A Nation That Should Not Be Here
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CHIROPRACTIC CARE CHIROPRACTIC CARE
Intermountain Wellness and Chiropractic is proud to be leading the chiropractic industry in North Idaho with a comprehensive, whole-body approach to wellness. For four consecutive years, we’ve been awarded 1st place for Best Chiropractic Clinic in Bonner County, a testament to our commitment to delivering the most thorough and high-quality care possible. At Intermountain, we prioritize “quality over quantity” in everything we do, offering a variety of specialized therapies and modalities, including chiropractic and extremity care, in-depth blood lab analysis, functional nutrition, natural neuropathy treatment (through the Neuropathy Center of Idaho), sports therapy and rehabilitation, muscle therapies, and more.
Our goal is to be a one-of-a-kind clinic, proudly serving our community. Dr. Cameron VanDenBerg and Dr. Joseph Sweeney are among only six Gonstead-certified doctors in Idaho—a technique recognized as the “gold standard” of chiropractic care for over 50 years.
Your first visit with us will take about 1.5 to 2 hours and includes a comprehensive consultation, a full-spine x-ray (with detailed results provided by your doctor), a muscle scan, and an individualized, specific adjustment and extremity care, or muscle therapy if needed.
We are passionate about helping entire families, from newborns to seniors, and also specialize in Webster technique to support pregnant women throughout their pregnancies. Call us to get started on your path to better wellness at Intermountain Wellness and Chiropractic!
MARKETING
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
Allyia Briggs | 208.620.5444 allyia@like-media.com
MARKETING EXECUTIVE Rebecca Baczewski | 253.363.8830 rebecca@like-media.com
OPERATIONS & MARKETING MANAGER Kamy Jones | marketing@like-media.com
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Jackson Russo | jackson@like-media.com
EDITORIAL
EDITOR
Taylor Shillam | taylor@like-media.com
DESIGN
CREATIVE DIRECTOR | Maddie Horton
DESIGN DIRECTOR | Darbey Russo
SENIOR DESIGNER | Kennedy Pew SENIOR DESIGNER | Sam Stoke
ACCOUNTING / OPERATIONS
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER | Rachel Figgins
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | Steve Russo MANAGING PARTNER | Kim Russo
CONTRIBUTORS
Edward Jones Financial Advisor Ken Wood, The Bonner County Historical Society & Museum
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographer: Rebecca Miller Photography pg. 1, 14-15
Jason Duchow Photography pg. 32
Courtesy Photos: Bonner County Historical Society & Museum
Go Sandpoint Magazine is published monthly and distributed freely throughout North Idaho. Opinions expressed in articles or advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. Go Sandpoint Magazine is not responsible for omissions or information that has been misrepresented to the magazine. Go Sandpoint Magazine is produced and published by Like Media, and no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without the permission of the publisher.
Annie Pollock
FOCUS Turn your savings into paychecks in retirement
with Beth Giacomo, owner of Wine4U
Loved
ABOUT THE COVER
FEATURED ON THE JULY 2026 COVER OF GO SANDPOINT MAGAZINE, Beth Giacomo has brought a dedicated wine shop back to Sandpoint. Wine4U began as a wine club run from a back room, but demand quickly outgrew the space. Today, the shop at 1309 Ponderosa Drive offers bottles not typically found in grocery stores, four wine clubs, monthly tastings, pop-up events, and international wine trips. Giacomo brings an educator’s approach to wine, helping guests explore new regions, varietals, and producers without intimidation. Discover the story behind Wine4U on page 14.
by Rebecca Miller Photography
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Turn your savings into PAYCHECKS IN RETIREMENT
This article was written by
Edward Jones
for use by
your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor Ken Wood
Margaret had saved diligently for decades. Every paycheck, a portion went toward her retirement account. Then, the day finally came: she retired. Suddenly, the hardest part wasn’t the saving. It was learning to spend.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many retirees find the shift from building savings to living off them emotionally difficult, even when they’ve planned carefully. Here are five smart strategies that can help you feel more confident about what’s ahead.
