Still (or not so Still)
Life in Sandpoint

Something about the beach and the dock at Seasons at Sandpoint just screams for a party or gathering. We try to do one a few times each month depending on the season and the weather. Here is a quick clip, albeit rather delayed, of our End of the Dock potluck party at the end of August. It was great to see residents and their friends in such a peaceful and stunning setting. If you were there, please share in the comments section.

We look forward to seeing the owners at the Seasons Owners’ Fire Pit Friday at 8 pm. Bring something to drink and something to roast!

This post is part of a series of Community within a Community, and our desire to recognize members of the Seasons community who are actively involved in making Sandpoint and Bonner County an even better place to live.

The two pillars of a strong community are education and health care. The third pillar, it can be argued, is Parks and Recreation. Howard Simmons has made health care his mission. “My wife is involved in education. I saw a need and an opportunity in healthcare”, said Howard Simmons, a Seasons at Sandpoint resident. Howard was integral in developing the Bonner General Hospital Foundation in 2007. Few people realize that Bonner General is a locally owned, not-for-profit hospital. The Hospital Foundation operates separately from the Hospital Board to provide a channel for fund raising, and to assist in needs that cannot be funded through their annual budget.

We are fortunate here in Sandpoint to have such a sophisticated medical community compared to other cities our size. One would think we could attribute that to the lifestyle the area offers (in other words, the third pillar). It’s something we don’t think about, and take for granted until we need it. Bonner General is one of the largest employers in the county. It has an ER, an imaging department, surgical center, maternity, and cancer treatment center. Just a few years ago, cancer patients had no other option but to drive to Coeur d’Alene for treatment.

Although in its infancy, the organization has funded several initiatives and upgrades to hospital equipment. Possibly the finest achievement at this point, is its organizational structure which will ensure the boards success and sustainability. Howard wanted to limit the board to a small number to keep the decision-making process nimble. Having said that, they created an Advisory Council of diverse community members who serve a 1-year term. The council serves to increase the knowledge base and provide a variety of areas of expertise in which the Board can tap into.

The Foundation Board facilitates fund raising activities and writes grant applications for capital expenditures not in the budget.  They are also looking at long term capital improvement projects for the facility which will need to be upgraded eventually.  The main hospital board has engaged a study to look at the needs of the region and see which hospitals are providing which services, to eliminate overlap and to identify any areas of need.

Some stats from the hospital for 2009 – pretty interesting for a little community hospital!

345 babies born
2423 inpatient admissions
57753 outpatient visits
5537 surgical procedures
8760 ER visits
37141 imaging studies
10891 home health and hospice visits
6142 cancer center visits

Bonner General Hospital Foundation is committed to advancing the promise of life through philanthropy. It is part of their mission statement. Find out how you can help or get involved here.

Howard and his wife Georgia live at Seasons at Sandpoint. When he is not busy with the Foundation, you might see him out on his boat on the lake, or snowmobiling in the mountains. He loves that you don’t have to go far to have fun.

Sailing Lake Pend Oreille

Ahhh, yes, nothing like sitting on the deck at Seasons and watching the sailboats skim across the lake from the front row, literally.

The Sandpoint Sailing Association (SSA) was founded in 1996 by a passionate group of sailors with a a focus on fun. How could it not be with such a group of enthusiastic individuals? They hold weekly races are held on Thursday nights as well as several annual events such as the Spud Cup and the White Rock Race. This is the only active sailing club in the Inland Empire. Interested in learning how to sail? how to race? They host lessons, seminars and workshops.

Of course, an important component of their work is the Youth Sailing Program and Seasons at Sandpoint is pleased to be an underwriter. “This is a great program for the residents of Sandpoint and those who otherwise might not have access to the lake and sailing”, said Brent Johnson, project manager at Seasons for BVG Incorporated.”

SSA works closely with The City of Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Department who handles the registration, scheduling, and insurance for the volunteer instructors.  “We really value this program for Sandpoint and the diversity it brings to our recreation program” says Jason Wiley, the head of the Sandpoint Recreation Department.  “The SSA is a terrific group to work with and spends hundreds of volunteer hours pulling this off every year”.

The boats used, Holder 14′s, were donated in 2007  by SSA founder Keith Sheckler.  Over the winter months volunteers refurbished the hulls and rigging.  In 2008, Seasons at Sandpoint purchased new sails for the fleet.

