Try the Soup Kitchen for Monday lunch
Priest River Senior Center info
West Bonner County Library
God's Provision Thrift Shop
Links to follow...
P.R. Native Hosts NW Fishing Site
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Call Priest River Animal Rescue:
208-448-0699
Paul Bunyan and Babe would be at home in
Priest River.
In fact they'd be heroes, because Priest River holds tightly to its logging heritage.
The big community celebration of the year is called Timber Days - a mini-version of the Log Drive Celebration of old. Held the 4th Saturday in July, the parade features logging trucks shined to perfection. Afterward, logging events take place across the street from the park, where visitors can find arts and crafts and a variety of food booths.
Early in the century loggers worked all winter, skidding logs down to the shores of Priest Lake to be carried to Priest River during the Spring run-off, when the river ran high and fast. Brave men known as River Pigs went with them. Sometimes in bateaus and sometimes riding the logs themselves. When the logs got jammed up, the River Pigs would jump across from log to log and use peevees to loosen them and send them once more on their way downstream.
The celebration occurred when both logs and men made it to Priest River. Of course, there were times when not all of the men made it. This was dangerous work.
The Priest River at McAbee Falls
(These images available for purchase, write me!)
Early settlers to Priest River were primarily Italian or Scandinavian. The Italians came to build the railroad, and the Swedes and Norwegians came to harvest the timber. The population remained that way until well into the second half of the last century. As a child, I don't recall even knowing anyone who wasn't either Italian or Scandinavian, even though the history books tell us there were others here.
Those, according to my Grandmother, were days of bustle and prosperity for Priest River. And days of fun. Of course the community was still small, but she said if you wanted to have a party you had to schedule weeks ahead to find an open date.
Priest River today
Today the log trucks still roll, but logging methods have changed, and there are fewer sawmills running. In spite of technological advancements, logging is still a career fraught with danger, and loggers are rightfully known as rugged men.
Young people who want to pursue other interests move away, and retirees looking for a quiet lifestyle move in. But there's another set moving in as well.
The internet has changed the makeup of our population.
Today people who once visited and dreamed of coming back someday are coming back. Tele-commuting has made it possible for people to live almost anywhere in the world and still earn a living. And many are choosing Priest River and Priest Lake.
They come for the quiet, they come for the clean air and water and for the outdoor recreation. They come for the opportunity to find wildlife outside their windows and to walk in the forests.
These are the folks who don't need shopping malls, concerts, art galleries and 4-star restaurants. They're the ones who can entertain themselves.
What a strange mixture - people who earn their living using the latest technology, but when they're finished for the day prefer a quiet walk along a creek to a night on the town. I can call them strange, because I'm one of them - although I've always lived here.
How silly is it to say "I live in Priest River?"
I've said it all my life, but except for a brief time when I was in high school, I have never lived in Priest River.
The population of the city is still around 1,500 - just as it was back in the l960's. Most of us live in Bonner County and the actual town of Priest River is merely our postal address and the hub of our activities. The 1,500 or so who live in town are the only ones who should really be saying they live in Priest River, but the rest of us do it all the time. We're reminded that it isn't true on those occasions when we would really like to be able to vote for the Mayor or the City Council members.
But that's OK - it's not nearly as silly as when people refer to someone living "In Priest Lake." After all, there is no town called Priest Lake - not even a postal address by that name - so my mind conjures up pictures of homes situated on the bed of the lake - or perhaps floating somewhere out in the middle. I guess it could happen if people began building houseboats. But then, they still wouldn't live in the lake. They'd live on the lake.
It's all semantics, but it is a reminder that our words do paint pictures, so we should be careful when we're talking to certain other people.
Sorry, I can't help it. I'm a copywriter - I think about the impact of words all day long.
When it comes to shopping, Priest River will serve your basic needs - groceries, hardware, a pharmacy, car and truck parts, health food, and feed for the critters. You can even buy a few clothing items as long as you don't need high fashion.
However, if you love cruising the mall to seek out bargains, you'll do some driving.
If you recognize this spot on Eastside Road
you'll see that the sun decided to shine just on Priest
River on a late October afternoon.