It's a great October for color

| October 13, 2010 9:00 PM

My second favorite North Idaho season is autumn and this is shaping up to be one of those glorious, golden Octobers we love. I've noticed we still have most of our flowers still in bloom in the yard, now with the backdrop of gold, red and amber leaves on the trees.

In order to get the full enjoyment, I suggest taking different streets to and from your house as you travel through your day. Government Way, just north of the county courthouse, offers several blocks of stunning foliage which will likely be vividly changing color in the next few days after the cold snap this week. The Foster Avenue area of Coeur d'Alene is another neighborhood worth walking through on a sunny afternoon. Don't you just love where we live?

Another R.I.P. has left a lot of people stunned this week. Mike Anderson served as a Kootenai County Commissioner in the early 1990s, along with Kent Helmer and Bob MacDonald. He just may have been the youngest at the time to serve on the commission - and if memory serves, Mike was the last Democrat to hold a seat on the commission.

But the Coeur d'Alene native would best be remembered for his long career in law enforcement ... with Post Falls, Kootenai County, Pinehurst, St. Maries and Boundary County. At the time of Mike's unexpected death on Sunday at his home in Kamiah, he was a deputy with the Clearwater County Sheriff's Department. For many of us, Mike will be remembered as a good friend, a dedicated public servant and one heck of a nice guy.

There's a contingent of local folks in China this week with the chamber tour group, and Pam Houser's been keeping me updated on their travel experiences. She noted that Commissioner Todd Tondee might run out of clean clothes before they leave Beijing for Shanghai today, which is Thursday in China. Evidently he packed light intending to do some shopping in his travels and there were no opportunities to be found. Check More Main Street for a photo of the commissioner and friends at The Great Wall.

Summer might have abandoned us in recent days but it's still barbecue season for the good folks of the newly-formed West Slope BBQ Association. Nobody loves barbecue more than the association's president, Jeff Selle. They're holding a fundraising grill fest on Saturday at Willie's Restaurant on Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ten bucks gets you a full meal. www.westslopebbq.org

Wishing a happy birthday today to my Viking Cross Country runner nephew, Derek Scharf, Jeff Johnson and Judy Bennett. Tomorrow is the birthdate of Leslie Martin Lien and Suzanne Metzger. Friday is a big day for Don Sausser, marking 76 years and Jeff Elder, who's turning the big 5-0. Incredible Press photographer Shawn Gust, Dee Jamison and Lori Dixon share the day and Mike Farquhar is Saturday's birthday boy. On Sunday the remarkable Hilde Kellogg will be 92 years old. Rosemary Fuller, Arlene Pischner and Dana Albanese will blow out their candles that day, too. On Monday wish Keith Erickson a happy birthday. Tuesday is the day Dan Gookin, Bobbi Koep, Tom Hamilton and Louise Bergeron-Jack are celebrating!

THERE'S MORE ... at More Main Street add your name to the Main Street Birthday Club and more.

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.