The River Journal, December 2010

Because there’s more to life than bad news

A News MAGAZINE Worth Wading Through

Local News • Environment • Opinion • People • Hiking • Veterans • Humor • Politics

December 2010 | FREE | www.RiverJournal.com

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December 2010 Triplets for the holidays (p 2) and an almost dozen sexy men: Chris Bessler (p.4) Blacky Black (p.5) David Broughton, Sandy Compton (p. 6) Dick Hale (p.7) Bob Hays (p. 8) Jonny Knight, Jim Lippi (p. 9) Mark Savarise, Dave Sleyster (p. 11) Corey Vogel (p. 12)

Departments Editorial 14-15......Outdoors 16..........Politics 18..........Veterans 20..........Wellness 21..........Sandpoint Calendar 22..........Faith 24-25......Other Worlds 26..........Obituaries 27..........Humor

2 Love Notes A trio of triplets 13 Currents Big Rigs on the Loscha 17 Politically Incorrect 100 Things 19 The Scenic Route A life’s work or 15 years 23 The Hawk’s Nest Confessions of a Volunteer 27 From the Mouth of the River Bow season and turkey stew

Cover: How do you gather eleven busy men together for a photo?

You don’t. You have to take a picture of each and every one of them, and somehow make do.

But it’s lucky for our communities that these men are so busy... because they are representative of the many men (and women) who make so many wonderful things happen. Read the story beginning on page 4 to learn a little more about these men and what they think is important.

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Desire Aguirre; Scott Clawson; Sandy Compton; Marylyn Cork; Dick Cvitanich; Idaho Rep. George Eskridge; Lawrence Fury; Dustin Gannon; Matt Haag; Ernie Hawks; Lt. Cary Kelly; Marianne Love; Kathy Osborne; Gary Payton; Boots Reynolds; Sandpoint Wellness Council; Lou Springer; Mike Turnlund; Michael White

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Reproduction of any material, including original artwork and advertising, is prohibited. The River Journal is published the first week of each month and is distributed in over 16 communities in Sanders County, Montana, and Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties in Idaho. The River Journal is printed on 40 percent recycled paper with soy-based ink. We appreciate your efforts to recycle.

A Triple Treat at the Gunter home, just in time for the holidays It’s hard to miss the prominent black and gold Idaho Vandals banner hanging on the garage door. And, when Oscar, the resident “guard dog” greets you with a toy in his mouth and a Vandal collar around his neck, you know you’ve entered a “Vandal Zone” at the Gunter home in Sagle, Idaho.

Inside the house, one must step carefully through an obstacle course of infant car seats, mini beds with pillows for prop-up bottle feeding, and colorful, soft blankets taking up whatever space the regular furniture does not.

A battery of baby bottles lines the counter between the kitchen and living room. Three adults, draped with protective shoulder cloths, sit on the couches, holding a bottle with one hand and cradling a tiny baby in the other.

During my visit last month to this household, it also became evident that these two girls and one boy, all siblings born just a minute apart, are destined to be Vandals in about 18 years.

“They can choose [their colleges],” their dad, Clint Gunter quips, “but I pay the tab only if they attend the University of Idaho.”

Clint and Margi Gunter, new parents to triplets born over Labor Day weekend, have not exactly laid out the complete itinerary for their children, but it’s clear the next generation will be encouraged to follow the collegiate path of family elders.

Both Clint and Margi graduated from the University of Idaho. For four years, Clint worked in U of I alumni relations as a program adviser.

The two met while Margi, a native of Hansen,

Idaho, was serving on the Student Alumni Relations Board.

Vandal alums, extending up to four generations, dominate both sides of this couple’s family. In essence, the Gunters expect their children to grow up as good, caring people, contributing citizens to their community and as VANDALS. For now, though, Clint and Margi are finding their new role of parenting three infants at once daunting, fulfilling, entertaining, tiring, touching, and, at times, scary.

The couple first learned of their pregnancy, aided by In Vitro Fertilization at Spokane’s Center for Reproductive Health, last February. News of three babies, rather than just one, came during a visit with their Spokane physician, leaving Margi thrilled and Clint temporarily stunned.

“I don’t think I said three words all the way home,” he recalls. Later, after having some time to process the situation, Clint came home from work at Sandpoint Furniture and said to Margi, “Hon, I think we can do this.”

And, so far, they seem to be adjusting quite well as new parents.

Genevieve Rae (Vivi), Alissa (Ali) Jean and Vincent (Vince) William arrived at 9:20 and 9:21 pm September 5, via caesarean section at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane.

Born at 33 weeks, 4 days with birth weights ranging from just under 4 pounds to slightly over 5 pounds, two of the babies came home from the Spokane hospital October 3.

Little Ali stayed behind after undergoing surgery at three weeks old to repair a minor heart problem, common to

premature babies. She joined her brother, sister and parents in Sagle October 10.

The triplets will remain somewhat quarantined during the cold and flu months to avoid contracting a contagious lung disease called Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which can lead to permanent complications for infants.

For the most part, the triplets’ visitors must be healthy adults. Hands must be sanitized before holding the babies.

With the exception of occasional play dates with another set of young triplets, born earlier this year to Margi’s friends in Coeur d’Alene, other young children will have to wait a few months to meet the Gunter trio of siblings.

Since Vince, Vivi and Ali came home, Clint and Margi have observed unique qualities in each.

“Vince is the strongest, but we have to hold him up for bottle feeding because he has severe reflux, which he’ll outgrow,” says Margi. “When Vivi discovers she’s hungry, it’s right now, and, if Ali is crying, you know it’s for a reason.”

Along with this dramatic new chapter in their lives, Clint and Margi are deeply touched and grateful for support and prayers they have received from family, friends and even strangers.

As part of a family long known for its ongoing community contributions and generosity, Clint feels more comfortable giving than receiving. At 35, he has enthusiastically embraced all the responsibilities of fatherhood.

With that in mind, he admits to being blown away by the generosity his family has experienced since community members have learned about their triplets.

For example, Best-Way Tree Service showed up at their home and cleared an area in the yard, where swing sets will some day keep his children entertained.

The list goes on, including in-home visits from their pediatrician, Dr. Joyce Gilbert, who comes just to help out. Dr. Gilbert has also made arrangements for the Gunters to receive monthly supplies of formula for bottle feeding.

Christmas will, no doubt, be more than special for Clint and Margi this year and for many years to come as they enjoy the precious gift of their three babies.

“Whatever we were given,” says Clint, “we’re going to be thankful to God that we

Photo, left: Margi Gunter holds Vince, while Clint Gunter cradles Ali and Vivi.

Photo by Jackie Charlebois with Jax Creations Photography Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

were so blessed.”

Below, Margi shares a few thoughts about their experience thus far.

Describe the outpouring of attention you’ve received from friends, family, etc. We’re very blessed to have so many family and friends who love and support us. My mom stayed with us for a month and my aunt for another couple weeks to help us get some sleep and take care of household tasks.

We’ve also received visits and meals from family and friends, which is awesome since we have zero time to cook. It’s been amazing the amount of support we’ve received!

What routines are you establishing for sleep, care, feeding and other general care?

The babies eat every 3 to 4 hours during the day, and all three are fed at once.

Otherwise we’d be feeding babies constantly.

They take turns napping during the day but sleep pretty well at night, only waking once to eat.

Who are your general helpers? My mom was here for a month and then my aunt for two weeks. Now we’ll rely on Clint’s mom and other family members to help. We also are paying two other girls to watch them while I work.

What kinds of unique attention have you received or stories have you experienced since their birth? Lots of calls and congratulations but since we can’t be in public, no real comments there. At least not since my giant belly was last seen in public.

What are the difficulties/challenges you’ve faced so far? Lack of sleep! While they only wake up once at night, we might get six hours of total sleep. I went back to work [in-home job as a project manager for Northwest Farm Credit Services] and it’s much harder to stay focused being this sleepy. Clint has managed it since we brought them home though.

Also, Vince has reflux and needs to be held upright a lot. Then we feel a little neglectful of the girls, especially Ali. Describe special moments of joy: Bringing them home and especially their smiles now. We love their facial expressions and constantly talk about the people they’ll grow up to be and what they’ll look like.

How do you view this situation of having three babies at once? We’re certain it’s harder but we don’t know any different. I’m jealous of the parents of singletons who can take them anywhere. We really have to plan our trips out and the gear it requires. Hard

Love Notes

by Marianne Love

to go anywhere by yourself, not that we’re really allowed to.

What child-rearing strategies will you adhere to, considering the multiple aspect?

We absolutely have to be organized and on a schedule. We’re also going to make sure we give each child individual attention.

Can we expect to see these kids’ pictures in Sandpoint Furniture/Idaho Vandal promotions... or anything else? If the kids want to work in the business one day, they’ll certainly be added, but I don’t foresee anything right now.

What are your plans for Christmas this year?

My parents are coming up this year and we’ll host Christmas brunch at our house. I’m excited for future years as the kids discover the magic of the holiday.

Marianne Love

slightdetour.blogspot.com

billmar@dishmail.net

Other Triplets with Local Connections Besides Clint and Margi Gunter’s children, two other sets of triplets have extensive Sandpoint roots.

Reynolds Triplets: On March 12, 1962, Dr. W.C. Hayden delivered triplets Karen, Brian and Kevin at Bonner General Hospital to Doris and Don Reynolds of Kootenai.

The weekly Sandpoint News Bulletin reported at the time that the Reynolds triplets were the first-ever born at the local hospital and possibly the first born in the Sandpoint area. They joined an older sister Kathy, who was 4 years old. She now lives in

Stirling, Alberta.

Kevin Donald lives in rural Sandpoint and works as facilities manager at the Seasons at Sandpoint. He also owns and operates Summit Taxidermy. In his free time, Kevin enjoys playing with his grandbabies, hunting, fishing, archery and riding his horse Kitty.

Meanwhile, Brian David is employed by Bonner County Road and Bridge as a truck driver and mechanic. He and his wife Dawna live at Sagle. He enjoys both rifle and archery hunting.

Karen Daunice Reynolds Bradford resides in Maple Valley, Wash., with her husband Scott and son Cody. She works as an office assistant/manager of a small company and enjoys family, friends, cooking, Bible studies, reading, shooting and her dog Gabby.

Laumatia Triplets: Jacob, Justine and Grace Laumatia,

8-year-old triplets from Plummer, spend a lot of time in Sandpoint where numerous relatives, including their great-grandmothers, Helen Thompson and Virginia Tibbs, live.

The Laumatia triplets were born in Pago Pago, Samoa, April 9, 2002. They are third graders in Plummer and active young athletes.

Visit our website at RiverJournal.com for insights on triplet life, contributed by Laura Laumatia and Karen Bradford.

-Marianne Love

Photo, left: The Reynolds triplets, at a family wedding in 2006, along with their sister Kathy (far right). Photo, right: The Laumatia triplets, Grace, Jacob and Justine, of Plummer, Idaho. Photo by Laura Laumatia December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page

Eleven Sexy Men, and What Makes them That Way What makes a man sexy? Sitting in a business meeting and listening to Dave Sleyster talk about the origins of his business, Energy Electric, I found myself pondering this question. That’s partly because Dave is a sexy guy—an opinion I’ve heard expressed by many women, and one I agree with. But why is he a sexy guy?

The answer came quickly: sexy men have two basic qualities. One, they have a huge ability to laugh, including at themselves. Sexy men know when to take things seriously, and when they don’t need to. And two, sexy guys are those who live beyond themselves; they’re taking the time to give something back to the community.

With these criteria in mind, it occurred to me that I know an awful lot of sexy men and I began making a list that quickly grew out of control. And control was important, because in thinking about these men, I knew I should write about them—and write about the many projects they are involved with that help to better this place we live in. But 35 men are a few too many for a magazine story, so I limited the list to ten. And then added one more, my own David. Sure, it’s prejudicial, but any list of ten—even the ten best cinnamon rolls—is going to be. And he meets my criteria. Which, now that I think of it, leaves me just short of a calendar.

Let me assure the men I know not named in this list—yes, you are sexy men too.

Every one of you. So please don’t call me to complain. There just wasn’t enough room.

So here they are, in alphabetical order: ten of the sexiest men (plus one) I know.

eventually also end up as editor. He met a local girl, Sandy Swikart, and in 1986 the couple left to travel, got married, moved to Santa Cruz, Calif., and had their son Nate.

Chris had landed a job working on several magazines, but Santa Cruz was too big and, “I didn’t care for California,” said this small town boy. “There were too many people.”

Wanting a better place to raise their son, the couple moved back to Chris’ hometown in Oregon, while looking around the Northwest for the place they wanted to settle into for good. “It was the only time I ever drew unemployment,” he laughed.

There was simply no better place, they found, than Sandpoint, and they returned here in 1990, when Chris founded what was then called Keokee Co. Publishing and Editorial Services.

The company-of-one published books and magazines, provided editorial services, and handled marketing for local businesses, and published the Chamber of Commerce newsletter. Given the difficulties of establishing a business, Chris at the same time worked a half-time job for the SelkirkPriest River Basin Association.

The dream was to create a regional, outdoors magazine focusing on the Inland Northwest but the market wasn’t there to support it. In the meantime, among other projects, Chris began publishing Sandpoint Magazine, which just this winter celebrated its twentieth anniversary.

With an appreciation for small towns, and recognizing the crucial role economic vitality plays in local lives, Chris has served on various boards that seek to promote small town business life, including the Chamber’s Visit Sandpoint Group and the Downtown

by Trish Gannon

Sandpoint Business Association. He has been an advocate for local, small business and for public education. “It’s corny, but kids really are our future,” he said. “A good educational foundation [for our children] results in better lives for everyone. The future rests on our ability to provide a quality education.” Chris is currently serving on the board of the Panhandle Alliance for Education, a group he says is “simply amazing. They give tens of thousands of dollars in grants to local teachers, and the Ready 4 Kindergarten program prepares children for school. Kids who start out behind stay behind,” and PAFE, he says, is working to ensure that doesn’t happen with area children.

