Sandpoint Magazine Winter 2016

WINTER 2016

M A G A Z I N E

face first into

OUR

WINTER

25

YEARS [Say what?]

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Interview with Vatican Journalist Cindy Wooden, Mountain Lions, Photographer Don Fisher’s Light-filled Landscapes, Mr. Clark Fork Bob Hays, Art of George Rickert, Passing the Torch at Bizarre Bazaar, History-making Sen. Shawn Keough, Schweitzer at the Peak, Calendars, Dining Real Estate … and a flurry more

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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 5-digit property code.

LOTS OF WATER ON THIS 68 ACRE ESTATE PROPERTY. Remodeled 5 bedroom/3 bathroom country home. Springs, creek, supply water for the pond, stocked with bass & trout. Finished 60’x60’ shop. Moose, deer, geese, duck, grouse & turkey call this home. See more pictures at Moosebuttranch.net. #20141713 Jim Shifler 208-610-4297 ATI#1341

AMAZING RIVERFRONT SETTING. “The Point” at Strong Creek has 2 sides fronting the water. 431 FF of sandy beach & rip rapped shoreline. 3,000+ sq. ft. home w/large covered patio for outside entertaining. Detached 2 & 1 car garages. Almost 1 1/2 acre of level property. #20152913 Brian Harvey 208-290-2486

90’ OF PEND OREILLE RIVER FRONTAGE ready for your INSTANT ENJOYMENT! Sandy level beach. Existing dock. 24x34 RV cover pole building w/ 12x22 garage. Extensive decking, brick/ rock work. Creek w/ covered bridge. Community water/sewer. #20152519 $349,000 Brian Harvey 208-290-2486

LUXURY SEASONS AT SANDPOINT PENTHOUSE. Truly the most luxurious private residence at Seasons, this custom-designed corner, double penthouse features 4,255 sq. ft. of professionally appointed and extraordinary custom amenities throughout. Features an expansive floor plan, gourmet kitchen, 4 bedrooms, sumptuous master suite, 2 boat slips and much more! $1,550,000 ATI#11701 Cindy Bond 208-255-8360

ALMOST IDAHO RANCH. Ultimate privacy without sacrificing proximity or connectivity! This 497 acre entire mountain valley estate with 49 acre spring-fed lake at its center, features a luxurious 9,500 sq. ft. main home, cozy 3 bedroom log guest home, caretaker’s home, multiple cabins, detached dining lodge, barns, pastures and much more! $7,200,000 ATI#15721 Cindy Bond 208-255-8360

WATERFRONT ACREAGE ON LAKE PEND OREILLE with over 600 feet of Lake Frontage. Rare Opportunity: own two adjoining 5 acre buildable parcels on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. Washed rock beaches and impressive towering bluffs provide impressive sweeping lake and mountain views from this private wooded setting. #20151874 $399,000 Bill Schaudt 208-255-6172 ATI#1040

GORGEOUS CUSTOM HOME IN MOYIE SPRINGS. Custom maple cabinets, maple floors, Pella windows, natural gas. 3 bedrooms + partial finished basement for office/family room. #20152125 $349,500 Susan Moon 208-290-5037 ATI#1215

350’ WATERFRONT LOT ON LAKE PEND OREILLE off Bottle Bay Road. New dock, trail to beach and engineered road to building site. Total of 7.32 acres. #20151514 $350,000 Susan Moon 208-290-5037 ATI#1183

PERFECT SUMMER HOME! A-frame cabin that sleeps 8, new dock, 2 large decks & boat lift. Beautiful lake and mountain views. Lake water and Bottle Bay sewer. #20152895 $435,000 Susan Moon 208-290-5037

TWO STUDIO CONDOS IN THE DIE SCHMETTERLING at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. One is located on the quiet back of the building for $93,000 and one is located on the front, with big mountain views and a great remodel for $120,000. This building has good ski access, a private parking lot, recreation room, ski tuning area, private lockers, and a sauna. Call Alison Murphy, 208-290-4567 ATI#1482

A RARELY AVAILABLE, AND UNIQUELY EXPANDED top floor 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with an office or separate family room in The Cornice at Schweitzer. This remarkable and immaculate condo has soaring cathedral ceilings, large windows overlooking the private deck out to the resort, and an open floor plan, plus a two car garage and good ski access. Call Alison Murphy, 208-290-4567 ATI#1399

HIGHLY DESIRABLE BUILDING SITE at “The Spires” at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Direct ski in/ski out with a groomed ski trail system that borders your property. Gently sloping building lot with ski access in from the “Basin Express.” #20153038 Call Lyle Hemingway 509-939-7304 ATI#1245

© MMVII Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Claude Monet’s “Red Boats at Argenteuil,” 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. Coeur d’Alene office: 208-667-1551, 221 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814. Sandpoint office: 208-263-5101, 200 Main St., Sandpoint, ID 83864.

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Sand

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Charlie Parrish 208-290-1501

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www.Evergreen-Realty.com ~ www.SchweitzerMountain.com 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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A LZM ANAC SA NDPOINT MAG A INE

W IN TE R 2 0 1 6 , Vo l . 2 5 , No . 1

CONTENTS

FEATURES 74

Cover: Our 25 Years

For Sandpoint Magazine’s silver anniversary, a stroll down memory lane with 25 for our 25th 35

The Honorable Senator

39

Wraith of the Woods

43

Experiments in Drama

46

Capturing Air, Light and Water

51

Call Him Mr. Clark Fork

Shawn Keough looks back on 20 years in the Statehouse Mountain lions thrive in northern Idaho Live with American Laboratory Theater Don Fisher transitions from medicine to making images

E

57

ZAGmania soothes winter blues

59

Pictured in History

61

Moonlighting Sculptor

How frenzied fans of Gonzaga men’s basketball cope

Roosevelt’s tree army, the CCC, came to Bonner County A man’s artistic expressions pay homage to his son

65

All Systems ‘Go’ at Schweitzer

68

Winter. Who Would We Be Without It? The season defines us and, occasionally, denies us Panhandle Backcountry

71

Ski life goes on after last season’s sparse winter

Online community crowdsources routes for snow seekers

The life of a town icon, Bob Hays

DEPARTMENTS Almanac Calendar Interview Cindy Wooden

10 25 29

Photo Essay Fantastic Frost

Real Estate Schweitzer Buoyed Sandpoint Returnees Buyouts Keeping It Local

79 84 84 87 91

Comp Plan Hits the Streets Marketwatch

Natives and Newcomers Winter Guide Lodging Eats & Drinks Dining Guide Sandpoint of View

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95 98

101 106 111 112 124 130

On the cover: Randy Evans, of Evans Brothers Coffee fame, was backcountry skiing with friends, including photographer Doug Marshall, when he chundered into the snow and came up laughing, whence Marshall captured his image. “To me it shows the pure joy of being in the backcountry with friends and enjoying winter to its fullest,” said Marshall.

On this page: A wilderness winter hike to Goat Mountain inspired this image, and we ran with it, because we can never get enough of Fiona Hicks’ photos of boots!

See winter features on pages 65, 68 and 71.

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Shot at the top snow stake on the knoll between the Lakeview Triple and the Great Escape Quad at Schweitzer 10 years ago, Jan. 25, 2006. This was a good snow year after the bad 2004-05 season. PHOTO BY DAVID MARX

Marlisa Keyes is a fifth-generation Bonner County resident,

editor’s note Ahhh, winter. It’s my favorite season.

The worse, the better methinks. Snow, piles of it, so much that I have to shovel out the windows of my house in order to see out. Shovel the roof, plow the driveway and go skiing in between. That’s what we’re talking about!

Having lived in states that border Canada my entire life, I’ve seen some doozies. In Wisconsin, it was ice storms, wicked winds and freakish cold. In Idaho, it’s snow and more snow, except for the occasional strange winter, like 2014-15 when I only plowed twice, skied five times and never shoveled the roof. Damn it anyway. Bring it on! See our stories on winter, Schweitzer and backcountry skiing to get inspired.

Twenty-five years ago this January, I walked into Keokee for the first time, carrying my portfolio and wearing heels. The portfolio hasn’t been updated since, and all signs of heels in my closet are long gone. I missed working on the first issue, but I’ve worked on all of them since, and I haven’t lost it yet. But I love this T-shirt I saw advertised in my Facebook feed: “I’m an editor.

That means I live in a crazy fantasy world with unrealistic expectations. Thanks for understanding.” The next week, another one showed up: “Editor. Because freakin’ miracle worker isn’t an official job title.” Both apply, and I’m still here, thanks to Chris Bessler.

–B.J.G., writing from the penthouse suite

Sandpoint Magazine is published twice yearly, in May and November, by Keokee Co. Publishing, Inc., 405 Church St., Sandpoint, ID 83864.

Phone: 208-263-3573 E-mail: inbox@keokee.com Publisher Chris Bessler Editor Billie Jean Gerke Assistant Editor Beth Hawkins Advertising Director Clint Nicholson

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shown with the sixth generation, who has witnessed the area’s boom-and-bust cycles since the 1970s. She is fascinated by the commonality of why people live here, their successes and struggles.

Her stories in this issue — about Schweitzer’s real estate (page 84), Sandpoint High School graduates who left and returned (page 87), 7B Wine Club’s founder (page 18), and Bizarre Bazaar volunteers Cindy Chenault and Joyce Spiller (page 22) – explore those issues.

Marianne Love

has been writing about Sandpoint people and significant local events for nearly 60 years. From 4-H club reporter in the 1950s to serving as Sandpoint High School Cedar Post editor to contributing to several area newspapers and magazines, this Sandpoint native has interviewed hundreds of fascinating subjects. She loves people and loves telling their stories. In this issue, she interviewed Cindy Wooden, journalist to the pope (page 29), and covered crazy fans suffering from “ZAGmania” (page 57).

Charles Mortensen

has lived in the Sandpoint area since 1996, having convinced his San Francisco boss to allow him to continue his work as a geologist remotely. Though not formally trained as a writer, he has always been inspired by the art of the written word and was awarded “most improved” in his third grade English class! Charles has been admiring the work of his friend and neighbor, George Rickert, for years, and thought his artistic life (“Moonlighting,” page 61) would make a nice story.

Ben Olson was born and raised in Sandpoint and will probably

die here, too. He works as the publisher of the Sandpoint Reader and plays in a band called Harold’s IGA. While writing about “Winter” (page 68) for this issue, Ben allowed himself to get all sorts of nostalgic about the good old days when the snow piled up so high it collapsed roofs and scared away the sissies. On the opposite spectrum, he wrote “A Humdinger of a Fire Season,” the worst his generation and many others have seen (page 21).

Art Director Laura Wahl Ad Design/Production Robin Levy, Pamela Morrow Office Manager Beth Acker Contributors Sandy Compton, Cassandra Cridland, Susan Drinkard, Zach Hagadone, Cate Huisman, Marlisa Keyes, Jennifer Lamont Leo, Marianne Love, Heather McElwain, Charles Mortensen, Ben Olson, Carrie Scozzaro, Jennifer Sudick and Aaron Theisen

©2015 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. Send address changes to the address above. Visit our web magazine published at www.SandpointMagazine.com. Printed in USA

by Century Publishing, Post Falls, Idaho.

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For More than 40 years this has been our Playground ...

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCHWEITZER

... Who better to help you find yours?

THE RIDGE AT SANDPOINT offers 6+ acre parcels with beautiful lake or mountain views, electric & phone to the property. Pricing starting at an unbelievable $54,900. Attractive seller financing available!

A WONDERFUL PLACE TO CALL HOME! 3BD/2BA on the main level & large bonus room & private bath upstairs. Granite counters throughout, lots of windows, stone fireplace - everything is top-of-the-line. $334,900 #20153294

PREMIER LOCATION! 5BD/4.5BA, ski-in/ski-out Schweitzer Village home with incredible views from almost every room. Main-floor master +3 ensuite bedrooms, 3 decks, 2-car garage and more! $649,000 #20152256

LOCATION, LOCATION! This unique 4BD/2BA home is just minutes to Schweitzer, the bike path & Sand Creek is right outside your back door! Beautiful 1.5 acre lot with city water & privately maintained road. Reduced to sell at $299,000 #20152183

MAGNIFICENT VIEWS 3BD/3.5BA Schweitzer home with a wall of windows to take in the majestic scenery.

3 decks, 2 fireplaces, 3 master suites, private hot tub & 2-car heated garage. Too many amenities to list! $524,000 #20152038

A FABULOUS PROPERTY! 6,900 sq. ft. 6BD/6.5BA home on 4.54 acres in Ravenwood Estates. Media room, 2 fireplaces, hydronic heat & the incredible guest wing over the 4-car garage is a must see! $1,175,000 #20151744

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RESORT REALTY 10/26/15 10:46 PM

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KLand A N ITrust KSU

Forging community connections to land

The Kaniksu Land Trust team, from left, Regan Plumb, Anne Mitchell, Suzanne Tugman-Engel and Eric Grace. PHOTO BY FIONA HICKS

I

t’s been a busy year for the Kaniksu Land Trust (KLT). The Sandpointbased nonprofit organization, which has worked since 2002 to conserve more than 2,000 acres of land in western Montana and northern Idaho, has forged new pathways into youth programs, education and health care to serve as a greater resource in connecting area communities with their surrounding lands.

“We used to ask the question: ‘How can we help you protect your land?’ ” said Eric Grace, KLT’s executive director. “That is a pretty narrow question to a particular audience. Then we broadened it to ask: ‘How can we do some programming to get people outside?’ So we led some nature hikes and bird-watching hikes, and that was good, but this is much deeper.”

Creed McPherson will lead an Adventure Cycling tour on Route 10 in 2016. PHOTO BY BILLIE JEAN GERKE

Calling all touring cyclists

S

andpoint is on the map for more than its fantastic lake and ski mountain: Now it’s on the first U.S. Bicycle Route established in Idaho.

U.S. Bicycle Route 10, known as the Northern Tier, is one of the newest additions to a national network that currently extends throughout 18 states and totals 8,992 miles.

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With four staff, including Suzanne Tugman-Engel, hired in spring 2015 as the organization’s community engagement and outreach coordinator, KLT has recently worked with grant, foundation and community support to launch a host of new programs that use land resources to address larger issues.

Over the summer, KLT worked with eight youth in Sandpoint’s nonprofit Kinderhaven program, which supports children in crisis.

Ranging in grade level from preschool to high school, the youth met 12 times from June through August with KLT staff, who led experiences such as picking carrots and blueberries at local farms to making nature bracelets along the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail.

“Being outdoors, learning about nature, and meeting new people is beneficial for all of us and especially healthy for kids who are experiencing hard times,” said Kinderhaven board member

Idaho Walk Bike Alliance held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 9 at Farmin Park that included representatives from the governor’s office, Idaho Transportation Department, Idaho Smart Growth and Pend Oreille Pedalers, which led a group bicycle ride along part of the route afterwards.

The scenic USBR 10 tra-

verses 66 miles across the Idaho Panhandle before continuing on into the states of Washington and Montana.

Communities on the route include Oldtown, Priest River, Dover, Sandpoint, Ponderay, Kootenai, Hope, East Hope and Clark Fork.

The U.S. Bicycle Route System, devised by the Adventure Cycling

Association and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, will encompass more than 50,000 miles connecting the

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Margaret Petersen, who participated in four of the outings. “The kids interacted well with the adults, they participated in all the activities, they asked good questions, they enjoyed each other’s company, and, most importantly, they laughed and had fun.”

In September, KLT joined with Sandpoint-based nonprofit Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education (SOLE) and Schweitzer Mountain Resort in a three-year commitment to support a new outdoor education program at Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School, where students will benefit from KLT’s nearby 82 acres of protected wetlands to learn about native plant and animal habitats, as well as professional skills including leadership and mentorship.

This fall also marked the start of KLT’s four-month pilot “prescription park” program, where seven Sandpoint medical providers, ranging from women’s health to psychiatry, will each issue prescriptions to 10 patients encouraging more active time outdoors.

Equipped with fitness trackers, each participant’s progress will be logged and used for future programs and in the ongoing development by KLT of a system to rate trails and outdoor areas for ease of use.

Grace emphasizes that this is just the beginning.

Along with a half-dozen land conservation projects in

Lower 48 through a network of numbered interstate routes. Ultimately, it will grow bicycle tourism and economies.

Idaho Walk Bike Alliance promotes active transportation as healthy, sustainable and reliable.

Executive Director Cynthia Gibson says bicyclists spend on average $75 per day for food, lodging and other services. “Having a U.S. designated route going through the area will

Regan Plumb, Kaniksu Land Trust’s land protection specialist, presents a kestrel in a winter birds of prey presentation to a packed house. PHOTO BY FIONA HICKS

the works, KLT hopes to build an even greater presence in underserved communities, tackling issues such as food security and poverty through the organization’s land expertise and resources.

“We are asking those questions. Who else in the community has problems, has needs, and can we, doing what we do, try to help those needs? It’s crazy not to ask those questions,” he said. “As a land trust it is in our best interest and the community’s best interest to try to re-establish that connection between the individual and the land that we feel is being lost.”

–Jennifer Sudick

increase the number of bike tourists,” she said.

Creed McPherson passed through Sandpoint in July 2015 on a solo tour of the International Selkirk Loop. A guide for Adventure Cycling, he will return next summer to lead a tour of the northern tier.

“I can’t wait to ride to Sandpoint again and have a layover. It will definitely be a highlight on our tour.”

–Billie Jean Gerke

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In a tizzy for people with disabilities

C

Nikki Zimmerman, bTizzy.com founder, brings products like these to the marketplace to create economic opportunities for people with disabilities. Shown are cake pins, jewelry and vintage notebooks. PRODUCT PHOTOS BY WOODS WHEATCROFT

reating economic opportunities for people with disabilities (PWD) is the mission of Nikki Zimmerman through her business bTizzy. com. Three years after starting, bTizzy is in three countries, produces four radio shows, and runs a website (www.btizzy.com) that facilitates sales and shares resources.

Her inspiration came from her daughter Riley, who was developmentally disabled and died at age 18 before she had a chance to capitalize on her capabilities.

Zimmerman finds that consumers distrust whether the suppliers are disabled, but the videos and radio shows they produce about the vendors give consumers confidence. “Truly in my heart of hearts, I find them remarkable,” Zimmerman said of her vendors. “I admire them greatly.”

They are PWDs like Dana with a traumatic brain injury who beads; Penny, a painter who has Down syndrome; Richard, a custom artist and severe epileptic; and Clement, a fine woodworker who is a paraplegic. The list goes on.

Zimmerman, 49, is a Sandpoint native born a Hawkins. She lives in Seattle and on the Sunnyside Peninsula, where her ancestors homesteaded. She points out that 25 percent of the population – a billion people in the world – has a disability.

“People with disabilities are no longer in the closet. They’re coming out,” she said.

Products include exquisite woodwork pens, flasks with custom artwork, jewelry, notebooks made with vintage papers and book covers, seed balls, olive oil and even services. “There’s not one thing there that people wouldn’t be happy to have,” she said.

Rebranded from Out of Step to bTizzy in May, the new look and name says “we’re in a tizzy.” In the logo, they designed a woman named Tizzy who’s their mascot. “She’s shouting to the world, vibrant, alive and present. She embodies the feeling we’re trying to convey,” Zimmerman said.

–Billie Jean Gerke

Reality TV, hmmmm, not so real

T

he first treehouse gained no-

hurry during filming for “The Woodsmen,” a

particularly relevant as viewers saw

toriety because of its bicycle-

reality TV show on the History Channel.

Schlussler and Dhaenens in various exploits

powered elevator. The second

Ethan Schlussler and Aza Dhaenens were

will be known for rotating 360

two of “a select group of men seeking out the

degrees and the fact that it was built in a

ultimate freedom – a life in the treetops far

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The reality is that the pair did build a two-story treehouse and designed it to rotate

removed from the trappings of mo-

around its host tree. But Dhaenens, 27, didn’t

dernity” on the show that premiered

move into it, and he didn’t join Schlussler, 25,

in June 2015.

for a life in the trees.

The best friends grew up off

A screenshot from the History Channel’s website shows Aza Dhaenens, left, and Ethan Schlussler in a promotional shot for the reality TV show “The Woodsmen.”

on the show.

See video clips of the rotating treehouse

Rapid Lightning Road in the Cabinet

and watch full episodes of “The Woodsmen”

Mountains, where they did indeed

at www.history.com. Read the story about the

develop skills and ingenuity, but they

first treehouse Schlussler built in the Summer

don’t live off the grid in primitive

2014 Sandpoint Magazine, “Ethan and His

treetop structures, as depicted in the

Treehouse: Bicycle-powered Elevator Goes

show.

Viral,” page 33 (www.sandpointmagazine.

It all comes down to entertainment.

The saying “That’s showbiz!” seemed

com).

–Billie Jean Gerke

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Pinecrest adding ground for more final resting places

W

here do you go when you die?

For a while it looked as though you might not have the opportunity to go to Pinecrest Memorial Park,

the picturesque sloping cemetery just west of Sandpoint, because it appeared to be running out of room, or um, ground.

It’s true that 12 acres are occupied, but Pinecrest owner Dale Coffelt says logging is under way

to expand the cemetery. There are 40 acres of undeveloped land there for expansion, he said. Lawrence and Hazel Moon established the cemetery in 1922, and Coffelt began leasing the cemetery in 1970. Now he owns Pinecrest and manages the maintenance at this private graveyard.

A cemetery maintains the history of a community, he says, but only about 30 percent of citizens in the Northwest are opting for burial over cremation. Cost is a factor, but so are societal changes. “We’re transient. A lot of Californians have migrated up here. People don’t have the local family history.

You used to follow generations of a family by the markers,” Coffelt Generations of Sandpoint families can be followed on markers at Pinecrest Memorial Park. PHOTO BY FIONA HICKS

Sandpoint’s Kitchen Store

Downtown Bakeware Cookware Gadgets

Cutlery Barware Tabletop

Utensils Textiles & so much more

Wish List Create your list today for the holidays, weddings, or just because!

329 N. First Ave., Sandpoint, ID • 208.265.2210 • weekendsandco@gmail.com ON THE CORNER OF CEDAR & FIRST 14

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said. However, niche walls provide a marker and a place for cremains, a place where people can go and place flowers.

There was a time when it was thought that flat markers were advantageous for maintenance because one could just run a mower over them, but Coffelt said that has proved untrue because the flat markers tend to sink some and grass will grow too close; in the end all the graves need weedeating attention.

To visit this cemetery, drive up Pine Street until you see the Pinecrest Road street sign. Turn right and drive one-half mile to the top of the hill.

Burial plots are available now, and with the additional acres in development, there will be space for plenty of flat markers, massive upright headstones and dozens of niche walls.

–Susan Drinkard

The rosy side of liquor Every time you buy a bottle of spirits at one of Idaho’s liquor stores, you are contributing to Idaho’s general fund, our cities, counties, and even to substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.

Sandpoint is doing its share to support their Idaho government – sales at the Sandpoint liquor store were nearly $2.5 million in fiscal year 2014, so that brought $269,552 back to the city. One could surmise that sales will exceed that in 2015 because the store has a new, more visible locale at 612 Fifth Ave., adjacent to Safeway and in the same parking area as Sandpoint Super Drug. It has new shelving units, big front windows, a much larger sales space, and better parking than the former location at Fourth and Cedar, according to Wally Dow, store manager.

Idaho is one of 17 states (and four counties in Maryland) that regulate its own retail and/

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ALMANAC Locally made HooDew Rye Moonshine. PHOTO BY FIONA HICKS

or wholesale distribution of beverage alcohol. Idaho’s 169 liquor stores sell more than 11 million bottles of distilled spirits each year; fiscal year 2014 was “another record year of net income benefiting local and state government,” according to Idaho Governor Butch Otter.

So who is buying and drinking all this alcohol? Mostly Idahoans, but following deregulation of liquor two years ago in Washington that resulted in higher retail liquor prices in that state, out-of-state consumers are seeking out Idaho’s uniform and lower prices at border towns in Idaho, according to Jeffrey R.

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Anderson, director of the Idaho State Liquor Division.

And just what are the top sellers at Idaho’s liquor stores?

Sandpoint consumers buy a lot of Burnett’s, a lower-priced vodka, according to one clerk.

Dow said the new Mill Town corn whiskey and rum, made in Sandpoint, and the HooDew Rye Moonshine, made in Priest River, are doing well at the Sandpoint store, but statewide, the topfive favorites are: 1) Smirnoff Vodka ($6.5 million in sales for fiscal year 2014); 2) Crown Royal Canadian Whisky; 3) Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey; 4) Fireball Cinnamon Whisky; and 5) Black Velvet Blended Canadian Whisky.

Even with the record-setting year of liquor sales, Idaho’s per capita consumption of distilled spirits remains one of the lowest in the nation, according to the governor’s office.

–Susan Drinkard

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He turns junk into funky, fabulous finds

J

acob Riggins, 35, walks through multiple rooms in his expansive shop, excitedly pointing out raw materials – various chunks of wood, scraps of metal, antique tools, car parts and much more.

The craftsman says he has to pass by things in his shop several times before he gets the inspiration for a new creation. It all started about two years ago. He was using a large spool as a worktable when he spotted some plumber’s tape laying on it that looked like a “6.” That led to the idea of turning that big round object into a clock.

“I like the inventive process,” he said.

“I just love the cool things I get to work with and the history they represent.”

When he mustered the courage to take his finished product into Northwest Handmade in downtown Sandpoint, he was afraid he would be laughed out of there. The reaction was quite the opposite. “When we saw the creativity in his clock, it’s exactly what we love to see.

The fact that he’s right here in Clark

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Fork is even better,” said Laurie Huston, owner at Northwest Handmade. “It’s a showstopper.”

Sourcing for materials is part of the thrill for Riggins: “I enjoy the hunt. I get joy out of taking things headed to the landfill. Most of the things are junk.”

He searches yard sales, wrecking yards, the Clark Fork Drift Yard, thrift stores and the like. Friends bring materials to him or refer him to people who have prospective materials. He bought three boxes of Model T parts and a good supply of juniper wood, but 98 percent of what he uses is from Bonner County.

A vintage highway torch will become a pendant light, for example. A twisted piece of juniper will become a hanging water feature. A tumbled, sunbleached railroad tie will become vases turned on the lathe. He retains natural edges on every piece of wood he turns.

The first year he purposely didn’t go on Pinterest or YouTube because he wanted ideas to come out of his own head. Now he searches websites for

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Opposite: Jacob Riggins shows a clock on a large spool in progress.

Above: a finished clock at Northwest Handmade.

Below: wood he turned on a lathe retaining some natural edges. PHOTOS BY FIONA HICKS

more inspiration.

Riggins used to work as a custom builder and metal fabricator. A medical injury his wife, Allissa, suffered led to his decision to go into business for himself, so he could be at home more for her and their four children. After amassing huge medical bills and a heartbreaking loss of their custom-built home, he started SevenBCustoms. His work is carried locally at Northwest Handmade, Pend d’Oreille Winery, Misty Mountain Furniture, Sandpoint Furniture and regionally in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane.

“This snowball is catching traction and puts us back on track,” he said.

They have an eye on some property they would like to buy and want to start building their own home again.

“I think there’s more junk than there are guys like me. It keeps me awake at night,” he said, laughing.

–Billie Jean Gerke

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This club knows how to wine

M

embership requirements for the newly formed 7B Wine Club are minimal.

All you need is an interest in tasting unfamiliar wines, socializing with old friends and meeting new people. It is open to wine experts and novices alike. “The only good wine is the wine you like,” said wine club founder Catherine Plank. “Everyone has different palates.”

Plank hosts wine tasting events herself or brings in wine reps who work with area businesses. The tastings can take place in her Sagle home or in other people’s homes and feature five or six wines. Plank also plans to host quarterly wine tastings that focus on thematic offerings related to the holidays and seasons.

For Plank, 7B Wine Club is an evolution from her love of entertaining and her introduction to catering in Bonner County by former Pend Oreille Pasta and Wine owners John and Val Albi.

Plank’s first foray into wine 7B Wine Club founder Catherine Plank, right, hosts a wine tasting for friends.

tasting and catering began five years ago at the Festival at Sandpoint’s annual wine tasting fundraiser, when she struck up a conversation with Val Albi. Plank, a former social worker, and her husband, J.C., had just moved to Sandpoint. That conversation ended with Plank asking Val Albi for a job. “I moved here in April and had a job in June,” she said.

After the Albis sold Pend Oreille Pasta and its subsequent closure, the beer and wine license was transferred to Plank.

While she wasn’t interested in catering, hosting wine tastings fulfills her love of entertaining that was fostered by Plank’s mom and growing up in a large family.

“I just wanted to do the wine.

Catering’s hard work,” she said.

For more information, e-mail 7bwineclub@gmail.com or call 263-4164, or 661-205-9703.

–Marlisa Keyes

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Let the goats be, wild, that is

T

hey’re cute, furry curiosities often seen on Scotchman Peak, but mountain goats are also wild, dangerous animals and therefore unpredictable. That proved true last June when a hiker was bitten after allowing one of the animals to lick salt off her leg. In another incident, a hiker was butted.

