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There are two new webcams broadcasting life in Sandpoint.
The first shows pics from First Avenue and the second from Gold Hill at this link: http://www.camscape.com/view/33718
Sandpoint Webcam from First Avenue
Sandpoint Webcam from Gold Hill
The second is at Selkirk Powder Company.
Last week Marcy Timblin, Manager for the Downtown Sandpoint Business Association appeared on my radio show: North Idaho Business.
Marcy was on the show to talk about two things: What’s happening in Sandpoint for the month of December and the new movement called Genuine Sandpoint.
Marcy Timblin, Downtown Manager for the DSBA
Downtown hosts Santa Claus, special events
This holiday season, the jolly old gent otherwise known as Santa Claus will be making visits every week until Christmas at "The North Pole" on the Cedar Street Bridge. All children are invited to bring their adults and visit with Santa; there will be an opportunity for professional photos, too. Here's Santa's visitation schedule:
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., until ChristmaPlus,
every day Dec. 19-24
Also of note during the holidays, is Girls' Night Out, a special shopping social for ladies with special extended hours at many stores Friday, Dec. 9 till 8 p.m. Be sure to mark it on your calendar. The fellows get their own Men's Night Out the following Friday, Dec. 16 with store staffs on hand to prvide plenty of gift-giving ideas and advice.
And of course, every day and night through the holidays, the downtown is positively aglow with beautiful downtown Christmas lights, frequent strolling carolers, holiday programs at the Panida Theater, a plethora of unique boutiques, superb dining in Sandpoint's two-dozen-plus fine restaurants, and much more.
Questions, or for more information, click to e-mail DSBA's Downtown Manager Marcy Timblin at info@downtownsandpoint.com or call the Downtown Sandpoint Business Association at 255-1876.
We hope to see you in Downtown Sandpoint this Christmas season!
Genuine Sandpoint: Buy local, be local!
 Why do your holiday shopping locally this year? Simply because it's smart, that's why! Not only do local merchants have a great selection of unique items you won't find in any big box store -- most often at competitive prices -- they offer real, personal service. And the money you spend with local businesses stays local, to lift our whole community.
In fact, those are just a few reasons. There's more to ponder before you head out on your Christmas shopping forays this year. Click to read these great stories:
According to the Selkirk MLS, our market has a total of 2,677 various properties (condos, land, homes, timeshares) on the market.
Average Days on Market: 305
Total Price: $799,187,649
Closed Sales January 1, 2011 – December 8, 2011: $190,495,221
Total List Price: $206,855,029
That is 970 sales with an average Days on Market of 166.
These sales represent 92% of asking price.
There are an additional 125 properties Pending, representing another $29,736,360 in sales.
While historically this is roughly 100-200 below our averages during better years, it is significant considering that for 2010 we sold 940 for $200,536,119 in total sales, and in 2009 802 for a total of $181,738,748 for a year-to-year increase of 9.5%. By end of year, we should have also increased our percentages, showing a steady increase in sales.
Clearly land sales are lagging, and we are seeing, in some cases, prices we haven’t seen in a decade. Home Sales (Residential) made up 87% of closed sales so far for 2011 with an Average Price of $229,967. Again, this represents 92% of asking price. This information is especially helpful when advising buyers what to offer. Clearly there are bargain hunters out there, but for a seller to accept a deep discount is not the norm. There are very few homes being sold at 30, 40, or 50% off the asking price.
Why Are Sales Increasing in North Idaho?
Clearly sales are increasing. This is due in large part to the decrease, while incremental, in asking price. The Average Sold Price for homes in 2010 was $246,325. The Average Sold Price for 2009 was $262,783. We have actually seen price stabilization for most homes. Bank repos are still affecting the market skewing the numbers to look like our market is showing steady declines in value.
Another trend that is small but significant are the number of Days On Market: 146 for 2009, 158 for 2010, 166 for 2011.
