Natural Connections December
Join us for Natural Connections on Saturday, December 14th from 10 AM – 4 PM. Come for the full event or just stop in for the portions that interest you.
Here is our schedule for the day:
10 AM: Healthy Choices to Ease Holiday Stress
Equip yourself with techniques for staying healthy. Join us for a healthy lifestyle workshop put on by health and fitness instructor, Erin Bowman. Learn how our brain works when faced with triggers, how to set yourself up for success when faced with difficult decisions and how to use different methods to calm your nervous system. Erin will show us how to move our bodies and maximize our exercise in a short amount of time in a small space. Lastly, we’ll get to make no-bake truffles and taste some specialty hot tea blends that will easily replace the sugar-laden alternatives.
About the presenter:
Erin Bowman is a fitness instructor in Sandpoint with a passion for learning about all aspects of health. She was formerly a personal chef and is currently studying to be an addiction advocate with an emphasis on processed food. She started her pursuit of higher education because of her own need to overcome addiction and live a clean life. When she’s not creating whole food recipes she loves being outdoors, making art, and surrounding herself with people who inspire her.
12 PM: Water Quality: Local People Taking Local Actions
Selkirk Conservation Alliance (SCA) Executive Director Amy Anderson will share the common threats to water quality (point and non-point sources of pollution) and what we can all collectively do to protect and conserve our beautiful stream, river and lake systems for generations to come! SCA is truly the “Waterkeepers” of the Priest Basin. Almost all land uses have the potential to negatively impact water quality if not managed properly. A 3D Topographical Watershed Model will be used to demonstrate how our actions make a difference.
Also, SCA Water Committee Chair, Stan Miller will cover its citizen science water quality monitoring programs, their annual activities, as well as summaries of data collected. Only through a collective community effort will we be able to protect and conserve our shared North Idaho water resources. Citizen Science programs are on the front lines of environmental conservation. SCA has two such volunteer water quality monitoring programs. Join us to learn more about the types of data these volunteers collect and what it means for our communities. Overall this program will cover SCA’s citizen volunteer monitoring programs, threats to water quality and most importantly, what you can do about it!
About the presenters:
Amy Anderson holds degrees in Ecology & Conservation Biology and has worked with the Upper Columbia United Tribes and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. She became passionate about nonprofit work while leading the Kootenai Environmental Alliance and became the Executive Director of Selkirk Conservation Alliance (SCA) in April 2021, focusing on water protection.
Stan Miller, a retired Water Resources professional, transitioned to water resources after teaching high school. He completed a Master’s in Environmental Science and worked at Spokane County for 27 years, focusing on protecting the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer and leading watershed planning efforts.
Selkirk Conservation Alliance is a grassroots nonprofit that has been protecting the environment in the lower Selkirk Mountains for 36 years, collecting water quality data on Priest Lake since 2008 in partnership with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
1:30 PM: Book Band-aid Tidbits
“Can I save my books?” It can be overwhelming to start exploring book repair, but it is surprising what can be saved!
Come to Rhela’s Show and Tell! This presentation will aim to explain:
- Basic book anatomy and overall book health
- What kind of damage is salvageable without needing to hire a Bookbinder.
- Tools, materials, and resources that are safe for books.
Feel free to take notes and resource lists will be provided.
Due to time limitations, the instructor can’t guarantee that she will be able to diagnose individual books, but there may be time afterward for anyone in need.
About the presenter:
Rhela (ree-luh) is a staff member who was raised here in Sandpoint. In fact, she used to come to this library after school as a kid. Rhela was working here for a year before our previous book mender retired. She applied for the job, and the rest is history!
Rhela cares a lot about the integrity of our collections because they belong to her community. So, in essence, she is taking care of your books! When people think about libraries, the symbol that often comes to mind is a book. Not to mention, it is very satisfying to take something broken or worn and put some life back into it. When not at work, she is a university student, snowboarder, guitarist, painter, reader, video gamer, and nature enthusiast!
2 PM: Art Journals with Origami Pages
Create it, Gift it, Keep it, Draw in it- Art Journals! Enjoy the process of making a small journal with a choice of cover papers, bits of fabric and using blank paper for folded pages. This handmade journal or book could be used for so many ideas: a pocket journal, favorite recipes, journaling a trip, practicing new techniques, a collage of treasured memories, or a ‘what’s on your mind?’. It can be a gift of shared experiences.
There’s a joy in making your own journal and spending time drawing some of your favorite ideas. Then make another. The book can vary in page numbers. A pattern will be provided and easily duplicated later in your creative space. All materials for your takehome art journals will be provided.
About the presenter:
Sharon Gunter the Basket Case-weaves, dyes and dabbles in whatever interests her at the time. One of her favorite things to do is teach what she has learned and encourage others to take on their own style. The process is important: planning, gathering, preparing materials needed, then creating with and without mistakes. And the finished product holds all the collected experience to that point. It’s fun to share this with others. Sharon didn’t know she loved making baskets until a gal, Kathy taught her to make a basket in the fall of 1978. While sharing basket making Sharon has met many people in the ‘fiber arts world’ and can’t get enough. Later she landed a job teaching art at Farmin Stidwell Elementary School or as she likes to say she gives students experiences in different mediums in hopes one will spark an interest. As we all know…there’s so much to dabble in and so little time.