Locals livin' the dream ... in so many ways

Brooke Hayden of Dalton Gardens received a golden ticket during an audition on the Queen Mary with celebrity judges Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj last week. For those of you who are familiar with "American Idol," that's a big deal. It means the 23-year-old, Coeur d'Alene High School (2007) and North Idaho College (2010) alum made the cut to the Hollywood auditions, something tens of thousands across the country hope to achieve each season.

Tonight and tomorrow night on FOX28, the Hollywood hopefuls will be featured. Follow along as our hometown girl, Brooke, gets a shot at becoming the next big superstar a la Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson.

Brice Williams, Post Falls High School and U.S. Air Force Academy alum, is a professional actor in L.A. these days. During the third quarter of the Super Bowl viewers had a glimpse of Brice in the Lincoln commercial. He was shown in an orange retro astronaut suit. Brice will appear also in an upcoming episode of "Two Broke Girls."

On Monday Kyle Messier of Post Falls was a young man working in fast food and saving money to further his education. On Tuesday he was standing in the Boise offices of the Idaho Lottery Commission holding a giant check in the amount of $100,000!

Kyle bought $20 in Ultimate Bankroll scratch tickets at Frontier Grocery (owners Cathy and Terry Werner will receive a $10,000 bonus) in Post Falls and was still in the parking lot when he realized he had hit a big jackpot.

He quit his job on Monday saying, "I guess you could say I called in rich." Kyle will put the winnings to good use as trade school tuition.

Livin' the dream!

American Indian artist George Flett of the Spokane Tribe passed away last week. George was a talented and trained artist whose images of Indian life really spoke to my heart. I was blessed to know this gentle soul and worked with him to select the art that appeared on the official Julyamsh event T-shirts and posters in the early years of the Pow Wow.

I particularly loved his paintings of horses and treasure a print he gifted to me several years ago. Until becoming involved with the planning of the first Julyamsh Pow Wow and Tribal Encampment at the Greyhound Park in 1998, I had very little connection or knowledge of our local tribal communities. The relationships and awareness of their culture have been a blessing not only personally but to our community.

George now rides a spirited paint horse on the Heavenly plains alongside his friend and cousin Cliff SiJohn.

Forever grateful to both for sharing their Native stories in words and images.

Coeur d'Alene Chamber Commodores Brenda Young, Patricia Richardson, Rhonda Mitchell, Jennifer Riley, Jan Leaf and Lucas and Amy Schell represented the Lake City in the Whitefish Winter Carnival parade this past weekend. The 54th annual parade had a pirate theme which worked out perfectly for the Pirates of the Coeur d'Alene contingent.

Bill Buley is a regular Polar Bear Plunger into Lake Coeur d'Alene on New Year's Day but this year he expanded his jumping into ice cold lake water repertoire to include Glacier National Park's Lake McDonald. He and his wife, Marianne, were reveling at the Whitefish Winter Carnival over the weekend when they took a little sidetrip to Glacier. No word on the temperature of the water on the first weekend of February but the word glacier gives some indication for sane people.

Rest up for the weekend which will feature a plethora of fun events. On Friday at the annual Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association's "A Chocolate Affair," I'll reprise the tough duty of judging chocolate confections at over 20 venues. Start the adventure at the Plaza Shoppes at 5 p.m.

On Saturday is the Coeur d'Alene Chamber's Awe$um Auction at The Resort and the Post Falls Community Volunteers' Sweetheart Ball at the Greyhound Park

Happy birthday today to Randy Oaks, Rich Morrow, Carole Fredekind, Cris Burnham, Rick Altman, Pat Clevenger, Stephen Scott, Jimmy McAndrew, Lisa Hunt, Duane Justus, Matt Ormeshed, Chris Burnham and Mike Grabenstein. Tomorrow Amanda Miller, Lori Malin, Angel Duthie, Terry Ellis and Shawn Aldrich will blow out their birthday candles. On Friday Barb Bradley, Natalie Forsyth, Pamela Thoms, Lynn Hayes, Linda Davis, Henry Hildreth, Rocky Brockhoff and Larry O'Leary celebrate another trip around the sun. Feb. 9 birthdays belong to Brandie Shofner, Buddy Le, Linda Wilhelm, Marian Crumb, Greg Smith, Bill Buley, Julia Free and Alta Steele. Kiki Miller and Tate Merry share Feb. 10 birthdays. On Monday wish Jody Hissong, Carole Tabakman, Trevor Smith, Eleanora Capaul, David Clark, James Shepperd, Jarryn Siebers, Jeff Carlson, Sharon Link, Gordon Leigh, Chad Salsbury and Heather Frayer a happy birthday. Faith Valente, Bonnie Guindon, Kim Edmondson, Rochenda Crane and Laura Wilson will put on their party hats on Tuesday.

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 2012 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). Find her on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com.