“There is a lot of support for this program and the membership is passionate about growing the program” according to the SSA commodore, Ivan Rimar.  “Every member has something invested in this fleet and it is a joy to share this wonderful sport with our town.”

We are pleased to see this program grow and flourish. If you are interested in getting involved, visit their website or call the City Parks and Recreation Department (208) 263-3371.

Chris Chambers of  Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby’s International Realty guest blogs today.

I enjoy following the data reports that show the trends in our local market.  There are opportunities to find some pearls of wisdom and try to overlay them on the predictions for the future – it is human nature to learn from the past.

I am especially fascinated to compare these observations with the current feelings and confidence in the marketplace.  Consumers now have access to a huge amount of data and this can sometimes drive opinions to wide extremes.

Interestingly, I’ve observed that when the market is hot, the tall stories and feelings of euphoria seem to fall short of reality.  Conversely, when the market is off, the feelings of fear and despair also fall short of reality.  Clearly, we have had a price correction in our market and 2008-2009 was quite a time – especially for Sandpoint, a town that relies heavily on second home buyers and retirees.  But when you look at 2009 YTD and compare it to 2010, the trend tells a story that is a bit different from the street talk we all participate in – including me!  You can look further back than 2009, but what’s the point?

Sandpoint from Gold Hill

Take for example, a broad brushstroke of all of the residential listings in our MLS (multiple listing service).  This includes Bonner and Boundary County (and a sprinkling of a few others like Sanders County in Montana and Kootenai County).  If you just try to look at the big picture – you will see that things are improving.  Here is the summary of the data:

You can see the market activity has improved with 14% more listings sold and a reduction in inventory of 13%.   The other good news is that while other “bubble” markets across the United States have seen extremely large increases in their prices, followed by extremely steep declines, that really hasn’t been the case in the Spokane/Idaho Panhandle region.   Prices in this area are definitely lower than where they were a few years back, but, without the radical free fall that other larger markets have seen.

The increase in sales activity combined with the reduced inventory indicates that buyers are definitely coming back into the market.  But, as a seller in this type of market you still need to be priced correctly in order to capture the attention of these prospective purchasers.  When this reversal happens, it is also typical that the best inventory is snapped up first since buyers will always gravitate towards buying the BEST when the softer pricing allows them to do so.

At Seasons at Sandpoint, we’ve seen similar trends. The interest in this community has increased and the buyers are buying again. Seasons is capturing a decent share of the  market because of its’ unique “in town AND on the lake” location. The six sales realized thus far at Seasons in the summer of 2010 shows that Seasons seems to have solved this rather simple puzzle.  That is, when you have the best, and you have priced it correctly, you will always find a way to help people to see the reality through all the hype.

I welcome your questions, and feel free to contact me for more information.

Chris Chambers
Tomlinson Sandpoint
Sotheby’s International Realty

One Festival Picnic example - please send us your best picnic shot

It’s just about that time of year. The Festival at Sandpoint is coming, along with all the requisite traditions and rituals of this classic outdoor concert series on the lake. Those of us in the know are getting geared up with picnic gear, planning menus, and putting those tickets in the pocket of the beach bag.

For those of you who have never attended, we want you to be properly prepared , so we’ve put together this little guide to making the most of your Festival at Sandpoint experience.  Trust us, you don’t want to arrive and find yourself  coveting your neighbor’s Festival set-up. Festival picnic envy is not pretty.

Following are 5 tips to getting the most out of your Festival experience.

