Marilyn Sabella From Arts And Music To Santa Claus, Sandpoint Counts On Its Citizen Of The Year

After years of raising cash to make sure the spotlights ran at the historic Panida Theatre, Marilyn Sabella has had the spotlight turned on her.

A longtime arts booster, fund-raiser and dabbler in everything from music to drama, Sabella was rewarded with the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year award for 1995.

“It was a lovely surprise,” said the modest Sabella, who admits she doesn’t seek the limelight. “I suppose I prefer to work behind the scenes.”

Few other Sandpoint residents can tout such a art-driven resume. Sabella’s practically a lifer on the Idaho Arts Commission, the first person to serve three consecutive terms. She serves on other Western arts councils, and recently joined the Festival at Sandpoint as a director.

All of that has to fit around Sabella’s day job. In April, she’ll begin her 16th year owning Eve’s Leaves, a women’s clothing store, in the heart of Sandpoint’s retail district.

“My clothes are what I like to call ‘Casual Elegance,”’ said Sabella, a nearly life-long Sandpoint resident. “My customers from around here dress differently than they would elsewhere, even differently from people in Spokane.”

Knowing her regular customers as well as she does, Sabella relishes the chance to fit new items into the wardrobes of the women who shop there.

Downtown Sandpoint has changed plenty in the years Sabella’s been in business, with general merchandise stores weeded out and replaced withs specialty shops and businesses.

Change has accelerated in recent years, with new businesses sprouting up to cater to tourists. The renovation of Coldwater Creek’s Cedar Street Bridge in the past two years has boosted the area’s shopping appeal for tourists and locals

But much of the general retail focus has shifted to Ponderay to the northwest, where a Kmart store and the Bonner Mall attract shoppers. Soon a big Wal-Mart store will open its doors there, and that has Sabella somewhat worried.

“I fear that some of the small businesses will suffer,” she said. “I don’t know what kind of corporate citizen Wal-Mart will be. When it comes to activities like Little League, for example, our small merchants bring out their checkbooks.”

Her love of arts started early, as she played cello, piano, and earned a drama degree at the University of Idaho. Husband Rusty is a touring musician, which keeps her in touch with creative friends, a good outlet for a self-described “frustrated artist.”

She books an outdoor concert series each summer. She puts together Holly Eve each year, which features silent auctions for big prizes, auctions for donated art by local artists and plenty of entertainment. Always right before Thanksgiving, Holly Eve serves as the holiday season kick-off in Sandpoint.

The event bagged $22,000 last year. That money helped burn the mortgage on the Panida Theater, where renovations to the stage and equipment have helped attract world-class opera productions. This year “The Barber of Seville” will grace the stage in its original Italian, on ongoing source of pride for Sabella.

As for the Citizen of the Year award, Jonathan Coe of the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce said it reflects more of a continuing contribution to the community, sort of a “lifetime achievement” kind of recognition.

“We didn’t give it to her purely for her work with the arts,” said Coe, the chamber’s executive director. “She’s been very active with the central business district association, she’s organized a lot of Christmas activities in downtown - she’s worked in a lot of different arenas.”

Sabella said her knack for organization and fund raising started early on, when she sold cupcakes for a nickel to send the high school ski club on a “real vacation.”

“She’s a very effective organizer,” Coe said. “She just gets things done. We need to get Santa in downtown for Christmas, and she gets it done.”

With her store to tend, various conference calls from arts groups to take and meetings to make, Sabella doesn’t have a lot of leisure time. This despite that her two sons have grown up, the youngest about to graduate from college.

While she does find time to vacation in Mexico during the winters and has an affinity for Seattle’s cosmopolitan flair, Sandpoint will always be her home, she said.

“The place is just drop-dead beautiful,” she said. “I think a lot of people and artists drive on that bridge across the lake and just fall instantly in love.”

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