANY WERE LOCATED TO THE EAST. TOP RIGHT: YOUNG HIKERS ENJOYED THE DELYLE RIDGE Libby LOOKOUT. PHOTO BY TRISH GANNON. MIDDLE: LENA GORDON AND THE COYOTE KID IN FRONT OF THE STACKED ROCK HOUSE GRANVILLE GORDON, LENA, AND THE KID BUILT CIRCA 1909. PHOTO COURTESY U.S.F.S. BOTTOM: THE AUTHOR AND ANOTHER VISITOR TO STAR PEAK LOOKOUT EXAMINE THE OSBORNE FIREFINDER. CHUCK GROSS PHOTO.

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FIRE LOOKOUTS CIRCA 1930s DURING THEIR HEYDAY IN THE 1930S, THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF FIRE LOOKOUTS THROUGHOUT THE NORTHWEST, INCLUDING MORE THAN FOUR DOZEN IN THIS AREA OF NORTHERN IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA. A FEW REMAIN BUT MOST HAVE NOW VANISHED. THIS MAP SHOWS THE APPROXIMATE LOCATION OF LOOKOUTS IN THIS AREA, HIGHLIGHTING THE THREE MENTIONED IN THIS STORY.

same time as Scotchman. The cabin lasted longer. Heavy snow took it down in 2008.

The prime time for the lookouts was from the 1930s, when CCC crews built miles of trail and installed permanent structures on peaks everywhere, until the 1940s, when the supply of young men dried up because of the war and plane patrols became the norm. Lew Faber spent the summer of 1944 on then-Squaw Peak at age 17. Seventy years later, he returned and got another look at it from the right seat of a small plane. He had never forgotten his time there.

His lookout is still there, still standing solid after many of its companions have crumbled into the rocks, or been removed as “attractive nuisances.” As communications improved and aerial patrols became more prevalent, more lookouts were abandoned, dismantled, or burned. Some were even sold and removed. The L4 on Star is open for people to visit, even to sleep in, if they wish, though the rodent population might be a deterrent. The stacked stone house that Granville, Lena, and the Coyote Kid built in 1909 is still standing as well.

If you visit, be kind to the old guard. Close the door and put the shutters down as you depart. Leave things as you find them. It’s a monument to another time when tough, brave, reliable men and women stood watch over our forests. It should be treated with respect.

Star Peak Lookout is within the boundary of the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness and the U.S. Forest Service have an agreement to do what they can to keep the lookout standing and in good condition.

Learn more by writing to info@scotchmanpeaks.org

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ABOVE: COPPER FALLS NEAR BONNERS FERRY. PHOTO BY HAYLEY WEATHERSTONE. RIGHT, TOP: A ROCK BREAKS THE SURFACE OF A CALM LAKE PEND OREILLE. PHOTO BY COREY VOGEL. MIDDLE: SUNSET OVER LAKE PEND OREILLE. PHOTO BY DAN ESKELSON. BOTTOM: AFTER THE RAIN. PHOTO BY COREY VOGEL.

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: DRONE SHOT OF THE PEND OREILLE RIVER. PHOTO BY DAN ESKELSON. CREEK IN MOTION. PHOTO BY DAN ESKELSON. KOOTENAI RIVER SWELL. PHOTO

BY HAYLEY WEATHERSTONE. OFF THE PEND D’OREILE BAY TRAIL. PHOTO BY LINDA LANTZY. HUNT CREEK. PHOTO BY DAN ESKELSON.

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WELCOME to my home mary lynch. Photo by Doug Marshall.

SANDPOINT’S FRONT PORCHES ARE A BRIDGE TO COMMUNITY

by Trish Gannon

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othing welcomes friends and neighbors to your home more than your front porch, and Sandpoint shows off some beauties. From curb appeal to protection from the weather, the front porch serves many purposes, but perhaps none are so important as the way it signals that the people who live inside are welcoming to their community.

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That role was recognized last year by the Bonner County Historical Museum. When COVID-19 arrived, towns went into lock-down mode, and the sense of community was under threat.

The museum launched “Sandpoint Porchraits,” a program where residents, for a small fee, could have professional pictures of their family taken on the front porch of their home, to become a permanent part of the museum’s pandemic collection.

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“We would sit on the porch every morning and have coffee,” she said, “and every evening we’d sit out there with a glass of wine. We would wave at everyone who went by and they would wave back.”

The front porch is an extension of a community’s neighborliness, and provides a place where home and community interact.

The following homes are just a few examples of the many attractive and welcoming porches found throughout the community. It doesn’t take a lot of money for this to happen; just residents who like being a part of the town they also call home.

Mary Lynch’s porch on Canoe Cove tells a story. “I got the lavender chair because it was such a bright color, and the red chair came from the Dufort Mall,” she said. “The moose came from Bizarre Bazaar, and the bear was carved by a man in Priest River.”

The cowboy boot by the front door symbolizes her life before she moved to Sandpoint five years ago, when she ran a cattle ranch near Priest Lake. The ladder in the yard comes from the ranch.

Once in Sandpoint, at the house they named “the Lynch’s redneck ranch,” Mary and her late husband Robert became the “unofficial greeters” of their little neighborhood. “We would sit on the porch every morning and have coffee,” she said, “and every evening we’d sit out there with a glass of wine. We would wave at everyone who went by and they would wave back.”

Norman Ettinger and his fiance, Eva Cleveland (a nurse), live on Northshore in Sandpoint and Norman, a financial advisor with Principal Financial Group, said the front porch was one of the reasons he purchased his home. “I loved the front porch,” he said, adding that they haven’t done much but add plants to help create a welcoming vibe. “I like being on my front porch,” he explained. “I live in a cool neighborhood [and] I like to see what’s going on with my neighbors.”

Lenny Hess, who lives with his wife Nancy on Marion, was born and raised here and his front porch is just a reflection on the welcoming attitude he was raised with. “We just want our place to be something everyone can enjoy,” he said.

Although their porch is small, the choices he and Nancy have made show you don’t have to have something big to get the message across. And those choices are just another testimony to the couple’s love, and support of, community. “Paul Oleson did the etched glass work on our door,” said Lenny, “and his wife Karen did the landscaping. Jim Watson covered the concrete steps

eva Cleveland & Norm Ettinger. Photo by Doug Marshall.

Bob and Carol Camp. Photo by Doug Marshall.

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with wood, and Eric Thompson did the concrete work on the sidewalk.” Lenny, who owns 7B TV in town, can’t talk about his house without talking about others in the community who worked to make it what it is.

Ron and Bernie Nova moved to Florence in South Sandpoint in 2018, coming from Sagle, and built their retirement home. They hadn’t planned to, but the existing Craftsman on the lot was beyond a remodel, leading them to tear it down and build new. “We wanted to mimic the house that had been here,” Bernie said, “and stay in keeping with the architectural style” of the southern part of town.

She added, “We always liked gardening and yard work, so we wanted it to be comfortable and cozy.” So the house was built with a large front porch.

“We like to grab a glass of wine and sit out there in the early evening,” she added. “We get to wave and visit with all the neighbors out walking their dogs.”

Although it can get really hot on a late summer afternoon, “It’s really a nice place for coffee in the morning.”

Bob and Carol Camp moved into their 1907 home on North Sixth in Sandpoint in the 1970s. After moving in, they had a visit from a man who had lived in the house back in the ‘40s, and he sent them photos of what their home had looked like then. Bob, now retired from working for Panhandle Health District, decided to rebuild the porch to match its original style. Now the features extend across the front of the house.

“I love a nice front porch,” said Bob. “I like to sit out there and watch people go by.” Last year, he added, was particularly nice as, with COVID-19, “there were a lot more people walking their dogs.”

Former Sandpoint mayor Ray Miller and his wife, Betsy, moved to their colonial style home on Ella around 30 years ago, when they bought it brand new. But the house at that time had no front porch at all—just a concrete stoop. So Ray built the attractive front porch that distinguishes the home today.

“The original house just had a plain

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Ron and Bernie Nova. Photo by Chris Bessler.

Lenny and Nancy Hess. Photo by Chris Bessler.

Ray and Betsy Miller. Photo by Chris Bessler.

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“

“The top tip for a welcoming front porch? Use it. Be the person who waves at neighbors while enjoying the amenity.”

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stoop. I wanted something covered and pretty, that would fit in nice and be welcoming, yet also functional” he said. And the chairs on the porch are not just for show—they do get used. “Yes, we sit on it frequently,” Miller said. “We have neighbors that also use their porches, and we talk and wave.”

The top tip for a welcoming front porch?

Use it. Be the person who waves at neighbors while enjoying the amenity. While the back yard offers more privacy for family get-togethers, the front porch is where you’ll catch your neighbors going about their day.

And as a year of pandemic demonstrated, that neighborliness often means more than we realize.

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“One of my favorite things to do is get out on the lake!

Coeur d’Alene Lake and Lake Pend Oreille make it easy to do with daily boat tours available to the public.”

CINDY BOND REALTOR® “Creations is the best toy store in town that offers an open area for kids to play on their tree house, or craft something spectacular with all the provided materials for a small monetary donation.”

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“I love the people of North Idaho! The people in this area smile as they open a door for you and wave as you drive by, whether they know you or not.”

LISA TRAVERS REALTOR® “Grab a coffee then take a walking tour around Sandpoint.

Be sure to visit Second Street Graffiti Alley, the Down Town Square, the Healing Garden, Cedar Street Bridge, then finish with a walk along Sand Creek.”

CARRIE LAGRACE REALTOR® “My favorite activity in North Idaho is huckleberry picking.

Going to the top of a mountain, in the heat of summer, on a narrow dirt road to spend the day picking berries while taking in breathtaking views, there is truly nothing that compares.”

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AMY DELDUCCO REALTOR® “An afternoon stroll at Sandpoint City Beach, where the sand is warm, the water is crystal clear and the majestic Cabinet Mountains provide a stunningly beautiful backdrop, magically dispenses of all cares and concerns and replaces them with an overwhelming sense of peace, calm and contentment.”

JONI WHITE REALTOR® “The Cedar Street Bridge in Sandpoint is the home of many unique shops, boutiques, and delicious food and treats. After falling into disrepair... a local businessman had the vision to turn it into the delight it is today, inspired by the marketplace on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy.”

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SCHOOLHOUSE Memories A neighborhood gathering point brings couple together

B

by Ben Olson

efore the turn of the 20th century, Sandpoint was just a spur the railroad used to collect sand for their locomotives. Once a bridge was completed over Lake Pend Oreille, Sandpoint quickly grew into a rough-and-ready railroad town on the edge of prime timber land, drawing a menagerie of rootless men seeking work.

As the homesteaders flooded in, the lumber flowed out, and Sandpoint was officially on the map as a booming timber town.

Buildings rose from the stump-laden plots of land near Sand Creek, including hotels, churches, restaurants, and a lot of taverns.

As more families relocated to North Idaho, rural farming communities sprung up throughout the county. While some

sought out social connection through a church house or grange hall, nothing quite brought the community together like the one-room schoolhouse.

The first schoolhouse was built in 1894 on the corner of First Avenue and Church Street in Sandpoint thanks to the efforts of homesteader Ella Mae Farmin, who strongly advocated that local children be educated. At this time, many of the roads leading to town were rough and often impassable due to weather, so over the years, several dozen one-room schoolhouses were built strategically around the county.

Jim and Virginia Wood remember fondly their days attending school at the Gold Creek schoolhouse, located about a mile from what is now the Western Pleasure Guest Ranch. The SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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and we skied over to the schoolhouse. All those years, I can’t remember many days we didn’t make it to school, no matter what the weather was like.”

Class sizes were small at the Gold Creek school— no more than a dozen kids. The teacher would work her way from first to eighth grade, spending time with each age group throughout the day to teach the proper curriculum. Virginia was the only one in her class, so she often listened in on lessons for higher grades.

School days would begin with a prayer, a recitation of the Pledge of PREVIOUS PAGE: VIRGINIA IS PICTURED IN THE MIDDLE ROW THIRD FROM LEFT. COURTESY PHOTO. THIS PAGE: VIRGINIA Allegiance, and a boisterAND JIM WOOD MET IN 1940, THE YEAR JIM ARRIVED IN ous singing of songs. Older SANDPOINT FROM COLORADO WITH HIS FAMILY. THEY boys were in charge of MET AT THE GOLD CREEK SCHOOL, ON JIM’S FIRST DAY OF CLASS. THE PAIR RECENTLY CELEBRATED THEIR 73RD keeping the woodbox full, WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. PHOTO BY BEN OLSON. and the teachers were responsible for teaching, school was a simple affair with a single creating lesson plans, and the custodial classroom and living quarters attached upkeep of the building. Behind the school where the teachers lived during the was a hillside where kids would ski and school year. sled down during recess, and during Virginia was born in Sandpoint and warmer months they would gather to raised up Gold Creek, attending her first play softball. year of school in 1934 at the Grouse Creek “The bathroom was nothing bigger than school; she transferred to the Gold Creek a port-a-potty out behind the building,” Jim school when it was completed in 1935. said. “It just had a hole in the ground.”

