The road most traveled

In one of those random round robin conversations the topic of how many states people have visited came up. I've been to 32 of these United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, with the biggest gap on the remaining states being those in the Northeast.

Tina-Marie Schultz just needs to see Hawaii and Maine to complete her list but gets bonus points for having visited 16 countries and having dipped at least a toe in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic oceans. Corky Chadderdon has been to every one of the contiguous 48; Alaska and Hawaii await. But without a doubt my most well-traveled, globe-trotting friend is Jim Hail. Before he turned 30 he had visited all 50 states. Now he's working on visiting at least 50 countries. Considering he's in his early 30s and has already traveled to 21 countries, I'm thinking he'll reach his goal long before he's my age.

On Saturday the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association is presenting the first HowliDays canine costume contest at the Plaza Shops, starting at noon. Entry is $5 per dog, or three cans of dog food or a small bag of kibble.

The purpose of the event is to raise money and pet food for the local food banks. Often people who need the food banks are elderly or disabled and many have a canine companion.

The Coeur d'Alene Dog Fanciers will have information about not giving pets as presents, which holiday plants are poisonous to our four-legged friends, and how to train your dog to leave the Christmas tree/presents alone. Prizes and ribbons will be awarded, with the Grand Prize winner leading the Fantasy in Lights Parade the night after Thanksgiving. Info: Gay, 414-0116.

Tonight at Seasons of Coeur d'Alene, from 5-7, is the fall fundraiser for the North Idaho Violence Prevention Center. Tomorrow is the fifth annual Souport the End of Homelessness luncheon event to benefit the St. Vincent de Paul's warming centers in our communities. Come enjoy lunch and support a good cause from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds ... just $10 buys sampling of nearly three dozen homemade soups.

Also on Thursday at the Post Falls Library Celtic guitarist Jerry Barlow will perform a free concert at 6:30 p.m., with an encore on Friday at the Hayden Library, same time.

On Saturday the talented, 87-years-young Mary Lou Dion and her equally talented son, J.J. Dion, will open the show for a Salute to Veterans at the Kroc Center. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. and admission is $10; veterans are free. At the Hayden Lake Eagles Club it's a World War II USO Show to benefit the Pappy Boyington Museum with the Coeur d'Alene Big Band at 7 p.m. Cost is $25 per person.

Happy birthday today to Aaron Baldwin, Nate Ziegler and Debbie Irby. Tomorrow, Sandi Bloem, Dave Oliveria, Bob West, Michael King, Brian Smith, Kristin Hoppe, Linda Alby, Kim Jacklin, Pat Thyssen, Chase Blakley, Rob Clark and Kayla Pleger will have their cake and eat it, too.

Celebrating on Friday are Maureen Dolan, Bob Driscoll, Kaci Medlock, Susan Martin, Barbara Bryan, Gary Schwalbach and Vonnie Satchewell. Saturday is special for Hazel Fox who's celebrating her 100th birthday, sharing the date with TJ Barnhart, Dustin Ainsworth, Noel Adam, Tyeson Bennett, Brenda Hanson, Tresa Turner-Wheeler and Leland Johnson.

Sunday, Nov, 23 birthdays are shared by David Eachon, his daughter Dana Ortega, Chris Beck, Dennis Hall, Dee Dee Morris, Rocky Carneiro, Julia Hopkins, Ronda Mitchell, Stephanie Morrison, Tim Williams and Carol Daniels.

Monday is a banner day for Mike Jarrett, Jeff Morrison, Lisa Black, Jesse Gunderson, Debbie Magnuson, Mike Lindquist and Eric Knudtsen. Another trip around the sun on Tuesday for Sue Thilo, Sue Servick, John Cocoran, Barb Oliver, Mike Reagan, Tammy Rovik and Buck Wilhelm.

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 by the readers of the North Idaho Business Journal. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.