‘We do what we can’
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Food insecurity is a terrible thing, but it’s especially heartbreaking when it involves children. For the past 15 years, the nonprofit organization Food for our Children has pledged to...
Category: Ben Olson
Festivus for the rest of us
By Ben Olson Reader Staff For the uninitiated, Festivus is a holiday invented for an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld called “The Strike,” which involves the airing of grievances; feats of strength; a celebratory...
A (different kind of) Christmas Carol
By Ben Olson Reader Staff There is perhaps no other Christmas story more impactful than Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol. The original work gave us timeless characters like Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit,...
Gift guide 2024: Local goods for the win
By Ben Olson Reader Staff It’s gift-giving season in North Idaho, and there are few better ways to support your neighbors than buying local. For this week’s gift guide, we’re offering some ideas for...
Freedumb
By Ben Olson Reader Staff If you toss a water balloon into a crowd of Idahoans, chances are you’ll hit someone wearing a shirt that has something about “freedom” written on it. Perhaps it’s...
Reader to celebrate anniversary milestones with community party at Matchwood
By Ben Olson Reader Staff It’s amazing how fast 10 years goes by. At this time in December 2014, I was frantically putting together the relaunch of the Sandpoint Reader after it went out...
‘Ono grinds at Sunshine on Cedar
By Ben Olson Reader Staff After eating at Sunshine on Cedar, the new bar and restaurant inside the Cedar Street Bridge, the Hawaiian slang ‘ono grinds (meaning “delicious food”) might become a new part...
Restless ideologues tilting at windmills
By Ben Olson Reader Staff I read a story once about a woman who constantly rearranged the furniture inside her home. Every few days or so, she’d try the couch on the other side...
Museum offers ‘Hands-On History’ activities for kids
By Ben Olson Reader Staff For many young kids, history is just another subject in school, requiring them to memorize the names of long-dead people and the dates in which they did something notable....
Ice skating rink to open in Ponderay
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Anybody growing up in North Idaho can attest that ice skating is a sport that usually happens only when conditions are just right. It can’t be too warm or...