Jim’s family moved to North Idaho Aside from school activities, the school in 1940 from Colorado, where they had houses were also used often as neighborrented 80 acres to raise stock and grain. hood gathering points.

Settling in the Gold Creek area, Jim’s first “Back then, we always had commuyear of school in Idaho was in 1940. Both nity things going on at the schoolhouse,” he and Virginia remember the often difVirginia said. “Lots of the neighbor ficult trek it would take to get to school, guys played instruments and we’d have especially in winter. When Virginia atdances and get-togethers. I remember one tended Grouse Creek school her first year, particular dance in the dead of winter there was a hay wagon and a team of … we danced until 1 a.m. and when we horses that collected schoolchildren, but went out to get home, we saw it snowed after transferring to Gold Creek school, two feet and the cars weren’t able to get she made the trip on foot. through it, so we all had to walk.”

“We had to walk to school every day,” When it came time to transfer to Virginia said. “I remember a time or two Sandpoint for high school, Jim and Virthat my dad had made me a pair of skis ginia said many rural families boarded

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their children with families closer to town because the roads were simply too difficult to make the arduous journey to school each morning.

“I was fortunate that I had a grandmother who lived in town, so my first couple of years of high school I stayed with her,” Virginia said.

“My freshman year, my folks found somebody north of town that I boarded with,” Jim said. “I’d help them do chores and got to come home every couple of weeks for a weekend.”

Both Jim and Virginia are proud of the education they received from their teachers at Gold Creek school.

“I tell you, we got just as good of an education in those days as they have today,” Jim said.

Virginia said she remembered meeting Jim in grade school the first day he attended.

“All the boys used to wear bib overalls, but the first day of school here he came with jeans and it seemed like his legs were way longer than anyone else,” Virginia said. “Of course, if you’d have asked him what he thought of me at the time, he would’ve said I was ‘just another dumb girl.’”

They attended grade school together, but Jim and Virginia didn’t start going together until high school. They married after high school, and recently celebrated 73 years of marriage.

“I’m pretty damn proud of that,” Jim said of their marriage. The Wood family has prospered over the years, with many in the family settling near Jim and Virginia in the Selle Valley. Their sons have created successful businesses, including the Wood V Bar X Red Angus ranch, Wood’s Meat Processing and Wood’s Hay and Grain.

For Jim and Virginia, the one room schoolhouse is a pretty special thing.

It didn’t just provide them with an education, it brought them together and helped their family set roots in North Idaho. Today, Jim and Virginia boast of their five children, 12 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren, and one great-greatgrandchild.

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Visit these historic small schoolhouses When the school district consolidated in the 1950s, many of the one-room schoolhouses around the county began to disappear.

Some were demolished, others repurposed and moved from their original locations, but some still stand to this day as reminders of simpler times. Schools still standing today that are viewable by the public include:

el mi r a s ch o o l

The first Elmira School was built in the early 1900s and looks like little more than a shed today. It is located just east of the highway in Elmira. The second school was built in 1910, and is familiar to passers-by as it’s located directly off Highway 95.

P o nde r ay scho o l

The Ponderay School was built in 1908, and is located on the 300 block of Birch Street. It has been purchased by the city, with a plan to turn it into a community center.

lam b cr e e k scho o l

The Lamb Creek School was built in 1934 through the Works Progress Administration. It is now the Priest Lake Library.

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co o l i n s ch o o l

The Coolin School was opened in 1909 and now serves as the Coolin community center.

co co la l la s c h o ol

Cocolalla School was built 1907 and is located at 4728 Cocolalla Loop Rd, on the south end of Cocolalla Loop. It is now the local community center.

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Luz Ossa, REALTOR® Rich Curtis, associate broker, REALTOR® 208.610.9977 208.290.2895 luz.ossa@sothebysrealty.com richard.curtis@sothebysrealty.com © MMVII Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Claude Monet’s “Marine View With a Sunset,” used with permission. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a licensed trademark to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. M A G A Z I N E SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated, Except Offices Owned And Operated By NRT Incorporated. Sandpoint office: 208-263-5101, 200 Main Street, Sandpoint, ID 83864.

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A GNAR ly FUTURE FOR SANDPOINT

*GATEWAY AND NATURAL AMENITY REGION

There are challenges aplenty as natural amenities draw ever more in-migration

by Trish Gannon. Illustrations by Dan Seward.

I

t’s no secret that Sandpoint and its surrounding area is a great place to live. The lake, the mountain, the wildlife, the people... all have been extolled in articles, YouTube videos, blog posts, and advertisements all over the country. And people have been responding. Since August 2004, when USA Today famously described Sandpoint as “a Norman Rockwell-meets-Ansel Adams classic,” the county population has grown 22 percent, to 47,807—a gain of 8,596 people in little more than 16 years.

And hidden in those statistics there are untold other numbers of newcomers, as many of the town’s young people have grown up and moved away, only to be replaced by new arrivals. In 2015 Scott Wolkenhaur, an economist with the Idaho Department of Labor, estimated as many as 6,000 new arrivals went unnoticed in the statistics as millennials moved away, and baby boomers moved in.

Over time, of course, the area has always been growing. The first county census, taken in 1910 (a hundred years after furtrader David Thompson established the Kullyspell house on Hope’s Samowen Peninsula) showed a population of just 13,558 souls in the county that then included Bonners Ferry.

There are pros and cons to growth in a rural community, and sometimes it can be hard to tell the two apart. Growth increases property values, a plus for anyone looking to tap into equity or sell, but a drawback for those looking for affordable housing.

New people bring new ideas, which can help a community to

thrive, or threaten long established ways of living that are valued by current residents. Growth creates a demand for greater business services, but as larger businesses find an area financially viable, they can price out locally-owned “mom and pop shops” that steadily contribute time and money to area events and nonprofits that improve the quality of life for residents.

Sandpoint sits right atop the horns of this dilemma. Our most recent growth spurt has driven the median single-family housing price to $475,000 as of April 20, 2021, a whopping 28 percent increase over the previous year. But it’s hard to get a grasp on what’s coming in the future. Stephanie Rief, association executive with the Selkirk Association of Realtors, noted that in particular, “Tracking new construction in the MLS has been an extreme challenge this past year. Houses are being built and listed, some sold in a day or sold before built. It has been crazy!”

Susan Drumheller is a member of the steering committee for Project 7B, a group that formed, she said, “to promote informed public involvement in land use decisions in Bonner County and the local communities, encourage collaboration among community leaders to solve shared problems caused by growing pains, and to support responsible growth strategies.” In a recent article in the Sandpoint Reader, Drumheller wrote: “In the past year, the county planning staff has processed more than 1,300 building location permits, more than 100 minor land divisions, 18 text amendments to the zoning code, 10 comprehensive plan amendments, 12 zone changes and more than 35 variances,” SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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and quoted the county’s planning director, Milton Ollerton, as saying, “It’s really overwhelming.”

Some growth is coming from developments; Rief listed nine that are either selling now, or selling not far into the future.

“We are always concerned about growth, especially from a fiscal standpoint,” said Dan McDonald, one of Bonner County’s three commissioners. “Increased population creates increased demand on services like the sheriff, EMS, and Road and Bridge to name a few. We are really feeling the impact in our gravel roads and the increased cost for maintenance.”

Many long-term residents, either natives or those who came here in earlier days looking for a great place to raise their kids, now find themselves facing escalating property taxes in an area where their grown children can’t afford to buy a home; they fear the changing landscape of Bonner County will lose the smalltown feel and values that made this area a desirable place to live.

Yet people keep coming, and each drive down a country road reveals new homes sprouting like toadstools. What’s a community to do?

Planner Ollerton offers a hopeful outlook that market forces themselves will impose limits. “Bonner County,” he said, “is not growing at a rate that is overwhelming. There are so many limitations to high density growth in the county and the demand continues for five acre lots. The cities are the ones that need to plan for higher density growth. The county can only handle so much growth and then the prices of land will continue to push the homeowners into town.”

Danya Lee Rumore has other answers to that question. A 2003 graduate of Sandpoint High School with long-time family ties to both Bonner and Boundary counties, her experience here and elsewhere in the Intermountain West, plus her doctorate in planning, has driven her passion for understanding and living in what she terms the GNAR—the Gateway and Natural Amenity Region. “GNARs in the West have a lot of commonalities,” said Rumore, who is now a professor of planning and law at the University of Utah. “Many of these places have become highly desirable places to live and visit in the last few decades as a result of their nearby natural amenities, whether scenic lakes and rivers or public land and related recreation opportunities.” Classic GNAR “gateway” communities have been such high-profile towns as Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, Moab, or Park City—but now, many more small towns situated as gateways to desirable recreational resources, like Sandpoint, are being buffeted by growth.

Rumore’s answer to help meet the challenges faced by these places was to launch the GNAR Initiative and website (www. usu.edu/gnar), in conjunction with Utah State University. It’s a place where those working in GNAR communities can find both data and resources to help them plan for and respond to the issues they face.

“I am a mountain biker (and) one of the lessons I’ve learned is to focus on the path you want to take, not the tree you don’t want to hit,” Rumore said. “I think the most important things

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AMENITIES AT THE RESORT IN DOVER ARE UNDENIABLY BEAUTIFUL, AND A VAST IMPROVEMENT OVER THE FORMER INDUSTRIAL WASTES FOUND THERE. PHOTO BY CHRIS BESSLER.

for GNAR communities like Sandpoint to do are to put your energy into figuring out what kind of community you want to be, getting people on board behind that vision, and then using whatever tools are at your disposal to help you get there and to protect the things people in your community hold dear.”

Too many communities, she added, “seem to be focused on the ‘trees they don’t want to hit;’ people get stuck in battles about whether or not to grow (which, honestly, is outside of the community’s control: you don’t get to close the door behind you), who is right and who is wrong, who has a right to contribute to local decision making, whether government should intervene, whether a certain area should be zoned agricultural or residential, etcetera. Those squabbles distract us from the important work of clarifying a vision for our community and then doing whatever we reasonably can to get there.”

For County Planner Ollerton, “the priority for addressing growth is going to be updating the comprehensive plan,” a process he indicates is well underway, as subareas have submitted their plans to the planning commission and the work of writing the update to the comp plan has already begun.

Commissioner McDonald feels that concern with rural quality of life issues is overblown. “When looking at the overall county, there is no threat in the foreseeable future of our rural feel being threatened, especially when you take into account the fact that 65 percent of our county land mass is state, federal, and private timber ground.”

Nevertheless, McDonald agreed the county’s comprehensive plan provides the best “road map” for growth, though he believes the update needs to fix some “glaring holes.” He also sees a limit to planning from a constitutional standpoint, pointing out that, “people have the freedom to live where they wish.” Despite

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those issues, McDonald said, “We can either plan for growth or it will happen in a way that is unplanned and problematic.”

Many believe, however, the importance of people retaining “the freedom to live where they wish” should not come at the expense of the locals whose families did the hard work to build the communities where everyone wants to live. The struggle to find that balance is examined thoroughly, using the community of Dover as its case study, in the new book by Ryanne Pilgeram, titled “Pushed Out: Contested Development and Rural Gentrification in the U.S. West.”

Pilgeram is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Idaho. She also spent her teenage years living in Dover and graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1999. When she was growing up there, Dover was transitioning from a sawmill town, where the Dover Mill ran until it closed in 1989. The land where the mill operated was subsequently developed beginning in 2003 into today’s Dover Bay Resort, where now, Pilgeram observes, “streets are named after the old-timers whose families settled Dover a hundred years ago but whose children cannot afford to live on the streets that bear them.” She is clear that the issues Dover faced with loss of its sole industry were complex, and that the resort brought some much-appreciated improvements to a community that was struggling to hold on. But that growth also came with drawbacks—a theme that communities throughout the West would be wise to heed, her book imports.

“Communities that undergo processes like this are some-

NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION IS ON THE RISE IN BONNER COUNTY, AS IN THIS DEVELOPMENT AT THE FORMER UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO PROPERTY. PHOTO BY CHRIS BESSLER.

times referred to as ‘lucky,’ since the alternative in the American West is to be essentially erased off the map,” she added.

“The winners of these processes talk about rural revitalization, but the process is inherently uneven. Wealth only returns to

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“

“Communities that undergo processes like this are sometimes referred to as ‘lucky,’ since the alternative in the American West is to be essentially erased off the map,” she added. areas that were previously exploited in a boom-and-bust cycle by people who accumulated wealth elsewhere. When wealth returns, it must extract the resources of the community again. Now, instead of clearing timber, workers clear tables and they fight to survive in an especially exploitative service economy.”

Is there a solution that allows for growth while maintaining the local community? “Perhaps development should serve communities, not the other way around,” Pilgeram says, and asks, “So what could development look like in the rural West when you place the dignity of people’s lives and the autonomy of local communities at the center of the conversation?”

