Two wheels or four, Addis keeps on giving
<p>From left, Jim Addis, Mike Patrick of the Coeur d’Alene Press, and Tom Addis, of Tom Addis Lake City Ford gather for a photo after donating $5,000 to Press Christmas for All. Tom Addis Lake City Ford has donated to Christmas for All since the program began in 1985.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Once upon a Christmas morn, a bunch of Kootenai County kids awoke to find a bright red bicycle under the Christmas tree.
They didn't know it, but on that Dec. 25, 1985, local Ford dealer Tom Addis made all those beautiful two-wheeled gifts possible.
"I did it because Bob Paulos asked me to," Addis said Wednesday, referring to the late founding father of Press Christmas for All. "The program meant everything to him, and I'm honored to still be involved."
Involved? Addis donated $5,000 on Wednesday, continuing the tradition that began 29 years ago with a boatload of bikes. Aside from the Hagadone Corporation, which oversees the nonprofit, it is believed that Addis is the only donor who has contributed every single year since the modern program's inception.
Christmas for All goes back even further.
On Dec. 12, 1980, local couple Mae and Larry Hanley were the subject of a five-paragraph story in this newspaper. The Hanleys asked readers to contact them if they had any gifts, toys, food or money to contribute to a program they decided to call Christmas for All. Their intended beneficiary was a neighbor lady who had nothing for her family at Christmas.
While the Hanleys gave Christmas for All its start - they raised something like $150 that first year, according to Press archives - local churches got involved and the program grew a little more. But it hit a low ceiling, and former Press executive Bob Paulos and owner Duane Hagadone brainstormed to see how they might help it expand. That was 29 years ago and now, $3.8 million later, many thousands of needy Kootenai County residents have had their holiday prayers answered.
And Tom Addis has been there every step of the way.