How Is The Local Economy?
I host the North Idaho Business show on KSPT and KBFI. In the last year, I have interviewed twenty-six new businesses. Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort has had three successive record breaking years. High water impeded our lake activities this season because of high precipitation, but local businesses had earnings that allowed them to keep the open signs on. I managed the new Dover Bay Café (sic Dish Home Cooking) which had a fantastic opening season. I also am the Wine Buyer/Steward at our local gourmet grocer Yoke’s Fresh Market and the company had a record season. This Yoke’s is the #1 store in the chain and the top seller of wine regionally. I was able, on a day-to-day basis, to see people spending their hard-earned dollars.
So, anecdotally, the appearance is that things are getting better. The stats back that up. The Idaho Unemployment Rate fell to 8.8 percent, the lowest level in nearly two years. Bonner County’s rate is higher at 10.8%. This current figure has not yet taken into account winter ski season hiring by Schweitzer Mountain. Any way you look at it the figure is considerably better than the 16.1% we experienced at the height of the recession.
One thing that people don’t know about Sandpoint and Bonner County is that we are a manufacturing town. Companies like Coldwater Creek, Litehouse Foods, Thorne Research, Unicep Packaging, Encoder, EZDog, Quest Aircraft, and many others make up the majority of employment here, followed by Government, Education, then Tourism.
From firsthand knowledge through hundreds of interviews I can tell you that entrepreneurs are doing well in Sandpoint. Are they getting rich? The answer for most is probably not.
Employment and dollars earned is not the primary reason most of us live here though. When Buck Knives relocated to North Idaho, they did so not because of ease of facility or tax breaks, but because of quality of life. Living underneath one of the Top 25 Ski Resorts in the nation, along the shores of 148-square mile Lake Pend Oreille, it is the draw of the wonder of the land and the joy of the people that makes this place magical.
What these statistics show is that our market is improving, albeit slowly. Still, it is reassuring that it has been steady and forward moving.
I teamed with Judy Delucchi this year. In a little over twelve months I was able to bring in over $3 million in accepted offers, mostly waterfront. While this in not enough to make me feel like the slowdown is over, it isn’t as bad as in other places.
Add to that, my brokerage, Tomlinson Sotheby’s International Realty is by far the top real estate firm in our region.
Finding success in Sandpoint doesn’t happen by accident. We work hard and go the extra mile for our clients.
You should visit Sandpoint and see why the year Rand McNally named Sandpoint America’s Most Beautiful Small Town.
To learn more about Sandpoint and North Idaho visit www.SandpointID.net
To learn more about Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort visit www.SkiSchweitzer.net
If you are thinking about moving here or want to know more about our little slice of paradise, call Gary Lirette 208-610-1384 garyplirette@gmail.com
Gary Lirette & Judy Delucchi, Tomlinson Sotheby's International Realty
Apex Syrah Was $24.68 and the New Great Lower Price!
$9.98
This great buy is one of our best values this year. This special buy in allows you to try one of the Great Syrahs from Washington State for a price we’ve never seen before. Salute!
Apex Cellars was launched in 1988 and has grown to be one of Washington's most respected wineries. Apex and Apex Ascent cover the spectrum from reserve-caliber, vineyard-designate wines to wines that be can beenjoyed everyday. Over the years, Apex Cellars has become known as a winery youcan trust - a producer of consistently outstanding wine that can be served andenjoyed with confidence.
Color is rich purple, almost opaque. Headyaromas of granite, smoky bacon and earthy black fruits with slight blackpepper. Palate is soft and generous with lush tannins and a persistent finish. Flavors of blackberry and licorice spice from start to finish. Ready to enjoy now!
See me at Yoke's in Sandpoint.
And for all your real estate needs, call me at 208-610-1384
Apex Syrah only $9.98 for a limited time at Yoke's Sandpoint
Efeste Big Papa Old Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
93 points and a Cellar Selection in the Wine Enthusiast, the 2007 scored 94 points and 95 in the Wine Spectator.
