About Bonner County, ID

I have to admit I am just now jumping on the bandwagon to support our Sandpoint High School football team. I really hadn't been to any high school games that I can remember....well, probably since I was in high school myself.

But high school football in Sandpoint is really a fun and exciting event. We live just a couple blocks from Memorial Field, and I remember earlier in the season hearing an incredible amount of noise coming from the stadium. I had walked down with my dog and my son to check it out, and saw a completely packed house of raving fans cheering on the local high school team.

This support seems to be there for every home game. I have tried to stop in to check it out when I'm around. And its always a good time, with seemingly everyone in town showing up to suppor the team. To me this is quintessential small town living at its best, and I love it!

I'm encouraging my fifteen month old son to pay close attention, as this year's team is pretty awesome. They just won their semi-final game of the 4A division Idaho State High School Playoffs, 20-8, over Hillcrest. This puts them in the State Finals for 4A, which takes place on Nov 20 in Moscow, against Blackfoot HS. I believe this is the first finals appearance for the school in about 15 or 20 years!

DO NOT move to SANDPOINT!

I have coveted a life in Sandpoint, Idaho ever since I discovered this mountain town in the early 70's. Life's twists and turns did not allow me to actually move here full-time until 2005. I had many valid reasons for delaying the inevitable and I stand by them. One of the big reasons, however, was that I was worried Sandpoint wasn't ready for me.

I'm a tennis player. I have been playing year around (indoors and outdoors) for the last thirty years. This included local and regional tournaments, USTA leagues (summer and winter), fanatical tennis buddies who retained the same indoor permanent court times for 20 years running, tennis drills, tennis parties...you know the scene. The question always was...can I be happy in Sandpoint without indoor tennis?

Well, I'm here to tell you...if that is a stumbling block for any possible Sandpoint transplants today, you can put those fears to rest. (You'll have to also put some of your preconceived notions about appropriate "tennis weather" aside also. We just don't care about that here.) This place is EXTREME...the weather, the people, the geography, the politics, THE PASSION.

I just got off the court after a grueling 3 hour match with three of my close tennis buddies (Steve Kirby, Eric Plummer and Joel Wahlin). The match started in rather cool 31 degree weather and ended in a warmish 35 degree blizzard. Two amazing things happened; 1) the level of play never wavered and, 2) we just got the perfect 3 hour cross-training workout in preparation for the November 27th ski opening of Schweitzer Mountain - the pride and joy of North Idaho. The perfect start to the day!

While we were playing, there was an ultimate frisbee match taking place at the other end of the park. People don't hide from blizzards around here, they rejoice. (That is Eric above...he wasn't down long).

Bottom line, I'll be playing outdoor tennis here probably into December...I'll play about ten times indoors this winter in either Coeur d'Alene or Spokane...then, on February 25th, the high school tennis season begins (did I mention I coach the team?) and I'll be on the court five to six days a week until the middle of May. The middle of May marks the beginning of the "summer tennis season" (weather permitting...in other words, it will have to be pouring rain for us to "bag it"). Like my wife says, "Kent, you get your fair share of tennis in Sandpoint!" ...and that is my message to you. Do not let our lack of indoor tennis dissuade you from moving to Sandpoint! This place rocks it. (and, by the way, with a little luck we'll have an unbelievable indoor tennis facility here in the VERY near future...more on that later...)

When I am not playing tennis with passion (...or skiing), I am selling real estate with passion from the Coldwell Banker Resort Realty, Schweitzer Mountain office. CALL ME! I HAVE MORE STORIES!

A tree, its pieces cast aside by nature, polished smooth by water and sand, and bleached by the sun used to create awe inspiring works of art. Driftwood has been a favorite amoung local artists for years. Here on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille we have the perfect driftwood hunting grounds.

Using the natural water currents of the lake and with the use of Log booms built in the river by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, logs that enter the Lake Pend Orielle are collected in the drift yard by Clark Fork Idaho. As the lake levels lower each year, the collection site is left high and dry. Locals and travelers alike stop by the yard to find artistic inspiration in wood. Every couple of years the acres of remaining driftwood is lit on fire to make room for more.

So what can be made with driftwood? Whatever you want it to be. One of the grandest examples comes from the Horse Sculptures of Heather Jansch

You can see more of her work at http://heatherjansch.com

Some of our local artisans and shops

http://www.woodnwings.com/

http://www.sharongunter.com/

http://mistymountainfurniture.com

http://podriftwood.com

http://www.packriverlighting.com

November through January is some of our busiest times for real estate. I often get comments about the docks being left high in the air because of the level of the lake during these months. Not to worry when it is time to launch a boat, the water will be there.

There is a dam on the Clark Fork river on the Montana border that lets water into the lake, and one at Albeni Falls in Priest river by the Washington border. In ancient times in the ice age there was an ice Dam about where the dam is now which held back a huge lake Missoula that basically covered all of western Montana. Repeatedly this dam failed and that is what carved out the canyon and Lake Pend Oreille and even formed the bad lands in Washington which are runnels from the torrential flooding. All of the mountains in Upper Montana and in Idaho flow into Lake Pend Orielle. The dams keep this area from flooding. I live on the Clark Fork river and I can tell ahead of time when there will be a storm coming in because they let water out of the Dam at Clark Fork it flows through the lake, down the Pend Oreille River and then they let it out at Albeni.

Every year to insure that we do not have major floods they lower the lake level by 6 feet and then operate the dams to accomodate rainfall and ice melt. This area used to be well known for the land locked Salmon Kokanee. With over fishing and the introduction of lake trout the numbers of Kokanee dwindled almost to the point of extintion. Starting last year they started paying people to fish out the lake trout that predidate on the Kokanee and they lowered the lake levels another 20 feet so that the spawning areas of the predidator fish would be limited. Fish and game reports that this method actually helped and they have doubled the population of the bearing kokanee. so they are doing it again this year.

They start mildly filling the lake in April. It is mandatory the lake is up in the spring in summer for boating. This is a high tourist area and with all this water, boating is on the agenda. Memorial day is the official day that the lake has to be a full capacity. This is when the marinas all open for business and people start coming in. Then after labor day in September they start lowering it down in prep for flooding control.

For the first time we will have a farmers market during the winter months. Come join us from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday, beginning Nov. 14, through the end of April. Over 30 vendors will be selling their wares, Just like the outdoor Farmers Market in the summer - except indoors!