Small town, small world meeting

Spent the past week in the North Dakota town of Ray for my husband's all-school reunion. Ray is right on Highway 2 between Williston and Minot with a population of several hundred.

On Saturday afternoon, group photos were taken of individual classes through the decades. Sitting in the gymnasium next to my brother-in-law Jim while he waited for the Class of 1973 photo, I overheard one of his classmates saying she was moving to Coeur d'Alene in a week.

So I introduced myself, telling Pam Hodenfield Ness that I lived here and would be happy to show her the sights when she got settled in. She mentioned that her husband, Jon Ness had taken a job in Coeur d'Alene which is why they were moving from Billings. I asked where he would be employed and she replied that he's the new CEO for Kootenai Health. Small world.

Later that evening I met Jon and we had a nice visit on Ray's Main Street. I know they're going to love their new home town.

Through the years I've had a couple of "small world" experiences with my husband's North Dakota hometown. The Johnson sisters of Coeur d'Alene, aka Karen Ouren and Kathy Hlebichuk, hail from Ray and were home for the all-school reunion, too. Karen's husband, Ron is a native of neighboring town, White Earth and Kathy and my husband, Bert are members of Ray's Class of '75. Lola Hagadone's uncle, former mayor Carl Larsen, has lived in Ray for decades.

Tomorrow Bob and Colleen Hough mark 60 years of marriage! Ain't love grand.

Hockey great Wayne Gretzky and several friends enjoyed a Saturday night dinner at Tony's Supper Club on Lake Coeur d'Alene a week ago. NFL Hall of Famer John Elway, who has a summer home on the lake, was also spotted at Tony's in recent days.

When Collin Coles was feted at a retirement party at the end of July after nearly two decades with the City of Post Falls planning department, the cake was not only tasty but a fitting testiment to his contributions to the community ... it was in the shape of the city's Smart Code land use map.

Happy Birthday today to Ann Seddon and Patricia Gervais. Tomorrow is a big day for Ed Collins, Clint Moore, Jennifer Pitts, Serena Smith, Ronda Nash, Natalie Hayes and my KVNI cohort, "Downtown Joe" Paisley. Bryan DeKeles and Donna Flaa have lucky Friday the 13th birthdays this year and Gene Mann celebrates on Saturday. Mary Chesnutt, Rick Currie, Wayne Longo and Ann Couser mark their birthdates on Sunday. A lot of birthday parties come Monday with Ken Kirking turning 92 along with less senior celebrants, Susan Selle, Brian Kirk, Jennifer Ross, Andrea Fulks, Mike Bullard, Cindy Wagner and Kim Brown.

Treat yourself tonight to the Post Falls Library's Courtyard Concert with a Beatles Tribute from 7 to 9 p.m. This is a great "bring a lawn chair or a blanket" family event.

THERE'S MORE ... at More Main Street, the online version of the print column.

Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press. More Main Street blog is at http://moremainstreet.blogspot.com. Kerri can be reached at mainstreet@cdapress.com.