Community, volunteers keep Fourth fabulous
The Sandpoint Lions Club once again says “thank you” to the many who made the Fourth of July salute to our country and community a success. The Lions are few and the theme, “Celebrate Sandpoint,” was only possible because of the many volunteer individuals and groups. We want everyone who helped to know that the Lions appreciate all your effort.
Everyone who bought and sold raffle tickets helped pay for the prizes and all the other celebration expenses. The Lions particularly thank all the businesses that provided space for our raffle ticket sales and encouraged their customers to purchase the tickets. These businesses include; Yoke’s, Wal-Mart, Safeway, The Hoot Owl, Schweitzer Conoco, and Co-op Country Stores. Businesses which sold raffle tickets contributed significantly.
The Grand Parade had 88 units; these entries were capably judged by Chuck Spickelmire, Vicky Jacobson and Carmen Bloom. A natural choice and making a wonderful Grand Marshall was Ernie Belwood; parade announcer Bill Brown kept the crowd informed.
The Bonner County Amateur Radio Club earned special thanks for providing communication in controlling the parade. Thank you to Kim Woodruff and Austin in the Sandpoint Parks & Rec. Department for all your help.
Cherry Lane and her wonderful crew of flaggers along with the Sandpoint Police Department did an exceptional job in making traffic and the parade run smoothly.
A special Lions thank you goes to the veterans that provide the color guard and were a reminder that our troops are still in harms way defending our freedom.
Once again Mike Cosby brought together the fine local talent in the community for the event. We also want to thank the face painters.
A special thank you to Staff Sgt. Morgan for bringing the Army National Guard’s climbing wall to the beach, it was a huge success and much fun for all. Also, the Elks Lodge for bringing their drug awareness trailer.
Thank you to Sandpoint Fire Chief Robert Tyler in securing the marina and surrounding area for the fireworks shoot.
The great fireworks were only possible because Coldwater Creek generously donated $10,000 to add to the Lions’ budget of $7,500, which gave us the $17,500.00 fireworks show that concluded the celebration.
Our “thank you list” will always fall short and the Lions apologize to all those we failed to mention. I must conclude by thanking all the Lion members and their families, who work very hard not only on the Fourth of July but on all of our projects. The Sandpoint look forward to another great celebration in 2010.
Bill Lewis is the president of the Sandpoint Lions Club.