Consequently, in mid-September, the U.S. Forest Service closed the popular Scotchman Peak Trail No. 65 that climbs to the highest peak in Bonner County, in the Cabinet Mountains northeast of Sandpoint, while Idaho Fish and Game works on a management plan.

“Everybody involved agrees education is a fundamental aspect of reducing a human-goat conflict,” said Phil Hough, executive director of Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness (FSPW).

“Don’t feed the goats and don’t let them lick salt off you.”

A Washington hiker was fatally gored by an aggressive mountain goat in Olympic National Park in 2010.

Wildlife experts suggest people stay at least 100 feet away from mountain goats, and if one becomes aggressive, to yell, wave clothing and throw rocks from a distance to scare it away.

Mountain goats may be tagged and subjected to aversion training before the trail is reopened. Idaho Fish and Game may also place salt blocks away from the trail so they can satisfy their salty cravings elsewhere.

–Billie Jean Gerke

A hiker models bad behavior as he lets a Scotchman Peaks mountain goat lick salt from his arm. COURTESY PHOTO

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A humdinger of a fire season

T

he 2015 fire season proved to be one for the record books. The season started with a low snowpack, followed by a warm, dry spring with record high temperatures in June. By the time summer came around, the forests were tinder dry and the fire danger ratings remained posted at “Extreme” for 42 days.

After the smoke cleared in the fall and the crews left the hills, more than 300 fires had been reported in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest (IPNF), making this season the worst since 1926.

“We had a really good year when it comes to human-caused fires,” said Jason Kirchner, public affairs officer for the U.S. Forest Service. Of the 300 fires reported, only 16 were human caused – far below average.

“The public has to be commended,” said Kirchner. “They understood the danger and they kept that number low.”

The total acreage burned within the IPNF was around 53,000 acres, which doesn’t include the Tower Fire as it had started on the Colville National Forest and later spread to IPNF. Including the Tower Fire, the acreage totals approximately 79,000 acres.

According to Kirchner, it wasn’t the total acreage burned or any single fire that made the last season such a bear, it was the sheer number of blazes combined.

“What was so taxing and complicated was at one point we had 125 individual fires burning throughout all of North Idaho simultaneously. If we had the same acreage burning with just one fire, it would’ve been no problem, but having to respond to all those fires taxed resources,” he said.

There was a point last summer when every single firefighter that was available was fighting fire. At its peak, the season saw more than 27,000 firefighters mobilized in the Idaho Panhandle.

“We reached a point where there was nobody else to call,” said WINTER 2016

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Kirchner. “We brought in firefighters from Australia, Canada, parts of Europe. They came from all over the world.”

Despite all the outbreaks and tens of thousands of firefighters, not a single casualty was reported in the Idaho Panhandle.

“The last time we had this level of fire activity in Idaho was 1926,” said Kirchner. “Even in 1967, with the Sundance Fire and all the others that year, it still didn’t compare to the widespread fire activity this year.”

One bright side of a devastating fire season? Mushrooms. It is widely known that morels grow abundantly in forests that have recently burned. Come spring, fungi lovers can expect a bumper crop. Happy picking!

The Cape Horn fire near Bayview broke out July 5 and burned six homes, two outbuildings and more than 2,000 acres. 2015 was one of the worst fire seasons on record in northern Idaho.

PHOTOS BY BEN OLSON

–Ben Olson SANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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Lifelong friends Cindy Chenault, left, and Joyce Spiller have managed Bizarre Bazaar together for 11 years and are ready to pass the torch to other Community Assistance League volunteers. PHOTO BY BILLIE JEAN GERKE

Bizarre Bazaar managers pass the torch

I

t is time that new leaders with fresh ideas take over management of Community Assistance League’s (CAL) Bizarre Bazaar, say lifelong friends Cindy Chenault and Joyce Spiller.

After comanaging the store for 11 years, they are turning their keys over to former Coldwater Creek employee Cherie Warber and Diane Arrants, whom they refer to as “the techie.”

Chenault and Spiller recently reflected on their friendship and history as CAL’s first managers of the successful upscale resale store that specializes in gently used clothing for men, women and children, furniture, books, home furnishings and goods.

Chenault, 78, and Spiller, 79, are petite, well-dressed women who radiate confidence and vitality, Chenault a blonde pixie to Spiller’s relaxed elegance.

Like a long-married couple, they tease one another and correct each

other’s stories.

“We just naturally take care of business,” said Chenault.

“But it’s the community that makes the store successful,” said Spiller.

That and Spiller’s organizational skills and no-pressure approach to management, Chenault said.

“It’s easy,” said Spiller. “We never do anything wrong here.”

It helps that there isn’t a division of labor – no assigned tasks or chores, with everyone encouraged to pitch new ideas and having them acted upon, such as the additions of children’s clothing and craft sections.

The women say their 65-year friendship has made it easy for them to manage the store together. They finish each other’s sentences and without a word spoken between them take care of tasks they know the other one will appreciate, although both are quick to add that spirit of cooperation is prevalent among the store’s 85 vol-

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unteers. The club’s approach to new ideas is fostered by a roster of 234 members.

“Friendships are made here that will last a lifetime,” said Chenault.

Chenault and Spiller, whose parents also were friends, met as seventhgraders when they lived in Glendale, Calif. They stayed friends even when Chenault spent much of her teenage years acting in Los Angeles and New York. They made their relationship a priority as adults, getting together when they could, as Chenault traveled with her first husband, an entertainer.

In the early 1990s, it would be Spiller’s daughter, then Lori Brewster, who brought the friends together in Bonner County. Chenault, whose late husband Bob golfed in tournaments in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, took a side trip during one of those tournaments to Sandpoint to visit Brewster at her Lake Pend Oreille home.

“I had that Long Bridge experience,” Chenault said. She encouraged Spiller, who had not yet visited her daughter in Sandpoint, to do so.

Spiller and her husband, Chuck, bought property and moved to Bonner County. “It’s the best thing we ever did,” Spiller said. “We love it here.”

The Chenaults came for a visit, parked their fifth wheel at the Spillers and stayed on, buying property and building a log home to the northwest of Sandpoint in 1995.

Shortly after, they joined the fledgling CAL. When the retail store opened in 2006, Spiller and Chenault volunteered to manage it together. In 2011, they oversaw the store’s move from Ponderay to its current location, 502 Church St. They may be passing off their mantles, but they will continue to be CAL members and volunteer at the thrift store.

“There’s just something special about the friendships you make here (in Sandpoint),” said Spiller.

“Everyone’s like-minded in wanting to give back to the community.”

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EXPERIENCE THE ART OF CRAFTSMANSHIP

NOR THWEST HANDMADE

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9:08 AM

Ca le nda r NOVEMBER 2015

6 Wild and Scenic Film Festival. Actionpacked films at Sandpoint Events Center, sponsored by ICL. 290-2828 6 Teton Gravity Research. “Paradise Waits”

ski and snowboard film screens at the Panida.

263-9191 7 Sandpoint Film Festival. Local filmmakers’ works at the Panida Theater. Film blocks begin at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. 290-0597 11, 14 Max. Film salute to veterans and ser-

vice animals at the Panida. 263-9191

13 Annual Harvest Dinner. Hope’s

Memorial Community Center hosts traditional turkey meal with trimmings. 264-5481

14 SARS Ski Swap. Sell, buy ski gear and outdoor wear at the Bonner County Fairgrounds; proceeds benefit Schweitzer Alpine Racing School. 263-1081 14 Warren Miller Ski Film. Annual event at the Panida Theater, sponsored by the Alpine Shop. 263-5157 14 Polyrhythmics. Funk concert at The Hive,

p.m.

18 Head for the Hills and Trout Steak Revival. Acoustic and bluegrass bands in

concert at the Panida, 8 p.m. 263-9191

20 SAXsational. Concert at the Panida, 7:30

p.m. 263-9191

21 The Reader Benefit Concert. Charley

Packard and other local talents perform at the Panida. 263-9191

20-21 Turkey Bingo. Bonner Mall fundraiser benefitting Toys for Tots; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Nov. 20, noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 21. 263-4272 21 Christmas Fair. Festive shopping event

at the Bonner County Fairgrounds 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 263-8414

21-29 LPOIC Annual Fall Derby. Put on your long johns and join this fishing competition on Lake Pend Oreille. 448-1365 27 Sweatshop Union. Canadian hip hop

band in concert at The Hive, 9 p.m.

27 24 Hours for Hank. At the Panida. 263-

9191

27-Jan. 1 Holidays in Sandpoint.

Traditional tree-lighting ceremony, caroling and Santa with cookies and cider Nov. 27 at Jeff Jones Town Square kicks off Sandpoint’s special events. 263-2161 28 The Shook Twins. Giving thanks concert

at the Panida, 7:30 p.m. 263-9191

Northern Lights Skiers and riders already appreciate Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Weekend, Jan. 16-18 for three extended days of fun on the slopes.

And the action continues on into the evening on Saturday, Jan. 16, with the Northern Lights of Schweitzer featuring fireworks and a torchlight parade down the ski run and into the Schweitzer Village. The evening’s festivities wrap up with a party featuring live music in Taps, located in the Lakeview Lodge. www. schweitzer.com 255-3081 First-class film experience As veteran attendees know, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is nothing short of spectacular.

And this year’s screenings at the Panida Theater, Thursday, Jan. 21-23, are sure to thrill with films featuring the world’s best footage on mountain subjects.

On top of all that, the event gives back on both a global and local scale. Proceeds from

DECEMBER 2015

4 Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival. Juried films, raffle, auc-

tion at the Panida Theater benefits SOLE’s SnowSchool Experience Program. 263-9191

the event go to The Satipo Kids Project, which funds 37 school-age children from Peru to attend elementary school, and the North Idaho Mountain Sports Education Fund, which gives 73 local kids the opportunity to ski at Schweitzer. 661-3857 Hooray for winter! Sandpoint Winter Carnival celebrates its 42nd annual celebration Feb. 12-21 with a great lineup of favorite events. Enjoy the downtown Parade of Lights Feb. 12, Sandpoint Skijoring competitions at the fairgrounds Feb. 13-14, the Taste of Sandpoint Feb. 18, the K-9 Keg Pull featuring dogs big and small Feb. 21, plus an entire week’s worth of events at Schweitzer Mountain Resort capped by the Winter Carnival Finale, Feb. 20. www.

SandpointWinterCarnival.com 263-2161 Sip, savor, repeat The Festival at Sandpoint is one of our area’s favorite events, happening every August on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.

Luckily, the Festival’s primary fundraiser is nearly as fun! The Annual Wine Tasting, Dinner and Auction, held April 29 at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, is always a grand affair – attendees are treated to many varieties of wine, along with local beers and more, plus a catered dinner and auction items galore! 265-4554 general dancing, refreshments and door prizes at 8 p.m., at Sandpoint Community Hall.

7 The Nutcracker. See POAC calendar.

11 Community Day Fundraiser. Ski or

4-5 Festival of Trees. Holiday Luncheon

ride for only $10, and Schweitzer Mountain Resort donates 100 percent of lift ticket proceeds to local nonprofits. 255-3081

5 Ballroom Dance. Sandpoint’s Chapter of

Bonner Mall annual event features more than 25 arts and crafts vendors. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday. 263-4272

Dec. 4 and Grand Gala Dec. 5 at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. Proceeds benefit Kinderhaven. 610-2208 USA Dance hosts dance lessons at 7 p.m.; WINTER 2016

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See complete, up-tothe-minute calendars at SandpointOnline.com

[HOT PICKS]

9 p.m.

17 Moon Taxi. Rock concert at The Hive, 9

Calendar

11-13 Holiday Arts and Crafts Show.

SANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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Calendar

POAC

JANUARY 2016

World-class entertainment arrives in Sandpoint with the 32nd season of the annual Pend Oreille Arts Council (POAC) Performance Series. Four of the performances are held in the Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., and the March 14 event is held in the Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St. Tickets available in the POAC office, 302 N. First Ave., or go to www.ArtinSandpoint.org. Other ticket outlets accept cash and checks only: Eve’s Leaves, 326 N. First Ave., Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., and Winter Ridge, 703 Lake St. All performances are ADA accessible; doors open 30 minutes prior to each performance. 263-6139 Eugene Ballet’s The Nutcracker, Monday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.

Enjoy Clara’s journey through the dazzling fantasy world of the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy. ’Tis a holiday tradition with Toni Pimble’s exquisite choreography, Don Carson’s colorful sets, and the company joined on stage by local dance students. It’s always a sellout, so get your tickets early! Adults $25; POAC members $20; youth $10.

Music Conservatory of Sandpoint’s Opera Trio, Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Karin Wedemeyer, Brenda Rutledge and John Fitzgerald fuse their impressive vocals for the Trio’s performance debut. With extensive backgrounds in opera spanning the United States, Europe and Japan, they are sure to deliver an incredible recital. Adults $10; POAC members $8; youth $5.

Missoula Children’s Theatre’s “Rumpelstiltskin,” Saturday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Missoula Children’s Theatre presents “Rumpelstiltskin,” an original adaptation of the classic children’s story about a strange little gnome who spins straw into gold … for a price! This heartwarming tale of mischief and friendship answers more questions than just “What is that little man’s name?” Adults $10; youth $5.

Stage Presentation of “The Secret Life of Bees,” Monday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. Based on the New York Times bestseller, enjoy this Young Audiences New York’s Literature to Life performance

by Lily Balsen about a young girl’s search for the truth during the Civil Rights Movement. Prefaced and followed by an interactive discussion.

Adults $20; POAC members $15; youth $10.

DakhaBrakha, Wednesday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Ukrainian “ethnic chaos” band DakhaBrakha (meaning “give/take” in old Ukrainian) creates a world of unexpected new music. The contemporary quartet’s vocal range creates a transcontinental sound with a musical spectrum that’s intimate, then riotous.

Adults $15; POAC members $12; youth $10.

11, 13 Pend Oreille Orchestra and Chorale Classical Concert. Classical pieces

at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. 263-0199

18 The Lil’ Smokies. Traditional bluegrass

band in concert at The Hive, 9 p.m.

20-23 Holiday Cheer at the Movies.

Holiday favorites at the Panida. 263-9191

23-24 Santa Skis. Santa Claus skis, visits and

delivers treats at Schweitzer. On Christmas

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Eve, Santa leads a balloon parade with Mrs. Claus and hears last-minute wishes at the Selkirk Lodge. 255-3081 31 New Year’s Eve Parties. Parties for all

ages at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, including the rockin’ concert in Taps, the tubing party, and the ever-popular ‘tween party for the kids.

Tickets on sale Dec. 1 and always sell out. 2553081. Second annual New Year’s Eve Ball at The Hive features classic rock band The London Souls and benefits Angels Over Sandpoint.

8-29 Junior Race Series. Schweitzer

Mountain Resort hosts Friday night races in January on NASTAR. 255-3081

9 Winter Trails Day. Enjoy complimentary

access to Schweitzer Mountain Resort’s Nordic trails, plus cross-country and skate ski lessons and equipment rentals. 255-3081

16-18 MLK Weekend. See Hot Picks.

21-23 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. See Hot Picks.

28 Music Conservatory of Sandpoint’s Opera Trio. See POAC calendar.

30 Ballroom Dance. See Dec. 5.

30-31 Stomp Games Banked Slalom.

Competition at Schweitzer. 255-3081

FEBRUARY 2016

5-26 Starlight Racing. Schweitzer Mountain

Resort hosts four weeks of evening racing on Friday nights, followed by fun and fabulous parties in Taps. 255-3081

12-21 Winter Carnival. See Hot Picks.

13-15 Presidents Weekend Celebration.

Schweitzer Mountain Resort hosts special activities featuring Laser Light Show on Sunday with night skiing. 255-3081

27 “Rumpelstiltskin.” See POAC calendar.

27 Ballroom Dance. See Dec. 5.

MARCH 2016

4-5 The Follies. Angels Over Sandpoint’s

annual wild ‘n’ wacky fundraiser at the Panida. Tickets go on sale Groundhog Day.

10 Umphrey’s McGee. Cutting-edge rock

band in concert at The Hive, 9 p.m.

14 “The Secret Life of Bees.” See POAC

calendar.

19 Ballroom Dance. See Dec. 5.

APRIL 2016

9-10 Spring Celebration and Rotary Ducky Derby. Bring out your Hawaiian shirt

for fun in the sun at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Enjoy pond skimming and family activities daily, plus the ever-popular Downhill Dummy Derby Sunday. 255-3081 23 Ballroom Dance. See Dec. 5.

27 Dakhabrakha. See POAC calendar.

29 Annual Wine Tasting, Dinner and Auction. See Hot Picks.

May 2016

19-22 Lost in the ’50s. Annual retro celebration includes a downtown car parade and show, music events at the Panida and the Bonner County Fairgrounds, fun run, car rally and more. 265-5678

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Calendar

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SANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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10/26/15 10:48 PM

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, though women are diagnosed with breast cancer every month of the year.

Breast cancer awareness and early detection saves lives!

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Every month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month at Bonner General Health.

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Bonner General Health offers the latest technology in breast cancer screening: breast tomosynthesis, also called 3-D mammography.

More comfortable and more accurate than traditional screening methods, 3-D mammography is available right here in Sandpoint.

To schedule your 3-D mammogram call 208-265-3349

520 N. Third Avenue • Sandpoint, ID 83864 • 208-263-1441 • BonnerGeneral.org 003-034_SMW16.indd 28

10/27/15 8:43 AM

Interview

Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief

N

By Marianne Love

ewly appointed Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service (CNS), Cindy Wooden, gained her journalistic foundation as a Sandpoint High School Cedar Post staffer under longtime adviser Bob Hamilton.

“I idolized the seniors who were Cedar Post editors and thought it was very cool to hang out with them on the night we actually put the paper together,” said Wooden, who has reported on three popes since 1989. Her byline has appeared in 40 English-speaking countries and in as many as 150 Catholic newspapers worldwide.

“I learned all the basics of journalism from Mr. Hamilton,” she added. While attending SHS, where she graduated in 1978, the Cedar Post room dominated her free time. Wooden, 55, graduated summa cum laude from Seattle University in 1983 with a degree in religious studies and a minor in journalism, taking her first job as a reporter for a Catholic newspaper in the Seattle area.

She knew as a youngster that she was a journalist, first dabbling as a fifth-grader with a one-issue paper in California.

Meanwhile, her interest in religion intensified after parents Bob and Marilyn Wooden moved Cindy, her four sisters, and one brother to Sandpoint in 1971, where they joined St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Eventually the Wooden family singers and guitarists, including her sister, Bonner County Treasurer Cheryl Piehl, performed for Masses and other church events.

“Growing up, I probably was one of the odd children who did not mind going to catechism classes,” she said. “I found

Cindy Wooden stands in front of Swiss Guards at the Vatican (top) and works during the pope’s in-flight press conference Sept. 27 (above) returning to Rome from his historic first visit to the United States. PHOTOS BY PAUL HARING, CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

the whole idea of God and church attractive.”

Wooden’s journalistic path took her to Washington, D.C., and in 1989 to Rome where she has worked in the Vatican ever since. Reporting on papal trips and other topics has taken her to more than 40 countries, including Russia, India, Ukraine, Iran, China and Turkey. The latest was a trip to Cuba in September, followed by Pope Francis’ first trip to the

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Interview United States.

She once met Mother Teresa of Calcutta and has been in the papal library when popes have met South African President Nelson Mandela and U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

She wrote “Pope Francis: A Guide to God’s Time,” published in 2014, and the recently released biography about the archbishop of Manila known as the “Asian Pope Francis”: “Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle: Leading by Listening.”

“When I joined CNS in Washington in 1988, my five-year goal was to get to Rome,” Wooden said. “It happened in a year and a half. I’m not really sure how I’ve stayed for 26 years. It’s still interesting and challenging.”

Describe your Vatican work setting.

Catholic News Service has a nice new office next door to the Vatican Press Office on the main boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square. And we have a booth in the press office with a desk, phones, computers, etc. The press office is just outside St. Peter’s Square. Usually in the morning, Pope Francis is in his office in the Apostolic Palace, which borders the square on the north. In the afternoon and evening, he is at his residence, which is on the southern border of Vatican City State, not far from the Vatican gas station. Each morning, the Vatican Press Office posts a copy of the pope’s official sched-

Cindy Wooden spends time in the backcountry on one of her visits home.

COURTESY PHOTO

ule, including the speeches he will give that day. For many of the speeches and all the public liturgies and audiences, we have live closed-circuit audio and video links. We also can go to the public events. The press office publishes copies of the pope’s prepared texts under embargo; of course, we must follow along to make sure he sticks to the texts and take notes

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Interview

How has your job changed since becoming bureau chief?

My first two full months on the job coincided with an eightday trip to South America with the pope and the vacations of most of the Rome Bureau staff and of the pope as well. I am spending more time at the office. There are a lot more administrative duties – money and organizing schedules.

I also finally started my own Twitter account (@Cindy_ Wooden) after having tweeted for Catholic News Service (@CatholicNewsSvc) for years.

Share your thoughts on Pope Francis’ recent U.S. visit.

Pope Francis’ visit to the White House and his speech to the joint meeting of Congress gave me chills. I just kept thinking, He’s 78 years old, and this is his first-ever visit to the United States. Imagine what it must have been like for him. Before the trip, many pundits made it sound like the pope would come to the United States and start scolding people, especially because of his concern for the poor and his insistence that economics must put people before profits. He was so positive

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and joyful, I thought it was contagious. Even when talking about challenges, his message was energizing and hopeful.

Describe a typical papal trip.

About two months before the pope is scheduled to go to a country, the Vatican Press Office begins accepting applications from the media for the 70 to 80 spaces on the papal plane. A core group of about 50 media outlets – mainly from Europe and North America – always have a reporter or photographer or correspondent or producer on the plane. Catholic News Service has had someone on every papal trip since Pope Paul VI began the modern era of papal travel in 1964.

A month before the trip, the list of media people accepted for the flight is published and pool positions are announced.

For public Masses and other big events, all the media people on the plane can go, but for things like the visit to the White House, the number will be limited.

Flying from Italy, Pope Francis usually comes to the back of the plane where the media people are. He uses the loudspeakers to say a few words about how important our jobs are. Then he walks up and down the aisles greeting each person one by one. We generally have the text of the speech he will give upon arrival, so we start writing during the flight.

People watch movies, chat with colleagues, sleep, eat – the normal things one does on a long flight.

The pope and a couple dozen Vatican officials – cardinals,

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where he doesn’t. The Vatican Press Office also releases new documents, holds news conferences and briefings.

Then there is Vatican Radio, the Vatican’s daily newspaper, personal contacts with Vatican officials, conversations with priests and sisters, people who work at embassies. In many ways it is like covering any government anywhere.

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Interview secretaries, security and the editor of the Vatican newspaper – are in the front of the plane, a normal Alitalia plane chartered by the Vatican for the trip.

The journalists are in the back, a normal economy section, although usually with quite a few empty seats; we can spread out a bit. Flying back to Italy, we usually are on a plane from an airline based in the country we just visited.

Vatican always plans a three-hour midday break for the pope, so once we are finished writing up the morning events, there usually is time for a quick lunch and a short walk. The pope starts the afternoon events at 3 or 4 p.m. and usually goes until 8 or 8:30. That means we eat dinner about 10, then crash.

What’s a typical day on-site like?

Pope Francis has created an atmosphere around him that is less formal than things were when I first began covering the Vatican. Still, when a reporter is a member of a small pool for a papal event and on the plane, people are expected to be well-dressed in dark clothes and to be respectful and reserved. The pope gets “rushed” all the time by members of the public overcome with emotion. On the plane, for example, we are expected to stay in our seats until the pope comes to us. He knows some of the journalists well from the days he was a cardinal in Argentina, and those people usually exchange a hug with him. But

There usually is an arrival ceremony with speeches by the pope and the host country’s president. Then the reporters get on buses and are taken to a hotel. The pope usually stays at the Vatican’s embassy or a seminary or bishop’s residence. When abroad with the pope, the reporters’ day usually begins at 5:30 a.m. picking up the embargoed speeches for the day and sitting at breakfast in the hotel reading the texts. The pope’s first event generally begins at 9 a.m. and with security tight around the world, the journalists usually leave the hotel at 7 or 7:30. The

Explain expected protocol when you’re in the company of the pope.

the rest of us simply shake his hand.

People ask for his prayers, give him letters or books. It’s not as formal as a public event would be.

Describe Pope Francis as a regular person.

Even if he wishes he were – and I’m sure he does sometimes – that is not who he is anymore. He does have little gestures he holds on to: carrying his own briefcase, standing in line at the buffet in his residence (a guesthouse, not the Apostolic Palace), riding in the front seat of a little Ford Focus instead of being chauffeured in a luxury sedan.

Do you see evidence of fallen-away Catholics returning to the fold since Francis became pope?

I’m not sure the number of people returning to church is that clear yet. But it is obvious that among people who used to be practicing Catholics and in the general public, what Pope Francis says and how he interacts with people has increased goodwill toward the

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Interview Catholic Church in a powerful way. He has made me – and other Christians, I think – look more closely at how we treat each other, talk about each other and reach out to those who need help.

How do you deal personally with the magnitude of what you report?

I try to keep my eyes open and fresh.

Part of my job is to communicate the wonder of the amazing people I meet and scenes I’m fortunate enough to witness. If something “wows” me, I know it will “wow” my readers. On a private level, I try to savor those moments.

When my mother was alive, they would be the first thing I would share with her in my daily e-mails.

that he draws energy from being with people, lots of people.

How long will you stay in this position?

I hope to stay in Rome and working at Catholic News Service until I retire.

I would like to spend the bulk of my retirement in Sandpoint.

How do you spend your time in Sandpoint?

I try to spend a month in Sandpoint every year. I mostly spend that time

with family. There is a lot of visiting and going for long walks and drives into the woods and kayaking. Rome is a big city; it has a population of 2.6 million people, plus thousands and thousands of tourists. There is amazing art and architecture – it is a place to be in awe of human creativity. But North Idaho has lakes and rivers and mountains and trees. And fresh air. It generates a different kind of wonder. But also, it’s home, so it also leads to a sense of “ahhhh.”

Four Years at the Top.

Describe some meaningful experiences you’ve observed.

Witnessing all of the funeral rites for Pope John Paul II was amazing. Millions of people – Catholics and non-Catholics – stood in line for hours and hours on end to pay their respects. Covering the conclaves that elected Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis were truly experiences of adrenaline-fueled writing.

Days were long. Although some people made pretty accurate predictions, there was no certainty when the cardinals filed into the Sistine Chapel who would come out on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica dressed in papal white.

Share what you’ve observed in each pope you’ve covered.

I arrived in Rome in August 1989 when Pope John Paul II was still in his full, energetic, healthy form. He knew how to work a crowd, yet when he prayed, it was as if no one else was there; it was intense. Pope Benedict XVI was an amazing teacher – always the professor he started his ministry being. He would be speaking about some important matter of Christian faith or morality and – even if there were 10,000 people in front of him – he could feel when the point wasn’t getting across. He would set his text down and give an explanation that was so crisp and clear, it was almost always the lead of my story. Pope Francis teaches through example and story; he loves to laugh; and it is clear

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LAWMAKER

The honorable senator from Sandpoint Shawn Keough makes history in Idaho Statehouse

PHOTO BY MARIE-DOMINIQUE VERDIER

W

hen District 1 Sen. Shawn Keough returned to Sandpoint after the 2015 Idaho Legislature, she came home with a special honor: the flag that flew over the state Senate. Keough, 55, was presented with the flag by Senate Pro-Tem Brent Hill in recognition of her long service, which has broken two records.

First elected in 1996, Keough, a Republican, is not only the longestserving female senator in Idaho history but the winningest incumbent of either gender, in either chamber of the Legislature, from Bonner or Boundary counties. When lawmakers gavel into the 2016 session in Boise, she will celebrate 20 years in office and eight re-elections.

“I was very humbled and I think the recognition that it gave me was pretty cool,” said Keough, who added she keeps the flag, neatly folded, in a wooden box hand-crafted by former Boise Republican Rep. Max Black.

Two decades is a long time to hold down any job, including politics – and maybe especially Idaho politics. Still, in her years in office Keough has earned a reputation as a pragmatic, constructive and effective lawmaker.

Her philosophy is simple: Be honest and respectful.

“When you’re honest and respectful, even those who are total opposites on an issue will respect you for treating their issue or treating their viewpoint with respect,” she said. “It’s all about credibility and keeping your word, and that’s what I try to do in life, and that has served me well in navigating through the halls of the Capitol as well.”

Keough has had her scrapes, though.

In 2011, she and former District 2 Sen. Joyce Broadsword, of Sagle, bucked their party to vote against the so-called Luna Laws education reform package, which was ultimately rejected by Idaho voters in a historic referendum. That same year, she and Broadsword teamed up to challenge a GOP redistricting plan that would have pitted them

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against each other in the 2012 primary election. The Redistricting Committee went forward with its plan to shift Broadsword into District 1, resulting in the Sagle lawmaker dropping her re-election bid. What’s more, the pair earned a censure and vote of no confidence from the District 1 Republican Central Committee.

In 2012, Keough faced stiff opposition from Tea Party-backed challenger Danielle Ahrens in a primary election unmatched for its vitriol. During the campaign, Keough found herself among the targets of a concerted spending campaign orchestrated by no less than the Republican Party leadership itself, attempting to purge the Idaho GOP of lawmakers it considered to be too moderate.