Give yourself permission to spend conservatively. Your retirement plan likely assumes a certain annual spending amount, with increases each year to account for inflation. All else being equal, the lower those initial withdrawals, the longer your money will last. A financial advisor can help you set up portfolio withdrawals personalized to your goals and situation. Feel free to give yourself permission to spend those amounts, knowing there's intention behind them.
Wood
For many retirees, the challenge isn’t math — it’s mindset. After years of being rewarded for saving, spending can feel like doing something wrong. It can help to reframe withdrawals as a paycheck you’ve already earned. For example, using your monthly distribution to cover travel, hobbies or time with family isn’t indulgent; it’s the purpose of the plan you built. Connecting spending to your values can make it feel more natural and sustainable.
Do be sure to review your spending regularly and don’t forget to set aside funds for annual expenses like taxes and insurance.
Keep some cash on hand. A general rule of thumb for retirees is to keep about 12 months’ worth of withdrawals in a separate account for spending and another three to five years’ worth in short-term, fixed-income investments. This cushion can allow your stock investments time to recover from a market downturn, reducing the need to sell investments when markets are down. That said, holding too much cash carries its own risk, as your portfolio may not grow fast enough to keep pace with inflation. So, while some cash is good, you'll also want to remain invested in assets with more growth potential to help your portfolio last through retirement.
Review regularly. Retirement can last 25 years or more, and even the best-laid plans need updating along the way. Review your financial strategy at least once a year or after any major life change.
Stay flexible. Even small adjustments to your spending can have a big impact on how long your money lasts. Retirees who hold off on spending increases in years when their portfolio declines are often able to stretch their savings further than those who increase withdrawals each year for inflation regardless of market performance.
Making the switch from saving to spending takes both careful planning and a genuine shift in mindset. A financial advisor can help you build out an effective approach to switch from saving to spending, and work with you so you can fully enjoy the retirement you worked so hard to reach.
Q&A with BETH GIACOMO
OWNER OF WINE4U
by LIKE MEDIA TEAM
Sandpoint's only dedicated wine shop didn't start as a storefront. Beth Giacomo was running a wine club from a back room when customers started asking to come see what she had. That demand grew into Wine4U at 1309 Ponderosa Drive, offering wines, events, four wine clubs, and international trips.
Q:Sandpoint had gone 12 years without a dedicated wine shop. Why did bringing one back feel important to you?
A. After working for distributors and grocery stores, I saw that grocery wine comes through a corporate channel. You can get the same bottles nearly everywhere. My wine club customers kept asking to see what I had. I had wine in a small room, and it was a mess! I moved into a larger office to display the wine and outgrew it in six months. The landlord next door offered to build out a space for me. It was a great opportunity for me, and I jumped on it!
Q: For someone who has not visited yet, how would you describe the shop and the overall experience?
A. Be prepared to be awed! I didn't want it to look like a liquor store. I wanted it to be charming, fun, and warm. I have a small bar area for wine, by the glass or by the bottle, a patio, and gifts you won't find everywhere, including locally made jewelry and cards. Customers interact with each other when I'm busy. It is very welcoming in a Cheers kind of way!
Q: What makes Wine4U different from a traditional wine shop?
A. I am a wine educator at heart. I want to get people out of their box of only drinking a cab or a chardonnay. When I am tasting wines for the shop, it isn't unusual for me to write customer names next to bottles they might enjoy, reminding me to let them know. My shop is an experience. It is important for my customers to know that I am listening to them and directing them toward what they will enjoy most.
Q: Tell us about your wine clubs, monthly tastings, pop-up events, and VIP wine and food trips. What do you love about creating those experiences?
A. I have four wine clubs, with monthly and quarterly options. I host tastings at Baxter’s Backdoor on the third Monday of every month and pop-up events with winemakers and winery representatives at the shop. The VIP trips are something I've always wanted to do. Our first was a 12-day trip to Northern Italy that included visits to 13 wineries, cooking classes, a balsamic vinegar tour, and an afternoon on a boat on the Mediterranean. We have a trip to South America coming up in April 2027, and another special trip for Fall 2027 in the works! I love wine, travel, and the friends I've made.
