Hello and welcome to this edition of Northwest Profiles.

I'm Lynn Veltrie your host.

And I must say, it sure feels good to finally say hello to Spring and the arrival of brilliant sunshine, colorful flowers, and an energizing sense of renewal and optimism.

To be sure, it's all cause for celebration and for us here at KSPS PBS.

The perfect way to do that is to deliver to you a variety of stories that reflect the refreshing vibe and spirit of the season.

So, with no time to spare, let's spring into action.

For our opening story.

We stay close to home to learn what goes into being an elite lumber sport athlete.

In this case, it's Spokane's very own Erin LaVoie, who just happens to be a record breaking world champion Lumber Jill.

It's a discipline that requires lots of vigorous training and practice.

And for Erin, the challenge is striking a balance between work and play.

[Erin LaVoie] They put me on top of a block, put an ax in my hands and said, try this.

I said, okay.

Five hours later, I- clean the blood off and um, I was hooked after that.

Lumberjack competitions kind of started a long time ago, as people used to do real logging in the woods and sure enough, everything turns into a competition.

It started as, hey, let's throw an ax at a log, and whoever misses has to go clean the outhouses, something like that.

and now it's at a professional level where we just chop logs as fast as we can, saw logs as fast as we can, climb poles, throw axes, run on logs in the water, and it's all just for trophies and money.

[music] I'm Erin LaVoie.

I'm a Lumberjill athlete.

When I first started, and for probably the first ten years of me competing, you step up to your block and you're like, okay, I got to work on this.

I got to do this.

It comes to three, two, one go and blank.

[music] Now, since Ive done it so much, I think there's a lot less stress and pressure going into it.

And I can actually attack it more deliberately [Announcer: Three, two, one.

Go.

I know exactly what's happening.

I hear the announcers.

[Announcers: Pick a favorite and cheer them on.]

I can hear the other girls swings when they hit.

I hear everything around me and I just, I know exactly what I'm doing at this point.

[Announcer: Whos it gonna be?]

It's kind of neat.

It's a big, big switch.

And it's cool when you can see that and harness it.

[All right, Erin!

Wohoo!]

So, the underhand chop is a log that sits horizontally to the ground.

Um, we stand on top of that block and we chop halfway through one side, spin around as fast as we can, and finish on the back side.

I have a couple world records in that event, so I've definitely put the most time into that one.

But now we have the standing block chop too, where the block is more vertical.

Uh, since that's so new, that one's a lot of fun as well.

And I do have a world record in that too.

[music] This sport is so special in a way that we help each other a lot.

And I think we all understand how hard it is to do this sport.

It's expensive, it's extremely hard.

But also I don't want to win to somebody who is not at the top of their game.

So that win is way better.

If I can help you improve and then I still beat you.

So, I think we all look at it that way and its just a lot more special.

[Music fades] [Music] This is a training deck that my building owner, he let me build this outside so that I could train in between coaching classes.

I started CrossFit probably 13 years ago.

A friend introduced me to it, and I blacked out within probably four minutes because the workout was it was a lot and my body wasn't ready for it.

So, I loved it.

I started doing it in the garage and then friends came over.

They saw what I was doing.

So we opened a CrossFit gym and now I've been running it for almost 12 years.

[Music] Every movement you do in here is not on a machine, it's you moving your own body weight or weight outside of your body weight, that gives you balance.

So, when I'm balanced on a block, or I'm moving my body with a tool, I need to know exactly how to move around that tool and how to move that tool and feel balanced second thing is strength.

Strength and endurance is huge.

But also the mental aspect is huge for me.

When I step up to a block of wood I just think there's this 30 seconds of balls out CrossFit competition It'll be over.

It's always going to be over.

So just go hard now, win and then recover later.

And I think mentally it it makes me get excited for that instead of scared for that.

I step up and I look at it like, this is going to be really fun.

I want to make it hurt.

I want it to hurt because that's what I'm used to.

And I just go, [Ah, congrats, girl!]

[Music fades] [Soft music] It has been a long run.

I'm not going to lie that I have thought about retiring a couple times here and there.

And then, of course, I come out to my training deck and it takes probably two hits with an ax, and I just- it's home.

It's home, and that's where I need to be.

And that's what I love.

So if you asked me back then what I saw in my future, I have no idea that it was champion of the world, [laughs] or world records or even anything.

All of the places I've gone with this traveling and all of the people I know, I had no idea, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

[Music fades] Each year, Erin competes in a number of lumberjill events all around the northwest.

If you're interested in finding out where she'll swing her axe next, just go to her website, thelumberjill.com.

