Inaugural intentions short circuited
Thom George and his wife, Melinda, spent the weekend in our nation's capital to take in the sights as well as the presidential inauguration. I thought it would be fun to have Thom do a live man-on-the-street phone interview on the radio for Main Street Monday. We had it all arranged, he'd be in the thick of the crowd about 7:45 a.m. PST when the call was placed.
Alas, the best laid plans ... what neither of us anticipated was the cell phone voice circuits being overloaded or limited by security, so Thom could neither make or receive phone calls there on Capitol Mall. We were only able to text each other which does not make for compelling radio.
Thom's observation following the swearing in ceremony, "The Inauguration is such a beautiful expression of our nation's democracy, the peaceful transfer, or retention of power; it creates tears in my eyes and joy in my heart. America at her best."
On Sunday at Seltice Elementary School, the Post Falls Park and Rec 4-man volleyball league featured a three-generation team. Danny O'Neal has been playing in the league since 1985. A couple of years later his then high school age sons, Shandy and Craig started playing. Several years ago Craig's son, Devlin started in the Post Falls Park and Rec youth program, coached by his grandmother, Connie O'Neal. Now 16, Devlin, his father, uncle and grandpa are teammates. So what was Connie doing on Sunday? Refereeing!
George Barris just sold his original Batmobile for $42 million at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Arizona over the weekend. Back in the 1940s he dated my mother. My father stole her away and the rest is history. I wouldn't have traded my dad for anything, including the Batmobile. :)
This foggy, frosty weather has made for some stunning scenery and beautiful photo ops of late. It's also brought an abundance of birds to our yard in search of food (seed, suet and Mt. Ash berries) ... robins, starlings, quail, sparrows, flickers, chickadees and last but not least a pair of beautiful mourning doves. Bundle up and enjoy!
Happy Birthday today to Chelsea Dickinson, Daryl Gankema, Joy Lynch, Paul Lash and Jamie Crawford. Tomorrow Marion Richardson will blow out 60 candles on her cake sharing the date with Tina Nowoj, Josh Adams, Sue Myers, May Lynn Hammon, Ed Santos and Danelle Reagan. On Friday Rod Heitstuman turns 50, Shauna Moore turns 40 and Jerrilou Shofner, Shauna Moore, Rick Demmig, Marlene Waddell, Pearl Robertson, Michaelle Sande, Lizzie Nowoj, Jonathan Madrid and Jadrian Hammon also celebrate birthdays. On Saturday, Jan. 26, Austin Chadderdon, Candace Smith, Jeff Hall, Rosemary Goodlander, Christa Hazel, David Townsend, Linda Hall and Russell Larson celebrate. Mike Hendricks and Khloe Peacock share a Sunday birthday and Monday is Chad Oakland's big day. Rachel Riggs, Cindy Peugh, Allen Hildebrant and David Gerzina, Sr. share a Jan. 29 birthdate.
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 [email protected].