Q: What would you like locals and visitors to know about finding Wine4U and stopping in?
A. We are not far from downtown. Maybe five minutes! We have plenty of free parking. I carry wines you won't find in grocery stores and also offer special orders. As long as it is distributed in Idaho, I should be able to get it. I can't have a sign on the front of the building, but I have one on Division, and you can park right in front. Come in and see for yourself. I guarantee you will want to come back!
REAL
Sandpoint, Idaho ESTATE
THE LAKEEffect
EHow proximity to Lake Pend Oreille shapes value by LIKE MEDIA TEAM
Few things move a Sandpoint home price the way distance to the water does.
You can talk about square footage, garage space, the new kitchen, the school zone. Sooner or later, somebody asks the question that matters most.
How close is the lake?
Lake Pend Oreille runs the math here. Idaho’s largest lake is deep enough that the Navy tests submarines in it, and it remains one of the clearest dividing lines in the local market. Locals know the tiers by heart, even if nobody writes them down.
True frontage sits at the top. Your own shoreline, your own dock, water you walk to without crossing a road. After that comes the communitydock neighborhood, where a slip is shared and the lake is a two-minute walk instead of a back step. Then the deeded-access lots, close enough to launch a kayak before lunch but a block back from the water. And up on the hill, the view homes. All the lake you can see and none you can touch.
A dock is the line everything else bends around. With one, a property is lakefront in the way buyers mean the word. Without one, it is lakeadjacent, lake-view, lake-close, all the careful phrases listings use when the boat has to be trailered. The same forty feet of grass reads as two different addresses depending on what waits at the bottom of it.
Each step away from the water usually means a step down in price. Often a big one.
Two houses a third of a mile apart can be separated by six figures, sometimes more. Same builder. Same year. Same granite. One has a dock and a sunset over open water. The other has a partial view through a neighbor’s pines and a short drive to a public launch. On paper, they look close. In the market, they are not.
Scarcity drives all of it. They are not making more shoreline. Hope and East Hope hold their stretch to the east. Dover keeps its frontage along
the river out west. Sagle spreads across the south side of the Long Bridge. Garfield Bay, Bottle Bay, and the quieter coves most visitors never find all compete for buyers chasing the same finite resource.
The supply does not grow.
So the premium holds. Even in slower months, true frontage tends to keep its value better than many inland properties because those chasing it are rarely chasing a deal. Summer is when frontage makes the most sense to buyers. July puts the lake on full display. Buyers who toured a listing in March come back ready to sign. They can see what the premium buys.
Buyer behavior explains much of the rest.
Lake buyers do not shop the way other buyers shop. A family touring an inland home counts bedrooms and checks the commute. The same family standing on a dock stops counting. At that point, they are not buying a house; they are buying mornings on the water, a place for the kids to learn to ski, and a reason for everyone to visit. The dock becomes the purchase. The house comes with it.
That changes how they bid. Logic narrows once the boat is in the picture. Buyers who swore they would never go over budget find another fifty thousand for a slip. Sellers know it. Frontage gets priced for the dream, not the dimensions. Enough of the time, the dream pays.
None of this is secret. Anybody who has lived here a few summers can rank the neighborhoods without thinking. What surprises newcomers is how sharp the lines are. The lake does not lift the whole town the same. It draws a hard edge. The closer you stand to it, the more the ground beneath your feet costs.
Call it the lake effect. It explains the listings that look overpriced until you notice the dock. It explains the bargain two streets back that buyers pass over because, to them, close is not close enough.
Drive the Long Bridge in July and the pattern is visible on both shores. Around Lake Pend Oreille, water is not just the view. It is the value.