Though most of Chris’ own volunteer time at present is divided between DSBA and PAFE, he said he tries to support other community groups too. Keokee provides a simple, one-page website free to any local 501(c)3 nonprofit group, or services at cost if they want a larger website. He said at last count, Keokee was hosting for free or at cost websites for 14 nonprofit groups ranging from Panhandle Special Needs to Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail.

Most recently, Chris jumped on board a grassroots effort to raise awareness of world hunger. A friend, Eric Rust, came up with an idea for a day dubbed “Feel the Hunger,” for individuals to experience hunger themselves as a way of raising awareness of the desperate need in many parts of the world. Chris encouraged anyone interested in fighting world hunger, or just learning more about it, to check their website.

“Just under 1 billion people in the world are chronically hungry—undernourished or literally starving, according to the UN’s World

His roots are planted in small towns. Born in Riverside, California he grew up in the small town Glide, Oregon; Chris Bessler was a small town boy. At FEELTHEHUNGER.COM CHRIS BESSLER PANHANDLE ALLIANCE the age of 16 he began working in FOR EDUCATION sawmills, and continued to do so through college, graduating from the University of Oregon with a major in journalism and a minor in English.

In 1978 he rode into Sandpoint on his motorcycle and took a job as a reporter, then editor, at the Bonners Ferry Herald. After three years there he left and traveled a bit, then returned to work as a reporter at the Bonner County Daily Bee, where he would Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

Food Program,” Chris said, citing stats from the website.

To learn more about the Downtown Sandpoint Business Association, visit their website at DowntownSandpoint.com. You can support the work of the Panhandle Alliance for Education at PanhandleAlliance.org. And you can learn more about hunger, and what to do to relieve it, at FeeltheHunger.org.

Born right here in Sandpoint and a graduate of Sandpoint High School (class of ‘71) Duane “Blacky” Black’s love has always been given to the environment surrounding him. Hunting, fishing or skiing, the best time for Blacky is when he’s somewhere outdoors.

After high school he left the area to continue his education in Spokane, and returned with a degree in accounting, though his first job in the area was as a carpenter, helping to build the bridge in Hope. “I had zero experience, but I was really good in math,” he laughed. He apprenticed with the local carpenter’s union, and ended up getting his hand in on the siding for First Security Bank, the dam at Priest Lake, what was then the “new” Safeway building, the local water treatment plant, and he even worked on the Long Bridge.

But carpenter’s work was “drying up” and, after marrying in ‘84, he began building houses, including two custom homes on Indian Point. Wanting a steady job with “full time work and insurance,” he went to work as an accountant for SERAC. It was a business not destined to stay in Sandpoint, however, and Sandpoint was where Blacky wanted to be. “I could see the writing on the wall,” he said, and he ended up going to work for Alpine Motors selling cars. “It was a hard decision to make,” he said, but living in this area was a priority. By 1999 he had become the sales manager for Alpine Motors, a position he still holds today.

There’s making a living and then, of course, there’s making a life, and for Blacky,

making a life included enjoying his local environment. In 1972 he joined the ski patrol at Schweitzer Mountain, a position he held for 35 years. The ski patrol not only rescues skiers in trouble, but is also responsible for avalanche control and other issues that affect safety on the mountain.

“Truthfully, if I prick my finger I have to go lie down,” he laughed, but in an emergency situation, he says, that all goes away. “It’s a whole different thing when you’re helping someone who’s hurt.” Ski patrol members are trained to the equivalency of EMTs. There’s skiing, and then there’s fishing.

“I think I was probably the first catch-andrelease barbless fly-fisherman in the area,” said Blacky. “When I was a kid, I’d go out with my dad and he’d catch the limit and I’d catch the limit and we’d go home and fry up some fish and put the rest in the freezer. Come spring you’d throw away all the freezerburned fish to make room for more.” These days, he counsels “Don’t waste the resource.

If you have to have a fish to eat, kill a 12incher. Let the big fish go so they can make babies. Take only what will fit in the frying pan, and don’t kill the brood stock.”

That concern for the fishery led Blacky to become a founding member of the local chapter of Trout Unlimited. A national organization, Trout Unlimited works to “conserve, protect and restore” America’s coldwater fisheries.

Blacky’s nephew Troy says, “What Blacky should be famous for is simply being impassioned for the outdoors. It’s a privilege for us to be out there and we have to be responsible stewards. That’s what he teaches everyone around him. He always tries to make somebody’s life better,” Troy added.

One thing everyone should know about Blacky: “I’m the world’s best hugger,” he laughed. “That’s because it’s sincere.”

If you’d like to help conserve and protect the local fishery, please limit yourself to what you’re really going to eat, and what will fit in the pan. The Idaho Panhandle Chapter of Trout Unlimited can be reached at 208-

BLACKY BLACK

Continued on next page

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December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page

Black- Cont-d from previous page

265-2640. Unfortunately, there is no longer a “Rude Boys Ball” to support Schweitzer Ski Patrol, but you can make their job easier by skiing safely and responsibly when you’re on the mountain. To learn more about the ski patrol, call Schweitzer at 208-263-9555.

Born in North Carolina, and raised in both North Carolina and Delaware, David Broughton found himself in Sandpoint, Idaho on his twenty-first birthday. Looking for work he went down to the Pasttime on First Ave., and was hired to work planting trees in the woods; he would continue to work in the woods for decades after, along with working as a carpenter, eventually owning, with partners, a cedar shake mill in Priest River, Idaho. To this day he retains a lot of pride in his shakes, pointing out those on the roof Truby’s Health Mart on Main St. in Sandpoint.

“Those were all hand cut and hand split,” he says with a smile.

Like many who worked in the woods, it turned out that David couldn’t continue to make a living there. “In 1985 I was between jobs and Kim Benefield (then-owner of Blue Sky Broadcasting) asked me if I would haul some stuff to Oklahoma for him. While I was there I saw a job available selling television advertising.” He got the job and spent the next five years doing so, in the process gaining another indelible memory: working with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, when he was assigned to write a story for the local newspaper.

His children, however, still lived in North Idaho and he missed them desperately, despite flying frequently back and forth between Oklahoma and the north. In 1990 he returned to the Sandpoint area, and began working for the local radio station selling advertising, a job he’s held ever since.

Loving the community and wanting to help various groups in their efforts to promote it, he became an early volunteer

DAVID BROUGHTON

with Lost in the 50s, organizing and running the street dance (which he still does, though he says it couldn’t happen without the efforts of dance deejay Bashful Dan). Almost as an extension of that job, he worked for five years as the backstage manager for the Festival at Sandpoint; the highlight there was when Lyle Lovett’s manager walked into the field house at Memorial Field, and realized it was the ‘home’ of Jerry Kramer.

But it was in 1994 when David discovered his true love; working as an official for various sports activities. “I began helping out at the local city rec umpiring softball games,” he said, and by fall he had added working as a volleyball official to the list. It’s an avocation he has continued through to this day.”

“On the high school level, there’s so many things that kids learn from participating in team sports,” he said of his desire to support the program. “The skills you learn in sports are the skills you use throughout life.”

He also likes to work at the elementary level, “where you have an opportunity to stop and explain to the kids what a certain rule is and why we have it, what it does to promote the game.”

He’s also continued to work officiating for various city recreation departments, mostly because he believes such programs promote, “having fun. That’s really what it’s all about,” he explains. “People getting out and spending time together, getting some exercise and having a good time.”

A good official not only keeps the game on track, he or she keeps players safe, and promotes a positive spirit in the game.

A tireless mentor to new officials, David encourages all high school athletes to consider working as an official during their college years. “It’s a great way to earn some extra money.” Yes, officials can, and do, get paid for their work. A good official is worth their weight in gold, and while their pay may not reach that lofty goal, a few extra dollars in the bank are of benefit to many.

“I would encourage anybody who enjoys a sport to consider becoming an official,” David said. He, himself, worked as a softball official when injuries kept him from

DAVID BROUGHTON NIOA

playing the game. “It’s a great way to help make something positive happen for your community.”

If you’re interested in officiating sports, there’s no better place to start than the North Idaho Officials Association. Call Sharon Timblin at 208-946-9174. To help with Lost in the 50s, call Carolyn Gleason, the event organizer, at her business, Second Avenue Pizza, 208-263-9321. To support the Festival at Sandpoint, call 208-265-4554.

This may surprise some people, but Sandy Compton wasn’t actually born here. He was born in Shelton, Wash., but he and his family came back to the area, pointed toward his grandparents’ land in Heron, Mont., before he was a year old. The land, a quarter-section on Blue Creek just past the Idaho/Montana border, was purchased and moved onto by his grandparents in 1917 and Sandy spent the much of his youth tramping that property.

Sandy graduated Sandpoint High School in 1969. After 15 years in the hotel and hospitality business and a couple of stints in Las Vegas, he began to follow his love of writing after the place he grew up in drew him back. Since, he has put his his touch on many of the publications that bring area news to locals: the Bonner News Digest, The Daily Bee (he was a ski columnist for a few seasons), Sandpoint Magazine, and yes, the River Journal as well. He also did magazine design work for Multilingual Computing in Sandpoint for 10 years.

Today, he puts his writing and design skills to good uses as the program coordinator for the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, a grassroots organization aimed at preserving about 88,000 acres of land on the Idaho/ Montana border—right near his childhood stomping grounds—with wilderness designation. In fact, he lives today on the property his grandparents moved onto almost 100 years ago. He often works and plays in Sandpoint, and ‘hosts’ the Storytelling Company, a (roughly) monthly performance

BOB HAYS SANDY COMPTON

JIM LIPPI SCOTCHMANPEAKS.ORG

Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

series in Sandpoint. He also owns and operates Blue the boat, he walked along the river. We take in so Creek Press, and is a prolific writer, with several much more when we’re walking.” books to his name, including his latest, “Archer Sandy says, “Unless we morph considerably as MacLean and the Hungry Now,” a tale that could a species, if we don’t preserve wild places where well take place in the wilderness out his front door. people can walk and and hear themselves think, DICK HALE Sandy could be called an adventure junkie—his we won’t be happy.” license plates read “ADVNTUR”—and he loves to If you’d like to help Sandy (and others) in travel, be it thousands of miles over sea and air to the efforts to preserve the proposed 88,000Russia, one of his favorite memories, or just a mile acre Scotchman Peaks wilderness, visit out his front door into the Blue Creek drainage, a ScotchmanPeaks.org. place of endless discovery to him.

“Part of the reason I love wilderness is because of the adventure it offers,” he explained. “Wilderness makes you pay attention. There’s room for mistakes, but not many and not big ones.”

He hasn’t always been an actor, and he hasn’t His favorite trips into the mountains last several always lived in Heron, but say the words “Heron days, a timeline he thinks is necessary for getting actor” and most everyone in the know will come into an appropriately appreciative mindset for up with the name “Dick Hale.” wilderness. “You put 45 pounds onto your back He was born in San Jose, California and worked and head up a trail and when you get to the end of as an electrician but in 1990, looking for a better that, you find an elk trail and follow that. Elk are not environment to raise his children, Dick Hale and vertically challenged like we are, and halfway up a his wife Kathy discovered Heron, Mont. It could 100 percent slope you find yourself thinking, ‘Why be said that the town hasn’t been the same since. am I doing this?’ And when you’re leading a group, “It was a total fluke that we found Heron,” he HERON PLAYERS you have a bunch of people behind you thinking to said. “There was a group of people looking for themselves, ‘If he would just die right now, we could land, and someone found Heron. I said, ‘Where take a break.’ the hell’s Montana?’ But when I saw Heron, I fell “On the second day you’re telling yourself, ‘If I totally in love.” survive this, I will never do this again.’ By the third That love story, like most, had a few glitches. day you stop thinking about why or why not, and “It was scary as hell trying to make money,” he you focus simply on taking the next step. You don’t laughed, and added, “We landed here in the have any extraneous energy. Other than the trail, mountains in the fall and had never lived in the your only thought is when you’re going to eat and snow. We were living in a tent and built the shell what it’s going to be and how good it will taste. But of a house.” The pair lived in that shell, with no sometime during the third day, and definitely by electric and hauling water, for a while. the fourth, you’re thinking, ‘This is the best.’ By the “When we moved here, the community center fifth day you’re thinking, ‘If I had more food, I’d stay was boarded up.” And not just the community longer.’ You might stay forever.” center; the former Heron elementary school was Part of Sandy’s desire to preserve wilderness has also unused. The town of Heron, in fact, was not to do with the pace at which you experience it—on foot, at whatever much more than a grocery store with gas pumps. speed you can muster while scrambling for footing. “Humans have this In 1995 Dick and Kathy founded the Heron Players, a group of enormously long history, but until about 4,000 years ago, we didn’t like-minded community members who wanted to make people laugh ride anything. Less than two percent of our time on earth as a species is and who, even more, wanted to build a center for the community of all that we’ve spent being carried by something—our best information Heron. gathering speed is at a walk. I’m not sure about this, but I would bet “These were the people who did it,” he said. “I really believe that that Meriwether Lewis journaled more when he was walking. When Continued on next page the expedition was going upriver, [Lewis] didn’t spend a lot of time on

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4TH OF JULY

BOB HAYS

Hale- Cont-d from previous page

all the people who volunteer their time have made Heron a much better place to live. They have been the ones who have created the atmosphere of Heron.”

The Heron Players put on two performances each year, and half the money raised goes directly into the community center fund, in order to keep the doors open.

