Goodwill Ambassadors Our Net Gain

Sandpoint’s answer to negative publicity generated by hate groups is simple: volleyball.

The city and the Panhandle in general are the beneficiaries of the North Idaho Volleyball Club’s 80 young ambassadors and the woman behind them, Nancy Lippi.

The girls, ages 11 to 17, traveled this year to tournaments from Portland to Phoenix, wowing spectators with their skills and teamwork.

“They were such positive, enlightening statements,” says Nancy, the club’s parent workhorse. “So many people asked us about our area.”

Even Gov. Phil Batt was impressed.

“The positive image you convey while participating in various matches around the country reflects favorably on our state,” he wrote to the club last winter. “In light of the unfavorable publicity North Idaho often receives, it is important to remind other states that Idaho is a great place to live.”

“Way cool,” Nancy says, looking at the governor’s letter on Page One of the club’s spiffy Player Profiles book.

Nancy threw her considerable organizational talents behind the club last year. Her 16-year-old daughter, Megan, had played on a club team for five years.

Sandpoint’s club volleyball isn’t associated with schools. Its players come from three counties, and its season doesn’t conflict with school or college sports.

The club extends playing time for young athletes and gives them opportunities to play when college coaches can see them.

Nancy had watched Megan’s older teammates score fat scholarships to Villanova, Georgetown, Washington State and more.

When the town’s two clubs merged last year, Nancy was determined to make the single organization work.

A budget of more than $100,000 didn’t scare her. Players contributed up to $400 each. A Christmas fund-raiser generated $5,000.

But the phone directory-sized profiles book was the heavy hitter. The book, like the club, is designed to showcase North Idaho’s players for coaches. It has inspired plenty of recruiting calls and letters.

It also showcases in glorious color Sandpoint’s Cedar Street Bridge with Schweitzer Mountain in the background.

The book has become an unofficial public relations tool. Nancy, who exhausted herself this year, couldn’t be more pleased.

Sandpoint’s Chamber of Commerce was impressed enough to name Nancy its volunteer of the month for September. The honor almost embarrasses her. She worked for her daughter, not for recognition.

“It was so worthwhile,” she says. “In so many ways.”

Tryouts for the North Idaho Volleyball Club’s under-18 team are Nov. 8, 2-5 p.m., at Stidwell Elementary. For details on tryouts for the six other teams, call Jack Dyck at 263-3034.

Good guys

Coeur d’Alene’s Doris Webb was $1.23 short at Albertson’s on Ironwood Drive not long ago.

Before she could pick an item to return to the shelf, grocery packer Bill Van Valkinburgh handed her a dollar and cashier Cynthia Lamm chipped in 23 cents.

Doris returned a few days later to repay the loans, but Bill didn’t want her money. Doris, however, insisted and thanked them both.

“It is nice to know someone comes to your rescue for such a small amount,” Doris says. And it’s nice to know some people don’t abuse the kindness.

Feeling her age

My 17-year-old daughter, Megan, felt ancient recently among the first-graders she helps. She told them about boys in her first-grade class grossing out girls by eating paste. The kids looked at her quizzically and said, “What’s paste?”