Inspiration on the basketball court
Over the holidays we took in the 3-day Coeur d'Alene Inn-vitational basketball tournament at NIC. Some great high school basketball was played by our local boys and girls teams. Kudos to the Post Falls Trojan boys and Coeur d'Alene Viking girls for their respective tournament championships.
The final game between Post Falls and Davis HS from Yakima was a thriller, but the best part was the trophy presentation. Anthony King, an honorary coach for the team, was introduced as the "director of basketball operations" and at center court was presented with the team trophy by Al Williams and Mike O'Brien.Anthony, aka A Train, serves as an inspiration and motivator for the Trojans. I love how Coach Mike McLean and the players encourage, embrace and include Anthony, who's had more than his share of obstacles to overcome in life. It was a moment in time where everyone witnessed what's right with the world and young people today.
***Once again the best New Year's party was held at Sanders Beach for the Polar Bear Plunge. It featured the balmiest Jan. 1 temps in recent memory, which might have accounted for the biggest crowd I've seen in years. Several hundred people on the beach, and no shortage of wacky costumes befitting the occasion.
Robert and Susan Cliff's welcome bonfire in front of their Sanders Beach home for their annual plunge soiree served as a post-plunge centerpiece. Not sure how many years the couple have been flinging themselves into the icy waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene, but they always do it in style.Some first time participants spotted on the beach New Year's Day ... Pam Campbell, Connie Clark, Alison Boggs and Kyley Greer.
Emma Hazel, 8, joined her parents, Joel and Christa and brother, Cooper, for her first family plunge and the Hannons, Dan and Angie and their three children, Kellen, 15, Shayna, 13, and Troy, 10, made it a third time's a charm Polar Bear Plunge.A large group of buff bikini-clad women from CrossFit Cd'A were a three-dimensional testament to the benefits of working out and once again, Chris Burnham in white plush fabric board shorts sported the best polar bear look. There were quite a few paddleboarders watching the action from the water, and I wish I knew the name of the water skier who entertained the crowd on the shore with some Cypress Garden worthy moves.
All in all 2012 was spectacularly rung in on Sanders Beach. ***
Under one of those really cool Nike chrome football helmets in Monday's Rose Bowl game was a hometown boy ... Carson York. Carson is a junior lineman on the Oregon Ducks team and a grad of Lake City High School. Livin' the dream in the Pac 12 with a Rose Bowl championship, the first in the school's 95-year history. I'm sure his parents, David and Laura York were in the stands for the game.
***The first wishes of the Main Street Birthday Club for 2012 go out today to Darrell Whitesitt, Norman Tucker and Bert Storlie. Tomorrow Jamie Lynn Morgan, Bobbi Doupe', Debbie Raeon, Rick Gunther, Peggy Mattfield, Sherri Patton, Dirk Darrow and Keith Willams will celebrate. On Friday Gary Allen, aka GA, marks another year on the anniversary of Elvis' birth along with Colton Peugh, Kellie McCracken and Kris Sederburg. On Saturday Sydne Watson and Karla Abey are the birthday girls. Skip Hissong, Donna Trueblood and Sandy Wendell share Jan. 8 birthdays, and Dan Ryan, Pat Mitchell, Esther Webb and Chuck O'Malley have Jan. 9 birthdays. On Tuesday Mary Jane Hahn, Jan Harris, Katrina Jaeger and Ronan Kennedy will blow out the candles.
***Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. She was voted Best Local Writer for 2011 by the readers of the North Idaho Business Journal. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri is on the air Mondays and Wednesdays on 1080 ESPN AM (KVNI). She can be reached at [email protected]