Our local communities are attempting to answer that question in a number of ways. “Our association/members know that there is a shortage of housing, especially work-force housing,” said the Selkirk Association of Realtor’s Rief.

“This is a current topic of conversation among local employers, the chamber, local government, and others in the community who see it as a serious concern.”

For its part, Project 7B has sponsored a number of area subcommittees that have worked the last few years to develop land use recommendations for their specific area in the county with mixed results. Some who participated feel the county simply worked around

real estate | their efforts to maintain the rural feel of their communities.

There are other local groups working on ways to retain the community feel of our towns and county as growth brings its inevitable impacts. For one example, the Friends of Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail, along with city officials and voters, have been instrumental in helping to expand that trail into Kootenai and Ponderay.

That project will connect the towns

sa nd p o i nt fu t u re and ensure access in those areas to the lakefront. For another example, the Kaniksu Land Trust works with private land owners who want to take personal action to preserve their rural properties through conservation easements. KLT also just two years ago led a campaign to acquire and conserve the 180-acre Pine Street Woods as a community forest, right adjacent to 140 acres conserved in the Sherwood Forest by landowners

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HOME CONSTRUCTION SEEMS BARELY HAMPERED BY THE SPRING’S RAPID PRICE RISE IN LUMBER. PHOTO BY TRISH GANNON.

Mark and Susie Kubiak.

It’s clear many here have their focus on “the path we want to take.” And perhaps there is some instruction to take in another statistic: In the same years that Bonner County has grown 22 percent, the world population itself increased 21 percent. In that sense, we’re simply shouldering our share of a growth phenomenon many other places worldwide are grappling with.

The trick will be to manage that growth while doing our best to remain, as USA Today described us in 2004, “a Norman Rockwell-meets-Ansel Adams classic.”

BOOK EXAMINES DEVELOPMENT FROM LOCAL VIEWPOINT Pushed Out: Contested development and rural gentrification in the U.S. West

by Ryanne Pilgeram • UW Press, 216 pages, $30. At local book stores.

Ryanne Pilgeram, an associate professor of sociology at University of Idaho in Moscow has completed an authoritive work on a subject near and dear to area residents—the impact of gentrification on our communities and its inevitability due to the structure of capitalism. It’s a subject dear to Pilgeram, too; she grew up in the town of Dover, and it is the case study in her book.

Established in 1906 as a town (then known as Welty) for mill workers, Dover’s fortunes were intertwined with those of the mill’s owners, from the A.C. Lumber Company through Pack River Management and others, until its final closure in 1989. The town itself would have closed with it, as it faced the realities of a lack of drinkable water, a failing sewer system, and a crumbling bridge, had it not been for the hard work of a community determined to survive. As the town folk struggled to address the deterioration of their community, new mill property owners saw a way to leverage the town’s investment with their own substantial real estate investment, and the Dover Bay Resort was born.

In her book, Pilgeram calls Dover “Mill Creek” and although “names were changed to protect the innocent,” (a standard for a sociological work) it’s not hard for long-time residents in the area to pick out who is who in this story of Old Dover and New Dover, making this book hard to put down for those interested in local history, or in the impacts of tourist-based economies in today’s western states.

“Pushed Out” is Pilgeram’s first book.

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Listed yearly among Mountain Living’s “Top Mountain Architects”

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FROM LEFT: KATIE BEGALKE’S BEDROOM SERVES DOUBLE DUTY AS AN OFFICE; ERIC BAUMGARTNER IS WORKING A JOB WHERE TELECOMMUTING IS PREFERRED; JAMES BYRD AND SUSAN DAFFRON ENJOY A PRIME BENEFIT OF WORKING AT HOME: WALKING THE DOGS AT LUNCH. COURTESY PHOTOS.

SANDPOINT IS BOTH GNARLY AND ZOOMING

T

here’s a lot of talk these days about Zoom Communities, or Zoom Towns—“areas which are experiencing significant population increases as remote work becomes more popular, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to Wikipedia. COVID-19 showed would-be residents another pathway for employment: telecommuting.

Telecommuting offers the possibility of keeping a higherpaying job from elsewhere while living here. Workers and their bosses have spent the last year learning that for many officebased jobs, working from home can be a viable option... even when that home is far from the workplace. And as reliable internet service reaches more areas of our community, the pressure of growth will only intensify.

But telecommuting is not a new thing for the area, though it may begin playing a bigger role in our county’s growth.

Susan Daffron and her husband, James Byrd, moved here almost 20 years ago knowing they would have to telecommute in order to make a living. They had already set up their business, Logical Expressions (a tech writing, design, and programming company), to be “location independent,” Daffron said. “I had a roster of clients. We asked them if they cared if we were 45 miles away or 1,600 miles away and they said they didn’t care where we were as long as we’d still do work for them.” Once begun, the opportunities continued to evolve. “In 2012, I started telecommuting for IBM, then later Cisco and Fortinet (where I work now),” said Daffron.

Many others followed in their footsteps.

Eric and Sarah Baumgartner came to the area in 2012. Eric owned a consulting business that allowed them the freedom to live wherever they wanted. “My two requirements were it had to be in the West and had to have a Waldorf school (our twins were attending fifth grade at a Waldorf school in 2012),” said Sarah. “My husband wanted a small town, having grown

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up near Kalispell. He started with a list of Waldorf schools and found Sandpoint. It was actually the only place we visited prior to moving and loved the small town, bountiful outdoor activities, and open spaces.”

Eric recently accepted a position as a regional vice president for a national firm supporting business development, primarily in the government services sector... a job where telecommuting was preferred.

Katie Begalke’s uncle from Troy had told her in high school that “Sandpoint … would look good on you.” So when Begalke was ready to move her life in a new direction in 2017, she headed this way and, as a graphic designer, brought her job with her. She began telecommuting in 2014 while working for Kohler, but soon went freelance. “I now have clients in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Washington, California and Idaho,” she said. “This June will mark 7 years of being self employed and working from home.”

In 2018, Brett Danz and his wife moved into the area after a three-year search looking for the right place. “We fell in love with Sandpoint,” he said. He was already a telecommuter; previously he lived almost 3,000 miles from his company’s headquarters in Boston. “All I needed was reasonable Internet service,” he said. He found it here. “I have never regretted moving to this beautiful paradise,” Danz said.

Debbie Abbe and her husband moved to Idaho in the spring of 2020, buying a home on Trestle Creek. She was a customer service rep for American Bath Factory, and when her boss found out she was moving, he didn’t want to lose her expertise. “He asked if I would like (to telecommute) and be the test pilot for a work at home job for the company,” Abbe said. She had to become an independent contractor to do so, but she doesn’t regret it. Now, of course, “since COVID happened,” said Abbe, “all the office help is now working from home as of February 2021.” She had unknowingly blazed a trail.

-Trish Gannon

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E

THEatFUTURE IS BRIGHT Taylor & Sons

Local auto dealer embraces green technology - and now, vehicles

by Ben Olson

I

n business, if you’re not looking forward, you’re behind the curve. For Taylor and Sons Chevrolet dealership in Ponderay, the future is straight ahead and looking bright.

During the summer of 2020, Taylor and Sons moved forward with a plan to install solar panels on the large roof of their dealership facility, making a long term investment in the community, as well as for renewable energy.

The move aligns with General Motors’ (parent company of Chevrolet) recent commitment to offer 30 different electric vehicles by 2025. Going further, GM also committed that by 2035 they will no longer produce gasoline and diesel light duty cars and trucks.

“This transition will not happen overnight, but the prudent business decision is to plan in advance,” said Brett Taylor, who took over as dealer from his father Greg in spring 2021. “What that looks like at the dealership is first creating the appropriate infrastructure in the form of charging stations, service/shop equipment, and an

analysis of expense and return for these investments.”

Brett said he hopes Taylor and Sons will become the go-to experts in the sale and repair of electric vehicles in the region, noting that in our rural geographic area there will also need to be trucks and SUVs produced to meet their customers’ needs.

Taylor and Sons’ path to renewable energy began some years ago, when Greg became involved in a wind turbine project on his farm in eastern Washington. About 15 years ago, a Canadian company approached a number of farmers in the Ralston, Washington area about installing wind turbines. Greg agreed to have a metering tower installed to measure the wind generation potential.

While that initial project fell through, four years ago the Rattlesnake Flat project began to move forward, eventually going online at Greg’s farm with a wind turbine installation in December 2020. The 57 wind turbines produce 160 megawatts of energy, which is enough to power 38,000 homes per year.

Greg was just getting started.

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PREVIOUS PAGE: BRETT AND GREG TAYLOR ON THE ROOF OF TAYLOR & SONS, WHERE THEY ARE THE FIRST GM DEALERSHIP IN THE INLAND NORTHWEST TO INSTALL SOLAR PANELS. PHOTO BY KATELYN SHOOK. THIS PAGE: GREG TAYLOR CHECKS THE MONITOR TO GET A REAL-TIME UPDATE OF THE BUILDING’S ENERGY USAGE. PHOTO BY BEN OLSON.

“In August 2020, the Rattlesnake project was nearing completion, so I made the decision to pursue solar at the dealership,” Greg said.

He met with Ryan Ferrero at Freedom Solar a few years back and gathered as much information as he could about installing panels on the dealership’s roof.

“Ryan was very knowledgeable, and with the wind and solar research I had done, I recognized that he was very genuine in his approach,” Greg said.

Greg reached out to Ferrero again and submitted a year’s worth of electric bills from the dealership.

“Within a week I had a complete package including photos of the dealership, proposed layout of panels needed to reach Avista’s 100 KW maximum purchase policy, costs, tax incentive information, payback projections, and actual solar output projections from the National Weather Service for my location.”

Greg said the projected payback period of nine years was a “little longer than I had hoped for, but our utility rates are pretty reasonable in the Northwest due to our reliance on hydro power, so that justified the payback period.”

Greg gave Freedom Solar the green light and panels were ordered and delivered. Greg contracted North County Electric to install the 376 Sunpower 395W solar panels on the roof, which was projected to generate about 60 percent of their current energy consumption on an average yearly basis. Most solar panels are rated to lose about 30 percent or more of their original output in 25 years. The panels on top of Taylor and Sons, produced in Beaverton, Oregon, are rated to produce at least 92 percent of their original output 25 years after installation. Actual data suggests an even higher energy retention at 97 percent.

“We’ve been told by Sunpower that we have the first GM dealership installation in the Northwest, although there are a few other brand dealers in the Portland and Seattle area that have installed solar,” Greg said.

The 3-foot by 6-foot panels are attached to an aluminum

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“I had the advantage of a lot of education on renewables, so the solar project was easy, but I would encourage others to get involved,” Greg said.

framework atop the roof, mounted at a 20 percent angle from the flat surface. There are no penetrations through the roof surface and the framework is rated to withstand wind gusts up to 150 mph.

A visual monitor was mounted in the showroom of the dealership which gives a real time readout of total energy usage, both conventional and solar. The monitor also records energy savings that the system is producing.

“Someone asked if it’s fun to monitor the solar output at the dealership, and the answer is yes,” Greg said. “I have the output and usage on my cell phone, so I can visually see the results in as little as ten minute intervals. I can sit in my office, or anyplace for that matter, and see if a cloud just passed over the dealership and affected the solar output. Pretty cool!”

When asked if the solar panel installation was intended to align with GM’s commitment to electric vehicles, Brett said, “I think it aligns, however this decision was really made on the fact that it was good business. I think most people that have grown up in North Idaho (or in Greg’s case eastern Washington) value sustainability of their natural environment. … We determined that the investment for this solar installation had a satisfactory payback to justify the expense. Having the values our family and the majority of our friends and neighbors share align with a good business decision made it an easy choice.”

Brett said he is impressed by his father’s commitment to pursuing renewable energy options to plan for the future—not only as an environmentally sound decision, but one that has economic benefits.

“At his core, Greg is a farmer. He is just farming sunlight and wind now,” Brett said. “He has developed a knowledge and passion for these renewable projects. Likewise, he has always been very good at working on things that do not provide instant gratification.”

For other businesses that might be interested in pursuing wind or solar installations, Greg said it’s essential to do your research.

“I had the advantage of a lot of education on renewables, so

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Shhhh. don't tell, but it is AWESOME here...

the solar project was easy, but I would encourage others to get involved,” Greg said.

The next big plan will be to determine the optimal electric vehicle charging system to install at the dealership.

“These nationwide charging stations are going to become your new ‘gas station,’ where you will insert your credit card and pay a fee for the electricity you need,” Greg said. “It’s changing rapidly, but it has been fun trying to keep ahead of the curve and hopefully figure it out.”

Brett said the electric vehicle market will become more commonplace in the next 5 to 7 years. As of now, Taylor and Sons sells and services two electric vehicle models—the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. “To get people familiar with the performance of an EV, we have placed a Chevrolet Bolt EV in our loaner vehicle fleet,” Greg said. “The Bolt has a range of over 250 miles on a full charge and is really a well-performing vehicle, with a glimpse of what is on the horizon.”

But more are on the way very soon.