1. Pace yourself: If you have season pass this is a downright hedonistic, fun, exciting…. and exhausting two weeks. So pace yourself such that you can make it through the whole two weeks. Perhaps some training beforehand with eating and drinking, and staying up late on a “school night”.
2. Location location location: Is picnic blanket location important? Let’s be realistic. Pick the shows you are attending where sitting up close or having a great spot is important.  For the others, it’s a small enough venue, we can hear and see very well from all spots on the lawn. But for the one or two concerts you are especially excited to see, its worth it to plan a bit and get there early. To get a good spot, you need to be in line up to an hour prior to gate opening. Here’s how its done: Bring a book.  Bring your running shoes. (yours truly blew the whole deal when she lost a flip flop in the melee and had to backtrack to get it.) Roll up the blanket for optimal unfurling-and-placement in one step. There is no time to be grappling with a neatly folded blanket when you arrive at selected location. You will lose your space. Ok, now running is not allowed when the gates open, but you can practice run/walking this week and perfect the style now so you’re not practicing when the heat is on.
3. Picnic equipment: This is serious business. You do not want to look like a Festival newbie amongst the longtime attendees, aka the Festival pros. Bring your low beach chairs. Or, this is what I suggest: Once the blanket is down, and the corners are marked with shoes and bags to prevent encroachment by neighbors, send one of your party to the back to rent the low plastic chairs for $2 each. We do this anyway, it’s more revenue for the Festival, and we don’t have to carry the chairs. Believe me, we have plenty of other stuff to carry with the picnic. Your cooler is allowed in, and you can buy great picnic accessories at Pend d’Oreille Winery such as the steady stakes that hold your wine glass on the ground, or the plates with the clip for your wine glass, and fabulous picnic baskets with all the accoutrements.
4. The Food: What do you do for your picnics? How about theming your food with the music for that night. Salsa night meant spanish tapas, surf night with Dick Dale meant tropical cuisine. Our festival tradition is this huckleberry cake recipe for dessert. (replace the blackberries with huckleberries.) We’d love to hear about your picnic recipes in the comments section. Festival Street showcases food from many of our local restaurants and is well worth a visit at least a few times. So don’t feel like you have to take the time to make a picnic for every night.
5. The Music: oh right, we’re here for the music! What is so cool about the Festival is the line-up. It gets announced mid-May every year (the weekend of Lost in the 50′s). Prior to the announcement, season passes are on sale for a ridiculously low cost/high value ratio. You’re buying into it blind, and why wouldn’t you? Each year the line-up has some familiar names; musicians we can’t believe are actually coming to Sandpoint, and some new names, meaning we get introduced to new music each year. Additionally, some of our local musical talent is tapped to open for the bigger acts. If you havent seen it yet, the full list is here.

Seasons at Sandpoint is an easy cruiser-bike ride from the Festival. Who’s going?  What are your favorite Festival traditions? Please submit your photos and videos to online community manager Lisa Gerber – We’d love to share them with the rest of the group.

The lupine is in bloom - must be summer

In Alaska, they are wearing down jackets and flip flops. In Arizona, they are closing the blinds, and turning up the A/C.

In Idaho, we’ve found the happy medium.

We’re wearing fleece and flop flops.

Summer arrived with some fits as you can see in the Fourth of July video here. But it is here now with that refreshing, weightless air, free of the burden of humidity, bringing just enough warmth but not too much that it drains our energy. That way, we get to go play in the woods and on the lake. You’ll hear us complaining when it hits the high 80′s. Sure, we complain in the Spring while we wait for summer’s long anticipiate arrival. We hop a plane down south or in the tropics for some heat relief, but there is nothing, I mean nothing, like crossing back over that Long Bridge and the cool, dry summer that we’ve awaited.

The weekend of the 11th and 12th was precisely one of those weekends. We put on our marine themed fleeces and flip flops and walked over to the boardwalk on Sand Creek and checked out the Wooden Boat Festival. The Flatwater Regatta was Sunday the 12th on Sand Creek. The best viewing spot was a quick walk from Seasons at Sandpoint. We watched expert canoes and kayaks, recreational kayaks, and the best for last with the anything goes class, as long as it floats.

This past Saturday the 17th, we put on our casual fleeces and cushy flip flops for the Farmers’ Market which is exploding finally – with squash blossoms, garlic scapes, and salad greens with nasturtium. We to stuffed the squash blossoms with local cheese – hot pepper cheese curds was our choice – lightly breaded and then sauted with the garlic scapes for a lovely locally made dinner. We didn’t need much because we spend the afternoon at the Mountain Music Festival at Schweitzer andhad some of the smoked barbecue we’ve been hearing about. Brand new this year.

We’re struggling to find time to simply read on our deck overlooking Lake Pend Oreille. Maybe tomorrow.

Another not-so-still day in Sandpoint. What is your favorite thing about July here?

It was great to see about 75 guests including Seasons owners, their friends, and family at the annual Owner’s Barbecue.

Check out the video, there was play on the beach, Zumba lessons, delicious barbecue of course, and live music.