She weathered all those storms and has come out as one of the Legislature’s most powerful leaders. In August 2015 Keough was appointed cochair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee,

By Zach Hagadone

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LAWMAKER which sets the state’s budget for everything from education to roads.

For Broadsword, who served as Bonner County Commissioner following her departure from the Legislature and now helms the North Idaho Region of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Keough’s success in the face of opposition – even from her own party – stems from that simple philosophy.

“Shawn is one of the most thoughtful, kind and considerate people I know.

She has paid her dues all the while keeping her common sense and not giving up her core values,” Broadsword said. “During my years in the Legislature, I saw firsthand the honesty, integrity and dedication Sen. Keough puts in on behalf of her constituents.

Shawn never ceases to amaze me. Her work ethic can’t be beat. She is always at the Capitol before 7 a.m., rarely leaves before 6 at night and often goes back after dinner and on weekends.”

It was Keough’s work ethic that brought her to public service but not before the Cincinnati native spent some time exploring.

“A girlfriend and I loaded all our belongings in her car in the fall of 1978 and headed out West from Cincinnati.

We landed in Dillon, Colo., where I worked during the ski season,” she said.

Like many young wanderers before her, Keough worked odd jobs, going where life led her.

“I worked several jobs: cleaning rental units at the Keystone Resort, selling lift tickets and working in a deli,” she said. “While there, I met some people from Sandpoint, and after the ski season I moved north to Sandpoint and haven’t looked back.”

That was in 1979 – about a year after Keough graduated high school.

Once in Sandpoint, she worked in the restaurant, hotel and service industry, including bartending at the Donkey Jaw and managing the Kamloops Bar. It wasn’t until 1988, when Keough began a 12-year stint working with the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, that the seeds of her eventual political career were planted.

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evolved as I worked in the business sector in Sandpoint,” said Keough, whose “day job” is executive director of the Associated Logging Contractors.

“My work with our business community in those years, coupled with my ethic that you can’t complain unless you are willing to jump in and try to help and come up with solutions, are my foundations for public service.”

Specifically, by 1996, Keough began to sense that there was a voice missing in the Idaho Legislature.

“I felt like North Idaho was not getting its fair share of attention from Boise in terms of road projects, school funding, economic development attention, those type of things,” she said. “I felt like I had some skills that I could offer and asked the voters for their confidence, and they’ve blessed me with that confidence. I feel like my contribution has been to provide a steady, common-sense, main-street type of voice for our community.”

Looking back on 20 years of service, Keough can count a lot of changes.

Road projects, for one, have dramatically improved infrastructure in northern Idaho during her tenure at the Statehouse. Significantly, after more than 60 years of debate, the Sand Creek Byway was constructed on her watch.

At the same time, Sandpoint and northern Idaho in general has greatly increased its manufacturing base and received much healthier state support for business retention and recruitment.

“Those are all things that I didn’t see happening at the time that I decided to jump into the arena,” Keough said.

Some issues, though, seem to be perennial. Despite increased infrastructure spending, Keough said fighting to maintain that level of investment is an ongoing struggle as is ensuring schools

Sen. Shawn Keough at the Capitol, where she celebrates 20 years in office. COURTESY PHOTO

in the region are adequately funded.

“You win some, you gain some ground and you slide backward,” she said. “I don’t think they’re ever solved and I think that’s the wisdom of being there for a while and looking back.”

Among the other changes Keough can look back on is a growing acceptance of women serving in the Legislature. Such was not necessarily the case when she first arrived in Boise.

“When I first got into office, my children were young,” said Keough, who added that her two sons, both recent college graduates, “don’t appear to have suffered” from a childhood spent with a mom in politics.

“I certainly got a couple of comments from both men and women, surprisingly to me, suggesting that my kids were too young and I shouldn’t be there.

And comments to Mike (Keough, her husband and former mayor of Kootenai) that shouldn’t I be at home,” she said.

“I have seen a shift since then to more acceptance to women serving and a welcome to women who step up – including those who have young families – and I think that’s a good shift.”

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WILDLIFE

Wraith of the woods Mountain lions thrive in northern Idaho

A

deer-colored shadow slips over a rocky ledge. You blink. The image vanishes. Did you see a whitetail, a mule deer or something else? A tawny flash of a dark-tipped tail flickers between the spruce and fir. Sweat prickles across your shoulders, hair stirs on the back of your neck. Something watches you. Slowly you rotate, straining to peer into the brush, but you see nothing and move on.

For 98 percent of Idaho’s human population, an unsettled feeling, a set of tracks or a pile of scat will sum up their wilderness exposure to nature’s most elusive predator – the mountain lion, or cougar, panther, puma, catamount or a hundred other names in as many different languages.

According to Jim Hayden, staff biologist for Idaho Fish and Game (IFG), Panhandle region: “Northern Idaho is historic mountain lion range.

Different parts of the United States have had mountain lions in the past, and then they’ve lost them, for example, most of the eastern part of the country. We’ve always had them. Mountain lions have a stronghold in the West, and that’s true throughout Idaho but particularly the northern part of the state.”

Capable of killing a 700-pound bull elk, an adult cougar can stand 3 feet tall at the shoulder, stretch 8 feet in length from nose to tail tip, and weigh upwards of 180 pounds. Like its nearest genetic relative, the cheetah, a cougar is built for sprinting, up to 50 mph, not endurance.

Primarily a nocturnal hunter, they see best from dusk to dawn. One adult whitetail, or an animal of equivalent size, will feed a cougar for approximately a week, but feeding is based on opportunity and available prey types. A female with kittens requires three to four times this amount and will routinely target game eight times her size to limit her WINTER 2016

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By Cassandra Cridland

time hunting. Deer and elk comprise risky meals as a cat may be gored, trampled, crushed into trees or rocks, or impaled on branches.

A broken bone or a mouth full of porcupine quills can lead to starvation. Researchers believe cougars are only 80 percent successful when hunting. Although strictly carnivorous, lions do ingest small amounts of grass to help clean parasites from their digestive tract.

Reclusive and solitary, a resident adult patrols a home range extending from 8 to 400 square miles, depending on their gender, the availability of prey and other environmental factors. A male’s territory will overlap the holdings of several females.

Cougars sexually mature between 20 and 24 months, but most, particularly females, won’t breed until they’ve acquired a home range. An established female produces one to six kit-

The elusive cougar is seldom seen, but its presence can often be felt. PHOTO BY SALLY SUTHERLAND

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WILDLIFE

tens/cubs every two or three years. Cubs can be born at any time of the year, but in Idaho births peak during the spring.

Kittens stay with their mother, learning to hunt, for 17 to 22 months. If orphaned prior to 17 months, their life expectancy is greatly reduced. Once they leave their mother, they become transients, searching for a home – vulnerable to starvation, more likely to stray into environments that create human conflict, or die in territory fights with adult cats.

The Panhandle population of cougars averages 3.2 years of age. Hayden said: “We’ve got a relatively young population, younger than the statewide average. For a couple reasons – they’re harvested a bit heavier here and you have a little better habitat with a higher prey base, so you get better production on the lower end.”

According to the Mountain Lion Foundation (MLF) advocacy group website, humans have killed more than 18,577 cougars in Idaho since 1915. However,

the important statistic isn’t the number of dead cats, but how many are left.

No one knows, and it’s not from lack of effort, but how do you accurately count ghosts? The enumeration of any wildlife population attempts to create a snapshot of a moving target. With cougar, the task is exponentially more difficult. They own the night, remaining hidden during the day. Their relatively low-density population spreads over hundreds of square miles of often rugged terrain. Factor in the constant movement of resident and transient cats, and it’s hard to say if you’ve counted 10 different pumas or the same cat in 10 different places.

In a report issued as part of the proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop, IFG Large Carnivore Manager Steve Nadeau estimated Idaho’s population at 2,000 to 3,000 lions. His calculations were based on information acquired from harvest reports, mortality databases, conflict/sighting records, and limited ongoing

research. The MLF refutes these numbers and alleges the population is closer to 2,000 cougars or even less, leaving the population vulnerable to unsustainability.

Both entities are guessing, and their methods leave a lot of room for error, even when averaged over years.

As Canada and surrounding states change their policies regarding cougars, such as eliminating the use of hunting dogs or switching from a general season to lottery/quota hunts, the scrutiny on hunting pressure and management practices increases in Idaho.

So far, so good, according to Hayden: “What we’ve been seeing, in general, has been an expansion of mountain lion distribution in Idaho in the last 10 to 20 years. We manage lions for a combination, some areas a bit more for older lions, and some areas a little more for the opportunity to pursue lions, but in no case to greatly reduce nor greatly increase the number of lions. They tend

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WILDLIFE

A backyard wildlife camera a few miles west of Sandpoint captured this image of a mountain lion as it passed through Aug. 30. COURTESY PHOTO

to fluctuate with the prey base, with the number of deer and elk available, and we track along behind, taking advantage of what we can and backing off when we have to. We seem to be on a modest expansion phase right now. My expectation is that we’ll continue to see an expansion.”

Gary Stueve, owner of 3 Heart Outfitters, a hunter and provider of guided expeditions within Boundary County, agrees: “Through the 1990s we overflowed with cats, but about two years after a bad

winter, the predators will crash. We had a bad winter in ’96, and for several years it got pretty slim, but now I’d say it’s increasing slightly. We’ve got a healthy population and it’s increasing.”

Cougars are not the only predators in the Idaho Panhandle. With Idaho wolf populations gaining ground, concerns arose regarding mountain lion populations.

“Biologists hypothesized that we would see a decrease in the number of lions; wolves would drive lions out,” said Hayden. “They’d compete heavily for their prey, and we’d see a drop in the number of lions reflected in a reduction of lions harvested, but we haven’t seen that.”

Perhaps, pumas are benefiting from a switch in hunting tactics.

“Wolves have really changed mountain lion hunting,” said Stueve. “You used to be able to find a track and just turn the dogs loose. You don’t do that anymore. You do your homework. You

surround the area, making sure the cat is still around. A lot of times, you’re leading the dogs until you jump the cat on foot.

If you turn your dogs loose into a drainage and there’s a pack of wolves in there, more than likely your dogs aren’t going to come out the other side. And, when you do find them, usually all that’s left is a jaw and a collar.”

All concerned agree that an increase of roads and the loss or fragmentation of habitat leads to a reduction of wildlife, both predator and prey. In his book, “Cougar: The American Lion,” Kevin Hansen wrote: “Paved roads are probably the most efficient wildlife slaughtering mechanisms ever devised. Each year, millions of wild animals are killed on America’s highways.”

Ultimately, the status of cougars in Idaho will be determined by how many the public is willing to tolerate and how much ground we’re willing to share with them.

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DRAMA

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Live with the American Laboratory Theatre

he American Laboratory Theatre is laboring under the direction of the founder, who is exacting, demanding, nearly unreasonable. Water bottles and coffee cups are banned. “That is an unconscious thought of taking a break,” he says. “No breaks!”

“He” is Jesús Quintero. Quintero, 41; his actress wife Carolina Sa, 32; and Julie Berreth, 45 – director of marketing and all things organizational – are the core of American Laboratory Theatre (ALT).

Berreth met the other two when Quintero began doing direction with Teresa Pesce and Sandpoint Onstage.

“I got involved when Teresa needed help with organization and promotion,” Berreth said. “With Onstage, and now with ALT, I’m able to combine many of my skills into one endeavor, which is very gratifying.”

ALT began in Quintero’s living room in 2005. It owns no building in which to conduct its experiments, so they take their research to the field.

Parts of their International Performing Arts School summer workshops were outdoors. Last Halloween, they produced “Frankenstein” in Steve Holt’s Eureka Center warehouse in Sandpoint, a huge – and cold – space.

It was packed.

“We had a few big radiant heaters, but it was cold,” Berreth said. “Still, nobody left early. People would sometimes get up and go stand near a heater, but they never took their eyes off the stage.”

I understand. Today, in the borrowed community room at Woodland Crossing Apartments in Ponderay, a dozen actors around a conglomeration of tables – Berreth included – are rehearsing music for “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” for a Halloween performance at the Panida. Even in this setting, I’m mesmerized. As they work through the score, they have my full attention. And Quintero’s, too.

“Stand up,” he says to the actor who plays “Brad,” and queues up a WINTER 2016

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song from the show. “Brad” begins to sing. Ten words into it Quintero says, “No, no, no! How can I believe you if you don’t believe you? Sit down.” “Brad” sits. He picks another victim. “Stand up,” he says.

The martinet revealed So, who is this martinet? And what is he doing in Sandpoint, Idaho?

OK, Quintero’s not really a martinet, even though he sometimes plays one at ALT. Rehearsal is at once tense and joyful. Cast members play a round robin game of “I-get-to-sing-now.” When they get to “Time Warp,” the room rocks.

Quintero’s actually a warm, cordial, gregarious man with a Spanish accent – he was born in Bogotá, Colombia – and a huge passion for live theater, even though as a child he disliked being in front of an audience.

“But,” he says, “when my parents divorced, we had a difficult life at home. I was 14. Then, the

Story by Sandy Compton Photos by Marie DominiqueVerdier Jesús Quintero, above, works with actors, from left, Skye Palmer, Jeremiah Bigley and Keely Gray at a rehearsal for “Rocky Horror Picture Show”

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DRAMA stage provided me a possibility of having a universe where everything made sense.”

He learned to act at the Teatro Libre in Bogotá. In 2003, at age 30, he moved to the United States to learn English. He didn’t plan to stay, but an episode in a café changed everything.

“My best friends in ESL class were an African man and a Japanese girl.

We were eating and some people were making fun of us. I went home and wrote a play about being an immigrant in America, about determining that moment when we begin creating the filter to look at others through. I never noticed MacGyver was a white guy until I moved to America. It’s the values we create that separate us. So, theater and art need to be universal.”

This play and others he wrote led him to be involved with Columbia University’s Moscow Theater in New York. When the Moscow Theater moved and became Miami Theater Center (MTC) in 2005, Quintero fol-

lowed. Two years later, he met Sa. Quintero was smitten: “I thought she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

A love story At MTC, Quintero was director of the education program, rehearsal director, and dance captain. Sa was a stagehand. And she didn’t speak English. So, first, there was the language problem.

He spoke English and Spanish and Sa spoke Portuguese. And then there was the other problem. As the country song goes, “they were married, but not to each other.”

It took many months to resolve the latter problem, during which he and she both continued with MTC. In the meantime, Sa moved from backstage.

“I grew up in Brazil,” Sa said. “When I was 12, I went to an audition with a friend and decided to audition, too.

There was no pressure. It was just (for) play, but I got a part. When I was 16

and looking for colleges, I said to my father I wanted to study acting. He said, ‘In Brazil, you have to be very good to be on the stage or very beautiful to be on TV. You are neither.’ My degree is in physical therapy.”

She notes this without rancor.

It is a good joke to tell, that fathers don’t always know best. After Sa and Quintero met, Stephanie Ansin, the director of MTC, cast her in “The Clean House.” Then, Ansin wrote a play specifically with Sa in mind, “Inanna and the Huluppu Tree.” When Quintero directed “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” he cast her as the lead character.

They married in 2008, and when Sa became pregnant, they started looking for a new place to live and raise their children.

Quintero said: “We thought about going back to New York, where I had worked, but it was too big. I started looking for jobs somewhere small.” He found one.

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Theater in the West Quintero’s real job – when he’s not demanding excellence from his actors – is head of the theater department at Monarch School near Heron, Montana.

He is also Spanish/acting coach at the Sandpoint Waldorf School. When he found the job at Monarch, Sa was not sure about living in such a small place.

“Well maybe,” she said, “if I can live in Spokane.” Finally, though, they and daughters Lis and Luna lived on campus at Monarch for two years before moving to Sandpoint.

“What surprised me in this town,” Quintero said, “is we have so many talented people. Also, less distractions.

People have more opportunity to be connected to themselves. In larger cities, I haven’t seen that.”

ALT’s mission in Sandpoint, besides working with local talent between 14 and 22 years old, is to provide an expanded view of theater while delivering a financial shot in the arm to the

Jesús Quintero and wife Carolina Sa

community. Plans for the immediate future – beyond “Rocky Horror Picture Show” – include “A Christmas Carol,” with the Monarch students, production of a play by local writer Travis Inman in the spring, and another session of the International Performing Arts School

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DRAMA next summer.

Beyond that, the sky’s the limit.

“In five years,” Quintero said, “we will have the International School running through the entire year. We will take members of the school around the world to perform. We will produce shows and continue being a laboratory for theater.

Continue working in the new direction: experiential theater, where the line between performers and the audience disappears. Next year, we will have a stage where the audience will be interacting, dancing with the actors.”

“And how will you invite them?” I ask.

He smiles. “By seduction. Theater is a vehicle. It takes us to a place, it is a social manifestation and phenomena.

To get out of the comfort zone is a must for an art that seems to be dying. The audience will participate if we provide the right environment. And we will increase the quality of life for all the participants.”

The experiment continues.

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Capturing air, light, water and magic

Don Fisher transitions from medicine to making majestic images

I

f there have been two constants throughout Don Fisher’s life, they’ve been medicine and photography.

Rather than being separate – one a vocation, the other an avocation – the two have been integral to each other, part and parcel of Fisher’s persona. And while medicine has edged out photography for most of Fisher’s energies, that scale has tipped.

“I can actually say I’ve become a photographer since I retired,” said Fisher, 71, who worked as a nurse anesthetist, until retiring in 2010.

Prior to that, he had served in the military, first as a combat medic in Vietnam, then later at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield outside of Savannah, Georgia. While working in the base hospital’s operating room, Fisher befriended a nurse anesthetist, eventually returning home to northwestern South Dakota to pursue a degree in the field.

“You have to gain the trust of people,” said Fisher, of his former profession, “and I felt I was able to do that.” In a calm voice with just the hint of a Midwestern accent, Fisher would explain the process, reassuring the patient – vulnerable, nervous, sometimes in pain – until he or she was as comfortable as possible.

The job was rewarding but taxing, says Fisher, who found stress relief in art. “Photography was my release after I got out of the OR, which was very confining,” said Fisher, who became interested in photography as a young boy.

His mother, grandmother and aunt, he says, encouraged his interest in the arts. He adds: “My grandfather was a 46

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Shown at home in photographer and gave me a Contax Sandpoint, photographer camera with Zeiss icon lenses, which Don Fisher spends his nobody even thought of having in retirement chasing light.

Webster, South Dakota.”

PHOTO BY MARIE DOMINIQUEWhile in Vietnam, he found others VERDIER with similar interests, including a fellow medic who introduced Fisher to work by Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. Fisher bought an Olympus camera and did what most people did at the time: he took slides.

Once stateside, he educated himself about photography,

WINTER 2016

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PHOTOGRAPHY

By Carrie Scozzaro

making side trips to Chicago or New York, where he visited the Museum of Modern Art. He also took photography classes while in college and became more familiar with the work of Alfred Stieglitz, Robert Mapplethorpe and, of course, Ansel Adams.

“What Ansel Adams did, is he pointed out what we see every day from a different perspective,” said Fisher.

Similarly, Fisher’s “Longbridge in Morning Fog,” for example, presents a Clockwise from upper familiar Sandpoint icon in an unexpected left: “Awaiting the manner. Drivers, riders and pedestrians Boats,” “Sailboats know its lengthy expanse as they travel Under a Comet,” over it, yet Fisher shot the bridge from a “Longbridge in boater’s perspective. He waited patiently Morning Fog” and for the clouds to break and when they “Wyoming Mustang.” did, he was rewarded with a glimpse of the distant sunlit peaks of snow-capped Schweitzer Mountain.

Fisher moved to Sandpoint from Willmar, Minn., where his earliest landscape photography included the Boundary Waters, a stretch of water bordering Minnesota and Ontario, Canada, west of Lake Superior that’s punctuated by hundreds of forested islands. He also drew inspiration from several nationally recognized nature photographers, including Craig Blacklock and Richard Hamilton Smith.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Fisher did a lot of skiing in Minnesota, which made Sandpoint all the more attractive to him and wife Cindy. After their son, Dr. Jonathan D. Fisher, a foot and ankle surgeon at North Idaho Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, relocated to the area, the elder Fishers followed suit.

“I don’t know if I’ve been cold since I got here,” said Fisher, whose love of the outdoors includes the kind of rainy or snowy days that send others to a comfy chair by the fireplace.

“I delight in working with inclement weather and seeing where the weather takes me and seeing how that enhances the subjects,” said Fisher.

up to several feet without loss of quality.

“I like to toe the line in keeping it as natural and as appealing as possible,” said Fisher, who uses Lightroom software to do a minimal amount of sharpening edges, enhancing contrast and adjusting color. He cites Ansel Adams’ post-photography work in the darkroom known as the zone system, more

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Bridges have become a favorite subject partially because they’re so prominent in Sandpoint’s landscape, but also because they are so iconic in distinguishing one region of the country from another. His “Winter Sculpture” was taken after winter storms had formed thick, oversized feathers of ice around the bridge’s piers.

Fisher shoots his images in RAW format, a language the camera uses to store large amounts of digital information about the image that also enables him to print the images quite large, 48

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commonly referred to as dodging and burning: lightening or darkening areas of an image to enhance it.

The result is powerful but subtle color. The color in “Winter Sculpture,” for example, is understated, a curious mix of sepia tones and black-and-white tones. While the browns add warmth to the overall gray cast, they also enhance the sense of the bridge’s age.

In addition to low light, such as that produced by rain or fog, Fisher also favors shooting at dusk or dawn. His

“Sailboats Under a Comet” was the result of an eagle-watching excursion to Bayview. He gravitated instead toward the sailboats, waiting for the composition to reveal itself, for the moment that would tell the story. Not only did he get it – it’s one of his most popular images – Fisher also captured the green afterglow of a comet in the night sky.

One of the things Fisher likes about photography is that there is always room for improvement. “I feel as though I’ve got a pretty good base established after five years of taking

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Taking his photography to the next level includes going beyond Sandpoint and branching out to different genres,

such as photographing horses. Fisher figures he’s taken hundreds of road trips in the past five years, from north to British Columbia and south to Wyoming where the wild mustangs roam and west to the scablands of eastern Washington.

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PEOPLE

A CONVERSATION with Mr. Clark Fork

By Sandy Compton

The life of a town icon, Bob Hays

T

he first time I saw Bob Hays was from the back seat of a 1961 Ford. He came to the driver’s window, and said something like, “Fill it up today?” While gasoline – at 29 cents a gallon – pulsed into the tank, he washed the windows and checked the oil. He took Dad’s cash and brought back change. It was 1964. Credit cards were for the rich and famous. Debit cards were not yet a glimmer in a banker’s eye.

Hays took over the Chevron station at the corner of Idaho 200 – then U.S. 10A – and Lightning Creek Road in Clark Fork in 1963. Gas stations – and life – were remarkably different then than now.

“This used to be a car care service station,” Hays said. “Now, we just ask, ‘Did you find everything OK?’ Before the oil crisis in the ’70s, oil companies gave free paint jobs and pump repairs and threw banquets.

When the shortage came, convenience stores started to come online. Gas became an option. All the mom and pops started going out of business.”

Almost all. Clark Fork’s oldest business has sold petroleum products and mechanic services for 80-plus years, 52 on Hays’ watch.

Call him Mr. Clark Fork

“Let’s see,” Hays said, “I was mayor for eight years, served on the church board, school board, volunteer fire department, ambulance board, city council, assistant basketball coach, head basketball coach, little league coach, assorted task forces, parks and recreation. I still head up the rod and gun club, and help organize the alumni basketball tournament and the Fourth of July celebration.”

He pauses. “That may be about it.”

He’s also run the station; sometimes seven days a week. “Except during the gas crisis,” he said. “Then we took turns opening on Sundays.”

Hays adapted to changes in the business – to a certain extent. The station is crammed with travel necessities ranging from quarts of oil and windshield wipers to ice cream bars, sunglasses, chips and soda. But, it’s no typical convenience store. This place is still – and will be until Hays retires – a service station.

“I quit mechanicking 10 years ago,” Hays said, “but I still change oil, fix flats and sell tires.”

At 8 a.m., an employee – he counts 40-some over time – comes to work. He transitions to the service bay, poking into the underpinnings of a car on the lift.

PHOTO BY FIONA HICKS

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Meet me at Hazey’s

The station is a gathering place and museum of sorts.

Folks come each morning to catch up on local scuttlebutt and drink semi-free coffee. Hikers, hunters and fishermen headed up Lightning Creek or into the Scotchman Peaks rendezvous in the lot. Scores of photos hang on the walls: old Clark Fork; local characters alive and dead; student portraits; and dozens of elk, deer, moose and more – some Hays’ trophies, some not.

One photo shows him looking through the antlers of a massive bull moose. He’s carrying a compound bow.

I’m impressed. “You shot that with a bow?”

“Nah,” he said, with a laugh. “Someone took it with a rifle.

But I figured it would make a great picture.”

Cowboys and basketball

Hays was born to an unlikely couple – a cattleman and a woman whose family raised sheep – in eastern Montana.

They lived on a ranch near Hardin until Hays was 6, then moved to Kila, Mont., then Clark Fork, Sandpoint, Flora, Ore., and finally back to Clark Fork.

“Dad ranched and broke horses, but he moved here to help tear down Farragut Naval Base. Jim White Sr., (a Clark Fork old-timer) eventually hired him to break horses and help on his ranch. I rode a lot of green-broke horses as a kid.”

He grins. “Sometimes not very long.”

Of the places Hays went to school, Clark Fork was his favorite. He liked it so much, he went through fourth grade twice. “My grades were passing,” he said with a grin, “but my teacher said I entertained the class way too much.”

He finished high school in Clark Fork and played on the basketball team. He played for 35 years on the town team. He still plays every year in the alumni tournament.

“Not hard,” he said, “but I still play.”

Home is where the hunting is

Hays opened the station at 5:30 today, as he has thousands of times. “When I first took over, it was five in the morning ’til 11 at night. Fay brought my dinner. I’d go home. Take a shower. Go to bed, and it would be morning again.”

“Fay” was Fay-Elyn Schlicht Hays – her maiden name, pronounced “shleet,” is attached to Schlicht’s Lake, east of Clark Fork. When they married in 1961 at the Hitching Post in Coeur d’Alene, he was 20 and she was 16. “It wasn’t a shotgun job, either,” Hays said. They were married 51-and-a-half years when she died in 2013.

As newlyweds, they moved to the Tri-Cities, in Washington, where Hays became an ironworker. In 1963, the union struck, and they moved back to Clark Fork. “I wanted to go hunting and fishing,” Hays said, “and Clark Fork offered the best there was.”

The plan was to go back to work when the strike ended, but a service station got in the way. “The station owner got a job as postmaster, and aced me into working it while his wife did the books. I did that for about a month. Finally, I just thought ‘I’ll do this for a while.’ ”

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PEOPLE “For a while” turned into 52 years.

For much of that time, he and Fay lived in the Clark Fork house in which she was born. Like the station, it’s been modified several times to meet the demands of the times. Bob and Fay had two sons that needed space to grow. Chad is now a flight attendant for Southwest and Bob Jr. is a geologist.

And there’s still a basketball hoop in the backyard.

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It’s hard to squeeze a life like Hays’ into 1,200 words, but here are a few sound bites: “When they built Cabinet Gorge Dam, the school was so crowded we sat two to a desk. Every empty lot in Clark Fork had a trailer house with a 50-gallon drum buried in the yard for a septic tank.

“My folks and I lived on the White place. Indians came to camp there and go up on the High Drive to pick huckleberries. They always tried to borrow our horses.

“The biggest change I’ve seen is in industry. There used to be sawmills and mines all around. The younger generation could always get a job. Jobs were plentiful, even if the money wasn’t very good. Everybody was getting by.

“I’ve taken over 50 elk in my life. I enjoy any more just getting up on the ridge, sitting down and admiring the beauty. Even if I don’t get anything, I’m well satisfied.

“I had an offer from some folks to buy the station. They were nice folks, but I didn’t sell because I didn’t think they would fit into Clark Fork. Nobody would have been happy.”

A service station

Eventually – soon, he hopes – someone else will offer to buy the station, someone who will fit into Clark Fork. Bob Hays, at 75, is ready to retire.

“That will be the end of an era,” I say.

He flinches just a bit. “I know,” he says.

A woman comes into the station. “I think I have a low tire, Bob.” “Be right there.” He grabs a pressure gauge and heads for the door.

As long as this is Hays Chevron, this will be a service station.

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F E AT U R E

ZAG mania soothes the winter blues

W

ithin minutes of setting foot in the United States for a student exchange with local host parents, Will and Debbie Love, Switzerland’s Laura Schmid learned two essential words for getting along with her new family.

“Go Zahhhhhgs,” she uttered in a barely audible, tentative tone, while heading to Sandpoint in August 2014.

Before returning to Switzerland six months later, Schmid knew the drill. She owned Gonzaga Bulldog apparel and had worn it to a Zags game, sitting just above the team in the Bulldog Kennel at McCarthey Athletic Complex in Spokane, Wash.

