SANDPOINT — When the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2453 was looking into bringing benches back to the walking portion of the Long Bridge, they were staring down a price of $6,000. 

Rather than ponying up that amount for an out-of-state company to make the benches and get them shipped, Sandpoint’s VFW post took a different route. They contacted the Lake Pend Oreille School District and Sandpoint High School welding teacher Jake Stark, who began working on a partnership that would see Stark’s class build the new benches. 

“I drive on the Long Bridge all the time, and I saw those benches deteriorating,” Stark said. “So, when John and the VFW came to me, I was more than happy to take this on, because those needed to be redone quite a while ago. And I love doing community projects because it gives back to our community and students take pride in their work.” 

With materials supplied by the VFW, Stark’s students have put together three benches that will find a new home on the Long Bridge in May. As a part of the collaboration, each bench features a different silhouette with nods to the Army, Navy and Air Force. 

“I think it will really bring notice to the veterans,” John Stoddard of the VFW said of the benches. “There's a large veteran community here in Sandpoint and in Bonner County. So just to put something out there to say, ‘Hey, look, you know, we're here for the community. We're here for you.’”  

Once the partnership was formed, Stark said the project was put in the hands of his students. Led by student foreman Rob Lantto, the class was separated into two groups, one working in CAD software to design the silhouettes and the other working on how the benches would be put together. 

Lantto praised the CAD team for working through the design that features North Idaho staples like pine trees and Bigfoot but also allowed them to spotlight the different branches of the military. 

“We just had a general idea of what the design is going to be based on. They took it from there and made designs,” Lantto said.

With Stark serving as a guide, the student took the design from the program to real life. Lantto said this was the most difficult part of the process, requiring students to exactly nail the measurements on cuts so the benches would come together in the end. 

"After we got the layout and everything and all the measurements and cuts done, it got a little bit easier, because we could tell where we wanted it to go,” Lantto said. “It’s a really accomplishing feeling you can see like it's actually coming together, and all the hard parts that are a struggle to get through, it's worth it.” 

Both Lantto and Stark said one of the things that gives them pride about the project is the benches will be there for a long time, connecting this class to the community for the foreseeable future. 

“I'm super happy that students get to build this project, because they can take pride in the fact that they can move away and come back 20 years on a guarantee [the benches] are still going to be there,” Stark said. "It's just that validation process on a job well done.” 

The benches are set to be installed on the Long Bridge in mid-May, and the VFW will hold an event to commemorate the installation on the bridge May 25. 

    SHS student Chase Rasor stands next to the benches as the class works on them.