474 Granite Ridge Rd E, Sandpoint, Idaho
Set behind a gated entrance at the base of Schweitzer Mountain, this nearly 6-acre estate spans three separate lots and centers around a private 1-acre pond with two docks for year-round recreation. The 3,454 sq ft home offers primarily single-level living with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and high-end finishes throughout. The property features expansive covered outdoor living spaces, a 4-car attached garage, and a 24’ x 64’ RV garage with full hookups, bathroom, and laundry. An upstairs bonus room is preplumbed for a future guest suite or ADU. Just minutes f rom downtown Sandpoint, this is a truly one-of-a-kind Schweitzer-area retreat
REAL ESTATEMarket Report
Median Sales Price
$564,662
53
3.2%
24.2% Homes with Price Drops
*Data provided by Redfin.com, collected from May 2026
Rare double waterfront offering just minutes from Sandpoint, Idaho, with a combined 215 feet of prime frontage and boatable access to Lake Pend Oreille Situated in a quiet neighborhood, this custom 5,045 sq ft contemporary Mediterranean home (built in 2007) features 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, expansive windows, and seamless indoor-outdoor living designed for entertaining and relaxed lake life Set on over an acre with 64 acres above high water, the property includes a private dock and the adjacent waterfront lot offering exceptional privacy, expanded shoreline, and future flexibility in one of North Idaho’s most coveted settings $3,150,000
An extraordinary opportunity awaits with this 1.66-acre commercial parcel located in the highly sought-after North Addition of the Sandpoint Airpark. Unlike most parcels at the Sandpoint Airport, which are leasehold, this lot offers fee simple ownership, a rare and valuable asset for long-term investment and development With direct runway access to the Sandpoint Airport and private frontage on Woodland Drive, this property is uniquely positioned for aviation enthusiasts, commercial developers, or businesses seeking high visibility and utility access Power and sewer are already in place, making this lot truly shovel-ready $1,200,000 shovel-ready
5 Bed | 4 Bath | 5,045 SF | 215’ Combined Waterfront | Private Dock | Double-Lot Offering
A Nation That Should NotBe Here
FIVE IMPROBABLE MOMENTS. ONE THREAD. AND A QUESTION WORTH ASKING 250 YEARS LATER.
By STEVE RUSSO
Four bullets passed through his coat. Two horses died beneath him. He walked off the field. He was twenty-three years old.
It was July 9, 1755. The British column had marched into an ambush near the Monongahela River, deep in what is now western Pennsylvania. The commanding general was dead. The officers around the young Virginia colonel were being cut down where they stood. The battle was a slaughter.
George Washington should have been one of the bodies.
He wasn't.
Days later, he wrote to his brother. He had no explanation that satisfied him. So he reached for the only word that did. “By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence,” he wrote, “I have been protected beyond all human probability and expectation.”
He did not say lucky. He did not say skilled. He said something had kept him beyond human explanation. The all-powerful dispensations of Providence. In other words, the hand of God.
That is the documented account. It is in Washington’s own hands. It needs nothing added to it.
But years later, the story took on another layer. A Native chief who had fought against the British that day reportedly sought Washington out. He said that during the battle, he had ordered his best warriors to single out the tall officer on the white horse. They fired again and again. Nothing touched him. The chief said he had finally stopped firing himself and ordered his men to do the same, convinced the “Great Spirit” was shielding the young man.
He had come, he said, to see the face of a man who could not be killed.
And he was not the only one. Somewhere in that same column, a young wagoner named Daniel Boone cut his horse loose and rode clear of the
slaughter. He was barely twenty. The frontier he would open, the road west through the Cumberland Gap, the settlement that would carry his name; all of it was still ahead of him. On that field, two men whose names the country would never forget came within a musket shot of dying as strangers. Both walked away.
Twenty-one years later, whatever had kept him during the battle at the Monongahela River would have to keep him again.
It was August 1776. The Declaration of Independence had been signed weeks earlier. The ink was barely dry. And the army carrying the new country on its back was about to be destroyed.
