In Little Town, Charity Is Nearly Unavoidable

It’s often said that if you sneeze more than three times in an hour here, the whole town knows you are sick and will start bringing food and flowers to help you get well.

That may be an exaggeration, but it underlines the strong sense of community prevalent in this small Idaho Panhandle town.

There is little theoretical talk about building community here, just a recognized need to pitch in and help. One rarely hears “Let someone else do it.” In a town of 450 people, there isn’t always someone else available. Without thought of praise or reward, people often volunteer for responsibilities that last a lifetime.

Diana Behrens and members of her Mormon church group have organized Christmas baskets for the needy for many years. Russ Schenck and a group of highly skilled and dedicated volunteers devote an enormous amount of time to the Clark Fork Valley Ambulance. With medical care 25 miles away in Sandpoint, the volunteer ambulance is critical for residents from the Montana border to the Pack River Bridge who need trained medical personnel in an emergency.

There is also the Senior Center, built with community involvement and financial support. Current board members, Don and Alice Sutton, and many others, donate an extraordinary number of hours making certain the doors stay open, the heat stays on, and Meals-on-Wheels are taken to the homebound.

Longtime Mayor Andy Martinosky contributes his time and energy into running the business of this small town. Although Martinosky receives a token salary, it isn’t enough to put new soles on his shoes. The mayor is assisted by the City Council and any number of people who pitch in when necessary, like filling sandbags this past spring to fight the flooding Clark Fork River.

And not only medical, nutritional and political needs demand volunteer attention in Clark Fork. For many years, Arlene Erickson and others have operated a Gift and Thrift Shop out of the back rooms of the Methodist Church. Originally started to help low-income people get good, inexpensive clothes and books, the shop now carries “everything but fresh fruit and vegetables and dinosaurs,” said Gloria Lee, a regular volunteer. Bag sales during the closing days of October draw many outsiders to Clark Fork, to benefit from the great end-of-season bargains.

“It’s not just those of us behind the counter who make this work,” Erickson said, “it’s also the people who contribute clothes and the people who come and buy. If we didn’t have each other, we wouldn’t be able to function.”

Indeed, funerals, fund-raisers, weddings, anniversaries and other town events would be sparsely attended if everyone in town didn’t show up. Consider retired postmaster Pat Derr, who often is seen cheering at the school games. And parents like Dana and Kelly Hurt, who initiated and coached Little League Baseball until Roger and Janie Miller took over this past summer.

Neighbors become search-and-rescue team members who don bright orange shirts and head into the mountains to find lost hikers and hunters. And to finance these events, many individuals, as well as local businesses, contribute generously. If there is someone in need, neighbors, friends - and often strangers - don’t hesitate to rally.

This is a community where they don’t just bring over a box of tissue when someone sneezes, they bring good will and a heartfelt attitude as well.

, DataTimes MEMO: Susan Saxton D’Aoust is a free-lance writer and author who lives in Clark Fork.