Twice weekly, along with her extended family of ZAGmaniacs, aka Loves and Tibbses, she sat in front of TVs getting acquainted with Gonzaga University Coach Mark Few’s men’s Bulldogs. She learned of Zags’ past successes, including their No. 1 ranking and 17 consecutive trips to NCAA tournaments.

With time, she could easily shout out an emphatic, very audible “GO ZAGS!!!”

Schmid experienced a fullfledged indoctrination into a contagious seasonal epidemic – the fanaticism that consumes her hosts and countless other area families from late October to

(hopefully) April.

Though it has no official name, ZAGmania seems an appropriate moniker for the seasonal obsession many locals consider the perfect antidote to winter blues.

Symptoms vary.

Some fans’ homes are almost completely wallpapered with several years’ worth of Zags team and “Go ZAGS” posters. In other homes, fans follow unwritten but clearly understood gag orders during games, subtlely outlawing nonZag-oriented conversation.

Yelling “YES!” and pounding on fellow Zag fanatics after baskets – definitely allowed.

Retirees Carrie and Roy

By Marianne Love

Above: Local ZAGmaniacs gather on First Avenue to show their enthusiasm for Gonzaga University men’s basketball. PHOTO BY MARIEDOMINIQUE VERDIER

Below: A fan in the student section at McCarthey Athletic Complex displays a poster of star player Przemek Karnowski.

PHOTO BY MARIANNE LOVE

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Jacobson follow a slight modification of the above.

“It’s a ‘Do not disturb mode’ while we watch,” Carrie said.

Meanwhile, Rose Greene and her parents, Lisa and Dale Greene, practice strict rituals for games.

“I wear one of my Zag jerseys (I have three) and always take my Zag pillow, blanket and lucky key chain,” Rose Greene said. “My mom always puts a Zag rug in front of the TV and makes sure that our Spike bobblehead is watching the TV. We touch his head before each game.”

Sometimes, other fans like Tim and Connie Rosco (Connie’s feet sweat during nail-biter Zag games)

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F E AT U R E embarrass themselves publicly by thinking of “their” Zags as the center of the universe.

“We found out the hard way that you don’t cheer for the Zags when you are in a Red Robin restaurant in Bend, Oregon, while they are playing against Arizona!”

Tim Rosco said. “It was the second round of the 2003 NCAA tournament.

GU lost in double overtime 95 to 96. A great game, but we were two out of 100 people there (cheering) for the Zags. It was impossible for us to not be cheering them on and loudly.”

And, then there are “religious fans,” like 83-year-old retired teacher and devout Catholic Lasean Driggs.

“I have a red (Zags) sweatshirt and blue long-sleeved (Zags) shirt,” Driggs, a member of St. Joseph’s parish, said.

“I often wear them to church. … As I greet at church before Masses, I compliment anyone wearing Zags apparel.

Sometimes we talk about the game played the night before.”

Driggs says she does not pray for the

Zags to win, although “I might cross my fingers at free throws.”

So why such adoration toward one team?

Locals do avidly support other regional athletic teams, but with the Zags, it seems that unifying passions prevail.

“It’s a small market that plays bigtime basketball,” said retired educator Tim Ross, who not only follows the Zags but also has nearly 30 years of attending NCAA tournaments under his belt. “We like the Zags because they (generally) keep their players for four years, and you get to know the team. … We almost know them as family.”

Colorado transplants Lynn and Marcy Wise, avid followers of both GU men and women’s basketball teams, credit the coaching staffs.

“They don’t cheat,” Marcy Wise said.

“The program is run well. They recruit good people and make good men and women out of them.” Marcy Wise wears Zags gear “24-7” and happily gets dis-

tracted talking about her favorite team.

Once the season starts, she spends the bulk of her days posting on the Gonzaga University message boards as “ZAG Grannie.”

“I usually start with Craziness in the Kennel,” she said. “I carry that all through the season, posting lots of pictures and comments, and starting separate threads for Vegas and the NCAA tourney games.”

The couple manages to attend 12 to 14 games a year, thanks to their membership in the Bulldog Club, which takes a $250 donation to join.

There is no cure for the annual onset of ZAGmania among fans, and that’s perfectly okay with those afflicted.

When Zag games begin each fall, they simply say, “Bring on the insanity!”

Toward winter’s end when that bittersweet day comes, marking the Zags’ final loss – hopefully in the NCAA Tournament – ZAGmania finally subsides. Once more the Zags have done their job.

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PICTURED IN HISTORY

Roosevelt’s tree army When the CCC came to Bonner County

By Jennifer Lamont Leo

1933

Men work on a snagging project near CCC Camp F-102 (near Priest Lake) during the winter, circa 1934. PHOTO BY THE USFS, COURTESY OF BONNER COUNTY HISTORY MUSEUM

saw the Great Depression at its bleakest. Banks and businesses failed. Bread lines snaked around city blocks. Vicious dust storms swept the Midwest, carrying topsoil and livelihoods away on the wind. Meanwhile, wildfires and rampant harvesting threatened the forests.

Among the jobless were some 5 million young men, many roaming the streets or riding the rails.

Enter President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who instigated an alphabet soup of social programs: WPA, NRA, REA, TVA. Among these was a program designed to address two problems at once: the swarms of idle young men and the dwindling of America’s natural resources.

The solution: Put 500,000 young men to work in forests, parks and wilderness areas. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) formed as a cooperative effort among the Departments of War, Agriculture, Labor and the Interior. The Army, experienced in mobilizing hordes of young

men, ran the camps. The U.S. Forest Service oversaw projects on forestland.

Eligible “boys” were unemployed, between 18 and 25 years old, unmarried, and from relief-dependent families. They had to pass a physical exam and commit to a six-month stint, two years maximum. Older men hired on as work-crew supervisors. Crews worked 40-hour weeks under military-style disciple, from 6 a.m. reveille to 10 p.m. lights-out. Pay was $30 a month, of which $25 was sent home to their families. The government supplemented pay by providing housing, meals, medical, dental and transportation. On weekends the men were free to spend the remaining $5 in town. Merchants in Priest River, Coolin, Clark Fork and Sandpoint benefited from their proximity to camps.

In total, 163 camps operated in Idaho, 22 in Bonner County. Idaho’s panhandle, as well as parts of Washington and Montana, fell into the Fort George Wright District. Workers in the Bonner County camps fought fires, planted trees and battled blister rust.

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Crews installed fire-prevention measures such as lookout towers and guard cabins, and built recreational facilities, for example, the Luby Bay Campground. The guard cabin at Luby Bay – now a museum – is one of several structures still standing The late Paul Croy, a teacher and Hope resident, remembered the CCCs well in a 1990 memoir. “Starvation problems were worse in the big cities, so most of the boys in the camps around Priest Lake came from ‘New Yawk’ and ‘New Joisey.’ The foremen were local lumberjacks or stump ranchers.” Fred Blood worked as a camp cook at Kalispell Bay. “A lot of boys came in pretty hungry, pretty thin,” he recalled in a 1999 newspaper article, “and in the first month to six weeks, they’d gain 10, 11 pounds.”

With U.S. entry into World War II, the program drew to a close. In 1943 a camp near Priest River was used to house Italian prisoners of war, whom the Priest River Times described as “a fine bunch of men and officers willing to cooperate in every way.”

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10/27/15 8:04 AM

Moonlighting

ARTIST

A man’s artistic expressions pay homage to his son Story by Charles Mortensen Photos by Doug Marshall

G

eorge Rickert, 66, is working in the backyard of his south Sandpoint home. The sun is setting on this late summer day as he leans into a wood carving that hangs on the outside of his studio. A makeshift shed roof protects him and the art should the weather turn.

A shop light illuminates the spot where Rickert is power sanding and polishing. The piece, called “Waves,” has been hanging on the studio for a few years and the seasons have made their mark – the art needs some love.

“Waves,” carved in 1982 into a thick slab of laminated timbers taken from an old mine, is an abstract vision of graceful lines in bold relief. It’s a large piece, perhaps 8 feet by 4 feet and weighing about 350 pounds. Rickert’s plan is to smooth the high spots and finish with a protective varnish, leaving the low points rough and open to the elements. “Waves” was displayed at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene for many years before it was brought home to hang permanently on the side of the studio, much to the delight of the neighbors.

Rickert does not typically devote much time to wood carving in the summer months. “With the garden and the farm, wood working barely gets squeezed in now and then because I just don’t have much time to carve during the summer,” says Rickert. Retired after a career in teaching, he and his wife, Heidi, are avid gardeners whose large yard is a constantly evolving

George Rickert works on “Moonlight for Ed II” in his backyard studio

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his bicycle and miscellaneous equipbotanical masterpiece. The cherry ment, but a closer look reveals the tree is frequented in June by the primary purpose of the place. On neighborhood kids, and the pears the wall hangs a set of what the layare within easy reach of the front man would describe as chisels, but sidewalk in September. The cenare more appropriately known as terpiece of the yard in years past Tools of the trade, notes and Ed’s sketches gouges. The gouges are beautifully was a glorious bed of dahlias, the crafted and each is finely tuned for a bulbs of which Rickert would carespecific carving intent. They have names like “Fishtail,” fully dig up each fall and store in his attic to plant again “Bowl,” “Fingernail” and “Spindle.” A few years ago, the following spring. That bed has since morphed from a previous set of gouges disappeared when the stuvegetable garden to wildflower meadow, and the focus dio was randomly burglarized; insurance covered the of the yard is now a vibrant rose garden. Near the rose expense of a new set. garden is a small pond full of lily pads and overgrown Other tools of the craft include mallets, grinders, goldfish that are occasionally poached by opportunistic sanders and finishing equipment. Another, called a raccoons. Raspberry bushes cling to the picket fence in King Arthur’s Lancelot, is a power grinder-driven circuthe side yard, blackberries encroach on the back alley, lar cutting tool equipped with a chain saw that looks and clematis envelops the front yard arbor. In recent lethal enough to cause injury even at rest. An air comyears, Rickert has been devoting a lot of time to remodpressor that Rickert uses to power some of the grinding eling and maintaining the old family farm south of town and sanding tools stands on the floor near the wood to the point that there is barely enough time for the stove. The cracked cement floor of the studio is covered garden. in wood chips, sawdust and peanut shells.

As fall turns to winter, when the garden is on its A partially completed carving, one of a series of own and the work on the farm has slowed until the pieces Rickert has been working on in recent years, next season, Rickert can finally turn his attention to rests on a workbench in the studio. This piece is called what he loves best – sculpture. He stokes the studio’s wood stove, cranks up the music on the stereo and gets “Full Moon for Ed, No. 2.” No. 1 hangs in the house, and others are in the works. Ed is Rickert’s late son to work. The building is not a typical artist studio. It’s who died at age 18. Ed, also an artist, had been colreally more of a shed that doubles as a place to store 62

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George Rickert works on “Waves,” a permanent installation on the outside of his studio

laborating with his father by creating pencil drawings that Rickert would interpret through wood sculpture. A clipboard holding several of Ed’s drawings as well as Rickert’s notes and calculations to guide his approach hangs on a post in the studio. The drawings depict various renditions of a full moon partially obscured by abstract cloud formations.

The father’s memory of his “Triad,” a copper-clad sculpture lost son is beautifully rendered in the sculpted work.

Rickert inscribes messages from his son on the back of the “Full Moon for Ed” pieces. Somewhere up in the clouds Ed is smiling.

Rickert works primarily with wood, occasionally adding copper cladding and other media to his pieces. He has been sculpting since the 1970s when he was a college student at Humboldt State University in California.

He continued carving in Eugene, Ore., where he earned his teaching certificate from the University of Oregon and has never really stopped, even throughout his teaching career, which spanned nearly 25 years starting in the 1980s at primary and secondary schools in northern Idaho. He taught a variety of subjects, including science, math, history, government and economics,

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but his main emphasis was life skills-based education.

“Art is Life,” said Rickert, “and I see it as a way of giving back to the community.”

One senses there is also a therapeutic element to his creative endeavor. Through the years, he has amassed a large body of work. A few of his sculptures adorn his home and some were donated for public display at schools in the Inland Northwest. “The truth is, I “Graceful Guard” don’t really know where most of my pieces are these days,” said Rickert. “I gave most of them as gifts to friends and family as I made them.” He refers to his craft as a hobby, which by definition it is, having been secondary to family life and pursuits of gainful employment. But categorizing his work as a hobby seems to diminish his true talent and, as his website, www.fullmoonsculptures.com, reveals, his work is that of a prolific artist, not a dabbler.

Someday, when the farm no longer requires so much of his attention and he can devote more time to sculpting and continuing his collaboration with Ed, perhaps Rickert will be able to fully embrace the true artist he is, as those who know his work already do.

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10/27/15 8:04 AM

SCHWEITZER All systems ‘go’ at Schweitzer Ski life goes on after last year’s sparse winter

BY BETH HAWKINS

F

or skiers and riders, enduring a snow-deprived winter is like taking one giant “yard sale” crash – scattering best-laid plans all about and bruising any remaining confidence that winter will ever be the same again.

It was near impossible not to overhear complaints this past spring and summer around town after the brutal 2014-15 season came to a close: “I got new skis and only used them once,” the grumblers would say, and then there’s the oftrepeated “I can’t believe I only went skiing (insert small number here) times!”

Alas, skiers and riders must shake off those unfathomable memories and engage in positive thinking that winter shall return this year – with a vengeance! When has the mantra “think snow” ever rung more true?

For sure, there’s a lot of great stuff to get excited about this upcoming season at Schweitzer. But before we go down the “what’s ahead” path, let’s quickly revisit last winter (if we must).

The 2014-15 ski season at Schweitzer will be remembered as the winter that never was – and it will go down as one of the most abysmal in history. While Schweitzer averages 300 inches of snow in the village each winter, last year’s total was a meager 128 inches. The lack of snow was reflected in skier visits, which were down by more than 100,000 from the previous year (just over 123,000 visits were logged, compared to 228,000 the year prior). To make matters worse, many of Schweitzer’s 600 employees saw their work hours cut dramatically.

Credit Schweitzer’s staff for handling Mother Nature’s unkind gestures with finesse and skill; despite a lack of snowfall, the resort was able to operate 120 days, one of the longest seasons in the entire region last year.

“It’s a weather-related business, and the weather is fickle,” said Schweitzer

Above: Snow, steep and deep! This is what it’s all about. PHOTO BY BOB LEGASA Left: Snowmaking helped the resort remain open until the end of March 2015, only one week earlier than planned but longer than other resorts in the region. PHOTO COURTESY SCHWEITZER MOUNTAIN RESORT

Marketing Manager Dig Chrismer. “We did our best to provide the best season possible.”

Schweitzer kept snowmaking operations buzzing along, keeping mainstay runs such as Midway laden with manmade snow and ready to go. Known for their awesome parties, the resort’s main events such as the Northern Lights celebration remained a big draw for guests and locals. “It solidified the fact that the events we do have are still popular and appreciated,” Chrismer said.

On top of snowmaking efforts and popular events, Schweitzer’s employees were a large factor in keeping up appearances – remaining upbeat and cheerful for guests who could often be less-than-happy about the conditions. “It’s a culture up here,” Chrismer said. “We realize how awesome it is. You know that saying ‘Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’? That’s what we have here.”

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was the ripple effect it had on businesses in Sandpoint. “We saw the impact that it had on town with things slowing down,” Chrismer said. “So much is tied to what happens up here.”

The Alpine Shop, with retail locales both in town and on the mountain, was definitely impacted by the slow snow year, but owner Brent Eacret said the community really came through for the local business. “We’re grateful for the support we had on a bad year,” Eacret said. “It was amazing how many people came in and bought skis, just knowing that this wasn’t fun for anyone in the snow business.”

He said the lack of snow also created a common bond among skiers and riders.

“The one shining light is the community empathy that happened where we all knew there wasn’t snow, and we all wanted it,” he added.

Eacret acknowledges the risks of being in the snow business, saying “We know what we signed up for.” But he remains hopeful that the 2015-16 season is going to SANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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be a dandy one.

“We’re truly optimistic,” he said.

“I’m not a meteorologist, but El Niño years have turned out pretty well for Schweitzer. Here we call them ‘El Neat-os.’ ” And it will definitely be neat-o if Schweitzer receives an abundance of snow this winter, putting the local ski industry back on track and poised for great things coming down the pipeline.

At the pinnacle of this season’s “big news” list is the fact that Schweitzer forged ahead with plans to build the summit lodge, a 13,000-square-foot beauty perched at the top of the Great Escape Quad – harnessing one of the very best views in all of northern Idaho with an expansive vista overlooking the Selle Valley, much of Lake Pend Oreille, the Cabinet Mountain Range and beyond. In fact, the new deck will be just feet away from where many visitors already stop to take photos.

The three-story lodge will feature a lower level with Schweitzer Ski Patrol accommodations as well as public restrooms, and the main level will offer a restaurant and bar along with a huge deck; a third level will be on-mountain lodging.

Ground was broken this past summer with the concrete foundation now in place.

Because Schweitzer is located on private property, versus Forest Service property as with many other ski resorts, owners and the board of directors were able to get

The summit lodge will house a restaurant and be an ideal venue for weddings when it debuts for the 201617 season (design subject to change)

construction off the ground quickly. “The board is really excited about it,” Chrismer said. Lodge construction will be on hold through this winter and will start back up next spring with an expected finish date in time for the 2016-17 ski season.

Buffeted by a booming wedding business, Schweitzer anticipates year-round use of the lodge for ceremonies and receptions. “It will be a fantastic venue,” Chrismer said.

Other resort improvements for the upcoming season include some not-soglamorous updates such as the Internet supply infrastructure, new grooming equipment, new Rossignol rental fleet, and the wastewater treatment system.

Through the good years and bad, persistence does pay off. Schweitzer announced that all skiers and boarders age 80 and older will ski for free, providing that they visit the ticket window for their daily pass (season passes include a small pro-

cessing fee).

The Powder Alliance has added its second Canadian resort – Whitewater Ski Area in Nelson, British Columbia. Schweitzer unlimited passholders receive three free days at each of the 13 other Western resorts in the alliance (www.powder alliance.com).

Affordability for all ages of skiers and boarders is still a strong suit of Schweitzer’s, and Chrismer says she would like to fight the notion that some say it’s not. “We have Ski the Night passes for $8,” she said. Then there’s Sunday Solutions, affordable beginner skiing packages and North Idaho Mountain Sports Education Fund scholarships.

Grumbling and nuisances aside, Schweitzer is still one of the most relaxed resorts around. “It’s not pretentious here,” said Chrismer, who has seen her share of uptight resorts in Colorado and on the East Coast. “You park your car, you’re relaxed. A lot of times vacations can be stressful, but Schweitzer is so close to the family thing.”

Chrismer credits the season passholders for staying calm through the nonstorms and says Schweitzer is lucky to have them – through thick and thin.

It’s all part of the relaxed vibe that keeps the resort humming along. “You have to be willing to go with the flow,” she said.

But still – think snow!

SCHWEITZER MOUNTAIN FACTS 2015-16 Acreage: 2,900, 92 designated

runs, two open bowls, 1,400+ acres of tree skiing, three terrain parks, and 32 kilometers of Nordic trails Terrain: 10% Beginner, 40% Intermediate, 35% Advanced, 15% Expert Longest Run: Little Blue Ridge Run, 2.1 miles Vertical Drop: 2,400 feet Top Elevation: 6,400 feet 66

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Lowest Elevation: 4,000 feet Average Annual Snowfall: 300

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Twilight Skiing: Fridays,

inches Lifts: Nine total – Three high-speed chairs, the six-pack Stella, quads Great Escape and Basin Express; one triple, Lakeview; three double chairlifts; Idyle Our T-bar; and a beginner’s Musical Carpet Total Uphill Capacity: 12,500 per hour

Saturdays and holidays from Dec. 26, 2015, through March 5 2016, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Season: Late November or early December 2015 to April 2016, subject to conditions Lift Tickets: Adult $73; junior 7-17, $50; children 6 and under, free with adult; college, military or

seniors 65 and over, 10 percent discount; super seniors 80 and up, free.

Beginner’s chair only, $25. Musical Carpet only, free. Night rates, $15 all ages. Cross-country, $15 adult, $12 junior or senior. Snowshoe, $6.

Tubing: $15 or $10 for children 6 and under.

Website: www.schweitzer.com Phone: 263-9555, 877-487-4643 Activity Center: 255-3081

WINTER 2016

10/27/15 8:18 AM

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10/27/15 8:18 AM

WINTERS SNOW

WHO WOULD WE BE WITHOUT THEM? By Ben Olson We are four-season people here in North Idaho.

We work hard; we play hard. We embrace our hard winters as rites of passage, as proof that we are hardy enough to call ourselves North Idahoans.

When someone complains about the snow piling up, or the sun disappearing for days and weeks, there will always be someone quick to point out that there are plenty of easier places to live.

But what happens when our hard winters pass us by? What happens when the promised cold, the expected dump of snow we rely on overlooks us as it did during the winter of 2014-15? Is it a sign of the seasons to come, or merely a reprieve in the never-ending cycle of weather?

How we get our weather In a usual winter weather cycle here in the Northwest, winter storm systems move in from the Pacific Ocean, primarily from the Gulf of Alaska. These westerly

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winds are cooled by Arctic cold fronts and produce snow – sometimes quite a lot of it.

We average around 70 inches of the white gold here in northern Idaho, but that number has been blown out of the water in the past decade with some amazing winters.

For three seasons, from 2007 to 2010, northern Idaho averaged over 100 inches of snowfall per year. Before that, in the winter of 1996-97, roofs collapsed all over Bonner County because of the incredible weight of the snowfall. It was not uncommon to see daily shovel brigades atop downtown Sandpoint business roofs working for upwards of $35 an hour.

These hard winters have a way of testing new arrivals. When folks fall in love

Bottom left to right: Putting up firewood and food to last the winter (PHOTOS BY GAIL BURKETT AND JIM MELLEN); illustration shows both The Ridiculously Resilient Ridge and The Blob.

(ANNIKA HINDS)

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with summertime Sandpoint and move to the area, they sometimes neglect to take into account the long, cold, gray winters that dominate this region. It’s not uncommon for one hard winter to scare them away, back to the more temperate climates of the coast.

One family that made the move recently and has stuck it out is Jen Jackson Quintano and her husband Tyler.

When the Quintanos moved from the desert Southwest to a small cabin far out on Rapid Lightning Road in 2012, there was some trepidation for the winter to come.

“I had never lived in a place that had real winter before,” said Jen Quintano. “It was scary.”

The Quintanos spent their fall as many do in this area, gathering firewood and

preparing for the long winter.

“We had no place to dry our wet wood, so we set up our PVC pipe and plastic dome yurt and carefully stacked it inside,” she said. “When the first real snow hit in December, our dome yurt, not surprisingly, collapsed. We spent the rest of the winter digging wet wood out from under a layer of ice, snow and plastic.”

This winter, however, the Quintanos have relaxed a bit.

“This year, winter feels abstract,” she said. “My body and brain aren’t telling me to gear up. We do have a bajillion cords of firewood, but that’s partly because we used so little last year.”

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The Ridiculously Resilient Ridge and the Blob What exactly has caused the warming trend that has forsaken northern Idaho of her winters in recent years?

The last couple of winters, an auspicious sounding anomaly has predominated our winter weather systems in the Pacific Northwest, bringing above average temperature and below average snowfall.

Dubbed the “Ridiculously Resilient Clockwise from upper left: Scenes from a wintercentric community include a typical mountain man (PHOTO BY WOODS WHEATCROFT): the annual butt slide at Ojibway Mountain (PHOTO BY SANDII MELLEN); hot-tubbing children and night sledding (PHOTOS BY KEVIN KNEPPER); barn collapse at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch (PHOTO

BY DANIELLE OTIS); a roof that needs shoveled and a willing shoveler in the winter of 2007

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SNOW Ridge,” this persistent ridge of atmospheric high pressure has sat off the Pacific Coast of the Northwest since 2012, wreaking havoc on our winter weather.

The ridge acts as a blocker for our usual winter weather, delivering more southwesterly flow into the northwest (vs. westerly or northwesterly) and moving our storms northward into Canada. Conversely, the downstream side of the wave has brought cold Arctic air normally earmarked for our region and pushed it off far to the east, cooling the Midwest and Eastern United States. In essence, our winter storm systems are being robbed from us.

“In the Northwest, we have been much drier and warmer than normal since early June,” said Coeur d’Alene meteorologist Randy Mann. “In the past few years, the ridge has been dominating California’s weather with drought and warmth. The ridge during those years was far enough to the south that moisture was riding up over the top and giving us some rain and snow. However, this year, the ridge has moved farther to the north and may stay in our region, for the most part, into the midwinter season.”

It’s not clear what exactly formed this ridge. Some attribute the trend to climate change, but it’s more likely the ridge is a natural variability arising from unusual ocean surface temperatures.

The ridge of high pressure has also contributed to a mass of warmer water temperatures in the Pacific off the Northwest coast. It has been called the Blob (who names these things?). Over 2,000 miles in

PHOTO BY MARY FRANZEL

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circumference, the Blob was first detected in 2013 and is expected to continue through the winter of 2015-16.

Since warm water is much less nutrient-rich than cold upwelling waters that were the norm off the Pacific Coast, the Blob has been held responsible for a reduction of marine life from salmon to sea lions.

With both the high pressure ridge and the Blob gumming up the works, we have seen warmer, drier winters and hotter summers. According to Mann, with this winter’s El Niño system bringing less snow and warmer temperatures, there is a chance we could endure another off year.

“We should see some snow,” said Mann, “but average amounts for the season are expected to be well below normal because it will likely be too warm.”

The diehards For skier and outdoor enthusiast Larry West, nothing short of a catastrophe would stop him from getting his 100-plus days of skiing every year at Schweitzer.

“My goal is to ski every day,” said West.

“Every day Schweitzer is open, I want to be up there. My motto is ‘Forget a day of rest, accept no responsibilities, just ski every day.’ ” West, an attorney from Spokane, lives atop Schweitzer Mountain every winter so that he can be closer to the slopes that dominate his winter activities.

“In the last six years, I’ve only missed 15 days of skiing,” said West. “In fact, in the last six years, five of the last six have been the best I’ve seen, and I’ve been skiing that mountain since 1964.”

The oddly named Ridiculously Resilient Ridge means nothing to West. “I’m a ridiculously resilient skier,” he said.

After last year’s dud of a winter, West hopes for the best in upcoming seasons.

“It was the worst year I’d seen since I’ve skied there from 1964,” said West.

“But Schweitzer’s got snow makers that saved our bacon and great grooming. They provided us with 121 days of skiing, which was only two weeks short of the usual 135 day season.”

For others, like Sandpoint native Lawson Tate, the dud winter has allowed

him to focus on alternative activities that skiing usually dominated.

“We’re building our house,” said Tate.

“Last winter was the most opportune winter to build a house because there was no snow. We only had to plow two times.”

Tate has also taken up a new winter sport – hunting. Because of the milder season last year, less winterkill has resulted in an increase in game.

“With less snow and a little bit milder climate, the hunting is better,” said Tate.

“I can get out and go duck hunting and get into the hills and chase deer when they’re normally snowbound.”

For Tate, however, the warming trends in recent winters have left a hole in his heart. “(A hard winter) provides a better opportunity of having those memorable adventures where all the roofs collapsed,” he said. “Or no school for a week, or the neighbors having to whip out their excavators and front-end loaders to get to the road. It robs you of the great white north.”

The winters yet to come The winters yet to come remain shrouded in perpetual mystery. Will we get the snowfall that buries cars and closes roads? Will there be a return to the howling powder days atop Schweitzer Mountain? Or will this warming trend stick around?

Part of living in northern Idaho is not only tolerating the hard winter but also loving it. Without it, we may as well live in San Diego. Just because we’ve been handed a few duds these past seasons doesn’t mean we’re any less hardy for it.

“I think you have to embrace the winter to live here,” said Quintano. “It won’t work to simply live for lake weather; your sun-loving soul would shrivel and die during the dark months if you do that. Unless you embrace the winter here, you are just visiting. I think wherever we live, we derive some sense of self from place. We are people that can endure months where the sun does not venture above the trees, evenings pin-balling the car down icy and deserted lanes, mornings post-holing to the outhouse, and days when we’re still lighting the wood stove in June. Without tough winters, what is to keep the riffraff out?”

WINTER 2016

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B

BACKCOUNT Panhandle Backcountry

Panhandle Backcountry member Damian-Eachan Dilley frequently accompanies Larry Banks and Mike Brede on trips.

crowdsourcing

routes

S

Story and photos by Aaron Theisen

ecret stashes, honey holes: For a sport that’s all about making tracks, backcountry skiers and snowboarders are notorious for covering theirs.

But Liberty Lake splitboarder Larry Banks and Spokane skier Mike Brede, the cofounders and administrators of the Panhandle Backcountry online community, hope to open-source the skin track.

Banks, 49, began snowboarding 25 years ago at Mount Hood, when the sport was in its infancy. Like many before him, he caught the backcountry bug ducking ropes. Then he ducked a bigger rope – that separating the Pacific Northwest from the Inland Northwest.

“I was tired of how much traffic there was over on the west side of the Cascades,” said Banks. “I came on a snowboard trip to Red Mountain (in Rossland, British Columbia) and wanted to try to figure out how to move out here.”

