A Community's Loss

So picturesque, so appropriate for its setting along Pack River, so elegant: an icon is gone, burned to the ground.

I went to the Idaho Club website to add to my own mental vision of how beautiful and grand this structure was. I'm sure I've got pictures of this magnificent log building stuffed away among my collection.

There would be photos of friends, taken during lunch get togethers in the room near the fireplace. I think we did dine in the huge, elegant dining room once.

My teacher friends, my friend Margarete, my mother and sister-in-law Joyce, my sister-in-law Margaret---so many times we met for lunch at what was then called Hidden Lakes Lodge.

I was remembering another few days spent at the lodge this morning. In one case, I was tracking down Ken Parker, then one of the golf pros at Hidden Lakes. I was doing a story for Sandpoint Magazine and feeling a little out of place, cuz, after all, I was a lousy golfer at best. I had golf Hidden Lakes with Bill once, maybe nine holes.

I also remember teaming up with Sean Garvey and Ted Strohmaier (both phenomenal at the sport). That was our 30th-year Sandpoint High class reunion in 1995, and that was before the beautiful lodge. We all met in the morning and reconnected at the end of the day in the old lodge, sort of a modular-style home sitting on a hillside on the west end of the golf course.

Well, later when I went to interview Ken, his office was in that new 30,000 square foot, $6.5 million dollar talk of the town, built by head contractor and everybody's Sandpoint favorite, Skip Pucci. Ken was so nice to me that I totally forgot about being a lousy golfer. He generously gave of his time and his thoughts, as did Mike DePrez and Jaime Packer, the other pros at the time.

Like the lodge, Jaime is tragically no longer with us. One of the nicest young men I've ever met died on his way to a golf match with friends in Kalispell. It was a car-deer encounter. The town mourned Jaime's death because Jaime had touched so many in this community with his down-to-earth friendliness, sense of humor and expertise. I really liked Jaime for one other reason: he was a south paw. Our kind stick together.

The community will be mourning again today as the news circulates to whoever did not hear it last night or see the photos for the flames leaping in the air. Hidden Lakes eventually gave way to a new concept and a re-constructed golf course, designed by none other than Jack Nicklaus. Upscale golf facility and living community would be an understatement for the development that has gone on out there.

The locals have indicated a frustration with its priciness, but the community has embraced the Idaho Club as have numerous folks from around the country who love the concept and who have purchased property for some rather nice second or third homes.

Change has come to this lovely golf resort in the Pack River Delta which opens into Lake Pend Oreille. I was disappointed one day last spring when I decided to drive through the golf course area to see the new homes.

Entering from the highway, I encountered a nice gate keeper who said it would not be possible for me to pass on through. I said thank you, turned around and headed back to Sandpoint, feeling a bit sad about one more sign of the outside moving in and bringing with it a sense of exclusion.

Still, the memories of good times spent at Hidden Lakes, either dining or doing my journalistic work will linger.

This morning I sent a note to Mike and Monica Flaim (http://www.flaimlife.com/) who now live in The Netherlands. I wrote to them because they were one of my memories. As I continued to interview and snap photos for my story that spring, Mike and Monica happened to be at the Lodge. I think it was Spring Break, and Mike had gone golfing. Monica had accompanied him.

They had come back to the Lodge for lunch. We shared a lot of laughs and maybe even a glass of wine or beer. I think if Mike and Monica dig through their collection, I also snapped a few photos of them at their table.

It was just one of the many times it felt good to be in that grand atmosphere of that gorgeous building. My longtime friend Bobbie Huguenin sent out a note last night with reports that only the chimneys remain. After all, when that much wood catches fire, we all know there's not much any amount of water from fire hoses can do to stop it.

Another friend, Sue Brooks, wrote that she had attended a Community Assistance League luncheon there on Wednesday.

"Who would have thought it would be the last event there?" she said.

Having had a house burn down 24 years ago tomorrow, I can identify with the deep sense of loss and emptiness that must be felt this morning by all who are closely associated with the Lodge. It's all-consuming and wearisome, to say the least.

The owners have expressed an upbeat attitude in this morning's news stories for replacing the building as quickly as possible, enhancing it even more than what the photo shows.

The new building will signal a brand new chapter in the area around the Pack River Delta. For now, the community will mourn an icon which served as the center for wonderful and beautiful memories, cherished by many of us locals who spent happy times there.