Washington had lost the Battle of Long Island. Nine thousand
Washington made a decision that should not have worked. He ordered an evacuation across the river by night. In open boats. In silence. With the enemy a mile away.
men were pinned against the East River with the British army closing in behind them. The Royal Navy was moving to seal the river. By morning, the war would be over. The country would be over. The signers would hang.
Washington made a decision that should not have worked. He ordered an evacuation across the river by night. In open boats. In silence. With the enemy a mile away.
The boats moved through the dark for hours. Men. Horses. Cannon. Everything.
Dawn came too early.
The last boats were still on the wrong side of the river when the sun began to rise. The British would see them. The river was about to become a killing field.
And then the fog rolled in.
It came up from the river itself. Thick. It covered the Brooklyn side
and left the British side clear. It held until the last boat crossed. Then it lifted. Benjamin Tallmadge, who was there, called it “a peculiar providential occurrence.”
The army lived. The country lived.
While Washington was being kept alive, the Continental Congress was on its knees.
On May 17, 1776, weeks before the Declaration was even written, Congress called the entire country to a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Not a moment of silence. Not a vague appeal to the divine. A summons for a whole people to kneel. The Library of Congress describes the proclamation as setting May 17, 1776, as a “day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” throughout the colonies.
They asked the people to confess their sins. They asked God for pardon. And they named the One through whom that pardon would come.
“Through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ.”
The
two men most responsible for the Declaration of Independence. Political rivals, then friends, then the last living signers died on the same day.
Those are not my words. They are the words of the Continental Congress of the United States of America, on the eve of independence.
The men who built this country asked for mercy by name.
Eleven years later, the country they had won was nearly lost again. This time, not on a battlefield, but in a room.
It was June 1787. The Constitutional Convention had been meeting for weeks in Philadelphia. The delegates could not agree. The arguments had grown sharp. The small states would not yield to the large. The large would not yield to the small. The whole project was about to collapse.
Benjamin Franklin was eighty-one years old. He was the least orthodox man in the room. For most of his life, he had called himself a deist. He had questioned almost every doctrine Christianity holds.
He stood up.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time,” he said, “and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.”
Then he asked the convention to stop and pray.
The deadlock broke. The Constitution was written.
The least religious man in the room was the one who told them to look up.
Fifty years after the Declaration was signed, on July 4, 1826, John Adams lay dying in Massachusetts. He was ninety years old. The day he had helped create was being celebrated in every town in America.
His last reported words were “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
He was wrong.
Six hundred miles away, in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson had died a few hours earlier. The two men most responsible for the Declaration of Independence. Political rivals, then friends, then the last living signers — died on the same day. Fifty years to the day from the document they had built together.
Two men. One day. Fifty years.
The odds are hard to dismiss.
Five moments stand out: Washington surviving a battlefield, an army escaping under fog, Congress calling the colonies to prayer, Franklin urging a convention to look up, and Adams and Jefferson dying on the same Fourth of July.
Two and a half centuries apart at the edges. One thread running through them.
A young officer who should have died. An army that should have been destroyed. A
Congress that named the Mediator. A deist who told a convention to pray. Two founders who died on the same improbable day.
You can call it all ‘coincidence.’ Some people do. But coincidence happens once. Maybe twice. It does not keep arriving at the exact moments a nation is about to be lost.
But it did. Again and again. At the longest odds, in the narrowest moments, what Washington could only call “the all-powerful dispensations of Providence.”
And this is not the whole list. These are only the moments that fit on a page. The rest could fill books.
So the question is yours to answer.
What do you call it when the same hand keeps showing up?
The Founders had a word for it. They used it openly. They wrote it into proclamations, letters, and last addresses. They did not always agree on theology. Washington was not an evangelical. Jefferson was not orthodox. Franklin called himself a deist for most of his life.
But when their country was being saved, they did not credit themselves. They looked up.
And in 1776, when Congress called the colonies to humiliation, fasting, and prayer, it did not speak only in vague terms of Providence. It wrote the name plainly:
Jesus Christ — “through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ,” a sinful people might “obtain his pardon and forgiveness.”
America turns 250 this summer.
