The Front PageThe deal is expected to close in early October; when it does, an era will end. The Bobbies will be gone from Holiday Shores. "It's the hardest thing I've ever done," said Bobbie Kassel, who has co-owned the marina and café in Hope with Howard Knott for 13 years. "But it's time for a change."
A change it will be. While the expected new owner has not announced his plans for the marina, some things will leave with the Bobbies. Like Sooner potatoes for breakfast and the greatest bacon/cheeseburgers on the planet. The mounted fish will be gone, and there won't be a Bobbie to take pictures of people with their prize rainbow trout. And no longer will locals be able to knock on the door of the Bobbies' trailer late at night when they're out of gas and need someone to turn on the pumps. "I am really going to miss all the people," said Kassel. It's a mutual feeling for many.
"I will miss them very much," said customer Ruth Dickerson, who stops in at the cafe to visit with other local residents. "For a lot of the snowbirds, that's the first place they stop to be welcomed to the area. (The Bobbies being gone) will be a real loss to the community."
It was 14 years ago Bobbie Kassel and Bobbie Natschke, visiting Idaho on vacation, sat with friends around a campfire at Trestle Creek and said, "Wouldn't this be a great place to live and work?" They were living in southern California, where Kassel worked in the aerospace industry and Natschke was doing secretarial work for a construction company. Both had grown up in cities but, "when we left our campsite at dawn, the osprey were howling and the rising sun turned the clouds to pink cottonballs in the sky. I thought, "how can we leave this and go back to the city?" explained Kassel. "It's like an addiction," Natschke added. "Once you're here, you just can't leave."
They did leave, but took a subscription to a local paper with them and began checking the classifieds for job opportunities. In October an ad listed a local marina for sale. "Howard and I flew up to look at it but we couldn't put a deal together. By spring it was still for sale (so we came back) and bought it." Kassel and Knott were now co-owners of the Holiday Shores Marina and Café. In July of `85, Kassel moved to Idaho permanently and Natschke came along. "I wouldn't let them leave without me," she laughed.
Knott had a background in boat service and repair; Kassel took over running the dock store and café; Natschke managed the office. Because the two women shared the same name, they soon became known simply as "The Bobbies."
"That first winter we had freezing temperatures in September and it was snowing in October," reminisced Kassel.
"That first winter we had freezing temperatures in September and it was snowing in October," reminisced Kassel. "We still had boats in the water." By the Thanksgiving Derby, "Fred Kennedy was breaking the ice so boats could go out. The boats had four foot icicles on them and fish were freezing to the decks. We looked at each other and said, "What are we doing here?"
Their first bout with an Idaho winter didn't scare them off, however, and over the next 13 years the pair would become important members of the community. "It was easy," explained Natschke. "The people here are so friendly and accepting."
They joined the Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club (LPOIC), a non-profit organization devoted to preserving the native fishery; Natschke currently serves on its Board of Directors. "It's important," said Kassel of the organization. "They give funds and time to habitat restoration, donate equipment and funds to hatcheries. Members go out and provide labor when necessary for the egg taking of the kokanee. (The club) is a real important part of the local fishery so it's important to support it."
They've also served as DerbyMasters for the club's annual spring and fall K&K Fishing Derby since "around 1993," missing it only last fall when Kassel was ill. They warn against making generalizations about the lake, but do express concern over what they see as a declining fishery. "When we first came up here the kokanee populations were heavier; you can't really judge, but we were catching more then than we are now." They point out "the last few years, weather-wise, we were hammered." Operating the marina, "we've seen a drastic reduction in people coming to this area to fish. Last year, people with big boats started buying smaller boats that they could trailer to other lakes." They are committed to the lake and its fishery, and both Bobbies plan to stay involved with LPOIC. "If we don't save the lake we lose our entire ecology," explained Kassel simply.
The pair are an endless source of stories and vignettes about this area and its people. Kassel is the quieter of the two, often preferring to sit back and observe while Natschke carries a conversation. But they both become lyrical when asked to reflect on the past 13 years. "This is a magnetic area," explained Kassel. "It's difficult to make a living but once I was here I didn't want to leave."
"I was driving down the highway and watched a couple of old guys sitting on the bridge in the sunset, surrounded by this golden glow," added Natschke. "And all I could think is, "isn't this a wonderful place to live? I just can't get that picture out of my mind." They can talk endlessly of the beauty of the area. Northern Lights junkies, they invite anyone to call and let them know when the Lights are out, at any time.
The marina was not a business that kept an arm's length from its customers. "We had a lot of the same customers season after season," explained Kassel. "I've known some of their children since they were in diapers and they're university graduates now. It makes for a different relationship." Natschke concurs. "We met one of our employees when she was five years old."
They keep talking of community, and how it makes this such a great place to live. "You can't get a flat tire on the road without someone stopping almost immediately to help," explained Kassel. They especially like the way the community pulls together during adversity. "There were 20 foot swells right in the marina," said Kassel of the beginning of the 1993 fire season. "(Our guys) were having to jump from the work boat to the customer boats to get them moved." The marina employs between 11 and 15 people during the height of the season and Natschke insists, "We have the best employees in the world."
"Years ago we had more prolonged power failures," said Kassel, and she talked of how they would head over to the café at 2am to put a pot of water on the propane stove to heat. "Three quarters of the local residents would head down in the morning for a hot cup of coffee."
The lake is a different environment when the weather is bad. "I remember coming down the Clark Fork River with a lovely little breeze and by the time we got to the lake there were four foot waves," explained Natschke. It was Natschke who spent most foggy nights monitoring the radio 'til midnight, making sure everyone on the lake got safely back to the docks. "Even experienced boaters get turned around in the fog," said Kassel.
