Spreading The Word
Managing Editor
GWEN ALBERS
• Naples resident Oma Sanders wants to remind everyone that the Soups On will continue throughout the summer.
Free soup, crackers, bread and cookies will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Fridays at South Boundary Fire District station in Naples. This week’s pick is tamale soup with guacamole. For information, call 267-1417.
• City, county, state and federal law enforcement officers raised more than $800 for Special Olympics from tips they collected while waiting on tables at Kootenai River Inn on June 15.
Part of the money also was raised while raffling a night’s stay at an historic hotel in Kaslo, British Columbia.
Officers volunteering included Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Conservation Officer Greg Johnson, City Police Reserve Officer Willie Cowell , U.S. Customs and Border Protection Port Director Tish Lagerwey, Customs and Border Protection SRT Officer Esteban Rodriquez and retired Bonners Ferry Police Chief David Kramer.
Kootenai River Inn servers, cooks and kitchen helpers supported the officers. The officers had a blast, and really learned what hard work servers at restaurants do everyday.
They appreciated efforts by Tom Turpin, general manager of the Kootenai River Inn, and Murleen Skeen for making this event possible.
• Romanian Manuel Costescu recently acquired his private pilot license at Boundary County Airport.
Costescu came to the United States 15 years ago to study international business at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
After graduating, he worked for several years in New York City and traveled the world before achieving his goal of earning a pilot certificate at Northern Air.
Costescu’s quest to fly began 10 years ago in Bonners Ferry while he was interning with the U.S. Forest Service. Flight Instructor Dave Parker trained Costecu through his first solo in 1999.
After leaving Bonners Ferry, life got busy, and learning to fly just wasn’t the same in Boston, thus postponing his dream for 10 years.
Costescu scheduled to complete his training in three weeks opposed to the standard time-frame. He finished in 2 1/2 years. All of this coincided with his honeymoon, so his bride, Verena, joined him for the first week. She accompanied him on a few of his training flights, including a flight over Glacier National Park.
During his training, Costescu stayed in the upstairs apartment of the same hangar that housed his plane. Being close to the airport led to relationships with the airport staff through many dinners, laughs and a lot of crème brulee.
When not flying or studying, the newlyweds enjoy viewing animals at the National Wildlife Refuge in the evenings. Manuel took one day off to kayak down the winding Kootenai River from Bonners Ferry to the Canadian border. On another occasion, Manuel and his Instructor Nathaniel Cheshire saw a bear while hiking up the Selkirk Mountains to Hidden Lake.
• A young Jean Landis on Sunday was spotted the Fox News program “War Stories with Oliver North.”
A seasonal Bonners Ferry resident, Jean belonged to Women Airforce Service Pilots. She was among civilian female pilots employed to fly military aircraft under the direction of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. The female pilots numbered into the thousands, each freeing a male pilot for combat service and duties.
Jean, who is now 90, flew new planes from Bell Aircraft in Buffalo, N.Y., to Great Falls, Mont.
Spreading the Word is about the people of Boundary County. If you’ve gone on a vacation, have a wedding planned, are moving or anything else you’d like to share, call Gwen Albers at 267-5521, or send an e-mail to galbers@cdapress.com.