Brede, 31, has lived in the Inland Northwest most of his life. He learned to ski at Schweitzer but began exploring the backcountry in earnest when he moved back to the area after graduating from college in 2006.

Banks and Brede met in the backcountry, and as they began touring together, they discussed how every region in North America with backcountry skiing and snowboarding worth discussing had online forums – everywhere except the Inland Northwest.

Said Banks: “I told Mike, ‘We’re missing the boat; we’re at the forefront of splitboarding and even ski touring. We’ve got to figure out something where you can use your talents as a web designer.” The result was the Panhandle Backcountry forum – as Banks describes it, “one-stop shopping for backcountry skiing and snowboarding.”

Democratizing routes

Whereas information on backcountry touring in the area has traditionally been on a need-to-know basis, passed down to privileged touring partners, the Panhandle Backcountry forums have democratized routes.

Banks added: “A lot of people on the forum are fresh to the area and just had no idea who to talk to, no idea where to go, what the snow conditions were. A lot of people didn’t even know how to find conditions in the area.”

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BACKCOUNTRY SKIING

Panhandle Backcountry cofounders Mike Brede, above, and Larry Banks, right, speak of our region’s “hero snow”: light and fluffy, with stability that brings out skiers’ and snowboarders’ best. Banks, opposite, carves a turn high on the Coeur d’Alene/Cabinet Divide in northern Idaho

The forum boasts farflung members from Colorado, Utah, England, France, Canada and New Zealand. In any given week, users might file fresh trip reports from the Beehive Lakes to the Bitterroot Divide. Forum members have even begun organizing an annual outing to ski Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road on its opening weekend.

Banks and Brede are, first and foremost, evangelists for our backyard backcountry.

“We don’t have the huge lines like you find in, for example, the Wasatch, but it’s unexplored,” said Banks. “We’ve got a nice little spot here in North Idaho as far as the low number of people getting at it and the weather we get.”

“One of my favorites is Lookout Mountain,” said Brede. “It’s a 9- or 10-mile snowmobile ride up, followed by a decent climb on skis, but it has some of the best views of Upper and Lower Priest Lake there are, especially from the lookout site, in addition to nice lines.” Brede also cites Round Top Mountain – “a great view of Lake Pend Oreille, kind of an inverse view from that of Schweitzer” – and Scotchman Peak as high-Panhandle favorites.

Hero snow and backcountry safety

“Our snowpack, because it’s intercontinental, is awesome – we have stable conditions, especially in the Silver Valley, compared to, say, the Cascades,” said Banks. “You can feel confident in finding something stable and steep even a day after a big storm. We call it ‘hero snow’: it’s so light and fluffy but still gives a little structure and stability underneath. For example, you don’t ride a pillow line in Utah or Colorado, but you can ride 72

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them here.”

But it’s not all about hero snow, for with great pow comes great responsibility: As vocal as they are about the great backcountry touring to be had in the area, Banks and Brede are equally bullish on backcountry safety. That means the proper gear – avalanche beacon, probe and shovel – and the proper training in their use.

Brede and Banks feel an added sense of responsibility to spread the avalanche-awareness message, having encountered forum users in the backcountry who devoured the trip reports but skipped the safety briefing. They’ve even turned away groups they met on the skin track who did not have proper avalanche safety gear with them.

Fortunately, the majority of forum users are avy-savvy, and their field observations can supplement the regional avalanche advisories with zoomed-in details; call it crowdsourcing avalanche safety.

“The Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center (IPAC) only issues reports once a week, so it’s hard to fill in the blanks without collaborative knowledge,” Brede said. “One of the goals of the Panhandle Backcountry forum is to fill in the gaps.” Brede notes that, because of the remote and little-traveled nature of the region’s mountains, skiers and boarders must be even more self-reliant.

Banks and Brede say they have heard scattered criticism of the forum, that they are stash-poaching profiteers, but most backcountry enthusiasts appreciate the sharing of information and the discovery of new places they didn’t know about.

“We’re definitely seeing more people at trailheads than in years past,” said Brede. “But it’s not like we’re giving away

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honey holes or secret stashes.”

“I think there are a lot of people who don’t understand this is all out of our pocket,” said Banks. “We’re not making any money from anyone, getting any money from anyone. It’s just something Mike and I saw a need for.”

The nature of difficult, human-powered travel in general, and the long approaches of skiing in the region in particular, will do more to limit numbers than tight-lipped touring partners. Banks notes that, unlike, for example, backcountry skiing at Stevens Pass in the Central Cascades, where one’s vehicle gains most of the elevation, “Over here you have to work for it.”

“We’ve had some favorite places that we like to ski, and this past season – probably due to the site – we’ve run into tracks in some of them,” said Brede. “But the nice thing in our area is you can just go to the next drainage over.”

Banks and Brede continue to build a safe and connected backcountry community, both online

and off. They have recently struck up partnerships with IPAC and the Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education program to offer avalanche certification courses, and they have begun partnering with SheJumps, a Salt Lake-based nonprofit whose mission is to increase female participation in outdoor activities, for women’s skills clinics. Someday they may even get involved in backcountry-access issues. But for now they’re content to build a backcountry community one forum user at a time.

“We’ve already accomplished what we wanted to, which is to bring people together,” says Banks. “I’ve been in Revelstoke and run into people on the chair with Panhandle Backcountry stickers. It makes you realize The sun sets on another suc- how small the world is.” cessful and safe day in the But as small as the world is, there are still plenty mountains with the Panhandle of places in the Inland Northwest to set a fresh skin Backcountry crew track.

Look up www.panhandlebackcountry.com for trip reports and to sign up to participate in the forums.

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25 YEARS

25 for our 25 th

For Sandpoint Magazine’s silver anniversary, a stroll down memory lane

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eighing in at 32 pages, the inaugural Sandpoint Magazine, the Winter 1991 issue, was a first for our town: a color, glossy lifestyle magazine aiming to interest both locals and visitors.

As we wrote in the “Before Word,” our twoparagraph raison d’être: “If it seems we’re stretching it to reach locals and tourists, let’s put it another way: This magazine is written for people who like it here. If we’re successful in what we do, Sandpoint Magazine will help you get more out of being in Sandpoint.”

Sandpoint Magazine arrived just in time to capture some local history. Just as the first edition was going to press, iconic photographer Ross Hall died and our first issue

1

“In The Infield Was Patty Peccavi” Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.

WINTER 1992 In Charter Contributor Susan Drinkard’s feature interview with sculptors Ed and Nancy Kienholz of Hope – among the most acclaimed contemporary artists in America – she asked: Are your pieces political and social commentary?

Nancy: “Not political. Social.”

Ed: “Politics are too cheap. We don’t use politics as a point of departure.”

Ed Kienholz died in June 1994 at age 66; he was buried in a 1940 Packard.

Nancy, now 82, continued their work in multiple media after his death.

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included a selection of his glorious photos.

Our cover story was about Schweitzer’s seminal $14 million expansion that brought its first high-speed quad, new hotel and day lodge. That summer, writer David Gunter interviewed Gunther Schuller, the symphonic conductor and musical director at the Festival at Sandpoint whose life work included the Pulitzer Prize and multiple Grammies. Schuller died last June at age 89.

Those are a few of the memorable stories from just our first year. Twenty-five years on, with more than 2,000 stories now under our belt, there are far more fine ones than we can enumerate. But for our silver anniversary, we’ll try. Herewith are 25 favorites.

2

SUMMER 1992 In the cover story by outdoor humorist Patrick McManus – one of Sandpoint’s most famous natives – he tells of adventures in 1949, at about age 16, when with a pair of pals he mounted a snowshoe assault on the summit of Schweitzer Mountain long before it became a ski area. The trio barely survived and managed to struggle out at dusk. Wrote McManus:

“As I tramped through the dark and cold, I became certain of one thing: Schweitzer was no place to be in the winter!”

Cover art was by McManus’ pal, Boots Reynolds.

Winter ‘91: The first.

WINTER 1993

3

Pencil Dust Pencil dust across time’s pages Where some master scrawled his line Let me etch one thought eternal – Indestructible through time.

Free my thoughts from casual living Let my soul say what it must Leave me one worthwhile message Captured there in pencil dust.

From the feature on 87-year-old poet Paul Croy,

by Stephen Drinkard. Paul lived to the ripe old age of 92; among other books, he authored “Pioneer Pencil Dust.”

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25 YEARS

25 YEARS

4

SUMMER 1993

“The wilderness of water has a spiritual vastness that’s almost greater than any wilderness of land.”

5

Russell Keene, an inveterate canoeist whose 200acre tree farm in Talache overlooked the big lake, in a story on the lake by Jane Fritz. His phrase stuck; Fritz went on nearly 20 years later to author the foremost book on the lake, “Legendary Lake Pend Oreille: Idaho’s Wilderness of Water.”

WINTER 1996

6

SUMMER 1994 Even as the industry had passed its peak here, the cover story “Timber Town” by then associate editor Billie Jean Gerke told of the major role that logging played in Sandpoint’s history. But almost as a passing of the economic torch, the feature interview was with Dennis and Ann Pence, who founded Coldwater Creek 10 years earlier – at that time a dozen years away from becoming a $1 billion company before its demise.

WINTER 1995

“I don’t think I’m really that eccentric.

I think anybody that doesn’t probably conform to everything, every day, might be called a little bit eccentric.”

Dr. Forrest Bird, renowned aviator and biomedical engineer, remarks with a laugh to a question about eccentricity.

Dr. Bird died this past August at age 94. In a coinciding tragedy, his wife Pam Bird, cofounder of Bird Aviation Museum, died in an airplane crash just two months later.

7

A sensational trial 1,500 miles away in Los Angeles sucked Sandpoint into its vortex when retiring LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman – a major figure in the O.J. Simpson trial then burning up the media – moved to Sandpoint and bought a house. The racial overtones of that trial coincided with a splurge of media about Aryan Nations founder and avowed racist Richard Butler and came a few years after white separatist Randy Weaver’s tragic standoff at Ruby Ridge in Naples. All this inspired the cover story by Sandy Compton, “Who We Are,” an exposition on tolerance and the character of Sandpoint.

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8

SUMMER 1996 Writer and author Marianne Love’s cover story “Sailors Ahoy,” on the 50th anniversary of the decommissioning of Farragut Naval Base, probed the memories of World War II veterans who started their service at the nation’s largest inland naval training base, right here on Lake Pend Oreille.

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25 YEARS

WINTER 1997

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“The first trip I made with Ross was to the top of Wood Rat Hill overlooking Priest Lake. We packed his big old 10-inch panorama camera and spent a half-day clearing land so we could see the lake.”

From the cover story “An Eye for Sandpoint,” chronicling the 50-year career of Cap Davis. He was speaking of Ross Hall, his photographic mentor.

0

SUMMER 1997 The cover story “Land of the Kalispel,” traced the ages-old history of the indigenous people here, the Kalispel Indians. For the feature interview, Detective Mark Fuhrman broke a twoyear silence to talk about the O.J. Simpson trial, his new book and his decision to move to Sandpoint. Asked how the media was treating him now, after the firestorm of the trial, he replied:

“Totally respectfully.

They would never dare come to my house or bother me on the phone … and why? Because they want something from me. And I’m producing something they want.”

=

He looked at me and said, ‘You can if you will,” and then he turned around and walked away.

And I’m going, ‘Can what? Will what?’ And it took me quite a while to figure out what he was saying. ... If you have the capability, if you put the willpower and effort behind it, you can if you will.”

Former Sandpoint High Bulldog, Green Bay Packer great and NFL champion Jerry Kramer, on words of wisdom from his coach at the University of Idaho. Kramer returned to Sandpoint this past October to present an NFL golden football to his alma mater, Sandpoint High: He’s pictured here with Athletic Director Kris Knowles.

SUMMER 2003

one of those things. In ’74 we decided to make something of this, but what was that ‘make something?’ I don’t know.” Today, Litehouse is the No. 2 fresh salad dressing maker in the country and one of the region’s largest employers.

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q

The Hooeyman, aka Sandpoint Duckman, aka Jerry Luther tells how he came into his improvisational street performance art, which sprang from a fascination in the early 1970s with the hooey stick toy whose small propeller changes direction seemingly when a knowing operator utters “hooey.”

Revealed Luther:

“It’s a slight hand trick that’s all in the fingers.”

WINTER 1999 The feature interview with Doug and Edward Hawkins, president and CEO respectively of Litehouse Foods, asked, “Do you have a vision?” Replied Edward: “ You know it’s

-

SUMMER 1998

WINTER 2005

w

“I like North Idaho because the people mind their own business, and they’re not overly impressed. The people I tend to respect are those who show up on time, prepared, and respect their neighbors.”

The actor and part-time resident Viggo Mortensen in the interview about his work in the movies and his attraction to this area.

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25 YEARS 25 YEARS

SUMMER 2005

e

“I believe in following your passion. I had one of the first Barbie dolls that came out in 1959. I just wasn’t happy with the little clothes that you could buy, so I began making up my own outfits.”

Georgia Shonk-Simmons, then president of Coldwater Creek, on the genesis of her interest in fashion and the clothing industry.

SUMMER 2006

r

“Until you have seen in person small children scavenging for food scraps in a dump, their feet burning from fires, compassion is difficult.”

Cofounding aviation designer and chief technical officer Tom Hamilton of Quest Aircraft tells how the inspiration to design the Kodiak plane for humanitarian efforts in poor countries was inspired by his experiences in Africa.

t

“A lot of small towns wouldn’t dream of doing something like this. It speaks to the power of community to not just pull it off but to make it thrive.”

Festival at Sandpoint fan talking about the concert series’ 25th anniversary, featured with an eye-popping cover by that year’s festival poster artist, Janene Grende.

y “It was a good idea that got out of hand.”

WINTER 2008

From the feature interview with Jack Fowler, the Spokane dentist who in 1960, while driving back from a ski trip in Montana, stopped in Hope and saw the big snow-filled Schweitzer basin across the lake. He came back that same season to hike into the basin and prompt the effort to build a ski area with, among others, timber man Jim Brown, architect Grant Groesbeck and then-Mayor Floyd Gray.

SUMMER 2007

u

SUMMER 2010 Larson’s Department Store in downtown Sandpoint turns 70. Dick Larson, self-described third-generation haberdasher, reveals the secret:

“My father always told me, ‘Sell quality merchandise at reasonable prices.’ ”

JACK FOWLER, RIGHT, WITH SAM WORMINGTON AND TOM CHASSE

i

SUMMER 2009 It was the bicentennial marking arrival of the first European to establish a presence here: Surveyor and fur agent David Thompson built a trading post called Kullyspel House on the Hope Peninsula in 1809. Recounting from Thompson’s journals, writer Jack Nisbet told of Thompson’s arrival: “On September 8, they followed a trail down from Boyer Slough to the north shore of Lake Pend Oreille, first viewing the lake somewhere near Kootenai Point.

Heading east from there, they soon bagged four geese, three ducks and a sandhill crane for dinner.”

WINTER 2013

o

“The idea that you can do something that is relevant on a national and global scale in mobile and gaming – and live in the best place on Earth – is a great combination.”

Entrepreneur Charles Manning telling about the decision to move his company PlayXpert to Sandpoint, now morphed into Kochava, in the “Small Town, Big Ideas” story by Zach Hagadone.

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25 YEARS

p

SUMMER 2013 “We want every wolf blasted! Kill them ALL!” “Wolves are by far the most beneficial and the least dangerous of all the large predators.”

“Wolves make a country feel truly wild.”

“Wolves are here to stay; there’s no doubt about it.”

w

Ranging sentiments on the return of the wolf to northern Idaho’s wildlands, from the cover story

by Cate Huisman, “Wolves: Contentious Comeback.”

WINTER 2014

[

“I was willing to, if confronted, pop off shots not directly at people but, you know ... (pauses).

People who work at banks are trained not to oppose a bank robber ... (pauses) . But no, you’re right, you know. Bad things could have happened, and I’m just grateful nothing ever did.”

From the feature interview with former Soviet spy, bank robber and author Christopher Boyce, who hid in Boundary County as the nation’s most wanted fugitive before his arrest and 24-year prison term.

SUMMER 2014

]

“I didn’t necessarily grow up with a love of trains, but living in Sandpoint for 38 years they’ve just been part of my life. The sound of them, the visual of them; it’s a very familiar thing when so many other things have changed in this town.”

Aric Spence, quoted in the cover package on trains ‘round here.

WINTER 2015

\

“If you want to make Sandpoint your home, just get involved, whether it’s your church or a group like Habitat for Humanity. You’re going to meet terrific people and you’re going to find your avenue that suits you, and you’ll make tons of friends.”

From the “Natives and Newcomers” department, 47-year-old local Jim Lewis’ advice for people who want to move here.

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FANTASTIC FROST

PHOTO ESSAY

Will Venard :: Cold Storage

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PHOTO ESSAY

FANTASTIC FROST

Photographer Photographer

Richard Heinzen :: Curly-Q

Marsha Lutz :: Fall’s First Frost

Rich Cower :: Frosted Lily Pads

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FANTASTIC FROST

PHOTO ESSAY

Jim Mellen :: Hoarfrost on Bald Mountain

Steve Jamsa :: Frosty Doe

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PHOTO ESSAY

FANTASTIC FROST

Jesse Hart :: Frozen Sunset Kevin Davis :: Sun Search at Lunch Peak

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SOLD Century 21 RiverStone received the Double Centurion Award for exceeding $3,982,000 in adjusted gross commissions and ranked 56th in sales volume out of the entire Century 21 anchise system (over 1,850 offices).

Century 21 RiverStone has sold more real estate units (homes and land) in Bonner County over the last 6 years than any other agency in the Selkirk MLS.

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Sandpoint Office 316 N. 2nd Avenue, Suite A-1 Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 (208) 255-2244 Fax (208) 255-1771 Toll Free (800) 205-8771

Schweitzer Office In the Lazier Building Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 (208) 263-0427 Fax (208) 265-5192 Toll Free (800) 205-8771

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10/27/15 7:44 AM

er

Real Estate

Schweitzer buoyed by upward trends Buyers want to share skiing lifestyle with their families

By Marlisa Keyes

T

PHOTO BY DON FISHER

he economic tsunami that roared through the United States in 2007 left few stones unturned, including Bonner County’s real estate market.

Between 2007 and 2011, the yearly sales of Schweitzer Mountain real estate decreased by 33 percent, according to Alex Wohllaib, a Century 21 RiverStone agent. Wohllaib, as with other Realtors interviewed for this story, loves to ski. He grew up in the 1970s and ’80s skiing Schweitzer and even skied some of his post-high school years while working in California, where he could earn enough money to return to ski in the winter.

The upheaval was great for clients who wanted to buy property but terrible for those who bought when prices were high and building speculators were caught in the storm, he said.

While Schweitzer real estate sales are a fraction of the county’s overall market, statistics provided by the Selkirk Association of Realtors (see accompanying graphs) reveal a bumpy 2007-2015 real estate market where buyers continue to prefer purchasing condominiums to homes or raw land, and average sales prices are trending upward in home sales and staying on the lower end for people purchasing condos.

The average price of individual homes has rebounded from 2007’s high of $647,500 to $587,599 in 2014 (2015 numbers were not complete at press time), although five or fewer homes sold during this time frame include several drastic price drops along the way. As Wohllaib points out, after 2007, it has been a buyer’s market.

The biggest decline in median home sales prices was between 2007 and 2008, when it dropped from $765,000 to $394,070. In 2014, that figure climbed closer to 2007’s level, at

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$605,100. While the sales price for homes has gained ground, the climb from the bottom has been much slower for condominium sales prices. In 2007 the median sales price for a condominium was $420,000, followed by a slow decline; the low point was in 2012 when the median sales price decreased to $204,500. Those numbers began to climb again; the 2015 median sales price, as of September, was $250,750. Between 20 and 38 condominiums sold annually between 2007 and 2014, with the fewest sold in 2009 and the most sold in 2013.

Kent Anderson, an avid skier and Realtor with Coldwell Banker, began selling real estate on Schweitzer in 2007, about the time the national real estate market went bust, but said since 2009 sales have been steady.

“We’ve had a definite uptick in the last two years,” he said.

While the majority of sales between 2009 and 2014 have been existing properties, that trend has started to change.

“Vacant land sales have trended up as well, which is a very good sign,” Anderson said. “Vacant land sales typically

WINTER 2016

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REAL ESTATE

means new construction and with new construction, you get positive energy infused into the ski area.” That increase took place primarily in 2012 and 2013 (see related graph on sold properties), with 2009 being the worst sales year.

Construction of Mountainside, a condo and townhouse development offered by Schweitzer Mountain Real Estate in 2014 has proven popular, he said. Quality, ski-in and ski-out access and attractive price points have made it a hit with buyers, Anderson said. Only one unit remains in the development’s first phase, while the second phase sold out. The third and fifth phases each have one unit left, while the fourth phase has three properties for sale.

Other new construction includes homes being built in The Spires, one at The Ridge, and additional construction in the lower village near the Fall Line parking lot.

Schweitzer’s announcement that it would begin construction in summer 2015 of a 13,000-square-foot summit lodge at the top of the Great Escape Quad has been generating

some “buzz,” but it has yet to translate into a surge in sales, Anderson said. As construction progresses, he expects sales will follow.

People who buy at Schweitzer are not just looking for investment properties, Anderson said. They are skiers who want to share that experience with their families. “Obviously, the Schweitzer buyer is an avid ski enthusiast. So many of the buyers are people with extended family who are looking for a spot to celebrate life with their families,” Anderson said.

“I believe the ‘investment’ component takes a back seat to the lifestyle a home purchase on the mountain allows.”

Selkirk Association of Realtors President Rafael Barta agrees with Anderson, calling Schweitzer a “skier’s hill.”

Early in his career, he skied at almost every resort in North America. “I can truthfully say that Schweitzer Mountain offers some of the finest skiing, especially tree skiing on the backside,” Barta said. “And unlike Aspen, Vail, Whistler and Mammoth, you don’t have to share the mountain with crowds.”

Schweitzer Real Estate Sales - Sold Properties

Schweitzer Mountain Real Estate Sales Average & Median Prices

40 35

or

$1,000,000

30

$800,000

25

$600,000

20

$400,000

15

$200,000

10

$0 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Condo Average Sold Price

Condo Median Sold Price

Home Average Sold Price

Home Median Price

2014

2015

5 0 2007

2009 Condo Sales

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2008

2010

2011

Home Sales

2012

2013

2014

Vacant Land Sales

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S c hwe i t ze r M o u nta i n Re a l E state S a l e s Ave ra ge & M e d i a n P r i c e s

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Barta came to Sandpoint in 2000 to work for Schweitzer’s owner, Harbor Properties, and is now an associate broker with Century 21 RiverStone.

Barta said: “When I came to see Schweitzer for the first time, I thought to myself that it looked like Whistler 1978.

Now 15 years later, it still looks like Whistler 1978. Things move slowly in North Idaho.”

The summit lodge will help spruce up the mountain and give visitors a chance to get in out of the rain and fog when necessary, he added.

Schweitzer will continue to draw people, especially since the resort continues to expand its attractions and events, said Anderson.

“Schweitzer management is working hard at creating a year-round resort. The summers on the mountain keep getting better with all the activities the mountain offers – mountain biking, hiking, tennis, music festivals and just a comfortable atmosphere to kick back and relax, morning, day or night,” Anderson said. “We all know Schweitzer has the best off-piste skiing in the world, but summers are now competing for a portion of the spotlight.”

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Most Schweitzer homeowners live within a 400-mile radius of Sandpoint.

The strongest market comes from Coeur d’Alene, Spokane and Calgary, according to Kent Anderson.

Rafael Barta says there are 18 building lots available for sale at Schweitzer, though demand tends to be “thin.” The lots range from $29,000 to $399,000 and are expensive to develop because site preparation and engineering are “challenging and expensive.”

Schweitzer has 47 active listings, ranging from $83,000 to $849,000. While condominiums and townhouses represent only a small slice of real estate sales in Sandpoint, they are a “widely accepted” part of the Schweitzer market, Barta said.

(See condominium, home and vacant land sales graphs).

Between October 2014 and August 2015, agents closed 29 transactions for listings at Schweitzer.

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10/27/15 7:45 AM

By Marlisa Keyes

REAL ESTATE

Just like the northern lights, a high quality of life exerts a magnetic pull, drawing former Sandpoint residents back. PHOTO BY KIRK MILLER

Drawing them home Story by Marlisa Keyes Photos by Fiona Hicks

Returnees seek quality of life for raising families

Alex Wohllaib, shown below, Danielle (LaMarche) Ettinger and Eric DeMers have more in common than graduating from Sandpoint High School (SHS).

All three moved away from Bonner County after graduation, but chose to return to the community where they grew up for one reason – quality of life for themselves and the families they are raising with their spouses.

Each came to their decision because of different life circumstances.

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W

ohllaib, 45, who graduated from SHS in 1988, began spending time on Catalina Island in 1991, earning enough money to return each winter to ski Schweitzer. By 1997 he decided to join a friend on Saipan, a U.S. territory located north of Guam.

But he realized he could make more money by earning his captain’s license and returned to California. He met his wife, Lara, that fall. Wohllaib enjoyed stints driving boats for an ocean rafting company, shuttling passengers to Catalina Island, working as a deck hand, driving water taxis, working as a second captain on larger boats and on a coastal shuttle at Long Beach.

He and Lara married in 1999 and settled into life in a nice Manhattan Beach neighborhood. Lara worked as a swimwear designer, and Alex worked for a boat company. They planned to send their future children to top schools in the area.

They talked about moving to a small ski town – Lara grew up in Colorado – but those plans were for their retirement years.

In July 2001, Lara gave birth to their first child, daughter Morgan.

“It’s strange how when you have a child, you look at life differently,” Alex said. “We went from thinking we had it SANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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Real Estate all figured out, to the realization that we didn’t. And everywhere we looked there were cars and people, and more people, and traffic.”

Morgan was eight weeks old when the 9/11 attacks occurred.

“Talk about a game changer for us.

We basically decided after the event that life may be shorter than we think, so why wait ’til we retire for a higher quality of life?” he added.

They began making a list of small ski towns in Colorado, and Alex asked Lara to also consider Sandpoint. After returning to California in January 2002 from visiting Sandpoint, Lara chose Sandpoint.

The real estate gods were in alignment in both places, and the Wohllaibs were able to sell their home in California and buy one in Bonner County. “Lucky for us, the real estate market in both locations worked in our favor,” he said.

Wohllaib, who now works as a real estate agent for Century 21 RiverStone, says he and his wife try to explain to their children how fortunate they are to live in a place like Sandpoint.

Selling the advantages of Sandpoint and Bonner County to their own children may be as challenging as it was when they were teens, said Wohllaib. His daughter is a freshman in high school and son, Thomas, 11, is a true native, having been born here.

What they choose to do remains to be seen.

“Even though we try to remind them how special it is to live in a small town like Sandpoint, I don’t expect them to realize it until later in life,” Wohllaib said. “I have fond memories in high school of much of the class saying how they just couldn’t wait to get out of Sandpoint, like it was the worst place on earth or something. I loved growing up here.”

E

ric DeMers, 28, a 2005 SHS graduate, always planned to return to Sandpoint after college graduation.

“I returned to Sandpoint because I love Sandpoint. There is no other place I would like to live,” he said. “I have always wanted to return to Sandpoint, and that (was) my plan before I ever left.”

The son of two Sandpoint High School graduates, Dave and Cindy DeMers, he attended Boise State University, his father’s alma mater. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in general health studies.

He then spent three years at Midwestern University in Glendale, Ariz., earning a doctorate in physical therapy. He moved back to Sandpoint in 2014 and bought a home in Sagle.

“Being a physical therapist, I could live and work in any town or city in the country, but I feel very fortunate to be able to return to Sandpoint to grow and raise my family and enjoy everything this beautiful place has to offer,” DeMers said.

He now works at Caribou Physical Therapy for Paula Lund (SHS 1981), splitting time between clinics in Ponderay and Hope.

When he isn’t working, he enjoys spending time hunting Eric DeMers returned to Sandpoint in 2014 with his wife and toddler daughter, after earning a doctorate in physical therapy

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and skiing, or picking huckleberries and hiking with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. Lake Pend Oreille also is a strong draw for him and his family, as are the area’s many festivals and special events.

Danielle Ettinger and her father Tim LaMarche moved back to Sandpoint, she to raise her family and he to retire

A

lthough Danielle Ettinger, 42, a 1992 SHS graduate, and husband Norm’s list of reasons for returning to live in northern Idaho after living in Gig Harbor, Wash., is a lengthy one, the reasons all fit under one heading – quality of life.

The 1991 SHS Junior Miss and former middle school French and Spanish teacher faced serious health issues and needed a place to slow down, a place where her own children, Sloan, 10, and Hayden, 8, could enjoy the same quality of life she and her husband, a 1990 Coeur d’Alene High School graduate, enjoyed while growing up.

With a small family (Norm’s parents are deceased), and her father recently retired, it was important for them to be near family. Norm’s job as an insur-

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ance and financial agent for Principal Financial Group, allows him flexibility in where they live.

Danielle’s parents recently returned to the area after her father, Tim LaMarche, retired from Safeway. He used to manage Sandpoint’s store.

