On the third Thursday of November, a quilting group named for Clark Fork sets up a holiday sale in a Hope building at the corner of Wellington and Centennial. The Clark Fork Valley Quilters will be selling handmade items at the Memorial Community Center on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The sale falls on one of their regular meeting days. The quilters meet at the center on the first and third Thursdays of each month.
The quilters carry Clark Fork's name and meet in Hope. The senior center that serves Wednesday lunch is called Clark Fork–Hope and sits in Clark Fork. The Christmas program run out of Hope works with the Clark Fork–Hope Food Bank. Once the summer places close for the year, the two towns run a single winter calendar between them, and the volunteers who keep it going cover both.
A building with a stated mission for the whole shore
The Memorial Community Center sits at 415 Wellington Place. It is a nonprofit community center and preschool, and in its own description it was built to carry on the community spirit of five young people who died in a boating accident on Lake Pend Oreille in 1982. MCC's website also says it is "staffed almost entirely by volunteers" and committed to serving "all residents on the eastern shore of Lake Pend Oreille and beyond." The center does not limit that mission to Hope, and its winter schedule reflects the wider reach.
A volunteer board runs the center: Lori Finnerty as chair and treasurer, Ley Anne Merica as vice chair and secretary, and Cynthia Fox, Vera Gadman and Eleanor Durham. Jamie Sauter manages the office. Office hours and preschool hours are the same, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The preschool's November update reports a full classroom of 12 students, weekly music paid for by an art grant, and a playground renovation down to "a few final touches."
Besides the preschool, the center runs a Christmas Giving program and a high school scholarship, brings in guest speakers at no cost, and rents meeting space to groups at an affordable rate. Its classes page says each group is "run by their designated leader" and that the range of offerings depends on "an evolving community of willing instructors and volunteers." Put simply, the winter schedule is whatever volunteers are running this year.
What the week looks like this November
The center's November 2026 newsletter lists the following regular schedule:
| Group or class | When | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Art: Drawing | Mondays, 1 to 3 p.m. | $10 per class, all supplies provided |
| Art: Acrylic | Tuesdays, 1 to 3 p.m. | $10 per class, all supplies provided |
| Hope Senior Fitness | Tuesdays and Fridays, 10 to 11 a.m. | At the center |
| Clark Fork Valley Quilters | 1st and 3rd Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Holiday sale Nov. 19 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous | Mondays, 7 to 8 p.m. | At the center |
| The Gardeners Gathering | 2nd and 4th Saturdays | Off for winter, returns April 10, 2027 |
The Bonner County Daily Bee's community calendar for the week of Nov. 8 adds two more items at Hope Community Center: a yoga session with Maria Alberg and a 5:30 p.m. fitness class led by Mike Ehredt. Ehredt's coaching bio says he also directs the Dig Your Grave Trail race in Hope.
The art classes say the most about how the center works. Vera Gadman is the contact for the open studio. The classes page calls it "a creative space that's not your living room," a social room where people can keep working on a class project or bring their own. It is a space "for artists and non-artists" alike, and the page adds, "No straight lines necessary!" In an area of lake houses, the open studio gives people a winter room to work in that isn't at home.
The garden group takes winter off. The Gardeners Gathering meets on the second and fourth Saturdays and welcomes beginners and experienced gardeners alike. The November newsletter lists its return as April 10, 2027.
Lunch is in Clark Fork, and anyone can walk in
The midday part of the calendar happens in Clark Fork. The Bee lists the Clark Fork–Hope Area Senior Center at 10th and Cedar, and the center serves lunch at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. Its meals page says walk-ins are welcome at any age. Diners 60 and older are asked for a suggested donation of $6, and diners under 60 are charged $9. The center also delivers meals to homes for people who apply.
Card games follow lunch. On the Bee's calendar, Wednesday lunch is followed by party bridge at 12:15 p.m. and men's night at 7 p.m., and Friday lunch by duplicate bridge at 12:30 p.m. Pinochle is on the calendar at 1 p.m. as well. The nonprofit behind the center, Clark Fork–Hope Area Senior Service, Inc., has held tax-exempt status since February 1993.
Because of the two centers' schedules, a winter Friday can start at Hope Senior Fitness at 10 a.m. on Wellington Place and end with lunch and duplicate bridge in Clark Fork. The Bee lists one more Clark Fork stop, Scrappy Stampers, which meets from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Clark Fork Center, 1001 Cedar St.
The library fills the dark afternoons
The Clark Fork Library at 601 Main St. is a branch of the East Bonner County Library District. Two events are left on its fall calendar after the quilt sale:
- Clark Fork Book Club, Saturday, Nov. 28, 3 p.m. The theme changes each month, and the library's event page asks people to call ahead for it.
- Autumn Reading Silent Auction, Friday, Dec. 4, and Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each completed reading log earns bidding tickets for prizes, and the auction is open to all ages.
The auction works like a fall reading challenge with a payoff at the end. Anyone who has been filling in a reading log since the lake went quiet can spend it on Dec. 4 or 5.
December comes back to Wellington Place
In December the calendar centers on the Memorial Community Center again, through its Christmas Giving program. According to the November newsletter, this year's program focuses on families with children and works with the Clark Fork–Hope Food Bank "to ensure no family goes without." MCC's Giving Programs page says donations provide gifts and toys to families, along with Christmas dinners.
There are three ways to contribute:
- Drop off at the center, 415 Wellington Place at the corner of Centennial, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Mail a check marked "Christmas Giving" to MCC, P.O. Box 405, Hope, ID 83836.
- Give online with the Christmas Giving button at mccinhope.com.
Families who could use the program can download an application form from the same site, and the newsletter asks readers to share the information with anyone who might benefit.
The newsletter also lists a free music evening on Friday, Dec. 11, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. It promises a Christmas concert with live music, a sing-along and hot chocolate, with wine and beer available for purchase. The newsletter says more details are coming, so check the center's site in early December for the final program.
The rest of the season, by date
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 19, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Clark Fork Valley Quilters holiday sale | Memorial Community Center, Hope |
| Every Wed. and Fri., 11:30 a.m. | Senior center lunch, all ages welcome | Clark Fork–Hope Area Senior Center, Clark Fork |
| Sat., Nov. 28, 3 p.m. | Clark Fork Book Club | Clark Fork Library |
| Fri.–Sat., Dec. 4–5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Autumn Reading Silent Auction | Clark Fork Library |
| Fri., Dec. 11, 6 to 7:30 p.m. | Free Christmas music evening | Memorial Community Center, Hope |
| Mon.–Thu., 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Christmas Giving drop-off | Memorial Community Center, Hope |
The newsletter is already looking ahead to summer. It describes work with the City of Hope on the basketball and pickleball court and says the center looks forward to summer, "when the pickleball net goes up," with the new space in use.
Paul Reizen and Jolena Overland work up and down Lake Pend Oreille, and the volunteer-run rooms on the east shore are part of what a winter here looks like. If a winter in Hope or Clark Fork is part of your plans, Overland Reizen will gladly show you the shore beyond the summer season. Discover Your North Idaho Lifestyle.
