Just Stuff

Belwood 301 is a historical landmark building in downtown Sandpoint currently undergoing renovation into a beautiful mixed-use building.

My former student Julie Fenton Meyer sent me an invitation via Facebook overnight to visit their new Facebook page for Belwood301.  

The following visit brought a smile to my face because Julie and her husband Steve are honoring Ernie Belwood, who owned Belwood's Furniture for years.  

According to information on the Facebook page, from 1931 until 1959, the Pennington family owned Furniture Exchange, along with Walter Holtz.

Mr. Holtz left the business in 1959 because he wanted to "go fishing." 

As indicated in the caption, the Meyer's, owners of Pend Oreille Winery,  have been renovating the 1907 structure to make way for a variety of shops. 

Should be fun when the new-old building opens, and, for sure, it will, no doubt, give downtown Sandpoint a boost. 

I'm thrilled that they honored Ernie, a Priest River native and survivor of cancer, because we always found him to be more than generous with his Sandpoint community during his years at Belwood's Furniture. 

Hats Off to Julie and Steve.   And, good luck. 

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Also, Hats Off to the Gonzaga men's and women's teams who yesterday cleaned up on the West Coast Conference honors with Coaches of the Year, Most Valuable Players and Defensive Players of the Year.  

A magical week continues, and that is nice. 

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I must say from reading the paper this morning that the voters here in the area lost their voice in one of last fall's elections.  

It's difficult to find a positive spin on former Sen. Joyce Broadsword's decision to leave her recently-elected position as Bonner County Commissioner for a job with the regional health district. 

It became more difficult to think positively after reading that one of the finalists for her vacated position, to be appointed by the governor, is the same person Joyce defeated in the election. 

I've never heard of the other two finalists----that's certainly no reflection on them, but I'm willing to bet they may not have been elected for the position had they run in last year's election. 

Here's one case where the people's vote was voided.   Too bad.  

I think Joyce would have done an excellent job representing her constituency in the commissioners' office.  I do wish her well because I have always respected her.  

Still, I'm disappointed. 

Let's hope for the best when the governor makes his selection in the next few days. 

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Close to home news:  well, not really news to the world but a new twist for me.  I was able to walk my fields and through the woods this morning rather than down the dirt road.

It was a nice change for me and for the dogs.  They usually get put in the house while I take the early morning walks.

So, they had a great time racing the fields and carrying their coffee cans.  

Of course, I remained vigilant throughout the trek over crusted hard snow and soft pine needles.  One might call it a "moose watch."  

No moose today, so we had an uneventful but fun walk. 

Spring is coming, and some weather forecasters say 51 degrees today, while others are promising snow.  If we hit somewhere in the middle, that will be okay.

Guess that's all for this morning's "stuff." 

Happy Wednesday.