Sandpoint Teen Center reopens

By Reader Staff

The Sandpoint Teen Center partially reopened Monday, May 11 with “at the door” contacts with area teens. The center, located at 221 S. Division St., will be open from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“We really have missed the teens,” Director Joan Avery said. “We’re excited to be opening again.”

First Mission will be serving snacks over the lunch hour.

“The food will be hamburgers and hot dogs at first,” teen center cook Sandy Carter said. “We hope to add things like salad to give it a swing.”

Another project will be raising crops — which include strawberries, tomatoes and green onions — in the special raised beds at the center.

“We need teens to help plant and care for our garden through the summer — and they will reap the reward of fresh produce for their families,” Avery said.

For teens with sports in mind, the center has a basketball hoop and a five-hole Frisbee golf course. For players seeking a bigger disc golf challenge, the center can make arrangements to play at the Baldfoot Disc Golf Course on Baldy Road.

The center has also organized a nature scavenger hunt with prizes of $5 for the first three participants who bring these five items in a plastic bag:

1. Needles of a ponderosa pine;

2. Seed cone of a Douglas fir;

3. A piece of quartz, however tiny;

4. Flower of a forsythia;

5. Tansy seed pod (dead  from last fall)

Teen center volunteer Jim Payne offered some advice for finding the quartz pebble: “A good place to find the quartz pebble is along the bike path to Dover.”

Find more information about the Sandpoint Teen Center’s programs, services and events at its Facebook page.