Those performances, now spanning over a decade, have in large part been written by Dick, who has also performed in some of the area’s most unforgettable roles, including that of Ghandi (one of his favorites). In addition to the plays, the group has also begun to add “improv nights” that showcase the skillful comedic talents of some of our friends and neighbors.

Helping to grow a sense of community from the seed of humor, however, is not the only thing on Dick Hale’s list. Though known for his comedic talent, Dick is a closet philosopher, with a strong moral bent and a deep belief in God. “I believe in the restitution of all things,” Dick said. “God will eventually bring everybody back to himself, but it’s a long, drawn-out process.” He added, “I have found God’s love is irresistible.”

ALUMNI TOURNAMENT

He would like to write a book about his beliefs, and the lessons he’s learned through life, but for Dick Hale, writing comedy scripts is not a wasted effort. “The reward isn’t the end result, it’s what you give to something individually.”

To support the Heron Players, or simply to find out how to attend a production, please visit their website at HeronPlayers.com.

If you ask people in the area the one person they know in Clark Fork, the answer will be “Bob Hays.” Owner and operator of Hays Chevron, a primary organizer of the high school’s alumni tournament and the community’s Fourth of July celebration, and the 2008 recipient of Panhandle State Bank’s “Shining Star” award, it seems everyone knows Bob. But he’s not from Clark Fork. Not originally, that is. He was born, actually, in Hyshum, Montana and when his parents sold out after the war (the Second World War, of course), they initially “bought a couple of places in Sandpoint.” But Clark Fork resident Jim White “had a couple of horses to break,”

hollidazzling ONE OF A KIND GIFTS, DECORATIONS AND HOME DECOR

VETERANS

so Bob’s father moved the family here.

Instead of becoming a rancher and horse-breaker like his father, Bob became an Ironworker. He married the beautiful Fay in 1961—the couple are getting ready to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.

And in 1963 he bought the local Chevron gas station, in the process becoming the town’s hub for gossip, hugs and history.

And help. No story about Bob Hays gets told without, pretty quickly, getting around to how he helped someone out. “It’s the golden rule,” he said simply. “You help your neighbors. It’s what you do.”

Despite his high profile in the community, a lot of what Bob does to support the people within it is done quietly, without a lot of fanfare. If a kid needs shoes so they can play basketball, someone drops the word to Bob and Bob suddenly “finds” a pair of shoes that will fit the kid. A family struggling to pay their bills might find they no longer owe for the gas they purchased at the station on credit. If someone in the community is in need, the word gets to Bob and he does what he can to help.

And then there’s the Fourth of July. Most everyone knows now that Clark Fork puts

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Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

JONNY KNIGHT

KINDERHAVEN

OPERATION GRAD NITE

JIM LIPPI

on a Fourth of July celebration unrivaled anywhere in the area. Like many places, it starts with a parade and ends with fireworks but, unlike many places, the time between the two is full of events. Races take up most of the morning: father/daughter, brother/ sister, grandparent/grandchild: figure out a family combination and there’s a race to be run, with Bob generally holding on to the megaphone, and handing out the 50-cent pieces at the end for the winners. Follow it up with watermelon-eating contests, turtle races, greased pole climbs, chainsaw contests and more and it’s an exhausting day full of fun, all put together by Bob and his buddies in the Clark Fork Rod and Gun Club.

“The Fourth of July is the most important day in town,” Bob says, and the town’s population swells on that day. Not just with newcomers who have discovered this smalltown treasure, but with family as well: for those who leave the area for work, the Fourth of July is one of two times when they really, really try to get home. And because they do, the Rod and Gun Club does their best not to disappoint. The club spends the year prior raising the approximately $6,000 spent each year on the celebration.

Then there’s the alumni tournament, which takes place the second weekend in March and is the second event that people come home for.

The first alumni tournament took place in 1988 and featured five teams playing basketball. Today, it’s an entire weekend of basketball and volleyball, with players ranging in age from the year’s graduating seniors to those like Bob who, at 70, is still a contender on the boards. All money raised from the alumni tournament goes to support the athletic programs at the school.

Although many look at extra-curricular activities at school as truly extra, and therefore not particularly necessary, Bob is not one of them. “There are some kids that can go in either direction,” Bob said. “So it’s important that we do everything we can to give them a shot, to keep them interested in things that are positive.

“Money never did mean that much to

me,” Bob added. “If you see a way you can help someone out, you should do it. It’s just the right thing to do.”

To support the Clark Fork Rod and Gun Club, give Louie Speelmon a call at 208-2661365. If you’d like to support the Alumni Tournament, call Clark Fork High School at 208-255-7177. To support people in need... keep your ears open and follow the golden rule.

He might be the closest this town has to a celebrity: Jonny Knight, deejay of the Jonny Knight show on 95.3 KPND, is willing to lend his name to most any legitimate community function, but close to his heart are those programs that help area veterans.

“It’s the way I was raised,” Jonny said, who was born in Bristol, Tenn. and raised in an affluent home in Massachusetts. “You give back to where you live, regardless if it’s something mundane and trivial, or something big and grandiose.”

That giving began, for him, with his own service in the Army, when he was a “Cold War warrior” for several years, followed by six years in the active reserve. “I tried to get in on Desert Storm, but they didn’t want me,” he said.

With first-hand knowledge in what service people are giving to their country, his ‘retirement’ from active duty has led him to support programs that are looking to support our servicemen and women both overseas, and once they return home.

The Disabled American Veterans are an annual recipient of his support. Jonny spends a portion of every Memorial Day out in front of Wal-Mart asking for donations for the Forget-Me-Not drive, and he broadcasts live each summer from the DAV yard sale.

“These guys deserve everything we can do to support them,” he said.

A personal interest for Jonny is film, perhaps another natural interest for him given his best childhood friend growing up was Christopher (Bentley) Mitchum,

grandson of film star Richard Mitchum.

“We used to run around filming everything,” Jonny laughed.

Although not involved himself—getting back into filming is something he’s only recently focused on—Jonny supports the efforts of local filmmakers through programs such as Sandpoint Films.

Probably his greatest interest, however, is his work with the local Operation Grad Nite program, which pulls together students from area high schools to talk about the dangers of drinking and driving. “I was a partier,” he explained. “I see how easy it can happen, but losing a child to drunk driving devastates the entire community.” The reward for his support he says, is simple: “We haven’t lost a senior since we started it.”

“We are incredibly fortunate to live in this country,” Jonny added, and that fortune requires some payback. “If you’re not doing community service of some sort, then you’re doing a lot of taking and not a lot of giving,” he added. “It’s that simple.”

The Disabled American Veterans is just one of the many groups doing work to support area veterans. You can reach them at 208-263-5419. For other area programs for veterans, call the Bonner County Veterans Services Officer, Don Carr, at 208-2552591. To support local filmmakers, call 208290-0597 or visit their website at www.

SandpointFilms.com. To support Sandpoint’s Operation Grad Nite, or a similar program at other area high schools, call your local high school and ask what you can do to help.

In a town where it seems everyone gives freely and generously it can be hard to stand out, but if anyone does in Sandpoint it’s Jim Lippi, owner of Ivano’s Ristorante Italiano on the corner of First and Pine in downtown Sandpoint. It was Mother Teresa who once said “we can do no great things; only small things with great love.” While Jim has done

Continued on next page

December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page

Ron’s Repair

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Lippi- Cont-d from previous page

great things, it’s in the small things where he might make his biggest impact. There is scarcely a day that goes by where he’s not approached to support, in some small way, various community efforts and he does so not just generously, but with a sincere appreciation that he’s able to do so.

“When I first moved here and opened a business, I looked at people like Ernie Belwood (Belwood’s Furniture) and John Porter (Sandpoint Super Drug) and how they conducted themselves, and I decided that’s the kind of businessman I wanted to be,” he said. “That’s the kind of business I want to run.”

Jim’s father owned a restaurant in Roseville, Calif., where Jim was born and raised, but food service wasn’t the field he initially wanted to go into in life. Instead, he attended college and earned a degree in Environmental Resources and Physical Education, plus a California teaching certificate. He started out life as a high school science and PE teacher.

He met his wife Pam in the teacher’s education program and, like so many before them, the pair were determined to find a better place to raise their children. “We wanted out of California,” he said. “We wanted to raise our kids in a small town, in a place where we could go hunting and fishing.” Jim’s brother was living in Sandpoint in 1984, Jim and Pam moved to the area and opened Ivano’s.

The areas Jim most enjoys supporting revolve around education, catastrophic health issues, and families. “There’s nothing more enjoyable than sitting around the dinner table on Sunday night with your family,” he said. “Everybody should have that experience.” That’s one of the reasons he supports Kinderhaven, a program that simply looks to provide children in crisis with a safe, secure and loving home.

Kinderhaven steps in when children are removed from their homes for some reason, and opened in 1996 as a way to keep siblings together when they could no longer stay in the family home. Since that time, Kinderhaven

MARK SAVARISE

has provided a home for over 1,300 local children. It is the only facility of its kind in North Idaho, and is a non-profit organization directed by a volunteer board of directors.

Pam Lippi works as a PE teacher in the local elementary schools, and Jim enjoys supporting programs that support local education: in particular, the PTOs, PTAs and Booster Clubs that work tirelessly to provide what is needed in our public schools. A few years back, he added to that support when he established the Ivano’s Scholarship Fund.

“We wanted to help kids go to college,” he said simply, but the Ivano’s scholarship, result of a group brainstorm session with Sandy Compton and Rich Ballard, is not quite the same as more traditional scholarships.

For one, it doesn’t put its strongest focus on high grades and extracurricular activities. “Sometimes kids have to work after school,” said Jim. “They just don’t have the opportunity to develop the results that traditional scholarships tend to look for.” Recipients of the scholarship, which is available for four years of scholarship, are also offered the opportunity of summer work at Ivano’s if they’re in the area. Since its inception, the scholarship fund has provided tens of thousands of dollars in support to area students.

“This is a truly giving community,” Jim said. “The spectrum of the people who give is so wide.” Regardless of their own circumstances, “everyone does the best they can,” he said. “That’s important. You focus on the effort.”

If you’d like to support what Kinderhaven is doing, visit their website at www.

KinderhavenSandpoint.com, or give them a call at 208-265-2236. You can support the program in many ways, from providing transportation to doing laundry to helping obtain the many consumable supplies needed by young children. Cash is always nice, too.

To support the Ivano’s Scholarship Fund, call the restaurant at 208-263-0211. Groups at your local schools can always use your help: call the one nearest to you to find out about opportunities.

PEND OREILLE PEDALERS

DAVE SLEYSTER

1211 Michigan, Sandpoint

208.265.2500 800.338.9835

Page 10 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

Born in upstate New York and growing up in Denver, Mark Savarise learned early an appreciation for the outdoors, but his first love was medicine. “I always wanted to be a doctor,” he said, even though no one in his family worked in a medical field. Now, several decades later, those interests remain paramount.

“I was always interested in science, so I found surgery the most interesting [field in medicine],” he said. After graduating with his MD, he served in the U.S. Air Force to pay for medical school, and was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi. “I wanted to find a great place to live,” and he found it in Sandpoint. In 2000, he and his wife Yvonne, a physical therapist, moved to the area, where he joined Dr. Richard Neher as a partner in Selkirk General Surgery.

“I love the outdoors, and the quality of life here is astounding,” he said. Not content with just practicing medicine, Mark helped to found the Pend Oreille Pedalers, selfdefined on their website as “a group of local singletrack and road riding addicts,” and is a volunteer physician for the Schweitzer Ski Patrol.

Medicine is never far from his thoughts, however, and one of Mark’s main interests is in ensuring that people have access to health care. He serves on several national committees looking at the issues, and travels most months to America’s bigger cities for meetings and discussions.

With a group of others, he has also established the Pend Oreille Surgery Center, where outpatient surgery can be performed without the delays now often associated with the lack of facilities at the local hospital.

Although he supports the efforts of last year’s Congress via the American Affordable Care Act, he points out that “it’s just a start.”

The act, he explains, currently focuses just on health insurance, but “We need reform of the whole system.” This type of reform, however, he says “has no easy answer. [The current act] has 2,000 pages, and it really needs 20,000.”

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Despite the rhetoric surrounding the current discussions of health care, Mark points out, “We already ration care, we just do it in a really stupid way.” The true challenge, he believes, is not just in making care more affordable, but it making it less necessary.

“In many ways I have a very libertarian outlook,” he said. “People need to start taking responsibility for their health.”

At its heart this involves lifestyle issues.

America has become, on the whole, an obese nation, and obesity brings along with it certain health care risks; often, very expensive health care risks, given that they tend to be chronic, like diabetes and high blood pressure.

And often expensive in ways most people aren’t aware of. “For example, hospitals and other health care providers have had to purchase equipment designed to handle morbidly obese people.” From wheelchairs to beds to x-ray machines, health care has had to adapt to a population growing in all directions.

In addition, many chronic conditions are best treated, at least initially, with changes in lifestyle. But, “People want a pill. They want it to be easy. Nothing’s going to work,” Mark adds, “if people don’t start taking responsibility for themselves.”

To learn more about the Pend Oreille Surgery Center, visit PendOreilleSurgeryCenter.com.

For more on the Pend Oreille Pedalers, visit PendOreillePedalers.com. To learn more about how to improve your personal health, visit with your regular doctor, understand your family’s health history, and by all means get off the couch and get active!

Born and raised in Denver, Colo., Dave Sleyster, who owns Energy Electric in Sandpoint, has always loved living in a place with access to the outdoors. Like many looking for a better place to raise children, he settled on Sandpoint, where his sister was

COMMUNITY CANCER SERVICES

living, and came up here in 1987.

It wasn’t a particularly booming time in construction, but he was “lucky,” he says, and after doing some whole house construction, he was hired to work on the Samowen Peninsula in a large project for the Klauss family. “Things were starting to pick up,” he said, and he was soon able to work full time as an electrician. Energy Electric, the business he started when he moved here, now employs four additional employees and the business can support the construction of every aspect of residential and commercial electrical services, from alternative energy systems to generators, to high-tech smart houses.

