A half century at Boundary County Community Restorium

By Mike Weland

With a special thanks to Sue Kemmis for research at the Boundary County Museum

In November 1974, Boundary County voters passed a bond issue by a vote of 1,965 for to 429 against to build a very rare gem, the Boundary County Restorium, the only county, hence community, supported assisted living facility for elderly county residents in the state.

On April 28, 1975, Boundary County Commissioners Walt Worley, Owen Plato and Roy Grove voted unanimously to go out for bids and later opened bids for construction. Low bid was $544,444 by Northwestern Construction of Spokane.

Half a century later, in April 2025, Restorium administrator Janay Smith was presented a certificate of recognition from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare certifying that the facility had earned a rare honor, a Gold Award for a deficiency-free survey, the Restorium’s first since 2016.

It’s amazing that either event happened.

On March 20, 1975, County Commissioners learned that funding from the Farmers Home Administration might not be available for a time — the money had been approved, but the FHA was over on state allotments. Then in June, a double whammy.

First, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare threatened to pull the Restorium’s license before construction began over the level of care that would be provided — commissioners said voters wanted the Restorium to be a boarding house for older county residents, but the department’s bureau of licensure warned that if just one resident needing intermediate care moved in, commissioners would have to hire a full time administrator and nurse, which would have rendered all their planning obsolete.

Commissioners turned to Senators Frank Church and James McClure, Congressman Steven Symms, Governor Cecil Andrus and others for help.

And just a week later, a Spokane carpenters union threatened to picket and shut down construction. County Commissioners called an emergency meeting and Vard Smith, general manager of Northwest Construction, informed them that unless something was done about non-union subcontractors, locals Davidson & Runyan, Leonard “Corky” Brandt and Lonny Jelinek, the union would picket.

Commissioner Worley pointed out that there were few union jobs in the county as there were few who could afford union wage, but it appeared to many that building the Restorium was jinxed.

But in July, the Herald reported two pieces of good news; the carpenters strike never materialized, “Apparently Boundary County was just too far away or was not worth the effort,” and a letter from Senator McClure convinced Idaho Health and Welfare to take another look and they decided the county’s application looked hunky dory after all.

Work began on the new facility in September, and the Restorium opened in January 1976.

March 27, 2025, was the first day of Restorium administrator Janay Smith’s first vacation since she joined the Restorium family about a year and a half ago, and she was at home packing.

At the Restorium, it started out a routine day for assistant administrator Diana Lane but it changed quickly when her phone rang, and she was told that a group of people from Idaho Health and Welfare were in the building. They were here from the Residential Assisted Living Facilities Program, here unannounced to conduct the annual survey.

A lot weighs on these surveys, which are an exhaustive look into nearly every aspect of assisted living facility operations and management, from record keeping, cleanliness, kitchen and food service, staffing and more.

A lot of assistants would have passed the buck up, even if the boss was heading off on vacation. Not Diana.

“I was in no way going to message you or inform you they were here until I knew you were away and couldn’t do anything about it!” she wrote Janay on the second day of the survey. Describing the details, the reports she was asked to produce, schedules, menus and more in a seemingly non-stop stream, she continued, “In the back of my mind, I was only focused on making sure that I was a good representation of you and all the hard work you have put into this facility.”

The surveyors looked into nooks and crannies, held impromptu interviews with residents, even joined in for a meal, clipboards always near at hand and often taken up.

Then she continued the message by describing the high anxiety of she and nurse Janet Reinking being summoned to the survey team’s “office” set up in a vacant room for the survey’s closing interview …

“Sweating bullets here, I gathered Janet up and we went into Room 5 for the interview,” she wrote. “They walked Janet and I through a list of issues and asked if we agreed with their reasonings for the concerns.”

They did.

Trepidation.

Then after a long pause, one of the surveyors broke the silence.

“We find no infractions at this time …”

A Gold Star review, the first for the Boundary Community Restorium since 2016, and an auspicious start to the semicentennial year of a facility that is a community treasure.

“Janay!” Diana wrote, “You have busted your butt off to receive this! Congratulations, lady, on all your hard work!”

Having a flash of angst only for as long as it took to read the email, Janay and her family enjoyed a fine vacation, she came back to laud the efforts of the Restorium staff, giving them credit for pulling together as a team.

“The staff here have worked very hard and they’re a great team to work with,” Janay said.

To the residents, staff is more like family.

Personal service assistants Benjamin Yingling, Isabella DesRosiers, Jocelene Litterell, Jonalyn Dela Cruz, Eli Pine, Joshua Cota, Laura Collyer, Connie Gentry, Linda Paulus, Linnea Stevens, Marci Holderman, Martha Fowler, Nate Ady, Pearl Giallanza, Shelley McPherson and Tabitha Heirston, cooks Bonita Williams, Brittany Slusher, Johndavid Endicott, Roxy Roco and Valerie Johnson, servers Axle Chaney, Charry Sebulsky and Lumin Oberholtzer, activities directors Christy Hren and Crystal Nelson, nurses Janet Reinking, Juanita Jantz and Charlene Lyle, maintenance supervisor Glenn Plant, kitchen supervisor Rachel Johnson, whose kitchen was cited as the new standard statewide, and Diana all deserve credit and thanks for helping to achieve the award, which comes with a three year respite from taking the survey.

There have been challenges arise in maintaining a Community Restorium, but the word “community” is not a misnomer. The two are intertwined, and in 2004, the community rallied to save the Restorium after an electrical glitch with a $47,000 repair estimate threatened to close the facility.

Larry Dirks, Richard Hollenbeck and Toni Hollingsworth organized and raised enough to keep the lights on, and the Friends of the Restorium was born. Since its inception, the Friends have given almost $500,000 to provide for the residents’ comfort, not only furniture and equipment, but the little gifts that mean so much; Christmas presents, Easter candy and more.

They’ll be holding their spring raffle from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Friday and Saturday, April 25-26 and again May 2-3 at Super 1, and the annual Restorium Picnic takes place Sunday, June 29.

Community members provide numerous services for residents; hair care, manicures, activities and visits, reading to the residents, bringing in critters to pet and hold, playing music and much more.

The Restorium consist of two separate wings, the assisted living facility, where residents live fairly independently with staff to assist as needed, and a memory care unit for those suffering with memory loss, Alzheimer’s and onset dementia.

The Community Restorium is open to all, not just Boundary County residents, and those considering assisted living, especially for memory care, are encouraged to go sooner rather later, as it is easier for residents and their family before conditions deteriorate and extended services are needed.

To learn more about the Boundary County Community Restorium, 6619 Kaniksu Street, Bonners Ferry, call (208) 267-2453.