An immense wine, inky purple, packed with black and purple fruits, laced with smoke and espresso, and finished with fine-grained, substantial tannins. This Cab lives up to its name––it’s a Big Muthah as well as Papa, and should be cellared for optimal expression.
Few wines get these kinds of scores and you won’t find this wine for this price anywhere but Yoke’s.
I am very proud of our wine shop. Stop by and see me soon.
2008 Royal City Syrah – Charles Smith Wines
This ‘K Vintners’ Syrah scored 99 points in the Wine Advocate and the ’06 scored the unheard of, never awarded and coveted 100 points in the Spectator. It is a rare wine, and last year we were allocated just two bottles. Our rep must be growing, because this year we were allotted two cases. We are down to just four bottles left.
They get just one ton of the syrah grapes grown for this wine to the acre. Every vintage seems to get better. Deeper than the ’06, more luxurious than the ’07. Layer upon layer upon layer. Earth, cool stone, tobacco, faint dark fruit, Asian five spice. Harmonic, complex, ethereal…a Yoke’s exclusive.
Charles K. Smith is a unique character. Charles grew up just outside of Sacramento, California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
From a Welsh mother and French father, Charles’ first exposure to winemaking was the barrels of “family” wine made every year by his father. Charles travelled the world, moving to Denmark for a “hot piece of a--,” and then spent the next nine years there managing rock bands, living and travelling throughout Europe. In 1999, he moved back to the United States, specifically to the Pacific Northwest, opening a wine shop on Bainbridge Island in the Puget Sound.
On a road trip, he passed through Walla Walla and met a young Frenchman named Christophe Baron. Finding a common passion for great Syrah, Christophe suggested Charles move to Walla Walla and make wine. In 2001 Charles Smith made Walla Walla his fulltime home and released 330 cases of his first wine, the 1999 K Syrah Walla Walla Valley. A self-taught winemaker—having never taken a winemaking class or made wine for someone else— Charles is a true artisan.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqHAp_5vYG8
P.S. You may ask how running the most successful wine store in our region benefits my real estate career? Sophisticated sellers and buyers are in large part, fine wine drinkers. ‘Nuff said.
 Yoke's Wine of the Week Royal City Syrah
Gary Lirette & Judy Delucchi, REALTORS 208-610-1384
I recently had Kim Brown Queen on my show North Idaho Arts & Adventure. I’ve known Kim since she first came to town and we interviewed her right after she took over the reins at POAC. By all accounts, Kim has done an outstanding job, and while there are other groups and organizations that support the arts, without POAC, I doubt Sandpoint would be the art town many consider us to be.
This was one of the first questions tackled by Kim.
Q – POAC is a strong force in promoting the arts in our area. There are other groups here, too – are they competition? We don’t look at others that support the arts as competition…more like partners in supporting and promoting local art. In fact, we work with several of these groups to put on shows and events that educate and benefit our area. We welcome them, and work closely with them.
Q – What is ‘POAC’, and how did it get started? POAC stands for Pend Oreille Arts Council. We started in the late-1970s with only a handful of concerts and a few art exhibits. Momentum and interest continued to build as audiences became larger and the number of events grew in size and scope. As we enter another decade of promoting the arts, POAC is now directly responsible for a year-round slate of events that take place on-stage, in schools, at downtown public spaces and parks, and in our many community galleries.
