SANDPOINT — A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place Monday, May 12, to commemorate the re-opening of a free table at the Colburn Solid Waste facility. 

“Poppy’s Table,” named after an elementary aged girl from Bonner County, is a booth at the waste site where residents can leave and pick up items for free. The table helps promote the reuse and reduction of waste.  

Commissioner Ron Korn shared in a May 12 Facebook post that the free table was officially open to the public, just two weeks after the board of commissioners agreed to re-establish the table. Korn, Howard, Poppy and her mother Janae were in attendance at the ceremony. 

The decision to reopen the free table stemmed from an April 29 business meeting discussion, where solid waste director Bob Howard requested to officially abolish the table due to safety concerns after a May 2024 site upgrade. 

Since the remodel of the Colburn waste site — completed May 22, 2024 — the free table hadn’t been re-established due to location and liability concerns, Director of Solid Waste department Bob Howard told county commissioners at the April 29 meeting. Howard offered an alternate location for the free table but noted that it hadn’t been approved by a safety auditor. 

Community members, specifically Poppy, voiced their opposition to the table's removal, offering fond memories of visiting it.

In making her plea, Poppy shared the table was a part of her life.

“The free table has been a part of my life. When my dad goes to the dump, I get so excited because I know the free table is there,” she told the commission in late April. “I remember once we got a telescope there and we saw the stars. It’s just a really good experience.”