The fireworks will go up over towns the Founders never saw. The grills will smoke. The flags will hang from porches across the Inland Northwest. There will be parades from Bonners Ferry to Coeur d’Alene to Spokane, and in thousands of small towns across the country.
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, it is worth stopping to ask the question history keeps asking.
What do you call it when the same hand keeps showing up?
A young man walked off a battlefield, where he had no business walking off. An army crossed a river under a fog that lifted at exactly the right moment. Congress put the name of Jesus Christ into the founding documents of a nation that did not yet exist. An old skeptic told a deadlocked convention to look up and pray. Two old men died on the same day, fifty years to the hour from the day they helped build.
Look at those five moments together. Then decide for yourself. If it was coincidence, it was the greatest chain of coincidences ever recorded.
But if it was “Providence,” then the hand that guided a nation through centuries can certainly guide one soul home.
Happy Birthday, America!
The fireworks will go up over towns the Founders never saw. The grills will smoke. The flags will hang from porches across the Inland Northwest.
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A MUSICIAN WITH RANGE AND AMBITION
Music Conservatory of Sandpoint student brings drive and big dreams
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Margot Mitchell:
by LIKE MEDIA TEAM
Margot Mitchell does not choose just one lane. The 11-year-old rising seventh grader studies voice and piano at the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint (MCS), began playing the flute in band at Washington Elementary, and picks up the guitar, ukulele, and saxophone on her own at home. Most students choose one instrument. Margot keeps adding to the list.
Her two years in MCS productions have put her on stage in a significant way. In 2025, she played Annie in Annie, Jr. In 2026, she took on Elsa in Frozen, Jr., a role that required learning new pieces with more complex timing. Her director, Janice Wall, has guided her through both. Wall has spent five years giving Margot roles that pushed her limits, and Margot has met each one. “I cannot thank her enough,” she says.
Band this past year introduced a different kind of challenge: playing as part of a group. With a background in voice and piano through MCS, Margot found the flute approachable, but the experience revealed something larger. “It made me realize I can learn other instruments, too,” she says. Being in band shifted how she thinks about music and what she is capable of.
Before a performance, she keeps her preparation simple. Rest the night before. Listen to music. Drink tea, which also soothes her voice. When motivation runs low during practice, she thinks about the audience waiting on the other side of all that work. Those people showed up to support her. She wants to give them something worth the trip.
What comes next is ambitious. Saxophone and guitar are on the list for next year. Beyond that, Juilliard is already part of the dream. She lives by a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.: “You do not have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” For Margot, the steps are already adding up.
A GALLERY BORN FROM GRIT
One woman’s rebellion, refuge, and rising impact in a tiny
Idaho town
Teascarlet Fine Art isn’t just a gallery. It’s the result of one woman deciding to build a life on her own terms.
When Hannah first started pursuing a full-time living as an artist, she believed she'd need New York galleries and Paris exhibitions. So she went after them and reached them. But while still pursuing the international art world, she noticed a little building for lease in downtown Bonners Ferry, the town where she’s lived for 21 years and raised her kids.
An art gallery here? She knew it was crazy, but she went for it anyway. Art was once her lifeline, then her rebellion, and now it’s the way she’s connecting an entire community.
Inside her studio gallery, you’ll find abstracts that make you feel something, flowers that seem to breathe, and tree paintings that connect people to the landscape they love.
Step outside, and her creative impact stretches even further–events like Chalk the Block, a sidewalk art festival that brings out hundreds of people, all ages, all creating together.
Hannah is making North Idaho (and beyond) a little more beautiful–one brushstroke, one connection, one hell-yes decision at a time.
If you haven’t visited yet, what are you waiting for?
Seeing art in person is always the best! But you can also check it out at Teascarlet.com.
SANDPOINT BULLDOGS
CAP A CHAMPIONSHIP
SEASON
TWO STATE TITLES HEADLINE A BANNER YEAR
by LIKE MEDIA TEAM
S andpoint claimed two team state championships in 2025-26 and sent a third squad to a title game. A banner year by any measure.