Q – POAC has an annual performance series that you host at the Panida. What can we look forward to this season? The acclaimed POAC Performance Series, September-April, is at the historic Panida Theater in downtown Sandpoint. The Trey McIntyre Project performs contemporary ballet in September, and in December the Eugene Ballet's TheNutcracker ballet. These will be followed by the Missoula Children’s Theater’s The Jungle Book, a play called Handsome Little Devils, ending with the Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
To see the POAC events calendar
See POAC’s website here: http://www.artinsandpoint.org/
Q – POAC isn’t limited to the Performing Arts…what else is POAC doing for folks to get involved with? In addition to the performing arts, we support all kinds of visual arts such as what you see on canvass, sculpture, visual media. We sponsor the Arts & Crafts Fair. Maybe most important is how we reach out to educate our children about art. In total, our school-related programs reach more than 4,600 every year, providing scholarships and teaching our kids about art.
Q – How does one get involved with POAC? Well, we always need money, but everything that we do needs volunteers. Volunteers are a vital part of the Pend Oreille Arts Council and the success of our activities. There are many volunteer opportunities to suit varied interests. In the gallery, the theater, the classroom, at an event, or in the POAC office - we need you! POAC’s activities are very diverse and so are the ways in which you can get involved: Around the office, Performing Arts, Visual Arts.
The great thing about POAC is that they sponsor and literally pay for many varied kinds of art, from musical theater at the Panida, to music on the lawn and around town, completely free. They have gallery presentations of media and visual art, dance, poetry, etc., etc., etc.
We think that Sandpoint without art would be a dull place indeed, and we salute and celebrate the Pend Oreille Arts Council.
You can learn all about what they do and what’s coming up in Sandpoint by visiting their website: http://www.artinsandpoint.org/
Kim Brown Queen from the Pend Oreille Arts Council (POAC)
Gary Lirette & Judy Delucchi, REALTORS 208-610-1384
Over the last two weeks I have been to several wine tastings and met with the winemakers from some of our region’s best wineries.
Last week I met Welcome Gordy Venneri, Owner/Winemaker of Walla Walla Vintners. Now, to be fair, we carry virtually every wine they make, so I wasn’t there to be sold. I was there to sample his wonderful wines and you should, too.
See, in 1997 when I wrote my first book, Passion For Wine, I stated that Washington State was the best wine producing area in the world. I have to tell you, I was living in Orlando, and had never lived in the Pacific NW. Needless to say, I was fairly well laughed out of town. Since then I have been vindicated with Washington scoring more 90+ ratings and gold medals than any other region. Ha Ha!
So, if Washington is the best wine state, Walla Walla is the best wine region in the state.
Getting back to the wine tasting. Gordy is decidedly old school. He has a quick wit, though a bit dry with his sense of humor. These guys from Walla Walla are more artisans than scientists, which is nice when you consider the graduates of the enology programs over the last decade. Certainly making wine is scientific, but the bulk wines are not my style. Give me the artist any day.
My job as the Yoke’s Wine Steward is to find the amazing and outstanding wines and then get them to you at the best price possible.
I did very much enjoy all of his wines. The setting was fabulous at the Dover Bay Café. The day was windy, but the sun was shining, and the wines were delicious. Below are some notes.
Walla Walla Vintners owned by Gordy Venneri and Myles Anderson, located in Walla Walla, Washington is a limited-production winery, dedicated to making premium red wines. As winemakers they made home crafted wines for over ten years before they considered making commercial wines. This was all done in their backyard using borrowed, makeshift equipment and for a while a small apple press.
In 1995 they were the 8th Bonded Winery in the Walla Walla Valley… Myles is the founding director of the Walla Walla Institute for Enology and Viticulture…
They specialize in making wines from sustainable vineyards in Washington State especially vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley. Their award winning wines receive excellent reviews from judges and leading wine journals.
09’ Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc~ $18.91 The rum-dipped cigar nose takes you to a chocolate mousse mid-palate with a finish of fresh vanilla bean.
Gold - 2011 Seattle Wine Awards
08’ Walla Walla Valley Merlot~ $18.50 The golden raisin, dried fruit nose is a "beak grabber" which takes you to the mid-palate of red licorice, lavender, cassis and Lambert cherry. The wild huckleberry, oxheart cherry finish is pure pleasure and will gain length with age. This balanced and elegant Merlot may be one of the best of the 2008s in Washington.