Now for our next story.

We leave the fun and games of the outdoors to be entertained on the big screen indoors.

When Spokane's Garland Theater opened in 1945.

It was among the best in the West.

But over the last 80 years, the theater has had its share of booms and busts.

Now, thanks to three very passionate heroes, this iconic movie house is being restored and refreshed for a new generation.

Through all of this, we've found not only do the people we talked to in the community want to save the building.

It's really about saving that theater experience.

The movie theater experience.

How the Garland Theater was saved came down to three unlikely heroes and a local real estate developer.

In 2023 the Garland's previous owner was looking for a buyer and was actually negotiating with Chris, Jasmine and Tyler to take over the business, but never reached a deal and instead decided to close the theater.

Chris just couldn't let that happen.

I just felt compelled because I, you know, we had just lost White Elephant here in town.

And I was thinking, oh man, now we're going to lose the Garland Theater.

And and I knew that the theater was special to a lot of different people in Spokane.

I didn't know how special.

We all of a sudden see this thing that the theater's going to close.

So everybody freaks out and they're like, oh, no, somebody's going to save the theater.

So we're like, cool.

And then so that's not happening anymore.

Wait, it actually is happening.

Chris decided to make an appeal to Spokane to save the Garland with a GoFundMe campaign.

It quickly raised $50,000.

I need your help.

Spokane.

so what do you think?

Are you in?

I could use a hand.

Yeah, he pulled me in with Those beautiful blue eyes on that that video.

I just felt it was very genuine and from the heart and I thought about for a few days, and I was like, maybe I can help, you know, maybe I can.

I don't know what I can do, but something I have this huge passion for movies, I love films.

Let's just see if we can help use whatever reputations we've built from our other businesses.

Tyler Arnold's business, Jedi Alliance Arcade and Church of Pop Culture is in Spokane Valley.

And this building, this theater, it has a way of sucking you in.

It has a way of making you care about it.

More than going to a theater at the mall.

Chris Bovey owns the business Vintage Print and Neon.

Well, my place is two doors down, right next door.

I moved here intentionally and set up my first brick and mortar store.

Because of this place, because of the theater.

And then when my landlord comes to me and says, hey, we're closing down, I could in my head I could see this ripple effect that would affect the entire district, because this is the anchor, this is the heart and soul of this neighborhood.

And so we worked really hard.

And then at the very end, she came to us and she said, hey, I'm going to sell it.

And, and we're both looking at each other like, oh, there, there goes the things done, we're dead.

And she said, I'm selling it to this guy named Jordan Tampion.

I thought about that name for a while, and then I was like, I have a buddy named Josiah Tampion.

I wonder if they're related.

And so I asked him and he's like, yeah, that's my brother.

And I reached out to him and he said, yeah, I'm buying the theater, but I have no plans to run it.

I'll never forget.

He's like, do you guys still want to run it?

Do you still want in?

Chris, Jasmine and Tyler couldn't hardly believe that their dream came back to life.

This thing was so dead we had already had the funeral.

All of a sudden there's this fourth piece and then it was real.

I don't know, it was just like in one minute it went from.

Yeah.

Well, I'm moving on with my life, too.

We're going to be the owners of the theater, right?

Turns out Chris's first job was at the Garland Theater when he was 18.

One of my favorite jobs that I've ever had.

It was an honor, and I just, cherished it.

And a special place in my heart.

Jasmine first came to the theater as a customer at 19, then at 21, decided to work there during a summer for college and never left.

I just love this place.

It's, you know, like we were talking about it being a community entity.

You get to go to work and you get to see people coming and enjoying themselves.

It's a job where everybody walks in with a smile and leaves with a smile.

You get to be part of people's really special moments, like you get to see first dates happen.

You get to see kids come to their first movies.

Tyler started coming to the Garland in 1988 at age ten.

I saw a lot of movies here over the years that became a part of my routine.

The Garland Theater originally opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1945 as a premier movie house on the West Coast.

One of the main attractions for youngsters at the opening was the snack bar, said to be an innovation in the field and an import directly from Hollywood.

The theater has had several owners through the years and even closed briefly during the 60s and again in the mid 80s.

It reopened under a new owner in 1988 to become Spokane's first dollar movie theater.

But over the last 80 years, the Garland has begun to show its age.

I kind of saw it with nostalgia guys, and I would approach the lobby especially and see it had kind of fallen into disrepair for me, like coming at it from a creative standpoint, from artistic standpoint.

I saw the potential of like, oh man, this has some really cool architectural features.

