Linda Aavedal remembered seeing me back in the good ol' days standing behind a Dutch door on the lower level of the lodge day-lift tickets .
She and her husband Bob, who owned a ski shop, were some of the originals up at Schweitzer.
I spent one winter in the late 1960s, while in college, alternating between selling day-lift tickets and season tickets.
I don't remember the price for the season tickets because they varied between individuals and families.
I do remember, however, the Cap Davis family coming in with a white cloth bag filled with money to pay for their season pass.
I also remember selling day-lift tickets for $4.40. I think they sell for more than $100 these days.
Linda and I were enjoying a much-needed catch-up telephone conversation yesterday when I realized that she was not yet aware that Schweitzer had sold.
I had just learned the news about an hour before.
Today, the local and regional papers are telling the story about the sale.
Some social media posts suggest that this is the end of Sandpoint as we know it; others have told me they don't even know who owns Schweitzer now.
Well, years ago, we locals all owned it, sorta, through our purchase of Schweitzer stock at $10 a share back in the early 1960s.
We sold out, though, quite a while back, maybe in the 1990s.
I was proud that my $10 investment for a single share of Schweitzer stock had grown to $15 in 30 years.
Can't remember what I spent my profits on.
The administrators are not quite ready to reveal the current price tag for Schweitzer, and we locals may never really notice that anything has changed.
We've already lived through enough dramatic changes to our community to feel like we need to pay attention.
Still, it's a big news item for one of the principal elements that now define Sandpoint, Idaho, a destination resort.
What I am absolutely sure of is that Schweitzer remains in the spot it's occupied for years. I know because every single time I look out the kitchen window or the upstairs bathroom window, the mountain is still there.
Obviously, its look has changed a bit during its thousands of years existence with ski runs, restaurants, hotels, lodges and a whole lot of high-end homes and condos.
But from my bathroom window, I can still appreciate Schweitzer for what it's always been---one of those mountains in the Selkirk Range---just with a whole lot more yard art than the others.
Plus, depending on the behavior of sun, clouds, snow, etc., even from our home, the mountain does present a variety of esthetic views.
I was looking at ski hill this morning and thinking about a comment my friend Patti McGovern shared with me years ago. She was referring to Gold Hill, the mountain across the lake from the bridge.
She and Bernie had wondered at the time, as the first houses began to be very visible, how long it would be before that mountain was covered with homes.
Well, I think we've seen their wondering turn into reality.
So, as I looked out my upstairs bathroom window at Schweitzer, knowing the resort had just sold and that the current owner was holding on to its real estate and development options, I was kinda happy that another mountain to the east of Schweitzer hides a lot of its current and maybe any future development, at least for my remaining lifetime.
Twenty years ago, I wrote a story for Schweitzer Magazine, focusing on the resort's 40th anniversary.
Ten years ago, I wrote another story for the same magazine, marking the 50th anniversary of the resort.
While trying to put together 50 years of history in 1,800 words, I just kept getting frustrated, worrying that I'd leave out some of the major elements or important people.
So, to alleviate that frustration, I put together a blog and called it "Schweitzer Originals." Like the mountain, it's still around, just not out my bathroom window. It's on the World Wide Web.
Since Schweitzer is beginning a new era and since this is the resort's 60th anniversary, I'll leave you with a link to some fun Schweitzer nostalgia.
I notice that over the years the blog has been viewed about 8,000-plus times, so it must be somewhat worthwhile. Plus, it includes some interesting stories and a call at its end for more contributions.
So, as our hometown resort turns the page, check out the link below.
Happy Friday.
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