“I currently have what I would call early adopters choosing to lease vehicles on three-year terms rather than purchasing because they know there will most likely be an Electric Silverado offered by 2024 when their lease comes to term,” Brett said. “If you think of our area, there are a lot of older vehicles on the road.

That means that if all offerings are electric or alternate propulsion by 2035, you still have at least 10 to 15 years of those vehicles working their way down to the secondary market. I think that it’s going to be important to look five years ahead throughout that timeframe with a focus on infrastructure and training.”

“With wind turbines on our property in eastern Washington, solar panels on the roof at Taylor and Sons Chevrolet, and an electric vehicle in our loaner fleet, you might say that we are pretty ‘green,’ but really, we’re just trying to stay ahead of the curve and make people aware of what’s coming,” Greg said.

Let me help you find your piece of paradise in North Idaho....

Carol Curtis

Associate Broker, PMN, GRI, CRS, ePro

(208) 290-5947

ccurtis@sandpoint.com

Century 21 RiverStone

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A YEAR UNLIKE ANY OTHER

T

he numbers speak volumes: The median sales price for homes in the Sandpoint area now comes in at $475,000—that’s a 28 percent increase from last year (Sept. 10, 2020 to April 20, 2021, compared to the same time period the previous year). And the price tag for vacant land sales in Bonner County is even more staggering: a 48 percent increase for this year with a median price of $139,000.

The pandemic did more than disrupt our own lives; love it or hate it, the global virus and its shutdowns created the great pandemic migration, with folks flocking from big cities to rural areas such as Sandpoint. “Working from home as opposed to going into the office meant people could live in places they never thought possible,” said Sarah Mitchell, a Realtor with Tomlinson Sothebys and vice president of the Selkirk Association of Realtors. “The full beauty of rural North Idaho was discovered by many for the first time.”

Combine that influx of new residents with historically low interest rates, a shortage of homes for sale or being built, and the skyrocketing cost of building materials, and you come up with the perfect storm for home affordability … and also the perfect time to sell property.

“I believe we will continue to see people coming this direction, creating more demand this summer, which is typically our peak selling season,” Mitchell said. “The builders in the area are

working as fast as they can but, with gaps and shortages in the supply chain and therefore an increase in material costs, they simply can’t keep up with the demand.”

If buyers are holding out hope for finding some deals outside of town, unfortunately the numbers are equally as stunning.

Bonners Ferry posted a gigantic 43 percent increase in the median sales price of property as compared to the previous year, and the Hope/Clark Fork area saw a 37 percent increase.

So what about those folks who are just starting out and wanting to buy a home? “It is so difficult to be a first-time homebuyer, especially as prices continue to rise,” Mitchell said. Though programs do exist to help Idaho first-time buyers with down payments as well as qualifying for mortgages, and local Realtors and mortgage brokers can point people in the right direction.

Mitchell does see hope on the horizon. “As the pandemic eases, sellers who have been uncomfortable putting their homes on the market may regain that confidence and will add to our inventory, opening up some more opportunities for young couples looking to buy. Additionally, we know the builders are working as fast as they can to bring new homes to the market.

It may take a bit longer than you had hoped to find your first home but be patient, continue to save, and soon you’ll be calling Sandpoint your home.”

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Selkirk Multiple Listing Service Real Estate Market Trends Vacant land—bonner county

residential sales—All Areas 2020

2021

% Inc/Decr

2020

2021

225

563

% Inc/Decr

Sold Listings

588

745

27

Sold Listings

150

Volume - Sold Listings

$239,045,603

$403,948,235

69

Volume - Sold Listings

$36,107,679

$109,062,452

88

$94,000

$139,000

48

Median Price

$335,000

$417,000

24

Median Price

Average Sales Price

$406,540

$542,212

33

Average Sales Price

$141,598

$193,716

37

Average Days on Market

105

92

-12

Average Days on Market

214

161

-25

Residential Sales—schweitzer

Sandpoint City Sold Listings

2020

2021

94

107

2020

2021

14

Sold Listings

31

42

35

$12,112,900

$29,592,401

144

% Inc/Decr

% Inc/Decr

Volume - Sold Listings

$36,287,885

$47,549,597

31

Volume - Sold Listings

Median Price

$322,500

$382,500

19

Median Price

$332,000

$585,000

76

Average Sales Price

$386,041

$444,388

15

Average Sales Price

$385,518

$804,036

109

Average Days on Market

80

78

-3

Average Days on Market

84

94

12

residential sales—all lakefront

Sandpoint Area

2020

% Inc/Decr

2021

% Inc/Decr

2020

2021

Sold Listings

331

416

26

Sold Listings

80

57

Volume - Sold Listings

$153,388,601

$245,297,984

60

Volume - Sold Listings

$51,482,385

$60,842,809

18

$533,500

$750,000

411

-29

Median Price

$370,000

$475,000

28

Median Price

Average Sales Price

$463,409

$589,658

27

Average Sales Price

$643,529

$1,067,417

66

Average Days on Market

97

84

-13

Average Days on Market

116

103

-11

RESIDENTIAL SALES BY AREA based on information from the Selkirk MLS for the period of September 20,to 2019 to April 20, April 20, 2020 Septmeber 30, 2020 versus Spetember September 20, 10, 2020, to April April 20, 20, 2020.

2021. Real Real estate estate stats stats for for Bonner Bonner and and Boundary Boundary counties. counties. Information Information deemed deemed reliable reliable but but not not guaranteed. guaranteed.

2019 to © ©

Residential + Commercial + Destination | Award-Winning www.bodenarchitecture.com • 208.263.5072 SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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Building Services in Sandpoint, Idaho

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nati ves + newcom e rs

NATIVES Newcomers story and photos by Marianne Love

L

&

ike many Sandpoint residents, this issue’s Natives and Newcomers exemplifies the meaning of “service.” Whether serving up a good burger, a home-cooked meal, or lending a hand to local entities, their contributions add to the character of the community. This time, we introduce you to a former road designer, a corporate lawyer, a senior citizens’ advocate, and a brand-new business owner. Enjoy!

Native Skip Newton

For the record: Skip Newton’s legal name is “Garland Lee.” Nurses caring for him as a youngster with pneumonia called him “Skipper.” Eventually, the shorter nickname caught on.

“Few people know my given name,” said Newton, a 1959 Sandpoint High graduate, retired Forest Service employee, and avid gardener.

Few people also know that Newton, 79, has competed in three “Bare Buns” 5K runs at a nudist farm. More on that later.

During his youth, Newton’s family lived in one of the first Moran Addition homes in southwest Sandpoint.

“Across the street from our home was Lakeview Park, a great woodsy playground,” Newton recalls. “The river was just a hop, skip, and a jump from our front door for fishing and duck hunting.”

As the neighborhood grew, so did the social lives of its youth. Boy/girl parties

at the Ebbett house or sledding on snow mounds in empty lots kept kids busy.

At Sandpoint High School, scholastics for Newton took a back seat to boxing and football.

“Bud Benoit, a former collegiate boxer, was my boxing coach at the Elks,” he recalled. Benoit later landed Newton a full boxing scholarship to then Idaho State College where he competed until the boxing program was discontinued.

After earning additional education at NIC, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service Engineers, spending most of his 31 years in the Sandpoint office, designing and overseeing road construction.

“It was rewarding,” he said, “to see logging trucks using those roads to deliver timber to mills, knowing that the lumber would become someone’s home.”

Married 60 years, Newton and wife Helen (Sandpoint’s former City Clerk

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from 1981 to 2005) are parents of two daughters, Laurie and Pam. They’ve lived for 42 years on South Huron where their home also serves as Newton’s favorite restaurant: “my own kitchen where I do all the cooking.”

Finally, for the record on Newton’s nudist fun runs: believing in bare essentials, he always wore shorts and running shoes.

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Q. Who is a community member who inspired you?

A. Lloyd Swanger, Falls district ranger. I worked under him for six years. Common sense, no nonsense guy ... may have bent a rule now and then, didn’t take crap off anyone, but got the job done and supported his crews.

Q. What’s a local place you often visit?

A. The library. I like to read mysteries. It’s the best of the best—great staff, collection, and location.

Q. Who were your good friends growing up here?

A. Art Bourassa and I played basketball and football together and hunted together. In recent years, we turned to huckleberry picking and ice fishing.

Jerry Ebbett, next-door neighbor, gave Art and me rides to school nearly every day. Ebbett’s had the first microwave in the neighborhood. Jerry made humongous amounts of popcorn with equally humongous amounts of butter. The two of us gobbled it all down.

Q. What benefits of Sandpoint do you appreciate as a longtime resident?

A. Access to public lands for recreation, hunting, fishing, etc.

Since the birth of her twins Noah and Eloise in early 2020, Megan Johnson can boast five generations of family residency in Bonner County.

“My dad’s family both came here with his grandparents and lived on farms next door to each other off French Road in Colburn-Culver,” said Johnson, Litehouse, Inc. General Counsel/ Corporate Secretary. “They were the Zaklan and Johnson

families. His mom was a Zaklan.”

Johnson’s story reflects the richness of hometown experiences along with a continuing wanderlust, taking her to all corners of the world.

“I grew up all over town,” she said, noting connecting with family members included Sourdough Point, Syringa Heights, Rocky Point, Lakeshore Drive, and the Selle Valley/Colburn-Culver area.

She finished her early education here, graduating from Sandpoint High School in 2002, complete with two student exchanges to Holland and Switzerland.

After graduating from College of Idaho, Johnson earned her Juris Doctorate at Willamette University. During law school she studied in China on an exchange through Willamette. Spanish studies have also taken her to Costa Rica.

Trips to places like South America and Iceland have continued. If all goes right, Johnson hopes to instill a zest for travel within her twins.

“I love to travel,” she said, “and am thankful for the opportunities.”

At 36, Johnson views Sandpoint life as rewarding, with family all around the area, community-service opportunities, and as a great place for her kids and her canine sidekick Oliver.

“I love the dog-friendly activities in Sandpoint... the town is small so I can see the tangible effects of good works people contribute to,” she noted. “I’m really proud that I have the most amazing twins and am able to raise them myself with the values I admire in the place that I live.”

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introducing locals | Q. Who is a community member who inspired you?

A. Luke Mayville. He still visits the area often. His leadership and vision for Reclaim Idaho is incredibly inspiring. His love for his community turned into a passion to better education and healthcare for all of Idaho.

Q. What’s a local place you often visit?

A. Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail. What a GEM! This trail is beautiful no matter the season. We’re so lucky to have this outdoor area right in town. I also visit the Pine Street Woods. It’s nice to have these close areas that feel as if you are out of town.

Q. Who were your good friends growing up here?

A. Piper Trulock and I would ski together at Schweitzer... we thought we were very cool when we’d leave one ski at the lodge and ski with only one ski. I’m still very close with Lindsey Braun Stenshoel and Jeff Reoch. We visit a couple times a year.

Q. What benefits of Sandpoint do you appreciate as a longtime resident?

A. The connections... there is always a family history connection, whether your parents went to high school together, or you had the same teachers in high school. It makes living here feel very close-knit and supportive.

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C elebrating 41 Y ears of bro adc ast ing loc al rad io

Newcomer Cherie Coldwell

1980 - 2021 Listen over the air: 106.7 FM/HD • 95.3 FM/HD Or by live stream at: KPNDradio.com Also available on After traveling the world as an “Air Force brat” and, later, a noncommissioned officer, Cherie Coldwell recently SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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landed in Sandpoint. As the new executive director of the Sandpoint Area Seniors, Inc., she continues her life mission of serving others in a place which suits her passion for arts, good food, and outdoor adventure.

“I loved the small-town vibe and the huge art and music scene,” Coldwell said.

“The food here is phenomenal.”

Born in Thailand, Coldwell later lived in Greece.

“How many first graders can say they learned about Greek mythology and then visited the Acropolis?” she mused.

From there, this 50-year-old independent soul, whose family includes members serving in the military since the Revolutionary War, joined the Air Force, working as a medical technician, mostly ER. She also supervised education and training for the 75th Medical Group at Hill AFB, Utah.

One assignment took her to a base in the Azores which served as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle. That gig earned her an opportunity to wear an actual NASA spacesuit, complete with helmet.

Coldwell later spent 11-and-a-half years in Pennsylvania as a civilian pediatric nurse.

A seven-month sabbatical and road trip with Fargo, her rescue dog, led her to Yellowstone, where friends encouraged her to visit them in Sandpoint.

“The rest is history,” she said. In her newest role with Sandpoint Area Seniors, she focuses on grant writing and addressing needs of seniors, especially “those aging alone.

“I hope to help,” she explained, “with accessing programs and opportunities that will allow them to age with grace at home and without fear of being abandoned or taken advantage of.”

Q. What is something you’d like to see in this area from places you’ve been?

A. I’d love to see a Target up here.

Q. Who lured you to Sandpoint and what convinced you to stay?

A. A couple of Air Force friends of mine retired here and invited me to visit while I was cruising the country in my RV. I visited at the end of July/ beginning of August, so there wasn’t a whole lot of

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convincing involved.