With his background in construction, it was a natural for Dave to support the local efforts of Habitat for Humanity, a program that seeks to provide affordable housing for the needy in a community, one house at a time. “I had gotten involved in the volunteer work with the “Extreme Home Makeover” house in Sandpoint,” he said. “And I liked the way it felt: it’s a good feeling to help give someone a place to live.”

Extreme Home Makeover Home Edition, a television show that chooses a needy family and provides them the ultimate in housing, was just a one-off project in this area: Habitat is here every single year.

Habitat for Humanity, it could be said, is not quite as ‘extreme’ in its building plans as a television show can be: the focus is on providing a simple and affordable singlefamily home that someone can live in the rest of their lives, without huge upkeep or tax expenses. People are chosen to ‘receive’ a Habitat house upon application; and those successful applicants are required to share in the building of the house. The program believes the sweat-equity the owners build in their home is a major part of the success of their program. And applicants are not “given” a house—they are sold a house through a noprofit mortgage.

With his concern for housing, Dave has also served on local volunteer fire departments. But it was his sister’s death

COREY VOGEL

Continued on next page

LOCAL HISTORY

December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 11

Sleyster- Cont-d from previous page

from cancer that piqued his interest in supporting community programs that help cancer patients cope with their diagnosis and treatment. Community Cancer Services in Sandpoint (originally known as Heather’s House), is a fully registered non-profit that offers a number of programs designed to meet the needs of those diagnosed with cancer. This support can range from financial assistance, counseling and the loan of medical equipment to nutritional supplements and wigs. They also maintain a large library full of cancer-related materials.

“I am really proud to live in this community,” Dave said. “The way the people here rally around other people when they’re down... I can’t tell you how important that is.

I am glad to be able to do my part.”

Habitat for Humanity’s local chapter (www.iphfh.org) can be reached at 208265-5313. You can also support the program by shopping at their local Re-Store, which sells donated home improvement materials, located at 1424 North Boyer Ave. in Sandpoint.

To find out how to support local volunteer fire departments, call the one located in your community. If you’d like to help Community Cancer Services, they can be reached by telephone at 208-255-2301. Their website is www.CommunityCancerServices.org.

(And he doesn’t have to look like this!)

Send us a story about the sexy man in your life, along with a picture, and we’ll post them on our website at www.RiverJournal.com In addition, we’ll pick one nominee every month to feature in the magazine!

Mail your story and photo to The River Journal, PO Box 151, Clark Fork, ID 83811 or email both (make sure the photo is at its highest possible quality) to trish@riverjournal.com

The only one of his siblings not born in Idaho, Corey Vogel instead made his appearance on a military base in Alabama, while his father was serving in Viet Nam. By the time he was one, however, he was living in the shade of the Scotchmans, part of the fourth generation of a family dynasty that has made Clark Fork a consuming interest for a lifetime. “Part of it’s pride,” he said. “When you look at our ancestors, they worked so much harder than we do. They accomplished so much with so little.”

The area’s pioneers literally carved a place for themselves out of this western wilderness, supporting themselves, their families and their communities on extraction resources like timber and mining.

There’s not a lot of work in timber and mining anymore, not a lot of work in any field to keep the local kids at home, but Corey was one of the lucky ones. After graduating high school (class of ‘88) he went to college and began working summers for Ruen-Yeager and Associates. “I liked math,” Corey said, and characterized his college ‘career’ as “all over the place; mechanical engineering, civil engineering.” After getting married and fathering a child, he went to work full time for Ruen-Yeager and has been with them ever since. His work, he says, is basically “surveying Bonneville Power lines. We’re subcontractors for BPA.” The work has taken him all over the BPA service area, but for the last few years, he’s worked mainly in Portland from March through November, flying home

on the weekends, and spending the winter months right here at home.

The Ruen and Vogel families he descends from have long been supporters of education in the area. “I have my father’s high school diploma, which was signed by my grandfather as President of the School Board,” Corey said.

“That’s pretty cool.” His father also served on the board, as did his brother Dex, and now the next generation of the family—Ashley Ruen—is doing the same.

When the history of a community is pretty much indistinguishable from the history of your family, it’s “natural,” Corey says, “to want to preserve it.”

“There’s so much out there in boxes in people’s attics that’s going to be lost if we don’t do something about it.”

Doing something about it, for Corey, means establishing, if just unofficially, the Clark Fork museum.

There’s no building to house it, no big exhibits to display—at least, not yet—and not even a website, but that hasn’t stopped Corey from gathering as much information and old photos as he can and scanning them into the computer, many of which have been posted on his own Facebook page or on the page for Clark Fork High School. It’s a neverending process (he has almost scanned into the computer ever single yearbook ever published by the high school) and one he enjoys immensely.

“You know, like most kids here, when I was in high school all I wanted to do was get out. You get out, though, and realize just how special this place is,” he said.

Corey, who played basketball in high school, is now the varsity boys’ basketball coach when he’s not busy working, getting out into the outdoors with his son, Conerey, or working to preserve the area’s history.

And not just for Clark Fork—at the urging of his friend, Nick Doherty, he joined the Bonner County Historical Society, and even served as the President of its board. “That was a full time job,” he said, “not one that someone can do while working full time, especially when they’re out of the area as much as I am.” Nonetheless, it’s work he continues to support, and encourages others to do so as well.

“You know what they say about people who forget their history,” he said.

For another project, he’d like to see further efforts toward developing an oral history. A project undertaken through Bonner County’s historical society recorded many oral histories from Clark Fork pioneers— including one from his grandmother, that he calls “amazing.”

If you’d like to help preserve area history, consider supporting the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum. You can reach them at 208-263-2344 or visit their website at www.BonnerCountyHistory.org.

If you’d like to support Corey in his efforts to preserve the history specific to Clark Fork, send him an email at idlookout@gmail.com.

Page 12 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

Big Rigs

on the

There is a helluva’ story unfolding to the south of us. It has every element of a great tale. International intrigue, possible political scandals, conflict between the little guy and the big bully—the only thing missing is a sex angle. The location is wild and mountainous with the fast-running Clearwater and Lochsa rivers forming tight valleys. A curvy twolane highway was built and dedicated to be a recreational corridor. Along this highway are folks who earn their livelihood from the recreational opportunities these Idaho mountains provide; fishing lodges, Bed & Breakfasts, raft companies, guest cabins, outfitters; small fry family businesses.

Ah, but unbeknownst to these country folk, one of the world’s largest multi-national oil companies, Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil, developed a business model—based on cheap Asian labor—that requires use of this very two-lane highway to transport equipment from the port of Lewiston to their Alberta tar sands operation. They plan to truck over two hundred loads next year.

You might ask yourself ‘Isn’t this why Ike developed the interstate highway system—to haul big pieces of equipment?’ Well, there is big and there is humongous. These oil processing machines are thirty feet high, twenty-four wide with total length of twohundred and twenty five feet. The weight is three hundred tons. Thirty feet is too tall to fit under some of the interstate overpasses and presents a physical problem. Twenty-four feet wide is too wide for a two-lane highway, but that is only a public relations problem for powerful oil companies.

Apparently confident that the oversize permits from the Idaho Transportation Department were a slam dunk, Conoco/Phillips barged four huge coke drums to Lewiston.

Problems floated away on the fumes of JOBS. Expansion of Lewiston Port! Power lines to be raised! Turnouts to be constructed!

Flagmen! Idaho Governor Butch Otter stated in the Lewiston Tribune that “impact to the highway won’t be any more than a one-ton pickup.” Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer

Loscha

is dazzled by one-time construction jobs.

Looked like a win/win to the politicians and oilmen.

Ah, but some regular people got wind of the mega loads coming their way. They got a few neighbors together and requested a further look at a scheme that would block their highway. They created a website fightinggoliath.org. Their interest alerted people in Montana. The big rigs would travel

“No, you’re not imagining things — that is a log truck dwarfed on the right. Although this load does not show the actual equipment Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada or Conoco Phillips plans to ship via U.S. 12 in 20102011, its size is comparable.” (courtesy FightingGoliath.org)

through Missoula and up the treasured Blackfoot River, over Rogers Pass, then north along the Front Range to the Sweetwater border crossing. Local protest groups formed.

With the threat of an unruly public, the oil companies turned up the heat. The public relations spin has been typical. Montana State Senator Barry Stang accuses ‘outside interests’ of trying to damage Montana business. (Does he mean the outfitter in Idaho? How about the oil executive in Calgary?) The President of Montana Chamber of Commerce, Webb Brown, lobbies for the industrial haul corridor as a boon for business. Conoco/Phillips claims they

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will have to lay off refinery workers and that gasoline prices will rise if they can’t get their equipment to Billings. (These are replacement drums that aren’t yet needed.) Conoco/Phillips has hired a Boise lobbyist firm to work with Idaho legislators and is attempting to collect damages because their big coke drums are still sitting at the port. They brought a bus load of employees from Billings to Boise to testify in favor of the mega-load route.

We have learned that politicians need corporate support, and should not be disappointed that both Montana’s governor and Idaho’s governor are voting with Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil and Conoco/Phiilips. But it is disappointing, yet again, to see how easily money can dictate public opinion.

Darlene working the cash register at a Montana truck stop thinks it is a good thing.

She doesn’t realize the rigs are too big to park in her truck stop. One sadly earnest fellow wrote to the Missoulian that the big rigs would bring “prosperity because of increased tourist activity to get a glimpse of these technically advanced machines.” (Daddy, I want to go to Montana this summer. Why son? To see the geysers, bears , catch fish, float rivers? No, I want to see the big rigs.) The motel owner should not expect business from mega-load truckers. These guys have their own sweet berths. (Here is a way to work sex into the story) You might ask why these huge pieces of equipment can’t be constructed closer to the Alberta tar sands project rather than in Korea. The equipment can, and has been until recently, built in Canada. But it is cheaper to have them built in Korea, shipped across the Pacific, barged up the Columbia and trucked through some of the west’s most productive landscapes. It is cheaper. Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil reported a 993 million dollar earning for the first half of 2010.

How do you think the story is going to end?

Lou Springer

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December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 13

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A Bird in Hand

Black-billed Magpie: A beautiful bird; an ugly name Why magpie? Why not the Lovely Longtailed Tri-colored Crow or the Fan-tailed BlueMike Turnlund Green Mega-Jay? But magpie? Anything but magpie. What does that mean, anyway? My mturnlund@gmail.com trusty New American Oxford Dictionary answers • the question. Evidently magpie is a shortened And you’ll notice that they are form of the 16th-century vernacular maggot almost always in pairs. The males and females the pie, later maggoty-pie, then shortened to are indistinguishable, though the male will be the present magpie. Magot is the early Middle the larger of the two.

The magpie also sounds like a jay. Its English diminutive of Marguerite. So collection of screeches and stutters will remind I guess those folks, way back when, you of other corvidae, such as the Steller’s thought that they were giving Jay, the Western Scrub-Jay, and Clark’s the bird a cutesy girl’s name, like Nutcraker. Your approach can get them Brenda or something. Does cutieexcited; the closer you get, the noisier pie ring a bell? they get, so have at it! Trust On the other hand, pie is the me, they can fly faster Middle English form of an Old French than you can walk. And it word taken from the Latin pica, which is when in flight that you will is the Latin name for the bird and its see those big, under-wing taxonomic genus. Thus the Blackwhite patches. billed Magpie’s scientific These magpies name is Pica hudsonia. are also famous Whew, I guess that for their huge, makes it all clear. domed nests. They Still ugly is as build a nest that ugly sounds. seems far larger But this than necessary and it is a gorgeous bird! It is unmistakable. That long black tail, is often covered with a roof. You will know it which turns a beautiful dark iridescent green when you see it. And as these folks are yearin the sun, is a definitive field mark. The blue round residents, if you have magpies in your wing primaries, the white belly and back, and area, search the big trees carefully. Perhaps the black hood sweeping over the shoulders with the leaves off of the trees this winter the and chest are unlike any other bird—real or nests will be easier to find.

Like their cousins the crows and jays, imagined. It is no wonder that these crowmagpies will eat any and everything—from sized birds are a favorite of so many people.

Take note of the full name for this critter, road-kill deer to fruit, and other bird eggs which identifies it according to its black bill. and nestlings to insects. The world is its This is to contrast it from the Yellow-billed banquet. They do have a reputation of preying Magpie which lives exclusively in central and excessively on song birds, but as with many southern California. A near identical bird, but other such reputations, it is not founded in fact. Yes, they will occasionally scoop a the two species do not, by and large, overlap.

You’ve probably noticed that our magpie baby bird out of a nest for dinner, but we all prefers open areas, such as fields, farmlands, succumb at one time or another to fast food. and dry scrub. These open areas facilitate It’s a vicious world out there and magpies are observing the birds as they fully display their not vegans.

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Page 14 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

The Game Trail

Online filing for hunter reports a valid e-mail get verification they complied makes my blood boil are the folks that have with reporting requirements and will be in the garbage bags and tarps wrapped around their drawing for 10 super tags. Nice! deer carcass when they pitch it alongside of Matt Haag Hunters will need their hunting license the road. Not only is it littering but it makes mhaag@idfg.idaho.gov or tag number. To submit the harvest report all of us responsible sportsmen look bad. Take Well it’s that online go to: http://tinyurl.com/2dl8a6n. Or the carcass up into the hills where no one can time of year go to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov and click see it, or take it to the dump.

It’s time to put away the hunting for all of us on the orange Hunter Report logo below the equipment and reflect on another season’s to slow down photo.