Fall set the tone. The football team went 8-3 and reached the 5A state quarterfinals before falling to Skyline 43-35 at the ICCU Dome, with senior quarterback Braden Buckhout passing for over 2,000 yards on the season and 3,000 for his career. Both cross-country teams finished fifth at the 5A state meet after sweeping the District 1-2 titles, led by all-state runners Jack Lovin and Elizabeth Storms. The girls extended their district-title streak to a third straight, their 12th in 13 years.
Winter belonged to the girls' basketball team. Seeded second, the Lady Bulldogs reached the 5A state championship game before falling to Pocatello 62-49, with junior Jordyn Tomco scoring 32 points in the semifinal win over Blackfoot. The boys finished 12-13 under first-year head coach Will Love. On the mat, the girls wrestling team won the AllClass District 1-2 title behind champions Rhaelyn Schedlbauer, Avery Inge and Teagan Newsom, then placed fifth at state, its best finish yet.
Then came spring, and the trophies. The boys' track and field team won its first 5A state title since 2003, piling up 78 points. Senior Maverick Gomez won the 100 in a school-record 10.55 seconds, took second in the 200, and joined Isaac Schmit, Kamren Ziarnick and junior Trey Blumenberg on the winning 4x100 relay, which ran a record 41.47. Sophomore Hayden Peterson added a state title in the javelin. Junior Jordyn Tomco qualified for state in a third sport.
Baseball matched them. The Bulldogs finished 25-2, won their final 17 games, and beat Skyview 18-13 for the program’s first state championship since 2006. On the tennis courts, junior Pepper Rickert went 25-0 and won her third straight 5A girls' singles state title.
The titles will hang in the gym for years. The names will stay in the record books longer. For a program that had waited more than two decades for some of these moments, 2025-26 delivered the rare season where the wait ended twice.
BRUSH. FLOSS. VISIT. REPEAT.
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SUMMER PLAY
Sand volleyball, basketball, a pair of tennis and pickleball courts, and a swim beach, two blocks off Bridge Street.
Sandpoint's main sports complex. Tennis courts, ball fields, a splash pad, and the Tiny Wood bike skills course for kids.
The all-wheeled park doubled in size and added a street section. Free and open all day.
An easy walk, run, or ride along the lakeshore, minutes from downtown.
Basketball courts, lawns wide enough for frisbee, and a small skate spot.
Pickleball and tennis courts and paths along the water, next to Memorial Field.
Lift-served mountain biking, the zip line, climbing wall, and disc golf are open daily through the summer.
A sandy swim beach, easy trails around the water, and canoe and paddleboard rentals, about a dozen miles south.
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the festival at Sandpoint 2026
Thursday, July 30 - Sunday, August 9, 2026
Forty-three summers in, the Festival at Sandpoint returns to War Memorial Field for nine nights of live music on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. Booking starts more than a year in advance, balancing audience requests, artist routing, and stage capacity across genres.
The 2026 lineup:
•Thursday, July 30: Andy Grammer with Walk Off the Earth
• Friday, July 31: Aaron Lewis and the Stateliners
• Saturday, August 1: Portugal. The Man
• Sunday, August 2: Community Night with Joseph, Sydney Dale, and Hannah Meehan
• Wednesday, August 5: George Thorogood and the Destroyers with the Robert Cray Band
• Thursday, August 6: Midland
• Friday, August 7: Switchfoot
• Saturday, August 8: Rick Springfield
• Sunday, August 9: How to Train Your Dragon 2: In Concert
Community Night returns for its second year at $20, the most affordable ticket of the series, and gives two North Idaho singer-songwriters a larger stage. The Grand Finale brings the Festival at Sandpoint Orchestra together with a live-scored screening to close the run. War Memorial Field sits at 801 Ontario Street. General admission is available. Satellite parking and a free shuttle are available from Sandpoint High School.
