Thank You!

We here at Burl Wood Dreams would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our patrons. We so appreciate your business and trust in our little rustic home décor store. Built with such passion, all of our one-ofa-kind artistic and functional handcrafted pieces are created from extreme character natural edge burls in a variety of wood. All of our artists, as well as ourselves, love to make heirloom-quality pieces to enhance the beauty of your amazing home.

As always, we want to extend our sincere appreciation to all of our veterans, for without you we would never get to enjoy the freedoms we have on a daily basis. So, if you have visited our store, thank you so very much; if you haven’t had the opportunity, then we invite you to come in and enjoy the works of all our fantastic artists, who always create with such passion and heart. We are so fortunate to display their beautiful works for your enjoyment.

Our inventory is ever-changing, so if you want to put your own twist on things or need that special piece to fit a specific area, please ask us about the possibility of a custom build.

We look forward to serving all of our customers, both local and abroad, now and in the future.

Again, thank you so very much.

Corey, Kimberly, Zephania and Aiden

HANDCRAFTED. NATURAL WOOD CREATIONS.

MARKETING

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

Allyia Briggs | 208.620.5444 allyia@like-media.com

MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Haleigh Ackling | 208.620.5360 haleigh@like-media.com

MARKETING COORDINATOR

Kamy Jones | marketing@like-media.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Jillian Chandler | jillian@like-media.com

DESIGN

CREATIVE DIRECTOR | Maddie Horton

DESIGN DIRECTOR | Darbey Russo

SENIOR DESIGNER | Kennedy Pew

GRAPHIC DESIGNER | Sam Stoke

DIGITAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR | Whitney Lebsock

ACCOUNTING/ OPERATIONS

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS | Rachel Figgins

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Steve Russo

MANAGING PARTNER | Kim Russo

CONTRIBUTORS

Damen Rodriguez, Allison Pollock-Pugh, Ben Geanetta, Thomas Carty

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographer: Adair Media Group pg. 1, 14, 16

Courtesy Photos: Austin Mayer pg. 18-19, Selkirk Productions pg. 20, Festival at Sandpoint pg. 20-23, Tim Montana pg. 21, Schweizter pg. 48, The Bonner County Historical Society pg. 50

12 FINANCIAL FOCUS

Biggest threats to a comfortable retirement?

14 Q&A

Luke Patterson: Co-Founder and Board member of Valor Christian High School

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHTS

18 Dr. Audrey Nolten: Your local beauty doctor

32 Healthy Perspectives: Local counselor Jeremiah Guidos is there to listen

20 MIDSUMMER MELODIC MEMORIES

Music, mountains and merriment collide at the Festival at Sandpoint

24 GATHER AROUND THE LIGHT

Creating an outdoor oasis around the fire pit

34 SANDPOINT REAL ESTATE

36 Are Short-Term Rentals Killing Sandpoint’s Housing Market?

40 Market Report

42 Sandpoint Real Estate Trends

46 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Calendar of great local events, arts and entertainment

50 LOCAL FUN FACT

On a Rail: A look back at the Sandpoint and Interurban Railway

52

About The Cover

THERE’S A NEW PRIVATE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL COMING TO SANDPOINT THIS FALL. The vision of Luke Patterson, along with his wife Kiersten, and Eric Thompson, and a couple other parents, they founded Valor Christian High School, which is now enrolling ninth and 10th graders for the 2023-2024 school year. This month’s cover features Valor’s current Board of Directors. You can read more about Valor Christian, and its mission, in our Q&A with Luke on page 14.

Cover Photo by Adair Media Group.