91 Points - November 2010 Wine Enthusiast
90 Points - July 2011 Wine Spectator
08’ Washington State Cuvee~$19.59 A deep-red, inky hue and a Kir nose. It has a jam-packed beginning of ripe huckleberry and black currant, with a mid-palate of chocolate covered cherries and ends with an unbelievable finish of crushed oxheart cherry over French vanilla ice cream…
89 Points - July 2011 Wine Spectator
08 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon~$24.49 This great, structured blend starts with a dark garnet robe color, has a toasted wood nose, a mid-palate of tobacco and a viscous, rich black licorice finish.
08’ Pepperbridge Malbec~ $27.29 This decade old Walla Walla Valley vineyard struts its stuff with a dark, inky hue, explosive flavors of fennel, basil, oregano and chive ending with a silky smooth finish of ripe berry compote and cassis...
 Gordy Venneri of Walla Walla Vintners at Dover Bay Cafe
Walla Walla Vintners wine tasting at Dover Bay Cafe
In the last seven years, I have interviewed hundreds of people on my radio shows showcasing Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, and North Idaho. With the total of folks being on the shows over 1,000 now, I guess you can say I know a bit about my community and have encountered all kinds and talked about most subjects.
That being said, this movie touched me.
I first met Luke Jiles when I was getting a new iPhone. Luke helped me and we talked about the short film he was making. He starred in the flick, but had a great cast of characters and supporting staff.
Notably, the film was directed by Stephen Byrum: 16 years old and wise beyond his years. Stephen was the “You Are Here” Teen Video Challenge winner for 2011.
The cast is all local, and they will be entering the film in the Sandpoint Film Festival.
Anyway, without giving away too much of the plot, this film is about a boy whose father leaves, and then is reared by a drug addicted and alcoholic mother. He drops out of school, and becomes a troubled young man. The story is one of redemption. It brought tears to my eyes. What is even cooler is that it is loosely based upon a true story.
The film deals with aspects of loss. Everyone deals with battles in their lives. This film is about overcoming those challenges and finding redemption. During the interview I told the cast these kinds of movies are my favorites.
· It stars Luke Jiles, Jim Muskrat, Josiah Coad, Jim Crosby, Jamie Stidham, Issac Byrum, Linda Spade, Kathrine Kruse, Luke Stang.
· Directed by Stephen Byrum
· Written by Luke Jiles and Stephen Byrum
http://TheVictorMovie.com
They also have a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TheVictorMovie?sk=info
I also find it pretty cool that Stephen’s three sisters scored the music for the movie. They are called SaraBeth and are wonderfully talented. See their video “Bells” here on YouTube. You can visit their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SARABETH/121281503082
You can see a trailer on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/ieOEvSIxlt4
Also, you don’t have to wait until the film fest to see it. Reverend Ben Ortiz and the Free Grace Church have footed the bill so that our entire community can preview the film.
Free Screening of ‘The Victor’
October 15, 2011, 6pm
The Panida Theater
Did I tell you the coolest thing about this flick? It has no dialogue. That’s right. It’s a silent film…uh, except for the cool music by SaraBeth. Curiously enough, at the Cannes Film Festival this year Jean Dujardin claimed the best-actor prize for the silent film The Artist.
In this world, sometimes it seems nothing is an accident. This is a wonderful presentation of real life taken to screen. You should see it.
 Cast members of The Victor: Luke Jiles & Josiah Coad
Cast members of The Victor: Luke Jiles, Jim Muskrat, director Stephen Byrum, and dad Bob Byrum
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Gary Lirette-Sandpoint Real Estate
Sandpoint,
ID
More about me…
Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby's International Realty
Address: 200 Main Street, Sandpoint, ID, 83864
Office Phone: (208) 255-3474
Cell Phone: (208) 610-1384
Email Me
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