Q. Will you describe the culture you’ve noticed in Sandpoint?

A. The culture of Sandpoint is one of a small town where most people are welcoming and neighborly.

Q. How has your life changed since moving here?

A. I’ve learned to slow down, breathe more, and enjoy the environment no matter what the weather is like outside.

Newcomer Austin Terrell

When conditions aren’t ideal for where you choose to follow your career and live your life, try flipping burgers! That’s exactly how Austin Terrell found a way to move to Sandpoint in 2020.

Terrell, a 2016 University of Idaho rangeland management grad, recently purchased Dub’s Drive-In with his wife Kristi, a Sandpoint native and daughter of former owners Marty and Jeralyn Mire. “... it is hard to find a job in the rangeland field up here in timber country,” he explained. “One day we called Kristi’s parents and told them that we may be interested in discussing the future of Dub’s.

Great timing because Marty had thought about retiring.”

“We knew this would be a one-time opportunity,” Terrell, an outdoorsman and animal lover, said, “so, we jumped on it and moved to Sandpoint within two months.”

Originally from Meridian, Terrell, 27, left behind a job he loved, rangeland man-

agement specialist for the Idaho Dept. of Agriculture, consulting with ranchers.

“I am doing something completely different from what I ever expected,” he said. “Dub’s has always been an amazing place for families to gather, celebrate, and enjoy great food.” The restaurant also has a longtime tradition of providing many young people their first job in Sandpoint.

“I hope to continue providing the youth of Sandpoint that same safe and fun work environment,” he said.

His Boise area roots include the Basque culture. Terrell’s great-grandparents were sheepherders.

“I remember going to Basque picnics... one of my favorite events is the Jialdi festival held every five years in Boise,” Terrell said. “If you know any Basques in this area, let me know!”

For now, Terrell is happy to be here.

“Everyone has been so welcoming and supportive,” he said. “I am so excited to continue the wonderful legacy of Dub’s.”

Q. What is something you’d like to see in this area from places you’ve been?

A. An ice skating rink in the winter. The city of Caldwell near Boise has a rink. It’s a great little community spot that really draws people together.

Q. Who lured you to Sandpoint and what convinced you to stay?

A. My wife, Kristi. I fell in love with the lifestyle—always so much to do from riding horses, hiking, or spending a day on the lake. It’s truly an outdoorsman’s paradise.

Q. Will you describe the culture you’ve noticed in Sandpoint?

A. The culture I’ve generally seen is a changing one. People of Sandpoint have been very welcoming. I am appreciative of that. I can tell, though, that the area has grown dramatically in recent years and would say Sandpoint is currently somewhere between a small-town and bigger city-culture and feel.

Q. How has your life changed since moving here?

A. Life has drastically changed. The biggest changes/improvements include taking over Dub’s and having the opportunity to begin raising livestock on the family ranch.

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Fully furnished condos and on-site athletic club on Lake Pend Oreille. Stay and play packages.

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Sandpoint’s luxury vacation home rentals, with properties on the lake and the mountain. See ad, page 5. www.DM-Vacations.com

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Downtown location, high-speed internet. Free breakfast, themed spa suites. Ask about Silverwood, ski and golf packages. Kids stay free. www.CedarStreetHotel.com

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THE Soul OF

BREWPUB RESTORATION KEEPS CHARACTER OF ICONIC BUILDING

by Patty Hutchens

T

hey say that timing is everything, and that was exactly the case for brothers and business partners Duffy and Mickey Mahoney, owners of MickDuff’s Brewing Company, which operates both the Beer Hall at Third and Cedar and the recently relocated Brewpub at 419 North Second Avenue.

“Our old location had some structural issues which forced our hands (to move) and helped us find this amazing building,” said Duffy Mahoney of their new location in Sandpoint’s historic

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federal building. “We tried to buy the building for multiple years, and it actually sold, but that deal fell through at the last moment.

Then we got a second opportunity to purchase it, and the timing was just about perfect.”

The recent move of the Brewpub has proven to be a huge success with residents and tourists flocking to check out the new location.

The building, originally known as the Sandpoint Federal Building, was constructed in 1928 and was placed on the National

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PHOTO BY DOUG MARSHALL

A BUILDING

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Register of Historic Places in 2001. Initially housing the post office, in the 1960s it was transformed into the East Bonner County Library and most recently a title company occupied the building.

But before the Brewpub could be moved from its former location on First Avenue, there were renovations that needed to happen. A primary focus of both Mickey and Duffy was that the soul of the building remain intact. “That was our goal throughout all of the design and build,” said Duffy.

They were meticulous in their renovation and careful not to alter the character or integrity of the beautifully constructed structure.

“We kept all wood and such associated with anything we did, so that it could be put back if we wanted,” said Duffy. “Our goal

was for people to not know what was old or what was new.”

The renovation began in October 2019 and was completed in December of 2020.

“The Historical Society was very involved in the project, especially with the new staircases,” said Duffy, adding that when it came to the interior, the society did not have a say as to what they did, though that did not stop Mickey and Duffy from asking for their input.

The project did not go without challenges. “Plaster was everywhere. It’s hard to deal with, heavy and just plain awful,” said Duffy, adding that the windows were also in desperate need of repair. “Luckily, we have a wooden window repair expert here in SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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Sandpoint, [Roger Funk of Passion for Woodworking] who really saved the project.”

Mickey added that another challenge was trying to keep the renovation period correct and under budget. “Our building was built in 1928, and we wanted to keep the look and feel of the 1920s,” said Mickey. With the building now housing a restaurant and brewery, the renovation had to follow current building codes—including fire safety and handicapped accessibility. “We tried really hard to make the new additions of the building blend in with the original design.”

Always considered an iconic building in the community, the more unique features include all brass plumbing and hidden passages. With 12,000 square feet, they eventually will rent out a portion of the building to other tenants. “We love having so much room, but we don’t need all of it,” said Mickey.

Since opening late last year, the new Brewpub has been extremely busy. When all COVID restrictions are lifted, it will seat approximately 120 people. They will also provide outside dining on the patio in the warmer months and plan to keep as much green space as possible for patrons to enjoy.

While not revealing the total cost of the renovation, it was certainly a financial undertaking. Fortunately, Mickey and Duffy kept inside their budget and expressed gratitude for SBA loans and to Mountain West Bank and Panhandle Area Council, Inc.

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for helping bring their vision to life.

Both brothers agree that the success of the new location has surpassed their expectations.

“So far it’s been a huge success,” said Duffy, who admits he was concerned that being off First Avenue could kill their business. “Our old location is about as good as it gets when it comes to foot traffic and tourists.” But that has not proved to be an issue.

Mickey and Duffy appreciate the support and feedback from the community, which includes praise for keeping the building true to its original design. With a passion for “all things old” and an appreciation for the historic nature of the building, this was a labor of love for the brothers.

“So many memories were made in this building, and we love hearing about these memories,” said Mickey. “We also teamed up with the Bonner County Museum, and we currently have a large photo exhibit that showcases the history of Sandpoint.

This includes photos of the building and photos of the construction of the building.”

Added Duffy, “We took one of the most iconic buildings in the area, made it a brewery and restaurant. What more could you ask for? Sandpoint has some amazing places to eat and drink, and some amazing breweries as well. We are just glad to be part of such an amazing community.”

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LEFT TO RIGHT FROM PREVIOUS PAGE: WHERE ONCE LIBRARIANS HELPED PATRONS, DINERS NOW ENJOY A BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED INTERIOR.; THE MUG RACK IS A CLEVER RE-USE OF FORMER MAILBOX CUBBIES. PHOTOS BY DOUG MARSHALL. CAROLINE HAWKINS ENJOYS THE NEW ATMOSPHERE, AND A MICKDUFF’S FRESH BREW. PHOTO BY BETH HAWKINS. THE OLD SINK WAS LOVINGLY RESTORED. NEXT PAGE: NO DETAIL WAS OVERLOOKED; WOODWORKER ROGER FUNK EVEN CRAFTED THE FRAME FOR THE SCHWEITZER SIGN. PHOTOS BY DOUG MARSHALL.

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A Passion for Wood

W

hen Jacob Bult approached Roger Funk, owner of Passion for Woodworking, to assist him in MickDuff’s renovation of the iconic building at 419 North Second Avenue, Funk knew it was going to be a challenge, but one he looked forward to.

Funk was familiar with turn-of-the-century buildings and was tasked with removing all the windows and, along with Bult, the two systematically stripped and assessed the

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windows to determine the level of restoration needed.

In addition to broken panes of glass, there were parts of the windows that needed restoration due to rot. “All of the windows and jambs were stripped and sanded to a smooth finish exposing the issues. Epoxy filler was used to fill grainy pocketed weathering and other superficial damages,” explained Funk, adding that several jambs needed removed and replicated while some of the sashes were completely rotted and required replication of the original parts and re-assembly to bring it back to life.

In addition to the window work, Funk was personally responsible for the repair of the brewery door on the basement level and creation of an additional door to match the modified original door.

“I also designed and constructed the MickDuff’s sign out front, the merchandise rack in the main entry, the three letter boards designed to match the original, the bathroom mirror frames, re-creation of the north-facing window panel, and the frame for the Schweitzer sign on display,” said Funk who alone had roughly 1,100 hours into the project.

Of the exterior, Funk said that most of the building is trimmed in old red pine and some fir. “The windows appear to be a blend of pine species, possibly eastern white pine depending on where the windows came from,” said Funk, who designed all that was repaired or built.

The goal of the restoration was to ensure all changes and additions fit the feel and character of the original building. Funk cited the main sign out front and the bathroom mirrors as examples. “Both are brand new but do not look modern and instead reflect the building they complement.”

A visit to the Brewpub will reward one with not only great food and beer – but fine craftsmanship, too.

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KEYS TOPast THE

A brief history of the Pend d’Oreille Winery’s classic antique piano

by Zach Hagadone

M

usic is a form of storytelling, and musical instruments themselves carry many stories within them. In the case of the Decker Brothers grand piano at the Pend d’Oreille Winery, that story weaves in and out of families going back to the early 20th century days of Sandpoint history.

According to Jim Bopp, who has co-owned the winery since 2017, the enormous piano—constructed of Brazilian rosewood sometime between 1869 and 1870—came into his family with the purchase by his grandparents of a stately home at 601 S. Euclid Ave. “The piano was in the house and my grandma sort of insisted that it stayed in the house,” he said.

Reference to the very same piano appeared in a large classified ad in the November 16, 1976 of the Sandpoint News Bulletin, promoting a house auction at 601 S. Euclid Ave. and Lakeview Boulevard.

“This sale is being held for Mrs. Susan Thomason, one of the pioneer ladies of the Sandpoint area and a resident of this home since 1915,” the ad stated, going on to list first and foremost among the included furnishings, a “BEAUTIFUL CONCERT GRAND PIANO (Decker Brothers dating back to the 1800s).”

A note from the auctioneer added, “These above antique items are some of the finest and best cared for items that we have ever had a chance to sell.”

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PHOTOS ABOVE AND PREVIOUS PAGE: THE CARVED DETAILS ON THE WINERY’S PIANO SET IT APART AS A UNIQUE PIECE. PHOTOS

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The Carolyn

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The piano is a showstopper. A peek under the cover reveals a powerfully built soundboard, which helps give the instrument its special resonance. Decker Brothers pianos were regarded during their time as exceptionally well built.

Though not as famous as Steinway, the former New York-based piano firm very likely would have risen to the top of the industry if one of the eponymous Decker brothers hadn’t died around the turn of the 20th century, precipitating the closure of the business.

As it is, Decker Brothers instruments are highly valued. Bopp estimated the winery’s piano is worth between $40,000 and $60,000—in line with the prices quoted by various antique piano sellers.

Bopp said no one in his immediate family played the piano, though when

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E ATS + D R I N KS the Festival at Sandpoint began in the early 1980s, some perthan this,’” Bopp said. formers would come by the house on Euclid to practice.

Inspired in part by his first job at the Garden Restaurant— “A lot of times it was just fort material for us boys,” he said, a former Sandpoint icon, which featured its own gorgeous going on to recount one instance when he and his brothers antique piano—Bopp said he wanted to re-create some of that watched their dad bring in the Christmas tree. Later that night, glamour at the winery. they snuck out of their rooms and started poking around the “That was something I loved about the Garden; it was super house. At one point, Bopp said he was caught trying to saw into swanky and had that feeling,” he said, noting that today, “peoone of the piano legs—“like the Christmas tree,” he said. ple really appreciate the piano. They walk by and admire it.”

Though an excellent superstructure for blanket and pillow The winery hosts regular nights of piano music, featuring a forts, Bopp admitted that he didn’t know much about where rotating stable of about six performers. the piano came from originally.

“Piano and wine go together pretty well—and pizza,” he said.

“I’m sure it came on a train somewhere. We don’t know for Add a side of history to the menu, and it’s a perfect pairing. sure,” he said.