It'd be awesome to be able to highlight a lot of those features.

Repaint, add more neon.

With the help of the community, the trio have been busy bringing their shared vision to life.

The screen was opened up, so it's now 20% wider.

The amps were rebuilt so the sound system is now performing at 100%.

The lobby has been transformed with paint.

Additional neon, a small arcade and a movie museum.

And to freshen up the theater's facade, Jordan and four Degrees Real Estate will spend upwards of a half million dollars.

Like all the cosmetic stuff has been really awesome.

People walk in and there's like this wow factor.

Now, I think from like a staffing perspective, things are getting fixed.

Working has been easier.

I'm not stressed every day wondering what's going to break.

The feedback and the gratefulness.

that's coming from the community is just awesome.

It's fantastic.

Take note.

General admission pricing for all movies at the Garland Theater is only $5.

And on Saturdays, the theater offers free movies for kids.

All you have to do is show up and buy the popcorn.

Up next, we head for the exits to once again soak up some sunshine and try our hand at something new.

It's the sport of disc golf, a fun and low barrier sport that gets players out in nature for some healthy competition and camaraderie.

There's always going to be a spot for you to come and play this sport.

That's what's amazing about Disc Golf, is that it's built for everybody Hi, I'm Stephen Williams, and I am the president of the Spoken Disc Golf Club.

Disc golf is exactly what it sounds like.

It's golf.

The difference is that instead of hitting a ball with clubs, you're throwing a disc that's about 175g through the air and shaping it through the forest.

Each hole has a tee pad that you throw from, and you're trying just to throw to that target in the least amount of throws as possible.

That's really kind of short and sweet of it.

Oh my!

Wow!

Splits ‘em perfectly.

Oh, what a beautiful line.

Ricky to tie!

That is almost a perfect line.

Unbelievable.

Oh!

Off the flag.

This is unbelievable!

Unbelievable!

Spectacular shot from Sai Ananda!

When I moved over here to Spokane in 2012, I was just looking for ways to get outside and, like, get some recreation and get some fresh air and some exercise.

I bought a couple of discs and went up by myself for the first time.

And after that first round, I think I threw a disc correctly maybe one time the entire round, and all I had to do was like, see it fly well once and then it was kind of like, this instant hook for me.

It was really fun.

So you're trying to kind of figure out what flight characteristics you want.

So every disc golfer has a bunch of different molds in their bag that all do something a little bit different.

And so between kind of like what your disc flies like and how you throw the shot will determine how it gets to the pin.

That's the idea in theory.

And then oftentimes you calculate all of it and just throw into a tree anyway.

That's part of the fun.

How you know you're a real disc golfer.

Hitting the tree once in a while.

It was really low barrier to get into it.

That was the most striking thing to me with disc golf.

Literally all it takes is one disc, and then you can get outside and go play, and that's pretty special.

It really provides a platform for people just to come together from like really different walks of life, just sharing time over this, this mutual love that they have for the sport.

And that's one of the coolest things about it.

When we talk about the growth of disc golf, the boom really happened during the pandemic.

When we went to a course, we knew who was here, when we saw someone, we knew them.

And then after the pandemic, it just exploded to the point where we saw new people every time we came to the courses.

2018 we just began a league just for fun, to, like, grow a little bit of competitive nature in the community here at High Bridge.

Really what we saw was that the course needed support and in lot of ways, like a lot of the facilities were kind of like, not in the best condition.

The amount of money that we raised from our league is significant enough to make an impact on the course.

So things like maintaining tee pads, installing new tee pads, things that weren't really something we could do just because of cost in the past was suddenly possible because people are coming and spending their money at the league.

I'm Ryan Griffith, the assistant recreation director for the city of Spokane, and I oversee and, work with the various user groups for our disc golf courses.

So the City of Spokane Parks and Rec department, supports the disc golf clubs by, trying to lend support with projects where we can.

Limited funding for that the city has to support disc golf, working together and pooling our resources can, you know, really benefit the courses in the long run.

And the other thing that's like, really great about the city of Spokane and how they see us as an organization too, is that I feel like we share a lot of the same vision.

As far as seeing how popular the sport is becoming.

Building this out has surprised all of us, because when I think about our club, I remember the shock of 60 people being here our first night of league this year.

That was an “aha moment” for us to realize, how many more people are out there that want to do this?

We're building out a platform where that community is naturally coming together, and that's like a pretty cool thing.

I love disc golf because it's instant community.

No matter your background with the sport, how athletic you've been in the past.

Like this sports here for you and you can come and be a part of it.

