This Week in History - Jan. 19, 2023

100 Years Ago

Charles G. Prell, who for the past two years has been the manager of the Boundary Dry Goods Co., sold his interests in the business to his partner, J.B. Brody, the auditor and clerk of Boundary County.

The bill providing for a 2-cent tax on all gasoline sold in the state of Idaho, which made its appearance in the House of Representatives Wednesday, was introduced by Jarnigan of Lewis County and is known as House Bill No. 3.

Some time ago T.E. Montgomery wrote a letter to a friend in a middle west state telling of the advantages of Boundary County and of the offerings here to new settlers. The letter was published in the local paper and as a result, Mr. Montgomery received some 40 letters asking him to give further information about Northern Idaho.

50 Years Ago

A fire Saturday afternoon at about 4 p.m. leveled the Richard Schnuerle home in Paradise Valley. There were no injuries in the blaze, but almost every possession of the family was lost.

Another new name has hit the car agency spotlight this week as Lakeshore Motors has officially been renamed Bonners Ferry Datsun.

Many members of the Panhandle Snowmobile Club have been working this week at Caribou Raceway near Naples attempting to preserve the slight ice base for a scheduled snowmobile race this weekend.

First Lieutenant Robert D. Pace, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pace, has been awarded silver wings upon graduation from U.S. Air Force navigator training at Mather AFB, California, near Sacramento.

15 Years Ago

Boundary County’s 18-acre landfill is running out of space. “Recycling is what we need to be doing and should be doing. It would delay the closing of the landfill,” said Ron Smith, for Boundary County commissioners, who oversee the facility off Hillcrest Road on Bonners Ferry’s North Hill. Opened in 1971, the landfill is permitted to receive 20 tons a day, Smith said.

After 52 years of running a successful business, Vi Sims has sold the downtown Bonners Ferry furniture store to her manager, Maureen Shelman.

Joe Mesenbrink, once one of the West’s top snowmobile racers, rarely misses a race in Bonners Ferry. Mesenbrink wasn’t about to let cancer stop him from going to Sunday’s snowmobile drag races at the Boundary County Fairgrounds, where the event was dedicated to him.

Submitted by the Boundary County Museum