Aside from the 1976 newspaper reference, there’s not much in the historical record to describe how and when the Thomason family at 601 Euclid came to own the piano.

Sandpoint in the 1920s and ’30s seems to have had a robust market for the sale of pianos—requiring an entire standalone section in the classifieds. Decker pianos have always been relatively rare, so it’s interesting to see one for sale in the Northern Idaho News, stating there was “no question as to its quality.” The ad ran for about a month between mid-March and mid-April 1927. Did the Thomasons buy it?

It’s unclear.

Numerous articles from the 1920s to the 1960s reveal Susan Thomason was an active community member, hosting dozens of events for the Presbyterian church, bridge games, and other philanthropic gatherings at her house, where undoubtedly the Decker Brothers instrument took pride of place.

Her niece, Margaret Thomason, was apparently a sought-after pianist in Sandpoint, her name cropping up in article after article about musical productions in which she served as accompanist. Margaret’s mother, Alice, who was Susan’s sister-inlaw, was the first organist at the Sandpoint Presbyterian Church.

The auction at Susan Thomason’s former home at 601 Euclid occurred about five years before she died. The Bopp family went on to own the house until selling CRAFT BEER, WINE, EATERY, SANDPOINT, COEUR D’ALENE, & EVENTS, LIVE MUSIC NEW! SPOKANE WONDER BUILDING in the 1990s. After that, the piano went into a period of storage for about 25 years.

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And local restaurants are OK with that!

by Beth Hawkins

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s we move past the pandemic, one enduring trend that has left its mark is online ordering.

What’s easier than simply clicking on the menu items you’d like to order, and then picking it up from the restaurant when it’s ready? It appears that many local restaurants are embracing the shift towards technology, even as they gladly welcome patrons back to in-person dining.

For The Burger Dock, 116 N. First Ave. in downtown Sandpoint, adding online ordering took some work. “Like many restaurants, we did not have online ordering prior to COVID and so our online business has grown infinitely,” said Burger Dock co-owner Claire Anderson. “We were fortunate to be able to pivot quickly and establish a very seamless online ordering experience through our POS (Point-Of-Sale) system, Square.”

She added: “Square integrates everything into one system for our team, so operationally it was very straightforward.”

While online orders account for just 10 percent of The Burger Dock’s sales, Anderson believes it will continue to be a part of the business’s operations moving forward. “Guests now expect a seamless, mobile-forward experience with little friction, which we balance with delivering the best experience in our restaurant as well. The only real challenge is that we think our burgers are best hot off the grill, the to-go experience will never be the exact same!”

The Burger Dock’s most popular menu items ordered online are also the ones ordered most often in person—the Old Tin Can burger made with a hand-pressed Wood’s Meats patty, topped with cheese, tomato, iceberg lettuce, grilled onions, and secret sauce. Add some slices of local Wood’s Meats bacon for another top pick, the Bacon Cheese. And don’t forget fresh-cut french fries, made from locally sourced potatoes—they’re delicious dipped in The Burger Dock’s famous homemade fry sauce. www.theburgerdock.com Now situated in downtown’s Farmin Park, Heart Bowls is a local food truck that’s welcomed the migration towards online ordering. The popular lunchtime business located in the food SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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court at 317 Oak St., serves 100 percent gluten-free and vegan bowls and smoothies—favorite menu items are their acai bowls and smoothie bowls, along with rice bowls.

Owner Katie Adams said the addition of online ordering has proved to be a popular option for customers. “On some days, up to 50 percent of our orders are online,” she said.

One of the challenges early on when Adams added the online feature was prioritizing customers’ orders. “We’ve figured it out now, but it was where to put that ticket in the lineup—people placing their order online versus people in person.” There is a built-in prompt for a 30-minute pickup time, so that gives staff time to manage the orders. Another factor is the added expense on the business end with online ordering, but Adams said the benefits brought on by online ordering outweigh the costs.

“It pays off because we’re able to manage the flow,” She also considers the advantage it gives customers. “It’s so easy and so convenient. People want to enjoy their time with family and not wait in line. It makes people’s lives happier.”

For folks new to Heart Bowls, Adams said to give the smoothie bowls a try. “They’re a thick ice cream-like smoothie that’s topped with granola and nuts and seeds and fresh fruit. ” www.heartbowls.com.

At Sweet Lou’s, 477272 Highway 95 in Ponderay, convenience for the customer has been at the center of their online ordering efforts. “We’ve been working hard to adapt to the trend,” said co-owner Meggie Foust. “Online ordering has been

a game changer this year and it continues to gain momentum.

Our customers enjoy the ease of ordering and paying from their phones, and we have designated parking stalls for online ordering to make it even easier to grab dinner on your way home.”

Foust said the restaurant has been challenged in juggling the surge of online orders with eat-in dining. “It can be hard to keep pace with a busy take-out night and a busy dine-in night at the same time—it all comes from the same kitchen. We’ve adjusted accordingly by hiring servers that only focus on take-out orders and, when necessary, turning off the online ordering.” She notes that about 12 percent of their orders are currently take-

Quality Homemade Goods & Local Products

BULK FOOD

LUNCH

TAKE-N-BAKES Hours M-F 8:30-5:30 208-263-9446 Now Available With

1326 Baldy Mtn. Rd. Sandpoint, ID 83864 . www.millerscountrystoresandpoint.com 148

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E ATS + D R I N KS online orders,” said general manager Jeremy Holzapfel. While the restaurant has opened back up to in-person dining, as well as patio dining this summer, Holzapfel said online ordering remains popular with customers. Holzapfel credits their extremely user-friendly ordering site in ensuring all goes well: “It allows customers to choose when they would like to pick up their orders, from as soon as possible to anytime in the future.” The most popular orders placed online are Kung Pao Cauliflower, Chicken Vindaloo, Pho Chay, and Moroccan Roasted Root Salads. www.beetandbasil.net.

If you’re stopping by in person, check out The Beet Bar and Market going in this summer. “It’s where Action Water Sports used to be. We have decks being built, and we’ll have boatup access for ice, wine, beer, grab-and-go food, snacks, and cocktails. We’ll have live music, and this new space is perfect for the COVID world we are all living in.” And that’s definitely something that’s impossible to capture online!

Another restaurant offering online ordering at an on-the-water location is Forty One South, 41 Lakeshore Dr. in Sagle. A great online order to pick up is the Lakeshore Burger featuring a grilled housemade patty that’s topped with white cheddar, bacon jam, crispy shallots, and jalapeno aioli, served with French fries. www.41southsandpoint.com.

While the online ordering is a convenience, this is a waterfront restaurant that pays dividends for dining on-site, with gorgeous lake views and sunsets. Enjoy.

PHOTOS: LEFT TOP, BURGER FROM THE BURGER DOCK, LEFT BELOW, PLATTER FROM BEET & BASIL ABOVE, ONLINE ORDERING FROM 41 SOUTH WEBSITE.

out and said there are some definite favorites. “Burgers, our famous tailgate egg rolls, our smoked baby back ribs, and our bison ribs are what we commonly see head out the doors. Luckily, these items travel well!” www.sweetlousidaho.com.

The pandemic prompted Beet and Basil at The Creek, 105 S. First Ave., to a take-out only model from late 2020 through early 2021. “During that time, 50 percent of our sales were from

•

•

Natural beer, food & fun!

Come visit us today at one of our two locations: Family Friendly Brewpub

312 N First Ave.

Beer Hall & Brewery

419 N. 2nd Ave

MickDuffs.com SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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locals

eats+

drinks

FOR THE

APRIL ALLEN WITH ROSS AND JAMIE DAVIS OFFER WHAT THE LOCALS WANT IN THE N EW CAFE INSIDE DAVIS MARKET & CAFE. PHOTO BY LYNDSIE KIEBERT.

serving you 7 days a week at two locations!

Sweet Lou’s Restaurant & Bar Hwy 95 N Ponderay | 208.263.1381

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Come hungry, Stay late, Eat well! www.sweetlousidaho.com

Sweet Lou’s Restaurant & TAP HOUSE 601 Front Ave. 208.667.1170 | DOWNTOWN Cda

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E ATS + D R I N KS

New cafe adds zest to Davis Market

by Lyndsie Kiebert

R

oss and Jamie Davis have long considered opening a full cafe inside their grocery market in Hope, but between financial barriers and the coronavirus pandemic, it never seemed like the

right time.

That was, until April Allen entered the picture. Their establishment is now rechristened as the Davis Market & Cafe.

The three consider themselves a team—Ross and Jamie keep the front of the house, including their extensive grocery, in order, while Allen manages the culinary creations happening in the newly furnished cafe kitchen. Together, they are working to serve people hot, fresh, and affordable breakfast and lunch.

“We went ahead and basically threw everything we had at this,” Ross said.

Allen has extensive experience cooking both in the Idaho Panhandle and elsewhere in the U.S. “I do this for the people, you know what I mean?” she said. “I like to feed people.”

The Hope native has spent the last several months perfecting the cafe’s menu, drawing inspiration from local restaurant establishments of days gone by.

“I know what these guys want,” Allen said of locals looking

for a bite to eat. “That’s why the menu was easy to write.”

The cafe’s menu features staples like pancakes, waffles, omelets, sandwiches, salads, and burgers, while also boasting unique dishes like trout and eggs, vegetarian benedict, and a hot meatloaf sandwich. Most things can be made gluten free.

Dishes can come in half sizes, and the Hi-Hopes Special (pancakes, sausage, and coffee) appears on both the breakfast and lunch menus, offering a straightforward and complete meal for $4.50—the price such a plate would have cost when the HiHopes Market operated in that same location in the ‘90s.

Ross, Jamie and Allen agreed that the mission behind the cafe is to serve their neighbors.

“This store is for the community, for the locals,” Ross said.

“The tourism is a bonus. We are here for the people who are here all the time.”

Allen said she is open to working with diners to make substitutions and give them a meal they love—a meal they will come back for time and time again.

“If we’re going to do this for the people, then why not give them what they want?” she said. “That’s important to us.”

For hours and menu for Davis Market & Cafe, visit www.davisgrocery.com or find them on social media.

Seasonal Pub Fare with a Unique Twist Summer Hours Mon-Sat 11:30am to 10:00pm

Stay ile!

Awh

301 Cedar St., Suite 102 208.265.PORK

www.sandpointfatpig.com

Try our Locally Made Wine!

SINCE 1994

...and a full menu of artisan pizzas, salads, shrimp cakes, spanakopita, and more + a Gift Shop with Local Art! Open Tues-Sun 12 - 8 pm 301 Cedar St #101 | Sandpoint, ID 83864

SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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DISH

drinks

the local

S

ummer dining is back, and it feels especially beautiful this year! We are so appreciative of all those simple joys in life—live music at our favorite café, or meeting a group of friends for dinner on the town. It’s time to get out and enjoy!

Baxters on Cedar, 109 Cedar St., welcomes the addition of weekly fish specials, as well as prime rib served every Friday and Saturday night featuring 12-14 ounce cuts of local prime rib.

“And we’ve got our tried-and-true favorites, the lobster roll, all the burgers, seasonal soups and salads, and of course our Key Lime pie,” said Brandon Emch, co-owner and operator of Baxters and Baxters Back Door (located downstairs). A welcome summertime addition at the Back Door is live music every week, Wednesdays through Saturdays. The Back Door is an inviting and intimate space featuring wines and craft beers along with a tapas menu.

Another venue that’s kicking back up the live music scene is

Heart Bowls Food Truck

Di Luna’s Café, 207 Cedar St. “We tentatively have a concert scheduled for July 23 and 24 with Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method, if everything goes well,” said owner and chef Karen Forsythe. For fans of the café’s intimate concerts, this is indeed welcome news!

On the food front, the Caprese Flatbread Sandwich is back on the menu at Di Luna’s. It’s basically summertime on a plate!

“It’s always a favorite,” said Forsythe. “It’s made with fresh mozzarella, pesto, fresh tomatoes, and balsamic glaze.” For breakfast—or lunch, for that matter—the Sharp and Sweet is a menu item that has stood the test of time and pleased many a palate.

Made with sweet potato hash browns and topped with sharp Tillamook white cheddar, it’s served with choice of meat or veggie sausage and toast. Outdoor seating at the café returns for summer, so sit back and enjoy life go by while enjoying some of the most delicious in town.

What’s Cooking Around Town?

FIND OUT>> www.SandpointDining.com

ONLINE DINING GUIDE! r Happy Plac You e

Acai Bowls, Smoothies, Rice Bowls

100% Gluten Free & Vegan 317 Oak Street Food Court, Sandpoint.

View our menu & order online: www.HeartBowls.com Follow us @ HeartBowlsFoodTruck

phone: 208-304-7631

Natural & Organic House Roasted Espresso & Tea Blended Favorites Baked Goods Local Art and More!

Delicious nDailys Come & Taste!

