Saturday Slight

 

Just when I'm thinking my columbine are awfully pretty, I discover that those at the Bonner Community Food Bank are twice as big and twice as pretty. 

Someone has a gardener's touch down there.

Is it you, dear Debbie?

I went to the food bank yesterday to kill some time while the pest control people were spraying our house.   

They said not to go in the house for 45 minutes, so Bill went to the woods, and I took the dogs for a drive. 

The guys who did the spraying said it should be good up to 90 days. 

They also said this has been a particularly bad ant year. The spray takes care of both ants and bees. 

Yay!

Keeping it brief this Saturday.  Bill is headed of to Hayden Lake where he'll go fishing with his friend Chris. 

I'll hang out mostly at home and enjoy some gardening, lawn mowing and house cleaning---all in a leisurely fashion, of course. 

I am going to include a set of notes I put together several years ago about Dora Pennington. This is in honor of the Pennington family which has lost another of its members. I saw in this morning's paper that Joanne Pennington Kelly had passed away. 

The Pennington's, Charlie and Dora,  were a force in this community for decades, owning the furniture store and involving themselves in numerous civic responsibilities. 

They also owned the farm on Sand Creek where I would visit my friend Laura Delamarter. 

Joanne's brother Doug was an SHS 1965 classmate, and when we had our class moneymaker (a raffle), Doug visited the bars around Sandpoint and sold tons of tickets.  He earned the distinction as top ticket seller. 

So, for your enjoyment, a bit of history about Pennington matriarch Dora.

Sending my best wishes and condolences to Dora's daughter Esther and the rest of the family. 

from my notes: 

Dora Pennington not only compiled Bonner County history, but she also created it through her involvement in the Sandpoint community.  Even though her birthplace is Harrington, Wash, a student biographer once wrote that Dora’s knowledge of local history probably surpassed that of most natives.

Dora Bruns Pennington was born to Kate Ruhl Bruns and Henry W. Bruns in Harrington, Wash., on May 25,  1909.  Her twin sister Cora died at three months old. She also had two other sisters, Sarah and Eva, and two brothers, Ed and Clarence.   Dora moved with her family to Laclede as a child and later to Dover.  During her younger life, she worked at the Royal Sweet Shop in Sandpoint. 

After marrying Charles Pennington aka “Penny” in 1928, she moved to Sandpoint, where couple reared four children, Charlotte, Joanne, Esther and Doug. They also founded Furniture Exchange (now Belwood’s), which at one time had a seven-unit apartment complex called Ambassador Apartments.

Civic involvement was natural for Dora, a true people lover.  She devoted much of her adult life to organizations like the Eastern Star, Jobs Daughters, the Civic Club, Chamber of Commerce, Presbyterian Church and PTA. During World War II, she was instrumental in many USO activities for Farragut troops at Community Hall. 

In later years, Dora’s continued efforts led toward an annual teacher education scholarship awarded by the Chamber of Commerce.  Her first love, however, was compiling history for the local historical society.  

For more than 20 years, her Bonner County history notes “50 and 70 Years Ago Today” appeared in the local paper.  Much of her work also appears in the first Beautiful Bonner history book. 

One more thing:  these days Carol Kamp and my blog editor Helen Newton trade off on compiling the notes. And, I must admit that it's a heckuva thing to be old enough to read the "75-years-ago" notes and to have known the people they're talking about. 

Happy Saturday. 

I love this stained glass piece, which hangs, of all places, right next to the women's restroom at the Samuels Store.  

More food bank columbine. 

We met this little Aussie beauty last night at Matchwood. 

Dogs can come with their families to tables outside the restaurant. 

In our case, we didn't have any dogs, but we did not eat at Matchwood.  

An hour wait, they told us, which was a definite contrast to last week when the place had geared up for crowds, but the crowds must have gone camping. It was pretty calm and quiet then. 

While driving around Sandpoint and deciding where to eat, we could easily see that summer and the peeps have arrived in our community. 

We still had a nice dinner at Farmhouse, which was busy but hardly overwhelmed.