SANDPOINT — The kid with the tree house in his backyard was the envy of the neighborhood “back in the day.” It was probably a mature oak or a maple tree where daring kids would make the often tricky climb up to a splintery board or even try to swing up there with a rope, which resulted in scrapes and scratches on the legs. It seemed so high up in the air.

Just being there was the paragon of summertime fun, even if you didn’t do anything but sit there and look down. Sometimes the tree house served as a place for a “boys only” club, who would inevitably try to get the cat up there.

It was just the best.

And now Creations on the Cedar Street Bridge in downtown Sandpoint surely has the best tree house for 1,000 miles in every direction, a place where kids ages 7-12 can climb, where they can talk to their friends in the private cave lit by black light, or read books in the tucked away reading corner, and then use the telescope to look out and spy on people in kayaks and canoes floating by.

It is a masterful tree house carved from Texas white cedar; it has softly sanded edges, making it a safe place for children. It features a curvy chute for sliding through, and all kinds of added features to meet the board’s requested theme of North Idaho woodland and the animals that live there.

Creations hired the artists at Tiny Town Studios in Texas to create the tree house, the company that creates the detailed, fantastical well-made playgrounds for Disney, so it took a pretty penny, but Shery Meekings, founder and executive director of Creations, and Kate Mensur, grant writer and volunteer president of the Creations board, worked hard to raise funds for this grand addition to the site for children to play and to create; it was no small feat and did require a village to pay for it.

Creations has hosted every kind of fundraiser imaginable over the years to support its purpose of providing a place for children to enjoy playtime, to create, and to provide a place for parents and nannies to bring children for activities, a place where friendships are made. It has come a long way from the beginning, when Meekings and her husband moved here with a baby and she didn’t know anyone. She set out a picnic table with art supplies, and over the years it has expanded to an art center for kids and now two play areas, divided by age.

“I did it for every mama out there,” she said.

Mothers and fathers meet other mothers and fathers there and it serves as a kind of welcome wagon, or in this case, a welcome boat. Children under 7 are invited to play in a boat that is now receiving a facelift by Meekings.

Eventually, Scott Meekings, vice-president of the board at Creations, suggested they needed a sustainable way to fund Creations’ ongoing need for rent, art supplies, etc. They opened a business selling educational toys and games, art supplies, and children’s clothing; it is located across from the play area. Meekings said they’ve become a profitable non-profit for what is an “amazing community asset.”

Kinderhaven utilizes the play areas, as well as many social workers who take their low-income clients there, as do many home schools, preschools, and CASA representatives.

The $20,000 that it took to pay for the tree house came from Bonner County fans of Creations, said Mensur, a former nanny and now grant writer and ski instructor.

“It has been a community effort. We have had two big donors that provided grants to support the tree house, one in memory of Steve Hoag and the second from the Sangham Foundation,” she said.

Creations received other grants from the Walmart Foundation and the Idaho Community Foundation, Avista Foundation, Idaho Forest Group — Laclede mill — and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (railroad), as well as donations from Evans Brothers Coffee, Journey Pediatric, Kite Electric, Sandpoint Super Drug, arts Idaho, Winter Ridge, Papa Murphy’s, Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, Innovia, C & M Cleaning Service, the Angels Over Sandpoint, ExperienceWorks, and 12 individual donors.

At this time Creations has a story time at 10:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursdays, and volunteers are needed to read to children. A crafts class for kids is weekly on Wednesdays. “We always welcome artists to teach, musicians to come and play…this was created for people to share their talents,” Mansur said.

Last week, children involved in a painting class taught by art teacher Anna Protsman said they love coming to Creations and their parents like it, too, because the children can make messes there and they have to clean it up. At home, they don’t feel as compelled to clean up. One young person said she knows kids who come from Coeur d’Alene to enjoy Creations.

The staff at Creations is bubbling with enthusiasm about the tree house. Just wait until this week when it’s open to children.

Susan Drinkard can be reached at susanadiana@icloud.com.