CLARK FORK — Everyone knows everyone in this rural Bonner County town, so planning a retirement party for a life-long resident was not going to stay a secret.

The fliers going up around town kind of give it away as well.

"I had about 50 people tell me about it on the Fourth of July," said Russell Schenck, who recently retired from Clark Fork Valley Ambulance after more than 30 years of volunteer service.

With all of the other hats Schenck wears, though, it is a good thing he found out about Saturday's party ahead of time, he said. 

Schenck is serving as the mayor of Clark Fork after taking over for Mayor Chris Riggins, who died in December 2016. Schenck retired from the ambulance service in December and was sworn in as mayor in January after serving more than 20 years on the City Council.

"That's what kind of pushed me over the top, knowing that I couldn't do both jobs 110 percent at the same time," Schenck said.

Schenck started with CFVA in 1986 and became a licensed EMT in 1987. Before his retirement, Schenck spent more than 20 years as president of the ambulance service. The best part of the job, he said, was helping the community.

"Always being the person who gets up and goes out to help somebody, I always enjoyed doing that," Schenck said. "My dad did it for years before me — he was in the original group of EMTs for Clark Fork Ambulance back in the early '70s."

Schenck was born and raised in Clark Fork. He is so well known in the area, he had a FedEx package show up at his home recently with just "Russ" and "Clark Fork" in place of an address.

"And it made it to me, so that was pretty cool," Schenck said.

Schenck, among others, helped build a new ambulance building in Clark Fork, in 1999 or 2000, through "thousands and thousands" of dollars in donations from the community. Schenck also wrote a grant for a new ambulance to replace the 1979 model they had at the time.

"It was the very first ambulance the state of Idaho awarded to any ambulance service with the new EMS grants III program," Schenck said.

The EMS grants III program, he said, is funded through driver's license renewals to help purchase new ambulances and life-saving equipment for ambulance services around the state. Because it was new at the time, the state did not require an application, Schenck said, and just wanted to know why Clark Fork needed a new ambulance.

"I didn't want to short-change us, so I actually created what the state started using as the template for the grants program," Schenck said. "When I sent my grant in, they liked it so much they called me up, after they had awarded the ambulance service the new ambulance, and they asked me if they could use application as their template to build on for future years."

Since then, he said, he has written three grants and the ambulance service has been awarded three new ambulances since 2000, with the most recent one this spring. Although he had already retired, he went to Chehalis, Wash., to inspect the new ambulance and bring it home.

It was also in 2000 when another ambulance service member submitted his name to EMS Magazine for EMT of the year. He was working at Hays Chevron, where he worked for 20 years, when he received a phone call from a woman who told him he was selected as EMT of the year and would need to travel to Florida for a presentation ceremony. 

Schenck said, "very funny" and hung up the phone.

"I knew it was somebody pulling a joke on me," he said.  

The woman called back and asked him not to hang up, but it took her several minutes to convince Schenck that a friend wasn't pranking him.

So he and his wife went to Florida for the ceremony. Before they left, some of their friends collected donations from the Clark Fork community to send the couple on a Bahama cruise while they were there.

Schenck also served as the Clark Fork fire chief for about 20 years in conjunction with working for CFVA. He sat on the original board for the formation of Bonner County 911, and has served on other boards as well. He owns Lightning Creek Mobile Home Park and Storage, raised four kids and now has 11 grandkids. His wife, Pam, also served on the ambulance service for several years. 

The one opportunity Schenck said he was happy didn't happen was when a regional director position came up to oversee EMS services in the Twin Falls area. He had family members down there, so he applied for the job and went in for the interview.

"In hindsight, now, I am really glad I didn't get that job," Schenck said. "A couple years later they actually took away all the regional positions and everybody now has to report straight to the EMS bureau in Boise."

The potluck-style party is scheduled from noon-2 p.m. Saturday at the Clark Fork Senior Center. Hamburgers and hotdogs will be provided and everyone is encouraged to bring their favorite dish.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.