Happy Flag Day, Et. Al.

To describe this Flag Day 2021 as a perfect summer morn here in the Selle Valley would be an understatement.  

Today marks the first time in 2021 that I have gone outside for morning chores without adding extra clothing to stay warm or boots to keep my feet dry. 

Song birds are chirping, turkeys are gobbling, the garden is producing goodies and the general scene around here seems close to perfect. 

Summer has begun because of the lovely weather and because school's out.  

No more school buses, maybe a few more cars passing by with more frequency as kids join the work forces with their summer jobs. 

On this Flag Day and others, I can never forget to send out some birthday cheer to my older brother Mike and to my dear friend Pat.  

Hope you both have a great day.

Hope you all enjoy the photos and the special video below.  

Yesterday, a multitude of threads on a Facebook group about being Sandpoint kids inspired my friend and former student Molly McCahon to post a brief documentary depicting Sandpoint, produced by her late father Dan McCahon. 

AKA Dann McCann, her dad devoted a career to film, especially documentaries and even winning an Academy award for a film explained below.

I had the good fortune of getting to know Dan several years ago.  He was a kind and thoughtful man.

One time, he even invited me to come to his house on Lake Street for a special viewing of a documentary featuring Robert Redford. 

During my Robert Redford fanatic days, he also sent me a poster of Redford as The Electric Horseman via Molly, who was a student in my English class.

Dan was also a fascinating and eloquent individual who truly enjoyed living in Sandpoint. 

I think he'd be thrilled to know that his work has found a new audience among the many Facebook folks whose enthusiasm toward remembering the sights, sounds, people and happenings in their hometown has been nothing less than contagious.

Hats off to Brian Hobday, a Sandpoint High grad and now a Montana forester, who created this voluminous and viral site about the community we love. 

And, as Molly said yesterday upon posting the video, her dad's creation pretty much says it all. 

Thanks, Molly and Dan.  

Hope you all enjoy this production if you haven't seen it before.   

 

from Wikipedia:  Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? is a 1977 documentary film about Dorothy and Bob DeBolt, an American couple who adopted 14 children (12 at the start of filming), some of whom are severely disabled war orphans (in addition to raising Dorothy's five biological children and Bob's biological daughter). 

The film was narrated by Henry Winkler, who also served as executive producer, and won an Academy Award for Best Feature-length Documentary in 1978, as well as the Directors Guild of America Award  and the Humanitas Award for producer and director John Korty  in 1979. 

A 50-minute version of the film shown on ABC  in December 17, 1978, earned a 1979 Emmy Award  for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Program and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Program for Winkler, Korty, and producers Warren Lockhart and Dan McCann.