Creator Hopes Dandelion Fest Will Spread

Tomorrow may be Mother’s Day, but today could be the Mother of all Dandelion Festivals.

This event is for anyone who’s dreamed of being crowned a dandelion queen - or admired a yard full of sunshine-on-a-stem. The First Annual Pat Gooby Dandylion Festival will run from 2 to 4 p.m. at Bonner Mall in Ponderay.

“This will outdo the Rose Festival,” creator Pat Gooby predicts. Designed for the young at heart, the celebration is free and open to kids up to age 12. Cash prizes go to first, second and third place winners in three age groups. There’ll be lots of popcorn and ice cream on hand.

The 54-year-old school bus driver and Sandpoint native says he has been planning today’s inaugural event for half a century.

“You get these ideas when you’re calling cows from the back of the pasture or chasin’ killdeer,” Gooby says. “You flick a lot of (dandelion) flowers when you’re doing that.”

Awards will go to winners in the

“Picked by Weight,” “Longest Dandylion Chain,” “Farthest Flower Flicker” and, of course, “The See-If-You-Like Butter” categories. A dandelion queen will be crowned.

When it’s over, the kids determine the fate of the festival flowers.

“We’re going to take them (all the dandelions) and lay ‘em out in the city parking lot and sun-dry them,” Gooby explained. “We’ll gather the seed and spread it out with a low-flying helicopter. Or we’ll have a formal burial … the kids will decide.”

Gooby hopes to blend politics with the games. He’ll try to convince kids to lobby for the dandelion’s inclusion on the endangered species list. “If he wants longevity, he’s going to have to appease the thousands of kids who show up at the festival,” Gooby said.Speaking of longevity,

Gooby has high hopes for his dandy new event.

“I hope the celebration is so big and so fantastic that when I’m pushing dandelions, my own kids will be still sponsoring it,” he said.

Video Sugar Daddy:

Gale Dolsby signs the checks. Sandpoint High School athletes and scholars enjoy the results.

Dolsby spends his spare time filming Sandpoint High sports and earns as much as $6,000 a year to support school activities.

Shortly after moving to Sandpoint in 1975, the former sheriff’s deputy got involved in community sports and drove the Sandpoint High team bus.

During a football opener against Bonners Ferry about 10 years ago, sidekick Larry Copley asked Dolsby to do play-byplay for a video scheduled to air on Sandpoint’s TV cable Channel 5.

Dolsby was hooked. He helped for the rest of the season and took over the next year.

Since those days, Dolsby has improved both skills and equipment.His crew films cross-country, football,

volleyball, soccer and basketball home games. While Copley does stats and color, a student runs the Super 8 video camera and Dolsby calls the action.

The father of three has financed the purchase of a computer and graphics light table. He often treats athletic teams to a restaurant meal, and he recently helped fund a journalism trip.

“The schools are underfunded and the kids need all the help they can get,” Dolsby said.

MEMO: Marianne Love is journalism adviser for Sandpoint High School and an author who lives in Sandpoint. Panhandle Pieces appears every Saturday.