2-5
JULY
JULY 2026
1776: THE MUSICAL
Honey Pearl Productions brings the Tony Award-winning musical 1776 to the Panida Theater July 2–5, marking America’s 250th anniversary. The story follows John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson through the debates that shaped the Declaration of Independence. Evening performances run Thursday through Saturday at 7 pm, with a Sunday matinee on July 5 at 3 pm. The show is rated PG. Admission and ticket availability may vary by performance. Honey Pearl Productions is a Sandpoint-based community theater company committed to producing professional-caliber stage work locally. Visit HoneyPearlProductions.com/1776 for full event details.
SANDPOINT LIONS CLUB FOURTH OF JULY PARADE & FIREWORKS
The Sandpoint Lions Club hosts the town’s Independence Day celebration on Saturday, July 4. The Children’s Parade begins at 9:30 am downtown, followed by the Grand Parade at 10 am. Festivities then move to Sandpoint City Beach for food, drinks, raffles, and family activities throughout the afternoon. New this year, the Lions will host a beer garden at City Beach to help offset the cost of the $25,000 fireworks show, which lights up Lake Pend Oreille at dusk. The Lions Club has organized this celebration since the early 1950s. Visit Facebook.com/SandpointLionsClub for full event details. 4 JULY
SANDPOINT BOAT SHOW
10-12
JULY
11
JULY
21-26
JULY
Antique and classic wooden boats line the Sand Creek boardwalk in downtown Sandpoint for the annual Sandpoint Boat Show, July 10–12, hosted by the Inland Empire Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society. The main show runs Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm at Sandpoint Marina and the City Boardwalk, with a Sand Creek boat parade at 3 pm. Kids can build a miniature wooden boat on-site. The three-day weekend opens with a Friday evening Welcome Aboard gathering. Free and open to the public. Visit InlandEmpireACBS.com for full event details.
CHRIS BOTTI AT THE FOX
Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti performs Saturday, July 11, at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox in Spokane, presented by the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint. Botti’s career has spanned three decades and includes collaborations with Sting, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, and Frank Sinatra, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Sydney Opera House. The concert supports the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, an accredited international school of performing arts based at 110 Main Street in Sandpoint. Tickets and travel packages are available online. Visit SandpointConservatory.org/chris-botti for full event details.
SURVIVAL SISTERHOOD RETREAT
The Survival Sisterhood Retreat takes over Prater Mountain Ranch in Priest River July 21–26, gathering women for five days of hands-on wilderness skills instruction. Karie Lee Knoke leads the retreat alongside up to ten expert instructors, covering fire-making, foraging, shelter building, archery, self-defense, and herbal medicine across 160 acres with a swimming pond and creek. Daily yoga, nature sits, and evening campfire sessions round out the schedule. Open to women and girls 14 and older. Cost is $1,950, which includes meals, camping, and classes. Visit KarieLeeKnoke.com/ survivalsisterhood for full event details.
Events are subject to change. Check directly with organizers for the most current details.
local fun fact
SANDPOINT HAS ALWAYS LOVED A PARADE
HISTORY, HOMEMADE FLOATS, AND THE MOTOR MOVIE
courtesy of THE BONNER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM
Do folks still love a parade?
Around Sandpoint, they sure do. The Fourth of July parade goes clear back to 1906, when half the town would turn out, not just to watch, but to see who was who, who built what float, and to get together afterward for a picnic or BBQ.
This 1954 parade photo is full of that old Sandpoint spirit: decorated rigs, homemade floats, proud businesses, clubs, teams, and neighbors all trying for that “Best of” ribbon. Some of the businesses are long gone now, as are a few of the buildings along the route, but the Bonner County Historical Museum
keeps those memories from blowing away like sawdust in a mill yard.
One of our historical nuggets remembers the Panida Motor Movie, Sandpoint’s old drive-in tied to the downtown Panida Theater. Come summer, families packed into cars, teenagers found excuses to sit close, and everybody put up with mosquitoes for the magic of a movie under the stars. Alas, the Motor Movie got shelved at the dawn of color TV.
So here’s the question: do you remember where the Motor Movie stood? Or are you old-timer enough to admit you were there?