They were one of 60-plus prospective buyers who in one week viewed online the south Sandpoint area home that they put an offer on without having set foot inside the home.

Not only is the area’s quality of life important but so is its easy access to good products, services and the outdoors. “That’s profoundly healing for me,” she said.

“I need to be somewhere where I can work through (health issues),” Ettinger said. People she has met since returning to the area in April 2015 tell her they return for two reasons: “People come back here to heal and die.”

Ettinger laughingly calls it “SandMex” time – it is like living in Mexico, where the pace is slower. “We’re in our own little vortex here.”

As parents, the Ettingers needed a less chaotic place to raise their children and a place that offered the same things as Gig Harbor – access to arts and athletic programs for kids, yoga classes for Danielle, and activities within biking distance of their home.

It also provides close connection to the place where her family is vested in their history. Her grandfather ran the Burlington Northern Train Depot, while a great-grandfather was a trader, several great grandparents were from Clark Fork, and a grandfather went to boot camp at Farragut Naval Training Station during World War II. Living in Sandpoint is “far more peaceful,” than it was living on Washington’s east side, she said.

She and her husband enjoy living where they can bike or walk to the Festival at Sandpoint, Farmers Market or escort their children to school. She likes living where she has a chance to write (she has nine books in process) and to heal.

“I feel more centered here in who I really am. Now I get to model that to my kids,” she added.

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REAL ESTATE

Homegrown companies staying local as they grow

By Cate Huisman

F

Timbersled, Quest adding jobs after acquisitions

ive years ago, Timbersled founder Allen Mangum, out joyriding in the winter backcountry, found that he had arrived at the top of a snowy slope way ahead of his companions.

That’s when he realized that the kit he had made – which converts a dirt bike to winter use with a rear track and front ski – was a major game-changer in the power snowsports industry. Within a few years, the vehicle he had ridden that day was so popular that the term “timbersledding” had been born.

Timbersled had been making and successfully marketing high-performance snowmobile suspensions since 2002, but once the snow bike system – called the Mountain Horse – came on the market, sales really took off. Sales of the Mountain Horse have doubled every year since it first went into production in 2011.

That performance attracted the attention of Polaris, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of power sports vehicles, including snowmobiles. They bought Timbersled last spring

and simply told them to “amplify everything we do,” according to Brett Blaser, Timbersled’s director of sales and marketing.

Being purchased by a bigger company can provide a lot of advantages and options for Sandpoint’s smaller, homegrown success stories. Becoming part of Polaris gave Timbersled access to the larger company’s marketing, sales, development, research, and other resources.

“I’m no longer the legal department, which is awesome,” said Blaser.

It’s a good deal for the purchasing companies, too. For Polaris, buying Timbersled added a key element to their line of products. “Our common culture and shared passion for the powersports industry and consumer will create an exciting platform for continued innovation and accelerated growth,” said Scott Wine, Polaris chairman and CEO, in a press release announcing the purchase.

Blaser’s description is more plain-spoken: Polaris is like Timbersled in that “they’re aggressive, honest, hardworking and do not like being second place to anyone.”

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Timbersled founder Allen Mangum poses with the Mountain Horse, a product so successful it drew Polaris to buy the company. PHOTO BY FIONA HICKS

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If Timbersled were to stay in Sandpoint, the rapid growth also meant it had to find resources locally to make more Mountain Horses. Finding the right people wasn’t a problem, said Blaser: “Here in North Idaho, people know how to work with their hands, they’re smart and their work ethic is extremely high.” But finding space was more of a challenge. “Our hunt for land was very difficult,” said Blaser.

“Correctly zoned land that is priced right is difficult and time consuming to find here.” It took a year-long search and a significant investment in fill before they finally had a piece of land for their new facility, which will enable them to triple their square footage.

Raphael Barta, president of the Selkirk Association of Realtors, echoes Blaser’s concern in accessing available land in Greater Sandpoint. “We have not allowed enough space for new commercial and especially industrial uses,” he said. In addition, much of the inventory has problems with water and drainage, and “underground streams are everywhere.”

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Quest Aircraft, which makes small planes for backcountry uses, is another local success story. Back at the turn of the millennium, Quest cofounder Tom Hamilton was working in Priest River when he was approached about manufacturing a small airplane for backcountry use. “The goal was to design a utilitarian rugged airplane that could be easily maintained in the field, because often the pilot is also the mechanic,” said Julie Stone, Quest’s marketing and public relations consultant. The resulting company, Quest Aircraft, started in Priest River in 2001 but soon moved to Sandpoint to have access to two important resources: a larger airport and adjacent land on which to build a production facility.

Since then, worldwide sales of Quest’s Kodiak airplane have taken off. The company was actively looking for investors to provide capital to support its growth, and last year it found what it needed in Setouchi Holdings of Tokyo, Japan, which purchased Quest

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Department of Commerce (IDC) to fund utility hookups, fencing, paving and other infrastructure improvements at the Sandpoint Airport for a hangar for Tamarack Aerospace. Tamarack is another local startup that builds “active winglets” that increase airplanes’ fuel efficiency. Growing demand for the winglets meant that Tamarack needed 12,000 more square feet to accommodate workers in 50 added jobs.

The community is also trying to build an educated workforce for growing companies. The Idaho Department of Labor (IDL) provides workforce training grants to companies that create threshold numbers of jobs. To support growing industries over the longer term, North Idaho College has paired up with the Idaho PTECH network to provide training for workers in three “pathways” – aerospace, health care and technology. They are working with Quest, for example, to include “A&P” (airframe and/or power plant) training that will help prepare workers to work on Quest’s aircraft. Quest, being a PTECH partner, has agreed specifically to interview and

REAL ESTATE

last winter.

Like Timbersled, Quest is committed to staying in Sandpoint. It broke ground on a new facility near the airport this fall that will enable it to nearly double its production. By the end of 2015, it will have added 95 jobs to the 165 it already provided in Sandpoint, and it needs to find people to fill those jobs.

Providing housing for these incoming workers is another challenge as local companies grow. Bonner County’s residential real estate costs are high relative to those in other parts of the state due to its recreational opportunities and resort amenities. There is “absolutely not” enough housing available at prices the growing workforce can afford, says Barta. The rental market is tight, and as for purchasing a home, “There is a huge gap between what people can buy and

their incomes.”

Quest and Timbersled illustrate a truism about employment in Sandpoint: We grow our own jobs, much more than we bring them in from outside. A 2013 study of the Bonner County economy pointed this out: “Much of the business formation has come from within the local economy rather than by the relocation of businesses to the county.” Only 2 percent of growth came from businesses moving into the county.

For this reason, city and county economic development efforts are focused less on attracting new companies and more on providing homegrown companies with the resources they need to stay local as they grow.

While state law does not allow Sandpoint to build a facility for a company, it does allow using public funds for “public improvements,” such as investments in infrastructure and publicly owned facilities, and the state provides some funds for this purpose as well. For example, last year Sandpoint was able to use urban renewal funds and reimbursements from the Idaho

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Barta believes land use planners and local governments should also be making it easier to build workforce housing – by waiving some development fees and getting urban renewal support to prepare appropriate land.

Scrambling to keep companies here

Even with these resources – and some tax incentives from the state as well – it’s sometimes a scramble to compete to keep a growing company local. Other states can offer enticements that Idaho can’t, such as reimbursement of moving costs and cash incentives. “It’s an incredibly hostile competitive environment,” said Jeremy Grimm, Sandpoint’s former director of planning and economic development: “a race to see who can subsidize a company to the greatest degree.”

A tale in this genre is provided by Biomedical Innovations, formerly LeadLok, a company started here in 1986 that makes custom medical devices for a rap-

idly growing market. This company was looking to expand after it was acquired

by Graphic Controls of Buffalo, New York, in the summer of 2014, and both New York and Vermont, where Graphic Controls had other facilities, offered some appealing incentives to move.

Space for increased production was a particularly urgent need. To hold on to Biomedical Innovations and its 62 jobs, plus more it anticipated adding as it grew, the City of Sandpoint decided to empty out its business incubator and lease the entire facility to the one company. “The city made a tough decision to evict the smaller, non-jobcreating businesses,” said Aaron Qualls, now in Grimm’s former job at the city.

“Biomedical Innovations was the only tenant that was creating jobs, and that’s kind of the idea of the incubator.”

The city also made improvements to the incubator, allowable because the city owns the facility, paid for in part by an IDC program that provides funding to help rural communities plan and implement economic development proj-

ects. Sandpoint also helped the company get approved for a tax reimbursement incentive, and the IDL awarded it $55,000 for workforce training.

After all these efforts, Biomedical Innovations is already outgrowing its new space. It now employs more than 70 people and plans to add 30-plus jobs next year, but it needs another 10,000 square feet of production space to do so. Qualls and his colleagues continue to scramble, hoping to use urban renewal funds and matching grants from IDC to help with further expansion.

Grimm admits that we’re unlikely to keep all the jobs we grow. Some processes are not scalable, he points out, and some companies are acquired simply for a specific technology or intellectual property. “I don’t think you’re ever going to lose the churn,” he said, of companies coming and going. But giving them a place to start – and grow as much as possible – gives our area a more dynamic and sustainable economy, and makes it a more exciting place to live as well.

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R

emember the Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan? Those workshops at Community Hall back in 2007 when we listened to planners talk about a vision for Sandpoint’s next 20 years, and we stuck colored paper dots on maps of the city to show what we most valued and wanted where? After countless city council meetings to discuss and revise that plan, it was finally adopted in 2009.

Then the city’s zoning code had to be rewritten to reflect the direction of the plan, and review and adoption of code took up countless more city council meetings. The process was finally completed with the adoption of the last new codes on October 15, 2014.

The plan is now being implemented, but all buildings that were here before the new code was written are “grandfathered” as they are. The code includes many allowances for expansions and remodels of older buildings, even if they remain out of compliance with the new code after the revision. But as new buildings are built that meet the code,

the vision of the comp plan will become more evident.

Those meetings at Community Hall revealed that the portions of the city we most valued were the old residential neighborhoods of south Sandpoint and the historic commercial downtown.

Hence, the new code attempts to limit land uses and building patterns that are incompatible with the “traditional scale and feeling” of these areas. In an attempt to strike a balance between maintaining a certain feel and encouraging investment, it does so “using as light a touch as possible,” as described

by Jeremy Grimm, the city’s former planning and economic development director.

Sandpoint’s historic homes tend to favor designs with pedestrian-oriented front entrances facing the street and garages on alleys in back. In keeping with this preference while allowing for modern homeowners to drive into street-oriented garages, the new residential code requires that garages take up no more than half a home’s street

By Cate Huisman frontage, and that the garage door be no closer to the street than the front door or porch. Houses with garages as their primary and closest façade to the street, sometimes called “snout houses,” are no longer being built, as they do not meet these requirements.

This has received mixed reviews from builders. “They don’t want a street where all you can see is garages – it looks awful,” said builder Troy Krumenacker. “But even if you have plans for a beautiful snout house, you can’t build it.” He adds that the new code can be problematic when designing a house for an odd-shaped or waterfront lot, a concern that has been echoed by other builders.

On the other hand, the new code’s reduction in setback requirements (the distance of the building from the street or side lot line) has made it easier for him to fit homes on lots, and this is especially important given that the new code also has cut in half the minimum lot size, from the 10,000 square feet required during the past

REAL ESTATE

Comp plan hits the streets

Above, from left: A house built by Troy Krumenacker under the new zoning codes, in which garages may not take up more than 50 percent of the street frontage and may not be closer to the street than the front door or porch, is contrasted with a row of “snout houses,” where garages are predominant.

Left: Bike racks and benches at Bonner General Health’s new building fulfill a requirement for pedestrian-and-bicyclist oriented streetside amenities. PHOTOS BY BILLIE JEAN GERKE

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Real Estate several decades to the more traditional 5,000-square-foot size that was required historically. “Side setbacks have gone to five feet on either side, so even on a 50-foot lot, you can still do a small twocar garage and meet the standards,” said Aaron Qualls, who has taken over Grimm’s former job.

Krumenacker, who has built 13 homes in the two years since the residential codes were put in place, notes the advantages: “It really helps on lots that are 30 feet or 40 feet wide; it made these lots buildable for me.”

In commercial areas, the new zoning interprets “traditional scale and feel” to mean that commercial buildings front the street, and windows and architectural details break up the façade, making for an interesting streetscape for pedestrians. Parking is to be in the back, or it may take up a minimal amount of frontage to the side of a pedestrian-oriented main entrance facing the street.

These requirements have some residents scratching their heads, given that Bonner General Health’s new parking lot fronts an entire block of Cedar Street. It is true that this large expanse

of concrete and parked cars along Cedar was not what the comp plan envisioned.

However, technically, the parking lot is on the side, relative to the Alder Street entrance. The hospital provided a few benches for pedestrians trudging past on Cedar Street and amusing, stethoscope-shaped bike racks far across the parking lot.

From an Alder Street perspective, the hospital is a good example of implementation of the new code: In contrast to the old hospital building, with its large blank walls extending two stories high along Third Avenue, the new medical office building comes right to the sidewalk and has windows and details enlivening its walls. The bike rack and benches help fulfill a requirement for pedestrian-andbicyclist-oriented street-side amenities when new buildings are built.

In 2029, we who once wielded those colored dots at Community Hall will see how our long-term thinking has shaped our town.

But remember, the comp plan is designed to cover a period of only 20 years. By then it will be time for a new vision and a new plan, with more colored dots to guide the next 20 years.

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Perhaps the most significant change in the downtown commercial zone has been

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Prior to this change, businesses in the downtown area were required to have a minimum number of parking spaces available, calculated by a rather complicated formula that considered the kind of business and the number of cars a typical number of patrons would need to get there.

After the 2010 change, no minimum number of parking places was required, and the old minimum became the maximum a business was allowed to have, if a developer wanted to include them. This change enabled the expansion of a favorite downtown eatery, Joel’s, which would not have been able to add its indoor seating area if it had had to provide parking to accommodate all those clamoring for a lunchtime burrito.

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Marketwatch: Sales up, prices flat, inventory low A stampede of buyers charged into the local real estate market this spring and summer, buying up twice as many homes as compared to last year.

The numbers are staggering: Sandpointarea residential sales rose a whopping 122 percent in 2015 (April 10 to Sept. 10) as compared to the same period in 2014.

That’s a whole lot of buyers and sellers.

However, the rumbling of sales didn’t knock prices around too much. The average sales price of a home remained relatively flat year-over-year at $282,370, just a 2 percent increase from 2014. The sales volume, however, appears to have put a crimp on inventory.

“Inventory is not keeping up with demand,” said Realtor and Selkirk Association of Realtors President Raphael Barta, who adds that many listings are now tired and “shopworn.”

He points to the high days on market stats for further proof of poorly presented

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properties. “In any category, say you have 10 possible listings for your client: Out of that 10 possibles, three will be worth looking at, and the other seven are overpriced or needing fix-up or some other significant issue. Good listings should sell within 180 days,” Barta said.

With the ball in the seller’s court, Barta adds that buyers are frustrated for having to step up closer to asking prices due to the limited supply of good housing stock.

But he ends on a positive note, saying that Sandpoint is “still affordable” compared with other resort communities in the West.

Realtor and president of the Multiple Listing Service Cindy Hunter also notes that sales have remained vigorous. “Our markets definitely stayed stronger over the summer,” Hunter said. “Actually, it was the busiest summer since before the downturn.”

She credits one of the biggest contributing factors to strong sales in the local market to low interest rates. “The thing

that’s really remarkable is how low the rates have remained.”

As we head toward winter, Hunter said she is not seeing the lowball offers made by potential buyers who are hoping to get that last shot at property: “Instead, we’re still seeing properties come onto the market and get full-price offers.” She notes that Sandpoint listings in the $200,000 price range are especially coveted. “If it’s well priced, it’s getting snapped up.”

So what’s a potential buyer to do to compete in this market? “Get pre-qualified,” said Hunter. “The properties are moving so quickly, you have to be poised and ready.”

And sellers still need to follow a few rules to achieve success. “Get all those little things you were going to do, de-clutter, fix the trim, follow staging guidelines,” she added.

Nothing’s easy, right?

–Beth Hawkins

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REAL ESTATE

Selkirk Multiple Listing Service Real Estate Market Trends Vacant Land - Bonner County

All Areas Sold Listings

2014

2015

% Inc/Decr

2014

2015

% Inc/Decr

373

470

26

Sold Listings

116

166

43

Volume - Sold Listings

$86,660,915

$119,794,753

38

Volume - Sold Listings

$11,013,450

$18,322,370

66

Median Price

$192,000

$215,000

12

Median Price

$68,750

$69,000

0

Average Sales Price

$232,334

$254,882

10

Average Sales Price

$94,943

$110,375

16

6

Average Days on Market

276

265

-4

Average Days on Market

150

159

Residential Sales - Hope/Clark Fork

Sandpoint City Sold Listings Volume - Sold Listings

2014

2015

% Inc/Decr

2014

2015

% Inc/Decr

75

91

21

Sold Listings

21

30

43

2

Volume - Sold Listings

$4,590,085

$8,451,100

84

$166,840

$242,250

45

$19,552,580

$20,029,069

Median Price

$192,000

$197,500

3

Median Price

Average Sales Price

$260,701

$220,099

-16

Average Sales Price

$218,575

$281,703

29

-17

Average Days on Market

177

135

-24

Average Days on Market

139

116

Residential Sales - All Lakefront

Sandpoint Area 2014

2015

% Inc/Decr

2014

2015

% Inc/Decr

23

52

126

Sold Listings

116

258

122

Sold Listings

Volume - Sold Listings

$32,126,650

$72,851,482

127

Volume - Sold Listings

$9,145,770

$22,463,900

146

$299,000

$377,250

26

Median Price

$239,750

$232,500

-3

Median Price

Average Sales Price

$276,953

$282,370

2

Average Sales Price

$397,642

$431,998

9

Average Days on Market

140

129

-8

Average Days on Market

218

169

-22

Residential sales by area based on information from the Selkirk MLS© for the period of April 10, 2014 to Sept. 10, 2014 versus April 10, 2015 to Sept. 10, 2015 - Real Estate Stats for Bonner and Boundary counties, Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed!

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Story by Billie Jean Gerke. Photos by Marie-Dominique Verdier This popular department contrasts and compares the thoughts of two native residents, one who goes back to the town’s very founders, and two relative newcomers. Their opinions vary, but one of the natives and one of the newcomers shared a common complaint: train tracks in town. We invite you to consider their varied perspectives on life in Sandpoint.

Natives

If you could change anything, what would it be?

I would like to see change in the growth and diversity of the job market.

I’ve always said that I want enough growth that if my kids want to come home, there are jobs for them but not so much change that we lose our smalltown charm. Sandpoint is a wonderful place to live if you can make a living.

NATIVES & NEWCOMERS

Natives and Newcomers

If you had a million dollars to invest in Sandpoint, how would you spend it?

I would like to put it toward a multiuse community recreation center. I feel that we need something for kids and families during the non-summer months.

Cindy Farmin DeMers

What’s your favorite activity indoors and outdoors in winter here?

My favorite indoor winter activity is cooking and entertaining for friends and family. My favorite outdoor activity is skiing at Schweitzer. I feel we are so lucky to have Schweitzer in our backyard.

What do you think of the education you got in Bonner County schools, and how does it compare today?

C

indy Farmin DeMers, 56, has a long history in Sandpoint. Her ancestors platted the town (L.D. Farmin), built the Panida Theater (F.C. Weskil) and once owned Sandpoint Furniture (parents Bob and Dorothy Farmin). The 1977 Sandpoint High graduate attended the University of Idaho and Boise State, where she finished the dental assistant program. She has worked in dentistry for 30 years and is currently employed at Lewis & Hawn. She married high school sweetheart David DeMers and they had three

children. She likes to ski, snowshoe, ice skate, bicycle, hike, fish and play pickleball. She and her family spend a lot of time on the lake at family-owned property at Bottle Bay.

I feel that I got a decent education when I went through school here, but I am amazed at what the kids are doing today. With all the honors, AP and dual credit classes, kids today can really be ahead of the game if they choose to be.

I think our school district is doing an amazing job as is evident in our fivestar status, although it would be nice if we had more funding from the state so students had more resources.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of life here, and why?

If you could live anywhere else, where would you go and why?

For me, it’s a 10. I feel so lucky and blessed to live here. We are so fortunate to be living in such a lively community filled with great people with beautiful surroundings. I love the four seasons and the activities Sandpoint has to offer.

I wouldn’t live anywhere else. Where would you possibly go from here?

Eventually, I wouldn’t mind going down somewhere warm and sunny for a month or so. I don’t think I would ever do the six months thing.

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Natives & Newcomers

E

rich Thompson, 51, says skiing is his life, beginning at Schweitzer at age 6. His mother, Hazel Thompson, started skiing there as soon as the ski resort opened in 1963. His father, Terry Thompson, soon followed.

The 1982 Sandpoint High graduate has worked in construction all his life, mostly in concrete, so he doesn’t have to work in winter and can ski and travel. While he attended the University of Idaho for three years, he didn’t earn a degree, choosing to work and ski instead.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of life here, and why?

Sandpoint’s always been a 10 for me because everything I ever wanted is here.

I’ve lived in other resort towns and I’ve visited most of the greatest resort towns you read about in magazines, all across the West and Canada, and this one is way better. It’s just perfect here.

If you could change anything, what

would it be?

If I could, the tracks would be moved out of this town.

If you had a million dollars to invest in Sandpoint, how would you spend it?

Public access to the lake and the forests. I don’t want this lake to be privatized. It would ruin this place and would be just like every other sellout resort town in America.

What’s your favorite activity indoors and outdoors in winter here?

Outdoors is skiing. I honestly don’t have a lot of indoor activities. I put bowling down on that list.

What do you think of the education you got in Bonner County schools, and how does it compare today?

I got a good education, but my parents were really involved with us in school. Today it just seems so large and seems like it’s completely overcrowded, that I just wonder if you get the kind of attention that I did when I

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If you could live anywhere else, where would you go and why?

Hawaii is where I would be. I lived there in 1985 for about a year. I love skiing, but I hate winter.

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Kelly Emerson

K

elly Emerson, 44, works full-time as a personal trainer and group exercise teacher at Sandpoint West Athletic Club. She and husband Ken have two teenage sons, Isaac and Aidan, and they enjoy being active in the outdoors together. A Vermont native, Emerson moved to Sandpoint two years ago from Vancouver, Wash., after visiting Sandpoint regularly since 2007. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Trinity College of Vermont.

If you had a million dollars to invest in Sandpoint, how would you spend it?

Sandpoint is a neighbor-helpingneighbor community. There’s a lot of great foundations and charities. I would spread the million dollars amongst a number of different charities, like Angels Over Sandpoint, 24 Hours for Hank.

What’s your favorite activity indoors and outdoors in winter here?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of life here, and why?

It’s definitely a 10, but I don’t always like the perfect answer, so would make it a 9/10. Ken and I moved here for quality of life. There’s great food, fine arts and entertainment, a wonderful community, the outdoors, and a plethora of activities.

If you could change anything, what would it be?

I’m finding that this community seems to be a little older than we are,

NATIVES & NEWCOMERS

Newcomers

more retired. We’re still an active family needing to support kids. Not having a plan moving here, it’s kind of hard to find work. I was working two part-time jobs. If I could change anything, it would be more job opportunities.

My job is my favorite indoor activity.

I love my job, and I don’t feel like it’s a job … being in the gym, not that I’m a gym rat, but I love helping other people get healthy. I like to try to make family time around meals. And outdoors, growing up in Vermont, I’m a skier, but we like hiking and snowshoeing in winter, and sledding.

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Natives & Newcomers How does Sandpoint compare to other places you’ve lived?

In Vancouver, it was all about having a career, raising a family, having an income where we could do whatever we wanted to. In Sandpoint, we still need to work, but it’s comfortable.

You walk down the street and you see somebody you know – also in the gym, in Eichardt’s, in the store. Having teenage boys, we wanted other people to be aware. It’s like neighbors watching out for your kids and having a community raise children. Vancouver was way spread out, and we weren’t in New Hampshire long enough to find that. It’s different in that it’s more of a community.

What was the biggest surprise about living here?

We felt so welcome. There are some small communities where newcomers might not be quite so welcome. We seemed to fit in, and people accepted us. (My husband) would say that he was surprised that liberals and conservatives could get along so well.

John Ciccarelli

J

ohn Ciccarelli, 39, was born and raised in Houston to a diehard Texas family and has lived in Sandpoint since moving here in December 2013 with his wife, Jennifer Sudick, a Sandpoint native. He convinced her to move back after he graduated with his Master of Fine Arts in film and television production from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He works as a forestry technician with the U.S. Forest Service and is a U.S. Navy veteran, where he spent six years doing video/photography/media work in San Diego and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He learned how to ski and snowboard at Schweitzer, loves to hike and snowshoe, garden, home brew and put up food. He aspires to hunt grouse and deer. They have a 3-year-old son and another son due in January.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of life here, and why?

I would rate it 11. The quality of life here is so amazing because I have the opportunity to have the cleanest air I’ve ever had and water and an active lifestyle that I’ve only dreamed about, great people, and so much public land and it’s free to experience it without the confines of other people. Beautiful trails and solitude I’ve never experienced before.

I’ve been to some of the most beautiful parks, Sequoia and King’s Canyon, and I truly believe that these mountains are way prettier and more amazing.

Heather Nucifora Chef/Owner

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COURTESY PHOTO

If you could change anything, what would it be?

The only thing I feel that needs to be changed is the train issue. I feel like I can never escape a train. I’ve been stuck between two trains on two different tracks at the same time, and there’s no way to get around them. If they could change anything, it would be somewhere to put the trains.

If you had a million dollars to invest in Sandpoint, how would you spend it?

I would spend it by starting a youth group that would help young people learn about filmmaking, help them produce films they then compete with at film festivals and earn scholarships to go

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What’s your favorite activity indoors and outdoors in winter here?

Indoors in the winter, I spend a lot of time painting. I paint maybe a painting a week. I love painting. I do a lot of garden daydreaming, too. Outdoors, I love snowshoeing the Pack River and taking photos. I can go out there and hear nothing. This year, I’m going to start skate skiing or cross-country skiing.

How does Sandpoint compare to other places you’ve lived?

I have never lived anywhere north of the I-10 interstate. I’ve never lived in a place where it’s so open. I can wander off and never see a person for days.

It’s kind of surreal … very peaceful and relaxing. The people here are truly amazing, the nicest, most considerate, helpful people. People in the South are aggressive, in a rush and always fighting for resources. Here you don’t have to fight for resources. (The people here) are more slower paced and want to help you out. They smile and wave. It doesn’t compare to any place I’ve lived.

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NATIVES & NEWCOMERS

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What was the biggest surprise about living here?

Everybody, coming from the South, always told me it would be cold here, and it’s not. They said I would hate the snow, and the winters would be long. People always say negative things about living in the woods and about rural communities. Winters are not that cold, and living rural is a lot easier than living in the city. It’s a lot more manageable mentally.

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Clark Fork

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2016

OUTDOORS Downhill Skiing and Riding. Schweitzer Mountain Resort has 2,900 acres and 92 trails just 11 miles from downtown Sandpoint. The mountain boasts 2,400 vertical feet. Nine lifts serve two open bowls, treed glades and three terrain parks. www.schweitzer.com (263-9555).

See story, page 69.

Cross-country Skiing. For maintained trails and consistent snow, visit 32k of groomed trails at Schweitzer (2639555); 3 miles at Round Lake State Park (263-3489); or more than 7k at Farragut State Park (683-2425).

Downtown, ski or snowshoe the two miles of flat lake shoreline alongside the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail just north of City Beach, or find groomed trails when conditions are favorable at the University of Idaho property on North Boyer Avenue. Two ranches in the Selle Valley now offer groomed trails: Tauber Angus Farms (263-6400) and Western Pleasure Guest Ranch (263-9066).

WINTER GUIDE

Winter Guide Snowshoe hike at Goat Mountain in the Cabinets. PHOTO BY FIONA HICKS

Backcountry and Snowshoeing.

Nearly unlimited options exist on public lands surrounding Sandpoint up National Forest roads such as Roman Nose and Trestle Creek. Call the Sandpoint Ranger District (263-5111) or the Bonners Ferry Ranger District (2675561) for maps and current conditions, including avalanche advisories. For a guided backcountry experience, take an excursion from Schweitzer via snowcat with Selkirk Powder (263-6959). www.

SandpointOnline.com/rec or www.fs.fed. us/ipnf. See story, page 71.

Sleigh Rides. Western Pleasure Guest Ranch, 16 miles northeast of Sandpoint on Upper Gold Creek Road, offers sleigh rides in a rural setting for groups and couples. www.WesternPleasureRanch. com (263-9066).

Snowmobiling. Snowcat trails around Sandpoint and Priest Lake in the Selkirk Mountains are renowned; for more information, contact Sandpoint Winter Riders, www.IdahoSnow.org (263-0677) or Priest Lake Trails & Outdoor Recreation Association, www.priest lake.org (509-466-3331). For guided rides at Schweitzer, contact Selkirk Powder. www.SelkirkPowder.com (263-6959).