Baxtersoncedar@gmail.com • 208-229-8377 • 109 Cedar St, Sandpoint

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Monday - Saturday 11:00 am-9:00 pm

119 N. 1st Avenue

Adjacent to Sandpoint City Beach

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E ATS + D R I N KS FROM LEFT ACROSS SPREAD: IT’S A MEAT LOVERS DREAM AT OLD WEST TEXAS BBQ. BAXTERS ON CEDAR IS ADDING WEEKLY FISH SPECIALS TO GO WITH ITS PRIME RIB FAVORITES. DILUNA’S CAFE HAS LIVE MUSIC AGAIN IN THEIR INTIMATE SETTING. COURTESY PHOTOS.

In the heart of downtown is The Fat Pig at 301 Cedar St., Ste. 102, where its beautiful outdoor patio is the perfect place to enjoy a delicious meal while taking in the sights and sounds of a Sandpoint summer day. Lunch and dinner menus include a variety of options including salads, burgers, and vegetarian delights. Owner Brett Mullinder said a great dish to try is the Birria Tacos, made with crispy corn tortillas, braised beef shanks, jack and Cotija cheeses, diced onion, cilantro, chili consomme, and served with chips and salsa. “We’ll be adding more new items weekly over the next month to our new summer menu,” he said.

“We do have live music scheduled here and there, so check out our social media to catch those dates as they come around.”

Wanna know what’s worth every mile of the drive to Moyie Springs? The Old West Texas BBQ at 73400 Highway 2. Specifically, the mesquite slow-smoked prime brisket. “It’s an all-time favorite for our customers,” said owner Johnney Walker. “We

smoke all briskets and pork for 12 to 14 hours at 225 degrees.”

The restaurant has added a new log outdoor pavilion this summer, and it seats more than 100 people. “It’s a cool concert stage, the performers are up close and personal,” Walker said.

One to mark on the calendar is Nashville recording artist Scott Hellmer, performing July 16.

And don’t forget about Spud’s right in town—still in their temporary location at 202 N. Second Ave. as of late May. So many mouthwatering options to choose from, including their namesakes: the oven-roasted potatoes topped with a variety of delicious options. And what would summer be without the turkey basil sandwich, served with roasted turkey, lettuce, and fresh basil mayo on a delicious roll. Order several of these online, along with extra napkins, and you’re all set for a perfect day in Sandpoint!

Restaurant & Catering serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 150+ bottles of wine • 100 different beers Gas • propane • showers • ice • convenience store www.packriverstore.com • 1587 Rapid Lightning Rd, Sandpoint, ID • (208) 263-2409 • VISIT US on SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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Downtown Sandpoint eats+ drinks

Dining Map 18

To Bonners Ferry & Canada To Schweitzer Mtn. Resort

Kootenai Cut-off Rd. Bonner Mall

Pack River Store

7

Winter Ridge Natural Foods

8

Baxters on Cedar

9

Beet & Basil

Sand Creek Byway

Visitor Center

Larch

10 Burger Dock 11

Chimney Rock at Schweitzer

12

Di Luna’s Long Weekend Café and Gift Shop

SA

N

Fir

13 The Fat Pig

Bonner General Health

Poplar

15 The Floating Restaurant 16 Forty One South

Heart Bowls

Main

Cedar

Jalapeño’s Restaurant

22 Powderhound Pizza 23 Second Avenue Pizza 24 Eichardt’s Pub & Grill

Church

27 Idaho Pour Authority 28 Matchwood Brewing 29 Mickduff ’s Beer Hall 30 Pend d’Oreille Winery

Boyer Ave.

Brewpub

26 A&P’s Bar & Grill

30

Main

28 1

17

13 12 27

8

21 26

3

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Bridge St.

10

City Beach

9

23

Marina

16 To Sagle & Coeur d’Alene

S

154

Panida Theater

Lake St.

7

To Dover & Priest River

St. Cedar St. Cedar Bridge

Town Square

Pine St.

S. Fourth Ave.

Division St.

Pine

N

E

29 24

Farmin Park

Oak

25 Mickduff ’s Brewing Co.

25

Third Ave.

19 Sky House At Schweitzer 20 Sweet Lou’s

Fourth Ave.

Alder

the Hemlocks

Fifth Ave.

18 Old West Texas BBQ at

W

K

Healing Garden

The Idaho Club

21

CR

EE

14 The Clubhouse Restaurant at

17

D

Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail

Miller’s Country Store & Deli

6

First Ave.

Davis Market & Cafe

5

Second Ave.

Monarch Mountain Coffee

4

S. Second Ave.

Mojo Coyote at Schweitzer

PARKING

2 3

Elks Golf Course

5 Baldy Mountain Rd.

Boyer Ave.

Evans Brothers Coffee

Division St.

1

15

To Hope & Clark Fork

20 Schweitzer Cut-off Rd.

14

LAKE PEND OREILLE

22 2 19 11

6 4

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E ATS + D R I N KS

Forty One South outdoor dining. Photo by Doug Marshall

COFFEE & CAFES

Restaurant index by type of cuisine. Locate by number on dining map

EVANS BROTHERS COFFEE

01

524 Church St. Located in downtown Sandpoint’s historic Granary Arts District. Enjoy exceptional coffees and espresso, including the popular Headwall Espresso Blend. Locally baked pastries, breakfast burritos and more. Open daily.

208-265-5553 www.EvansBrothersCoffee.com

MOJO COYOTE AT SCHWEITZER 02 10000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. Enjoy a fresh Evans Brothers espresso and treat your sweet tooth to a warm scone. Fresh-baked pastries, breakfast burritos and lunch specials. Fine selection of beer and wine.

208-255-3037 www.Schweitzer.com

MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE 03 119 N. First Ave. Sandpoint’s original coffee roastery and coffeehouse, now located in the heart of downtown on First Avenue! Premium micro-batch always-organic beans.

Open daily.

04

620 Wellington Pl., Hope. Full-service restaurant serving breakfast and lunch.

Full-service grocery store supplies local produce, meats, wine and beer, and handcrafted goods to the Hope community. Open daily. 208-264-0539 www.DavisMarketCafe.com

MILLER’S COUNTRY STORE & DELI

05

1326 Baldy Mountain Rd. Wholesome goodness with a selection of fine deli meats and cheeses, bulk food items, pie fillings, and delicious fresh-baked pies, breads and pastries - plus soup and sandwiches, take-home dinners, and soft-serve ice cream. Inside and outside seating. Open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 208-263-9446. www.MillersCountryStoreSandpoint.com

WINTER RIDGE NATURAL FOODS 07 703 Lake St. A natural foods grocery store with in-house deli, bakery, meat department, organic produce department and hot food bar with indoor seating. Open daily, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

208-265-8135 www.WinterRidgeFoods.com

ECLECTIC/FINE DINING BAXTERS ON CEDAR

08

BEET & BASIL

09

105 S. First Avenue. Specializing in global street food with a local flair, enjoy delicious options for vegetarians, vegans, meat lovers and those with dietary restrictions. Waterfront patio seating in a beautiful garden setting.

New this summer, The Beet Bar and Market features boat-up access for ice, wine, beer, grab-and-go food.

208-920-6144 www.BeetandBasil.net

THE BURGER DOCK

10

116 N. First Ave. Voted Best New Business in Bonner County 2019!

Handcrafted, locally sourced gourmet burgers. Vegan-friendly options. Beer specials during pro-football season.

Waterfront view of marina. Open daily.

208-597-7027 www.theburgerdock.com

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06

1587 Rapid Lightning Rd. A country store with gourmet fare, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Grab ‘n’ go burritos and salads, grocery necessities, plus a chef’s menu featuring weekly specials and more.

Open daily.

208-263-2409 www.PackRiverStore.com

109 Cedar St. Upscale pub serving American cuisine with daily specials and fresh local products. From steaks and chops to half-pound burgers, great salads, and Baxters’ signature Key lime pie. 208-229-8377 www.baxtersoncedar.com

DELICATESSENS & MARKETS DAVIS MARKET & CAFE

PACK RIVER STORE

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CHIMNEY ROCK AT SCHWEITZER

11

FORTY-ONE SOUTH

16

10000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. Fireplaces, comfortable seating in the bar, and diverse cuisine. Enjoy an extensive menu including high-quality steaks, hearty pasta, scrumptious salads and exquisite seafood. Open daily inside the Selkirk Lodge at Schweitzer. 208-255-3071 www.Schweitzer.com

41 Lakeshore Dr., Sagle. South end of the Long Bridge. Waterfront dining in an elegant lodge setting; exquisite service paired with innovative cuisine make for one of North Idaho’s premier dining experiences. Open 7 nights a week for dinner.

208-265-2000 www.41SouthSandpoint.com

DI LUNA’S LONG WEEKEND CAFÉ AND GIFT SHOP

HEART BOWLS

12

207 Cedar St. American bistro café offering regional, sustainable foods including hand-cut steaks, homemade soups and vegetarian cuisine, plus eclectic gifts available for sale. Open Friday-Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

208-263-0846 www.DiLunas.com

THE FAT PIG

13

301 Cedar St. Suite 102. Refreshing twists on classic pub fare with a complete vegetarian menu offered for lunch and dinner. Enjoy an extensive draft beer selection in a warm pub environment with a rotating wine list.

Outdoor dining patio in the central downtown area.

208-265-PORK (7675) www.SandpointFatPig.com

THE CLUBHOUSE RESTAURANT 14 AT THE IDAHO CLUB 151 Clubhouse Way. Stunning new clubhouse restaurant with fine dining and bar. Americana menu features steak, regional seafood, salad, pub favorites, and weekly specials. Bar menu includes burgers, sandwiches, salads, and appetizers. Open daily; public welcome. www.TheIdahoClub.com.

THE FLOATING RESTAURANT 15 47392 Highway 200 in Hope, at Hope Marina. Dine indoors in the beautiful dining room, or outdoors on the covered and open patios. Regional, handmade fare, fresh seafood, and local products. Enjoy the views and that “on the lake” experience. Lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch. 208-264-5311 www.HopeFloatingRestaurant.com

17

317 Oak St. at the Food Truck Court.

100 percent vegan and gluten-free.

Delicious and healthy Açaí + smoothie bowls, baked goods, smoothies, rice bowls, drinks and coffee, kid’s menu, and more. Open daily.

208-304-7631 www.HeartBowls.com

OLD WEST TEXAS BBQ AT THE 18 HEMLOCKS 73400 Highway 2, Moyie Springs.

Authentic slow-smoked Texas barbecue restaurant and steakhouse at The Hemlocks, featuring ribs, sandwiches, brisket and more at the walk-up barbecue, with fine steaks and fresh seafood in the steakhouse.

Open daily. 208-267-4363 www.OldWestTexasBBQ.com

SKY HOUSE AT SCHWEITZER

19

10000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. Ride the chairlift or hike your way up to the Sky House for a lunch experience unlike any other. Featuring a chef-inspired menu from locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients. Open during the summer season at Schweitzer.

208-263-9555 www.schweitzer.com

SWEET LOU’S RESTAURANT

20

477272 U.S. Highway 95 in Ponderay.

Terrific traditional and regional fare. Serving hand-cut steaks, freshly ground burgers, wild salmon and smoked ribs. Family-friendly environment. Full bar. A second location is open in Coeur d’Alene.

208-263-1381 www.SweetLousIdaho.com

for a complete interactive guide to all local dining, go to www.sandpointdining.com

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ETHNIC JALAPEÑOS RESTAURANT

TAVERNS, BREWERIES AND WINERIES

21

A&P’S BAR & GRILL

26

314 N. Second Ave. A Sandpoint favorite for over 20 years offering both traditional and Americanized Mexican dishes in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. Full bar, patio seating, banquet facilities, glutenfree menu, quick to-go menu, indoor waterfall and fish tank offer something for everyone. 208-263-2995 www.SandpointJalapenos.com

222 N. First Ave. Longtime downtown tavern is home of the world-famous PJ’s hand-pressed hamburgers made with fresh Wood’s ground beef in a relaxed and friendly environment. Plus the best fries in town! Pool table, TVs, live and DJ music most weekends. Newly remodeled and family friendly. Open daily.

POWDERHOUND PIZZA

IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY

22

27

166 Village Lane at Schweitzer. Open for the summer season, serving delicious pizza by the pie or by the slice.

Traditional favorites and specialties including Thor’s Hammer and the Husky Hawaiian. Fresh salads, as well.

208-255-5645. www.PowderhoundPizza.com.

203 Cedar St. Sandpoint’s premium craft beer store and taproom with 16 rotating craft beer taps and 300 bottled beers in stock. You’re sure to find a beer (or two) you love to drink here or at home. Also serving hard ciders, wine by the glass, and snacking options. 208-596-7096 www.idahopourauthority.com

SECOND AVENUE PIZZA

MATCHWOOD BREWING CO.

23

215 S. Second Ave. Savor the piled-high specialty pizzas, loaded with fresh ingredients on homemade dough, or calzones, specialty salads and sandwiches.

Gluten-free choices. Beer and wine, take-and-bake pizzas available. Free delivery; open daily.