You will be asked to enter the number of experiences and memories in the field. For and enjoy some days hunted in each game management unit those that didn’t get enough there’s always family time this Holiday and hunting season; the date of any harvest some good late season waterfowl hunts, and season. Yes, and the unit it was taken in; the sex, and archery hunts. Hopefully there will be some that includes number of points on each side of antlers or weather to get some decent ice going, so dust your Wardens length of pronghorn horns in inches; and the of those rods and augers! For me…I’m off to take the bow for a walk and see if I can’t find as well. We’re type of weapon used.

Hunters who file online can see the data an elk. wrapping up cases from On behalf of the Sandpoint District the fall, winterizing equipment, and getting as it will go into the database to ensure it is correct.

Wardens we wish you a very Merry Christmas reacquainted with our families. Don’t get your Summaries of last year’s big game hunts and a Happy New Year. We hope that you hopes up though; we’re still out and about are available online at http://tinyurl.com/ and yours will have a warm house filled with looking for people who abuse our resources. laughter.

Deer hunting has been pretty great so 2dyuy6u.

This time of year I also get numerous calls Don’t forget to get those 2011 hunting far, there’s only six days left in the season as regarding landowners grossed out by the and fishing license before the New Year, they I write this article. The weather is extremely cold but it makes for a great opportunity to fact that someone has dumped game parts went on sale Dec 1. What a great Christmas harvest a big whitetail buck. I’ve seen some in their field, or worse yet, driveway. Folks, present for that sportsman in the family!

Leave no Child Outside. . . it’s cold out dandy mule deer this year as well, from let’s try to be more considerate about how both the Cabinets and Selkirk ranges. Deer and where we dump our animals parts after there!! numbers are rebounding in those areas that we have processed the animal. What really took a pounding from winters past; it’s good to see.

Early hunter check station data is in and it’s telling a different story than last year. The check station at Priest River reported 269 hunters through this year compared to 327 in 2009. However, hunters this year brought 32 bucks through the check station compared to 24 last year. So the trip success rate this year is 11.9 percent compared to 7.3 percent last year. Of course, this is just a snap shot of what is happening out there and does not tell the whole story.

It’s extremely important, and a sportsman’s duty, to accurately report your harvest data.

Many general deer seasons have ended, and hunters are urged to file mandatory hunter reports as early. Mandatory hunter reports are web-based this year; most hunters did not get paper copies to send back. Web-based digital reporting is cheaper, more accurate, and results are available sooner All deer, elk and pronghorn hunters must file a report for each tag issued within 10 days of harvest or within 10 days of the close of the season for With these offerings from River Journal columnists which their tag was valid. If you’re the type Marianne Love • Sandy Compton • Boots Reynolds • Michael Turnlund • Dennis Nicholls that doesn’t like or own a computer you can now also file hunter reports with a live phone operator toll-free 1-877-268-9365, 24 hours a Look for them at your favorite independent bookstore, or find them day.

Need a little motivation to complete your online at www.KeokeeBooks.com or www.Amazon.com hunter harvest report? Hunters who supply

•

Expand Your Bookshelf

December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 15

A Seat in the House Heading off to the 61st Session The first regular session of the 61st Idaho Legislature will convene on January 10, 2011, just a little more than a month after this issue of the Journal is published.

Because this was an election year that resulted in changes in the membership of the legislature the House and Senate conduct a reorganization process during which time leadership positions are open for elections for each party caucus and new committee assignments are made. Following the leadership elections the leadership of both parties will make the committee assignments for their respective party members. The number of minority and majority members assigned to the legislative committees in the House is based upon the ratio of majority and minority members of the body; the same is true in the Senate.

The Speaker of the House is a member of the majority party and is assisted in leadership responsibilities by the Majority Leader, Assistant Majority Leader and the Majority Caucus Chairman. The minority party selects their Minority Leader, an Assistant Minority Leader and a Minority Caucus Chairman. The Speaker of the House conducts the House Sessions and essentially manages the affairs of the House.

The Senate elects a President Pro Tempore from the majority party, a Majority Leader, Assistant Majority Leader and the Majority Caucus Chairman. As in the House the Senate minority party also elects their Minority Leader, Assistant Minority Leader and the Minority Caucus Chair. Unlike the House, the Lt. Governor is President of the Senate and normally conducts the Senate sessions; however the President of the Senate only votes in the event of a tie vote by the Senate members. The President Pro Tempore conducts the session in the absence of the Lt. Governor and manages the affairs of the Senate.

The reorganization session of the legislature is scheduled for December 1, at about the same time as this edition of the Journal will be published. At the time of writing this article I was not aware of the outcome of the leadership elections but can say that there are challenges for a number of the positions.

The incumbent Majority Leader of the House is being challenged by at least one other member and the Majority Caucus

•

Leader is also being challenged by at least one member. The incumbent Speaker of the House and the incumbent Assistant Majority Leaders apparently have no challengers but nominations can always come from the floor • during the actual reorganization meeting of each caucus.

Because the Senate Pro Tempore is stepping down from his position, at least two members of the majority party have announced their intention to run for this position. The current Majority Leader is expected to have at least one challenger and the current Assistant Majority Leader is expected to have at least one challenger. The current Majority Caucus Chairman is one of the candidates for the Pro Tempore position that leaves this position open. I understand at least two majority party members are considering trying for this position.

I am not aware of challenges to any of the incumbents holding leadership positions in the minority party but there are some leadership vacancies that will need to be filled.

Candidates for these positions will make their intentions known during the reorganization of their minority caucus’s.

These are obviously important positions and the members elected to these positions will in a large sense influence the direction of the legislature and the manner in which the House and Senate work with each other and the Governor in addressing legislative concerns and the passage of legislation. I will report the outcome of the leadership elections and significant committee assignments in the next River Journal publication.

In addition to the reorganization sessions being held in December many members of the legislature, including myself, are involved in various meetings in preparation of the next session. As an example: I am a member of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee and attended a meeting of the Committee on November 15 and 16 to receive information on revenue estimates and appropriation requests for the upcoming fiscal year budget.

During this meeting we learned that we are looking at a financial deficit of as much as 400 million dollars that we will have to resolve in the next session. This will be a difficult problem to solve, but because of our constitutional mandate to establish a

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George Eskridge is the Idaho Representative for House District 1B You can reach him at 800626-0471 or via email at idaholeginfo@lso.idaho. balanced budget before adjourning we have no choice but to cover the deficit by reducing spending, raising additional revenue or doing a combination of both. It will be a controversial and challenging process.

Additionally I and other members of our Legislative District One and Two teams are scheduled to meet in December with our local judges to learn their legislative priorities, as well as chambers of commerce in Bonner and Boundary Counties and economic development committees to learn their legislative concerns. We are also scheduled to meet with representatives of North Idaho College, the Department of Environmental Quality and the Idaho Department of Transportation to be informed of their legislative issues. In addition we continue to receive input from individual private citizens on proposed legislation that they would like us to sponsor.

December will be an interesting and busy month, but even more important it is the month in which we celebrate our Savior’s birth, so in the spirit of the Holiday Season and the celebration of Christmas let me take this opportunity to wish all of you “A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!!”

Thanks for reading and as always I welcome your input on issues important to you. I can be reached at (208) 265-0123 or by mail at P.O. Box 112, Dover, Idaho 83825.

George

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Page 16 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

and

ing ater the d to n as ake ues

ore vey ater heir

One hundred things I have too much stuff. This is not some blindingly new realization for me; I’ve known I have too much stuff for an awfully long time. But I’ve noticed that my discontent with owning too much stuff has been growing, day by day.

This feeling has been exacerbated by the movement of all my now-grown children to homes of their own because, surprisingly, when children move out most of their stuff stays behind. And it grew exponentially when my brother Joe moved in with me, and his stuff was added to my own.

Seriously, I can’t find anything in the kitchen cupboards anymore without a dozen things falling out on top of my head.

I have slowly been purging myself of ‘things,’ but slowly, I must say, is the operative word. Even after purging, I still have too much stuff.

Misty, in support of my new interest in owning less, let me know about the “100 Thing Challenge.” The “Guy Named Dave” (www.guynameddave.com) says it’s his way to “fight American-style consumerism and live a life of simplicity, characterized by joyfulness and thoughtfulness,” and others have joined in his quest to pare possessions down to only 100 things.

The first thing I noticed about this challenge was the numbers of exceptions to it. Very few people, it seems, truly want to take their ownership level down to a mere 100 things.

Guynameddave himself (his name is Dave Bruno, by the way) limited his challenge to “personal” things. Because he has a family, he exempted from his total items like furniture, dishes and tools. In addition, his 100 thing total includes some “groups” of items that are only counted as one: things like socks and underwear.

This seems a little disingenuous, but I can sympathize. Despite my own growing dissatisfaction with stuff, when seriously considering the 100 Thing Challenge the first Council website at tristatecouncil.org.

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• thing I exempted was my books. I probably have a couple of hundred, I thought, and not only was I not particularly interested in paring that amount down (I already purged my bookshelves this summer), I also wasn’t willing to forego ownership of things like shoes in order to keep my books.

Out of curiosity, however, I counted my books, and came up with an astounding total of 731, which I guess means I’m no better at estimating numbers than I am at estimating sizes. It makes the thought of limiting things (except for books) in my house to 100 an even bigger challenge than I thought.

But I’m up for it.

Trish Gannon

trish@riverjournal.com Honestly, the decision to exempt books (to exempt anything, actually) means I and just about everyone else joining in have failed the 100 Thing Challenge; but that’s okay. There is value enough in simply taking the effort to decide what, specifically, we feel we need to own in life.

My mentors in this process are not the others around the world who are also taking a second look at their consumer habits, but are, instead, my own ancestors, who seem to have managed to live with an amount of ‘things’ that would have most of us screaming “poverty!” today. I get to know their habits because some of them left behind wills that listed exactly what they owned, and very few approached the 100 Thing level.

For example, my great-great-great grandfather John Huland, whose last will and testament listed the following: one yoke of oxen, seven head of cattle, iron tools various kinds, (2) drawing guns, Log chain, one woman’s saddle, casting, pewter, earthenware, peppermill, warping spools, slate, one flax wheel, two small chests, one gun, one hand sifter, three bedsteads and

Politically Incorrect Trish Gannon furniture, one grind stone, one small saw, three heady howes (I have no idea what that is but I’m thinking it’s probably three hogs), two head of sheep.

That’s it. If I counted correctly, that’s a grand total of 30 things plus the ‘groups’ of casting, pewter, iron tools and earthenware.

No matter what I do, I’m not going to come close to that. And it’s already pointed out to me another exemption. Cats. I’m not counting the cats.

Anyway, compare Grandpa John’s total possessions with just my kitchen, where I counted an astounding total of 578 things and that doesn’t count consumables.

I’m starting my current paring project with the kitchen for two good reasons: one is the aforementioned inability to get anything out of the cupboards, and the second is that I’m beginning this process right around Thanksgiving dinner, which should highlight the absolute maximum amount of dishes I could possibly need.

I suspect 578 things in the kitchen is probably on the high end of the ‘need’ scale, especially when these things range from the never used (chafing dish, electric ricer and 26 saucers) to the rarely used (nine ramekins, electric griddle, stovetop popcorn maker, turkey roaster, waffle maker), to the over-the-top just in case category, which includes five (yes, five) spare carafes for the two electric coffee makers. There is no way in hell I could possibly ever need or use what I own: there’s 12 pie pans (when am I ever going to bake 12 pies at once?) 15 vases, 19 casserole dishes and 18 mixing bowls.

Lucky for me (though unhappily, I must say), David’s mom is moving to Reno so a big yard sale is coming up. And for the stuff that’s “just too good” to get rid of, well... prepare yourself kids, ‘cause mama’s cleaning house.

Next month: my closet.

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December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 17

Veterans’ News

A “thank you” to those who support veterans My name is Ross Jackman; I am the Commander of the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Audie Murphy Chapter #15 in Sandpoint. We meet the third Wednesday of every month at 6:30 pm, at the VFW hall on the corner of Division and Pine in Sandpoint, Idaho.

On behalf of Sandpoint’s 130 members of DAV Chapter #15, I’d like to thank the community for your generous support in helping our veterans.

We have had the new DAV van up and running for almost one year, and thank you to those who have donated monies, their time, and behind the scenes help. Without your support we would not be where we are today The DAV Van runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with stops in Noxon, Montana, Clark Fork, Hope, Sandpoint, Laclede and Priest River in Idaho, and Newport, Diamond Lake and Chattaroy, Washington. Call (509434-7019) for an appointment. Remember: Any veteran can ride the van if he or she has an appointment at the VA in Spokane.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our nine volunteer drivers: Robert Able

of Noxon, Mont., Lewis Beebe and Raymond Kemp of Clark Fork, Idaho, Gene Groseclose of Kootenai, Idaho, Keith Nickisch, Robert Wynhausen, Tim Trimble and Mike Trenholm of Sandpoint, Idaho, and Steven Duffey of Cocolalla, Idaho. If you know these men, tell them thank you for helping the veterans, or when you see the new 12 passenger van go by, wave. They are doing an OUTSTANDING service for our community, and the veterans.

The need for more volunteers is an ongoing task; if you would like to volunteer to be a driver, contact Don Carr, Bonner County Veterans Services, 208-255-5291.

If you are interested in donating to the DAV we have a donation outlet at Ponderay’s Pacific Iron & Metal, Triangle Drive. Bring in your aluminum cans, and tell them it’s for the DAV of Sandpoint. Every cent we collect from donations goes right back to the veterans who are in need in Bonner County.

The DAV is instrumental in joint ventures with the other veterans’ organization in Sandpoint, i.e. VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America), VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) by giving to the five food banks in and around Bonner County, helping veterans and their

families in need, with building ramps, home repairs, cutting firewood, delivering same, the Veterans Stand-Down at the Bonner County Fair Grounds, and wherever we can be of service.