State Parks. Three state parks are within close range to Sandpoint – Farragut (683-2425), Round Lake (263-3489) and Priest Lake (443-2200) – with activities such as camping, cross-country skiing trails and snowmobiling available. www.

IdahoParks.org.

Shopping Downtown retailers are going all out in the Sandpoint Shopping District, where shoppers will discover a fine array of eclectic shops and galleries with clothing, art and gifts galore. www.

DowntownSandpoint.com. Highlights include the Cedar Street Bridge Public Market with retailers such as Carousel Emporium and MeadowBrook Home & Gift, art, and food such as Cedar Street Bistro, all in a beautiful log structure spanning Sand Creek. www.CedarStreetBridge.com (2558270). Just down the street are First Avenue retailers such as Finan McDonald Clothing Company, Pedro’s, Zany Zebra, Zero Point Crystals and Northwest Handmade. Antiques abound at Foster’s Crossing, a mini mall with lots of collectibles, on Fifth between Cedar and Oak streets (2635911); and MarketPlace Antiques & Gifts, open daily, at Fifth and Church (263-4444). Just out of town, Bonner Mall in Ponderay has many stores large and small and often hosts events; it’s on U.S. Highway 95 two miles north of Sandpoint (263-4272).

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Walking. For cleared paths, try the Pedestrian Long Bridge alongside Highway 95 over Lake Pend Oreille; the new paths along the Sand Creek Byway; Travers Park on West Pine Street; City Beach downtown; Dover Bike Path along Highway 2 west; Lakeview Park, through and around the Native Plant Society Arboretum: and overlooking Sand Creek at the Healing Garden next to Bonner General Health.

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Winter Guide THE SPOT BUS

Above: Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge.

From Dover to Kootenai with stops in Sandpoint and Ponderay, the SPOT bus route serves residents and visitors who are commuting or enjoying a night out on the town. When ski season is under way, catch a connector to the Schweitzer bus. The bus circles its route hourly every day, 6:24 a.m. to 6:27 p.m. with one late run Sunday through Thursday, and three late runs Friday and Saturday. Stops are marked with the SPOT bus sign – many at or near motels in Sandpoint and Ponderay in order to provide rides for their guests. The best part: It’s free!

Check schedules online. www.seespotroll. com. (597-7606).

PHOTO BY

JERRY PAVIA/TIM CADY

Left: Third Avenue Pier is a great place to skate when the ice is right. PHOTO BY JIM MELLEN

Wildlife Refuge. Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, 30 miles north of Sandpoint near Bonners Ferry, has more than 2,000 acres and abundant wildlife and birds. Hiking trails to a waterfall and around a pond, auto tour routes. www.fws. gov/kootenai (267-3888).

Sandpoint WaterLife Discovery Center. On Lakeshore Drive, the center offers interpretive trails and self-guided tours of fish habitat and an educational interpretive area on Pend Oreille River. www.fishandgame. idaho.gov (769-1414).

Fishing. There’s great ice fishing on Lake Pend Oreille at the north end of the Long Bridge in front of Condo del Sol. Main prey is perch, though bass and trout also are caught. Ice fishing is also popular on smaller lakes: Cocolalla, Mirror, Gamlin, Shepherd, Round, Antelope and Priest.

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freeze, and even in midwinter charter fishing boats pursue its trophy rainbow trout.

Ice Skating and Sledding. It takes several days of sustained below-freezing temperatures without too much snow, but when conditions are right, ice skaters flock to Third Avenue Pier, Sandpoint City Beach or Sand Creek below the Cedar Street Bridge. Round Lake State Park maintains both regular and speed-skating rinks (263-3489). For sledding Schweitzer offers Hermits Hollow Tubing Center (255-3081), and Round Lake State Park has a 1,000-foot run to the lake.

INDOORS Art Galleries. Truly an arts town, Sandpoint has numerous galleries and artists’ studios

in the area. Downtown take a walking tour; on First Avenue check ArtWorks, Cedar Glen Gallery/Ferrara Wildlife Photography, Hallans Gallery, Hen’s Tooth and the Cedar Street Bridge.

Art lovers may also visit Pend Oreille Arts Council, 302 N. First Ave., and satellite gallery locations that host revolving art exhibits year-round: Banner Bank (formerly AmericanWest Bank), 605 N. 5th Ave.; Edward Jones, 477100 Highway 95 in Ponderay; Monarch Mountain Coffee, 208 N. Fourth; Mountain West Bank, 1323 Highway 2 in Sandpoint and 476655 Highway 95 in Ponderay; Northern Lights, 421 Chevy Street in Sagle; Columbia Bank (formerly Panhandle State Bank), 414 Church St.; Potlatch No. 1 Federal

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1 Federal Credit Union, 476864 Highway 95 N, Ste. D in Ponderay; Columbia Bank Community Plaza, 231 N. 3rd Ave.; and STCU, 477181 Highway 95 in Ponderay. www.ArtinSandpoint.org (263-6139). At Schweitzer, the Artists’ Studio in the White Pine Lodge features local artists who participate in the Artists’ Studio Tour (265-1776).

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Dr. Forrest and Pamela Bird in 2007, the year they opened the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center. PHOTO BY BILLIE JEAN GERKE

Museums. Enjoy many fine displays depicting old-time Bonner County at the Bonner County History Museum.

Open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Saturdays in summer months and the first Saturday of the month yearround, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free admission). Located in Lakeview Park, 611 S. Ella. www.bonnercountyhistory.org (263-2344). The Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center was founded

by Dr. Forrest Bird, inventor of the medical respirator, and wife Pam in 2007. See their impressive collection paying homage to their love of aviation and innovation.

Located in Sagle about 17 miles south-

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Winter Guide east of Sandpoint off Sagle Road on Bird Ranch Road. Open year-round, this winter by appointment, and Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from mid-May to mid-October. Admission is free (donations welcomed). www.birdaviation museum.com (255-4321).

Movies. The Bonner Mall Cinema is a six-plex theater inside the Bonner Mall on Highway 95, featuring new releases daily (263-7147). The historic Panida Theater downtown at 300 N. First shows foreign and independent films, plus film festivals often (263-9191). Check www.

SandpointMovies.com for movie listings.

PHOTO BY BEN OLSON

Spas. Get pampered at The Spa at Seasons, in downtown Sandpoint, www.SeasonsatSandpoint.com (2635616); Wildflower Day Spa, www. thewildflowerdayspa.com (263-1103); or Solstice Well Being Spa and Wellness Center at Schweitzer Mountain. www.

SolsticeWellBeing.com (263-2862).

Breweries and Pubs. Taste handcrafted ales at Laughing Dog Brewing in Ponderay, open daily at 1109 Fontaine Dr. www.LaughingDogBrewing.com (263-9222). Downtown, see brewing in action at MickDuff’s Beer Hall, the production and tasting room for those 21 and up, open daily at 220 Cedar St., or visit their family restaurant at 312 N. First. www.mickduffs.com (255-4351).

For pubs that serve a lot of craft beers, try Eichardt’s Pub & Grill at 212 Cedar St. (263-4005) or Idaho Pour Authority at 203 Cedar St. (597-7096).

Wineries and Wine Bars. The Pend

Sandpoint’s Premier Family Fitness Center 25-Meter Pool Hot Tub Sauna Steam Room Child Care Yoga Raquetball Swim Lessons Group Exercise Personal Training Massage Therapy

Athletic Clubs and Yoga. Greater Sandpoint has a plethora of opportunities, but the most comprehensive is Sandpoint West Athletic Club, 1905 W. Pine St., with a 25-meter indoor pool, courts, a weight room, group classes, and a sauna and spa. Open daily. www.

SandpointWest.com (263-6633). See more on the Super Directory at www.

SandpointOnline.com or www.sandpoint yoga.com.

Pend d’Oreille Winery features a beautiful gift shop and live music Friday and Saturday nights, COURTESY

d’Oreille Winery, Idaho’s Winery of the Year in 2003, features tours, wine tasting, a gift shop, live music Fridays and Saturdays, and Bistro Rouge menu daily, 301 Cedar St. www.powine.com (2658545). Small House Winery opens its tasting room on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment at 1636 Baldy Park Dr. www.smallhousewinery. com (290-2016). The Bernd Barrel, upstairs at 311 N. First Ave., serves more than 40 different styles of wine, craft beer and small plates, plus bottles to go. (2631596). La Rosa Club, across the street from Ivano’s at 105 S. First Ave., has an approachable wine list as well as craft cocktails, martinis, and small plates and bites. (255-2100).

PHOTO

Day passes & short term memberships available!

1905 Pine Street

208.263.6633 sandpointwest.com

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Pool on site

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54

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300

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19

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60

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83

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68

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25

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Beautiful 3-bedroom, 2-bath waterfront condos on Lake Pend Oreille in Hope. Discount ski and golf tickets available. See ad, page 53. www.10kVacationRentals.com/sandpoint/

877-982-2954 / drarchers@msn.com

Best Western Edgewater Resort

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Downtown Sandpoint on the lake. Indoor pool, sauna, fitness room, hot tub. All rooms with lake view. Dine at Trinity at City Beach. Also 22-site RV park. www.SandpointHotels.com

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From rustic elegance to Manhattan chic, you’ll find a room that suits you along with a casino that boasts the area’s most machines, and the most winners. See ad, page 60. CdACasino.com

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Coeur d’Alene Casino 800-523-2464

Dover Bay Bungalows

Waterfront bungalows at beautiful Dover Bay in Marina Village. Fully furnished with lake and mountain views. Fitness center, marina and hiking/biking trails. See ads, page 34. www.DoverBayBungalows.com

208-263-3083

GuestHouse Lodge

Free breakfast with waffles, 24-hour hot tub, free wireless Internet. Family suites. Schweitzer ski packages. At the base of Schweitzer Mountain, two miles from Lake Pend Oreille.

208-263-2210

Holiday Inn Express

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The newest hotel in Greater Sandpoint. 100 percent smoke-free. The Ponderay location is at the base of Schweitzer Mountain next to Sweet Lou’s. See ad, page 45. www.HIExpress.com

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Downtown location, high-speed Internet. Free breakfast, themed spa suites. Silverwood, ski and golf packages. Kids stay free. See ad, page 22. www.Hotels-West.com

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Accommodations for weddings, retreats and banquets. Lakeside with swimming and docks. Views of lake and mountains for an unforgettable Idaho vacation. www.LodgeAtSandpoint.com

208-255-4500 / Fax 208-255-4502

La Quinta Inn

x

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x

x

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208-263-9581 or 800-282-0660

Lodge at Sandpoint 208-263-2211

Lofts at 311

2

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Located in the historic W.A. Bernd Building in downtown Sandpoint. Great rates. One bedroom, one bath loft-style apartments. See ad, page 96. Find us on Facebook.

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Northern Quest Resort & Casino is the Inland Northwest’s only AAA-rated 4-Diamond casino resort.

Complimentary Wi-Fi, and valet and overnight parking. See ad, page 56. www.NorthernQuest.com

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Fully furnished condos and on-site athletic club on Lake Pend Oreille.

Stay and play packages. See ad, page 92. www.POSResort.com

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Indoor pool and hot tub. Close to downtown Sandpoint. 5th Avenue Restaurant and Mitzy’s Lounge on property. Kids stay and eat free. www.SandpointHotels.com

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75 luxury homes and condos in Sandpoint and on the lake. First-class properties at affordable rates. Plan your perfect vacation. See ad, page 15. www.SandpointVacationRentals.com

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Mountain accommodations, stay-and-play packages. Spectacular mountain and lake views.

Outdoor heated pool and hot tubs. See ad, page 131. www.Schweitzer.com

208-946-9083

Northern Quest Casino

250

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167

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509-242-7000

Pend Oreille Shores Resort 208-264-5828

Sandpoint Quality Inn

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208-263-2111 or 866-519-7683

Sandpoint Vacation Rentals 208-263-7570 or 866-263-7570

Selkirk Lodge

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208-265-0257 or 800-831-8810

Sleep’s Cabins

5

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On beautiful Lakeshore Drive. Sleep’s Cabins consists of five log bungalows decorated with original furnishings and collectibles. See ad, page 110. www.SleepsCabins.com

5

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Beautiful Victorian home with unique rooms and antiques. Located in downtown Sandpoint. Within walking distance of many local shops and businesses. www.SweetMagnoliaBandB.com

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Experience an extraordinary Idaho bed and breakfast escape. One mile from Sandpoint. www.TalusRockRetreat.com

208-255-2122 or 866-302-2122

Sweet Magnolia Bed & Breakfast 208-265-2425

Talus Rock Retreat

6

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Private cabins sleep 2-8. Lodge rooms with private baths, rec room, horseback riding and meals available. See ad, page 109. www.WesternPleasureRanch.com

50

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New accommodations, stay-and-play packages. Spectacular mountain and lake views. Outdoor hot tubs, access to heated pool. See ad, page 131. www.Schweitzer.com

208-255-8458

Twin Cedars Camping and Vacation Rentals

Twin Cedars Camping Cabin

Meeting Rooms

Spa or Sauna

4

Kitchen

No. of Units

Archer Vacation Condos

Restaurant

Western Pleasure Guest Ranch

LODGING GUIDE

Bar or Lounge

Lodging

Owner-managed vacation rental homes and camping cabin; RV sites on Lake Pend Oreille and Selle Valley; tipi on beach (in summer). Horse/dog friendly. On Facebook and www.airbnb.com

208-920-1910

Western Pleasure Guest Ranch 208-263-9066

White Pine Lodge 208-265-0257 or 800-831-8810

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CHEESE … YES, please!

Gooey, bubbly cheese equals wintertime bliss

In a town where bleu cheese is an economic driver, is it any wonder Sandpoint goes bonkers over cheese? Gooey, bubbly cheese is practically an essential ingredient during our long winters – it adds a comfort-food layer of yumminess to anything it graces.

At the venerable Eichardt’s Pub and Grill, 212 Cedar St., there’s no reason to mess with perfection with a tried-and-true grilled cheese sandwich. Made with cheddar and Swiss on sourdough, it’s made extra special with fresh-sliced tomatoes and green chiles. More cheesy goodness can be found in the popular Al Forno dish, which

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chef Steve Flagg said is a favorite among customers. It’s made with Italian sausage and linguine, marinara and fontina, a cheese Flagg likens to white cheddar. “It melts pretty easily, and the dish is served with garlic toast.”

How about cheese in a bowl?

MickDuff’s, 312 N. First Ave., serves up a beer cheese soup that’s made with three different cheeses – Parmesan, cheddar and Litehouse Gorgonzola – along with a few pours of MickDuff’s own Knot Tree Porter.

“We came up with the recipe in 2007, and have been tweaking it ever since,” said Duffy Mahoney,

co-owner of MickDuff’s. The end result is a warm, filling soup that keeps customers coming back for more. “We can go through 25 gallons in a week.”

And who can talk about melted cheese without mentioning a cheeseburger? Spuds Waterfront Grill, 102 S. First Ave., gives the American icon a dash of Danish flair by topping its Spuds Burger with creamy havarti cheese. There are more goodies atop the burger, as well, with sweet-and-sour onions (cooked down with red wine and sherry vinegar), plus housemade aioli – sandwiched with even more international influence via its

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four kinds of white cheeses and cream, with bacon crumbles added for those who choose to make it even yummier! And Germanpleasing taste buds won’t be able to resist the soft pretzels with cheese sauce and mustard. Did someone say Oktoberfest? No? OK, moving on!

On to the place where cheese is, in fact, part of its name – Joe’s Philly Cheesesteak at 102 Church St. New owners L.J. and Scott Sams stay true to Joe’s origins, serving up hot and delicious Philly cheesesteak sandwiches topped with your choice of six cheeses.

“We joke in the kitchen that the cheese really runs when we take the sandwiches off the grill, it’s stringy and good, there’s a lot of it!” said L.J. Sams. She uses cheese in her homemade loaded baked potato soup, and piles it atop the chili cheese fries. Obviously, Joe’s is a cheese champion. “We use cheese on so much stuff!” she said.

And the cheese trail ends at Jalapeño’s Mexican Restaurant, 314 S. Second Ave., where cheeseheads can gather ’round the table to share a Nachos Supreme appetizer featuring housemade tortilla chips topped with refried beans, seasoned ground beef, shredded jack and cheddar cheeses, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, green onions, and jalapenos. “It’s big and super cheesy,” said manager Chelsea Page.

“And just about everything is made here, including the chips and the guacamole.”

The popular Al Forno dish, left, at Eichardt’s, is topped with fontina and served with garlic toast. PHOTO BY BILLIE JEAN GERKE

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EATS & DRINKS

English muffin-for-a-bun.

Give up the calorie counting and just dive fork-first into a serving of the Bacon Mac and Cheese at Sweet Lou’s, 477272 Highway 95 in Ponderay. Made with ground bacon, sautéed mushrooms, fresh roma tomatoes, and a homemade cheese sauce, it’s served over rotini pasta. “It’s one of our more popular dishes,” said manager Matt Loomis, who touts its appeal during winter. “It has bacon in it, so it’s about as comfortable as comfort food gets.”

A few other cheesy little gems on the menu are the Queso dip and pretzels appetizer, and the beer cheese soup (plan accordingly, as the soup is served Saturdays as the soup of the day).

Similar hearty offerings are served at Di Luna’s Café, 207 Cedar St., with the addition on the winter menu of the Cadillac Mac and Cheese – made with

Top: Beer cheese soup pairs well with Knot Tree Porter, one of the soup’s ingredients, at MickDuff’s Brewing Company.

Above: Hostess Jaden Lohman with the Bacon Mac and Cheese at Sweet Lou’s, a favorite cheesy comfort food. PHOTOS BY BETH HAWKINS SANDPOINT MAGAZINE

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Chef Q&A with Josh De Vita and Kelley Kennedy

J

osh De Vita, 32, of Forty-One South, has spent most of his life in the Sandpoint

area, where cooking was a family affair – his parents owned a catering business, and De Vita was “always in the kitchen.” He found himself at a crossroads when he was working two jobs: one at the lumber mill, and another as a prep cook at the Hydra. Despite a “huge pay cut,” De Vita chose the chef route and has been honing his craft ever since. Cooking also played a role during childhood for Kelley Kennedy, 37, of Schweitzer’s Gourmandie. Her father owned a restaurant on an island in Maine when Kennedy was a youngster, and she “mimicked everything he did.” She later ran a restaurant along the coast of Maine, before moving west to Sandpoint with her husband – also a chef at Schweitzer. (“When you cook, you meet other people who cook!”)

PHOTOS BY BETH HAWKINS

Josh De Vita What’s your favorite ingredient?

Kelley Kennedy

It varies around the season. In summer, it’s citrus and

Onion and garlic powder – they are the base of every great

cilantro. In winter, I go hearty with meat and potatoes.

soup. And besides spices, I would say produce in general.

I love experimenting, and Forty-One South’s variety of

Veggies are the backbone of everything.

clientele allows me to mix it up.

What’s your favorite dish that you serve?

The clams are amazing, sautéed with garlic, shallots,

The brie bread. It’s just a creation out of my head. It’s ooey,

Cajun sausage, red and green peppers, red onion, cream

gooey, yummy. And it’s an amazing accompaniment with a

and beer. I also like the Pappardelle Pasta with brie

glass of wine.

cream – it’s great.

I like the farm to table, especially around here – we

I embrace the challenge of creating foods for those with

Food trends that you like/ dislike?

have good farms and good people. One of the employees

allergies, such as gluten-free. I’m tired of the bacon trend.

at Shoga brings in heirloom tomatoes from her garden,

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll put it on everything and it tastes

so we used those a lot in the summer.

delicious! I get it.

What are your hobbies and interests?

They’re things that are still food-related. I love mush-

Gardening. I don’t live on the mountain because I want to

room picking for morels, chanterelles, lobsters, picking

garden. And I love canning vegetables, jams … I did it with

huckleberries. And I like hiking – just getting lost and

my grandma, and I love looking at the shelves filled with my

finding new places.

creations.

No, I always come back to this. I don’t get that adrena-

I’ve always thought about being a teacher, maybe grade

line rush anywhere else. Someday I’d like to open up a

school. I was a business major in college, and I love art.

small place … it’s the dream that most of us have.

Here, I get to teach people proper techniques, and I really

Any alternate career interests?

enjoy that. Who knows? Life is still young.

What advice would you give to future chefs?

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A lot of people who come into this are arrogant. Realize

You have to love making people happy. The best chefs are

that anybody can be a teacher – have an open mind,

not waiting for the clock to tick by. They’re welcoming

and never stop learning.

people, handling the stress and pleasing others.

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EATS & DRINKS

‘Tis a fine time for wine or beer

S

andpoint residents familiar with the venue now housing The Bernd Barrel Public House, located at 311 N. First Ave. – upstairs in the W.A. Bernd Building – know that sipping wine while curled up by its iconic center-of-the-room fireplace is the definition of relaxation.

The Bernd Barrel opened in June, and now that the establishment is heading into its first snowy season, let the après-ski good times commence!

“It’s our first winter so we’re very excited,” said Heather Peterson of The Bernd Barrel. Previously, the building was home to the Coldwater Creek Wine Bar. “It’s the same comfy space, just reinvented in a sense.”

Featuring comfortable leather seating and an upscale, urban vibe, The Bernd Barrel’s wine lovers will enjoy discovering more than 40 different styles

of wine. In addition, six beers rotate on tap, along with 30 other styles of bottled and canned beer. Small plates featuring cheese, meat, smoked salmon and hummus will satisfy the need for nibbles.

As The Bernd Barrel heads toward cooler months that are typically spent indoors, new events including beer and wine tastings and live music are in the early stages. Peterson advises folks to check back often on their Facebook page (search “The Bernd Barrel”) for event news as well as wine specials posted daily.

Peterson reminds wine connoisseurs

www.sweetlousidaho.com

Patrons gather around the fireplace at The Bernd Barrel, where tasting and music events are being planned for winter. PHOTO BY BILLIE JEAN GERKE

that The Bernd Barrel also serves as a bottle shop: “We can sell off-premise, so you can purchase your wine and go.”

And for those who would like to stay downtown, two beautiful apartments behind the wine bar called Lofts at 311 are available on a vacation rental basis.

Peterson manages those rentals and takes reservations at www.vrbo.com (listing #714685).

With that in mind, another glass please!

Enjoy a great meal with your family, and watch your favorite team on our 21 TVs!

Ponderay, Idaho » Next to Holiday Inn Express 208. 263.1381

Sweet Lou says, “come hungry, stay late, eat well.”

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Diner on the street Whatcha eatin’?

Wondering what everyone else loves to eat at Sandpoint’s restaurants? Sandpoint Magazine was wondering the same thing – so we took to the streets, and quizzed a few local diners mid-bite (um, sorry for interrupting your meals, by the way). Following is a quick rundown on local patrons’ favorite noshes around town! grass-fed beef, and it’s delicious!” The Ranger Burger is available in the Winter Ridge deli, and features a free-range beef patty served on a house-made bakery bun (gluten-free also available) with mayonnaise, fresh tomato, red onion and lettuce.

Mikayla Brennan, student: Kyoko Sushi, Cedar Street Bridge, 334 N. First.

“I love trying new sushi rolls at Kyoko Sushi. My friends and I just tried the Spider Roll and loved it.” The Spider Roll consists of soft-shell crab, cucumber and XO sauce (a sweet chili aioli).

Erin Roos, teacher/coach: Winter Ridge Natural Foods, 703 Lake St. “My family loves the Ranger Burger.

It’s organic, made with

Doug Hughes, telecommunications engineer: Connie’s Café, 323 Cedar St. “We come in for the ‘old fart breakfast’ (snickering with his buddies), which is actually the Senior Breakfast – with scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries and an English muffin. It’s a really good breakfast.”

Jody Davis, innkeeper: Trinity at City Beach, 58 Bridge St. “The Portuguese Clams are to die for.

They’re on the lounge menu, and we drive over from Newport (Washington) just to eat them. Plus, we love the view.” The Portuguese clams are sautéed with sausage and drenched in a white wine/cream sauce.

Nancy Schmidt, counselor: Evans Brothers Coffee, 524 Church St. “The Pumpkin Latte is just plain yummy.”

Picture yourself here...

...enjoying your favorite wine or craft beer

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We Bring PHILLY To You! 102 Church St. Sandpoint

(208) 263-1444

www.JoesPhilly.com

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EATS & DRINKS

Sharable feasts at the winery

G

enerosity has its virtues, especially when you dine on the fabulous “sharable” menu at The Bistro Rouge at Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St. According to Stefhanie Royer, chef at the Bistro Rouge, the menu has been tailored toward accompanying glasses of wine in the tasting room. “Everything is portioned so that two people can share a plate,” said Royer. “We’re a wine bar, so we stick to that concept when we serve food.”

Tops on the “must-try list” for fall are the chicken wings, covered in a chili-cola sauce for an Asian-fusion twist. “They’re amazing with a glass of Merlot,” she said.

Another fabulous meaty option is the turkey leg served on housemade applesauce. Royer ensures plenty of juicy flavor by injecting the meat with a salt-and-spice brine, followed by a

high-blasting roast. “We actually cook it twice to keep the meat juicy,” Royer said. She adds that all of Bistro Rouge’s meats are GMO-free and are as local as possible.

It doesn’t get more local than with some of the cheeses offered on the menu – Royer said the staff makes the farmer’s cheese as well as a ricotta cheese. All of the other cheeses are imported from Europe.

Royer plans to mix up the menu in February – she usually updates the menu with changes every three to four months, keeping it seasonal.

As for their award-winning wines, the Pend d’Oreille production crew is working “around the clock” getting ready for the new wines. Owner Steve

On the new “sharable” menu at Bistro Rouge is chicken wings in a chili-cola sauce. PHOTO BY MASON WHITE

Meyer has been in and out of the wine process, while his team encourages him to take it easy and see how awesome the crew is. “We’ve got it,” Royer said.

Take in the live music both Friday and Saturday nights now; for a complete lineup of music and more, visit www.POWine.com.

NEWLY EXPANDED STORE & DINING AREA

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M-F 8:30-5:30 Join us on

208-263-9446 FRESH BAKED GOODS

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Breads Scones Pastries Cookies Pies Cinnamon Rolls Coffee Teas Canned Goods Spices Beans Rice Pasta Flour Nuts Dried Fruit Christian Books Housewares

1326 Baldy Mtn. Rd., Sandpoint, ID 83864 . www.MillersCountryStoreSandpoint.com WINTER 2016

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Laughing Dog unleashes fetching new plans

P

erhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks, because Sandpoint’s 10-year-old Laughing Dog Brewing is embarking on some big changes this winter.

First up, they’re moving all brewing operations into a new 16,000-squarefoot facility nearby in Ponderay. It’s long past due for the successful brewery, which recently expanded into the Utah market. “This move allows us to fulfill the current demand and meet future growth,” said Fred Colby, who owns Laughing Dog Brewing with his wife Michelle. He estimates the move will be completed in late January or early February. “Winter is a good time for us to move, but we’re going to have our hands full.”

Freeing up the space at their current location in Ponderay allows Laughing

Dog to turn the taproom into an alehouse and add wood-fired pizza to go along with their popular lineup of beers.

“We’re really excited to offer a unique, handmade pizza to complement our beers,” said Colby, who estimates a “soft opening” of the pizza menu in early December. In the fall, Laughing Dog was trying out new flavors, hiring staff, and looking at the possibility of a temporary facility to house the kitchen until the operations logistics are completed.

For now, customers will continue to enjoy the craft beers they’ve come to love – including a few new flavors that were introduced this year, Grapefruit Pale and Trail Ride. And making its

Served on a dog bone-shaped platter, a beer sampler allows guests to taste eight core beers at Laughing Dog Brewing, in its dog-friendly taproom. PHOTO BY BILLIE JEAN GERKE

annual return in mid-November is Dogfather Imperial Stout, a beer that’s 11 percent ABV and bourbon-barrel aged. Although it’s a once-a-year release, Colby assures that they make plenty to last through winter.

Good things to remember are that Firkin Friday is held on the first Friday of every month, featuring brews from a specially tapped keg at $3 glass (until it’s gone), plus the all-new ½ Price Tuesdays where pint beers are half off.

Cheers to winter!

Serving Dinner 7 nights a week

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COURTESY PHOTO

Small-town locale, big-city tastes

T

here’s only one thing better than inviting 17 of your closest friends and family to enjoy a delicious home-cooked dinner, all in the privacy of a dining room, and that’s by having Heather Nucifora do the cooking.

Honestly, she doesn’t mind. That’s what the owner of Two Lakes Catering hopes to be doing in the near future as she opens a commercial kitchen space in south Sandpoint that will house gourmet meal events.

“I love the idea of having these dinein dinners,” said Nucifora. “We get to spend the whole night at my place, with a menu that’s been pre-determined.”

It all comes easily to Nucifora, who has a vast background in the world of food. Growing up just outside of New York City, she has always been interested in the tangible side of food – studying food science and nutrition, attending cooking school in Vancouver, British Columbia, and even serving as an executive chef.

“I worked with consultants and plan-

ning people, and I got really lucky to fill the need for menu development,” she said.

And while she’s happy to have traded in her city life for a simpler existence as a caterer in Sandpoint, Nucifora enjoys introducing dishes and flavors not commonly encountered in this area. “While Sandpoint offers many beautiful aspects, I wanted people to have the food that they would drive to

the city for, here in their own backyard.”

