Real life lessons and blessings

Readers of this column and friends and family know that my all-time favorite movie is "It's a Wonderful Life."

Throughout the story George Bailey discovers the many ways, large and small, he impacted the lives of others. My favorite scene in the movie is toward the end when the community has gathered in the Baileys' home to bring donations large and small to help George through troubled times. When Harry toasts, "to my brother George, the richest man in town!" it brings me to tears every time.

On Saturday I attended an event held for JoAnn Hildebrant, who's battling cancer. The Post Falls Senior Center was packed to the rafters for the spaghetti dinner and auctions, the community lending their support by their presence and their generosity. Each person there had been touched by knowing JoAnn, a lifelong Post Falls resident. At one point I saw JoAnn, who's been undergoing grueling treatment, sitting off to the side, wiping away a tear. I asked her if she was feeling the love and her answer was definitely a "Wonderful Life" moment. "I am blessed," she said. Far beyond the nearly $60,000 raised that day, JoAnn Wilhelm Hildebrant is the richest woman in town.

Lives well-lived, each nearly a century in length, for Gladys Schneidmiller and Frank Henderson. They passed away this week at ages 97 and 91 respectively. Their obituaries tell only part of the story of their contributions. Gladys and Frank had the same 24 hours in a day that we each have and filled those hours in service to their community. Frank, a World War II veteran and a member of The Greatest Generation, served his country as well.

In the '90s the Post Falls Tribune was producing a Centennial edition and I learned that Gladys had some wonderful personal photographs of early Post Falls that we hoped to use. She was reluctant to loan them out so I visited her at her Chase Road home and assured her if she entrusted them to me I would not let them out of my sight while they were copied.

That was back when newspapers still used darkrooms, so off I went with her treasured photos, hand-carrying them to the Press and standing outside the darkroom door while the PMTs were made.

Then back to Post Falls to return the photographs. During that visit we stood on her back porch overlooking the Rathdrum Prairie to the west, all part of the land owned and farmed by Gladys and Manny Schneidmiller. The Harpers manufacturing plant was on the landscape and in the next few years the Montrose neighborhood would emerge.

As we gazed at the horizon I asked Gladys if it made her sad to see the growth in her longtime hometown. She said not at all, that progress was good and someday families would have homes and raise families on the land. She also said with a laugh that she and her husband had worked their fingers to the bone farming that rocky prairie.

The best way to honor the lives and contributions of Gladys and Frank is to emulate their commitment to community and country. Rest in peace.

At 5:15 p.m. today there will be a celebration of the red, white and blue at the dedication of the flag mural that's part of the Flags Across America project. Artist Scott LoBaido is a New York artist with a passion for Old Glory and veterans. Join us at American Legion Post 143, 1138 E. Poleline Avenue in Post Falls.

Facebook Post of the Week by Taryn Thompson, in Hawaii renewing vows with her husband, Phil: "At luau last night a Hawaiian demonstrating how to open a coconut with a machete asks if anyone has a machete at home. We were the only ones to raise our hands out of the 200 or so people there. Guy asks where we are from and we say Idaho. Why do we have a machete? I joke: "Zombie apocalypse." Mississippi couple next to us says: "We just took your picture for Facebook." Sorry, Idaho."

On Saturday, take the family to the Cowboy Breakfast at the old Pleasantview School at 18724 W. Riverview Drive, 8-11 a.m. This is a semi-annual fund raiser by the Pleasantview Community Association for restoration and maintenance of the old school. The school is registered as both an Idaho Historical Site and a National Historical Site. Opened in 1910, there's so much local history to be seen. I love to sit next to one of the old-timers and hear stories while enjoying homemade biscuits and jam. After breakfast, climb into the tower and ring the bell!

Happy birthday today to Steve Wilson, Tanner Mort, Chris Cooper (40!), Stephanie Brodwater, Jeremy Jones, Patty Muhlhauser and Susan O'Neill. Tomorrow, Michele Jensen, Christina Bollman, Keith Ekness, Luke Griffin, Louise Zimmerman (50!) and Jai Nelson will party on the last day of April.

Happy May Day birthdays to Jeri DeLange, Suanne Harris and Diane Duncan. On Saturday, John DeLuca, Jan Bryant, Tre Lewis and Randy Hurt will celebrate. Randy Bates, Tracy Flaa, Peter Willits, John Hayes, Robbie Canfield and Becky Camarata share May 3 birthdays.

Kenley Link, Kay Poland, Jeanette Bangs, Scott Hayden, Rand Wichman, Brittany Smith and Scott Jacobson blow out the candles on Monday. Happy Cinco de Mayo birthdays to Robert Cliff, Ben Miller, Joni McCroury, Carol Toomy, Lisa Peterson, Teri Farr and Andy Fischbacher.

Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.