The Bobbies will spend the winter finalizing paperwork for the transfer of the marina and café, then head to the Oregon coast for their first vacation in over three years. And then they'll be back, ready to carve out a new place in the community they call home. Kassel will have more time to devote to her photography, and Natschke will continue with her gardening. "We also plan to donate some time to various organizations in the area," said Kassel, and they both expect to be looking for employment somewhere by spring. And perhaps they'll begin to adjust to life off of the lake. "Saying good-bye (to customers leaving for the season) has been tough - real tough," said Kassel. "But I'm a great believer that things have a purpose, and a reason."
Not everyone calls the pair "The Bobbies." For some, Kassel is Bobbie, while Natschke is "O.B."
"Mark Berryhill (principal of Washington Elementary) just couldn't stand it that we had the same name," laughed Natschke. "He pointed at me one night and said, "okay, you're O.B. (for "other Bobbie)."
The Bobbies especially enjoy the times
when they get together with good
friends Barbara and Barbara. "It's a
good icebreaker," said Kassel.
Sunday Drive: A new era of travel
by Dennis Nicholls
Thompson Falls, Montana -- On a sunny Sunday in August, I stood on my porch somewhat perplexed. Gazing longingly into the high country across the river, I was at a loss for what to do that day. I knew I wanted to go into the mountains, but I was feeling lazy and didn't want to walk there. So I walked next door to the Noxon Café for a pot of coffee, instead.
There I visited with some of the guys sitting at the counter, and one fellow said he had driven the newly opened highway over Thompson Pass just the day before. Aha! I suddenly knew what I would do with the rest of the day. A Sunday Drive was in order.
Years ago, Montana paved its side of the highway that snakes up over Thompson Pass. It has long been claimed as the shortest route from western Montana to Spokane, though not necessarily the quickest. That had been because the Idaho side of the pass remained a narrow, steep, winding gravel road for a ten-mile stretch from the top to the old mining town of Murray.
Asphalt now connects Thompson Falls, Montana with Murray, Idaho, and Interstate 90 at Wallace or Pinehurst. I decided to find out once and for all if the route over Thompson Pass is shorter and quicker for motorists traveling from the Clark Fork Valley and points east to Coeur d'Alene and Spokane, and vice versa.
State Highway 471, the Prospect Creek Road, joins Highway 200 about a mile west of Thompson Falls. I drove to that junction and called it Mile Post Zero for the sake of this journey. Here's what I found along the way:
Mile 0 - begin the trek toward the pass. Speed limit: 55 mph. Figure on gearing down within a few miles of the summit, as the road begins to climb steeply around several sweeping switchbacks.
Mile 22.6 - Atop Thompson Pass at 4,852'. There's a parking area and scenic overlook. Elevation gain from Hwy 200 to the pass is about 2400 feet.
Mile 31.7 - Murray, Idaho. The new highway is beautiful, but still steep and winding. It follows Prichard Creek, which was heavily dredged and mined early this century. The road bypasses Murray now, so you have to turn off the highway to visit the Sprag Pole Inn and other parts of this old mining community.
Mile 33.6 - Here's where the new pavement ends, and you're now on old asphalt.
Mile 39.5 - Junction with the Coeur d'Alene River Road at Prichard. The 16 miles down from the pass to Prichard is relatively slow; I averaged about 45 mph. The most direct route from here to Coeur d'Alene is to head for the interstate west of Pinehurst.
Mile 62.7 - Interstate 90. It's been a pleasant drive along the river, but summer traffic makes it slow, and the speed limit is often only 35 mph. Lots of RVs on this road make progress quite slow.
Mile 93.9 - The Highway 95 interchange at CDA.
The distance from Thompson Falls to Coeur d'Alene via Thompson Pass is about 94 miles. The usual route has always been Highway 200 to Sandpoint and Highway 95, then south to CDA and the interstate. That distance is 131 miles.
So is this new, more easily accessible route shorter to and from Thompson Falls to Spokane? Obviously, yes; by some 37 miles.
Mile 33.6 - Here's where the new pavement ends, and you're now on old asphalt.
Mile 39.5 - Junction with the Coeur d'Alene River Road at Prichard. The 16 miles down from the pass to Prichard is relatively slow; I averaged about 45 mph. The most direct route from here to Coeur d'Alene is to head for the interstate west of Pinehurst.
Mile 62.7 - Interstate 90. It's been a pleasant drive along the river, but summer traffic makes it slow, and the speed limit is often only 35 mph. Lots of RVs on this road.
Mile 93.9 - The Highway 95 interchange at CDA.
The distance from Thompson Falls to Coeur d'Alene via Thompson Pass is about 94 miles. The usual route has always been Highway 200 to Sandpoint and Highway 95, then south to CDA and the interstate. That distance is 131 miles.
So is this new, more easily accessible route shorter to and from Thompson Falls to Spokane? Obviously, yes; by some 36 miles.
Is it quicker? Probably, but not necessarily. The combination of lower speed limits, the winding nature of the road, and going up and over a mountain pass all contribute to the length of the trip via Thompson Pass. Of course, once you're on the interstate, the speed limit is 75 mph.
On the other hand, Montana Highway 200 has a "reasonable and prudent" speed limit (perhaps best interpreted as 60 to 70 mph, depending on road, weather and traffic conditions). In Idaho it goes to 55 mph. And then there are several communities to go through, including Sandpoint. South of Sandpoint on Highway 95 the speed limit is at times 65 mph. But then you encounter miles of traffic lights as you approach CDA.
Which route is quicker will likely
depend on your driving habits. And
which route you take may also depend
on the level of services you require
along the way. The 60-plus miles from
Thompson Falls to Pinehurst offers a
few services, but it is largely a
recreational corridor. The Highways
200-95 route is loaded with services
for all kinds of travelers.
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