Today's birthday: Main Street turns 20

Oct. 1, 1990 was the first of 20 years of weekly columns. For the first six years this column was titled Post Scripts and appeared exclusively in the Post Falls Tribune. In 1996 it began running in the Coeur d'Alene Press under the Main Street name. With a couple of hiatus in the past two decades I'm thinking the columns-written tally would be right around 1,000, and the word count in the several hundred thousands!

Thanks to all of you for reading and for allowing me to share so many of your stories through the years.

We gave it a good go but my sister, Janna, and I received official word this week that we are not the next biggest losers.

After a whirlwind second casting call in July, this one with a VIP invite to go to the head of the line and do an on-camera audition with the casting company in Portland, we've been under a bit of a gag order while we progressed through the process. It's been rather nerve wracking the past several weeks not knowing if we'd get the call to come to California for the final psychological and physical screenings.

But alas, Season 11 of The Biggest Loser that will air in early 2011 will not feature either of us in spandex bike shorts and sports bras, standing on a giant scale on national television.

So it's with mixed emotion that we've been declared not to be losers. The draw for me was having the incredible resources of not only personal trainers but medical and nutritional professionals who could help both of us navigate life-changing weight loss in an environment dedicated to the effort.

Plan B to come ...

Jim Hail III had visited 45 states before a recent trip took him to Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and No. 50 ... Rhode Island. I think my list of states visited is right around 30.

Congratulations to Russell Cornell from the City of Post Falls building division. He won the city's walking challenge with a whopping 8,035 minutes in motion during the month-long event. Coming in second and third were Darrin Hibbs from Engineering and Charity Cynova from Finance. Great examples for us all.

For the weekend ... Octoberfest in downtown Coeur d'Alene Friday and Saturday, and on Saturday morning from 8-11 a.m. is the annual Old Pleasant View School Cowboy Breakfast. If you've not been to this registered historic school house on West Riverview Drive in Post Falls, take the family Saturday morning. Great breakfast and you can even climb the tower to ring the original school bell. Proceeds from the breakfast benefit the continued preservation of the building.

Also on Saturday, Idaho's Congressional delegation will host an informational session on the U.S. Service Academies from 1 -2:30 p.m. at the National Guard Armory on Seltice Way in Post Falls. Nomination by a member of Congress is required for admittance to an academy. RSVP to 667-6130.

I remember clearly where I was 21 years ago today ... at Kootenai Medical Center becoming a first-time grandma. Happy Birthday Matthew Snider! Wish Phil Corless, Cindi Schneider, Gina Meyers and A'mya Ohlig a happy birthday today, too. Tomorrow my bicentennial baby turns 34, happy birthday Sarah Elizabeth! She shares the day with Liz Arakelian, who's turning 50, Donna Cooper and Debra Raymer. On Friday Layne Pitcher and Kathi Southland celebrate. Jack Sjostrom and Ami Manning share an Oct. 2 birthday and Shylo Deubner and Maddison Morrow have birthdays on Sunday. Tommy Lynn and Nicole Sobelman start the week blowing out the birthday candles and Jan Lindquist will mark her birthday on Tuesday.

THERE'S MORE: New stories and photos almost every day at More Main Street. Check out the link below.

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