A Trip Down Info Highway
It’s called the Archeological Society, but that hardly captures all that club does.
“We could call it the Adventurers’ Club but the insurance agents would faint,” jokes David Dose, a sixth-grade teacher at Kellogg Middle School and founder of the society. “We could have called it the Science Club, but that sounds so boring we might lose members.”
So far, losing members has not been a problem. The 3-year-old club is 70 strong, with both junior high and high school participants. About 50 students are planning to sign up for the society’s most ambitious project of the year - a 12-day trip that will encompass seven states and dip into Mexico.
The trip, which begins in late March, is not funded by the school district. Many students have been working for a year to save the approximately $300 required to participate. Donations to help lower that cost are welcome.
“We do constant fund-raisers. But the kids have to pay for what we don’t raise,” says Dose.
About $2,000 is needed to help outfit the bus that houses the club’s science lab and video equipment. (Dose claims he would be happy to accept if someone happens to have extra lumber or a spare toilet.)
The Old West Expedition will expose students to a number of old forts and historical sites. But the learning won’t stop there. Other destinations include a Salt Lake planetarium and the San Diego zoo. The members will rappel at Yosemite and pan gold at Sutter’s Mill.
“You can tell kids that miners discovered gold in such-and-such a place, but if you let them pan gold on the site, they’ll always remember that cold river. They’ll always be able to picture what the miners went through,” says Dose.
Along the way, an astronomy team will be pointing out constellations. A zoology team plans to monitor animal populations, while a separate team will identify plants. Each society member is required to present a report relevant to one of the sites being visited.
Why would any normal young person give up spring break for an activity so relentlessly educational? It’s clearly a tribute to Dose’s creativity, energy, and magnetism.
Oh, and by the way, the bus stops at Disneyland.
Any business that would like to help sponsor the trip can have its logo displayed on the side of the bus throughout its 4,000-mile route. Call Dose at 784-1311 for more information.
Ironic. In a year that “Silver Country” is getting more national coverage than ever before for its 1,000 miles of snowmobile trails, there’s almost no snow.
“New York is getting our snow!” wails Marianne Hull, proprietress of the Molly B’Damn Motel, a hangout for snowmobilers. “We know it can snow here. In 1993, we had flakes as big as crackers!”
Hull was reassured by a news clip that said the East could steal the West’s weather only once every nine years, in a cycle.
“We’ve already had people out looking at our terrain. They love it. As soon as we have snow, they’ll be here,” she predicts.
But this year, according to Marianne’s husband, Jack Hull, just 30 percent of the area’s trails are open. As president of the Silver Valley Snowcat Association and Chairman of the Groomer’s Committee, he should know.
The problem isn’t limited to warm weather, Hull says. Last month’s windstorm felled trees, closing the Glidden Lake run. High-water runoff stopped the Moon Pass to Avery trek; likewise the ride to Lake Elsie.
Meanwhile, the area is being touted as one of the world’s best snowmobiling hotspots in SnoWest Magazine; SnoGoer Magazine calls it one of 1996’s top destinations.
But riders, take heart. The trails between the Mullan fish hatchery, Lookout Pass, and St. Regis have 3-1/2 to 4 feet of snow. The Steamboat Creek area offers good snowcatting, and Jordan Loop, an approximately 80-mile run, is open. Groomers are working to open Sunset Peak.
Organizers are understandably discouraged by this year’s weather. But Marianne Hull claims there’s no quitting now.
“The public’s interested,” she says. “When we get snow, it’s going to be big.”
, DataTimes MEMO: Bekka Rauve is a freelance writer who lives in the Silver Valley. Panhandle Pieces appears every Saturday. The column is shared among four North Idaho writers.