Last but not least I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated in the past with monies, or helped the Veterans of Chapter #15. The outpouring of your generous support to all veterans, and specially on Veterans Day, with food, discounts, dinners, subs, brought tears to an old vet’s eyes, like me. I want to “THANK YOU ALL” from the bottom of my heart.

Stacey’s Country Kitchen served 175 meals; The Sub Shop served 262 subs, Connie’s discounts on meals, Papa Murphy’s pizza discounts, free meals from the Elks, Babs Pizzeria’s free desserts and discounts, free meals in Coeur d’Alene from Applebees, Texas Road House and Red Robin, free appetizers at Outback. If there is any organization I have left out, I humbly apologize.

Please take the time to stop and thank a veteran for his or her part in history and helping us (Americans) feel free.

If you are interested in joining the DAV, or donating to the DAV contact me, Ross D. Jackman, 208-265-2738. or Russ Fankell 208263-5419.

Take care and have a Great Merry Christmas, and a Better New Year.

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Page 18 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010 208.255.1876

The Longest Thing I’ve Ever Done Fifteen years ago last August, in the innocent pre-9/11 days of 1995, I had lunch at the Floating Restaurant in Hope with Dennis Nicholls. I didn’t know him very well at the time, only that he had started and then given up on publishing a little newspaper called The River Journal based, of all places, in Noxon, Montana.

His claim to sanity was that he had, after some months in a tiny market with virtually no advertisers, ceased publication. “Way to go, Mr. Nichols,” I thought, “showing good sense like that.”

Our conversation at the Floating Restaurant was about his desire to resurrect the dead Journal. I had just suffered through a bout of newspaperitis with the ill-fated Bonner News Digest, published out of the Bonner Mall in the space now occupied by the beauty school, which may be a higher and better use. So, my advice to him was to go get a job planting trees or cutting them down (Dennis was a forester, after all) and forget the blinkin’ newspaper business.

As I said, I didn’t know him very well.

What I would learn about Dennis is that if you wanted to give him advice, it was best to tell him the opposite of what you really thought he should do. In retrospect, I should have stood up on the table and yelled, “What a great idea! Yes! You should do that!” But, I didn’t. Instead I listed all the practical reasons that it was impractical to start a newspaper in the market where he was trying to start one with a computer running MS Publisher, a dot-matrix printer and a friend with a big copier—and absolutely no money.

Then, he said the magic words: “If you’ll help me—you know, give me advice and stuff like that—you can have your own column and write about whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” I asked.

“Whatever you want,” he assured me.

Dammit! He had me. With me giving him advice and stuff—like food, the occasional

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The Scenic Route

Sandy Compton

mrcomptonjr@hotmail.com www.SandyCompton.com

And, I don’t take advice worth a damn, either, evidently. As a result, this is the 210th time I have written about “whatever I want” in “The Scenic Route,” though there have been more than a few times when I have written about stuff I didn’t want to write about. September 11, 2001 comes to mind. The death of my dog and deer on the highway. Racists in the neighborhood.

Friends who die before they are supposed to and way before we want them to.

But, I’ve also gotten to write about stuff I really, really want to write about. Wilderness.

Russia. New dogs. Friendships, courtships and even—somewhere back there—space ships. Holidays. Normal days. Weird days.

Halcyon days. Courage and cowardice. The essay as an art form and the essay as a means of self-description and the essay as political method.

Whatever I want.

Sometimes, it has been hard to decide what I wanted to write about. Often, I have rehashed something I wrote before—which, in fact, I discovered I am doing right now. And, I’m way behind deadline; so far, in fact, that The Calm Center of Tranquility has offered to let me off the hook for this issue.

That was sort of an interesting moment.

Part of me wanted to accept that offer, because I have done this 209 times already.

But, part of me practically recoiled from the thought—because I have done this 209 times already. Every issue. Every time. How could I not be in The River Journal? I’ve given too much advice and other stuff to quit now, I guess.

Even if nobody ever follows the advice.

It’s the longest I have continuously done anything. Besides eat, sleep, breathe and similar functions. And, there are probably a couple of bloggers out there who will take this opportunity to tell me it’s gone on too long. Some bloggers, with their funny secret little names and masks of anonymity, are more than willing to assert their views as long as they don’t have to put their real name out there. I guess they can write whatever they want, too.

Happy birthday, River Journal. It’s still a pleasure.

Sandy Compton is the publisher at Blue Creek Press (www.bluecreekpress.com) and chief storyteller of The StoryTelling Company (visit their Facebook page).

Ed. Note: Sandy points out that it was 15 years ago this month that the River Journal was re-born. But that very first issue of the River Journal, with stories on protecting Bull Trout, snowmobile subsidies, the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act, the 35th annual Coffey Cup basketball tournament in Montana, and high ratings for a new movie: Jurassic Park, was published on December 15, 1993. So this month also commemorates 17 years of the news worth wading through. If you’d like to take a gander at that first issue, you can see an automated PDF online at our website (www.RiverJournal.com).

From the home page, click on ‘other’ and then click on ‘PDF archive.’ Issue number one, of course, is the first item in the archive, of which there are currently four pages of automated PDF content.

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•

small loan and nearly free editorial—Dennis began The River Journal—again. Fifteen years ago this month, with Pam Van Kirks’ nowfamiliar banner firmly in place, we printed some totally ambitious and unrealistic number and sent them out into the world.

And, we are still at it—admittedly without our friend, Dennis—but with someone who may be just as crazy at the helm. Publisher Trish Gannon, the Calm Center of Tranquility, may have gotten some of those advice-taking skills from Dennis.

220 Cedar St. Sandpoint

208.263.0846

DI LUNA’S

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December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 19

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They have ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ and ‘touch the face of God.’

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www.CoffeltFuneral.com Moon Chapel Pinecrest Cemetery Member by Moon Crematory invitation only

In the last six months the media has been reporting about how the white male world is changing. Newsweek made it a cover story.

Atlantic Magazine explored the meaning of this change. Every day there is another article about the decline of the white man model. You are also seeing the seeds of what might be next.

There are more women graduating from college and graduate school than men.

These women are making more money in key professions than men. White men are no longer the default leaders who can just step into entitled positions. Women and minorities are catching up, and the leading economies are now the developing world.

Ever since the birth of Women’s Lib, some men have been asking about their transformation. Not knowing where to start, we looked at women for a way to do it. We learned to be “more sensitive.” We learned to listen, talk about our emotions, be less macho, to co-parent; in short, we learned to become more feminine. We learned to be less masculine as our way of keeping up with the changes.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of good in learning these traits. But in spite of the benefits of our new skill set, we aren’t happy.

It was easy to be more feminine when we were still in charge. Now that things have changed, and we’re no longer the default rulers we once were, being more feminine is not working for us or others. We are looking for a way to be masculine that serves others and ourselves.

Looking to women for that won’t do it.

More and more men are supporting each other in discovering what it means to be a man. We are blogging, writing books, creating trainings and groups or just hanging out with other men. But we have no enemy to fight against, we have no repressor. Do we fight ourselves? Who do we push back against? I haven’t found anyone.

For more than thirty years I looked for the meaning of manhood, and I supported other men in that quest. I can say we are now beginning to get traction.

I had an added incentive to discover what it meant to be a man. Growing up with Asperger’s Syndrome and dyslexia, I had a difficult time being a macho man. My attempts were akin to Woody Allen playing an Arnold Schwarzenegger role. Many of the “shoulds” of being a man were impossible for me to embody. I had to discover another way. For years I wasn’t seeking enlightenment, I was just trying to survive.

My failures started to show me there was something between the old macho and the emerging “sensitive man.” It took me decades to identify that there was a way for men to incorporate the essence of masculinity that the old macho nature had, with the openness of the sensitive man. There is no current cultural model for that new man. We are defining it as we go.

In my journey I began to realize that for

me, or any man, to be the man we want to be, we need to grow up, or “man up.” We need to learn what was never taught to us. As boys we traveled through our childhood, and often through manhood, never being taught the basic skills that being a man demands.

Grow Up – 9 steps to being a man, is my new book, which will be available in the next year.

It is the nine key skills a man needs to learn to be a man. They are skills that are taught or modeled, so they are learnable. Men are not stupid or bad. We aren’t psychologically screwed up. We were just never taught by men how to be a man.

Think about it. From my generation on, most of our care givers and teachers were women. Often our main or only parent was a woman. These women, with deep love and a great intent, endeavored to teach us to be men.

We got much of our masculine training from women. But you can’t learn to ski from a snow boarder; you need to learn to ski from a skier.

How could we expect our moms to teach us to be good dads?

Now as men we are attempting to fill the holes in our maturation. Kids who are deprived of minerals will eat dirt; as boys, we took what was available as emotional nourishment. We took the feminine model of masculinity as our model of what a man is. Now, we want to learn what it is to be a man from other men.

For the last few years I have written about change and this new masculinity on my site, www.owenmarcus.com. There are more than a hundred articles on the site, and I am constantly updating it with more articles and resources for men—and women—on how to support men in being the men they want to be.

Six years ago I formed the Sandpoint Men’s Group (www.sandpointmensgroup.com, as a local means to learn what was never taught to us. Well over fifty men from our community have participated in these groups. Men tell us that the groups have saved their marriages, and in one case, a man’s life. The group evolved to be a community that extends beyond the men.

We evolved to a community of families.

On January 4 at noon I will be speaking on KSPT 1400 AM Newstalk radio on this new masculinity and my book. On January 24 at 6 pm I will also be speaking at the East Bonner County Library about these topics. In the future I will be on our new community radio station, 88.5 FM KRFY. You can also connect with me on my Facebook page where I post regularly about men’s issues.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

I want to continue to support the men in our area in being the men they want to be.

Owen Marcus, MA Certified Advance Rolfer, www.align.org and www.owenmarcus.com, 208.265.8440. This article and many more health and wellness articles are at the blog: www. sandpointwellness.com. Go to the blog to ask questions or add your comments any article.

Page 20 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

DOWNTOWN SANDPOINT EVENTS SANDPOINT EVENTS

White Christmas Dinner Concert

December

9-10 White Christmas Dinner Show.

Ivano’s Ristorante, 102 S First Ave., $40 per person; dinner is served at 6 p.m., 208-263-0211.

9, 11 - Hereafter at the Panida Theater, 7:30 pm, 208-263-9191 10 - Miniatures at Large Art Opening Reception 5:30 pm at POAC (Old Power House) 10 - Winter Wildlands Backcountry Film Festival, 7 pm, Panida Theater, $8 at the door. 208-265-9565 10-11 Holiday Art Soiree, Sandpoitn Center for the Arts, 5 to 8 pm and 10 to 4. Corner of 6th and Oak.208265-ARTS. 11 Evans Brothers Annual Holiday Party and Neighborhood Tasting, 524 Church, begins 9:30 am.

11- Alleluia Concert at the Gardenia Center, 3 pm, 208-263-0199 12-Holiday Home Tour, 4 pm, downtown Sandpoint. Noon to 4 pm, $20. 208-265-3390 15-Holiday Dance Recital, Panida Theater. 7 pm. 208-263-9191 16-Girls’ Night Out Shopping Social.

Downtown Sandpoint, stores stay open late, lots of specials!

16-17 White Christmas Dinner Show, Ivano’s, $40, 208-263-0211 25 - Merry Christmas!

31 - Angels Over Sandpoint Semi Normal Semi Formal New Year’s Eve Bash at the Sandpoint Event Center, $25, doors open 8 pm.

At Ivano’s Ristorante

Dec. 9 & 10

January

Experience Downtown

Visit www.DowntownSandpoint.com for a complete calendar of events

12 KPND Ski & Board Party. Trinity at City Beach, 208-255-7558 13 - 17 SANDPOINT WINTER CARNIVAL! Visit SandpoitChamber. org for information.

PLUS:

Winery Music - Live music every Friday night at Pend d’Oreille Winery Open Mic Blues Jam every Monday night at Eichardt’s Trivia every Tuesday night at MickDuff’s.

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Explore different In-store Photo Studio • Film & Digital cuisines from around Printing • Video to DVD • Photo Cafe Open Tuesday- the world. Live music.

Restoration • Classes • Cameras • Friday 7 am to 3 pm Regular menu also Open weekends Camera Repair • Accessories available.

December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 21 starting at 8 am

Kathy’s Faith Walk

Choose Joy for the Holidays

Clark Fork Baptist Church

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The Holiday Season is here and I am thrilled with the arrival! I have enjoyed watching the leaves turn and the cooler breezes blow though my home. Harvesting tomatoes from my own garden and making fruit jams was lovely. I canned peaches, processed corn and dug the spuds, and I even grew some wheat to maturity! I have gone on more walks with my dog, and my horse, than ever. I have lived summer fully and I have spent more time thinking about how I want to approach these wonderful blessed holidays. This too is part of my personal Faith Walk.

By now we have all learned that allowing ourselves to be impacted by the commercialization of these special days has done us no favors. In contrast I discovered that, in fact, there IS no stress at the holidays if I do a few simple things.

I decide when to do my holiday shopping.

I do it all year!

I completely ignore those “------ shopping days until Christmas” charts. They are intended to stress me into spending without thinking which I refuse to do.

I buy the ingredients when they go on sale but I bake cookies when the mood hits me and I play all the old Christmas Crooner songs while doing so. It absolutely creates an atmosphere that my daughters are excited to be a part of. No more cranky Mom! Baking holiday cookies should be fun and in our home, it is.

I spend an entire day looking for, and securing, a Christmas tree from the forest. It takes time, requires exposure to fresh air and the elements, and often prayer is involved!

This year there will be a festive dinner, fudge, and a movie to wrap up the day.

I celebrate the eight days of Hannukah as well as the days surrounding Christmas. Last fall I began choosing the gifts I would give to each of my family members over the eight days. That was 32 gifts and it was a blast!

