Volunteers anchor parade

SANDPOINT — A long-time local volunteer will be the cornerstone of this year’s Fourth of July parade.

Margo Johnson will sit astride two fellow Bonner General Hospital Auxiliary volunteers Saturday as the trio and their chauffeur trundle along Sandpoint’s Fourth of July parade route.

 The parade, which starts at 10 a.m. at the corner of Church Street and Fifth Avenue, follows a U-shaped route east to First Avenue, then north to Cedar and west to Fifth.

Johnson, a hospital auxiliary officer for 12 years, was selected by auxiliary members and hospital staff as the 2010 volunteer of the year. In addition, Johnson received the “Love Award,” from the Idaho Hospital Association.

She is responsible for the hospital’s junior program, which introduces teens to careers in the medical field and has for years raised money for Special Olympics.

Johnson will represent all auxiliary members as the parade’s grand marshal, she said.

The hospital auxiliary has been organized since 1949.

 “So, this is 60-plus years for us,” she said.

The 45 active auxiliary volunteers work in the hospital’s pharmacy, merchandising and in the gift shop. They also prepare and provide refreshments for same-day surgery patients.

“We do so many things,” she said.

Another 35 inactive volunteers work behind the scenes organizing committees and preparing the group’s newsletter.

“We are in about 22 different parts of the hospital,” Johnson said.

A former banker, who retired from Coldwater Creek, Johnson jokes about her tenure at the hospital.

“I came in for a mammogram and never left,” she said.

Johnson and her associates, as well as the other 50-plus entries in Saturday’s parade will wait for the completion of the children’s parade before heading down their route.

The kiddy parade starts at 9 a.m. at the city parking lot two blocks west of First Avenue between Church and Oak streets.

Nancy Lewis, of the Sandpoint Lions, who organized the events, said local bands will perform downtown beginning at noon. They will be joined by the 25th Army Band from Boise.

Face painting at City Beach is set at 2:30 p.m.

“At the same time the Lions will pass out free ice cream to the kids,” she said.

The fireworks show is set at dusk, she said.

Raffle items — the drawing precedes the fireworks at the beach — include a 2010 Polaris ATV for the winner, $2,500 in bonus bucks for second place and $1,000 cash for third place.

 Parade applications are still available, Lewis said.

“We usually have around 70 before the parade,” she said.

The number usually peaks on the day of the parade.

“That’s good,” she said. “We like to have a lot of people in it.”

June Dall, who is responsible for parade entries, expects the number to jump on July 3.

“Last year we had close to 80,” she said.

Most of last year’s winners have already registered for the 2010 parade, she said.

The Albeni Falls Pipe and Drum, the Panhandle Antique Tractor and Engine Club, Pooch Parlor and the Forest Service and Idaho Department of Lands have registered.

“Pretty much all of these have entered again,” she said.