A final financial rumble

| December 28, 2016 12:00 AM

By MAUREEN DOLAN

Staff Writer

The last outstanding debt from the Hayden Chamber of Commerce’s failed 2004 air show has finally been settled.

“We’re pleased to be able to close this chapter in the chamber’s history,” said the organization’s executive director, Erna Rhinehart, in a message to The Press.

Thunder Over the Prairie, planned in 2004 as an annual event, barely got off the ground once. The air show took place at the Coeur d’Alene Airport over two days in June of that year, and for those who attended, it delivered what it promised: rumbling flybys and aerobatics with planes, helicopters, jets and military vehicles on display throughtout the airport grounds.

But financially, it flopped, failing to deliver the audience attendance needed to come close to breaking even.

The two-day event cost $350,000 to put on and recouped just $170,000 through ticket sales and sponsorships, said the chamber’s attorney at the time, Freeman Duncan, at a meeting held a month after the air show. Several creditors forgave some of the debts and eventually, the shortfall was whittled down to $130,000. Through the years, the chamber worked with other creditors to reach settlements and pay off remaining balances.

The last debt being settled now, 12 years later, stems from a $50,000 loan from Bjarne Larsen, a former chamber board member, to the chamber. To be used as seed money for the show, the loan was agreed to in December 2003. A promissory note called for it to be repaid in full with 30 percent interest of $15,000 by June 30, 2004, about two weeks after the show.

Through the years, the chamber attempted to repay the loan. Court papers say the chamber paid the Larsens $11,854.40 in October 2004, and then made a series of smaller payments through 2011. The total amount repaid, according to paperwork filed by the Larsens’ attorneys, was $18,147.19.

A judgment signed Dec. 20 by First District Judge John Mitchell requires the Hayden Chamber to pay a total of $15,000 to the Larsen Family Trust. The judge’s order calls for the money to be paid in three annual installments of $5,000, with no interest, provided the payments are made on time.

“I can honestly say that everyone is happy to finally be able to put it all to rest,” said the chamber’s attorney, Janet Robnett.