208-263-2995 www.secondavenuepizza.com

PUB-STYLE EICHARDT’S PUB & GRILL

MICKDUFF’S BREWING CO. BEER HALL & BREWERY

24

212 Cedar St. Relaxing pub and grill mixes casual dining with seriously good food.

Completely family friendly. More than a dozen beers on tap, good wines and live music. Upstairs game room with fireplace. Locally supported and nationally recognized since 1994. Open daily at 11:30 a.m. 208-263-4005 www.EichardtsPub.com

MICKDUFF’S BREWPUB

25

419 Second At the pub, enjoy craft ales in the iconic restored old federal building downtown. Menu includes traditional and updated pub fare, gourmet burgers, sandwiches and soups. At the hall, revel in the handcrafted beers from 16 taps for every taste, free popcorn and weekly live music.

208-255-4351 www.MickDuffs.com

28

513 Oak St. in the Granary District.

Experience Sandpoint’s neighborhood brewery and eatery featuring handmade craft beers on tap, plus a fresh take on the classics including burgers, soups, and salads, and shareables. Indoor and outdoor seating.

208-718-2739 www.MatchwoodBrewing.com

29

220 Cedar St. Family-friendly brewery tasting room boasts 16 taps, local bar art, free popcorn and weekly entertainment. Beer Hall is BYOF (Bring Your Own Food)-friendly and has a beer for every taste. 21 years or older for live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Open daily. 208-209-6700 www.MickDuffs.com

30

PEND D'OREILLE WINERY

301 Cedar St. Locally made wines, tasting room, house-made appetizers, live music, local art installations, and refillable wine growlers, located in the renovated and historic Belwood 301 Building. Open daily.

208-265-8545 www.POWine.com

SANDPOINT BOASTS AN ECLECTIC MIX OF FINE RESTAURANTS, BREWERIES, AND EVEN OUR OWN WINERY! FROM LEFT, A SEAFOOD SPECIAL AT THE FLOATING RESTAURANT IN HOPE; THE CHARCUTERIE BOARD AT PEND D’OREILLE WINERY; GOURMET FARE AT BAXTERS ON CEDAR; BEER MAKES THE PERFECT SANDWICH ACCOMPANIMENT AT MATCHWOOD BREWING.

SandpointMagazine.com SANDPOINT M A G A Z I N E

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eats+

INDEX

drinks

advertiser

A Glass Act

130

All Seasons Garden & Floral

41

Alpine Shop

21, 71

Fogarty Construction

130

Realm Partners

60

Front Yard Project

45

Realm Partners – Jeremy Brown

66

Greasy Fingers Bikes

44

ReStore Habitat For Humanity

Ameriprise Financial

72

Gregory Homes

18

Rock Creek Alliance

Anderson Autobody

66

Guaranteed Rate

111

Artist Studio Tour

41

Hallans Gallery

41

14

Hendricks Architect

Aspen Farms Barry Fisher Custom Homes

118

Hope Marine

Better Together Animal Alliance

51

Idaho Club

Beyond Hope Resort

54

Kaniksu Health Services

Sandpoint Building Supply Sandpoint Momentum

119 52 128 29

121

Sandpoint Movers

42

Sandpoint Online

159

117

Sandpoint Reader

68

Sandpoint Super Drug

25

24, 72

70, 72

BizarreBazaar

119

Keokee Books

48

Satisfaction Painting

127

Boden Architecture

129

KOS North Idaho

14

Scherrhaven Studio

41

Bonner County Fair

23

KPND Radio

133

Bonner General Health

20

KRFY Radio

68

Selkirk Craftsman Furniture

Capstone CPA/AGP Wealth Advisors 46

Lake Pend Oreille Cruises

63

Selle Valley Construction

Century 21/Riverstone

Lewis and Hawn Dental

15

Skywalker Tree Care

44

Century21/Riverstone - Carol Curtis 127

Lewis and Hawn Sleep Solutions

33

Sleep’s Cabins

67

CHAFE 150

68

Litehouse Foods

58

Sunshine Goldmine

59

16

Maria Larson Artist

41

37,123

Co-op Country Store Coeur Private Wealth Coldwell Banker Resort Realty Collin Beggs Timberframes

135

Monarch Marble & Granite

114

Mountain West Bank

105, 130

Dana Construction

108

North 40 Outfitters

56

Taylor Insurance

55

34

The Local Pages

132

3 30

Northern Peaks Dental

63

EH Design LLC

35

Northwest Handmade

12

Eve’s Leaves

32

Northwest Realty Group

75

6

Northwest Self Storage

Evergreen Realty - Charesse Moore IBC

Panhandle Special Needs

Festival at Sandpoint

Pend Oreille Shores Resort

64

2

Super 1 Foods

Northern Lights, Inc.

Evergreen Realty

BC 119, 130

124

5

Daugherty Management

Schweitzer

45 132 63

Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby’s 106, 107 Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby’s Chris Chambers

1

Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby’s Cindy Bond

IFC

Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby’s Rich Curtiss Vanderford’s Books

113 72

Remarkable

o s p r e y s Watch them on the live web cam at their Memorial Field nest!

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Board Minutes May 23

10

3

logo.pdf

logo word.docx

Logo artwork

Logo artwork

Souptember logo.JPG

Apr 11, 2016

Apr 11, 2016

Jul 17, 2017

Apr 19

Oct 6, 2016

Logo Volunteer United…

4x5 logo (2).jpg

Promotional Material …

Mar 27

4 Computer Stuff Mar 1, 2016

Souptember logo.JPG 23 Oct 6, 2016

VIP Logo Centered.docx

4x5 logo (2).jpg

cfp_logo_gold.jpg

May 3, 2017

Feb 2

Nov 1, 2017

Feb 2

May 26, 2016

cfp_logo_black_outline…

Logo v3_outlines - Sou…

VIP logo v4.jpg

LogowithTaglineSocial…

LogowithTaglineSocial…

Logo v3_outlines - Sou…

Debra MayTownsend 9, 2016 Jun 15

Sep 21, 2016

Apr 19, 2017

Jul 24, 2017

Jul 24, 2017

Database Documents Mar 1, 2016

5

8 Directory

Sep 21, 2016

19

Sandpoint Community Resource Center provides

an extensive website offering information about how to receive help in areas as diverse as healthcare, housing, utilities, and clothing, while also connecting those who want to help with groups in need of volunteers.

There is even an option to register your organization’s need for volunteer support.

Learn more about it at www.sandpointcommunityresource.com 208-920-1840.

CFCGJul email logo.jpg 17, 2017 May 9, 2016

VIP logo v4_no tag lin…

Apr 19, 2017

logo.JPG

4x5 logo.jpg

4 Postcards_files

SPINPAGEIDEAS.pdf

Sep 11, 2015

Sep 21, 2016

Jul 17, 2017

Feb 2, 2017

4x5 logo (2).jpg

SCRC logo 300 ppi.jpg

reverse logo outlines.jpg

41

Documents Feb 8, 2016

reverse logo outlines.jpg Sep 21, 2016

4x5 logo square.jpg Jan 25, 2017

Volunteer United Agen…

Jan 25, 2017

Jan 25, 2017

Sep 21, 2016

saved_resource.html

webmail.css

4 Postcards_files

Challenges 4 Postcards…

May 19, 2017

May 19, 2017

Apr 19

May 2, 2017

Jul 17, 2017

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Donor mailing list Nov 7, 2016

5

4x5 logo (1).pdf

Alpine Motors Your Buick, GMC truck dealer. New and used sales and leasing. Full service, parts and body shop. Highway 95 N., Ponderay, 208-263-2118, 1-800-430-5050. www.AlpineMotors.net

Sep 21, 2016 20

Advisory Board Mtg. …

Nov 6, 2017

19

Grant Information Aug 10

3

webmail.css 15

Apr 26, 2017 Grants Committee Jul 17, 2017

Pacific Office Automati…

Second Quarter SPIN (…

Aug 10

Nov 9, 2017

Suite 208 and storage …

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Some Tips for Register…

May 22, 2017

Suite 208 and storage …

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Jun 14, 2017

Apr 19

26

Branding Email.docx Helpful Resource Documents

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Advisory Board Meetin…

Vanderford’s

Keokee A marketing communications firm

providing web design, hosting, search engine optimization and marketing, graphic design, editorial, media consultation and more.

405 Church St., 208.263.3573. www.keokee. com. We publish Sandpoint Magazine and SandpointOnline.

Offering the latest books and novels, office supplies, machine supplies and free delivery in Sandpoint.

Order online. 201 Cedar St.,

Shop Sandpoint Go to www.shopsandpoint. com, for local web links to trusted services, merchants, artists, craftspeople, farmers and green building. Write your own reviews in the new SandpointBlog. Fun reading, recycling, and more!

Sandpoint Super Drug The Center for Functional Nutrition offers a full line of clinical nutrition products including Klaire, Thorne, Pure, Ortho Molecular, and Apex. 604 N. 5th Avenue.

208-263-2417. www.Vanderfords.com

ADVERTISING INFORMATION Get current rate sheet on our website www.SandpointMagazine.com or call

208-263-3573 and talk to Sales Director Clint Nicholson (ext. 123; email clint@keokee.com).

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no vak

A LIFETIME IN THE ARTS & LETTERS

by Valle Novak

n 1980, after some 15 years of writing for a variety of venues in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, I “retired” at age 50 to a wonderful log home I found in the hills just beyond Sandpoint, with no thought of ever going back to work … until I saw an ad in the Sandpoint Daily Bee for a feature writer. I couldn’t resist that siren call, and so it was that I joined the Bee staff in 1983, to be responsible for a then-new facet of the growing newspaper. Pete Thompson was publisher, his son Jim was active in advertising, and Clare Marley was editor. The “Spotlight” was a special weekly edition full of ideas in décor, living in general, with a recipe page and articles covering the Sandpoint area scene.

After a couple of years it eventually segued into the main body of the newspaper—hence giving me a cooking page, then a gardening page, and finally a busy society/arts page which kept my fingers working the keyboard for years to come. Editor Chris Bessler, who had succeeded Marley, and I had a deep personal respect for each other—he for my lifetime of journalistic pursuits and I for his estimable talents and work ethic.

As the paper changed owners (and later renamed as the Bonner County Daily Bee) I became the arts editor during the wonderful rising arts scene in Sandpoint: Marilyn Sabella’s Holly Eve; Pend Oreille Arts Council, then headed by fireball Ginny Robideaux; the “Panida Moms” beginning the rescue of the grand old theater; and people like Judy Heraper, Natalie Ednie, Bobbie Huguenin, Sydne Van Horne and a host of others working for the establishment of The Festival at Sandpoint.

I was able to meet, write about, and become friends with a plethora of fine artists such as Stephen Lyman, Bonnie Shields, Janene Grende, Gabe Gabel, Ward Tollbom, Diana Schuppel, and musicians including Beth and Cinde, Peter Lucht, “Neighbor John” Kelley, Doctor Music, Charley Packard, The Monarch

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Mountain Boys (Ray Allen and Scott Reid), and my all-time fave “Little Davie Gunter.”

The Festival started out as a classical venue, up on Schweitzer Mountain, blessed for a time with the genius of the Spokane Symphony’s Maestro Gunther Schuller. It ultimately turned into an all-interests entertainment, but during that early heyday I reveled in the classics, especially enjoying the opportunity to hear, write about, and ultimately meet and socialize with the visiting artists—among them Tony Bennett, Count Basie, and Mason Williams, whose “Classical Gas” is still a knockout. Dear old country star Bill Monroe conducted our interview in his vintage baby-blue Cadillac in back of the Festival tent.

Other happenings, such as Winter Carnival, brought about chats with some stand-outs. One such was Jack Hemingway and daughter Mariel, conducted at Connie’s Lounge over beer and Cougar Gold cheese. A visit with Frank Bonner—the hapless “Herb” of “WKRP in Cincinnati”—disclosed that he was actually a relation of the founder of Bonner County, leading to his serving as Winter Carnival Marshal one year.

In 1996 I “retired” to travel, which only extended my ties to the Bee with extensive travel columns. And now, at 91, I enjoy “carte blanche” with Sunday articles ranging from bird-watching and environmental issues to recipes and reminiscing.

Through the years of doing these interviews, I found such a plethora of artistic talent in such a small venue to be mindboggling. People see Sandpoint and rave about its beauty, but once you get to know the town, you realize our best asset is the people who choose to make it their home.

It’s been a great run. Call me Lucky!

TRAVEL BECAME AN AVOCATION; VALLE’S PICTURED ABOVE IN GREECE, PARIS WITH HER SON, AND WITH AN IMPRESSIVE SAILFISH SHE CAUGHT IN MEXICO.

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C haresse Moore Knowledge • Experience • Dedication • Integrity • Results • Marketing That Sells •

sandpoint’s full-time top producing agent

An Expert in our Area *Based on Selkirk MLS data for 2004-2020

cell. 208.255.6060 email. charesse@evergreen-realty.com Choosing The Right Realtor Makes A Difference 321 N. First Ave., | Sandpoint, ID 83864

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