Young Olympian heading to D.C.
C.J. Deacon, a 16-year-old Lakeland High School sophomore, is a treat for sure. C.J. is a Special Olympics medalist, with six gold and two bronze medals to his name, in the sport of cross country skiing. He's an exuberant young man, learning the value of hard work on the Rathdrum Prairie family farm of his grandparents, the late Rep. Wayne Meyer and Karleen Meyer. C.J. joined Grandma Karleen last summer for a wagon train adventure in Oregon, even driving the team for a spell. Great kid.
In early February C.J. will experience another great adventure when he travels to Washington, D.C. with a Special Olympics delegation to speak before Congress. I have no doubt that he'll represent this community and our state well on the national stage.***
Terry Werner's been bowling for two decades and just a month ago achieved his first 700 series, then added a couple more. He and his wife, Cathy, bowl in three leagues and on Sunday night in mixed league Terry added a new and coveted bowler's dream ... his first 300 game. Bowling at River City Lanes he rolled 22 strikes in a row for a 758 series, including that elusive perfect game. ***
If Officer Jason Hunt's name sounds familiar, you may have seen the Post Falls K9 officer's by-line under photographs in the Coeur d'Alene Press through the years. Jason traded in his camera four years ago to protect and serve the public and now with his new partner, Andor, is the newest K9 officer on the force.Interesting to learn recently from Jason that his years of ride-alongs and photographing crime and accident scenes provided him with the inspiration to become a police officer. I asked if he still practiced his award-winning photography skills and he said the only camera he owns now is on his phone.
*** When Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives came to town last year to feature local eateries, Capone's and Jimmy's Down the Street, the town was abuzz. Now hearing rumbles that Chef Gordon Ramsey of Kitchen Nightmares fame will be visiting a local burger place for a taping of his show in the coming weeks.
***You've heard of 'planking' and 'Tebowing,' but now over in Missoula there's a new posing craze added to the mix. Came across the Frosters Anonymous page on Facebook where there are photos of people pretending like it's summer and posing in the snow wearing sunshine suitable attire. Pretty amusing.
***Happy Birthday today to Jerrilou Shofner, Shauna Moore, Rick Demmig, Marlene Waddell and Jadrian Hammon. On Thursday Candace Smith, Jeff Hall, Rosemary Goodlander, Christa Hazel, David Townsend and Russell Larson celebrate. Friday Mike Hendricks and Khloe Peacock share a birthday and Saturday is Chad Oakland's big day. Rachel Riggs, Cindy Peugh, Allen Hildebrant and David Gerzina, Sr. share a Jan. 29 birthdate. Shannon Damiano and Patrick Sanders will blow out their candles on Monday and on the last day of the month Ida Hawkins turns 90 years young. Vaughn Ward, Jennifer Alexander, Robert Brown, Cassidy Peacock, Sandy Mill and Bernadette Chiappe-Myers also mark their birthdays on the 31st.***
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]