Bonner County History - Sept. 1, 2026

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

and Sandpoint Bee

Sept. 1, 1976 – SERVICE NEWS 

A1C Rosemary E. Zambon, a 1970 Priest River High School graduate, was named Outstanding First Term Airman of the Quarter in her unit at Antigo AFS, Wis. An inventory management specialist assigned to the 767th Radar Squadron, Airman Zambon is the daughter of A.A. McClure, Laclede.  

Selected for training at Sheppard AFB, Tex. after completing basic training at Lackland AFB, Tex., is Airman Dean D. Welter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Welter of Rt. 1, Sandpoint. Airman Welter is a 1976 graduate of Sandpoint High School.

Marine PFC Pat Kummer, son of Mr. Henry Kummer, Sandpoint, was meritoriously promoted to his present rank upon graduation from recruit training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. A former student of Sandpoint High School, he joined the Marine Corps in April 1976.  

•••

CROSSWHITES CELEBRATE 45TH 

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Crosswhite, Sandpoint, were honored on their 45th wedding anniversary with an open house at Sandpoint Community Hall hosted by their children and their spouses, Mr. and Mrs. David Crosswhite, Renton, Wash.; and Mr. and Mrs. Silvio (Millie) Ribeiro, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Crosswhite, and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Crosswhite, all of Sandpoint. Married Aug. 26, 1931 in Lake Charles, La., Lewis and the former Alta Melendy arrived in Sandpoint by railroad in 1937. They operated the Lost Valley Ranch near Careywood for 20 years before moving to Sandpoint and opening Crosswhite’s Used Cars.  

75 Years Ago

Sandpoint News-Bulletin

Sept. 1, 1951 – HOME FROM CAMP HEYBORN 

Sandpoint youths returning after a week’s outing at the junior high Presbyterian camp at Camp Heyborn on Lake Chatcolet included: Patty Palmer, Joan DeGroot, Elizabeth Shields, Barbara Palmer, Jeff Dean, Cara Lee Hupp, James Patton, Ronald Goodwin, Joanne Pennington and Gary Maxwell.  

•••

4-H HISTORY IN BONNER COUNTY 

Four-H club work is a specialized educational enterprise for rural youth. In Bonner county, it has grown steadily since its beginning in 1925, when Claudia Jones, daughter of Ben Jones of Kootenai,  constituted the first 4-H club with a Guernsey calf for which she kept records and made a report. The next year, the Glengary Jersey calf club was organized with five members and four Jersey calves shipped in from Tillamook, Ore. Also in 1926, the “Watch Us Grow” potato club (8 members) and the “Stitch in Time” club (12 members), organized at Sagle, while at Laclede, 8 girls formed a sewing club. As a direct result of these clubs, community fairs were held at both Laclede and Sagle. Club work continued to spread through the county, and by 1927, the year of the first annual Bonner county fair, 19 boys in potato clubs and 27 girls in sewing clubs entered exhibits. In 1928, seven new sewing clubs were organized with 52 members. Today the county has 34 4-H clubs with a membership of 125 boys and 150 girls.

For more information, visit the museum online at bonnercountyhistory.org.