The secret? The gifts were small, and formed around personal things I know about my

•

Kathy Osborne

coopcountrystore@yahoo.com family. Like chocolate or Mike and Ikes; fishing lures or an emergency blanket. Body warmers and scarf/glove sets from the dollar store made their debut and it was joy to see their faces when I presented them. Some I delivered at dinner. Some were delivered to a workplace and some went out with lunches. It was pure joy I tell you! On Christmas there were no big gifts. It was just a yummy breakfast, movies, napping, more yummy food, and games with family at the end of the day.

I only have family dinners with nice people.

I used to put up with the family problem children, the ones who had me holding my breath all evening in fear they would say or do something to ruin the tightrope of an affair I was already walking. No more. The crazy making days are gone and good riddance. I still love the people but their lack of joy is no longer allowed to impact my life. The joy of the season, the joy we see represented in those glistening holiday cards has been returned to my life.

Though I may not actually have a horse and sleigh, it would fit right into my day if one came along and away we would all go at the drop of a hat! My turkey is always perfect because Thanksgiving isn’t about the turkey at all. It’s about that incredible group of people eating it and all the joy they bring to the table.

The wine flows, the food is spectacular, the laughter is loud, and the joy is boundless. And lest I forget, let me say in absolute seriousness that NONE of this could have been possible in my life without the incredible love and strength of Christ flowing through me. He makes choosing to have joy, regardless of my circumstances, possible. And He is truly the Reason for the Season. So, choose to have joy.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

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600 Schweitzer Plaza Drive (Behind Super 8 Motel) Ponderay • 263-2600

Page 22 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

Confessions of a Volunteer In our culture, the non-profit organization fills a valuable role, and most of them function with a volunteer work force. Which has quite an advantage for the budget; however, without pay or promotion to compensate effort there is potential for complication. How do you get people to fulfill their commitments? It is true they must have a sense of dedication to the association; on the other hand, they are primarily working for a personal intrinsic reward.

Let me tell you a story. This is, of course, a fictional story and only a figment of my imagination. If this story resembles any meeting you, or someone you know, may have attended it is purely a coincidence.

I walked into a meeting for an organization where I volunteer, I wasn’t very excited about attending the meeting; still, I felt it was important for the organization so I showed up. I sat down and noticed there were ten chairs set up; four of the chairs were empty.

Right away, I felt righteous indignation welling up in me. After all, those chairs should be full, if I bothered to get here so should they. They should have at least called.

That is when the ‘should’ hit the fan. All six of us jumped right in and started flipping should all over those empty chairs and the folks who were not sitting in them. After all, they should know how important this is and we shouldn’t have to kick should all over them to get them there. It didn’t take long and the whole place was a pile of should and it appeared nobody wanted to join us. I wonder why?

As I separate from the story, my first thoughts center on reasons behind the frustration and anger.

I have learned fear is the basis for all anger, and frustration is a mild form of anger. If this is true then what are my fears around this issue?

Am I afraid people are not respecting something I think is important? If that is the case, maybe they do not respect me either. Do I fear that something I think is important really is not, and consequently, I am wasting my time?

Am I afraid that this organization or project, which has value to me, will fail?

It doesn’t take long for that kind of thinking to turn into downward spiral ripe for destruction with no good possible ending.

It is even more dangerous when several people, in righteous anger, share these fears.

Their perceived problems may not allow them to see, or feel, the negativity. In fact, they may feel productive, when really they are not seeing or addressing the true issue. It is very possible they are looking the wrong way. Nothing is wrong; there has simply been an oversight or an out of sight.

Here is another story of a volunteer meeting.

Once again, this is strictly fiction and any resemblance to any meeting you, or someone you know, may have attended is… well, good.

I walked into a meeting for an organization where I volunteer, I wasn’t very excited about attending the meeting, still, I felt it was important for the organization so I showed up. I sat down and

The Hawk’s Nest •

noticed there were ten chairs set up; six of them were full.

Before the meeting started someone in the group made sure five of the group looked at the sixth and thanked them for showing up. Then, that ritual moved around the group until everyone had thanked everyone. When they finished those who could not attend, for whatever the reason, were brought into the group through the thoughts of those there.

Wherever they were and whatever they were doing, they were acknowledged and held with care and respect, and then the meeting began.

In that story, care and respect for everyone filled the place. The members there were recognized and thanked; those who were not there were also recognized. It is a change of focus. There is no doubt in my mind that the meeting room filled with respect and gratitude will be more attractive and productive than a room containing a pile of should.

While it is true that a commitment appeared

Ernie Hawks

michalhawks@dishmail.net to be broken it is important for all volunteer organizations to create pleasant and inviting environments. We must remember these folks don’t have to be there.

Let me tell you another story, again if it resemblances anything which may have happened to you, it is a coincidence, and I’m sorry.

“Ernie will you join this committee? We desperately need your skills. We meet once a month for a couple of hours.”

Boy is my ego pumped. Because, what I hear is, “I am the only one with the skills they need and, it’s only a couple hours a month, for something I feel is necessary.”

I attend the first meeting and find out my skill set is needed on a subcommittee that is working on an important ongoing project.

Do you see what is coming? The commitment

by Ernie Hawks has gone from of couple of hours a month to an important ongoing project. Guess who wasn’t there, when the first project meeting came on the same date I had another commitment?

Those who did show up start flipping should all over me. It doesn’t feel good. I said I would serve, but only a couple hours a month. I felt the task was not fully represented. Feeling valued got in my way and I did not bother to get clear on the task. In the end I started feeling resentful.

It is easy to say when someone agrees to a commitment, follow through is expected.

However (and this is a big however), was the expectation made perfectly clear? Did a twohour a month commitment become many more hours out of an already busy life? Remember these are volunteers with busy lives.

When the people feel strongly enough about an organization to consider volunteering, they deserve to have a clear understanding of exactly what they are agreeing to. To assume they will know because they understand “how business works” is a disservice to the people and the organization. When the expectation is clear, before a volunteer commits, they have a better understanding of the job and its value.

This creates a much better prospect for a quality member.

Unfortunately, sometimes commitments can’t be fulfilled. It is even more unfortunate when people need to be replaced because they can’t meet their commitment. When that happens it is better, and far less frustrating, to have an unfilled position than to have only good intention sitting in an empty chair.

Then, at each meeting make sure, everyone is appreciated—even the leaders—and those who are not there are remembered and honored so the meeting begins in a positive uplifting light.

Remember each of the stories used here are fictitious. But, if the should fits…

Next time try a more rewarding approach, isn’t that why we volunteer anyway?

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All About Weddings

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December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 23

Ancient Egypt

More mysterious than you think

Half of writing history is hiding the truth Egypt. The name invokes images of pyramids, dry dusty deserts broken only by the Nile, stories of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, biblical images of the pharaoh’s harsh treatment of Jewish slaves and their flight through the parted Red Sea. Over the last couple of decades, differing viewpoints and theories have risen concerning ancient Egypt, especially concerning the origin and achievements of their civilization. These new theories, based on some fairly sound evidence, have been presented in books, on television, and are easily available online.

What I would like to present here and in a future column are some of the highlights of these fascinating new theories.

Let’s start with the familiar Sphinx.

Traditional archeology says it is contemporary with the building of the three pyramids at Giza (approximately during the reign of Khafra, from 2558 BC-2532 BC). However, a geologist presented with a full side view of the carving with the paws and head covered with masking tape identified it as a “Yardang;” a hard outcropping of rock that has been exposed by the erosion of softer rock around it. In the case of what he saw, a yardang created by the erosion of water over the course of several thousand years, not erosion by wind and sand, as one might think. When the head and paws were exposed, the geologist was aghast. The last water in the area that could manage such erosion stopped flowing over ten thousand years ago, at the end of the last ice age. (A full 5000 years or so prior to the time when the pyramids are believed to have been built.)

There are any number of repairs that are apparent on the monument. Some were done in the last century or so, but many were obviously done in the days of ancient Egypt, At least one repair seems to have been done shortly after it was carved.

Another observation: the head appears too small in scale with the body. It is believed to be a depiction of an Old Kingdom pharaoh who lived a century or more after the Great Pyramids were built.

Computer modeling shows that the sphinx, if it existed as long as 11,000 years ago, would have been looking at the constellation Leo as it rose in the summer night sky. This leads some to believe that the sphinx was originally

a lion and was re-carved and repaired by the early Egyptians. If this is the case, then Egypt’s civilazation is either older than mainstream archeologists believe, or there was another civilization that predates the Old Kingdom.

Before moving on... whatever your opinion of him, Edgar Cayce predicted that a subsurface chamber existed many feet below the paws of the Sphinx. Sure enough, sonar soundings of the area do seem to indicate a hollow area many yards below the ground there. The Egyptian government, however, has forbidden any digging, so as not to risk the integrity of the statue.

As for the Great Pyramids, when seen from above they precisely align with the three stars in Orion’s belt. A shaft in the great pyramid points exactly to the corresponding first star. Believed to be built by Khufu during the fourth dynasty, supposedly as his burial place, the sarcophagus is empty, with no sign whatsoever of it being used. Of course, grave robbers have had their way with most burial sites, not only throughout ancient Egypt, but with similar sites around the world. Some suggest it was abandoned. But after at least two decades of labor? I question that.

A couple of curious observations have been made over the last century or so by some archeologists: there is no writing on the walls as there is in other tombs; no soot of oil lamps or torches can be seen on the ceilings inside the pyramid nor in the tombs in the Valley of Kings, built during the Middle and New Kingdoms (during which was built King Tut’s chamber). How did they see? Perhaps using mirrors to reflect sunlight, as presented in the movie “The Mummy” does not work.

One temple carving shows a figure holding what appears to be a giant electric light bulb though some say it is a depiction of a flower and the aura of its perfume.

In the Great Pyramid there are curious niches, such as the corbelled one in the Queen’s Chamber, of no apparent function.

Some get the impression that the Grand Gallery looks so ancient that it is nearly

modern. There are no steps as if it was not for people to walk up and down, but meant for some other function. Some, throughout the history of Egyptology, have gotten the impression that the inside of the pyramid looks almost like part of a machine.

This brings up a recent speculation, however obtuse, that the Great Pyramid, along with other monuments of ancient Egypt and mysterious structures around the world, are actually part of a world wide wireless power transmission, explored by Nikoli Tesla in the late 19th century (a contemporary of Alexander Graham Bell).

It will take a future column to present just a few more challenging theories concerning ancient Egypt, including its possible beyond northeast Africa. Until the next Shadow Science, check out the website ScienceFrontiers.com.

Author’s note: I’d like to address the intent of this column. Conventional, mainstream science, archeology in particular, over the last century or so, has built a picture of the past that, for the most part, is mostly accurate. These academics, however, also have a vested interest in protecting and expanding on their theories because it maintains their standing, in particular in the area of grant money and tenure at Universities.

Unfortunately, this can also blind them to new or competing evidence that would force them in to changing or modifying their theories. Thus, they conveniently ignore almost anything new, almost to the point of ridiculing it.

The single response on the Journal’s website (back in June) to the first edition of “Shadow Science” and its account of a possible ancient nuclear war in India was of such a tone. Granted, both this column and “Valley of Shadows” are meant to entertain, but this column goes a step further in that it presents this alternate evidence and is meant to spark an interest in a past that we are only now beginning to get a handle on.

To shamelessly paraphrase a quote from a famous television series: “There may be more than one truth out there.”)

Kinnikinnick Page 24 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

From ThE

Files

of The River Journal’s

SurrealisT Research BureaU Christmas Humbug and the star of Bethlehem In my college days an early research paper assignment over the X-mas holidays was on astronomical implications of the Nativity Gospels; i.e; the Star of Bethlehem. The results were regrettably meager, other than my referencing a classic Arthur C. Clarke story, but in studying the subject I came across a lot of distortions, errors, and outright falsehoods I’d like to share with you that fundamentalists tend to gloss over.

The first puzzle came over trying to verify King Herod’s famous slaughter of the innocents, in which Herod orders the death of all children in his kingdom under two years of age. Neither Roman records, Jewish archives or historical records such as the Antiquities of Josephus mention such an abomination, a sheer impossibility for a region under Roman rule, a tinderbox of revolution and rebellion in which the slightest spark, such as ordering the deaths of so many young kids, could lead to mass unrest.

Then there was the problem of the Census. Supposedly Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for a Census ordered by Rome.

Now Roman population and poll data from that time are fairly consistent and no poll or census data was taken there until the first in 6 C.E. and it did not require traveling to Bethlehem or anywhere. The males only (women were property and not worth recording) were required to register at their nearest village. Luke likewise mentions a Roman governor named Quinnius who did

by Jody Forest

not administer Judea until long after Herod had died.

It gets worse, however, in Biblical attempts to “prove” the royal lineage from David to Jesus, for Matthew and Luke give two different lineages and they can’t both be right, even naming as grandfathers of Jesus two separate individuals (Jacob and Heli).

The virgin birth? A later extrapolation, for, based on the original earliest Aramaic and Hebrew texts, the word virgin should be more accurately translated as simply “young woman”.

An early pioneer researcher and skeptic into the whole Nativity question was none other than Thomas Paine, one of the founders of the American republic, whose analysis can be found in part three of his Age of Reason.

He recaps most of what I’ve just said, the implausibility of Herod’s slaughter of all of his realm’s two-year-olds and younger, the insanity of the supposed Roman Census, which would have required everyone to register at their ancestral city, thus Spaniards had to return home from Mesopotamia, north Africans to India... it would have been a logistical nightmare, one for which there’s not a scrap of historical evidence (other than the Bible).

But to return to the miraculous star of Bethlehem, which I began researching so many years ago, it was first proposed by Kepler to have been a planetary conjunction in 7 BCE. However, ancient Babylonian almanacs and

stellar observations have been found since which show both that the conjunctions were not visually impressive and that they held little interest to the astronomers of their era.