In addition to catering for large gatherings and weddings, Nucifora offers onsite mobile roasting for pigs and lambs.

And surprisingly, fish and seafood-based events are very popular. “We did a ton of ruby trout, which is from Idaho. We even do things like oysters, lobsters, crabs, seafood boils. I think it’s intimidating for people to cook these things at home.”

As her business takes off, Nucifora aims to impart her knowledge to residents with cooking classes and to offer ready-made, restaurant-quality meals to go such as lamb shanks. “You order those foods in advance, and eat in your own home.”

For more information or to order, call 509-557-7293 or visit www.

TwoLakesCatering.com.

EATS & DRINKS

Heather Nucifora of Two Lakes Catering is all about gourmet, dishing up a coffee and garlicrubbed beef strip loin that’s served over ciderroasted Brussels sprouts and root veggies with a sweet-and-spicy mustard red wine sauce.

Local * Natural * Delicious

Deli * Salad Bar * Bulk * Bakery Fresh Meat * Seafood * Dairy Grocery * Organic Produce Espresso * Supplements * Wine Kombucha * Health and Beauty 703 W Lake Street at Boyer St. www.WinterRidgeFoods.com 208-265-8135 WINTER 2016

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THE LOCAL DISH news and events foodies need to know

Evans Brothers’ new signature drink, Café Cereza

N Espresso • Beer/Wine • WiFi

Open Daily at 6 A.M. 208 N. 4th Avenue • Sandpoint, ID

ational acclaim has been bestowed on Sandpoint’s own Evans Brothers Coffee, 524 Church St., which was a finalist for the title of America’s Best Coffeehouse.

“It was a huge honor just to get the chance to compete,” said co-owner Rick Evans.

Giant-sized kudos aside, Evans Brothers continues to slowly expand their drink and food offerings, including fresh panini – and always with a craft approach. “We make our own lavender sauce, pumpkin spice and

spiced mocha sauces,” said Evans. A new signature drink is being rolled out, which was developed in preparation for the Best Coffeehouse competition. It’s called a Café Cereza and features a double shot of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, shaken with a black cherry reduction and rosemary lemon thyme simple syrup, and then topped with a vanilla bean cream.

It’s no wonder the kudos pile up for these coffee kings!

After the caffeine buzz wears off, those who adore happy hours should head to the La Rosa Club, 105 S. First Ave. Find specials and more, including $1 off draft beers from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; plus, on Tuesdays there are $5 martini specials and $5 flatbreads all night long.

La Rosa’s winter menu rolls out with fabulous small plates that are reasonably priced in the $6 to $8 range. One of the most popular menu items, however, stays on year-round: “Our smoked pork shoulder, with smoked tomatoes over a creamy polenta, is topped with crispy fried kale,” said manager Tim Kilchenstein. “It stays on the menu; we’d be in trouble if we took that off!”

La Rosa always goes seasonal with vegetables so patrons will find things like beets on the menu in the winter.

Vegetables, in fact, are sensational after La Rosa does their magic: “People love our Brussels sprouts,” Kilchenstein said.

“They’re made with bacon, garlic and Rice crusts & soy cheese now available

“Out of this W orld” • Delivery • Sandwiches • Calzones • Specialty Salads • Homemade Dough • Beer/Wine • Take & Bakes

The Pie Hut

502 Church Street • Sandpoint, ID • 208-265-2208

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The Carolyn

215 S. 2nd Ave.

263-9321

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cream, with chopped Pecorino cheese on top.” Remember, eat your veggies!

“What’s for dinner?” If that question sends you into stress mode, we’ve got a Sandpoint secret to share that’ll calm just about every working parent’s frazzled nerves – it’s called take-andbake casseroles from Miller’s Country Store, 1326 Baldy Mountain Rd. “They’re really taking off in popularity,” said owner Rod Miller. “You can grab a quick meal when you’re getting off work, and have the luxury of a homebaked meal without the mess.” Choose from a smaller tray that serves three to four, up to a larger size that serves eight to 10 – for those nights when all the neighbor kids are invited for dinner!

Of course, there’s another delicious reason to stop by Miller’s – one that you can keep all to yourself. The store bakes up phenomenal pastries and homemade cookies – chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and more, plus no-bake gluten-free cookies. Enjoy!

If you love breakfast any time of the day, head to the Tango Café, inside the

While Tango’s locale inside the bank provides the opportunity to serve at business-related events such as Rotary and Chamber luncheons, patrons still seek out Tango’s comfort-food favorites come fall and winter. “Our soups are really popular,” said Colegrove. “We always have daily soup specials, including one vegetarian soup, a creamy soup and a non-creamy soup.” One thing’s for sure: Sandpoint loves soup!

And the adoration for brothy goodness continues with Asian noodle bowls, as well. Sudarat “Pat” Chitlungsei, owner of Bangkok Cuisine Thai Restaurant, 202 N. Second Ave., has noodle bowls on the “specials” board all winter long. “We can make it with meat, vegetables, whatever you want,” Chitlungsei said.

She makes her own soup stock from

EATS & DRINKS

Left: Homemade cookies are hard to resist at Miller’s Country Store Below: Friday’s Eggs Benedict, a savory favorite at Tango Café

Columbia Bank Building at 414 Church St. Owner Judy Colegrove said their savory breakfasts are served from 7 a.m. onwards; on Friday mornings breakfastlovers are rewarded for their weeklong wait with the irresistible Eggs Benedict.

open for dinner

Wed-Sun

shogasushi.com

Sushi Gorgeous Sunsets Asian-Fusion Cuisine

41 Lakeshore Drive, Sagle, Idaho 83860

208 265 2001

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Eats & Drinks

with Beth Hawkins

THE LOCAL DISH MORE news and events foodies need to know vegetables, which makes it easy to appease vegan and vegetarian diets. “It can be anything,” she said about the versatility of starting with a vegetablebased stock.

As a side note, Bangkok has become

TASTING ROOM

saturday 11 to 6 and by appointment

208.290.2016 1636 baldy park drive sandpoint

www.smallhousewinery.com

the go-to restaurant for Quest’s Japanese owners when they visit Sandpoint – especially for the noodle bowls. How’s that for an international endorsement!

Worldly flavors continue at Second Avenue Pizza, 215 S. Second Ave., where pizza pies are piled high with toppings and cheese. Try the Mexican pizza for even more international flair – it’s a hand-tossed pizza that’s topped with bean sauce, onions, olives, beef, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, peperoncini and cheddar cheese. It’s absolutely delicious! With ample seating and games screening on the big TVs, it’s easy to enjoy a night out with friends.

There are a variety of beers on tap and in bottles and cans, plus the killer garlic bread appetizer is really a pizza in disguise – it’s served with meat sauce. It’s molto bene!

Speaking of pizza, Trinity at City Beach just launched their winter menu, which owner Justin Dick explained will have a few familiar offerings.

“Our customers are very happy to see the return of our pizzas, stuffed chicken and a few new items we’ve pulled out of the vault,” Dick said. The pizzas are offered either traditionally or as a calzone, and come in a mouthwatering array of flavors. Unusual picks include the Jalapeno Popper pizza with

Serving breakfast and lunch daily, dinner Wednesday through Saturday.

Tuscan flatbread appetizer with prosciutto, roasted red peppers, red onion, chèvre, fresh basil and pine nuts at Trinity at City Beach. COURTESY PHOTO

a cream cheese base that’s piled up with sliced jalapenos, bacon bits, red onions and cheddar/jack cheese. And skipping quickly over to breakfast fare at Trinity, try the Huevos Rancheros for a morning kick.

If you’re looking for international flair, try Café Bodega inside Foster’s Crossing, 504 Oak St., where the popular Banh Mi makes a regular appearance on the lunch specials menu. The café also appeals to early risers with a breakfast sandwich that features cheese, ham and avocado on a croissant roll. For those who would like to share a poem or a song with the world, Café Bodega hosts a Five Minutes of Fame open mic event on the third Wednesday of every month. Open to the public, it starts at 6:30 p.m., but come early for dinner.

It all goes back to the delicious hot drinks for Monarch Mountain Coffee, 208 N. Fourth Ave. Popular favorites

208-255-1508 Juices Smoothies Vegetarian Cuisine •

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301 Cedar St Sandpoint, ID info @ Tierra Madre.com WINTER 2016

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EATS & DRINKS

The Small House Winery tasting room is open Saturdays. COURTESY PHOTO

include Monarch’s original Schweitzer, made with white coffee and white chocolate. Another cozy choice is the Caramel Apple Cider, made with caramel and steamed cider. Homemade soups continue to be served daily, with the Hungarian Mushroom, Spicy Tomato and Chili earning top nods.

Over at The Pie Hut, 502 Church St., customers come back time and again for not only the delicious homemade pies but also hearty lunch options including soups, sandwiches, panini and more. The holidays can be hectic, so choosing a seasonal pie such as pumpkin or apple is as simple as making a phone call; they’ll happily take your order and have pies ready to go!

Cedar Street Bistro, 334 N. First Ave., is a beautiful space to relax on Cedar Street Bridge. Manager Maggie McCallum encourages coffee lovers to try the Tiramisu Mocha, made with dark chocolate and white chocolate and a rum-flavored syrup: “It’s super duper good, and very popular.” Come lunchtime, McCallum recommends the soups:

“We hand-make our soups every day, and there’s always a new selection. We always have the Beef Chili on the menu, as well as a Thai Coconut Chicken soup that’s sweet and spicy. It’s made with coconut milk, so it’s gluten-free and dairy-free.”

Moving on to wine, The Tasting Room at Small House Winery, 1636 Baldy Park Rd., will remain open Saturdays through the winter, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. While co-owner Lisa Gerber said the locale may not match up to other local tasting rooms, the adventure of new wines makes all the difference.

“We have smaller lots available in the Tasting Room, so you can taste wines that aren’t available elsewhere – and it always changes,” Gerber said. Cost is $5 per tasting, waived with a purchase.

Besides its award-winning Red Blend, Small House is releasing a new Merlot – something they haven’t done yet – as well as a new Semillon dessert wine. “It’s been in the Tasting Room, and people are pretty excited about it,” she said.

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MickDuffs.com WINTER 2016

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& Downtown Sandpoint DINING Map d 1 Café Bodega 2 Cedar St. Bistro 3 Evans Brothers Coffee 4 Monarch Mountain Coffee To Schweitzer 5 Pine Street Bakery 9= 6 Tierra Madre 7 Joe’s Philly Cheesesteak j 8 Miller’s Country Store & Deli 9 Mojo Coyote at Schweitzer 8 Baldy Mountain Rd. 0 Tango Cafe - Winter Ridge = Chimney Rock at Schweitzer q Connie’s Café w Di Luna’s Café e Forty-One South r Pie Hut t Spuds Waterfront Grill y Sweet Lou’s u Trinity at City Beach i Eichardt’s Pub & Grill o MickDuff’s Brewing Co. Brewpub p Bangkok Cuisine [ Ivano’s Ristoranté & Caffè ] Jalapeño’s Restaurant \ Kyoko Sushi a Second Avenue Pizza s Shoga @ Forty-One South d La Rosa Club Main f Laughing Dog Brewing g MickDuff’s Brewing Co. Beer Hall

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Marina

AMENITIES KEY Waterfront Dining Outdoor Dining Full Bar Serves Breakfast Open Late Night

es To Sagle

Coeur d’Alene

Wi-Fi Available

WINTER 2016

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Restaurant index by type of cuisine Locate by number on dining map

BAKERIES, COFFEE & CAFÉS

1

6 Tierra Madre

Café Bodega

301 Cedar St., Suite 105. Tierra Madre takes great pride in offering freshly mixed juices and smoothies, as well as a variety of local, vegetarian and raw food choices. Loose leaf organic tea, coffee and desserts also available! An inviting atmosphere with indoor seating and an outdoor patio. 255-1508.

504 Oak St., inside Foster’s Crossing at Fifth and Cedar. Revitalize yourself at Café Bodega, featuring an assortment of superior sandwiches, homemade soups, all organic espresso bar, whole leaf tea and fresh baked goods. Café available for catered evening events.

263-5911.

DINING GUIDE GUIDE

DINING GUIDE DELICATESSENS & MARKETS

2 Cedar St. Bistro

334 N. First Ave. European-style café in the heart of downtown Sandpoint on the Cedar Street Bridge. Exceptional coffee and tea drinks, premium gelato, delectable pastries, fine chocolates, and tasty paninis. 265-4396.

102 Church St. Authentic Philly cheesesteaks served with choice of cheese; also serving burgers, hot dogs, fries, BLTs, vegetarian and gluten-free options, shakes and fresh-made salads.

Open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 263-1444.

3 Evans Brothers Coffee

8 Miller’s Country Store & Deli

4 Monarch Mountain Coffee

9 Mojo Coyote at Schweitzer

5 Pine Street Bakery

0 Tango Cafe

524 Church St. Located in downtown Sandpoint’s historic Granary Arts District. Enjoy exceptional coffees and espresso, plus a new signature drink for winter – the Café Cereza. Locally baked pastries, breakfast burritos and more.

265-5553.

208 N. Fourth Ave. Open at 6 a.m. daily and roasting top-grade beans.

Treat yourself to a classic or custom delight from the Espresso Bar, a cup of premium brewed coffee or tea, craft beer or wine. Baked goods, breakfast burritos, homemade soups and appetizer plates. 265-9382.

710 Pine St. European pastries, breads, homemade sandwiches including a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, and cakes made using quality ingredients. Coffees, espresso drinks and teas plus indoor seating. Open Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 263-9012.

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7 Joe’s Philly Cheesesteak

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 to go or eat in, and take-home dinners. Inside seating.

263-9446.

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. 255-3037.

414 Church St. in the Sandpoint Center atrium, Tango is a favorite for breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. Signature omelettes and lunch specials, fresh-baked goods, homemade soups made daily, and a barista bar.

263-9514.

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- Winter Ridge

t Spuds Waterfront Grill

703 Lake St. A natural foods grocery store with in-house deli, bakery, meat department, organic produce department and hot take-out food bar.

The store is open daily, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 265-8135.

102 N. First Ave. On Sand Creek overlooking the marina. Spuds creates everything from scratch; from every dressing, to elaborate baked potatoes, loaded salads, unique sandwiches and desserts.

Stay in or take out. Spuds, a landmark restaurant in Sandpoint since 1995. www.SpudsOnline.com. 265-4311

ECLECTIC / FINE DINING

y Sweet Lou’s

477272 U.S. Highway 95 in Ponderay.

Open every day, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Terrific traditional and regional fare. Serving hand-cut steaks, freshly ground burgers, wild salmon and smoked ribs. Family-friendly environment. Full bar. Come hungry, stay late, eat well. 263-1381.

= Chimney Rock at Schweitzer

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.

255-3071.

u Trinity at City Beach

58 Bridge St. Enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille.

Waterfront dining with an outstanding view and menu featuring seafood, steaks, salads and appetizers; great selection of wines, beers and cocktails.

Open Sunday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. 255-7558.

q Connie’s Café

323 Cedar St. Historic hospitality!

Landmark Sandpoint restaurant is known as “a coffee shop with dinner house quality.” Serving made-fromscratch breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes of the highest quality. 2552227.

PUB-STYLE

w Di Luna’s Café

i Eichardt’s Pub & Grill

e Forty-One South

o MickDuff’s Brewing Co. Brewpub

207 Cedar St. American bistro café offering hand-cut steaks, homemade soups and vegetarian cuisine. Farm-toTable dinners monthly and dinner concerts. Open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast and lunch. 263-0846.

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. 265-2000.

r Pie Hut

502 Church St. A gourmet café where the locals like to eat. Daily lunch specials include homemade soups, panini, pot pies, beef pasties, quiches and salads, plus fruit and cream pies. Open Tuesday through Saturday. 265-2208.

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212 Cedar St. Relaxing pub and grill mixes casual dining with seriously good food. 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.

263-4005.

312 N. First Ave. Handcrafted ales in a family-friendly downtown atmosphere, brewing natural north ales and root beer. Menu includes traditional and updated pub fare – gourmet hamburgers, sandwiches and handcrafted soups.

255-4351.

What’s Cooking Around Town?

Find Out» www.SandpointDining.com

WINTER 2016

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WINE BARS, BREWERIES & LOUNGES

p Bangkok Cuisine

202 N. Second Ave. Authentic Thai food, including a wide variety of vegetarian and gluten-free selections; fine selection of wine and beer, Thai tea, and coffee. Lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner Monday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. 265-4149.

d La Rosa Club

105 S. First Ave. Casual gathering place featuring craft cocktails and martinis along with an innovative food menu with plates and bites. Fresh, seasonal, local ingredients. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m.

255-2100.

[ Ivano’s Ristoranté & Caffè

f Laughing Dog Brewing

] Jalapeño’s Restaurant

g MickDuff’s Brewing Co. Beer Hall

102 S. First Ave. Italian dining accompanied by classic wines. Pasta, fresh seafood and steaks, veal, chicken, and vegetarian entrees. Gluten-free menu. Dinner served seven nights a week starting at 4:30 p.m. 263-0211.

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, gluten-free menu, quick to-go menu, indoor waterfall and fish tank offer something for everyone. 263-2995.

DINING GUIDE

REGIONAL/ETHNIC

1109 Fontaine Dr., Ponderay. Take a tour and taste handcrafted ales, IPAs, stouts, and the hoppiest beer anywhere. Open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Come to Firkin Friday, first Friday of every month, for a special batch of beer. New brick oven pizza coming soon. 263-9222.

& Brewery

220 Cedar St. Brewery tasting room boasts 10 taps, local bar art, free popcorn and weekly entertainment. Beer Hall is BYOF (Bring Your Own Food)friendly. There’s a beer for every taste.

Ages 21 and older. 209-6700.

hPend d’Oreille Winery

\ Kyoko Sushi

334 N. First Ave. Located on the historic Cedar Street Bridge. Providing the freshest, never-farmed fish to Sandpoint, local chef Junior Solis provides his expert culinary Latin/Asian fusion with sushi and so much more.

627-9521.

301 Cedar St. Locally made wines, tasting room, gift shop and Bistro Rouge in the renovated and historic Belwood301 Building. Live music on Friday and Saturday nights; lunch and dinner daily. Sip, dine and shop.

265-8545.

j Small House Winery

a Second Avenue Pizza

215 S. Second Ave. Savor the piledhigh 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.

263-9321.

636 Baldy Park Dr. Northwest handcrafted wines. Tasting room is open Saturdays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment. Visit our website for restaurants and shops in the area that carry our wine: www.

SmallHouseWinery.com. 290-2016.

kThe Bernd Barrel s Shoga @ Forty-One South

41 Lakeshore Dr., Sagle. Premier sushi restaurant adjacent to Forty-One South. Sushi bar and magnificent sunset views overlooking Lake Pend Oreille. Open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. 265-2001.

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311 N. First Ave. Wind down after an epic day of skiing and boarding by cozying up to the fire in one of our oversized leather chairs, sipping a glass of your favorite wine or craft beer.

Join us at your new favorite downtown après ski destination. Upstairs at the historic W.A. Bernd Building. 2631596.

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Advertiser Index Evans Brothers Coffee 118 Eve’s Leaves 22 Evergreen Realty 6 90 -Charesse Moore Festival at Sandpoint 105 37 Finan McDonald Fogarty Construction 100 118 Forty-One South Foster’s Crossing & 121 Café Bodega Greasy Fingers Bikes N Repair 1 08 48-49 Hallans Gallery Holiday Inn Express 45 International Selkirk Loop 108 123 Ivano’s Ristorante Jalapeno’s Mexican Restaurant 4 Janusz Studio by the Lake 48-49 52 Jensen CPA Joe’s Philly Cheesesteak 116 128 Keokee Books KPND, KSPT, K102 Radio 53 LaQuinta Inn 22 Laughing Dog Brewing 50 Lewis & Hawn, DDS 18, 19 96 Lofts at 311 MickDuff’s Brewing Company 123 Miller’s Country Store 52, 117 Monarch Marble & Granite 92 Monarch Mountain Coffee 120 Mountain West Bank 33 MQS Barns 58 Music Conservatory 30 of Sandpoint Newport Hospital & Health Services 40 5 North 40 Outfitters Northern Quest Casino 56

7BTV-Hesstronics 38 All Seasons Garden & Floral 48-49 13 Alpine Shop Archer Vacation Condos 53 48-49 ArtWorks Gallery Bangkok Cuisine 114 Barry Fisher Custom Homes 94 13 Big Lake Recreation Bird Aviation Museum 109 Boden Architecture 90 Bonner County Fairgrounds 17 28 Bonner General Health Bowers Construction 100 Business Improvement District 42 88 Capital Financial Castle Realty of North Idaho 97 54-55 Cedar Street Bridge -Carousel Emporium -Cedar Street Bistro -Cedar Street Pub -Creations -It’s What You Keep -Kyoko Sushi -MeadowBrook Home & Gift Century 21 Riverstone 83 Coeur d’Alene Casino 60 9 Coldwell Banker Columbia Bank 64 Community Assistance League/ Bizarre Bazaar 105 114 Connie’s Café CO-OP Country Store 20 Dana Construction 93 Di Luna’s 114 Dover Bay 34 East Bonner County Library 44 Eichardt’s Pub 119

Northwest Handmade 24 50 Old Church In Hope Pend d’Oreille Winery 23 92 Pend Oreille Shores Resort 27 Petal Talk Pine Street Bakery 120 R&L Property Management 88 ReStore Habitat For Humanity 92 Rogue Custom Tile & Stone 100 Sandpoint Building Supply 99 Sandpoint Business & 27 Events Center Sandpoint Movers 52, 103 Sandpoint Online 129 52 Sandpoint Optometry 109 Sandpoint Sports Sandpoint Storage 102 23 Sandpoint Super Drug Sandpoint Surgical Associates 31 Sandpoint Vacation Rentals 15 Sandpoint Waldorf School 105 Sandpoint West Athletic Club 110 Schweitzer Mountain Resort 131 120 Second Avenue Pizza Selkirk Craftsman 50, 100 Furniture Selkirk Glass & Cabinets 86 Selkirk Powder Company 27 Selle Valley Construction 3 Shoga Sushi Bar 123 Skywalker Tree Care 96 Sleep’s Cabins 110 Small House Winery 122 Spokane Teachers 67 Credit Union 122 Spuds Waterfront Grill Summit Insurance 98

Super 1 Foods 32 115 Sweet Lou’s Tango Café 122 41 Taylor Insurance 116 The Bernd Barrel The Hive 78 The Local Pages 104 86 The Paint Bucket The Pie Hut 120 102 The River Journal 122 Tierra Madre Timberframes

by Collin Beggs 89, 100 Tomlinson Sandpoint 2, 132 Sotheby’s Trinity at City Beach 4 Two Lakes Catering 104 14 Weekends & Company Western Pleasure 109 Guest Ranch Winter Ridge Natural Foods 119 Zany Zebra 16

New from Keokee Books

For Advertising Information Contact

Clint Nicholson 263-3573 ext. 123

or e-mail: clint@keokee.com

Also new from Keokee!

A stunning journey in pictures and words around the amazing International Selkirk Loop. $34 NOW IN STORES! Or online at www.KeokeeBooks.com ww 128

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Marketplace Your Buick, GMC truck dealer. New and used sales and leasing. Full service, parts and body shop. Highway 95 N., Ponderay, 263-2118, 1-800-430-5050. www.AlpineMotors.net The best skin care Sandpoint has to offer! Extensive menu of facial and body treatments.

Full-body waxing. Serene, relaxing environment. Geneé Jo Baker, certified esthetician. sugeeskincare@yahoo.com, 324 S. Florence Ave., 263-6205.

A marketing communications firm providing Web design and hosting, search engine optimization and marketing, graphic design, public relations, editorial and media consultation.

405 Church St., 263-3573, 800-880-3573. www.keokee.com North Idaho Insurance A full-service, independent insurance agency serving northern Idaho since 1978. Business or personal risks: property, liability, workers comp, bonding, home, auto, life and health. 102 Superior St., 263-2194.

NorthIdahoIns.com

Over 26 years of rental management experience.

Tenant screening, rent collection, accounting, maintenance and marketing.

Residential, commercial and mini storage.

Friendly, prompt service. 204 E. Superior, 2634033. www.RLPropertyManagement.com Scandinavian countries represented in this specialty shop. Kitchen items, table tops, candles, electric candle holders, books, cards, rugs, pewter Vikings, mugs, Danish iron candle holders and year-round Christmas. 319 N. First Ave., 263-7722.

Special gifts for special people. Vera Bradley bags, Big Sky Carvers, Baggallini, Tyler and BeanPod candles, souvenirs, balloon bouquets, Hallmark cards, books, gift wrap, stationery. 306 N. First Ave., 263-2811.

Offering the latest bestsellers, office supplies, machine supplies and free delivery in Sandpoint.

Order online. 201 Cedar St., 2632417. www.Vanderfords.com

Property Management, LLC Protecting your real estate investments since 2003! We provide a wide range of property protection and vacation rental management services for seasonal residents and vacation home owners of North Idaho. Available 24/7 Property Management, LLC for emergencies! www.NorthridgeProperty Management.com. Jeremy 208-290-6847 or Mike 208-290-6531

SVR is a full-service property management company with 12 years of experience. Offering vacation rental properties and long-term rentals in Sandpoint and surrounding areas, including waterfront homes, lakefront condos, Schweitzer Mountain vacation rentals, homes at the Idaho Club, and many other rental properties. www.SandpointVacationRentals. com. 208-263-7570 or 866-263-7570

Sandpoint FREE classified ads

Got something to sell? Looking for a place to rent, a job ... or looking for love? Post for free, or browse hundreds of ads in Sandpoint’s own version of Craigslist. Go to www.SandpointClassifieds.com.

Get in the Marketplace! To advertise here, call 263-3573

ext. 123 or e-mail adsales@keokee.com

... there’s a lot goin’ on!

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SANDPOINT OF VIEW

Starstruck in Sandpoint

By Heather McElwain

The author and friends “stared down the night” during a solar storm last fall, hoping to see northern lights like this.

PHOTO BY KIRK MILLER

L

ong before any of us stargazed from various viewpoints around Lake Pend Oreille, the first peoples studied the skies along the waters. Since the birth of the celestial cosmos, people have craned skyward; in turn, the sky has sparked poetry, guided journeys and myths, and given meaning to an otherwise mystifying existence.

The earliest people here, the Kootenai and Kalispel, shared stories of the creation of the heavens. Many tell of a time before the moon and stars, in a great darkness from Raven’s outstretched and shadowy wings. Coyote is featured in most of these tales – as fumbling trickster in some, hero in others. In many, he attempted to create the moon and stars, only to fail and be bested by Cooper’s hawk, Frog or Fox. In some stories, though, Coyote became the moon, and men ascended as stars.

I imagine elders sharing these stories during long hours spent crafting weir nets or smoking fish, to pass time and lessons, to understand the world and explain the mystery.

Though my eyes are skyward yearround, nothing beats hushed hours spent surfing the firmament on rare clear winter eves. Bundled up on the shoreline under a new moon sky void of

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artificial illumination, the lake mirrors space, rippling bright stars and planets, reflecting Orion’s Belt cinching currents while Venus and Jupiter orbit a river of sky.

Bobbing in a canoe on a full moon paddle once, my boat mate and I floated, spellbound by the Milky Way, Cassiopeia and the moonlit Monarchs, only to discover we had drifted against current in the gravitational pull of a lunar tide. With the lake glistening in a floodlit beam from light-years away, we stroked the black-and-white watercolor canvas.

Along Bee Top Trail one Fourth of July, I oohed and aahed at interstellar dust and star clusters exploding above while fireworks illuminated the shoreline below.

In solar storms last fall, friends and I carried blankets into valley fields to stare down the night while swapping stories and secrets – the kind you share only when undone by starlight – hoping to spy auroral arches as yawns overtook all exchanges but coyote yips. Adjusting the eyes to immediate surroundings is at once sobering and intoxicating – nothing in view but your friends and a tiny part of a vast galaxy.

From various high country fall camps, I’ve spent evenings wishing on

Perseid meteors streaking the horizon. I plotted where to spy the Seven Sisters of Taurus (the Pleiades) over the Seven Sisters of the Selkirks. And I watched a supermoon rise over spiny peaks of the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness, casting craggy shadows on riverine roads.

Though skywatching is universal and timeless, our little cosmos here offers unique glimpses of northern lights and dimmer constellations. Many people have visited and claimed they’ve never before seen such brilliance. We who are starstruck nightly know we are lucky. We recognize rewards of darkening yard lights and porch lamps left lit for no one, and of powering down technological glow to embrace the mystery.

No matter what beliefs we ascribe to – the Coyote theory, big bang theory, creationism – we can all agree that the sky awes us, inspires us, continues to guide our journeys and illuminate the stories we’ll pass on. Each eve brings opportunity to stay out a little longer, see a little farther, delve a little deeper, to realize the sky really is the limit.

Our galaxy is ONE of an estimated 100 billion galaxies – and this area is a one-in-a-billion universe with a singular gravitational pull on us all. Perhaps a wish on a star brought us here. Perhaps another will keep us here.

WINTER 2016

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