And that's something that I think we all love about it.

So if you want to be involved in this, there's always a spot for you.

So come down to High Bridge.

Come play a round.

Come ask a disc golfer how to get involved in the sport and you will always be welcome.

With over 15 disc golf courses in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene area, it's easy for aspiring players just like you to get out there and enjoy what is a fun and growing sport.

Now for our final story.

How about a walk in the park?

Now, mind you, this is no ordinary park, for this is Spokane's historic Manito Park.

It has been an icon of Eastern Washington since it was first established in 1904.

The beauty of Manito depends on its caretakers.

So together, let's take a stroll behind the scenes to learn about the people who keep Manito always looking its best.

My name is Jesse Jones.

I've been working for the city of Spokane Parks for 15 years.

I started out as a labor one, and now I'm the fore person up here at Manito Park.

My main responsibilities here at Manito Park are supporting all of the employees that work here.

I mean, I work on irrigation.

I lay sod, I do plumbing, a little bit of everything.

The work that has to go into Duncan Garden is quite extensive.

We have to bring in compost, we have to rototill all the beds.

We have to edge the beds, hedge trimming.

We're actually having 15 volunteers that are going to be here.

And then with our about 15 employees, we're going to start planting Duncan Garden, and then hopefully we'll be able to get that finished sometime a week.

Week and a half.

I'm not a gardener by any means, but I've definitely learned so much from the gardeners here at Manito Park.

My name is Mattie Whitney, and I'm the perennial gardener here at Manito Park in Spokane, Washington.

This is a four acre perennial garden.

There's something magical about the park.

If you drive in any direction and your in a busy streets, but yet here is this peaceful, beautiful place that people can come and enjoy.

And being the person that provides that for the community is something special.

Well, I started with the Parks Department, 20 years ago.

I was a botany student at Eastern Washington University.

And I didn't know anything about gardening.

But I knew about plants.

And so as I was identifying plants in the wild area that they had relatives that are perennials that grow in the perennial garden.

So just by knowing what plants needed, I knew how to take care of them.

And so that's kind of started my love of gardening and growing plants.

We're definitely a resource for the community because they can come and they can discover what they can actually grow in their own yards.

They can come here to the perennial garden and learn what they can put in their yard that will live for years.

And these are tried and true perennials that are known that they grow in this area.

So they can definitely learn from us here.

My name is Kevin Kilgore.

I've just taken over the Rose Hill Gardener position here at Manito Park.

We have old fashioned roses, miniatures, hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, a little bit of everything.

We started around the 1st of April, weather permitting, and do a hard prune.

From that point on, it's about weeding and edging and making sure everything looks really clean.

Then we jump into fertilizing and amending the beds.

From that point on, you get to the deadheading, which we're kind of in the middle of right now.

I got out of the Air Force in the late nineties and was kind of figuring out what I wanted to do.

Ended up walking through the gardens one day with my wife and told the gentleman who just retired from the Rose Hill.

I was coming for his job and here I am.

Being outside, beautiful weather, it's therapeutic, to work with plants.

And then the people, the public, make it really worthwhile.

My name is Tara Newbury.

Right now I'm working in the Japanese gardens and I also designed Duncan Gardens.

I spend maybe a few weeks designing it and coming up with the layout and all the numbers for it.

My main responsibilities here, while I'm in the Japanese gardens is helping out the head gardener do all the pruning.

A lot of my passion came from when I was a little girl being around my grandmother's garden.

I just love each and every flower that I come across.

I've worked all over town.

I've worked in every single park in the city.

Coming up here to Manito Park, I mean, there are times where I walk around here and I'm just like, Wow, I get to work here.

This park has a little bit of everything for everyone.

I mean, my fellow employees are are great.

And it does.

I feel like I've finally made it home.

You really don't find anything else like this.

The diversity, the roses, the conservatory, the perennials, Duncan Gardens and yeah, the Japanese gardens.

I mean, there's really nothing else like it.

I get to share my knowledge and my love of flowers with the public.

The staff here is honored to be able to take care of this beautiful piece of property and share it with everyone.

And that's that's what's neat about Manito.

Now, what's great about Manito Park is the fact that it can be enjoyed year round, even in December, when the park is aglow with Christmas lights.

And with that, it's time to drop the evening shade on this edition of Northwest Profiles, with a promise of more stories coming next month.

To close out the season.

Until then, this is Lynn Veltrie saying bye for now.

And remember, here in the Inland Northwest, and Western Canada, adventure abounds.

So take advantage and hit the road.

And of course, when you do, make sure you take time to savor the view.