Museum, Rotary Club set fundraiser
Cars, planes and military exhibits are just some of the displays at the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center. A fundraiser is will be held at the museum on Oct. 1. — Photo courtesy of Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center
Cars, planes and military exhibits are just some of the displays at the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center. A fundraiser is will be held at the museum on Oct. 1. — Photo courtesy of Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center
Forrest and Pamela Bird — Photo courtesy of Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center
SAGLE — A black tie event on Oct. 1 will celebrate the legacy of Drs. Forrest and Pamela Bird, while also helping to support local education and the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center.
Forrest and Pamela Bird were both aviators and well-known for their innovation and inventions. Forrest Bird is known for his invention of a medical respirator and the Baby Bird respirator, credited with lowering the mortality rate of premature infants from 70 percent to 10 percent.
Pamela Bird was the founder of Innovative Product Technologies, a product and technology based market commercialization corporation in Florida, with a branch in Sandpoint. She served as a liaison between inventor organizations, venture capital organizations, entrepreneurial networks and research park facilities. Bird also wrote more than 70 publications, such as "Inventing for Dummies."
The couple died just two months apart in 2015. Forrest Bird died of natural causes last August at the age of 94. Pamela Bird died in October, at the age of 59, in an airplane crash near Hope that also claimed the lives of her friends, Tookie and Don Hensley.
The Rotary Club of Ponderay Centennial and the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center, both nonprofit organizations, partnered up to host the fundraiser. Kathy Gavin, Rotary Club member and project manager for the fundraiser, said the museum is having a difficult time with funding since the deaths of the Birds so close together. The fundraiser will sponsor local school children with scholarships and sending them to summer camp, as well as continuing the mission of the museum.
"We want to keep the museum open," Gavin said, adding that the Birds were "amazing" people who helped so many others, not just in the local community but around the world as well.
The Birds opened the museum in 2007 and it became the only aeromedical museum in the world, showcasing three generations of military memorabilia, unique aircrafts, vintage cars and more than 100 of Forrest Bird's inventions.
Rachel Schwam, Pamela's daughter, has run the museum since it opened. In an email to the Daily Bee she said the displays date back from late 1800s to modern day innovations.
"The museum is an important part of the community as it displays historical contributions from aviators and innovators who have changed the world," she said.
Schwam said the museum is available to rent for events and is also host to community events, such as Boy Scouts of America Gold Eagle Ceremony, Girl Scout Jamboree, inventor meetings and more.
The museum's motto is "One person can change the world and it can be you."
The fundraiser will feature a five-course dinner and will include a video presentation in memory of Forrest and Pamela Bird, live music, desserts and wines for tasting and purchase. Gavin said they don't plan to have a big auction, but there will be a chance to win artwork and wine.
The "Wall of Wine" is a blind drawing where the bottles of wine are wrapped so the labels can not be seen. Each person who buys a raffle ticket selects a number that corresponds to a number on the bottle. A $20 raffle ticket may win a $15 bottle of wine or a $150 bottle of wine. Some of the bottles, Gavin said, are from the Bird's estate from around the world, while others were purchased locally.
The art auction will feature a limited number of artwork pieces that reflect the Inland Northwest, from canvas paintings to print pieces. Donated pieces come from Lucy West, whose work is on exhibit at the museum and has also been commissioned by NASA at Kennedy Space Center, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. Her artwork consists of space and science compositions, popular in the aerospace and science communities.
The dessert fundraiser of the evening will feature a gourmet dessert auction with delicious desserts from local bakeries, Rotary members and museum staff.
The event will be held at the museum in Sagle, but Gavin said a shuttle will be available for the evening since it is about 30 minutes from Sandpoint. Check-in begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by cocktail hour and mingling at 6 p.m. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $125 per person. Sponsorship tables with seating for eight people are available for $1,500. Tickets can be purchased online at www.portal.clubrunner.ca/1883 or www.birdaviationmuseum.com. For information or directions to the event, contact Gavin at 208-265-7967 or Schwam at 208-255-4321.
Schwam said the museum will continue it's summer season through September and will reopen in April. She said if anyone is looking for a "wonderful" place to volunteer, consider the museum.