Bonner County History - Jan. 12, 2025
Brought to you by the
Bonner County Historical
Society and Museum
611 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864
208-263-2344
50 Years Ago
Sandpoint News-Bulletin
Jan. 19, 1975 – WEDDINGS ANNOUNCED
Mr. and Mrs. William (Bub) Conn of Clark Fork announce the Oct. 11 marriage of their daughter, Sue Davidson, to Larry Saunders, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Saunders of Sandpoint. A reception was held the following day in the V.F.W. Post Home in Sandpoint. Mr. and Mrs. Saunders reside in Coeur d’Alene, where he attends North Idaho College.
Mr. and Mrs. Rick Nixon (Jeanne Saunders) were married Nov. 8 in Biloxi, Miss., an Air Force chaplain performing the double-ring ceremony. Parents of the couple are Mr. and Mrs. Gene Saunders, Sandpoint, and Mr. and Mrs. William Nixon, Algona, Wash.
•••
IRS MOVES AGAINST INKS THRIFT STORE
A $600 check was presented Friday to the IRS 30 minutes before a scheduled public auction of perishable goods at Inks Thrift Store, allowing the store owners, Larry and Marvin Inks, to retain possession of those items. Internal Revenue officers had scheduled the auction in case the owners could not come up with the $600 assessed value of the goods before an 11:30 a.m. deadline. The IRS took possession of the store building Jan. 8. The seizure stemmed from a $19,829.11 federal tax lien filed Dec. 6, 1974 against the owners after they failed to pay employees’ withholding and Social Security (FICA) taxes for the first three quarters of 1974.
75 Years Ago
Sandpoint News-Bulletin
Jan. 19, 1950 – FRIDAY 13TH BLIZZARD
Friday, Jan. 13, 1950, will be remembered by the passengers of over 20 vehicles that stalled on snow-choked Highway 10-A, between the Idaho Tourist park [by Elks golf course] and the Pack River bridge. Drivers and passengers abandoned cars, struggling through the blinding storm to find shelter. Some stopped in nearby homes, others found shelter in the stalled Clark Fork bus; 20 others made it to the Idaho Tourist park on Hwy. 10-A north of the city.
A rescue crew, made up of State patrolman Leo Jarvis, fire chief Claude Simon, the Buick wrecker driven by Wade Brown, and a state pickup driven by William Elsasser, got only as far as the Y at the foot of the hill going to Kootenai. From there the road was drifted full. Chief Simon dropped the plow blade on his jeep and got through to the camp, where he picked up two elderly women and took them into Sandpoint to catch a train to Clark Fork. The others at the camp walked down to the Y and were taken into the city. One man’s hand was frostbitten; others had ears, cheeks and noses nipped.
If a car stopped, even for a few minutes, it was quickly packed in with drifting snow, and calls for wrecker service began coming into local garages as early as 2 o’clock Friday. The Ford garage wrecker operated by Bert Lines, did heroic service that night as well as Saturday, when he worked continuously from 1:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Lines was badly frostbitten about the face from his long exposure. Henry Lagrou of the Lagrou & Sons garage remarked, “It is a miracle no lives were lost because of the storm!”
For more information, visit the museum online at bonnercountyhistory.org.