SVBCH donates to 4-H camps
—Photo by ERIC PLUMMER Members of the Selkirk Valley Back Country Horsemen presented 4-H leaders from Boundary and Bonner County with a pair of $600 checks on Tuesday, money that will go toward summer horse camps. Pictured from left to right: Jerry Reese, SVBCH; Stacey Chouinard and Kelly Spangler, Boundary County 4-H; Sandy Geaslin, President SVBCH; Angela Turnbaugh and Moriha Yetter, Bonner County 4-H; and Debbie Prater and Chip Lawrence, SVBCH.
SANDPOINT — One of the main things the Selkirk Valley Back Country Horsemen do is help maintain trails throughout the panhandle, and after raising money by hosting a convention this year they ended up with a surplus and wondered what to do with it.
With group members from both Boundary and Bonner County represented, SVBCH decided to give back to the local respective 4-H groups in each county, presenting a $600 check to each group on Tuesday.
“We had a little surplus,” said SVBCH president Sandy Geaslin, whose group takes chainsaws into rugged back country terrain to maintain trails. “We were looking to give back to the community, other than doing trail work.”
For the Boundary County 4-H Horse Group, the check will pay for nearly half of their costs to run an annual 3-day camp, which is free to more than 30 local participants each summer. They play horse soccer with a huge ball, give out T-shirts and even do some line dancing, among other things.
The group ends up spending about $1,200 each year to put on the camp, saving on costs by not having to pay for the facilities, holding an annual fundraiser and having the families feed the kids via potluck.
“It’s just three days of fun for them. This will be more than a third of our costs,” said 4-H horse leader Stacey Chouinard of the donation.
“If we had to charge our kids, we wouldn’t get nearly as many.”
The horse camp in Sandpoint is much bigger, with more than 80 youth attending the week long camp. Because the Bonner County Fairgrounds charges for use of its facilities, and the camp is two days longer, the cost for each camper is $245.
Moriha Yetter, who helps run the camp, says the fees are the minimum they must charge to break even, and the $600 will go to help the campers, many of whom can only pay a portion of the costs.
For the SVBCH, who help maintain the portion of the Northwest Trail that runs through Idaho among others, it was a chance to help a couple of local groups that share a love of horses.
“One of the reasons we exist is to advance horsemanship,” said member Chip Lawrence. “Members were looking for something to donate to that’s related to horses. Somebody mentioned these two groups that put on horse camps.”