Halley’s Comet (among others) has also been suggested as a possible star of Bethlehem, as has a super or hyper-nova in the nearby Andromeda galaxy.

Regrettably, nothing came of my star of Bethlehem researches, other than a grade of B+. I’ll leave you, however, with a nearforgotten quote from Matthew 27:52 in which he describes, after the resurrection, an earthquake which “opened up the graves and the bodies of the dead arose and walked through the city and appeared to the inhabitants of the city.”

Apparently these many inhabitants of Jerusalem were so unimpressed by the dead walking among them that they found no need to tell anyone else about it and such a remarkable occurrence was not recorded by a single other person in letters or histories of the time. Even Matthew falls silent after that brief mention. I mean, were they like Zombies or the Evil Dead? Did you have to cut off their heads to kill them? Inquiring minds want to know! ‘til next time, a Merry Christmas to you all and All Homage to Xena!

“What I’m saying now I say not with the Lord’s authority but as a Fool!”

Luke in 1 Corinthians

December 13, 1993 December, 2010

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December 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| Page 25

PAUL BENNETT ARMSTRONG March 30, 1926 - November 9, 2010. Born in Dodge City, Kan., he served with the US Army in World War II. Worked for Union Pacific Railroad, married Veldonna Osborn in ‘75 in Sandpoint and retired, becoming a farmer. Father of 3.

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Semi-Normal Semi-Formal New Year’s Eve Bash

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2011

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Get complete obituaries online at

www.CoffeltFuneral.com NELSON MARTIN REDDING February 14, 1930 - November 25, 2010. Born in Cassville, Missouri, graduated high school Ukiah, Calif, married Ardell Lindberg in 1950, worked in excavation.

Worked for Willow County Water District for 35 years, 10 as Gen. Mgr. and served two terms on Board of Supervisors. Retired in ‘93 and moved to Laclede.

Father of two.

MARGARET JANE MCCORMICKCROWELL September 10, 1927 - November 24, 2010.

Raised near Detroit, Mich., married Dwight Crowell of Sandpoint, Idaho in ‘45, lived on the family farm west of Sandpoint. Mother of four, she was known for her fabulous strawberries. 4-H leader, Sunday School teacher and manager of the Senior Center.

Grew Christmas trees.

CARMEN W. REYNOLDS May 1, 1926 - November 19, 2010. Of Sandpoint.

Obituary pending.

ALMA REE CROWLEY SYTH August 1, 1929 - November 19, 2010.

Born Echo Lake, Mont., graduated in Kalispell and worked in the hospital there. Married Art Syth in 1947. Raised their family in Heron, Mont., moved to Sandpoint in ‘64. Mother of three.

RUSSELL N. BRODEUR June 10, 1929 - November 17, 2010. Born Woonsocket, RI, attended USC and received his law degree from Loyola Univ. Had his own law firm in LA for 39 years, retiring in ‘89. Married Juanita in ‘72. Moved to Sandpoint, volunteered as an umpire, for CASA, and as a court-appointed guardian ad litem. Father of four, he was an avid golfer and big band music fan.

ANNA F. PAVLISKA BENNETT September 20, 1918 - November 15, 2010. Born Odessa, Wash., graduate of Kinman Univ., worked as a sales clerk, married Kenneth G. Bennett in ‘48 and they built a cabin on Bottle Bay. Loved to fish and travel. Mother of one.

IRENE HELEN SCHORI BRACKETT July 10, 1917 - November 13, 2010.

Born Aigle, Switzerland, moved to US as a toddler and raised in LA. Married William Brackett in 1941, moved to Grass Valley in ‘85 and to Sandpoint in 2008. Worked as a secretary and was a sculptor and painter. Mother of five.

PAUL JAMES BANKHEAD July 19, 1950 - November 12, 2010. Born Livermore, Calif., graduated in ‘68, active in FFA, served as Vice-President at the state level and allowed girls to become members. Moved to Sandpoint in ‘71, returned to California in ‘76 and married Joyce Morisoli. Moved to Heron in ‘82 and began a hog ranch. Elected to House of Representatives for HD72 in 1996. Father of five.

LORENA E TAYLOR HAWKINS August 24, 1923 - November 8, 2010.

Born on the Lower Pack River in Bonner County, met Ed, the love of her life, at age 14, married in 1941. They operated restaurants in Rudyard, MT; Coeur d’ Alene, ID; and Pullman, WA, returning to Sandpoint in 1956. Managed Kaniksu restaurant until ‘58 when they opened the Litehouse restaurant. Began selling salad dressing to pay for college for their four kids. A matriarch in the truest sense.

EDWARD ERNEST AHLQUIST October 28, 1925 - November 6, 2010.

Born in San Diego, Calif., served in the US Army during World War II. Married Betty Pennington and worked as a Teamster. Father and stepfather of two.

Moved to Sandpoint in 1988.

STEVEN JAMES HOSIER September 11, 1946 - November 6, 2010. Born Seattle, Wash., served in the US Army during Viet Nam, worked for Bell Telephone, married Delores Guzman, moved to Sandpoint in 2003 after retirement.

JUSTIN LEE TALLMAN October 24, 1978 - November 4, 2010.

He was a devoted son to his parents and stepfather. Searched endlessly with his brother for the perfect huckleberry patch.

Left his is love and life partner Kiana Rose Harris\Miller and his greatest joy and little angel, Jenna Lee Tallman, and his daughter Amari Estelle Prientz

Lakeview Funeral Home, Sandpoint, Idaho.

Get complete obituaries online at

www.LakeviewFuneral.org JACK C. ROSS July 30, 1925 - December 4, 2010. Obituary pending.

WYNNE HINES LARSON June 6, 1925 - November 25, 2010.

Obituary pending.

JOSEPH FEY September 4, 1937 - November 23, 2010. Born Brooklyn, NY, enlisted in the US Marines serving until 1963. Married Grace in 1960. Worked as a meat cutter and operated a supper club and lounge in Wyoming. Moved to Idaho in 1980, operated Mountain View Market in Clark Fork. Worked for PSNI and Elk Mountain Academy. Father of four.

Page 26 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

From the Mouth of the River I ran into Those Canadians the other day, Woody Debris and his sun Chip. No, I mean I actually ran into them. They were parked in the middle of a logging road and driving that big, camouflaged macho-honcho diesel wheezin’ Dodge truck of theirs and I didn’t see them. It was a good thing I was driving kind’a slow looking out for grouse that might be crossing the road.

I never scratched their truck but I did cause them to spill their lattes and of course it tore the headlights out of my truck. Boy, those steel bumper guards on those trucks are hell for stout.

While Chip and I were prying our trucks apart, Woody made lattes for everyone. “I didn’t know you had a latte machine in your truck,” I said. “Yep,” says Woody, “Comes with the sportsman model. The only thing we had added at the factory as an option was the BarB- Q’er under the hood.”

While we were standing around drinking our lattes and cleaning up the glass from my broken headlights, a spike bull staggered across the road in front of us. He had an arrow hanging out of his gut where some bow hunter had made a bad shot. As we stood there staring in the direction he was traveling a pair of wolves crossed on his trail.

They just glanced at us and apparently were not the least bit concerned with our presence and kept in hot pursuit of the wounded elk.

We looked at each other in amazement and disbelief when a bow hunter staggered out of the brush with his tongue hanging out. We all pointed in the direction the elk had gone and the hunter disappeared into the brush.

Standing there with our bare faces hanging out wondering at what we had just witnessed, we heard timber crashing and brush being whipped aside and there came a Game Warden out on the road flailing his arms and looking bewildered. “Latte? “asked Woody, holding up a drink cup. The little short game warden just looked at us in disbelief and charged off in hot pursuit of the good, bad and the ugly; “Well, I guess all that excitement will keep the grouse from showing themselves around here,” said Woody. “I think Chip and I will gather up all our grouse decoys from up and down the road and spend the rest of the day turkey huntin’. And by the way, those two grouse you have in the back of your truck are two of our better decoys; see the numbers painted on their sides?” said Woody.

With my dog Scooter standing on my lap looking out for grouse we struck out down the county road headed towards home and a hot lunch of elk stew and corn bread. When coming around a bend in the

road we were stopped by a bunch of men and vehicles blocking the road. It seems they were from Search and Rescue and had been called out to find a lost hunter. Mostly they were just standing around drinking something out of thermoses and racing the motors on their four- wheelers.

Apparently the lost hunter heard all the commotion and had walked out of the woods on his own and was now complaining to the deputy in charge that he had followed the lost hunter protocol by shooting three shots at a time in the air to no avail. “I finally ran out of arrows,” he complained.

Search and Rescue declared they had saved another lost hunter’s life and all went back to the local watering hole to celebrate and pat each other on the back for a job well done.

Sometimes their celebrating lasts for two or more days or until the lost hunter runs out of money.

After working on my second bowl of elk stew I told Lovie I was going out to get us a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. With a superb hunting dog like Scooter and the crack shot that I am, it shouldn’t take long to bag a plump turkey. “Not when there are a dozen of them roosting in the barn,” Lovie said. “Besides, you already shot the roof full of holes last year trying to get one, and then Scooter had to spend an hour trying to run it down and it was so tough you couldn’t stick a fork in the gravy.

“No sir, not this year,” she continued. “I bought a Butterball turkey a week ago just in case you come up with this hair brained Idea again.”

But what if the word gets out we bought a turkey? My reputation as a descendant of Davy Crockett will be ruined. Davy will turn over in his grave if the word gets out we bought a turkey.

Boots Reynolds

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acresnpains@dishmail.net I was in town the other day and while doin’ my usual stunts, tried out a little holiday shopping just for the heck of it. Here’s how it went.

Shopping ain’t my strong suit. It takes way too much time to do it right! Due diligence demands researching all the available yet practical options, saying nothing of the ramifications of your purchase. Volumes have been written on cause and effect. Like saving someone’s life and thusly being responsible for their actions thereafter. When you give a gift you are then responsible for whatever the recipient does with it or what it might to do them and/or others. Sling shots, chemistry sets, whoopee cushions and just about anything with a throttle, firing pin or sharp edges are on that list.

I could also mention that I’m about as high tech as a post hole; consequently, every late fall turns into a learning experience for me.

Continuing-Ed, so to speak. Enjoyable for the most part but occasionally messy as well like the “electric caulking gun” demo I got to witness at a lumber yard quite a few years ago.

Christmas, for some reason, has become the impetus for bulls#!t gadgets few men and women will end up not getting under their trees. Some are embarrassingly stupid, others only slightly so. Some even make sense but only at the checkout counter and hardly ever when they appear on Christmas morning. It’s some kind of magic, I’m guessing; “White Magic” for the season it shows up in the most!

Anyway, I was picking out a new spud wrench to loosen up some forgotten russets in the garden when I couldn’t help but notice a digital pencil sharpener on display next to an open check stand.

“Forty-eight bucks fer a pencil sharpener?!”

I inquired of the clerk, sounding more “blurtatious” than I’d intended.

“It’s digital!”

I paused, perplexed, and lost my turn.

“It’s also a pencil holder!”

“I’m not surprised!” I said quickly, not wanting to lose my turn again.

Her eyebrows became one brightly focused red line prompting me to add, “So what can it tell me that I don’t already know about a pencil?”

I could have sworn she uttered under her breath, “It guesses your IQ,” but it could well have been growing, come to think of it.

I almost commented on the nice, Christmassy effect her green eyeliner had with that red eyebrow but it wasn’t my turn to speak yet.

In a much deeper voice she said, “If you program it properly and download the digital apps, it will interface with lots of other devices.

Like, it wirelessly wakes up the matching ‘digital note pad’ when it senses that you’ve picked up a pencil.”

“Swell!” I admitted, not really caring if this was true but more than half afraid it was.

“The possibilities are endless! They like to talk to electric letter openers and paper shredders just in case of mistakes it might detect in its hard drive.”

“There’s an electric letter opener? How laz...” Groans, snickers and a little flatulence billowed out of the line-turned-audience behind me, managing to cut my opinion short.

So I picked up my spud wrench and headed for the door, unconvinced of the need to upgrade my current pencil-sharpening system.

The next potential idiot in line bought two sharpeners and got a rain check for the matching note pads! He had an ear bud in one

port, a bluetooth whispering sweet nothings in the other, and a ‘dangly-bud’ emitting a bass beat like an arrhythmic heart which seemed to control his head movements, left foot, right forefinger and maybe other parts besides; all the while discussing life, lists and the pursuit of this current offering with what seemed like thin air. ‘F-M’ technologies (another type of magic) are the hardest to get used to. Hearing people talk to themselves used to be a pretty good sign of trouble and probably still is in some ways. Maybe I’ll bring this subject up again some other time.

Not having much of a load, I got adventurous even for my standards and headed downstream with others on the sidewalk.

I was in the mood to find the perfect compliment to the gag t-shirt I found for my brother last summer of a bunch of beaver in logging gear creating a clear cut. I didn’t have anything in mind, which is normal (ask anyone), so I put my confidence in ‘divine guidance’ like I usually do this time of year.

And it worked!

In less time than it takes to get a pizza delivered to Careywood (or that little town in Egypt), I ran across more stocking stuffers for the reality-impaired than ever I had hoped.

Electric ear muffs, electric stocking hats, electric socks, gloves and long johns! Electric tape measures, plungers, brooms, rolling pins, spatulas, pastry bags and even a cordless paint paddle, I swear!

Digital measuring spoons and cups, rulers, fingernail clippers and swizzle sticks.

(I almost grabbed one of those just to read the manual!)

None of those measured up to what I settled on, though. Self-winding underwear!

May you all get some fer bein’ good this year.

Page 28 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 12| December 2010

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